Tokyo Part One

I set off for Tokyo on Monday morning to see another part of the world. Tokyo has always been one on my list of places to see, and certainly to eat. I even held off on Sushi for a week beforehand just to get ready (Tokyo Training). I had saved up some points on my United Mileage plus to save me some bucks and with a little schedule adjustments found dates for a week of exploring.

My early morning flight out of DIA took off a little after 8 am. With little sleep from the night before, either from nervousness or excitement, it was an easy crash on the plane. I slept the entire way to my midway stop in Vancouver.

Vancouver, by the way, has a fantastic airport. It is beautiful and the views out the windows make it an addition to my “places to see” list. I was transferring to Air Canada (I know, United Mileage plus points… but really) and spent most of my 3 hour layover traveling from gate to gate trying to find an active one to switch my upcoming seat assignment from a middle seat to a window. I could not imagine anything more painful than taking my longest flight to date squished in a coach middle seat. I was dreading it. The airlines had the flight set at completely booked so my chance, my only chance, was that brief window an hour before flight time or close to it when those folks who cancel their flights give up tickets. With the knowledge that there were about a hundred other potential candidates for a window seat I knew my chances were slim. But with only time to kill in Vancouver it was worth it.

It was in the Air Canada private club entrance that salvation came my way. A kind lady heard my request and since mine was probably the easiest request of the pampered and coddled elite who pass her way she quickly pulled up an access screen (I should have thought of this first as the club probably can do changes anytime for their members) and announced that she saw one and only one alternative. It was an aisle seat on the window side and she said “I’m grabbing it before its gone” before I could respond. My thanks went out to her then and today for saving me from another experience.

I boarded and met my seat mate who was a Canadian model named Cory traveling for a multi month agency post in Tokyo. A lot of single guys might be excited but since I am very happily married man it just meant it was someone who spoke English. I always feel so embarrassed that I haven’t taken the time to learn other languages. I can do pretty well with French, I can get by with a touch of German, but I am totally lost in any Asian language.

Her story about the crazy modeling industry in Tokyo was interesting. Apparently the Tokyo market loves to use Canadian, American, and European models for their products. There is a draw to their audience and a created endorsement with the images. I would see evidence of this later in the Tokyo subways with advertisements featuring Tommy Lee Jones and a myriad of other American personalities. The requirements were to look young, cute, and dainty. Her words, they want you to be cute and she works it. Cory’s agency knew her age in the mid 20′s but would pass her off as an older teen for the casting calls. I was amazed to hear that girls as young as young as 14 were going to be living over the next few months in Tokyo as part of this model agency project on their own. I can’t imagine what I would do as a 14 year old in Tokyo for months on my own but the only answer seems to be to get in trouble. And this, Cory stated, is exactly what happens. Her stories, the few I heard before crashing out as we crossed forward from Monday to Tuesday over the international date line, indicated that all the hype about the safety of Tokyo were true. Outside of a few incidents with drunk Japanese businessmen following her home after clubbing until she screamed at them her stays over the past 8 years have been without problems. Cory gave me some tips on places to go and squashed a few myths that I had either read or researched before my trip, shared a cab to the city (cabs are expensive but she said the bus and subway are a nightmare) and then I was on my own upon arriving at the Park Hyatt Tokyo at 3:45 in the afternoon. One final comment on the flight, the food on Air Canada is terrible. Wonderful team members and very friendly but if there is a next time I’m packing some snacks.

Now keep in mind that while it was 3:45 in the afternoon I felt like I had been up for over a day. The combination of a lack of sleep before I left and the poor sleep on the flight meant I was a bit tired. My goal was a quick walking tour of my area, some Sushi for dinner, and then a good nights sleep to wake up the following day for the consistently recommended Fish Market that starts at 5:30 a.m.

The Park Hyatt Tokyo is surrounded by huge and towering office towers and Luxury Hotels. The site of the movie “Lost in Translation” it truly does have the panoramic views of Tokyo that are breathtaking. I had gone for an upper tower room and upon check in I found myself in a wonderful corner city view room on the 46th floor. My representative upon check in had indicated there was one available on the 51st floor a bit higher but she confided that my room would offer her favorite view. She was right and WOW what a skyline. Tokyo seems to go on and on forever. It is like a sea of buildings that stretches farther than I can see.

I quickly cleaned up and heading out. After landing, customs, and over an hour of cab ride plus just checking in it was now past 6 pm. I shot up to the famous New York Grill restaurant at the top and took in that spectacular view with a quick cocktail and a bit of a “whew, I made it” moment. Then it was off for dinner.

I asked at the front desk and concierge about recommendations for Sushi and they kept recommending the first floor restaurant. I poked my head inside and found your typical New York Style casual style eatery with plastic boxes of prepared sushi similar to anything you might find at Whole Foods or Wild Oats. This was going to be an ongoing challenge during my trip, the assumption that as an American my sushi tolerance was tuna and California Rolls. Since the local team didn’t seem to be much assistance in this I was going to have to set out by foot (which I prefer actually).

I started out on the main strip and found a flurry of neon glow, vending machines for every easy food or drink you would want, bicycles parked everywhere and tons, and tons of people. I had hit the beginning of the post work day and salarymen and salarywomen (term for the white collar workers) were getting their groove on. After cruising the main stretch in Shinjuku without any great prospects I drifted into the side streets where the restaurants magically appeared, along with a number of shops and bars. The neon still and signs were everywhere and so where the people. I circled a few times, taking in the different prospects and then found just what I was looking for. It was a small Sushi restaurant with perhaps 20 chairs. Inside at least half the seats were taken and nothing about it looked tourist. I figured if it was totally empty and this was where there were locals were going then there must be a reason. Inside three sushi chefs worked busily center stage of the u shaped sushi bar and a conveyor belt circled them carrying all sorts of delicious items.

I walked in and their was a cheer from the staff as a greeting and I quickly took a seat at the bar. The cheer, of course, was not just for me as they did this to every person who came in while I was there. My choice of restaurants was a great pick for a number of reasons. First, since other than my phrase book and dictionary I spoke virtually no Japanese this allowed me to just look and grab any dish that cruised by on that awesome conveyor belt without ordering. Second, since I was picking for myself there was no worry that the chef would assume I was intimidated by sushi and give me only the basics. And third, since the folks around me were the locals I could watch their picks and maybe try a favorite or two.

The sushi, for the record, was amazing. I had items in colors and with some light sauces that I had never had before. And talk about fresh, I almost couldn’t pick up the toro because it fell apart like butter in my chopsticks. I had the most amazing white almost translucent squiggle things and some amazing fish I didn’t recognize. The problem of course was that I didn’t know how to say “what is this” and even though I could have looked it up in my phrase book I also didn’t want to interrupt the chefs who were slaving away to keep the conveyor belt full.

And these guys eat FAST. Piles of empty plates soon filled up in front of the other diners at the bar and it didn’t take me long to follow suit. They leave those in front of you as they are your bill, so to speak. Different items cost different amounts (darned if I knew which was which) so the stack in front of you gave them a total when you were done. They had a special powder that you put in a cup and then in the bar every couple seats was a hot water spout to make your own tea. They showed me this when I sat down just to make sure I didn’t mess it up, which of course I would have because I thought the spouts might be for soy. I am not sure if Tokyo has liquor licenses but this place might not of had one since everyone drank only tea, no sake or beer. So on my big splash first night not a drop of sake, only a gallon of green tea. The salaryman to my right was loading up on the raw shrimp, clearly his favorite as it was his bite every other time while the salaryman to my left seemed focused as I was on the variety plan. One of the chefs smiled a few times and checked in to see if I was okay and it was clear that I was not their usual customer and they were enjoying it. The comments I repeatedly heard about how friendly everyone is in Tokyo were totally true.

After creating a respectable pile of mini plates and trying every different item I could find I finally hit my max. I pulled out my phrase book to say “that was delicious” (oy-shi-kat-ta) and one of the ladies circling added up my plates and gave me my bill. I walked to the corner cash register and paid what for dinner something close to the cost of my Hyatt cocktail. No surprise there and certainly an awesome experience.

I left the restaurant and spent a good hour getting lost trying to find my way back to my hotel. Fortunately I spotted the tower and weaved my way to it through the streets. They say Tokyo grew without any plan, buildings popping up wherever they might and streets organically growing in no set order. Plus street addresses are pretty much worthless as they indicate a sector in a grid, then a sector within that grid, and then another sub sector. From there you have to wing it to find your final destination as the actual street numbers don’t go in order. They say that the street numbers in some places indicate the construction year so you can see how that doesn’t help unless you can pick the architecture out specifically. Either way I finally found it, went to my room, and crashed hard. It was a long day and my next days log will start with my jet lag waking me up around 4 am which works perfectly for attending the fish market. I’ll tell that story in the next post as I am about one day behind and now need to set out for some sights.

By the way, sorry for the lack of photos today. I had my camera on me in the cab but left it when my ravenous nature carried me out for my sushi dinner. Many, many more tomorrow.