Fat And Furious: A Gluttonous Tour Of Japan (SQ Suites, ANA 787, RC Kyoto and more!)
May 1, 2015, 9:57 pm
#76
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YTZ, YYZ, AMS
Programs: Platinum Zirconium in Life, aeroplan, FB, Avios, IHG
Posts: 603
Ippodo had a great selection of teas, and some good instructional material for novices like ourselves. After trying no fewer than 10 different types, we settled on some sencha tea.
Would you suggest buying tea there? Was it worth it?
Nice report about Kyoto. Getting around on bikes seems like a great idea. I am guessing you went in spring which seems busy because of the cherry blossoms. Would fall or early spring be less busy?
Would you suggest buying tea there? Was it worth it?
Nice report about Kyoto. Getting around on bikes seems like a great idea. I am guessing you went in spring which seems busy because of the cherry blossoms. Would fall or early spring be less busy?
May 2, 2015, 1:22 pm
#77
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,820
Only problem is I have seen large lineups outside donut shops and flavoured popcorn places. Beware fad food line ups in Japan.
May 4, 2015, 1:49 pm
#79
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Ippodo had a great selection of teas, and some good instructional material for novices like ourselves. After trying no fewer than 10 different types, we settled on some sencha tea.
Would you suggest buying tea there? Was it worth it?
Nice report about Kyoto. Getting around on bikes seems like a great idea. I am guessing you went in spring which seems busy because of the cherry blossoms. Would fall or early spring be less busy?
Would you suggest buying tea there? Was it worth it?
Nice report about Kyoto. Getting around on bikes seems like a great idea. I am guessing you went in spring which seems busy because of the cherry blossoms. Would fall or early spring be less busy?
Yes, highly recommend renting bikes. We were definitely there during the start of peak season because of cherry blossoms, but the crowds were manageable even at the main sites (golden temple, silver temple, bamboo forest, fushimi inari). I think that the cherry blossoms are so beautiful that it's worth it to go during that time, even if it's less busy in fall or early spring.
Thanks, Aventine!
May 4, 2015, 2:56 pm
#80
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 48
Fantastic trip report. Loving it so far and it's making me pine for Japan. It's my favourite country, the people are just incredibly friendly and helpful.
One thing that surprised me was the bamboo forest, I was there last year and found it really disappointing. It was jam packed with people and there were taxis driving up and down it as well! I did enjoy the garden at the top though, it had a fantastic view of Kyoto.
One thing that surprised me was the bamboo forest, I was there last year and found it really disappointing. It was jam packed with people and there were taxis driving up and down it as well! I did enjoy the garden at the top though, it had a fantastic view of Kyoto.
May 4, 2015, 3:31 pm
#81
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Kaiseki Dinner at 3-Michelin Star Kikunoi Honten
As a food-lover (I'm not a fan of the term "foodie", but let's save that discussion for another time), vacations are as much about seeing new places as they are about trying new foods. And as much as I love stuffing my face with street food, for me no trip is complete without also splurging on a fine dining experience. In past trips, a front-runner for that fine dining meal has naturally emerged as we conducted our research, including restaurants such as El Celler De Can Roca near Barcelona, Steirereck in Vienna, and Astrid y Gaston in Lima.
But here's the problem with Japan - there are simply too many world-class restaurants to choose from, evidenced by the fact that they have the most Michelin-starred restaurants of any country in the world.
Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, all of the restaurants we were considering in Tokyo didn't have any reservations available. That allowed us to shift our focus to Kyoto, and after narrowing further to a handful of contenders, we ultimately selected the 3-Michelin Star Kikunoi Honten.
As we arrived we were greeted by the owner's daughter, and escorted inside to our own private dining room, which even included a private bathroom.
Since we had planned to eat at a fancy 3-Michelin Star restaurant, I had been debating whether or not to pack a suit for the trip. I searched far and wide online, but there was no specified dress code. I ended up ditching the suit at home and simply wore a button-down shirt with jeans. Since you are isolated to your own room, my hunch is that you get away with pretty casual attire, and after all, you'll be sitting on the floor!
Outside our dining room there was a beautiful Koi pond.
As we got settled in we were introduced to the concept of a kaiseki meal, and given a copy of the restaurant's cookbook to peruse. We'd be sampling some of the signature dishes from here later on. The book broke down the difference in kaiseki menus by season, which is driven by the types of fish and other ingredients available during that time of year. Our menu would be the Spring version, which is the most popular, at least according to the waitress.
The restaurant offered 5 different levels of kaiseki menus to choose from, ranging from $120-$250 per person for the meal. We were asked to choose prior to arrival, and ended up selecting the 4th highest option. No sample menus were available ahead of time since the menu changed daily based on availability, but were told that the more expensive menus would feature more exotic and higher-quality ingredients, as opposed to more courses.
A copy of our menu was presented, outlining the 12-courses that we were about to devour. I'm a pretty adventurous eater so nothing jumped out at me at first...until I got down to the "shark fin and soft shell turtle soup". Ethics aside, as a Chinese person I've been raised to enjoy shark fin as a delicacy, but the soft shell turtle sounded a bit scary.
And off we went - first up some delicious milky tofu with sea urchin to kick things off.
Next up, one of the restaurant's signature dishes - an assortment of appetizers including sea bream, grilled squid, fava beans, mountain yam, poached octopus, and abalone. More than anything, I was impressed by the attention to detail in the presentation.
We had been dying to try some amazing sushi, and finally got it in the next course. The tai (red sea bream) sashimi was really good, but the spiny lobster sashimi was OUT OF THIS WORLD.
And the last sashimi dish, some young maguro or bluefin tuna with a dab of hot mustard on top. The spiny lobster was a hard act to follow, but this came pretty close. The fish was so incredibly fresh, like it had been plucked from the sea just minutes before we ate it.
Next up, tilefish with sticky rice in a ginger broth.
I didn't think that anything could beat the spiny lobster sashimi, until I had a bite of the grilled smoked ocean trout. Ironically, while kaiseki menus focus on local ingredients, this was one of the only things from the meal that wasn't local and had been imported from Tasmania.
Then some grilled bamboo shoots that had been picked that morning.
This was definitely a unique twist on the traditional palate cleanser - a strawberry sorbet laced with wasabi. I don't like wasabi at all, but luckily it was mild enough.
One dish that I didn't care for too much, a salad of udo stalk. GIVE ME MORE MEAT.
And now the shark fin and turtle soup. First of all, damn that's a huge piece of shark fin. I'm used to getting little slivers of shark fin similar to cellophane noodles mixed in a huge bowl of soup, so this might as well been a shark fin steak. The green rectangle was mugwort tofu which was quite good and had an interesting chewy texture.
That brings me to the turtle...maybe I just couldn't get over the mental hurdle of eating turtle, so I sort of put it in my mouth and washed it down. It was really, really chewy which didn't help, and probably not something I'd look to eat again.
The perfect remedy for getting over my ingestion of turtle, a huge pot of bamboo shoot rice and one of the many bowls I had is shown below. While each course looks small and delicate, they add up and even for a big eater like myself, by this point I was absolutely stuffed.
But there's always room for dessert and especially when it's an amazing plate of toasted barley ice cream with sponge cake pudding.
And lastly, the kaiseki meal's version of the petite four, and exactly what my wife was hoping for - matcha mochi with a special green tea.
Our kaiseki meal was absolutely perfect. The food was truly spectacular, both in taste and in presentation, and the deliciousness of the spiny lobster sashimi and smoked trout will forever remain tattooed in my mind (or mouth).
The service was also perfect, and our dedicated waitress' attention to detail was immaculate. Despite being in our own room with the door closed, she had some sort of "spidey-sense" and knew exactly when we were ready for the next course and thus the pacing of the meal was perfect. Also, every time she came by with the next course, she'd wipe up even the smallest of small drops of food that had spilled off of our plates and onto the tray.
For the food-lovers out there, if you're planning a trip to Kyoto, your trip simply won't be complete without experiencing a kaiseki meal and I can't think of any better place to have it than Kikunoi Honten.
But here's the problem with Japan - there are simply too many world-class restaurants to choose from, evidenced by the fact that they have the most Michelin-starred restaurants of any country in the world.
Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, all of the restaurants we were considering in Tokyo didn't have any reservations available. That allowed us to shift our focus to Kyoto, and after narrowing further to a handful of contenders, we ultimately selected the 3-Michelin Star Kikunoi Honten.
As we arrived we were greeted by the owner's daughter, and escorted inside to our own private dining room, which even included a private bathroom.
Since we had planned to eat at a fancy 3-Michelin Star restaurant, I had been debating whether or not to pack a suit for the trip. I searched far and wide online, but there was no specified dress code. I ended up ditching the suit at home and simply wore a button-down shirt with jeans. Since you are isolated to your own room, my hunch is that you get away with pretty casual attire, and after all, you'll be sitting on the floor!
Outside our dining room there was a beautiful Koi pond.
As we got settled in we were introduced to the concept of a kaiseki meal, and given a copy of the restaurant's cookbook to peruse. We'd be sampling some of the signature dishes from here later on. The book broke down the difference in kaiseki menus by season, which is driven by the types of fish and other ingredients available during that time of year. Our menu would be the Spring version, which is the most popular, at least according to the waitress.
The restaurant offered 5 different levels of kaiseki menus to choose from, ranging from $120-$250 per person for the meal. We were asked to choose prior to arrival, and ended up selecting the 4th highest option. No sample menus were available ahead of time since the menu changed daily based on availability, but were told that the more expensive menus would feature more exotic and higher-quality ingredients, as opposed to more courses.
A copy of our menu was presented, outlining the 12-courses that we were about to devour. I'm a pretty adventurous eater so nothing jumped out at me at first...until I got down to the "shark fin and soft shell turtle soup". Ethics aside, as a Chinese person I've been raised to enjoy shark fin as a delicacy, but the soft shell turtle sounded a bit scary.
And off we went - first up some delicious milky tofu with sea urchin to kick things off.
Next up, one of the restaurant's signature dishes - an assortment of appetizers including sea bream, grilled squid, fava beans, mountain yam, poached octopus, and abalone. More than anything, I was impressed by the attention to detail in the presentation.
We had been dying to try some amazing sushi, and finally got it in the next course. The tai (red sea bream) sashimi was really good, but the spiny lobster sashimi was OUT OF THIS WORLD.
And the last sashimi dish, some young maguro or bluefin tuna with a dab of hot mustard on top. The spiny lobster was a hard act to follow, but this came pretty close. The fish was so incredibly fresh, like it had been plucked from the sea just minutes before we ate it.
Next up, tilefish with sticky rice in a ginger broth.
I didn't think that anything could beat the spiny lobster sashimi, until I had a bite of the grilled smoked ocean trout. Ironically, while kaiseki menus focus on local ingredients, this was one of the only things from the meal that wasn't local and had been imported from Tasmania.
Then some grilled bamboo shoots that had been picked that morning.
This was definitely a unique twist on the traditional palate cleanser - a strawberry sorbet laced with wasabi. I don't like wasabi at all, but luckily it was mild enough.
One dish that I didn't care for too much, a salad of udo stalk. GIVE ME MORE MEAT.
And now the shark fin and turtle soup. First of all, damn that's a huge piece of shark fin. I'm used to getting little slivers of shark fin similar to cellophane noodles mixed in a huge bowl of soup, so this might as well been a shark fin steak. The green rectangle was mugwort tofu which was quite good and had an interesting chewy texture.
That brings me to the turtle...maybe I just couldn't get over the mental hurdle of eating turtle, so I sort of put it in my mouth and washed it down. It was really, really chewy which didn't help, and probably not something I'd look to eat again.
The perfect remedy for getting over my ingestion of turtle, a huge pot of bamboo shoot rice and one of the many bowls I had is shown below. While each course looks small and delicate, they add up and even for a big eater like myself, by this point I was absolutely stuffed.
But there's always room for dessert and especially when it's an amazing plate of toasted barley ice cream with sponge cake pudding.
And lastly, the kaiseki meal's version of the petite four, and exactly what my wife was hoping for - matcha mochi with a special green tea.
Our kaiseki meal was absolutely perfect. The food was truly spectacular, both in taste and in presentation, and the deliciousness of the spiny lobster sashimi and smoked trout will forever remain tattooed in my mind (or mouth).
The service was also perfect, and our dedicated waitress' attention to detail was immaculate. Despite being in our own room with the door closed, she had some sort of "spidey-sense" and knew exactly when we were ready for the next course and thus the pacing of the meal was perfect. Also, every time she came by with the next course, she'd wipe up even the smallest of small drops of food that had spilled off of our plates and onto the tray.
For the food-lovers out there, if you're planning a trip to Kyoto, your trip simply won't be complete without experiencing a kaiseki meal and I can't think of any better place to have it than Kikunoi Honten.
May 5, 2015, 2:18 pm
#83
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: ANC
Programs: AS; Hyatt; Bonvoy
Posts: 1,718
Once again, thank you for the beautiful food photography and descriptions.
It's refreshing to be able to follow a trip report that is about more than first-class air travel and airport lounges (not that those things aren't important!).
It's refreshing to be able to follow a trip report that is about more than first-class air travel and airport lounges (not that those things aren't important!).
May 5, 2015, 9:34 pm
#84
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Fantastic trip report. Loving it so far and it's making me pine for Japan. It's my favourite country, the people are just incredibly friendly and helpful.
One thing that surprised me was the bamboo forest, I was there last year and found it really disappointing. It was jam packed with people and there were taxis driving up and down it as well! I did enjoy the garden at the top though, it had a fantastic view of Kyoto.
One thing that surprised me was the bamboo forest, I was there last year and found it really disappointing. It was jam packed with people and there were taxis driving up and down it as well! I did enjoy the garden at the top though, it had a fantastic view of Kyoto.
Totally agree - I'm not among the subset of FT'ers for which the First Class flight and lounge experience is a trip in itself. Yes, I love flying F, but I'd much rather take the most expedient routing so I can arrive at my destination and eat on the ground rather than in the air.
May 7, 2015, 3:11 pm
#85
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
The Peninsula Tokyo
Even though I'm a total creature of habit, there was no way that I'd forgo the opportunity to stay at a different hotel when we returned to Tokyo. Similar to my restaurant dilemma, Tokyo has so many amazing luxury hotels to choose from that it was hard to pick one. Ultimately, I settled on The Peninsula Tokyo, mainly because I'd been wanting to stay at a Peninsula property for quite some time.
Our shinkansen arrived at Tokyo Station in the late afternoon, and even though we had our luggage with us, we ended up walking to the hotel. It wasn't bad at all, and arrived about 15 minutes later.
Overall, the hotel's location is great and much better than the Conrad's. It's tucked away on a relatively quiet street but within a 5-10 minute walk to 3 different subway lines, and about a 10-15 minute walk to Ginza.
The Peninsula hotels are known for their fleets of Rolls Royce's, and one of the classic versions was parked outside.
We walked into the hotel lobby and stopped in our tracks. The decor was simply stunning.
The lobby bar was buzzing with happy hour, and we'd return for breakfast and afternoon tea later on during our stay.
Compared to the boutique feel of the Ritz Carlton Kyoto, there's no mistaking the Peninsula for a boutique hotel. This is your typical urban skyscraper with 314 rooms spread across 24 floors. While most of the hotel guests we encountered in Matsuyama and Kyoto were tourists, the check-in line was filled with corporate-looking folks.
We arrived at the 16th floor and were immediately drawn to the unique art display along the elevator banks of each floor. A dark shaft that spanned the height of the hotel was filled with some sort of lighted cones.
While I'm generally happy with the entry-level room and not very big on paying for views, we were late to the game in booking our room and since it was cherry blossom season, couldn't be too picky with what was left.
Our Deluxe Park View room featured views of the Imperial Palace on one side.
And a peek-a-boo view of Tokyo Tower on the other side.
Compared to our other rooms, this one was absolutely massive. The bed was amazing and featured some of the most comfortable linens I've ever had the pleasure of sleeping on.
The bed area flowed into a large living room with a sofa, work station, and small dining table.
Waiting for us on the dining table was a much-appreciated snack, and we took a short break to plan our itinerary for the next few days.
The centerpiece of the bathroom was the large soaking tub.
The bathroom also featured duel vanities and a large shower stall.
And Oscar de la Renta-branded toiletries.
Across from the bathroom was a huge walk-in closet that featured a make-up booth that was even larger than the one at the Burj Al Arab. My wife was in heaven with all the mirrors which must have added at least 10 minutes to her morning routine each day.
I'm always appreciative of a large area to place the suitcases, and in the drawer below were his and hers yukata.
But the most impressive feature of the room had to be all of the technological gizmos. First of all, the room was setup with automatic black-out curtains that made the room feel like a cave even in the middle of the day. In addition to Japanese tea, in the living room there was a fancy espresso machine.
And in the bathroom, a Japanese toilet that had more buttons than I knew what to do with.
Need to know the temperature outside? And more importantly, the strength and direction of the wind? Don't worry, the hotel's got you covered. The room was also wired with internet radio.
There was even a built-in nail dryer in the make-up booth.
Let's talk food - our room included breakfast, which was available both in the hotel lobby was well as downstairs in the bakery cafe. The first morning I had the Japanese breakfast which was virtually indistinguishable from the ones I had at the other hotels.
The next day I tried the Western breakfast which was pretty standard, but high-quality. The set menu came with a pastry basket, juice, and a choice of entrees.
On our last day, we ventured downstairs to the hotel basement to eat in the bakery cafe.
The buffet was really just the same stuff offered in the lobby, but buffet-style. Overall, the breakfast paled in comparison to the ones at both the Conrad Tokyo and Ritz-Carlton Kyoto.
After breakfast clears out, the bakery cafe is open the rest of the day and we stopped by a couple times to grab some pastries and chocolates.
Like Krispy Kreme, the bakers were on full display.
We also tried the afternoon tea set in the lobby lounge which featured a wide range of cakes, pastries, and scones.
Lastly, if you're going to eat that much food then you better work out. We used the fitness center and the pool at the hotel which were both top-notch.
This pool is really as good as it gets for swimmers - there was a dedicated lane for swimming laps, as well as a clock for those that wanted to do sets. Next to the pool, there was a hot tub and outdoor deck that overlooked the Imperial Palace and was the perfect place to catch the sunset.
The only nit-picky thing was that the hotel actually charged for swimming gear rental, whereas all the other hotels we stayed at offered it for free. That resulted in the walk of shame on our first visit to the pool as we had to go back to the room to change into our own swimming gear after deciding not to pay the rental fee.
Overall, we had a wonderful stay at The Peninsula Tokyo, and it was a fantastic first experience with the Peninsula Hotel chain. Hopefully we'll get to sample their other properties in the (near) future including the iconic Peninsula Hong Kong and their newest hotel in Paris.
Our shinkansen arrived at Tokyo Station in the late afternoon, and even though we had our luggage with us, we ended up walking to the hotel. It wasn't bad at all, and arrived about 15 minutes later.
Overall, the hotel's location is great and much better than the Conrad's. It's tucked away on a relatively quiet street but within a 5-10 minute walk to 3 different subway lines, and about a 10-15 minute walk to Ginza.
The Peninsula hotels are known for their fleets of Rolls Royce's, and one of the classic versions was parked outside.
We walked into the hotel lobby and stopped in our tracks. The decor was simply stunning.
The lobby bar was buzzing with happy hour, and we'd return for breakfast and afternoon tea later on during our stay.
Compared to the boutique feel of the Ritz Carlton Kyoto, there's no mistaking the Peninsula for a boutique hotel. This is your typical urban skyscraper with 314 rooms spread across 24 floors. While most of the hotel guests we encountered in Matsuyama and Kyoto were tourists, the check-in line was filled with corporate-looking folks.
We arrived at the 16th floor and were immediately drawn to the unique art display along the elevator banks of each floor. A dark shaft that spanned the height of the hotel was filled with some sort of lighted cones.
While I'm generally happy with the entry-level room and not very big on paying for views, we were late to the game in booking our room and since it was cherry blossom season, couldn't be too picky with what was left.
Our Deluxe Park View room featured views of the Imperial Palace on one side.
And a peek-a-boo view of Tokyo Tower on the other side.
Compared to our other rooms, this one was absolutely massive. The bed was amazing and featured some of the most comfortable linens I've ever had the pleasure of sleeping on.
The bed area flowed into a large living room with a sofa, work station, and small dining table.
Waiting for us on the dining table was a much-appreciated snack, and we took a short break to plan our itinerary for the next few days.
The centerpiece of the bathroom was the large soaking tub.
The bathroom also featured duel vanities and a large shower stall.
And Oscar de la Renta-branded toiletries.
Across from the bathroom was a huge walk-in closet that featured a make-up booth that was even larger than the one at the Burj Al Arab. My wife was in heaven with all the mirrors which must have added at least 10 minutes to her morning routine each day.
I'm always appreciative of a large area to place the suitcases, and in the drawer below were his and hers yukata.
But the most impressive feature of the room had to be all of the technological gizmos. First of all, the room was setup with automatic black-out curtains that made the room feel like a cave even in the middle of the day. In addition to Japanese tea, in the living room there was a fancy espresso machine.
And in the bathroom, a Japanese toilet that had more buttons than I knew what to do with.
Need to know the temperature outside? And more importantly, the strength and direction of the wind? Don't worry, the hotel's got you covered. The room was also wired with internet radio.
There was even a built-in nail dryer in the make-up booth.
Let's talk food - our room included breakfast, which was available both in the hotel lobby was well as downstairs in the bakery cafe. The first morning I had the Japanese breakfast which was virtually indistinguishable from the ones I had at the other hotels.
The next day I tried the Western breakfast which was pretty standard, but high-quality. The set menu came with a pastry basket, juice, and a choice of entrees.
On our last day, we ventured downstairs to the hotel basement to eat in the bakery cafe.
The buffet was really just the same stuff offered in the lobby, but buffet-style. Overall, the breakfast paled in comparison to the ones at both the Conrad Tokyo and Ritz-Carlton Kyoto.
After breakfast clears out, the bakery cafe is open the rest of the day and we stopped by a couple times to grab some pastries and chocolates.
Like Krispy Kreme, the bakers were on full display.
We also tried the afternoon tea set in the lobby lounge which featured a wide range of cakes, pastries, and scones.
Lastly, if you're going to eat that much food then you better work out. We used the fitness center and the pool at the hotel which were both top-notch.
This pool is really as good as it gets for swimmers - there was a dedicated lane for swimming laps, as well as a clock for those that wanted to do sets. Next to the pool, there was a hot tub and outdoor deck that overlooked the Imperial Palace and was the perfect place to catch the sunset.
The only nit-picky thing was that the hotel actually charged for swimming gear rental, whereas all the other hotels we stayed at offered it for free. That resulted in the walk of shame on our first visit to the pool as we had to go back to the room to change into our own swimming gear after deciding not to pay the rental fee.
Overall, we had a wonderful stay at The Peninsula Tokyo, and it was a fantastic first experience with the Peninsula Hotel chain. Hopefully we'll get to sample their other properties in the (near) future including the iconic Peninsula Hong Kong and their newest hotel in Paris.
May 8, 2015, 11:19 pm
#88
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Germany
Posts: 3,791
Amazing food... er, I mean trip report! Loving every bit of it - can't wait for the wagyu steak!
You must be a very efficient eater if you finished your meals before your wife did, despite spending time taking all these beautiful photos 
Keep 'em coming!
My wife was happy with this pacing, since for a fast eater like myself, there wasn't any way to finish my meal quickly and then just sit there staring at (and annoying) her.
Keep 'em coming!
May 9, 2015, 10:19 am
#89
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
I thought that I'd feel weird about using them as well, especially given how much of a germophobe I am. But the swim suits had clearly been cleaned since the prior use, and it sure beats carrying a damp suit back to the room and then into your luggage.
Haha, I have been known in inhale my food, so she gets stressed trying to keep up. All the pictures help to slow me down a bit!
May 10, 2015, 2:55 pm
#90
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
At Kyoto Station we hopped on the shinkansen for a very pleasant 2-hour journey to Tokyo. Even by the lofty standards of train systems in Asia, the shinkansen is truly amazing.
We had received some mixed signals from the hotel concierge on whether to book our tickets in advance. Perhaps the they assumed that we were using the Japan Rail Pass, in which case you will want to make reservations ahead of time. Since we weren't, we simply purchased tickets at Kyoto Station for the next Nozomi train which left every 15 minutes.
We found our assigned seats, and the car was no more than 1/4th full. The seats were extremely comfortable, and featured a table, footrest, and in-seat power.
The highlight of the ride were the views of Mt. Fuji, for which you'll want to sit on the left hand side of the train in the Kyoto to Tokyo direction. We had assigned seats on the left hand side of the train, and during boarding I remember thinking that it was peculiar that everyone was seated on that side. It all made sense later on, and space permitting, I think the default is to seat people on the Mt. Fuji side of the train in each direction.
With 4 days remaining on the trip, we had an ambitious list of things to do in Tokyo. After checking into the hotel, that night we jumped on the metro and headed over to Akihabara to check-out the nightlife.
First stop, the maid cafe. Japan has several interesting and unique cafes, with themes ranging from jail to toilets to ninjas. There were a couple different maid cafes in the area, and we ended up trying Maidreamin'.
For the record, this was my wife's idea more than anything, and I got dragged along begrudgingly.
As soon as you walk in you're swarmed by several Japanese girls dressed in French maid costumes. The maid cafe is all about cute-sy stuff, and the girls certainly play to that theme with over-the-top high pitched voices and gestures. I walked in thinking that this would be a tourist trap, but funny enough we were the only tourists in the whole place, and one of the largest groups appeared to be there for some kind of company off-site.
Everything was way overpriced as there was both an hourly table charge, and minimum purchase of 1 item per person. Even though we heard that the food here was just OK, I have to give an A+ for the presentation, as my rice omelet was almost too cute to eat.
Overall this just wasn't my type of thing, but could be worth it if you're looking for the type of experience that you could only find in Japan.
Afterwards, we walked around Akihabara a bit more and stumbled into what appeared to be an Oktoberfest celebration. It certainly looked authentic, with its Spaten beer, bratwursts, and German pretzels.
Outside the Oktoberfest celebration there was a huge group of cosplayers hanging out and posing for pictures.
Not sure what's funnier - stumbling into an Oktoberfest celebration. In March. In the middle of Japan.
Or running into a girl dressed in a tomato costume next to a life-size plastic cup of beer.
The next day we headed over to Shibuya to do some shopping, but stopped outside the Shibuya metro station first to check out famous Hachiko statue.
And my pathetic attempt to capture the famous crosswalk.
My wife dragged me around the Shibuya 101 stores for a couple of hours, and we must have walked out with at least 10 bags which I of course had the honor of carrying for the rest of the day.
After shopping we decided to head over to Harajuku, and on the way stumbled into this pet store. These little guys could melt your heart.
We continued on, and stumbled upon a long line of people. By now, it was almost second nature to just jump in line to see what the fuss was all about.
As I wrote before, I had fallen in love with melon buns while in Japan. But what's the only thing better than a melon bun? A MELON BUN ICE CREAM SANDWICH.
We arrived in Harajuku and waded through the busy Takeshita Street which was by far the most crowded place we encountered during our entire trip. It was literally wall-to-wall people for about half a mile.
There was a screen on the banner under the street sign and it was fun to try and capture a picture of our picture.
And the best part of walking around Harajuku was checking out all the interesting outfits.
In general we love walking when on vacation, but I have to say that Tokyo isn't a very walkable city because it's so damn big. We stubbornly stuck to walking as opposed to taking the subway, and averaged about 10-15 miles per day.
So my feet were howling at this point as we began the walk from Harajuku to Shinjuku. But as much as I was complaining during that walk, this scene made all of it worth it.
In fact, this is probably one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life, a real life Mario Kart crew! These guys took their costumes seriously, and even had a stuffed power-up mushroom with them (or is it an extra life, I must be getting rusty).
And a special shout-out to my go-to character, Yoshi. But minus one point for not being 100% in character with the surgical mask.
We took another break shortly after and hopped in a Mitsukoshi department store for a snack. I took another opportunity to marvel and just how freaking expensive some of the fruit was. For example, this melon below cost $200. In my mind, there is no way that a single piece of fruit could possibly justify that price tag.
And now, one of the biggest highlights of our time in Tokyo which was just as amazing as the cherry blossoms, but in a completely different way.
Following our friend's recommendation, we decided to buy tickets to the Robot Restaurant, which to clarify is really more of a show than a food establishment. I'd recommend getting tickets well in advance, as we booked ours a week out and at that point only had our choice of a single showtime across 4 days.
Everyone there was a tourist which I was actually fine with and sort of expected.
Our friend described the experience as "sensory overload", but that's the understatement of the century. We walked into the waiting room, which looks a little something like this.
The waiting room alone had enough mirrors, colors, and neon lights to give you into a seizure. At the back of the room was a small stage, and later on a robot quartet came out to play a few songs.
Even the bathroom was "robot-ized".
About 30 minutes later we were led down into the basement for the main show. From the moment you walked in, there really was no break from the theme, and even the walk downstairs was entertaining.
The show itself was about 90 minutes long and passed by in a flash. It was an entertaining and eclectic mix of robots, music, and sexy costumes. They definitely have the marketing part down to a science, and every 15 minutes there would be a break where people would come by to sell refreshments.
Not everyone may have felt this way, but I walked away feeling like I got my money's worth and would definitely recommend the show. I mean, where else in the world are you going to find dancing robots?
We had received some mixed signals from the hotel concierge on whether to book our tickets in advance. Perhaps the they assumed that we were using the Japan Rail Pass, in which case you will want to make reservations ahead of time. Since we weren't, we simply purchased tickets at Kyoto Station for the next Nozomi train which left every 15 minutes.
We found our assigned seats, and the car was no more than 1/4th full. The seats were extremely comfortable, and featured a table, footrest, and in-seat power.
The highlight of the ride were the views of Mt. Fuji, for which you'll want to sit on the left hand side of the train in the Kyoto to Tokyo direction. We had assigned seats on the left hand side of the train, and during boarding I remember thinking that it was peculiar that everyone was seated on that side. It all made sense later on, and space permitting, I think the default is to seat people on the Mt. Fuji side of the train in each direction.
With 4 days remaining on the trip, we had an ambitious list of things to do in Tokyo. After checking into the hotel, that night we jumped on the metro and headed over to Akihabara to check-out the nightlife.
First stop, the maid cafe. Japan has several interesting and unique cafes, with themes ranging from jail to toilets to ninjas. There were a couple different maid cafes in the area, and we ended up trying Maidreamin'.
For the record, this was my wife's idea more than anything, and I got dragged along begrudgingly.
As soon as you walk in you're swarmed by several Japanese girls dressed in French maid costumes. The maid cafe is all about cute-sy stuff, and the girls certainly play to that theme with over-the-top high pitched voices and gestures. I walked in thinking that this would be a tourist trap, but funny enough we were the only tourists in the whole place, and one of the largest groups appeared to be there for some kind of company off-site.
Everything was way overpriced as there was both an hourly table charge, and minimum purchase of 1 item per person. Even though we heard that the food here was just OK, I have to give an A+ for the presentation, as my rice omelet was almost too cute to eat.
Overall this just wasn't my type of thing, but could be worth it if you're looking for the type of experience that you could only find in Japan.
Afterwards, we walked around Akihabara a bit more and stumbled into what appeared to be an Oktoberfest celebration. It certainly looked authentic, with its Spaten beer, bratwursts, and German pretzels.
Outside the Oktoberfest celebration there was a huge group of cosplayers hanging out and posing for pictures.
Not sure what's funnier - stumbling into an Oktoberfest celebration. In March. In the middle of Japan.
Or running into a girl dressed in a tomato costume next to a life-size plastic cup of beer.
The next day we headed over to Shibuya to do some shopping, but stopped outside the Shibuya metro station first to check out famous Hachiko statue.
And my pathetic attempt to capture the famous crosswalk.
My wife dragged me around the Shibuya 101 stores for a couple of hours, and we must have walked out with at least 10 bags which I of course had the honor of carrying for the rest of the day.
After shopping we decided to head over to Harajuku, and on the way stumbled into this pet store. These little guys could melt your heart.
We continued on, and stumbled upon a long line of people. By now, it was almost second nature to just jump in line to see what the fuss was all about.
As I wrote before, I had fallen in love with melon buns while in Japan. But what's the only thing better than a melon bun? A MELON BUN ICE CREAM SANDWICH.
We arrived in Harajuku and waded through the busy Takeshita Street which was by far the most crowded place we encountered during our entire trip. It was literally wall-to-wall people for about half a mile.
There was a screen on the banner under the street sign and it was fun to try and capture a picture of our picture.
And the best part of walking around Harajuku was checking out all the interesting outfits.
In general we love walking when on vacation, but I have to say that Tokyo isn't a very walkable city because it's so damn big. We stubbornly stuck to walking as opposed to taking the subway, and averaged about 10-15 miles per day.
So my feet were howling at this point as we began the walk from Harajuku to Shinjuku. But as much as I was complaining during that walk, this scene made all of it worth it.
In fact, this is probably one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life, a real life Mario Kart crew! These guys took their costumes seriously, and even had a stuffed power-up mushroom with them (or is it an extra life, I must be getting rusty).
And a special shout-out to my go-to character, Yoshi. But minus one point for not being 100% in character with the surgical mask.
We took another break shortly after and hopped in a Mitsukoshi department store for a snack. I took another opportunity to marvel and just how freaking expensive some of the fruit was. For example, this melon below cost $200. In my mind, there is no way that a single piece of fruit could possibly justify that price tag.
And now, one of the biggest highlights of our time in Tokyo which was just as amazing as the cherry blossoms, but in a completely different way.
Following our friend's recommendation, we decided to buy tickets to the Robot Restaurant, which to clarify is really more of a show than a food establishment. I'd recommend getting tickets well in advance, as we booked ours a week out and at that point only had our choice of a single showtime across 4 days.
Everyone there was a tourist which I was actually fine with and sort of expected.
Our friend described the experience as "sensory overload", but that's the understatement of the century. We walked into the waiting room, which looks a little something like this.
The waiting room alone had enough mirrors, colors, and neon lights to give you into a seizure. At the back of the room was a small stage, and later on a robot quartet came out to play a few songs.
Even the bathroom was "robot-ized".
About 30 minutes later we were led down into the basement for the main show. From the moment you walked in, there really was no break from the theme, and even the walk downstairs was entertaining.
The show itself was about 90 minutes long and passed by in a flash. It was an entertaining and eclectic mix of robots, music, and sexy costumes. They definitely have the marketing part down to a science, and every 15 minutes there would be a break where people would come by to sell refreshments.
Not everyone may have felt this way, but I walked away feeling like I got my money's worth and would definitely recommend the show. I mean, where else in the world are you going to find dancing robots?