Today was a train travel day, but full of amazingness.
Before we headed out to Tokyo, we felt it was necessary to continue our search for great coffee. We found a small place near our hotel, which satisfied our craving. A small breakfast of banana bread toast and a tiny slice of butter, and some yogurt and granola was had and we were off to the station to board the Shinkansen.
It was tough to leave Kyoto. Our experiences here were fantastic.
We arrived in Tokyo and hustled over to our hotel. We splurged on the last night, and booked a room on the 35th floor of the Cerulean Hotel (more on this later). However, we had a lot to see and only an afternoon to do it!
We placed our bags in the care of the staff and walked through Shibuya, and then on to Harajuku. Our goal was to find a few trinkets for the kids and a few others, as well as see the sights and culture.
Shibuya proved to be as busy as everyone said it would. It’s like times square, but bigger. Of course, the famous Shibuya dog: Hachikō was there and we HAD to take a photo with him. It seemed that everyone was lining up to take a photo with him, but unlike in the US, people were were respectful of their turn. Wow.
We took a walk around Shibuya on a path towards Harajuku, then back to the hotel. We found Takeshita street, which quite possibly be the most densely packed street in existence. Shopping was plentiful, as were the street crepes, which were delicious.
As we approached 5PM, we realized it was time to head back to the hotel and get cleaned up for dinner. We had a special arrangement from our buddy Howard Sun, who is a frequent visitor and candidate for living semi-full time in Tokyo later this year. He helped us decide on a special restaurant for our last dinner in Japan and he didn’t disappoint.
We were in a rush though, as Howard had instructed us – at all costs – not to be late to the restaurant. However, it was in a part of Tokyo that was a little off the path from where were were staying. So, we ended up running from the train station to the restaurant and were about 5 min late. Howard may never forgive us.
Another surprise was in store for us, however. As we walked in the door of Anbe in the Chitosefunabashi district, we heard the words: “Oh hi, you must be Howard’s friends!”. Sitting there at the bar was Kanako Kobayashi, one of Howard’s friends who now lives in Tokyo.
Now we were set! We had a special dinner planned, and Kanako to converse with in English – an unexpected surprise.
Ando san, the owner and head chef of the Restaurant, and Howard san had pre-planned a menu of fresh fish of the day and some steak, through several courses. We began with some appetizers of potato and octopus, followed by a plate of AMAZING sashimi.
We also enjoyed a plate of a type of trout, which was the front of the fish that we ate as Sashimi. What an amazing cooked fish. Brett is not much of a cooked fish connoisseur, but he could not help eating every tiny piece between the bones. A truly unique experience.
We also enjoyed the nigiri, saki, and Tamago (cooked by Kitajima san), which can’t be compared with sushi we’ve ever tried. Not only were the types of fish melt-in-your-mouth delicious, they were unique to what we normally get in the US. Below is a photo of the sushi plate, before and after. And the amazing cooked fish.
As part of the five course meal, we were treated with some perfectly cooked Japanese style steak. It was more fatty than normal, which is intended to enhance the flavor to the beef, and it didn’t disappoint. Every bite was tender, and incredibly flavorful.
We couldn’t have enjoyed our night more, dining on amazing food, and laughing with Kanako and the chefs of Anbe. It turns out, Ando is a train-nerd, and named his sons after local high-speed trains. Millie is also a train-nerd, what a coincidence and what a night!!!!
After so much fun and good food, we headed back to our magical hotel on the 35th floor. The views were unbelievable, and the night lights increased our amazement of the sights.
Tokyo tower, zoomed up as close as we could!
Tomorrow is our last day in Tokyo and in Japan. Sigh, we are sad to say goodbye…