Japan- the beginning

Tim's also blogging about Japan- check him out at www.kneadingtheproof.blogspot.com


We left Tim's at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday the 27th, we hopped into my car, drove to Reagan, and then (after waiting what seemed like forever) onto the plane to O'Hare.  We were a little late getting in, because there was some kind of delay
getting planes onto the ground.  We we got into the gate, and walked over to the new one, and this time had a short wait to board the plane for Tokyo.

The flight, as any 13+ hour flight is, was long.  the food was medium to terrible. (medium: the beef and potatoes for lunch) (terrible: the sushi, and the sandwich we got, that was still frozen in the center, giving it a distinct "meatsicle" texture) the less said about the flight is probably the better, except to say, we were in the center aisle, and the guy who was in the middle seat (the row was five across) had to get up no less than six times.

We arrived in Japan, and then got to our hotel after a shuttle bus ride (not so fun: my ability to get bus sick)  and checked into our hotel, which had a high speed elevator that was glass encased and gave us an amazing look at the city, including a soccer field that was on top of a building, and the a look down onto the Shibuya District.  

We dumped our stuff, and then headed out to check out the lay of the land.  We saw a Lush store, a
Disney Store, and lots of different kinds of Japanese food and clothing stores. Where we are staying, it seems like a Times Square vibe- lots of people and billboards and frenetic energy, centered on one circle of fraffic, that when the light would change, people would flood it to go across. We first saw it from the hotel, and it didn't get any less strange once we were on the ground and in the middle of it. 

Japan at night

So we walked around, and eventually found dinner, and it was fantastic. Tim and I  both ordered a bunch of different things, so we could try lots. We had cucumbers with miso paste and ume paste, tempura mushrooms,  two kinds of dumplings, mackrel, and braised pork  The whole meal was fantastic, but i'm still thinking about the braised pork.  It was mouth meltingly tender and delicious.  

We did some more walking, but by that point we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the hotel and I updated my pictures, and Tim fell asleep.

Ok, that's it for now- heading to bed. More tomorrow!