It was pouring with rain on the morning we left the Amanemu. I told several of the staff that we were crying and that the sky was crying because we were leaving. One Japanese member of staff said he found that thought, “so poetic”. Perhaps I have picked up a little of the Japanese culture along the way.
We went through some brighter spots on the rail journey back to Tokyo and hoped that the weather there might be better – the forecasts I had looked at suggested that the rain might stop in Tokyo mid-afternoon – but in fact it was bucketing down when we emerged at Asakusa, to such an extent that we got fairly drenched just walking the two to three minutes from the station to the Gate Hotel.
We resolved to go out if the weather improved and not to do so if it didn’t.
It didn’t.
The Gate restaurant was fairly heavily booked for the evening, with the big main room booked out for a function. But the maître-d took us, as residents, under his wing and said we could either eat at the bar straight away or wait until about 19:30 at which point he was sure he could have a nice table for us. He even arranged for us to be called in our room once the table came free.
The food at The Gate is western style but clearly a fashionable place for Japanese people to try western food. Wouldn’t have been my first choice but certainly preferable to the risk of that drowned rat feeling just before you fly. Also a fashionable place because the skyline views are so good…when it isn’t pouring with rain…the above pictures look interesting in the wet but hardly show the skyline.
Come the morning, the weather was much improved and I was able to take some good pictures of the skyline from the terrace.
Then we were chauffeured to the airport for a pretty event-free journey home.
I’ll let the photos tell most of the tale of the ANA flight, but here are the details of our last multi-course Japanese meal of this holiday.
Amuse:
Cheese stick brown pepper flavour;
Fois gras mousse with apricot gelee;
Pickled small red pimento with cheese in herb oil
Sashimi:
Konfu kelp-cured alfonsino
Poached big-fin reef squid
Konfu kelp-cured red sea bream
Kobachi (Tasty titbits):
Marinated snow crab, mushrooms and garland chrysanthemum
Shabu-shabu bolied beef and grilled eggplant in seseame cream
Main course: Grilled barracuda rolled with Daikoku Hon Shimaji mushroom
…nursing several glasses of alcoholic beverage at the same time throughout the main meal…
A bit of product placement here for my friend Rohan Candappa – a great book btw
…Daisy even doubled up on deserts and chocolates…
No wonder Daisy slept for much of the remainder of the flight – not that the sleep seemed to prevent her from getting jet lag far worse than mine for several days after our return. Oh well.
An early start today, finishing the packing, forwarding our baggage, breakfasting and checking out of the Park Hotel.
Frankly, we allowed far more time than was strictly necessary because the hotel was so incredibly efficient at doing its bits of the above process.
I was pretty efficient at doing my bit, which was to route us through a pretty complicated-sounding journey without mishaps and in good time.
We are now on our railcards so we cannot use automated barriers. This enabled me to use the (apparently non-male) technique of asking an official each time we went through a barrier which platform we needed for our next destination; just saying the name seemed to be enough but pointing to it on my piece of paper always sealed the deal.
Daisy took loads of photos on this journey, including one picture of Mount Fuji as we zoomed past it which I really cannot believe she managed to get that way – especially as she almost missed it and came rushing over to snap the icon at just the right moment.
We took a cab the last leg of the journey (this time aided by Daisy who spotted a tourist information booth at the railway station which I had missed – the lady in there called us a cab which came straight away – I think we might have waited a good few minutes otherwise). They don’t seem to expect tourists to be willing to fork out for cabs in that sort of remote part. They must have told us five times how much it cost (which was also clearly displayed on the taxi rank in English) to cab to Fukinomori – about £35 – which seemed worthwhile to me rather than wait hours for the local bus.
We got to the Fukinomori ryokan ahead of check in time, although we did blag our way to our room early after a few minutes waiting. There we relaxed, taking advantage of the afternoon sun on our terrace and I spent some time also fiddling about with the photos to make sure they were all backed up in the cloud in the way I want them.
Then, as the sun was setting, we braved the onsen – hot spring bath – located within Fukinomori. A false start as we had not put our yukata on properly, nor had we donned our tabi (socks), so a rather anxious member of staff took us back to our room and showed us what to do.
Second time lucky in the onsen. I chatted for a while with a lovely older gentleman from Brooklyn, Ron, who was full of interesting stories about his life and eventually suggested that the onsen might make an excellent mikveh.
Ron left before me, but by the time I got out, Mrs Ron was sending out search parties for Ron and Janie was wondering where I had got to. I really enjoyed my long soak and for sure will be back for more.
Then down to dinner soon after that for a fabulous Kaiseki meal:
Superb food, served gracefully by Hideo, who had also been our orienteer when we first arrived. Hideo’s English is not great, but he tries very hard and I was able to understand him. Some of the other residents seemed less patient with him at dinner and kept asking for the waitress, who had better English, to explain the dishes to them.
We saw Ron and Mrs Ron after dinner, who expressed great delight at their meal. They are strictly Kosher and they felt this was the one place that had really taken care not only to adhere to their restrictions but to prepare a well-balanced and delicious meal within their constraints. No horse intestine for those two, then. Tofu instead, perhaps? Even I might have preferred the tofu ahead of the horse and I’m no fan of tofu. We chewed, oh yes, we chewed. Strong meat too, horse intestine. But we absolutely loved all the other dishes.
An early night on our futon mats. I’m not entirely sure I am cut out for those – he says, writing up between 4.00 and 5.00 the next morning!
That feeling of jet lag and the realisation that we aren’t quite as young as we used to be hit us this morning. We had done a vast amount the day before and most unusually both slept on to surprise ourselves at around 9:00, at which point we got our skates on for breakfast.
Stunning view from our room at The Park
Daisy in particular went into slow-down mode, so we didn’t get out until 11:30/11:45. Still, we had planned a more modest itinerary for today, not least because we knew we’d need some evening time to get our luggage sorted out ahead of tomorrow’s sojourn to Tsumago while our main luggage will go to Takayama.
Daisy had been obsessing the last few days about Yayoi Kusama who has had a new museum dedicated to her work open in Tokyo recently, but which seems to be an utter sell out. We tried, the concierge tried, we knew that some of Daisy’s high-falutin’ clients had tried and failed…
My suggestion was that we go to the MOMAT (Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), not least in search of Yayoi Kusama but in any case to see the modern art more generally. (Spoiler alert – we found one Yayoi Kusama art work there plus an excellent book about her).
Actually the MOMAT was well worth seeing generally – spanning the early modern period to the present day and showing the work of some Western artists who had influenced or been influenced by Japanese artists, as well as mostly Japanese work.
Too many dicks, not enough Yayoi Kusamas (just this one)
After MOMAT, we strolled along the top of the Imperial Palace Gardens for 15 minutes or so to avoid changing metro lines and to see some Tokyo Sunday life.
That neighbourhood was jogger central on a Sunday – some sort of organised thing from what we could gather. The first batch that whizzed past us were running space cadet style. The ones Daisy eventually photographed were less than special joggers who did not look as though they were enjoying themselves.
Then on to the Nezu Museum, in an up-market looking neighbourhood. If Ginza is Piccadilly, then that area, Minato, is perhaps Sloane-Chelsea.
The Nezu Museum has a beautiful garden…
…and we were really in luck regarding the displays, as a fascinating exhibition about tea paraphernalia had opened the previous day; Momoyama Tea Utensils: A New View. Perhaps for that reason, there were a great many women dressed in traditional costume at the Museum that day. Daisy discreetly photographed them, although didn’t quite capture the strange sight of these traditional-look people taking selfies and consulting iPads.
The Nezu Cafe was a delight in terms of its look and the charming service. Lovely tea (ironically green tea not available – also sold out of most cakes!) but a truly stylish cafe with sweet staff.
Then back to Ginza. While we were taking tea, Daisy had an inspired idea to make it a one meal late afternoon/early evening day, so we’d get home in good time to pack and enjoy a quiet evening.
We chose Gonpachi; one of the recommended restaurants in our Audley pack. We fancied trying the grills – we hadn’t really tried those yet. Finding the place allowed us to see a bit more of Ginza – it really is a huge shopping district.
A big eatery although not very full at 17:00 on a Sunday – Gonpachi certainly had a buzz about it but my goodness we had terrible service. OK food – if or when it arrived – but truly poor service. Our first disappointment was to spot Kukuni – slow cooked belly pork – on the menu, only to be told that it was off today. Fair enough – we’ll search high and low for Kukuni for the next couple of weeks doubtless.
Yes, we have no Kukuni
We ordered a stack of other things, seemingly well advised by a waiter who told us the recommended sequence for serving our dishes, But when our order came, some of our grills (the chicken skin ones) came they not. Nor did they tempura come, which had been promised before the grills. When we raised this point, we were told that the chicken skins were off today (but they had taken that as part of our order) and that the tempura would be five more minutes. Eventually it came. Then we waited for our soba noodles…and waited and waited. Eventually we asked and were told it would be five minutes.
Eventually…
No apologies or attempts to put matters right for us in any other way. Gonpachi – remember the name. The place must have gone down hill since Tim or James from Audley recommended it.
No real harm done, though, we went home to pack and relax ahead of tomorrow’s journey. We’d had a great day.
I had croissants, yoghurt and fruit. Daisy had egg and toast.
Then we met our guide for the morning, Keiko. First up, she wanted to check all the tickets I had already been issued, then sort out with us getting the rail card authorised and seat reservations made for those elements that couldn’t be arranged for us in advance. In amongst all that, she was to explain how the PASMO card worked and how we might get around and eventually away from Tokyo.
What a palaver that turned out to be.
Before we met Keiko, I thought I understood most of it and also thought that the nice lady at the airport had explained the tricky bits of it to me. Then Keiko got going. Daisy took some photographs of this process which probably tell the story far better than words.
Hunched shoulders suggest the onset of tension
Jacket removal is also a worrying signSpecial pleading?“In which case, what the blithering **** is this one?”“We locals find it complicated too”, pleads Keiko.
Eventually we were ready to set off for Tokyo station, where we could get our rail passes authorised and seat reservations made and start out orientation tour of Tokyo.
Keiko showed us the subterranean world underneath our hotel and much of the surrounding area; not that you need to use the subterranean part quite so much but she was very keen to show us the route we need to follow the day we leave Tokyo, which did sort of make sense.
It was our good fortune that, while we woke to a rather cloudy looking day, by the time we emerged at Tokyo station the sun had come out, Even more so when we emerged again from Tokyo station with our rail passes and reservations – another minor palaver not least because the official seemed very keen for me to fill in the forms while standing, using only a flimsy plastic clip board for support. My handwriting is bad enough at the best of times and I insisted, in a rather inappropriately forceful, Western style I imagine, on having something more substantial to lean upon.
Bureaucracy satisfied, Keiko suggested that we look at the gardens around the Imperial Palace area, which was in easy walking distance from Tokyo station. Given the now glorious weather, that seemed a very sensible next move.
The outer gardens are rather charming sculpted fountains and the like. Then we went to the Eastern Garden, which is more like a London park in size and density of foliage. Very different look of course.
Keiko tried to explain the history of the place, the Edo period etc., together with the symbolism of many of the gates and carvings around the place. Janie found that a bit dense for a stroll in the park and spent much of the time, when not looking at the glorious greenery, plotting the next stage of our Tokyo day – which mostly involved seeing some trendy neighbourhoods recommended by her/our good friend Anthea.
Keiko was happy to sponsor (and indeed took great pains to tell us that she had a budget for) a taxi ride to our chosen location and some refreshments once we got there. So we taxi-rode to Harajuku, where we landed at Tokyo Plaza and went up to the Starbucks roof garden, to enjoy our traditional western-style drinks in a youthful environment.
By this stage of the proceedings, I was flying with my wireless internet connection and Mr Google, so we really felt that Keiko had completed her assignment – which was just as well because four hours had pretty much gone by. She stuck around with us, enjoying the drinks I think, before we said goodbye to her as I was making a bee-line for one of two ramen places that Mr Goggle told me were hot in the alleys nearby.
Oreryu was my top pick and it turned out to be a very good one. You choose your main ingredients on a machine which takes your money and vends only tickets. Janie chose roast pork ramen, I chose ramen with fried chicken.
Then a hostess/waitress takes your tickets and asks you several questions regarding the style of noodle-cooking (we chose medium), type of stock (we chose chicken) and in my case garnish (spinach). We queued on benches outside, then were stewarded to share a table with other noodle-slurpers.
Apart from a tiny mishap with my chicken pieces…
…which came so soon after my request (with much apology) they must have already been prepared for me, just not delivered, the meal was a resounding success in terms of flavour and service. Rather more than we intended to eat for lunch, but a superb meal.
Refreshed, we went in search of Brahms Path, which Anthea had recommended as an antidote to the heaving neighbourhoods that are Harajuku and Shibuya-Ku.
Indeed, once we strayed onto the main strip, Takeshita Street, we realised why Anthea recommended for us the maze of alleyways – with second-hand shops and other Portobello/Camden Lock-like treasures. All was worth seeing of course, including the heaving crowds on the main stretches.
Then we strolled back through the alleyways (ignoring Mr Google for once, who was keen for us to take the main strip) to find Shibuya Crossing, said to be the most crowded, shambolic crossing of all – although the one by Tokyo Plaza seemed, to us, perhaps a tad more manic. Judge for yourselves from the photos. Daisy was in her element here, clicking away.
Then the train to Ginza, to see the contrast with up-market shops. We checked out Matsuya, one of the better-known department stores.
“Pedestrianised” usually means “for walkers”, but in Ginza it also attracts “sitters”.
Then strolled with purpose in the direction of Ginza Six. I had read about the roof garden views and guessed that Ginza Six might also be a suitable place for some much needed (in my case) refreshment.
Like the mighty hunter that I am, I spotted my quarry and started to make a bee-line for Ginza Six. “Oh look, Uniqlo”, said Daisy, thwarting my plans for imminent views and refreshment.
Uniqlo in Ginza is a massive store which apparently sells stuff that Daisy likes. Several agonising floors, heaving with people and stewards trying to get people in, to their chosen floor and our again, later, Daisy had achieved her purpose. Along the way, several trial and errors in search of the desired garments, then I ended up a fair wad (although a much smaller wad than would have been the case in London) lighter. We emerged again, heads spinning, just in time to get to Ginza Six and see the rooftop garden at dusk. Well worth seeing – we got several good shots of Uniqlo across the way, ironically.
Refreshments tasted that much better for the extra wait. Then we headed back to the Park Hotel by foot, just as it started to drizzle with rain.
Mr Weather-app told us that the drizzle might turn to proper wet rain later, so we chose to stay in the hotel that evening (we weren’t that hungry) and snack on small bites in the Art Cafe in our hotel.
The lovely Ieva looked after us again, as did a funky waiter who helped us to enjoy some Japanese wine – a very unusual but subtle Chardonnay – Golch from Koshu and a Cabernet Sauvignon Tatikarao from Miyazaki, which includes some wild indigenous grapes that makes that blackberry-like flavour of Cabernet Sauvignon really shine through.
A truly super day.
All the pictures from Days Zero and One can be seen by clicking the Flickr link here or below:
We set off from Noddyland late afternoon. Daisy’s packing for this holiday was epic; the case was so heavy we couldn’t even weigh it to conclude that it was overweight until we had removed enormous quantities of extraneous lotions and potions.
At one point Daisy decided that she was never, ever, ever going to travel again, while I decided that I would never, ever, ever travel again with her.
Yet somehow we got the weight down (partly by balancing between her iron-clad case and my feather-light bag), so off we set – perhaps not for the very last time.
An event free journey, really. ANA was a very luxurious way to fly – the evening meal in particular was superb…
Amuse:
Cherry tomato caprese style;
Crab meat salad stuffed baby paprika;
Tandoori chicken with sour cream
We both chose Japanese Cuisine – Washoku
Zensai (A selection of morsels)
Grilled scallop with egg yolk;
Marinated thinly-sliced salmon head cartilage in bonito-vinegar sauce;
Chinese yam rolled with smoked salmon
Grilled welsh onion rolled with duck
Kobachi (Tasty titbits)
Dressed vegetables with tofu paste
Nimono (Simmered plate)
Simmered taro and eggplant in soy-based sauce
Top notch airplane grub
Shusai
Simmered sea bream in soy-based sauce
Steamed rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles
Deserts, Cheese, Fruits
19 October 2018
The breakfast/lunch meal was a bit of a bland let-down after the feast that was dinner – a Kobachi of simmered brown algae in soy-based sauce and a Shusai of Japanese sake-lees grilled salmon with steamed rice, miso soup & Japanese pickles.
We arrived in the afternoon Tokyo time feeling quite travel weary.
Daisy’s running joke for the journey had been a rather greedy, small man sitting next to us who kept asking for two portions of everything When we got off the plane he even had two items of hand luggage. We got our main baggage before his had arrived, but no doubt he had at least two big bags, perhaps more?
We were met at the airport by a rather nice lady who talked me through all the passes, vouchers and rail tickets that had been pre-booked for us and explained that tomorrow’s guide would sort out the rest of them. What seemed like several hours later, we were whisked away to our hotel, the Park, which, being in the South-Eastern hotel district, was a mercifully short ride from the airport.
We showered and I slept for a couple of hours before we built up the courage to brave the Hanasanshou Japanese restaurant located inside our hotel. We tried the chef’s recommended dinner which is an excellent tour d’horizon of Japanese food. The quality was high and the service charming too. When Daisy came and sat beside me for a few minutes while we awaited our food, they decided we wanted to sit next to each other and moved another table across so we could do so. Very sweet, we thought.
The excellent Chef’s Recommended Meal can be seen on this link.
The waiter is obviously a sake-sommelier in training. He recommended a couple of really nice sakes which accompanied the food really well.
The excellent sakes were Kirabi (from Toyama – went well with the fish courses) and Abukuma (from Kukishima – went well with the meats).
At the end of the meal we chatted for a while with Ieva, a charming young woman from Lithuania who is the food and beverage front of house at the Park Hotel.
