Tokyo – What We Did (1/3)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young former consultant, in possession of way too many starwood points and time to kill before the start of b-school, must take a long trip to a faraway place. In my case, that faraway place in East Asia, starting in Tokyo and working my way through Kyoto, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Hong Kong, accompanied by a rotating cast of characters. In honor of my adventures, I'm reviving the travel blog. Paul Theroux I'm not, but its easier than mass emails.

We arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday evening, after a surprisingly pleasant 13 hour flight (thanks Ambien!). Our initial encounter with the city was jarring, as we emerged bleary-eyed from the Ebisu subway stop with no idea how to find our hotel. (It's not my fault that I'm the only one who decided to buy a guidebook.) However, looking lost and bedraggled gained us sympathy, and a nice gentleman walked us to the skyway that would take us to the Westin. After some haggling over the reservation – A. and I had split the nights but she's not platinum – we were ready to face the city.

Ebisu, which is a little outside the city center but still conveniently on the central JR line, is a quieter, westernized neighborhood with modern, European style piazzas, high end shopping, and an array of restaurants. H., our fearless leader now in command of a map, guided us to Ippudo, one of the top ramen shops in Japan, where the point and choose method got us all steaming bowls of noodles and broth to fortify us for the 7 minute walk back to the hotel, and bed.

Thursday, we woke up at 4 AM so we could catch the first subway to the Tsukiji fish market, the famous mecca of fresh seafood. We got there too late to see the auction (that required arriving before 4:30, and the $40 cab wasn't in our budget), so we wandered into the market. There, in between playing frogger, as H. put it, with the mechanized hand trucks, we saw fish sellers break down massive tuna and fillet many smaller fish. We also marveled at the freshness of the many types of shellfish, only a third of which we could identify.

As the market woke up, we wandered over to the adjacent sushi stalls for sushi breakfast. We chose the restaurant with the longest line, which turned out to be Sushi Dai, one of the more famous 14-seat sushi joints in the winding alleys. A 90 minute wait secured us seats at the bar for the freshest nigiri I've ever had. I know its a cliché to rave about the toro in Tokyo, but it really is that good (special props to A., who doesn't like fish and did the entire wait for what I'm sure was the best kappa maki ever).

Still savoring the mouthfeel of the fish, we walked out into the blistering morning to go to Hami-ri, a beautiful walled garden that used to be the seaside retreat of the shogun. An audio guide led us through peony gardens, plum groves, duck hunting areas and along one of the longest footbridges I've ever seen. The peaceful feel of the area was soothing after our busy morning, and it was hard to remember it was only 9 AM.

Leaving the zen of the garden, we wandered over to the Ginza to be there as the shops opened. I reveled in the minimalist aesthetic of Muji and Uniqlo (I'll have to discard some gap t-shirts to make room in my suitcase before this trip is over) while trying not to be overwhelmed by the frentic pace of the department stores.

After a couple department store food hall rice balls, we walked up to the Imperial Palace and Imperial Garden. The area is devoid of shade, and you have to follow very precise walkways through the gravel in front of the palace area. This is probably the one thing in Tokyo I'd have skipped, especially in the mid-afternoon heat. However, we did run into P, and cemented our plans for dinner.

A quick nap got us ready for dinner with P. and her college friend in Roppongi, the hip ex-pat area. We met under the spider of the Mori tower before hurrying to a soba restaurant the hotel had recommended. Considering most of the soba I've eaten has been in korean noddle soups from NYC delis when staffed in the city, the earthy buckweat we had, paired with cold sake and beer, was a revelation.