Food!

The last few days have been a blur. We have been all over the place to eat and drink, searching areas that are familiar and new to us. Food has been our goal and boy have we eaten.

If you do get the chance to come to Japan you will change the way you eat. Instead of large meals to sustain you all day you will get smaller meals. Portion sizes here are sometimes smaller than home, however, the meals cost less and taste amazing. You will hunt out the next delicious meal only hours after you have eaten the last. This means you can try so many new and wonderful things over here.

Most of our food the past few days has been from stores and places we don't know or have wanted to try for many trips. There are places you walk past and remember, the smell of garlic butter or soup wafting past your nose yet again, jogging your memories of a drunken nights past.

Christmas/Boxing day

I knew we wouldn't be doing much for these two days. A lot of places open late, but unlike Australia they are still open. I can hear construction workers and see people out and about in force on both Christmas and Boxing day.

Matt and I head into Chiyoda to finally have a look at the imperial palace. We find an exhausting walk and access only to the gardens. A few photos were taken here and there but as it is winter the normally  vibrant gardens are yellow and brown. We've missed most of the Autumn colours but are pleased to still see pockets of yellow and orange. 

For breakfast we found ourselves at a Xiao Long Bao joint. These delicious boiling hot pockets of soup and meat seem to have taken root in so many countries now and that is not a bad thing. Soup dumplings are a piping hot broth that demands a ritual to eat otherwise you will burn the absolute crap out of your mouth. Still, if you treat them right you are in for a treat. The ones we found were cooked upside down and had a slight tomato flavour to the soup. Delicious!

It wasn't until our curry addiction reared it head that we left the comfort of our room, and my nap, for more food. We wandered Bunkyo-ku looking to fill that need. A CoCo curry house appeared in the distance and we knew we would be in for a feast. CoCo curry not only delivers, literally delivers to your house, it also lets you build your own curry. How much rice do you want, what type of curry, what level of spice and what do you want on top? All of these questions lead to a custom curry that suits you, rather than choosing from their expansive set menu. It was crab cream croquette and scrambled egg curry for me. 

After gorging ourselves we needed a drink, a beer to wash down the delicious curry. As always Japan delivered in the form of a 280 yen bar. These places are amazing, everything in the bar is 280yen. Every beer, every cocktail and every plate of food. The best thing about it is all is that it is freaking delicious. Edamame and spicy cucumber are a must with any drink. Did I mention it was only 280yen!!!

After filling ourselves to the literal brim we headed back. Whisky demanded to be drunk and Matt demanded to nap. Jono called it quits are 12:30am while the afternoon nap had kicked in. I left the hotel wandering the nearby streets, walking the bath I just had off. There is something beautiful about a city at night, even though the people seem to be missing the city is still lit up as if trying to attract the last stragglers into its artificial glow. As you walk past the tiny 10 person bars and restaurants with patrons still in revelry you catch small glimpses of their worlds. The scenes change but the message is the same, you are awake, you are alive and there are others to share that with. It is almost dreamlike to walk the streets in Tokyo at this time of the night. This is something I miss dearly at home. Tokyo does not sleep.

Boxing day was our shopping day and as such was very uneventful. We dodged the foot traffic in Akihabara, darting in and out of  the ridiculously small and tall figurine and model shops hunting for some model kits to send home. Matt is hunting for the right Gundam model kits for the right price. we meander through the never ending alleyways and streets of Tokyo's anime district, seeing the maids drumming up business for their cafe's on every corner. I sit on the rails enclosing the sidewalk and watch people go by, wondering about their story and what they are doing here. It is a relaxing practice in a hectic town.

We wander until we find a restaurant whose menu entices us. Hamburg dishes on sizzling plates, how could you go wrong.

We finally find what we are looking for in Ikebukero. we leave with laden bags and sore feet. Head back to the hotel and drink the rest of the night away. 

Day One

Barely able to hold my excitement in I woke up with the Sun at 6am. There is a little enclosed balcony in our room where I can have a smoke and setup the tablet to nut these entries out. It looks out over a traditional garden which is sparsely populated for winter. Matt is still asleep dreaming of our previous nights endeavors and of those to come.

Once he is up we wake the others and soak in the magnificence that is a Japanese bath. If you have never been to Japan or other countries that have large, piping hot baths you will not understand. There is something so revitalising about it, the almost scolding water penetrates your extremities and gives back all the energy you thought you lost. Sore joints, aching muscles and cricks in your neck are leeched from you. 

We head out looking for a coffee. Japan does most things well, but coffee here is something they do exceptionally. There is a small cafe down the road from the Hotel that entices you with the smell of fresh roasted beans from their window. Any place that roasts their own coffee must take pride in their produce. We have been there before on many trips and knew it was time to head back there.

You know you are in Japan the first time you sit down, order your meal and are handed a wet towel. This is something Australia doesn't get, wet towels are amazing!

I ordered an egg and ham salad muffin. The picture looks appetising and I am starving. Lo and behold the finished product looks like the picture, something that seems uncommon everywhere else in the world but it business ans usual here.

We spend most of the day in Shinjuku, Matt wanted to buy a lens for his camera and, by way of being in the magical camera store that is Map Camera, I wanted one too. After shopping around it was time for meat. Kingdom of steak is a sizziling plate restaurant we found on our first trip and keep going back to. the portions are good, the food is amazing and the smell should be illegal. In my hypnotic state i even forget to take a photo. I am sure I will be back and one of my friends will snap me out of it so I can show you all a picture of it in its full glory.

We wandered for what felt like an age, hunting the lens Matt desired, as it is Christmas everywhere had sold out, and eventually headed home. As is always the case with being in Japan, the hunger soon returned. We stopped in at a chain restaurant this time that our Japanese travelling partners know so well. The remnants of that $10 meal sitting on the table remind me of why I love it here. And yes, that is a tall bottle of delicious Asahi.

We head back to the hotel, full of food and laden with bottles of Japanese whisky. Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good whisky. There are some who enjoy their Jack Daniel and coke, some that enjoy a Jim Beam on the rocks, but I love whisky. It is an experience for me, each whisky providing an entire smorgasbord to my senses. The colour in the bottle. The sound of the cork being forcefully removed from its vessel where it has steadily sat protecting its charge. The sound of it being splashed into the glass. The first, second, third and fourth smell; all different and all revealing what is in store. The taste, oh the taste, a good whisky is a meal, with many courses and a different taste to each. It will start with the tip of your tongue, work its way through your mouth sitting in the middle for while so you can take it all in, then it will head down your throat as you swallow. Lastly it will stay, even though it is not longer there you can still feel its coating of your cheeks and tongue, taste it as it evaporates and feel it as it warms you on the way down. If you can't tell it is a passion of mine.

Holy crap, what have I just had to drink! My nose is confused, hell I am confused. Why does this smell like a rum. The sweetness, the coffee, the flavour profile of a Jamaican or Venezuelan Solera rum is filling my nostrils, I go back again and again expecting this to be a mistake. What has Nikka created. Matt, Jono and I all sat confused, not knowing what the hell we were drinking. I love Japanese whisky, it breaks molds and does things that the Scott's can't. They are not bound by hundreds of years of traditions and can do things differently. This is a masterpiece, a rum profile on the nose, and in the mouth. It is not till you swallow that you get the taste of whisky, as though it is letting you know at the end that you are in fact drinking whisky. To top it all off, you finally realise you are drinking a grain whisky. This should taste like a Bourbon, this should have a distinct and common taste. Once you start to explore it you get the corn, the nut the caramel. You can see how they would all come together to create this.

Now fairly liquored up Matt and I went in search of Christmas lights. Tokyo Dome is right near our hotel but it took several hours to get there. We took the long way, and as wondering often does, it took us to some cool places. I'll leave you with some photos of our adventure.

Finally here

We had an eight and a flight to Tokyo from the Gold Coast. We flew in one of the new Boeing Dreamliner 787's. Amazing plane, very comfortable and quiet.

We landed earlier than expected and met Jackie, Jono's girlfriend as we left customs. We have a tradition when we finally get here, a can of drink and a smoke for me, it's how I know I am here. We waited an hour for the Narita express to take us into Tokyo, and swapped trains to get to Bunkyo-ku. We are spending our first 10 nights in Homeikan, one of our favourite hotels in Tokyo. Right next to the Tokyo University it is in a very quiet part of town.

Once we arrived, two hours after I thought we would be here, we settled in, had a bath, and headed out for food. What else would we eat on our first night here but Ramen. And what a Ramen it was. It may have been exhaustion or the thrill of finally being back in this city but either way, it was amazing.

The broth was good, of the pork kind, and it had seaweed and a boiled green of some sort . Once all the condiments went in I was set. Minced Garlic, Takana (pickles) and ground ssesame It was a sign I was back in Japan and my body finally new I was here.

Getting ready to fly

So after many long months waiting for this trip we are finally at the airport. Nothing left to do but enjoy a drink and wait for boarding. Can not wait to be back in Tokyo.