I took Akemi up on her rather bizarre suggestion last night and lined my six pillows along my side of the bed and slept on them as a mini mattress, hoping for a more comfortable night’s rest.  Surprisingly, it worked.  Sort of.  While my back and shoulders weren’t as sore this morning as they were previous mornings, my throat felt like I had inadvertently swallowed a pack of razor bleeds.  A quick check by Akemi using her handy smart phone flashlight app confirmed the back of my throat resembled akagai sashimi.

Fortunately, I came prepared for any such eventuality and popped the Vitamin D and Magnesium (along with the Nattokwinase, Serrapeptase, Bromelin, and NAC) I brought with me.  In no time at all, I was feeling not at all different – but we were running late, so we stopped by a local Lawson and picked up some throat candy.

Wonder if this place has a Stargate?

Lunch on this day was Butagumi, one of my go-to spots for pork tonkatsu and their famed sammie (three day cooked) pork.  We arrived at opening on this rainy day, were seated, and checked the menu to discover…they had sold out of sammi pork the night before and wouldn’t have any on the lunch menu.  Strike one for me.  Hugely disappointed, I tried to make do by selecting a couple of alternate appetizers – only to be informed that the entire starter menu was unavailable.  Strike two.  Somewhat disappointed, I shifted focus to the rather abbreviated tonkatsu menu and chose a cut that the menu proclaimed the #1 choice of customers.  Only to be informed said cut was not available but I was free to choose from the remaining handful of selections.

It was that kind of meal – meaning really weird.  They seemed reluctant to give us tea when we asked, explaining that they usually only served tea at the end of the meal because they didn’t have enough.  We ended up getting our tea after assurances we would do our best to nurse to them the duration of our stay.

The complimentary grilled tomatoes were pretty good.

The pork tonkatsu was very good, but not as crispy as I expected.  It was served with pickles, miso soup, rice (that Akemi raved about), and endless shredded cabbage.

Overall a fine albeit underwhelming meal.  I think that I’ll scratch Butagumi off my go-to list and  look to check out Aoki on my next trip.

Always amazed by the offerings of Japanese vending machines.  Came across this one that carried dashi (not the whole dried fish) and crab hot pot with rice.

I drowned my post-lunch sorrows with chocolate – specifically, three types of chocolate cakes at Jean-Paul Hevin at their Roppongi Midtown location.  The portions have gotten smaller, the prices have gotten higher, but the cakes remain decadently delicious.

Celebrate the holidays with a couple of buckets of chicken and the gals from Twice.  Ooh-Ahh tasty!

Ginza at night

Wall art – Ginza, Tokyo

While visiting the Sanrio store, Akemi absolutely fell in love with this character who reminds her of our dog, Sharky.  Apparently he’s not a regular Sanrio character and is part of a recent collaboration, so if you know anything about him, Akemi needs to know.

For dinner, we went to a place Akemi had been looking forward to since discovering its owner on instagram.  She has brought her style of home-cooking to Ginza (and to our kitchen as Akemi has made a few of her recipes part of our regular rotation) at a restaurant that is at turns homey, charming, and downright festive as the drinks start flowing.