Tokyo & Hong Kong - Part 1

With another year starting off at full steam, we have managed to get our act together and put together a bunch of photos from our trip to Japan and Hong Kong over the Christmas and New Years holidays. Here they are!

December 23 - 25: Hong Kong
Taking the first flight out of Singapore to Hong Kong at 6:50 that morning was an absolute nightmare. Recommendation to all: Never fly a US airline anywhere - I have never been through so many checks and screenings at an airport in my life!

With only about 40 hours in Hong Kong altogether, it was nice to see old friends and catch up even with such little time.. a couple of those pics:

Jo and Leeann had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Central on Christmas eve. Even though I didn't join for lunch, I did stop by towards the middle to hang out for a bit, which is better than what I can about Jo's other half (Mike); who was too busy sleeping at 2pm =D Afterwards, I was off to have a drink with Kev Lee in Lan Kwai. Group photo (l-r: Leeann, Kev Lee, Kevin, Jo):


At the G-Bar at IFC on Christmas Eve with the Poulsen bros, Jess, Nicole and Marc (the first time I ordered a cranberry juice at a bar! Amazing):

(l-r): Kevin, Allan, Richie, Nicole, Marc, Jess and Leeann)

December 25: Tokyo
First time in Japan for Leeann! Aside from the 2 hour bus ride from Narita to the hotel, the traffic and the rain, landing in Tokyo was exciting!.. Our hotel was in Shiodome/Shimbashi, a relatively new area of Tokyo, with connecting walkways often compared to a scene out of Bladerunner (although I didn't quite see it).

Stepping out of the hotel into the massive sprawling underground shopping center/walkway, we watched a couple of streetperformers as one of them played what I can only describe as a hybrid electric guitar and the other one was painting??? Strange, but the music this guy was playing was amazing... anyone know anything about them?:
edit: After much digging, it seems that the guy is playing a Chapman Stick and his name is Toshiaki Kanemaru, absolutely brilliant performer.

One of the many outstanding fruit juice shops in Tokyo. (I finally realize why a Japanese imported fruit can cost US$100 - they are literally a taste of heaven); Leeann sampling a fresh strawberry (iichigo) juice at Hanafru in Ginza:

Pretty lights outside Caretta Mall in Shiodome:
Dec 26: Tsukiji Fish Market - 5am
Probably the best sushi we have ever eaten in our lives...After getting lost in the fresh seafood and tuna auctions going on in Tsukiji Fish Market and taking some time to get used to the freezing cold rain, we found a few sushi places in Tsukiji side by side with queues already piling on... Although we couldn't actually find the recommended place (Tsukiji Sushiko), we came across a gem. Going against the recommendation of NOT going to a place with a small queue, we took a stab at a small 14 seater sushi bar called Daiwa Sushi. As it turns out (lucky for us) - Zagat's, The Economist and Conde Nast note Daiwa as pretty much the best sushi place in the world... not an understatement.
We opted for the omakase (set menu) for Y3,500 per person and the ootoro (tuna belly) was to die for. This was similarly voiced by the trio sitting next to us, one of whom (an IT professional from Silicon Valley) kept declaring his "big breakfast" as being the best he has had in his life. Well worth the 4:45am wake up call and the queue.

Above: The piece on the left is the ootoro. Below, chutoro in the middle.
After breakfast, the pre-dawn wakeup called for a quick nap before we checked out for the day.

Dec 26 - 27: Shimoda Yamatokan

To follow with the Japanese holiday tradition of visiting an onsen (hotspring), our journey took us down to the Izu Peninsula, where we stayed overnight at a ryokan for some down time and a bit of R&R. We took the Super View Odoriko Express train from Tokyo Station direct to Izukyu - trip was about 2.5 hours straight down the pacific coast of Japan. With the rains and winds that afternoon, the view of the coastline was spectacular.. unfortunately the train was moving a little too quickly to get photos. For those with a penchant for maps, we are in the red circle below.Map is courtesy of wikipedia

With about 40 minutes to spare upon arriving at Izukyu-Shimoda station, Leeann found some goodies - cuttlefish just out of the ocean and in the process of being dried for packaging.
A 10-seater mini-van came to pick us and a few other guests up from the station and a quick 5 minute trip brought us to the ryokan.

Above: A view from the ground, the Ryokan sits just off Tatado beach (an apparent surfer haven). Most of the rooms had private onsen baths overlooking the ocean; ours looked like this:

The same view at night with Tatado beach and the Izu cliffs looming in the background:
At 55 degrees Celsius, the water was hot! But it was open air and the rain kept it cool. (The outside air temperature was about 2-3 degrees Celsius, nice!). It was a truly chilled experience and sitting in the open air with the sounds of waves hitting the beach and the cliff was absolutely superb.

Then comes the food. We were served a traditional Kaiseki dinner, an elaborate 10-15 course Japanese dinner decorated immaculately and using nothing but the freshest ingredients - all I can say is wow. Fresh sashimi from the nearby waters, live abalone (soon to be broiled), lobster soup, an a whole Kimi fish (a local speciality with ultra tender meat) per person. We were stuffed! The starters:
During the stay, we had to wear the traditional Japanese clothing; the Yukata and the Kimono; as seen below:
The view from the "R&R room", a room where all people do is sit in lazy chairs, get massages and enjoy the view all day long:
An attempt to try out the ISO1600 feature on our Canon IXUS 900. Turned out ok!:You might just notice the dots in the water above which are actually surfers who weren't afraid of the almost zero degree waters.. when we woke up at 7am, there were a good 10-15 surfers trying to catch some waves already!
A final few photos before we headed back to Tokyo.

The sand was still wet from the rain the previous day but it was still a beautiful day out; and yes it was still cold as you can see from the overcoats!


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Tokyo & Hong Kong - Part 2

Dec 27: Back in Tokyo - Kobe Beef Day

Being back in Tokyo after the two day break was nice and we were looking forward to visiting the sights and of course, eating! As some may know, I have been trying to plan our Tokyo meals out for months, but when we finally got there - all the research went out the window and I thought I'd try out the concierge at the hotel. Being diehard fans of wagyu kuroge - the black-haired cow which produces arguably the best beef in the world, we could not resist trying out some Kobe beef. Compared to the Australian or US "wagyu", all the Kobe (or its Matsuzaka / Oumi counterparts) we saw in restaurants and supermarkets were much more beautiful marbled, with the top slabs of sirloin going for about US$150 for 100gms of beef at the supermarkets. Only 262 farms in Japan produce Kobe beef, with each farm only carrying only 5-10 cows on its pastures. The cows are fed sake and beer mash and massaged daily to give it their beautiful marbling.The hotel concierge recommended trying Seryna / Mon Cher Ton Ton at the top floor of the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank building in Shinjuku with superb views on the 52F/L. We both opted for the Kobe beef Teppanyaki set dinner - which included a starter of a trio of petit fours, teppanyaki foie gras, Kobe beef sashimi, a choice between lobster or abalone teppanyaki and of course the star of the day, a fat slab of Kobe beef sirloin.
Kobe beef sashimi - unbelievable texture and dipping it in very light shoyu (soy sauce) brings out flavours to die for...:
A picture at the teppanyaki table taken by our chef:
The slab of Kobe beef sirloin as shown to us just before it was cooked to medium-rare beauty..:
Chef at work:
The final product:
Even the dessert was incredible.. musk melon, or perhaps more commonly known as cantaloupe was served simple as a slice on a plate. Amazingly sweet, refreshing and soothing - unbelievable!
After being stuffed like a pig, we took a stroll towards Takashimaya Shinjuku, just above the railway station where hundreds, if not thousands of people were also soaking in the glittery night lights as holiday goers like ourselves snapped photos:
Dec 28: Tokyo - Tempura Day

Out of the two of us, Leeann is much more of the tempura fan but a given that we were in Tokyo, what better than to take a visit to Ten-Ichi in Ginza, a famous age old tempura institution which has about 10 branches across Tokyo and boasts visitors such as ex-PM of Japan Koizumi and Presidents Bush and Clinton since it opened in 1930. Arriving at noon, we took a counter seat in front of the tempura chef alongside 7 other patrons and ordered a Tsuki set meal. At Y8,000 (US$75) a head without drinks for lunch, this was one pricey tempura meal - but worth every penny! Deep fried in front of us in an ultra light batter (which I understand is a high-grade sesame oil); the prawns, fresh fish, vegetables and scallops which came throughout the 10-12 course meal was not greasy at all and had just enough crisp and flavour. Combined with the tentsuyu dip and some fresh daikon radish, this was some superb tempura!


The obligatory dessert photo at Ten-Ichi.. Leeann with her favourite iichigo (strawberry) and Kevin with some super-sweet mangoes. Just outside the restaurant:A quick stroll through Ginza, stopping at the Apple store for a look:
Some strange things going on at the Chanel store in Ginza:
A view from the hotel room overlooking JR Shimbashi station:
As we got to Takashimaya too late the night before, we headed back to Shinjuku and found something we've been craving for a long long time!

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Tokyo! Our previous bite of the sugar laden, heart stopping doughnuts was a year and a half ago in Seoul, and this was indeed a surprising sight. Being the first Krispy Kreme store to open up in Tokyo and the Tokyo-ites love for all things new, the queue to get a couple doughnuts was insanity to say the least - we waited a good 1 hour to buy 2 doughnuts... crazy? indeed! There were even policemen there guiding the queue... now that was a sight:
Just around the corner and next to Takashimaya Shinjuku was Tokyu Hands, the "Creative Lifestyle Store", an incredible Walmart type store over 8 floors selling everything from electric warming slippers to wines to curtain cloth material and things you had no idea existed at all. You could spend several days strolling the aisles here alone!

A US$150 cantaloupe seen in Shinjuku (musk melon):
Dec 28: Roppongi Hills & Tokyo Tower
The ultra modern and exclusive Roppongi Hills area - an area frequented by many of the foreigners living in Tokyo, and built originally as part of an encompassing residential, shopping and dining complex. Nearby is the Tokyo version of the Eiffel Tower, a less magnificant version of the Parisian structure but by no means less beautiful at night.

The entrance to Roppongi Hills:
I couldn't help but to take a quick snap as we passed the window of the Kiton shop inside Roppongi Hills with these beautiful antiqued wholecuts:
Tokyo Tower at night:
From the belly of the beast:
Dec 29: Shiodome Ramen
With an urge to sample the favourite fast food of Tokyo-ites, Ramen; a quick search on google from our hotel room for "Ramen in Shiodome" brought up Shiodome Ramen, a shop in the Nippon Television building just across the street from our hotel. The ramen shop was opened by Kounosuke Takewaka, the winner of the 2003 NTV ramen competition and even as we got there 15 minutes after it opened at 11:30am, there was already a 30 minute queue outside. Bracing the cold and driven by the thought of a hot bowl of ramen coming, we held our ground and with just minutes to noon we were led to our counter seat where the waiter took our order tickets purchased at the ramen ticket machine moments earlier:With my almost non-existent knowledge of Japanese, the big poster showing the "seasonal special" for the period seemed to be the best choice and at Y990, the pork miso soup was almightly complex and rich - different to the typical miso, shio or tonkotsu soup bases we've tried. The egg was cooked just perfect, with the meat so tender it falls apart in your mouth... delicious!That afternoon, we went exploring in Aoyama, near the goth-queen area of Harajuku and Omotesando. Famous for the Prada flagship store designed by Herzog & de Meuron, a Swiss architect company credited with the Tate Modern in London and the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics to name a few:
Less famous, but still worthy of mention was the Chloe store right next door, designed by British architect form S.H. Architects who were responsible for all the Chloe stores worldwide:

Leaving Aoyama and heading for the heart of Omotesando Hills, our eyes stopped at what I can only describe as the "strawberry cake shop", cakes with piles of bright red strawberries looking mouth-wateringly gorgeous:
Next stop: Omotesando Hills. A marginally less impressive version of Roppongi Hills, but again with desserts to die for. Two dessert parlours in particular, standing side by side; Del Rey Chocolatier Antwerpen and Gelateria Bar - Natural Beat. Del Rey's window display was nothing short of perfect:We didn't try anything at Del Rey, although people dishing out Y2,500 US$22 for a scoop of champagne chocolate icecream suggests that we probably should have...

But nonetheless, Kevin ordered a Rosso Rosso with Fresh Strawberry Meringue (strawberry gelato with lemon meringue and fresh strawberries) which was refreshing and truly outstanding..:
After Omotesando, a walk about 15 minutes South brought us to Shibuya; home of the famous 10 direction crossroad and Hachiko, a famous meeting point in Tokyo. Hachiko was an Akita dog who used to wait for his owner Eisaburo Ueno at Shibuya station every day and continued to do so even 11-years after his owner's death.

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