I spent my last hour in Japan (being in the lounge doesn’t count, because since you clear passport control, you’re technically “not” in Japan) puttering in 東京駅.
It’s been a while since I’ve needed to go through Tokyo Station on the way to NRT. These past few visits I’ve been going through Shinjuku Station since it’s closer to where I stay during my visits. There’s a lot happening in Tokyo Station and the surrounding Marounouchi neighborhood. For one, Tokyo Station has a left baggage service in the basement close to the NE’X tracks so you can check your bag and putter around for the day before making the long slog to NRT. Although both stations have lockers, they won’t swallow a 26″ roller, that’s why it’s nice to have the left baggage service at Tokyo Station because Shinjuku doesn’t have it. Another bright spot of Marunouchi are the many nice restaurants in the area that includes a branch of A16 and a Cafe that’s part of Joel Robuchon’s restaurant chains.
Almost feels like being in Paris. Of course, we ARE in Marunouchi…
The best food I found though was inside Tokyo Station itself. There’s a branch of Mutsumi-ya in a special Tokyo Ramen Street section of the basement. I stumbled upon this gem as I was wandering around semi-lost for a new place to eat. Mutsumi-ya is a Hokkaido based chain as evidenced by their flagship bowl of corn-butter ramen.
It was very oishii! Corn and butter in the broth…
Unlike most Hokkaido style ramen I’ve had, this bowl has the satisfying food buzz that you get with good Hakata style ramen. The broth was rich and hearty and very satisfying. And unusually for Hokkaido ramen, the noodles were firm and has the feel of quality. It’s easy to mass produce thick noodles (which Hokkaido ramen uses) and many shops cheat with store bought noodles. I don’t think Mutsumi-ya does that. It’s that good.
The restaurant itself is not designed for lingering; rather it’s all about eating and going.
Here’s some of their other menu offerings and some credentials
2009 Tokyo Motor Show (now with less emissions and fun)
Two years ago, I attended my first Tokyo Motor Show. It was a big affair, with practically every major manufacturer in existence. The M3 saloon, the Nissan GT-R, the BMW 135 motorsport edition, the Lexus IS-F and the Roadster PRHT were featured or premiered there. I’m sure I missed others that were premiered there too. Practically all of Makuhari Messe was used for the show which also featured a lot of buses, lorries and motorcycles.
Flash forward to 2009. Thanks to “hope n’ change”, the US dollar is in a downward spiral, the automotive world is in a tizzy, no thanks to high oil prices (due to the tanking dollar) and the uncertainty of Government Motors, trade policy (protectionist) and lack of fiscal policy of the current occupiers of Washington DC. As a result, practically every non-Japanese auto company save for Caterham, Lotus and Alpina flaked out on the Tokyo Motor Show this year.
The budget cutting was obvious. Instead of all of Makuhari Messe, the show only covered three halls; almost sounds like a typical show in the states. There were only 1/3 the amount of models to go with the cars and bikes, there was no commercial vehicle section (what vehicles there were wound up displayed by their respective manufacturers) and the featured models that were there were featured in little time blocks, like a show.
They were on stage for exactly 30 minutes…
But that has nothing on the fact that the TMS this year was BORING. Each manufacturer’s theme was “how green can we be” with boring or dumb looking electric cars.
An example was Mazda’s area, where there were tons of people carriers, compact cars and kei (light) cars. At least 30 of these transportation modules. But the models that Mazda is known for, the RX-8 and the Roadster (Miata), would you like to guess how many they had? Nope, too many. There were one of each. One. Although I guess you could say that there were two cars that weren’t boring. They attracted the biggest crowds of the Mazda area. Two cars that have been in production for a combined 10 years.
Nissan was worse. With a stage that proudly bragged “zero emissions”, their area was chock full of eco cars. Almost as an afterthought, a GT-R was placed at the edge of their area. Guess where all the people in the Nissan area were?
These people were moving around; not really looking.
That’s because they were all here, at the only GT-R on display.
This is the car Nissan chose to feature on its stage. The Leaf, an EV due next year. Yawn.
Toyota/Lexus and Honda had the biggest areas of the show. Honda continued the eco theme ad nauseum but had an interesting exhibit on how they’re making their Super Cub a plug in EV but strangely enough, none of their motorcycles are hybrid or electric. Waaaah! They did have their CR-Z concept that premiered two years back as a, you guessed it, an electric car! Toyota/Lexus had the most interesting cars there. A new supercar from Lexus and a concept car that some are saying could be the new Celica. Toyota making fun cars again? Faster please. They also had the usual SUVs and family cars on display. And Priuses. So many Priuses. How much acid rain will fall on Canada due to the increased nickel mining? I wouldn’t park my car outside…
SFO UA Fleet Week event 2009
Each year, United Airlines hosts a Friends and Family event at the Maintenance Center at SFO. It has a classic car show, some UA hardware on display, lots of booths aimed toward their employees, a A319 for a plane pull and oh yeah, the Blue Angels.
Firing up the engines
Inspection
Walkaround
Waiting for the “go”
Fat Albert takes off to take readings for the air show
Finally off!
The height of Fleet Week is the airshow over the Marina Green and the waterfront. Due to weather (lots of low fog), the Saturday show was cancelled. This show would be the only one and because of the slightly higher fog, they had a “flat show”.
Besides the Angels, there’s the other events…
Each year, there’s a plane pull between the Blue Angels and two groups of Flyertalkers (who usually lose pretty badly)
UA took part in the Fleet Week Airshow for the first time with this low flying 747-400
The USAF sent two F-16s
And to wrap this up, here’s SQ15 enroute to Seoul Incheon
Chinese stands up in San Francisco
This is the ONLY time I will quote Mao in this blog. “The Chinese people have stood up“.
It begins on MUNI with an Auntie who is willing to stand up and fight when she’s attacked. Guess people will think twice now before attacking Chinese in San Francisco, I hope.
Fog!
Much has been written about San Francisco’s notorious “air conditioning”, also known as the marine layer, or simply “fog”.
This was taken 10 minutes ago! That’s fog out there! And cold too…
Once you escape the City and County, summer is still alive and well. This is from Skyline Blvd (CA-35) above Woodside. It was clear in the daytime, awesome at dusk and is still clear and starry now.
From earlier today, when I took the long way back to The City.
The wisdom of St. James
The St. James Power Station is, as the name implies, a former power station located near the Sentosa Gateway in Singapore. Instead of converting the power station into a gallery like the Tate Modern in London, St. James is now a multi-club venue that’s one of the bigger players in the nightclub scene here (google images link).
I’m a subscriber to their mailing list and each time they send an update out, it has some sort of wisdom in the subject line. Examples:
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”
“There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.”
“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”
My fave today is: “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” The question is, will there be the courage to remedy that mistake and the current lack of leadership? There’s two opportunities to fix things, one in 2010 and the other in 2012. One depends on the other to be successful…
How to spend a Sunday? Nope, not hungover…!
Sooo…I’ve got a friend who would like to visit the Delta. Got another with an SUV. Got a free Sunday with nothing major planned. So…time to move tables and bookshelves and kitchen appliances to the Delta. We’re all getting up and leaving The City early to avoid the traffic and the forecasted 91F (33C) high. Because of the “getting up early” part of this endeavor, I’m actually home at midnight. ON A SATURDAY! Sheesh.
On the plus side, since we’re going to be passing the Brentwood Costco, hopefully USDA Prime New York Steaks are in order! Since the “recession”, big shot steak houses haven’t been as busy as before. There’s lots of USDA Prime that hasn’t been picked up by steak houses and as a result, picked up by Costco, to be picked up by me! This IS a big deal if you like to eat real food. The WSJ even wrote about it back in July.
And once we get this fantastic meat, there’s only ONE way to prepare it. Some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. And then…FIRE!
This is the enviro way to fire up coals. No lighter fluid here!
A message from the past for these troubled times
Delta Money Pit (updated)
I just returned from a quick run to the Delta to finish polishing the hardwood floors on the third floor. It’s a lot of “hands and knees” kinda work, but once it’s done, it looks pretty neat. I also fixed the garbage disposal (so don’t have to buy a new one now). Yay.
This is the great room, door to the deck visible on the right
The hardwood continues into the hallway
The third floor of this building used to be occupied. Then it was broken into and squatters made themselves at home. After they were evicted, the occupant moved out and it has been derelict for a while. Besides wrecking the floors, the squatters broke the thermostats on the wall oven and the kitchen faucet (probably out of frustration because the water and the gas was turned off). The faucet has to be replaced since the stem is clogged with hard water sediment and it was installed in 1992. No spares available. It’s the same with the wall oven. Purchased in 1990, this Modern Maid oven has been rarely used but needs US$400 worth of thermostat controls that are no longer available. New wall ovens are US$700, are more energy efficent and have a warranty.
UPDATE: I took some more photos of the main room with a table and chair set inside. Now that I have a reliable contractor, I’ll probably get around to replacing the oven since that will also require a new trim piece for the cabinet. The room is truly “square” with a quarter cut out for the kitchen. Still, it gets nice light and is airy.
Am trolling Craigslist now for various appliances and furniture bits. Let’s see what comes available out here…
Blog redesign and Delta house
I’ve redone the site so it’s easier to navigate and fixes the broken links that resulted from the last site change. Yay.
This past summer has been a busy one for me. I’ve been learning “home improvement” at a house in the Sacramento Delta. I now know how to rewire lights, install doorknobs and locks, learned the ins and outs of the Home Despot and Lowes, how to clean and polish hardwood floors (on yr hands and knees!) and how to replace a garbage disposal. The aircon works and the gas has been turned on. As a result, the house is now livable save for a broadband connection. I wonder how long THAT will take?
One plus about being out in the middle of nowhere is that there’s a two slip boathouse on the levee across from a slough. On a clear day it’s kinda nice as long as you can deal with oodles of flying stinging bugs. Yuck.
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