Part 2: Matsumoto & Takayama

I thoroughly enjoyed this experience – dressed in my Yukata, sat cross legged at the table, sampling all the delicious components that made my extremely, healthy and well-balanced breakfast. A great way to start another hectic day of sight seeing and travelling. My only advice if having a Japanese breakfast is that you cannot be in a rush. There are so many parts of the breakfast to get through you need time to enjoy them all!

Part 1: Tokyo & Nagano

With my limited Japanese and pointing at pictures in a menu, I ordered a set meal with a bowl of ramen – a Japanese noodle soup dish which was flavoured with ox tongue – and spicy chicken pieces served over rice and the ubiquitous miso soup.