Konnichiwa
Hi all,
A quick blog tonight as we're both tired and recovering from jet lag, with an earlyish start tomorrow.
The journey itself was grand - a two hour delayed flight to Paris, a quick transfer (so much so that we didn't realise how soon the next flight was and got there just in time!) and then an 11 and a half hour red-eye long haul to Tokyo Haneda with Air France.
We shared dinner which consisted of a French/Japanese fusion menu - champagne as an aperitif, chicken with jus and polenta mash, followed by some kind of Japanese beef dish with rice. I got double camembert as Lucinda's not a cheese fan, and we both enjoyed some kind of posh roly poly pudding.
Much like last time, Lucinda couldn't sleep very well on the plane and ended up unwell, so I had her breakfast too. I'm helpful like that.
We picked up a data sim card on arrival for the next couple of weeks, then had a 45 minute train journey to the B Asakusa Hotel for a three hour nap.
The hotel itself is great, well-located and has plenty of cool amenities, including a fridge, Japanese pyjamas and the obligatory futuristic super toilet, which does all manner of unspeakable things.
We're only here in Tokyo for the one night, before travelling across Japan and returning to Tokyo (same hotel) for the second week of the trip, so we visited the lively city centre hub of Shibuya to make the most of it.
One of our favourite places to eat from last year was a conveyor belt sushi place called Genki Sushi, so we returned and stuffed our faces with tamagoyaki (egg omelette), karaage (Japanese fried chicken), prawn tempura rolls, beef rib nigiri and deep fried lotus root with tuna, all washed down with melon soda and matcha tea!
Afterwards we wandered about the massive, claustrophobia-inducing souvenir store Don Quijote - buying nothing, but pointing at lots of unusual things.
As usual, Shibuya offered plenty of sights and sounds, with people in costumes, flashy cars, flashing lights, cheery jingles and delicious smells.
On our way back to the hotel we picked up corn dogs (cake batter with hot dog inside) and curry pan (bread with curry inside) from a 7 Eleven convenience store nearby, plus breakfast for tomorrow's trip to Hakone - a hot spring town with views of Mount Fuji.
George
A quick blog tonight as we're both tired and recovering from jet lag, with an earlyish start tomorrow.
The journey itself was grand - a two hour delayed flight to Paris, a quick transfer (so much so that we didn't realise how soon the next flight was and got there just in time!) and then an 11 and a half hour red-eye long haul to Tokyo Haneda with Air France.
We shared dinner which consisted of a French/Japanese fusion menu - champagne as an aperitif, chicken with jus and polenta mash, followed by some kind of Japanese beef dish with rice. I got double camembert as Lucinda's not a cheese fan, and we both enjoyed some kind of posh roly poly pudding.
Much like last time, Lucinda couldn't sleep very well on the plane and ended up unwell, so I had her breakfast too. I'm helpful like that.
We picked up a data sim card on arrival for the next couple of weeks, then had a 45 minute train journey to the B Asakusa Hotel for a three hour nap.
The hotel itself is great, well-located and has plenty of cool amenities, including a fridge, Japanese pyjamas and the obligatory futuristic super toilet, which does all manner of unspeakable things.
We're only here in Tokyo for the one night, before travelling across Japan and returning to Tokyo (same hotel) for the second week of the trip, so we visited the lively city centre hub of Shibuya to make the most of it.
One of our favourite places to eat from last year was a conveyor belt sushi place called Genki Sushi, so we returned and stuffed our faces with tamagoyaki (egg omelette), karaage (Japanese fried chicken), prawn tempura rolls, beef rib nigiri and deep fried lotus root with tuna, all washed down with melon soda and matcha tea!
Afterwards we wandered about the massive, claustrophobia-inducing souvenir store Don Quijote - buying nothing, but pointing at lots of unusual things.
As usual, Shibuya offered plenty of sights and sounds, with people in costumes, flashy cars, flashing lights, cheery jingles and delicious smells.
On our way back to the hotel we picked up corn dogs (cake batter with hot dog inside) and curry pan (bread with curry inside) from a 7 Eleven convenience store nearby, plus breakfast for tomorrow's trip to Hakone - a hot spring town with views of Mount Fuji.
乾杯
George
Comments