The accidental stop

Day 1-4, January 12-15, 2007, Tokyo.

When I first was thinking of an itinerary for this trip, Japan wasn't on it.  The original plan was to fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong, stop there for a couple of days, and then go on to South East Asia.  But I'm flying on miles, and all the flights to Hong Kong were booked for the whole month of January, so I had to go through Tokyo instead.  I decided to take advantage of the routing and spend a couple of days in Tokyo, even though I was worried about the weather (the temperature was just above freezing in Tokyo) and the costs.

Well, am I ever glad that I did it.  I absolutely loved Tokyo, despite the bitter cold.  I loved the food, the people, the culture, the sights, the subway, the fashion, the architecture, absolutely everything.  The cost of living was not nearly as bad as I expected, I felt that it was actually cheaper than Manhattan or Paris, and definitely cheaper than London or Oslo (the two most expensive cities I've been to).  I stayed in a beautiful traditional Japanese hotel (a Ryokan) in Asakusa, one of the old quarters of Tokyo.

Ivana put me in touch with her friend Renald, a fellow Canadian who has been working for the Canadian Consulate in Tokyo for the last couple of years.  Renald was a very gracious host and took me to some of his favorite sights and restaurants in town, including the Meiji shrine where I took this picture of him(check out the Japanese teenagers dressed up in Manga outfits in the background):

I had some fabulous meals in Tokyo, and found the food quite reasonably priced, especially since the menu prices always include tax and service.  The first night we went to an Izakaya in Shibuya, where my favorite dish was the tofu and yuzu gyozas.  Of course, we made sure to wash down the food with the plenty of beer and sake, as an Izakaya is just as much about drinking as it is about eating.  Saturday morning, I went to the Tsukiji wholesale fish market where I saw giant frozen tunas being carved in every possible way.  Like a good tourist, I followed that with sushi for breakfast at a nearby restaurant.  These sushi joints get so busy that the line up outside can be as long as one and a half hour.  I picked one with a mere 20 minutes wait, and was soon eating simple but delicious sushi.  During the trip, I also went to restaurants specializing in Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers, using every part of the chicken), Soba noodles and Tempura.  I ended up liking Tokyo so much that I decided to spend an extra day there, and cut my Hong Kong stay by a day.

Click on the picture below for more pictures in Tokyo:

Comments

[Kuassi]

I too have a very good memory of Tokyo. Is that Kobe beef on the picture?

Have fun!

[Saleemah]

Hey! Let me know when you're in Cambodia and I can put you in touch with some friends there. I was there while you were in Tokyo/Hong Kong. Also, not sure what your budget is, but in Phnom Penh you must stay at Raffles - reasonably priced. I can put you in touch with a friend who works for the hotel - she's fantastic. Happy travels!

[dc]

I love pictures of fish in the morning.

[Malik Kalfane]

Kuassi, that's a picture of otoro, the fattiest cut of the tuna belly.

Saleemah, thanks for the tip, I'll be in touch.