TokyTwo

We arrived in Tokyo and both of us had suffered at the hands of the evil night bus and its sinister plan of not making us sleep well. As with the first time I was in Tokyo, I got struck with man flu and became a tired, grumpy, sick old man in one of the most exciting cities a westerner can dream about – perfect.

As this was our second time to Tokyo and both of us were tired, we decided to take it easy and use this time to recuperate, book some more buses, and wander about aimlessly rather than desperately rushing to see all the sights we had already been to.

One place we did not make it to the first time though was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building near Shinjuku, so we decided to head there. These Gotham styled towers looked like something straight out of the new Batman.

I would have to say that going up this building is a 'must-do' because it is free (a rare commodity in Japan) and the view from the top is fantastic. We were launched up by a lift that went faster than a time-travelling Delorian and in the distance we could see what we’d be experiencing the next day -  Mount Fuji.

The white thing that looks like cloud = Fujisan!

Besides Shinjuku, we went back to the Shibuya area to hunt out some Japanese teenagers in costumes and to experience those delightful diagonal crossings.

I do love a good aubergine!

In case it isn't clear - this is a man.

Saw some dancing Japanese girls as well - win!

We couchsurfed again in Tokyo and a big shout out to Morteza and Nasrin – a generous and kind Iranian couple who we had an absolute blast with. 
Nasrin taught me how to make a traditional Iranian called Gheihem - delish! David was really please when we were woken by an earthquake in the morning, as he had always wanted to experience one, and Morteza, being the lovely man he is, came to check we were ok and not too freaked out once everything stopped shaking.

The biggest bike garage ever!

We don’t have too much more to say about our Tokyo visit because we felt we had done most of it the last time we were there and we only had a few hours either side of our visit to Lake Kawaguchiko to see Mt Fuji. So join us soon to experience the delights of Mt Fuji!’

Woo! No night bus this post.

Tokyo in My Mouth

So here it is - the long awaited Tokyo food blog. I have to say, I wasn't as thrilled by the food in Tokyo as I was by that in China - plus we were only there for a few days - so I don't have a great deal to say. But I have chosen the most memorable things and will tell you a bit about them.

On our first night in the big city we ate with Dan, Laurence and Toshi at a restaurant with a very unusual method of ordering. David mentioned it in a previous blog post but just to remind you - each table had a touch-screen computer with an interactive menu that you could place digital orders on. The food came in small portions, like a kind of Japanese tapas, which was great because it meant we got to try quite a few things. It was also very reasonably priced, at roughly 500 yen (£4.50) per dish.

The obligatory aubergine - slightly sweet with lots of spring onion.

Two types of tuna sushi (one was like a mousse)
- very tasty -  and a portion of salmon roe sushi
that was apparently even nicer.

Steamed and salted edamame beans in their shells.
Shelling peas and beans is one of nature's most satisfying tasks
and the beans themselves were crunchy and very pleasant.

Dried stingray with a garlic mayonnaise dip. I am told it was
very tough but had a surprisingly unique and delicious flavour. 

The next three dishes were from different places: The first, from a hole-in-the-wall noodle place Toshi took us to, the second was from a shopping mall food court (we do love our food courts!) and the third from a "Little Chef"-esque diner we stumbled upon while exploring the city.

Flour noodles in a creamy, thin pork broth with sliced pork,
half a boiled egg, some spring onion, seaweed and Jew's Ear.
Yes you read that right. The long brown bits on the left are called Jew's Ear.
There were pots of garlic and sesame seeds on the table
which we added ourselves and you could get extra noodles
for your leftover broth for a few extra yen. Very tasty and cheap.

Spicy noodle soup with Pak Choi. It came with a
bowl of really spicy tofu in a hot soy bean paste.
Unusual flavour but not half bad.

Left to Right: Hamburger steak, two breaded boiled eggs on
a stick and a whole battered fish. Not the most interesting
meal but I thought the breaded, fried homage to Scotch Eggs
on a stick was worth a mention.

Finally, I have a recommendation - it was passed down to me by my mother (who visited a couple of months before us) and I am passing it on to you - my beloved readers. If you ever find yourself in Tokyo, you simply must visit a restaurant called Gonpachi. My family went when they visited Tokyo in August and told us exactly what to eat. It's a bit pricey but all you need is a starter and a beer. Oh and a love of all things Tarantino helps, because this restaurant is where they filmed the famous Crazy 88 fight scene for Kill Bill! Not that you'd know for seeing it, since it looks totally different, but the entrance is lined with pictures of famous people and there is a display case full of Kill Bill merch as proof. Anyway, the food...

Two beers and a bowl of tempura fried squid. I am not a squid
fan but this was delicious. It was quite chewy but the squid
flavour was subtle and it was coated in a lovely curry powder.

Tarantino display case.

The waiters and chefs would all shout "Welcome" and "Goodbye" (in Japanese) whenever anyone entered or left the restaurant. It was a nice touch. The manager / owner was a very friendly American man who came round several times to ask if we were okay or needed anything. All in all, it was a great experience.

So there you have it. As I said, a much smaller selection than the previous two food blogs but we are planning another longer, and more extensive trip to Japan this winter, after which I'm sure we will have many more culinary delights to share with you... pictorially of course :)

Oh I almost forgot the best thing!

Choc-ice!

China-Korea-Tokyo Sobcoe Table

We have been busy updating the blog and coming up with a new feature for everyone to look at. We have attempted to compare China, Korea and Tokyo as holiday destinations for any prospective travellers out there. We have scored the places in a variety of categories from People to Food. The best way I could find of displaying our results is in the form of a google document. Red numbers get subtracted as they are negative attributes! Blue numbers get added as they are positive attributes.

So please have a look at the embedded spreadsheet to find out the winner.

EDIT: Updated Sobcoe Table to include all of Japan. Click here.


*SPOILER ALERT* Tokyo comes out on top. *SPOILER OVER*

Please tell us what you think of the comparison in the comments.

Tokyto-an-fro

So what else did we do in Tokyo besides celebrating false birthdays? Me, Katie and our tour guide Toshi went to Akihabara – the electronic district. We saw a huge queue to an arcade and decided to take a peak…

We then had a look in a temple...

Followed by a little trip to Takeshita street full of funky shops and the nearby bridge full of even funkier shoppers.

Cosplay

Toshi and I saw a Japanese garden while Katie looked at some dresses.

We then went and saw lots of fat men in nappies try to push each other out of a circle of sand – commonly known as Sumo.
Watch in HD!

There are a lot more videos on my youtube account.

If a night of watching fat men grapple with each other wasn’t homoerotic enough, we then stumbled across the most extravagant Hello Kitty store ever. It was fabulous!

We finished the night by going round a Ferris wheel and saw the city at night, (I didn't really see it because I was too distracted by the impending sense of doom that I always feel when I'm more than 2 meters off the ground. It was horrible) which was spectacular… or generic, as all major cities look the same at night. In fact I feel so strongly about this that I vow to never go up a tower or round a Ferris wheel again to see a major city at night. A side note but look at this photo taken by NASA of India at night during Diwali.

We’re gonna finish with a quick sprint of our last two days. We went to another temple, which was really beautiful.
Actually, in Japan they are called shrines, since they are more spiritual than religious, and I personally found them much more calming and contemplative than the Buddhist temples we've seen so far in Korea and China. There were lots of interesting things going on, including a big thing with smoke coming out, that people were patting all over their bodies to get rid of evil spirits.

Katie Got Her Fortune Told

Then we went to a cool market to look for goodies!!

Went to a park with a lake and saw an incredibly strange mime.

After, we had a look around the business area called Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi, and it was full of tall buildings.

And we finished in Shibuya to do some people watching…

I would like to finish by saying that you should not fly with a cold. I did and I lost hearing in my right ear for over 10 days. However during the flight, we did snap a few photos of clouds as it was a lovely clear day – helped me forget about my troublesome ear!
And the several free beers that I had helped me ignore Dave's moaning about his troublesome ear. So all in all a lovely time was had by all :)

Tokyoing

After I caught the blog squirts, I have encountered blog constipation and not because of lack of events or worthwhile stories. It’s due to me trying to focus on my future by looking for work, as well as (finally) starting my new sitcom, which I have been meaning to write for over two years. My bullshit and creative juices have been salivating like a rabid dog, just not all over this blog and your shiny reading glasses.

Anyway, today we’re writing about Tokyo as we visited in September for three nights and had a whale of a time . Not a blue, sad whale struggling with weight problems, but more like the sort of fun a sprightly sperm whale might have swimming around. In fact, I shouldn’t really use the idiom “whale of a time” because if there is one animal that truly despises spending time in Japanese waters due to fear of death, it is the whale.

When we arrived, I had arranged to meet an old school friend called Toshi who was from Tokyo and was generous enough to pick us up from the airport, drive us to our hostel and show us around the city. Toshi, you were a wonderful tour guide and I certainly learned a lot, especially when you were talking about Japanese history on the ride from the airport about, and I’m sure Katie’s dreams were full of tales of emperors and whatnot (she slept – the two hour flight took a lot out of her). Thank you so much Toshi, as I said, I will happily return the favour in Korea or if you visit me when I’m back in London.

The reunions were only just beginning though as we met up with Lau and Dan, who we know from London. Dan, as you might remember, recently visited us in Korea for about 2 weeks when we went to Seoul and that art exhibition. Lau is an old school friend of mine who does not like to get naked as much as Dan. However, Dan was not topless when we met up, but if the night went where I hoped, it would not stay like that for long.

All five of us went to Shibuya crossing – that famous zigzag one where it is incredibly busy and great for a photo.

After dinner (to be spoken about in a future blog by Katie) we went for drinks. It started with an eerie walk through a scary corridor full of various screaming zombies to get us started – quite weird for a bar. Dan and Lau decided to tell them it was my birthday, which it wasn’t, and it meant that I got some special treatment.

Due to it being my birthday, we went to a private room with no air conditioning and suddenly the lie was not paying off as we dripped in sweat while deciding what to order. The bar certainly had a theme, which is best explained in photos.

Our drinks selection.

Lau doing his own Chemistry

This bar excited the chemist inside me and I enjoyed mixing A+B+C = D+R+U+N+K. They even had little 80-90% alcohol pills that you swallowed. My lecturers and teachers would be so proud…

Dan Not Naked

Unfortunately Dan and Lau were flying home the next morning so it really was a brief encounter at the end of their two week holiday.

So that’s the first day and night covered of Tokyo and the next blog will cover the remainder of the trip (including some cultural stuff). But thanks Dan and Lau for coming to see me on my imaginary birthday, I had a wonderful time and the imaginary cake was awesome.