Never in My Life

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Have I spent so much time at LAX. I had almost 7 hours between flights. But Mr. Mike is here to monitor my champagne intake.

An 11 hour flight to Tokyo is a loooong flight.

By the time I arrived at our hotel, I was awake for well over 28 hours. But the hotel is nice, within a 5 min walk to Shinjuku Station.

Mike is still the BEST travel companion ever, despite not traversing the world with me for at least 5 years.

I can't believe we saw a cantaloupe yesterday with a 32,000 JYen price tag, well over $200 USD!! Friday, cold and dreary.

The Sakura (cherry blossoms) are spectacular, and I love the symbolism they find in their short, but repetitive life.

So far, no car horns honking and no sirens! Kabukicho, the party area for young adults is Bangkok, Paris, NYC and Rio on steroids.

We saw about 10,000 people coming from work, to drink and dine in a four block radius! We went "shopping" in Ginza. Maybe I can afford a pair of socks?

The Onitsuka concept store was quite interesting. I might go back and buy a pair? (I did).

My Hoka's are finito after too many long trips and walks.

Last night's Giants baseball game is the highlight of the trip. Beer vendors run up and down the aisle with big smiles! The game is constant cheering, singing, drum beating, mostly outrageously loud and fun. Maybe the best baseball game ever, since 2010 World Series!

On to Nagoya Special treat last night for dinner, owner shared his private sake bottle with us. Also ate excellent sushi and tempura, along with the freshest eel, caught directly in front of us! Had to use Google translate and my meager Japanese to get the meal ordered and on the table. Great experience. Hostess was so patient.

Going to Toyota Museum today. Mr. Toyota bought a car from Henry Ford, so he could learn how to make cars. They started in the textile business first. It turns out to be perfect for Mike. He was in the hosiery business, and loves cars.

So, Mike finds this steak house about 2 blocks from our hotel. They bring the cut of wagyu steak to the table. We opt to share the smallest one. We asked how it is prepared, the waitress said an hour!! We said we wanted medium rare, and she assured us. She said it would take an hour to cook the steak!

Meanwhile all of their red wines are chilled. So Mike ran down a block and bought a 2010 Bordeaux. We explained the room temp wine to our waitress, and we agreed to pay the corkage fee.

Meanwhile, I watch the chef dump the steak into a pan with hot oil. He continuously pours the hot oil over the meat, hundreds of times. It then goes into a low temp oven, gradually increases in temp. Yes, it came out medium rare, and was the best steak I have had in 10 or 20 years. And the wine was perfect!!

I will tell you the eel story later.

On to Kyoto.

We took the advice of many and visited the famous Gion area at 7:30 in the morning, before the crowds. Viewing cherry blossoms while hearing the creek trickle down the parkway was about perfect.

We ended up at a tiny izakaya, where we both had noodles. Mike had the udon and I had the cold soba. The place had about six tables! (Unfortunately, I was suffering from side effects of medications given to me at the clinic in Tokyo.

I was not able to get out and see much of Kyoto)

Shinkansen back to Tokyo about 2 hours and 20 minutes. We are in crazy, mad, crowded, and fun filled Shibuya and the famous Hachiko statue.

Our hotel clerk led us to three great meals. First, a very local sushi and tempura place, no tourists.

Second, when our Tokyo friend, Itsuyo joined us, we went to a nearby izakaya, locals only.

Then last night, we celebrated at a steak house, Wolfgang's, with the biggest (shared) T bone we have ever seen.

Mike said he saw the most beautiful woman in Tokyo, one of the hostesses at the restaurant.

We spent the final day in Tokyo doing retail. We hit many places, but the favorites were Onitsuka, UGG, Fender, a few big depaatos,

We head home today, Tuesday, April 16. Our Singapore flight did not leave until 6:40pm. We landed at LAX around 2pm, with a 7pm connection home. It was a long day.

A note about Singapore Airlines: it is not the airline it once was! Sad.

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