Immanuel's Soft Bone Chicken

My sister kept telling me about this Indonesian restaurant in Ultimo, and finally I got a chance to go there and ordered the special dishes called the 'Ayam Lunak' (soft bone chicken). The chicken bones are edible as they pressure-cooked the chicken for several hours before shallow frying it. The fried chicken comes with salad, homemade chilli and 'Kremes' on top of it. Kremes (nothing to do with Krispy Kreme) is basically a fried rice flour and chicken stock, and it's very crispy and very yummy...

As the bones are quite soft, so is the meat (very soft). My sister commented that it's too soft for her taste so she ordered another dishes called 'Ayam Kremes', which is similar to Ayam Lunak but the chicken is not pressured-cooked before frying so it has normal texture.

'Nasi Uduk' is another dishes that I chose from the menu. In a nutshell, it's steamed rice cooked with coconut milk, and is commonly served with fried onion sprinkled on the top of the rice (just like in the picture). It's fragrant and tastes good too...

Apart from Ayam Lunak and Ayam Kremes we also tried 'Gado-Gado', a vegetable salad with peanut sauce dressing. The salad has boiled potatoes, cucumber, tofu, beans, sliced boiled egg, and tapioca crackers in it. The peanut sauce is very nice and smells good, I particularly like it since it's made from real peanut unlike other restaurants which normally use Skippy peanut butter.

For dessert they have Es Campur (shaved ice with milk, jelly and fruit), Es Cendol (rice flour served with coconut milk, sugar palm and ice cubes), and Es Pisang Ijo (banana wrapped in green batter with ice). Unfortunately I was already full after the main meal (the portion is quite generous), so I didn't get to try the dessert. But I will definitelly come again to this place!

Contact Details:

Immanuel Cafe Restaurant

197/392 Jones St.

Ultimo 2007

ph. 02 9552 2145

(eat in, pre-order, or take away)

Ninja-dera in Kanazawa

Secret Strategy of the Kaga Clan

Four Stories, Seven Layers, 29 Stairs and Many Trick Contraptions

Ninja-dera (a.k.a Myoryuji temple) is architecturally complex. In the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate prohibited the construction of buildings higher than three stories. Viewed from the outside, the temple appears to be a two-story building, but actually it is a four-story buildingwith seven-layer internal structure. In addition, it is very strong and durable enough to withstand typhoons and heavy snow. This building has a complicated structure which includes a middle floor and middle-middle floor, and contains 23 rooms and 29 staircase.

The lookout on the top affords a view of the surrounding area. The temple also has a large well that is said to have been used to access a tunnel to Kanazawa castle. Although this temple has many tricks in it, as indicated by the name Ninja-dera, it was not constructed for Ninjas. The many tricks and traps were devised to fox shogunate spies and enemies to allow a sudden escapes.

Rigid Construction

Magnificent beams used in many places have enabled the building to withstand strong wind and heavy snow over the years. These beams disperse the weight of the snow on the roof.

Trap Stairs

These stairs lead to a secret passage and are accessed by removing a floor board. The passage leads to a guardsmen's room that was used as a hiding place.

Lookout

This is one of the temple's features, At the top of the building, there was a lookout with a stained glass (now glass) window. From this lookout light signals were transmitted to Kanazawa Castle. Enemies' movements as far away as the Kaga plain could be observed from here.

Light Stairs

When enemies stepped on these stairs, guards hiding underneath speared their feet judging by the shadows cast on the shoji windows.

Tricky Offertory Box

The offertory box embedded in the center of the main building was also used as trap against enemies.

Hidden Stairs behind the Sanctuary

If the board under the sliding door is removed, there are stairs that lead to a secret room. These stairs were used to escape from enemy. Closing the door behind making it locks automatically.

Constructed under the Shogunate's Strict Building Regulations

The third lord Maeda Toshitsune had Myoryuji Temple moved from its former location near Kanazawa Castle in 1643. In the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate demote local lords and integrated them unreasonably in order to unify the nation. In the Kaga clan, Toshitsune married a daughter of the Tokugawa family and sent his mother to the Edo castle as a hostage in order to maintain good relations with the shogunate. Meanwhile, he constructed many temples around the castle so that many soldiers would be able to standby for battles. This temple, located in the center of this group of temples, was a lookout point from which to observe enemies. The temple has hidden rooms, seppuku ritual suicide chamber, high rood and lookout. It was subsequently moved to its present location by the thir lord Toshitsune. Myoryuji temple has braved the elements for more than three hundred and fifty years and survived World War II.

Other Information

Entrance fee is 800 yen for adults and 600 yen for kids.

A tour of the temple requires booking; explanation is in Japanese but English information book can be requested upon booking.

Contact details

Kanazawa Myoryuji

1-2-12 Nomachi, Kanazawa 921-8639

ph. 076-241-0888

http://www.myouryuji.or.jp (in Japanese only, pictures taken from this website)