On Friday, I found out I was headed to Tokyo on Sunday for work. I had known the possibility existed for about three weeks, but lots of factors contributed to the iffiness of actually going - in any case, I did manage to get a plane reservation, hotel reservation, new shoes,* and 14 hours later, Voila! Tokyo!
After I arrived and settled into my hotel room (read: took a much appreciated shower and finally touched up my roots ... self-dying my hair is fine, but finding time - between setting up our house and playing with three boys, while also working a bit more than expected - had been impossible. I threw the dye kit in my suitcase at the last minute) first order of business was finding dinner.
The airplane food (United) was HORRIBLE. I don't remember the last time I hadn't been able to eat food put in front of me just to have some nourishment, but the lunch on the flight was not edible. The "turkey sandwich" snack wasn't too great either, but after 10 hours of no food I did manage to chew and swallow that cardboard. And the "omlette" served just before landing was similarly digested for fear of fainting from low blood sugar. Note to self: buy snacks for plane ride home.
So, by 8PM Tokyo time, I was starving and wanting to stretch my legs. I figured I'd wander out and around a bit, even though my hotel is not in an area I'm very familiar with. After passing numerous curry houses, coffee houses, "family restaurants," a few Italian options, and one tonkatsu place, I ended up settling on soba. I was woried anything much heavier on an empty stomach a bit confused by travel might end up making me sick ... so hiyashi kitsune soba it was. YUM. I choose well.
As I was finishing up, three American college students wandered into the little mom-and-pop place. They couldn't read the menu on the wall, and spoke no Japanese - and the "mom" (of the mom-and-pop duo) spoke no English - so I hung around a bit. After a minute of confusion, they finally just pointed to the one picture on the wall which had three different kinds of cold soba, and just said "three." The "mom" laughed, but relayed their order to the "pop." Amused, I wanted a bit longer until their order came -- they whipped out smart phones, documented their adventure for Facebook, and dug in. My evening entertainment over, I headed back up to th ehotel, with a pit stop at a convenience store for dessert (tonight: chocolate-mint-drink).
Too bad this trip is so short. I missed Tokyo :)
*New shoes required because my super comfy navy pumps finally died after 12 years and multiple re-soles. Then the drycleaner didn't have my black suit ready in time. But I couldn't bring my navy suit and black heals, so Saturday I made an emergency stop in at DSW to get shoes to go with my clean suit...
After I arrived and settled into my hotel room (read: took a much appreciated shower and finally touched up my roots ... self-dying my hair is fine, but finding time - between setting up our house and playing with three boys, while also working a bit more than expected - had been impossible. I threw the dye kit in my suitcase at the last minute) first order of business was finding dinner.
The airplane food (United) was HORRIBLE. I don't remember the last time I hadn't been able to eat food put in front of me just to have some nourishment, but the lunch on the flight was not edible. The "turkey sandwich" snack wasn't too great either, but after 10 hours of no food I did manage to chew and swallow that cardboard. And the "omlette" served just before landing was similarly digested for fear of fainting from low blood sugar. Note to self: buy snacks for plane ride home.
So, by 8PM Tokyo time, I was starving and wanting to stretch my legs. I figured I'd wander out and around a bit, even though my hotel is not in an area I'm very familiar with. After passing numerous curry houses, coffee houses, "family restaurants," a few Italian options, and one tonkatsu place, I ended up settling on soba. I was woried anything much heavier on an empty stomach a bit confused by travel might end up making me sick ... so hiyashi kitsune soba it was. YUM. I choose well.
As I was finishing up, three American college students wandered into the little mom-and-pop place. They couldn't read the menu on the wall, and spoke no Japanese - and the "mom" (of the mom-and-pop duo) spoke no English - so I hung around a bit. After a minute of confusion, they finally just pointed to the one picture on the wall which had three different kinds of cold soba, and just said "three." The "mom" laughed, but relayed their order to the "pop." Amused, I wanted a bit longer until their order came -- they whipped out smart phones, documented their adventure for Facebook, and dug in. My evening entertainment over, I headed back up to th ehotel, with a pit stop at a convenience store for dessert (tonight: chocolate-mint-drink).
Too bad this trip is so short. I missed Tokyo :)
*New shoes required because my super comfy navy pumps finally died after 12 years and multiple re-soles. Then the drycleaner didn't have my black suit ready in time. But I couldn't bring my navy suit and black heals, so Saturday I made an emergency stop in at DSW to get shoes to go with my clean suit...
3 comments:
No tonkatsu??? Maybe tonight. Tanoshinde.
I didn't think the food on United was too bad... until I was dreadfully sick the next day!
As a much pickier eater than you, I always tuck at least one bagel in my carry-on. That way, if a meal is inedible or my hunger isn't synced with the meal service, I can survive the trip. Bagels travel better than most other snacks and are pretty filling, too. Now you have my very best travel tip for the long trips to and from Asia.
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