There are three "can't miss" restaurants I HAVE to visit every time I come to Tokyo. The first is Sawada sushi - which, sadly, is closed during this two week stay. The second is Esquisse, a brilliant French restaurant headed by Chef Lionel Beccat - which we'll be visiting in the coming days. And the…
September 12, 2014: Tokyo Day #1 – Guts, Grub, and Garb!
It's a ten hour flight from Vancouver to Tokyo and I had hoped to sleep through part of it, but just as I was nodding off, about seven hours, I was awakened by one of the entertainment systems malfunctioning, emitting a sound akin to a spoke card's rat-tat-at. For about a half an hour. That's…
August 21, 2014: Jelly update! Japan plans!
I brought Jelly in to see a specialist last week. After a careful study of the x-rays and the my old gal, he reversed the initial diagnosis of a separated hip. Apparently, upon closer scrutiny, it looks bad - bad it isn't THAT bad. So that was great news. And then, Tuesday, she was unusually…
November 20, 2013: Tokyo Day #15!
The old adage is true. You never truly appreciate something until it's gone. Like, say, your appetite. Or even the ability to eat something without having it transform your stomach in a raging maelstrom. At the beginning of this trip, I was on the top of the world, assuming I'd get to try anything and…
November 19, 2013: Tokyo Day #14! Back on the horse! Oden! A return to an old favorite! And, of course, desserts!
I think I actually put on some weight on this trip. No. Really. Upon my arrival in Tokyo, I had a choice between two notches on my belt - the first, a little tight; the second, a little loose. I opted for the latter and, fourteen days later, that loose notch is actually kind of…
November 18, 2013: Tokyo Day #13! The Fine Art of Ramen! H.H. Giger prepares my meal at Chikuyotei! I finally pay the price!
Nobody appreciates the fine arts like I do and it should come as no surprise that there's nothing I enjoy more than hitting the local museums whenever I visit a foreign city. Such was the case yesterday when Akemi and I woke up early so that we could catch the bullet train to Yokohama and…
November 17, 2013: Tokyo Day #12! Doggy Daikanyama! Sushi Kanesaka! Dominique Bouchet!
Tokyo is a vibrant metropolis of neon lights and raucous party districts, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. work days and all night manga cafes were salarymen who have missed the last subway home can catch a few hours sleep before sunrise. It's can be chaotic and crowded... And yet, there are parts of Tokyo that…
November 16, 2013: Tokyo Day #11! Esquisse! Kushiage! Star Bar!
I have at least one revelatory dining experience every time I visit Tokyo and, on this trip, it was the dinner I had at Esquisse, Tokyo's hottest French restaurant. Located on the 9th floor of the Royal Crystal Ginza, Esquisse has only been open a year and a half but, in that short time, under…
November 15, 2013: Tokyo Day #10! Line-ups, Geek Central, and Chicken Sashimi!
If there's one thing the Japanese love, it's a line-up. And this fact was reinforced as we strolled through Ometasando yesterday where we noted not one, not two, but THREE line-ups. The first for a newly opened popcorn shop (?), the second for some other presumably new shop of indeterminate nature, and the third...for a…
November 14, 2013: Tokyo Day #9 Part Two! Studying robotics in Shinjuku!
Being a huge fan of science fiction, I have always been fascinated by the world of future tech: nanotechnology, faster than light travel and, of course, robotics. Last night, I was afforded the chance to explore the latter at one of Tokyo's hottest night spots, the Robot Restaurant, a place where science and spectacle converge…
November 14, 2013: Tokyo Day #9! Wherein we check out Akemi’s old neighborhood and I eat way too much. Again!
Yesterday, we took a day trip to Akemi's old stomping grounds, catching the Chiyoda line from Hibiya station to Yoyogi Uehara where we transferred to the Odakyu line and finally arrived in Seijogakuen-mae. In short, just a little easier to get there than it is to pronounce... Once we arrived the first thing we…
November 13, 2013: Tokyo Day #8! A day packed full of jam! And whisky!
Akemi: When I was a kid, I had big eyes. Like everyone in my family. Me: Why? Akemi: I'm not sure. Maybe because we eat a lot of meat. Well, just a little meat for me yesterday - but a lot of whisky. We joined Akemi's family for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants…
November 12, 2013: Tokyo Day #7! Noisy cell phones! Kamakura! Beware of Kites!
It would seem that my mother's opinion of Japan has taken a drastic u-turn after she watched the Tokyo episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown. I assured her that not all - in fact, I'd venture to say very few - Japanese women choose careers as skimpily-clad performance artists in robot theater. Also, I had no…
November 11, 2013: Tokyo Day #6! My Big Fat Japanese Wedding! Well, not “mine”, but darn close.
Poor white dress shirt planning. That's what it came down to. The occasion called for a black suit, white dress shirt, and white(ish) tie and I was ready. I traveled with not one but TWO white dress shirts (I'm not an idiot after all). Of course, it didn't dawn on me until this morning that…
November 10, 2013: Tokyo Day #5! Shaky shaky! Pork and promenades! Dinner at L’Effervesence!
We sure are experiencing a lot of turbulence, I thought to myself in my sleep-addled state. Suddenly, I stopped brushing. Wait a minute. I'm in my hotel room. "Did you feel the earthquake?"asked Akemi as I stepped out of the bathroom. The national news was already reporting on the 4.0 quake, a relatively minor that,…