Around the World Leg #2: NRT --> CGK --> SIN

After leaving wonderful Tokyo, we headed to NRT to catch our flight to Singapore connecting in Jakarta on business class ANA.  Before heading for our overnight flight, we went to the ANA lounge for an early dinner. The lounge is very clean and very "Japanese".

Notable mention is the "perfect pour" Asahi beer machine. It has the perfect beer to head ratio. Hands down to the Japanese

At the lounge, you can get soba and udon which is made to order. I also found some of my favourites, Japanese sweet corn cream soup and soy marinated burdock root (Kinpara). 

Mr. "E" decided to do a Yamazaki whiskey tasting. I believe they are of different years. Japanese whiskey apparently won whiskey of the year over the Scottish whiskeys.

This is our seat for the 5.5hr ride to Jakarta. Seat is quite comfy, but not as private as the Business class for the long haul flight from Chicago to Narita.

After boarding the flight, how can I pass to see what sake options I have. Similar to the ANA business class flying in from Chicago, they have the sweet junmai sake.

Here is the extensive Japanese drink list. 

This is the Dinner menu along with the snack menu which you can order from anytime you want 

The western international cuisine option.

The menu features "taste of Yamagata", a region in Japan known for their root vegetables and "Tama-konoyaku" (vegan gelatin simmered in soy sauce broth).

Amuse - Yuzu-citron flavoured cheese bar with Smoked fishcake

Bento box featuring local cuisine from Yamagata Perfecture

Mukisoba - boiled & peeled buckwheat

Top left: Simmered herring in soy-based cause
Bottom center: Fry-simmered wheat gluten & Japanese plum jelly
*I am not the biggest fan of the konoyaku, I find it a little too tangy for my liking* 

Top left: Marinated "Hiraboku kinka ton" pork in miso paste
Bottom centre: Picked chopped aona green and various greens 

Main course: 
Simmered Pacific cod with grated daikon radish in soy-based sauce
Steamed rice from Tsuyahime rice from the Sagae District of Yamagata Prefecture 
*The fish wasn't the freshest and almost taste "stale".  Not the quality I expect from ANA food services. 

Green tea pudding 
*To be honest, this was the best of all the food* 

Finished with a light buckwheat tea to settle the stomach before the long sleep. 

Mr. "E" woke up hungry before landing and has decided to order a cheeseburger. Quite hones, this taste a lot better than it looks. 

We landed in Jakarta literally 1am, the airport CGK is absolutely empty. We headed to the lounge to rest our eyes for a few hours before we catch our connecting flight into Singapore at 5am. 

Literally "EMPTY" lol (other than border patrol with machine guns) 

After a restless and sleepless night, we finally got on our final stretch to Singapore. YAHH~ Mr. "E" has always wanted to try Singapore airline for their business class. I do have to say, by far, the seats are the most comfy. The leather was super soft. But in terms of lie flat, I didn't find it to be the most comfy.

We got the first row after they messed up our seat reservation! Extra legroom! 

Mr. "E" slept the 3 hour flight and I decided to stay up for a light breakfast chow mien Singapore style. The noodles are actually quite soggy, but the flavours are very well balanced. Not like you regular Cantonese chow mien.

Aerial view overlooking the islands off Singapore. The flight was actually quite bumpy and there was a lot of turbulence. 

Arriving close to the port of Singapore. So many cargo ships everywhere. 

So after a sleepless night, we finally arrived in Singapore for another epic food journey. Stay tune for "Singapore Lion Roar".

Overall (Singapore Airline Business class):
Service 4/5
Quality 5/5
Food 4/5

Other Tokyo Must Eats!!

The Japanese love all things french, but I find that they excel at taking french pastries to the next level. As such, a notable mention is the Pierre Hermes cafe at Aoyama.

This is one of the Pierre Hermes that has a cafe for a sit down high tea. We actually still waited for 45min as there was only 10 seats.

The famous Ispahan cake - rose macaroon with fresh raspberry and lychee infused mousse 

Sadaharu AOKI is the first Japanese born french pastry chef that has its store in Lafayette in Paris. His french pastries are out of this world. The intricate flavours but with the touch of the refinement of Japanese ingredients. If I had a choice, I would definitely choose this over Pierre Hermes, especially for their cakes. The price is much cheaper too which is a bonus. 

They have a wide cake selection 

Their iced matcha tea is rich in flavours with just a hint of the green tea bitterness. I still reminisce about it today

I tried the bamboo green tea sake cake with a earl grey macaroon 

Both Mr."E" and I hate chestnut. As we all know, mont blanc is all chestnut based. However, this matcha mont blanc is out of this world. The chestnut is fresh, not the typical frosting like sweetness that coats your palette. The bitterness of the matcha heightens the natural sweetness of the chestnut. Just out of this world!!!!!

My obsession with all the cool bottled beverages that can be found in vending machines all over Tokyo. Most of their drinks are quite mild in terms of level of sweetness.

Peach herbal tea

Strawberry milk for breakfast 

White peach and yellow peach green tea 

Since it was winter time, yes the vending machines dispenses hot coco!!!!

 Hot caramel royal milk tea 

Sparkling apple tea soda - Yummy 

More hot caramel latte 

Sparkling fruit juice 

Some of the other cool snacks we tried in Japan

This melon bun was the size of my face!!!

Can't leave Japan without buying Pooh cookies - they are actually quite good! Mr."E" kept stealing them. 

Latte art - the design remained the same even when I drank to the bottom of the cup (double tall cafe - I went to the one in Harajuku)

They have really cool Haagen-Dazs ice cream flavours at covenant stores. This one is the Antoinette cake

Human engineered strawberries the size of my fist (literally)! I would say the emit more fragrance than anything. Is it worth it to buy 6 pieces for $20? Not really, but it was an interesting experience. 

Takano is a store famous for selling super high-end fruits. A honeydew can cost up to $100 each. We couldn't afford it, so we got jelly instead. Quite tasty.

Stop #3 - Back to Tokyo for some RAMEN!!

How can we not go to Tokyo and not have RAMEN! Even though I am not the biggest fan of all things carb, I do love soup a lot. 

Late night snack at Ipudo (yes the chain that opened in NYC) - the broth is rich and creamy with little salty aftertaste.

Both Mr. "E" and I had the shio tonkatsu - but obviously, Mr. "E" had to get extra pork

Overall:
Price: 10-15 CAD/person
Quality: 3/5 (I find the broth flavour profile quite pedestrian)
Hours: opens late up until midnight

On the day of departure, we had to hit up our all time favourite Menya Kissou. We came here in 2009 on our first trip to Japan and we reminisce about the noodle and broth since. It is in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, you have to make a side trip to trek out there, but it is totally worth it!!

They only have 10 seats and open only from 11 until they sell out (usually around 2pm); and I am making my point here that they have long line ups even on weekdays and they sell out fast!

Not a big fan of noodles, but OMG their handmade noodles are absolutely out of this world. Their broth is a blend of pork bones and fish stock. This specific type of ramen is called tsukemen (dipping ramen). You dip your noodles into the boiling broth. So the noodles essentially act as a sauce vehicle for all that umami goodness.

The broth looks heavy, but not at all. It is light and flavourful simmering with porky and fishy goodness! Yums!!

The noodles are all different in size as they are handmade every morning fresh by the owner of the store.

My favourite is menma, soy stewed bamboo shoot

Once you dip the pork into the broth, the meat melts in you mouth

Overall:
Price: 10-15 CAD/person
Quality: 5/5 (***MUST TRY***)
Hours: opens at 11am until sold out
(go early as there is a line up even when we were there at 10:30)