Hey Hive!
If you missed the last few posts, we're recounting our trip to Hiroshima back in April 2019! Sean had won some free air tickets to Hiroshima from a lucky draw sponsored by one of the local banks in Singapore, DBS! Since we've never been, we decided that was a good chance to explore the Chūgoku region!
So last week, we completed our journey through the famous Shrine Island, Miyajima, and went up the ropeway to the top of the island at Mt Misen!
We got to enjoy the breathtaking view from the top before coming back down and catching the view of the huge Torii gate when it was low tide too!
We were basically on our feet from the minute we set off from our apartment to the port to board the ferry to Miyajima that day. And our feet were so sore from all that walking on the island. So we decided to take it easy the next day.
12 April 2019. Friday.
We were so exhausted from walking all that way that we slept in quite a bit the next day. By the time we left the apartment to go grab lunch it was 3pm already.
But we found this Chinese-inspired Japanese ramen restaurant on the way to the huge AEON mall nearby our place on the opposite direction of the train station. Unfortunately we were too tired to take pictures of the restaurant itself and can't recall its name.
We ordered two different kinds of ramen and Sean was this very garlicky and peppery ramen that definitely smelled like it too.
It was quite a big bowl and smelled so good! Both of us love garlic so we were excited to taste it.
There were also quite a lot of vegetables in it too, which is quite unusual compared to normal ramen which typically only has bamboo shoots and spring onion for veggies. But this one had snow peas, bean sprouts, cabbage and even cauliflower, which is Sean's favourite!
It tasted pretty good too! The garlic smelled pretty strong but it wasn't all that strong taste-wise. The broth itself tasted really savoury and had a nice balance of spices. I actually liked the soup a lot.
I ordered this spicy minced meat ramen instead, which definitely looked and smelled a bit spicy. There was bok choy and bean sprouts in this one, and the minced meat was sprinkled on top.
The minced meat was nice but I felt the bok choy didn't match the ramen that well since it is quite bitter. The soup had a nice tinge of spiciness but I definitely liked Sean's soup better so I drank more of his soup instead. We did swap to compare and I think his was the better ramen for me. Sean was fine with either though so we swapped after a while.
Overall, it was still a very delicious and filling meal for sure and I was so full from drinking almost all the broth. My belly was very happy and full of warmth after that. :3
So on we went to AEON mall! AEON is a pretty famous shopping mall brand that can be found throughout Japan and even other countries like Thailand and probably Korea. Like Isetan, they always have a huge supermarket along with various shops and restaurants. And in case you didn't know, Sean and I have a common hobby which is to browse in supermarkets. Even now, we often go on grocery dates to get snacks and stuff!
So we were all too excited to explore this huuuge supermarket! They even had a big liquor section that we didn't bother going to since we're not fans of alcohol.
Another thing I like to do in supermarkets is take photos like this which I think is pretty artistic? And it really emphasises how big the supermarket is.
There was just so many different kinds of fruits, veggies and snacks! Even the frozen snacks looked tasty to try! I wished there were sample stations but since we lived in an apartment we could easily buy a pack and make them for supper.
I was so tempted to buy a lot of them but since we were still walking around the mall we held off on buying anything for now.
So we went walking around the mall and decided to stop for some snacks from one of our favourite pastry shops, Beard Papa! He always seems to have special seasonal stuff whenever we come to Japan so we make it a point to patronise Beard Papa at least once or twice every time we visit!
And this time, one of their new products is a chocolate ice cream puff! And it tasted just like how it looks! The puff itself is soft, and the ice cream is alright, but I probably wouldn't buy it again since it was pretty average.
We also bought our usual order of cookie crust cream puff which was delicious! The cookie crust was crunchy and the cream was just a little sweet. I think I definitely liked this one better still since the texture provided a nice contrast.
After that we went to look at some adorable puppies at the pet shop called P's First! It's also another chain of pet stores we always stop by whenever we see it to ogle at the cute puppers!
There was even a grooming station in there where the staff was grooming this cute doggo!
There was also a Snoopy Town Shop in the mall which we stopped by since I'm a huge Snoopy fan! Been reading the comics since I was younger and I collected quite a few comic books too!
We never actually buy anything in these Snoopy stores but it's always nice to stop by and admire the merchandise, and take pics with the softest plushies I've ever held!
We also came across this bag store with the biggest backpack I've ever seen! Thankfully it was actually really light with lots of plastic to fluff it up so I got Sean to carry it for a pic!
After walking around for a bit, we stop by PABLO; our other favourite pastry shop for more snacks! And they had a couple of seasonal specialties here too!
And we bought our favourite chocolate tart and the Setouchi Lemon tart which is another local specialty!
And the tarts were delicious! The lemon tart was actually really good too! It had just a tinge of sourness but it had a nice texture and the tart crust was nice and crisp too. While the chocolate tart was nice; chocolatey and creamy. It's our favourite flavour of tart to get from PABLO. It wasn't warm, but both tarts were delicious!
After we were done we left the mall and got a nice sunset to see us off! It was a relaxing day just walking and snacking. We went to retire early since we had another exciting day ahead of us tomorrow!
Here's a teaser:
Thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #156 (Hiroshima): Conquering Mountains in Enchanting Nature ⛰