Heaven on Earth

Our escorts waiting for us as we arrive at this secluded place which I will refer to as Heaven on Earth.

Strolling down the garden, I capture a picture of what looks like our soon to be dinner.

They tell me I have to eat this entire fish, head, bones and all. This was one of many courses to come.

We grilled our chicken Yakiniku style.

The entrance

Rene and Chris enjoying soup, beer, and saki and some funny conversation.

Drinking tea as we walk through the garden.

The several dinning cottages that surround the place.

Yukho and her husband. This was the first time in three years we got to meet their husband and vise versa.

Our Kimono-clad waitresses

Saki served bamboo style

If someone asked me what was my favorite restaurant in Japan, I would have to say with two thumbs up The Takao Ukai-Toriyama Restaurant. Last night we were treated by our Japanese culture ladies to a wonderful evening of dinner and drinks. I can't begin to describe this paradise, dreamlike location. The only traffic around the garden is the discrete waitresses balancing their trays with delicious food and drinks on the way to one of the many cottages scattered around the garden. There is a certain tranquility about this place that will soon get to you and make you forget the stresses and worries life brings. As we arrived at the train station, we were shuttled to our dinning location up in the mountains of Takao. We were greeted by two Japanese ladies and escorted down a scenic walkway, had tea, then into our private dinning area (cottage). Our mouths just dropped as we walked through the Japanese garden surrounded by fire torches, lanterns, streams of running water, bridges and Japanese cottages reserved for dinning guests. The back drop of this scenic nature was unlike no place I had seen here in Japan. We felt like royalty and family. I thought if only I could wake up every morning in a place like this. The service as always was outstanding. What a way to end our stay here in Japan. I will never forget these wonderful ladies and the generosity they showed. I feel blessed to have experienced so much of what Japan had to offer through my culture group. These well educated ladies were full of class, well traveled and a joy to be around.