There are a grand total of three possible sleeping positions on an airplane seat and I exhausted all three today. I quite like the timing of the flights both to and from Tokyo. On the way there, the flight departs in the mid-afternoon, giving you plenty of time to sleep in and do your last…
November 9, 2012: Last full day in Tokyo! Restaurant Esquisse! Chez Tomo!
My friend Moro-san suggested we go to lunch at Restaurant Esquisse, a relatively new addition to the Ginza dining scene. It has only been open for about four months now and yet, in that short time, garnered some great word of mouth. Always up to trying something new, I booked us a table. I arrived…
November 8, 2012: The return of The Weird Food Purchase of the Day! Gyoza Stadium! Ice Cream City! Nodaiwa!
Today, Akemi and I headed over to Ikebukuro's Sunshine City Mall, home to Namco Namja Town's Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City. It's been some five years since my last visit to Ice Cream City (I still flashback to the aftertaste of that squid ice cream) and I was looking forward to the return trip.…
November 8, 2012: The Osaka wrap-up! Back in Tokyo! Family dinner! Honkogetsu! Killer ramen!
On our final night in Osaka, I was invited to join Akemi's family for a grand kaiseki dinner at Honkogetsu. It was a magnificent meal, due in large part to the food and company, but also in some small part because I made it through the meal without fumbling anything with my chopsticks or unwittingly…
November 5, 2012: What day is it? Oh, let’s call it Osaka Day #1! And the tail end of Tokyo Day #7! L’Effervescence! And dogs eating ice cream!
Today, we took the shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Osaka, riding (and eating) in comfort as the scenery whizzed by. It was quite comfortable (surprisingly roomier than any airline I've ever flown), with reserve seating and food vendors who stroll up and down the various cars, offering up everything from ice cream and coffee…
November 4, 2012: Tokyo Day #7! On the home front! L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon! Pieces of the Puzzle!
Here I've been wracking my brain, wondering how I could make a living if moved to Japan - when, suddenly, opportunity comes a-knocking: Japan suffers sumo wrestler shortage. The way I've been eating of late, I figure I should be ready for action in about two months. As much as I'm enjoying myself here in Tokyo,…
November 3, 2012: Tokyo Day #6! Pizza Seirinkan! The Molecular Tapas Bar!
I'd been thinking about it since my last trip here and, finally, yesterday, I finally got a chance to pay a return visit to Pizza Seirinkan. Joining me this time were Akemi and her friend Yukina... After lunch, we headed over to Electric Town, Akihabara, so I could track down a new Evangelion iPhone case…
November 1, 2012: Tokyo Day #4! Pierre Gagnaire!
Okay, I said late blog entry but I've got a window of opportunity here so it'll be an early blog post instead. Last night, I got together with my friend, Sachi, for dinner at Pierre Gagnaire in the ANA Continental Hotel. We spent much of the meal catching up on our respective lives. Sachi is…
October 31, 2012: Tokyo Day #3! Sawada! Shinjuku! Butagumi!
Last night, Akemi and I returned to our favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo: Sawada. It's always more than dinner, it's a show, with Master Sawada-san presenting a feast of varied sushis and sashimis, from sweet Hokkaido uni to grilled sea eel, all expertly prepared and utterly delicious. The restaurant itself is small, seating six at…
October 29, 2012: Tokyo Day #2! Roppongi! Faro! Yasai-ya Me!
Akemi is so adorable. She's apparently been in Canada so long that she's forgotten what it's like to live in Tokyo. "Tell me when you see a garbage can,"she said, waving the empty can she was holding. A garbage can? On the streets of Ginza? You're more likely to come across Godzilla. The plan was…
August 8, 2009: My Ballooning Tokyo Restaurant List. News of Note. Mailbag.
Okay. Almost there. Today, I finally trimmed both scripts down to a manageable 51 pages. Next up is the “Print and Pace” stage in which I have Lawren print me up a copy so that I can walk up and down the halls of the production office, script in hand, reading and revising, looking very…