Musings of a Food and Travel Addict
One of the great joys denied to travelers now is the simple act of wandering around Tokyo and soaking it all in. Like this from a previous visit in a Tokyo Metro station…
…or attending a matsuri while you’re in town. This is from the Koenji Awaodori which happens in late August…
…or looking west from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck and seeing Fuji-San on a clear day. I miss doing these things and exploring Tokyo.
For the second year in a row, I found myself in Tokyo for New Year’s. Unlike most of the world, where New Year’s Eve is another excuse to get smashed and celebrate loudly, New Year’s in Japan is pretty much the exact opposite of that, with family time taking priority over debauchery. As a result, many people in Japan “go home” and stay in over New Year’s, filling family obligations before connecting with friends and visitors. Most restaurants and businesses close early (by 1600) if they’re open at all. A lot of businesses take several days off during the New Year’s holiday, so if you’re doing your first Japan visit during this time, you will find that a lot of businesses and attractions will be closed.
New Year’s is also unique in that this is the only day of the year when the trains (JR, Eidan and Toei) run all night. Granted it’s a abbreviated schedule, but at least they’re running. If you find yourself out that evening, take a picture of the schedule that’s posted so you don’t come back to the station and have to wait for an hour for the next train back.
One tradition that visitors can partake in is hatsumode (初詣), the first shrine visit of the new year. The way to think about the new year is that it’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean. Pay your debts and make amends for the past year and make wishes and pray for a good new year. Many of the major shrines in Tokyo get slammed over the first days of the new year as practically everyone is off work. Meiji-Jingu in Shibuya which is probably the best known shrine had over 3 million people visit over the first three days of the year. Many choose to visit on New Year’s Eve night, as I’ve done the past couple of years.
During my New Year’s visits, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo (Shinjuku). Even though it’s overshadowed by it’s glam cousins, the Park Hyatt and the Grand Hyatt (Roppongi), the Hyatt Regency Tokyo has a good location, the club rooms are very nice and best of all, there’s a 7-11 in the basement AND has direct underground access to Tochōmae Station on the Toei Oedo Line. The hotel had a small New Year’s celebration in the lobby with singers and free champagne to toast at the stroke at midnight. The entire shindig ended just short of 0030. When I visited the Meiji Shrine last New Year’s, my friends and I arrived at the shrine close to 0100 and wound up queuing with 400,000 others to pay our respects. That took just about 3.5 hours. So, I thought, if I leave later, perhaps the queues won’t be as thick and I won’t be outside so long in the cold. At 0200, I made my way to the subway and 20 minutes later, I was at the Meiji Shrine. Where there was a slightly shorter queue. The wait was only two hours before I made it to the front.
Due to the lateness (or earlyness) of the hour, after I made my offering, I purchased new omamori and recycled my old ones and hightailed it back to the hotel where my warm bed and room awaited me. Usually there’s food stands and amakaze just outside the shrine area for snacking and fun but many of the booths were closed due to the late late hour.
Often, travelers will groan when they check into a hotel and they get a lower floor. Usually, higher floors are reserved for elite guests (much like upgrades and E+ are usually for elite flyers). In some cities, like New York or Hong Kong, a higher floor is a must because you get a feel for the city. Hong Kong and New York are defined by their skylines so it’s best to able to see them.
Having a lower floor at the Grand Hyatt Roppongi, for example, isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it gives you a sense of having bearings since there’s not really an outstanding icon of Tokyo to focus on. No million dollar skyline or Art Deco canyons here. What Tokyo has is street life. It’s the best city to explore on foot (provided you’ve not twisted your ankle before the trip) and its full of neat things you won’t find riding on the Hato Bus. The hotel is part of the Roppongi Hills complex and it serves (along with Tokyo Midtown) as an oasis from the silliness that Roppongi is known for.
The question will arise; how could I stay here on my usual low budget? My stay here was an award night from Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights promotion. During my last stay in LA, I stayed at two Hyatts, thus earning me a free night anywhere there was availability. What’s important is that the service was sublime, the room was comfortable and I had a place to fall flat faced after the 10 hour flight from SFO. Despite being on a “lower floor”.
Grand Hyatt Tokyo
6-10-3 Roppongi, Minato-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan 106-0032
Tel: +81 3 4333 1234 Fax: +81 3 4333 8123
On the first episode of No Reservations titled “why the French don’t suck”, Anthony Bourdain devotes part of the show to the simple joy of sticking your head into the door of a strange restaurant and finding bliss.
Of course, as it is with all TV shows, this segment was scripted. However, it still made the point of leaving your culinary comfort zone to try and find new places that can eventually become old places (and a new part of your comfort zone) and then you can continue the search for new places. It never ends, unless they outlaw good tasting reasonably priced food (like they seem like they’re trying to do back home in SF, NYC and other places).
My first visit to Tokyo and my indoctrination into the ramen world took place a few years back at a small ramen shop off of Koshu-Kaido dori, across from a Citibank down the hill from the south exit of JR Shinjuku-eki. The place is still there and I’ve made my usual visit.
But the other night, I was hungry and decided to expand my horizons. I noticed a small shop across the way from one of the many small computer shops that populate this part of Shinjuku.
It has the usual flags up, but none of them said “ramen” in katakana (which is the kana I can SORT OF read). Looking inside, there were lots of people and it LOOKED like a ramen place, but I wasn’t sure. So I continued to walk around, passing the mysterious place every 5 to 10 minutes, sneaking peeks through the wooden slats that cover the windows.
After 30 minutes of window shopping and indecision (and stomach grumbling), I walked in and took a seat and tried to figure out the elegant looking menu. Thankfully they had an english menu that was not as elegant looking and I was able to place an order for a bowl of shio ramen.
After the beer and the water, comes the shio!
It was a delicious broth, light and flavourful with just a touch of oil with the slices of toriniku and negi sitting majestically on the top with a sour plum.
So now this is one of my “must go” places now. And they play real jazz inside!
Ramen Santouka Shinjuku Minamiguchi
1st Floor, Nakaoki Building
1-18-5, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
The Tokyo Design Week had a lot of neat stuff. Held in a field in Aoyama Park, it had a big tent in the middle full of vendors and cool stuff you could buy (but couldn’t photograph), a stage for musicians, a cafe and obligatory omiyage stand and about 20 containers (you know, the kind that big ships and trucks carry) full of design exhibitions from different organizations. There was soo much design, I forgot to keep good notes. However, I did take pictures for your bemusement.
Being “green” (the only time you will EVER read that phrase on this blog) was a popular theme this year. Not only did it get people’s attention to the exhibits, it served as an opportunity for designers to get creative. This lamp is made with old gashapon containers as the light fixtures and what looks like junk for the rest
How about these distant relations to SpongeBob?
Here is a lamp from the collection of Wile E. Coyote. Gee, I didn’t know he was a designer in addition to being a soooooper geeeenius. No mention if this is from the Acme Corporation.
This bag pretty much sums up what I like to cook with and put under my pancakes in the morning…
This was a Enveloop projector dog from Sanyo. It’s a dog you plug into your computer and it projects whatever is on the computer on the nearest screen or wall. Very powerful.
Sometimes it’s nice to take a breather and slow down. Also it’s nice to do when the sun comes out. Today I’m in Minowa, in the part of Tokyo known as Shitamachi. It’s the older part of Tokyo, representative on how it was back in the day.
Tokyo has one tram line left, a line that cuts through backyards and runs parallel to main streets, rumbling along at its own leisurely pace with lots of old folks riding it. The Toden Arakawa Line runs from Minowa-Bashi to Waseda with several transfer stops to JR and Tokyo Metro and it is 12.2 km long.
Many of these folks grew up with the tram line and some fear that once they begin to pass on, so too will this last tram line. It was a nice day to ride around and get some fresh air (because you can open the windows).
Nope. Not yet anyway. This is Kanako, formerly of Rumble Fish sitting in a container exhibit at the Tokyo Design Week event. It’s basically a container with a small incline with shredded papers, like the kind you empty out of your shredder at home.
The belle of the ball at the Tokyo Motor Show was the new GT-R.
Of cors, if you’re in the know, you know that you could get up close and personal with the GT-R at Nissan’s Ginza Gallery instead of having to deal with the scrum at the show. So here we are.
And of course, what’s a visit to the Gallery without saying hi to the staff?
Nissan Crossing
5 Chome-8-1 Ginza,
Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061
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