Did some laundry at the hotel this morning. While Akemi and Dr. Blackjack were finishing their coffees, I went down to retrieve the laundry only to find myself incapable of opening the damn thing, even after entering the code Akemi gave me. After spending five full minutes pushing random buttons, the door finally popped open. Later, while expressing my frustration to Akemi, she pointed out that it says “Press this button after entering code” clear as day. In Japanese.
Then, at 10:30 a.m., Akemi saw me off, like a doting mother bidding adieu to her son on his first day of school – except that instead of school I was going to Pizza Serinkan in Naka-Meguro with my old friend Moro-san.
Naka-Meguro
There were about a dozen people already waiting for the place to open when we arrived. Fortunately, there were plenty of seats.
At Akemi’s insistence, I finally got around to eating some vegetables on this trip – a plate of sautéed broccoli. But the main show was, of course, the pizza. They’ve added a third to the rotation. In addition to the Margherita and the Marinara, you can also go Bianca. I, however, elected to go with the class Margherita. And it was as good as I remember it. It’s the dough that makes this place special.
Moro-san and her new best friend, Victor.
Akemi tipped us off to a place called I’m Donuts that purportedly makes some unbelievable donuts, chiefest among them their pistachio cream. And it was only a five minute walk from the station. After a ten minute wait in line, we had our donuts – lemon for Moro-san, and pistachio for me.
Honestly? The best donut I’ve had. Fairly bursting with pistachio cream and the donut itself incredibly soft but possessed of a mochi springiness. I have to go back.
Moro-san and donut.
We took the metro to Roppongi and, in no time at all, I was back in familiar territory – Roppongi Hills, where we headed to the Mori Art Museum for a very special exhibit…
Yes! An exhibit dedicated to one of my favorite anime, Tokyo Revengers.
I regret to report neither of these outfits were available at the museum gift shop.
Alas, nothing caught my eye at the Marky Market tie-in shop, so will have to satisfy myself by resuming the manga at some point.
But I was tempted by this wood-carving that would have set me back a cool 14 G’s.
Tokyo skyline
We then took a walk up to Azabu Hills where we strolled through the high-end shops (Meh) and the Christmas Market before meeting Akemi in Shinjuku for dinner at Nakajima…
A comparatively smaller meal than we’ve had to date in Japan, but no less tasty.
We got in a little later than usual and had some of the sake chocolates we stored in the hotel room fridge. Tomorrow, it’s tonkatsu at Butagumi and, if I’m feeling up to it, the triple threat chocolate dessert trio at Jean Paul-Hevin in Roppongi, Midtown. Wish me luck!
Leave a Reply