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| Tokyo Sky Tree at dawn |
First thing: Breakfast. I've told you about dinners and snacks, but I haven't addressed breakfasts. When I travel, I sometimes have trouble figuring out what people in other cultures eat for breakfast or if "breakfast food" is distinctive from food at other meals.
Here in Japan, that's not really a problem, but it is an adventure.
Because we had some time zone adjustments at first, and now because we have pre-paid, we are inclined to breakfast at the hotel. It's an easy and fun way to get the day started. At the day's dawning, while I do appreciate familiar foods, I thrill at a multi-cultural buffet!
Yes, I take a spoon of scrambled eggs... reliable, but here beautifully, marigold-orange rather than chick-yellow. But I also sample bits of anything (read: everything) I cannot identify or I see non-Americans eating.
I like okayu, a soft rice porridge, the Asian equivalent to oatmeal. Like oatmeal, you can toss lots of condiments into it to add flavor and texture. Unlike oatmeal, most of the condiments here are salty, pickled or fishy. Don't groan if you haven't tried it. It works! I may be doing it all wrong, but I add everything that's next to the porridge pot: a small pickled plum, sour-salty-sweet like a sour patch kid candy; shredded, pickled turnip; kelp; sometimes tiny dried shrimp or fish.
The hotel buffet here at The Prince Park Tower, also has fun twists on familiar foods. I also love seeing these food make-overs: Eggs Benedict, an "individual serving" is a single (very) soft boiled egg, balanced on a 2"x2" crostini, and drizzled with an orange (remember, the yolks here are orange like the scrambled eggs) hollandaise and chives; Danish, puff pastry tart filled with sweet corn; mini french toast and waffles (about 3"x3"). Some are delicious. Some are meh. But it's fun to try things at a buffet and there's no risk at all.
My favorite thing? Oh that's easy. As I type this, in a new hotel, in a new town, I can still feel the freshness and fragrance in my mouth. My favorite thing at the buffet was a juice. Yes. This juice was blended kiwi and shiso leaf. You know.... the leaf that garnishes your sushi? It's fragrant plum. Perfumey, but fresh and wonderful. The combination is chunky and green, but splendid in the mouth.
Second thing: We have been watching a little round park directly beneath our room. From the nearby nursery school, toddlers in matching neon hats march into the park in groups to run around. Orange hat group, pink hat group, blue hat group. All very sweet. But when the kids are not in the park, it's all dogs, all the time. We sometimes need a fix of dog visiting when we're away. This morning, it was time.
We got lucky and encountered three toy poodles and a stocky chihuahua, all dressed up. Our favorite grey poodle is included in the photos. She is wearing a denim vest, sunglasses on her head, and she has a purple puff of a heart on her lower back. Her name is, Bibi.
Third thing: (I'm to end this listing of Things any minute now, really) We walked around the park to the other grand site visible from the room: a 14th C temple and shogun cemetery.
We had been looking at these places from above for days and I was feeling guilty about not yet having been. We were able to see the impressive main gate with its warrior statues, and some of the glitzy interior, 20' chandeliers of gold foil, descending from the ceiling. Flanking the altar was a pair of magnificent painted drums.
We needed to get to a specific train station in order to activate our rail passes and reserve our seats for the next leg of the journey, so to Tokyo Station we went. Got things sorted out in short order with an agent. Then headed for the Imperial Palace... grounds. The palace proper is only open twice annually and this wasn't one of those days. It was still pleasing to walk around the large open park space, a refreshingly open area in the middle of skyscrapers.
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| Imperial Palace gardens |
Lunch time in Shinjuku. Using our Food Sake Tokyo book once more, we found a small tempura restaurant (I'm trying to have diversity in the kinds of food we try here.) which was scrumptious. Seated at the bar, we were able to watch the chefs. There was Veggie Prep Chef, Seafood Prep Chef and Frying Chef. While we watched, S.P.C. pinched off prawn heads and skinned and filleted live eels, all with impressive efficiency. V.P.C husked BABY CORNS! I know.. it's silly... but I've never seen baby corns, fresh and in their husks. Adorable and tasty.
In the interest of time, I'll leave you here with another half-day, some Shinjuku architecture, and I'll owe you the rest this evening. And folks, it's a big one, full of all the lights and electronic splash and wild wonderfulness you expect from Tokyo.
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| Capsule hotel |
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