Mokuyobi in Tokyo and OMG Omakase!

Thursday morning, Linda felt pretty good after perhaps overdoing it on Wednesday.  So, in the morning, we set out with 2 destinations in mind.  First up was Takeshita Street, known to be a kind of funky shopping street.  Two Metro trains and Google Maps got us there easily.  

At the Metro exit we walked by a popular donut shop but we passed on the donuts.

Takeshita Street was indeed funky.  There were many shops, most notably many crepe shops, capsule toy shops, and mini-pig cafes.

After walking the length of Takeshita Street, we were going to walk the 1.5K to our next destination, the Shibuya Scramble Crossing.  As we started walking, the wind picked up dramatically.  It was right in our faces.  A note on the winds - The Oceania Riviera was supposed to arrive in Tokyo this morning.  But, due to the forecast of high winds, they skipped the previous port and arrived in Tokyo last evening.  Anyway, due to the wind we did a quick adjustment and took a train to Shibuya.  That turned out to be a good thing because Linda was starting to feel achy.  The crossing has five crosswalks which all receive the walk sign at the same time.  So, it is a scramble.

After scrambling across, we walked a bit on one of the intersecting streets.

It was then lunch time and Linda needed to sit a bit so, believe it or not, we opted for a Starbucks that provided an overhead view of the scramble.

After that it was time to catch the Metro back to our hotel for a well-deserved rest.  Linda had done over three miles at that point.  And we did need to rest up for our omakase dinner!

Before going to dinner, we had wine in the executive lounge where we got a nice view of Mount Fuji as the sunset.

Then it was time to go to Sushi MIKAYO which is located in the basement of the Hilton building.  It was AMAZING!  The meal consisted of 25 courses that took 1-1/2 hours to complete.  Omakase, according to Google Translate, means 'leave it to us' and that's what you do - leave to the chef to prepare what he wants to prepare.  There was what you might consider normal fish - salmon, mackerel, oyster, squid, and tuna (although we had both lean tuna and fatty tuna).  And then there was the more exotic stuff - baby eels, baby squid, puffer fish, ice fish, abalone, sea urchin.  Linda was a champ and ate everything but the squid and oyster.  We had a young chef who was very precise in his preparation for each course.  It was interesting to watch him prepare the fish by first slicing pieces then carefully scoring each piece to make it easier to eat.  The flavors of every course were terrific.  Here's just a photo sampling of the experience.

And here she is eating the sea urchin - and she said it was delicious!

And, finally, it was time for dessert.

After maybe about course number ten, we were wondering how much more we could eat.  But, somehow, it was no problem making it to the end.  At the risk of repeating myself, it was an amazing experience and a great way to end our stay in Tokyo before getting on the ship.

Peace, blessing and omakase,

Linda and Larry

It's Wednesday, It Must Be Tokyo

Tuesday evening we were in bed by 8pm and both had a decent night's sleep.  Up early on Wednesday, we had a leisurely morning before heading  out.  Our destination was the Imperial Palace East National Gardens.  From the Hilton, we were able to walk through the underground passageway to get to the Metro stop we needed to start our journey.  It was then about a half hour ride to the stop near the gardens.  The subway was quite crowded, more on the subway experience later.

We entered the gardens through a gate from the original Edo Castle.

As you can see, it was a cool morning, temps in the low 50's.  When the sun did come out, it was okay.  Walking around, we saw impressive walls and old guard houses.  It's always interesting to see the contrast between the old, historic buildings and the modern construction.

Since it's only mid-February, the gardens, though expansive, were still in their winter slumber.

We were surprised and rewarded to find a couple of cherry trees that were in early bloom!

At one point we came across the remains of the base of the old Edo Castle keep.  Then we were able to see a model of what it looked like.

Linda was doing well strolling around the gardens but we did reach a point where we were ready to head back.  Walking back to the Metro station, we passed a building that had many restaurants downstairs.  It was like a food court down there and we found a noodle place to eat in.  It was good and cheap!

After napping and resting, we decided to head to the Ginza.  We had passed through the area on our excursion last year but we wanted to see it after dark.  We took the Metro again and wandered around for just a short time.

After returning to the hotel, we grabbed a quick dinner and then headed for bed. 

Now for some observations about riding the Metro.  Let's start in the stations.  The city has an incredible array of underground passages that will take you to the Metro and to your destination if you know how to navigate through them.

I finally discovered that Google Maps is quite helpful.  When I entered exactly where I wanted to go in the Ginza, Maps showed me the best car to get onto on the train and then indicated which exit from the station we should take.  After winding our way through the passages, we found exit A10 which was exactly the intersection we wanted to be at!

Another thing of note, is how civilized the Japanese are.  People queue up so politely on the Metro stations, no pushing and shoving.

The trains were always crowded and it seemed that almost everyone was on their phones.

And, lastly for today's  entry, let's talk about how great Linda did.  She walked over 10,000 steps and almost six miles!  It's the first time she's walked that far in nearly a year.  Was she tired and a bit sore at the end of the day - yes.  We'll see how she feels today, on Thursday, but so far so good.  I imagine we'll take it a little easier today.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Konnichiwa from Tokyo

 Yep, we made it.  The Zipair flight was pretty good.  Business class was not quite what you'd expect from a major airline, but the seats were comfortable lay flats with decent amenities, the B787 looked very new.

Well, let's talk about the meal.  In business class you get a meal, sort of. A main dish and a bottle of water?  Presentation left something to be desired.

Anything else you might want, including alcohol, you had to pay for but the prices were quite reasonable.

The flight was mostly smooth and on time and the price made it very worthwhile.  We would definitely do it again.

In the Narita airport, the passport control line was a bit long but at least our suitcases were waiting for us when we finally made it through.  From the airport, we opted to take the Narita Express train to Shinjuko, which is close to our hotel.  The train ride was over an hour.

The Hilton Tokyo has a shuttle that runs from the Keio department store, which is near the train station.  If we had exited the station in the correct place we would have been very close to the shuttle stop, but we didn't and had to make a short walk in the cold windy afternoon.  Hey, 50 degree F is cold for us SoCal folks.

When we got to the Hilton, Linda's status got us a nice upgrade to a big room on the 30th floor.

Linda's status also got us access to the Executive Lounge where we went for champagne and dinner.  Lovely!

While in the lounge, I had the concierge make us a reservation at a sushi restaurant for omakase on Thursday night.  It's got great reviews and we're looking forward to comparing it to our other omakase experiences.  Linda promises she will be brave and eat whatever the chef puts before us (or not!).

Tomorrow, we'll begin to explore Tokyo.  Until then, heiwa to shukufuku o,

Linda and Larry

Konnichiwa Fron LAX

 Yep, we're at it again.  We're at LAX waiting for our Zipair flight to Tokyo.

Zipair is the budget airline from Japan Airlines.  Business class but no lounge.  Fortunately, the terminal is quiet so Linda can do her Duolingo and maintain her streak.

We arrive in Tokyo Tuesday afternoon and we'll spend a few days before getting on the Oceania Riviera for a 24 day cruise ending in Singapore.  When we were in Tokyo last year, we only had a one day tour before heading home so we could go to Cousin Jerry's 80th birthday party in the Dominican Republic.  Now we'll have a few days to really explore Tokyo.  It's still winter so the weather will be cold (for us SoCal wimps) with highs in the fifties.  At least there is no rain or snow in the forecast.

The cruise will take us to some places we have been before and then many new places such as the Philippines, Brunei and Jakarta.  We'll be going from the cold of Japan to the tropics and then visiting Singapore which we visited 10 years ago.

As usual, we are very much looking forward to the cruise for many reasons.  Linda is mobile again!  It's been 5 months since we've cruised!  No cooking, cleaning and laundry!  And, this time, I am really looking forward to being unplugged from the news of King Donald and Prince Elon!

Heiwa to shukufuku o,

Linda and Larry