Etoile de la Mer, Benesse House

Etoile de la Mer is the only french restaurant inside Benesse properties. In fact there's only 2 restaurant, the japanese one and this french restaurant. Advance reservation is required because the tables are limited in both restaurant and there's 2 seatings. Since we wanted to capture the sunset, we settled for the 8.30pm seating.

with Michelin starred Chef Tateru Yoshino as their advisor, u can be rest assured whenever you dine here :))) Chef Tateru Yoshino has got 3 more restaurants under his helm in Tokyo.

The restaurant has got a fantastic view overlooking the sea but the sun has already set so we didn't get to see it. Anyhow the next morning we had breakfast here and we got to enjoy the beautiful calm serene view.

Amuse Bouche were some cute lil canapes with savoury fillings. This is a french restaurant so be prepared to wine and dine like one :))))

Warm bread never fails to put smiles onto our face. It's like comfort food, don't you think?

Japanese Sea Eel with saffron broth. So u see the sea eel known as Anago is white in color as compared to fresh water eel known as Unagi.


Soup of the day - I forgotten what it was :P


I had a beautiful seared sea bream with seasonal vege. How can u not have FISH in Naoshima??? yum yum yum yum. u don't really need any sauce to enhance the profile of it.


JS had Stewed Japanese Beef with Polenta. Notice how they peeled the asparagus? The polenta was the crispy type, such good texture. And I happily stole his one and only single piece of Bacon Chips :P


Stewed beef was so tasty....I was so greedy for stealing food from JS...prollie next time I should get the kitchen to prepare 2 main for me so that I could try both.

Forgive me, I'm still a kid and need food to grow up...

More like grow sideways according to JS
yea Fat Fat I don't care esp during holidays. 

This building and the kitchen was also designed by famed architect Tadao Ando. See how raw and minimalist it was. Such simple kitchen.

Granitas to clean our palate before desserts :)))

Monkey had a beautiful Lemon Tart with passion fruits pulp. It tasted as yummy as it looks :)))

Strawberry sorbet with strawberry jam, served with fresh strawberries and vanilla meringue. Dessert was really refreshing and good. The acidity from the fruits somehow were so balanced and ended our dinner to another high :))

a lil door to nowhere with cut mirror at the corner. Later we found a few other pieces here and there inside this dining hall.

very decent dinner for an isolated place in Naoshima. Basically when you are staying at Benesse House you'll either dine here or at the Japanese restaurant. No other choice. While the entire island is like closed/ghost town by the time the sun sets.

For more information:
http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/benessehouse/restaurant_cafe.html

Benesse House Museum, Naoshima

I don't really know how did we figure out our way to get to this island. U don't really get that many tourists into Naoshima because of its limited accommodation, plus u only come here if u are really an Art freak.

whenever there's a will there's a way the saying goes and it's so true. We were so determined to get there that nobody no one could tell us NO. Even though we couldn't get the ROOM we wanted!!!!

Once you have arrived at Uno Port, catch the ferry or speed boat. It's only a 15 minutes ride. :))))

The sea was really calm...in fact it's calm all year round because it's an inland sea protected by the Shikoku island. Weather was extremely cooperative that day, so so so stunning with plenty of sun.


Soon the captain blew the horn and off we sail!!! woohoooooo
this rather cloudy pic was actually taken on the day we depart. How weather changes so fast in the course of 3 days.


Anyway on the arrival day, it was sunny and breezy. Tourists were abundant. Mostly Europeans, Americans and Japanese. Hardly any other Asians.


cloudy departure day. The top deck is pretty nice. The mid deck is the passengers compartment while the lowest deck is for vehicles. This gentle giant cruised leisurely towards Naoshima, just enuff time for tourists to enjoy the scenery.


Hello tiny boat!!! u better move away bcoz our ferry is gonna make some waves for ya!!!!
splish splash~~~~

Monkey was in the air-conditioned front-most seat in the passengers compartment...coz she HAD to take care of the luggages. We were too lazy to lug them up to the highest deck, elevator are only meant for handicapped passengers so.....only JS got to go to the upper deck. Anyway both of us could have...it's just that I was plain lazy and it was only a 15 minutes ride.

Once we have anchored at Naoshima, the vehicles were given clearance to disembark first...while the passengers waited patiently. You see there's no pushing around here...everyone was pretty civilised. Very civilised I must say. Hehehehehe

First thing to greet us at the minimalist ferry terminal was this Red Pumpkin by Yayaoi Kusama!!!
Wahhhh u can actually climb in. There are a few entrances/holes for access. Because of her, I am so in love with polka dots :)))))))))

All Benesse House guests have complimentary pickup and shuttle service around the island...in fact anyway u wanna go on the island. So it goes by the name....the sweet attendant already has ours and our room number *how efficient*

If you are visiting this island, you MUST stay at Benesse House. Though it's pricey but trust me it's totally worth it for the experience.

As we made our way to the hotel....the scenery was so so beautiful I must say. :)))) Benesse House has got 4 properties.

The Park: Rooms face the Park of coz, with sculptures and artworks around this property

The Beach: Right smack in front of the beach. 

The Museum: U are staying in the same building as the artworks, wat can I say? :))) we stayed heere

The Oval: The exclusive Oval comprises of only 6 rooms with artworks IN YOUR ROOM. Access is through the Monorail.


*pic stolen from the Web*

This is the Oval. Designed by Takao Ando, it's again built in the ground to not affect/pollute the beautiful view. Because these 6 rooms were so highly sought after, it was way way fully booked months in advance

T_T
Hence for our next trip, we will need to book the rooms 6 months in advance - for its stunning view and experience. 

The last stop is The Museum and so we alighted to a stunning view of the Sea. Everyone was Wow-Wow-ing as we enjoyed the afternoon breeze. JS was bz snapping pics away with huge wide smiles. His bucket list to visit Naoshima...surprising it wasn't me :P

We wanted to visit this island 6 months ago but because our 3.5 weeks trip then was so packed with sight-seeings....we decided to postpone Naoshima. In January we went to an island but it was Gunkanjima *read about it here* soooooo watever comes, Naoshima had to be in the itinerary this trip.

Come to think of it...we've done Japan 3 times in 6 months. Not bad at all :)))))))))

Room 301 is the best room in The Museum. One and only room with the most view of the sea. We actually changed our itinerary to book this room bcoz everything was fully booked. If given a choice we would have stayed here 2 nites but as I've said it....everything was fully booked.

Looking at the bright side, it means that we will come here again to stay at The Oval. :)))


Our lil Kitchenette which we hardly use....No time to use at all hahahahaha


very spacious bathroom with both the bathtub and Japanese "seated" shower.


The Museum was built in 1992 and everything was so well maintained here. The interior of the room also reflected the 90's. Very nostalgia...OMG suddenly I felt old :P pfffftttttttttt




This was the ONLY reason we chose room 301. The VIEW!!!
The stunning view :))))))) U felt like u are perched on the cliff


A sculpture just below our room. Shipyard Works Bow with Hole by Shinro Ohtake.
Monkey was too bz with the view to notice this until the next morning. :P


The balcony is so spacious. By the way the accommodation doesn't really welcome pre-school children bcoz of the art pieces in your room and architecture of this place - for safety.

Finally a really noise-free holiday for the both of us. Sorry we can't live with screams, tantrums and children especially. No offence to ppl with kids.


Welcome gift with a message. It were 2 bottles of wine, a red and a white. We didn't take this home :P heheheheehe

again no pics allowed...so most of these artworks were stolen from the Web. I will only highlight my favourites :)))) The above was created by Richard Long - Inland Sea Driftwood Circle. 

So do u now understand why no pre-school kids allowed here? Wat if they kick those pieces of wood? Horror will ensued. hahahahaha.

Even when JS sneezed I was like...-_-"
"Will u stop the sneezing? I m trying to absorb all these artworks into my head."
JS: >.< Sorry I can't ctrl it



*pic taken from the Web*

and he had to sneezed in front of 350 ultraman figurines painfully stacked by Yukinori Yanagi - Banzai Corner. He created the illusion of a perfect circle like the Sun against 2 mirrors.

Banzai is an exclamation of ten thousand years but it's also used at war...it's like b4 u charge, u raised both of your hands and shout BANZAI!!!!!!!

I really can't imagine if all these figurines fell due to the sneezing....
"u gotta line all of them up again u know...with a ruler!!! coz they are all so perfect to the milimetres!!"
JS: "Yeah and I will change their hands posture too...instead of both of hands up...it's gonna be like this."
and he showed me the famous ultraman pose.

I know.....my housemate sometimes can be soooo incredibly hilarious that it's not funny bcoz he'll alwiz make me look like this instead ---> -_-" x 100000000

Secret of the Sky by Kan Yasuda
You can actually walk out here and touch the exhibits.


*taken from the web*

My favourite had to be this. The World Flag Ant Farm by Yukinori Yanagi
All these flags have got small tubes connecting each other....then colored sand were added in to assemble flags of countries...Finally ants were put in. so the Ants will recreate artworks over time. Shifting sands from tubes to tubes...flags to flags.


*pic taken from the web*

So u can see there's lil tunnels and passage way being created by the ants over the years. This is in fact a very deep artwork evoking the reality of globalisation, immigration and trade. Yea some of the plexi boxes were gone...you can't even tell the identity anymore bcoz the ants have moved so much of its sand...it has collapsed...some lost its true colors...where blue shouldn't be in their flags, now they have blue colors and so on.

I really love this...it's my favourite :)))))))


Then it's back to our room for the magnifique sunset.



Then we spent 45 minutes in silence....gazing our eyes to this view


even the Hobbits agreed...the sunset was a sight to behold :))))))))
work of art of the universe.


Finally it's all set and it's time to head down for dinner.


me bz writing postcards while JS was bz snapping away as usual. He is sooo into snapping from my back these days.

On the wall were 3 pieces of artwork by Jennifer Barlett - Bridge, Boat, Dog


The next mornng when finally Monkey discovered the Boat downstairs....
"hey there's a sculpture under our window....did u see it? Who was it from?"
JS -_-" you are a bit slow this trip....are u ok?

And it's time to leave the island....TOO SHORT TOO SHORT!!!
and yes we will definitely return

For more information on the property and museum:
http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/