Current Weather in TOKYO, JAPAN
None of the guide books or recommendations reveal this little gem we stumbled across. The Muji superstore. Stevie will tell you all about it.
10 points, name that band? Name that video? ps. the dolls cost $135 each.
Dinner at Tabela. See next entry for the food pictures.
It isn't the camera. I'm blurry.
So the last day of the trip we decided to go to an old part of the city to eat Tempura. See the next entry.
This is the garden inside the restaurant.
Stevie in front of Nakase. The woman at the first restaurant we thought was the right one walked us around the block to this one. The right one.
Um, another big temple with a lot of people.
I asked aloud the other day, "where do they buy all these black suits and white shirts?"
... and how do they know what size to buy?
I had a meeting with a distribution company called Uplink. They have a couple of small movie theaters and this excellent restaurant called Tabela. It is food from around the world.
Trina suggested a decades-old tempura restaurant in Asakusa called Nakase. Delicious.
As we were already on the path to geekdom. Here's the start of the desktop photo collection. click an image to launch a full size version.
The Fish Market - 1920x1440 - 1.1mb
Shellfish At The Fish Market - 1920x1440 - 1.1mb
Dried Fish At The Fish Market - 1920x1440 - 1.1mb
We're just back from a very bizarre dinner in a restaurant on the 25th floor. I'll save the review for later - but here are 6 of the 9 courses.
A soccer game on the roof.
We hit, Electric Town - Akihabra. It is all about tomorrow's electronics today. So they hyped it with cool street tiles.
and other future technologies like the walkman.
We walked through a huge bamboo forest to have a picnic in a park. Bento Boxes.
Soy sauce container.
And finally delicious cherry pudding (think a mild cherry flavored flan).
Lunch of Okonomiyaki.
Coffee and tarts. The one I shot of Stevie's strawberry shortcake was too blurry.
So we arrived in Kyoto in a rain storm. We debated indoor activities, like going to see a movie and then decided to persevere.
After a cup of coffee.
and with such cute creamer.
heading to the start of the walking tour.
yep, temples and cherry blossoms. It is really very beautiful.
The coolest part of this temple involved walking through a pitch black hallway that made numerous 90 degree corners to arrive at a huge stone, which you spin and make a wish.
the oldest cherry tree in Kyoto.
Stevie at a temple dedicated to people who have died without families.
word.
egg mcmuffin delicious in any language.
Waited for a bus in the mountains.
In an hour or so we'll be on a bullet train to Kyoto. We aren't bringing the computer so we'll have to wait till we get back on Thursday evening to update. Till then!
;) Stevie
:) Zach
Zach blogging in his weird Muji socks with individual toes.
We took it a little easier on the sightseeing Tuesday. Even as walk-everywhere-New Yorkers, our feet get damn tired, too. These are all a bit random but then so is Tokyo.
Make your own caption for this photo.
We found this place to eat called Lotus in Aoyama. Have to say it's one of the coolest spots we've been to yet. We didn't want to leave. Look at that food!
And the coffee!
And the dessert!
Zach got a badass tie at Vivienne Westwood.
We had bibimbop for dinner with tempura shrimp on top. Delish!
I don't even know where to begin with my intense love of Muji. I've been to the stores in Paris and London and the tiny "store" they have at the MoMA in NYC but until I went to the stores they have here in Tokyo I had no idea. This is me sorting through my mad purchases back at the hotel. More pictures of Muji stuff TK.
;) Stevie
The Meiji temple is right near the Harajuku station but feels miles away form the bustle once you get inside the grounds. It was a needed break from shopping and crowded streets.
People write prayers on these little wooden plaques and hang them around a big tree just outside the temple.
These ladies all wearing red were part some sort of group visiting the temple.
We had dinner at a touristy but tasty restaurant called Gonpachi in Roppongi on Monday night. Yakitori and sake, yum!
This place is big.
We're a little behind in updating but we all knew that would happen, no? We are on vacation after all. But before we leave for Kyoto tomorrow morning, a quicky update of our last couple days. We spent the day in Aoyama on Monday.
Zach on one of the side streets in Aoyama, under some of those crazy cherry blossoms.
Stevie after a delish lunch of dumplings in some basement restaurant.
Caught this red truck going past a yellow building. Lucky shot.
Zach in one of the famous A Bathing Ape stores. This one sells only exclusive stuff–like the others don't?
Ramen Lunch.
Can't even pay attention when we're shooting our own picture.
Zach, clocking at the food shop.
Drink contemplation.
From St. Marks Pl. to Shinjuku. Or I suppose the other way around.
Boss coffee, Stevie's favorite canned coffee.
There would be more photos here of our trek to the Ghibli Museum, but they don't allow photography. it was a wonderful museum. Worth the short trip to Mitaka.
Stevie with cherry blossoms.
Cherry Blossoms.
The place where our hotel is located, the Shiodome complex, is intense. There are walkways and escalators crisscrossing all over the place and all sorts of shops and restaurants. It's perfectly clean, with marble, glass, and steel as far as the eye can see. There is even a Nathan's hot dog place next to a Doughnut Plant! It's like we never left New York.
A sculpture in the Shiodome.
Thankfully there are maps and signs with "you are here" everywhere we've gone so far. Only this one seemed a bit gratuitous. It tells you that you are here, half way up the flight of stairs. Duh?
We spotted this building near our hotel.
Those are the cutest fire fighters ever.
After our super tasty sushi breakfast near the fish market, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up and headed out to walk around the imperial palace gardens.
Cherry blossoms hanging over the mote.
Everyone was taking this photo of the bridge. Must be a classic.
Zach and Stevie in front of classic bridge shot.
It's 3 in the morning. We are wide awake. We were so tired after sightseeing all day yesterday that we came back to the hotel at around 5pm to take a quick rest before dinner. Mistake. We both crashed hard. Then I woke up again around midnight and have been awake ever since. Time to update the blog I guess!
;) Stevie
The Hotel Villa Shiodome is rad. Totally new, shiny, futuristic, glass and marble madness. Our toilet has saftey instructions and all sorts of knobs on it to make it do who knows what. It's a tiny room but very nice. I think we chose wisely.
The lobby is ginormous and hard to capture in a photo.
This is the view from our room. The train goes right by our window but you can't hear a thing!
Zach gets some Boss coffee at a vending machine in the market. Yum.
Per a few recommendations, we took advantage of the early morning time change to hit Tsukiji, the central fish market at 7am. It was only about a five minute walk from our hotel.
Zach wandering the stalls.
Dried little fish.
Frozen tuna.
Stevie surrounded by boxes of fish.
Fish market.
Ummm, shellfish.
After a 4 hour delay, we left JFK for a 14 hour flight. We are crazy dead tired, just got to the hotel. More on everything later. A couple of travel pics.
We spent 4 hours at JFK. It sucked.
Inside the plane.
Flight map just before we crossed the international dateline.
we made it all the way through the long corridors of the new american airkines terminal at JFK only to find a 2.5 hour delay! we'll get a head start on that airplane reading.
I am now a valid passport holder. Hurrah.
;) Stevie
Remember when I said that FedEx Kinko's was the happiest placeon earth? I was so very wrong. The New York emergency passport office is the happiest place on earth!
Here's a rundown of events:
Zach just asked me if my passport was current. I said of course, silly! I opened up my passport to prove it and for some reason today's date was printed under date of expiration. Yikes!
We ran off to FedEx Kinkos (the happiest place on earth) to get some passport photos. I made an appointment with the passport agency on the automated phone line for April 5th. Obviously that is too late but Zach figures I need some sort of appointment to get in the door down there. I plan to show up tomorrow when the doors open at 7:30am and wait as long as I have to. Word on the street is that if you have proof that you are traveling soon they'll process your stuff the same day. We shall see.
;) Stevie
Renew a passport quickly for a few bucks extra
Get or renew your passport by waiting in long lines at the NY passport office
Looks like we may have waited too long to book a hotel in Kyoto. Should have known that it would be hard to find a Ryokan there during one of the biggest tourist times: cherry blossom viewing. We did find a room at this hotel. Not very glamorous, but we just need a place to sleep at this point.
;) Stevie
Hotel Aranvert
Dates: Wed Apr-5-2006 (1 night)
179, Higashi Kazariya-cho Goyjo Street S
Kyoto 600-8107
CANCEL 3 DAYS PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
T 81 75 371 0616
F 81 75 365 6800
Iain has passed along some notes on Tokyo that a friend sent him a few months back, with some cool bars, places to check out. Thanks Iain!
:) Zach
We ordered the JR rail pass online from our good friends at JTB. Pretty much everyone we asked told us to get a rail pass before we go so we can save a bunch o' yen. Hopefully the passes will arrive before we leave.
;) Stevie
We faxed JTB to get tickets to visit the Ghibli Museum on April 2nd. They are only about $10 each but you have to buy them before you go to Japan. And they just arrived this morning!
When I saw Princess Mononoke, I became an instant a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. After watching Spirited Away I didn't want to leave the theater; I loved it so much. They reminded me of the kind of movies and stories I loved when I was a kid; based on completely realized other worlds. I read about the Ghibli Museum in an article in the New Yorker about a year ago and have dreamed about going ever since. I can not wait.
;) Stevie
Bright lights big city! Our hotel in Tokyo is appearently in the Times Square/Madison Ave part of the city.
According to Time Out Tokyo:
"Prices are surprising low at this super-stylish hotel in the gleaming Shiodome complex. A funky approach to interior design has resulted in, for example, a striking atrium/lobby area with cone-shaped lights and unusual art works by the lifts. The well-designed rooms make the most of their small size, using discreetly patterned luxury fabrics and nifty shutter/blind combinations. Free, always on broadband internet access is a bonus. A shame about the dissapointing buffet breakfast. This is the smartest of the hotel's seven locations, which include Roppongi, Ueno and Nibonbashi."
;) Stevie
Villa Fontain, Shiodome
Dates: March 31 - April 9 (9 nights)
1-9-2 Higashi Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0021, Japan
T 81 (0)3 3569 2220
F 81 (0)3 3569 2111
Wow! More tips from Janet.
We made reservations at a hotel in Ginza, kinda crazy but actually affordable. We went ahead and made it for the whole 10 days and then we will decide when we get there when to go to Kyoto. We’ll probably go for a day spend one or two nights and come back. We still have a bunch of planning to do. I really want to go to the Ghibli museum, the fish market and . . . well there are just too many things to think about let alone list! But these suggestions are to helping us to narrow it down. Thanks again, Janet!
;) Stevie
I mentioned to Ken Switzer that Zach and I were planing a trip to Japan. Ken and Janet went to Tokyo and Kyoto a while back and he said they would send me some info on cool places to check out. And then, boom! I get a flood of tips via email from Janet. Fantasic! We'll check it all out and report back later on what we thought. Thanks Janet!
;) Stevie
We finally decided on the dates of our trip, March 30th to April 9th. But that means we won't be in there the same time as Trina. We'll miss her by a week. Damn! We reserved the flights and made reservations at a hotel. We just have to put 'em on the ole credit cards next. We looked a some of the ryokan in tokyo but ended up going with a hotel because Zach isn't really down with sharing a bathroom for 10 days. So we went the total opposite route and booked at a high-rise in Ginza in the Shiodome complex. Then when we go to Kyoto, we'll stay at a smaller inn or ryokan. Anyhoo, it's fun to plan and look forward to.
Trina emailed me some suggestions in the form of a walking tour near the area we'll be staying in. We'll try them out and report back later on what we thought. Thanks Trina!
;) Stevie
Leaving:
Date: 30MAR - THURSDAY
Flight : AMERICAN AIRLINES 167
Departure: NEW YORK JFK 11:40 AM
Arrival: TOKYO NARITA 3:30 PM
Arriving: LUNCH/DINNER
---------------------------------------
Returning:
Date: 09APR - SUNDAY
Flight : AMERICAN AIRLINES 168
Departure: TOKYO NARITA 5:50 PM
Arrival: NEW YORK JFK 5:30 PM
Returning: DINNER/BREAKFAST
:) Zach
1. Decadinal Birthday: (noun) On any birthday that ends in a zero, you should do something BIG, go somewhere you've always wanted to go. Remsberg family tradition for generations (well, at least two).
My birthday wish this year was to go to Japan. Anyone who's seen my collection of empty Boss coffee cans or heard my cell phone ring knows I am a big Japanophile. So I decided that it was time to hit Tokyo in the spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom. With some financial help form my loving parents, Zach and I started making plans.
;) Stevie
