We Meet in Tokyo, February 2006!

After counting down seconds to see Ry, I can't believe we were finally in each others arms at the Narita Airport in Tokyo!! I was beyond ecstatic to see him, I've missed him so much. After telling me all about his horror story of getting to Tokyo from Okinawa... sleeping on his luggage in the freezing cold at the train station so that he wouldn't miss the train to the airport... I was SO relived he was there safely and that we had the entire week together. From the Narita Airport we took a fancy coach bus to our hotel, The Park Hotel Tokyo.

Wow, were we impressed by the hotel, specifically all the modern designs and impeccable hospitality... the Japanese are such lovely people and bowed to us every second! It was a little over-the-top but we learned that this is part of their culture so we got used to politely bowing back! We checked into our adorable room, it was just perfect.

Since we got in late at night, we grabbed a bite at the hotels' restaurant... we had some authentic Japanese food... it was OK, quite fishy and raw but maybe we just ordered wrong! I've never really experienced culture shock before and I could tell that this could be it... not in a bad way at all... it's just that everything is SO different here and I absolutely love it!

After a much needed good nights' rest, it was time to explore Tokyo! We set out on foot to explore one of the main downtown areas called the Shibuya district... the underground transportation was so efficient and immaculately clean... we were impressed. I don't know how, but we made it to Shibuya and began to explore around.

So many people everywhere, and I thought LA was crowded! Everyone went about their own business though, the Japanese are all so serious and so nicely dressed- even in the winter! We had coffee at the famous Starbucks that you see in all the movies, that over looks the busiest cross street in Tokyo... we did some major people watching and drank our delicious Starbucks coffees... why does Starbucks taste amazing everywhere else but in the U.S.?? We just don't get it.

After exploring all the shops in Shibuya as well as the famous Love Hotels, we went to visit the Meiji Shrine which was dedicated to the defied spirits of Emperor Meiji... so much incredible history here. We walked all around the gardens that led up to the shrine and we paid tribute by bowing and following their etiquette. Such a neat experience.

After all that walking, from the Meiji Shrine we walked through Harajuku and towards the Omotesando district in search for a lunch spot- it was time to re-fuel. We found an authentic thai spot and had a delicious lunch with dessert and wine too! We were ready to attack the rest of the day. From lunch, we were a short walk away from the Omotesando Hills Mall and as we entered, we were blown away! This made South Coast Plaza look like an outlet mall!

The building was super narrow and long, such interesting architecture. There were floors upon floors of the most glamorous shops, spas and restaurants and on the first floor we found Bitsy's- a wine bar whose walls were lined with hundreds of wine bottles in air-controlled ventilated glass cases.

Each wine bottle had a metal spout above it and there were buttons that indicated different sizes of pours. So you are given a Riedel wine glass, you browse around reading wine descriptions, then you push whether you want a small, medium, or large pour, and out comes your wine to taste! We just thought this was such a clever idea.

We had an amazing first day exploring the Shibuya District and in the late afternoon we headed back to our room to rest and recuperate before dinner. After getting refreshed, we got ready and took the subway to this tapas restaurant that came highly recommended. We chose several tapas and a carafe of wine and enjoyed the authentic atmosphere- it was the perfect end to our first full day in Tokyo.

The following morning we woke up to our daily breakfast in the lobby of our hotel. There was a buffet of breakfast foods to appeal to every culture, it was really a nice way to start off our morning and talk about what we were going to do for the day.

We started our day exploring the Asakusa District, the area known to be most preserved as "Old Tokyo." As we started to walk down Nakamise- a street of little booths that sold authentic Japanese souvenirs and snacks- we were taking pictures and a group of these Japanese girls apparently wanted to be in the picture with me! They were so sweet so Ry took a picture of all of us and they showed me that I had to put two fingers up- I think their way of saying hi! We walked down Nakamise and it started to get icy cold so Ry bought me gloves from one of the souvenir shops, a perfect un-planned souvenir to use while in Tokyo as well as to take home!

We made our way down to the famous Senjoji Buddhist Temple- built in the 7th Century and the oldest temple in Tokyo, the architecture of the temples and pagodas are so beautiful- like nothing else we've ever seen. We walked through the old Red Light district and saw where all the Kabuki Theaters used to be- very interesting!

After exploring outside for a while, we were freezing and ready to eat! We took the subway to Ginza so that we could be walking distance to the Imperial Palace. We walked around the "Rodeo Drive of Tokyo" for a bit a found this adorable lunch spot where you are given your own bread basket and get to pick out your choice of freshly baked bread out of the oven. That with some hot soup hit the spot perfectly!

We window shopped around the glamorous shops and took a picture in front of the flag-ship Mikimoto pearl store... so pink and cute! There were so many artsy stores, the Japanese have such great taste.

From Ginza, we were a short walk across the street to the famous Imperial Palace where the Imperial family lives. Unfortunately the palace and inner gardens are not open to the public so we were only able to walk around it and take pictures in front of the gate. We were however, able to walk around the east gardens of the palace so we were able to get a good glimpse from there!

The freezing cold finally had us head back home... we took the subway back to Shiodome, where our hotel was located and before going up, we explored the Hama Rikyu Gardens which we could see from our room. It was a beautiful garden with lots of ponds and a cute tea house... wish it wasn't so cold so we could of explored more but it was definitely time to call it a day! For dinner we wanted to stay indoors so we found an authentic sushi spot in the downstairs corridor of our hotel... we had to take off our shoes and we ate cross-legged on mats! It was quite the experience. We found that the sushi in Japan is rather different then what we are used to in the states... less rice rolls and more RAW fish with eye balls!

After another filling breakfast the next morning, we set off to explore Odaiba- the famous man-made island on the Tokyo Bay. We learned that Odaiba was built to prevent possible attacks in the sea during the Edo Period, very fascinating. The entire island is very futuristic and funky in a Japanese way, it was so fun exploring all the interesting parts of it! We explored the Decks and Aqua City malls and window shopped at all the colorful stores and checked out all the arcades and themed food courts.

Afterwards we went to the Fuji TV Building, which houses the Japanese Fuji Network, and had lunch in it's cafeteria with (what we wanted to think) were all the big-wig TV producers! After lunch we walked through all the TV sets of past shows that have aired and we even got to sit on a set from the TV show "Snap-Snap!"

After hob-nobbing with all the Japanese stars (j/k), we went to the Toyota Mega Web... basically a mini-Disneyland with all things Toyota! We got to see the most futuristic cars that Toyota is making and we even got to drive them on an in-house track... it was so fun! Our last stop was Venus Fort- another huge shopping mall built in the style of an 18th Century European town with Blue Sky ceilings like in Vegas. We walked around in search of an afternoon treat and finally found a perfect pastry/tea shop with an enormous display of all their dessert plates. Although we struggled with finding food that we really liked during the days, dessert and coffee was always a home run! So we learned to double up on desserts to keep us fuller longer haha!

After our exciting day in Odaiba, we headed back to our hotel. We had been walking quite a bit by now and were ready for some R&R. We relaxed in our room and for dinner we found something quick in the corridor downstairs. Afterwards we explored all the other beautiful hotels surrounding ours, we got to see Japan's skyline from the top- it was breath-taking.

Day four entailed our usual morning breakfast and plan of action for the day. We headed out to see the Tokyo Tower, which happens to be taller than the Eiffel Tower! We had been seeing this tower from the sky line all week so it was neat to finally see it. Right next to it was Zojoji Temple, another one of Tokyo's major temples.We happened to be visiting right before the blooming of the Cherry Blossoms, I can only imagine how beautiful it is here during that time. For lunch, we had made special reservations to dine in the famous Park Hyatt Hotel where Lost In Translation was filmed.We headed towards to Shinjuku Financial District and saw where all of Tokyo's government buildings are and after lots of walking, we finally found the Park Hyatt. We took the elevator all the way to the top and took in all the stunning views. I felt that we were a little underdressed, we didn't think the restaurant would be this fancy, but we went for it anyways.. so what, we are tourists! Full-on Geisha's served us in their kimono's and all of our food was presented to us in Bento boxes... it was beautiful however, everything was raw, fishy and again with the eye-balls! What is it about Japanese and their eye-balls?! We concluded that it must be a major delicacy for them, unfortunately we weren't able to appreciate it. Needless to say $250 later, we left still hungry!! On our way back to the subway, we saw a WENDY'S and were thrilled to see something American haha. Two frosties and french fries later we were full and happy... oh the fun parts to traveling!

We went back to our room and decided to stay in for the night and get something quick from downstairs... we weren't ready to blow more money on eye balls haha. Regardless, it really was a great day and we enjoyed seeing where Lost in Translation was filmed. When we get back home, we have to watch it again!

Our last day we woke up early to visit the famous Tsukiji Fish Market... ahh how everything finally began to make sense! There were fish heads flying left and right, blood and guts all over the floor and eye-balls, antenna's and tails galore! We were finally able to witness where all their food was coming from, it was quite the scene. I tried to find the beauty in it and Ry just wanted to leave so after exploring a bit, we left and headed off to Roponggi. We happened to really like this area most and of course we found it on the last day! Roponggi Hills was a beautiful mall, we stolled around and found a Ben & Jerry's! We had to have a waffle cone, anything Ameican at this point! Afterwards we enjoyed the atmoshere and took in Tokyo on our last day. We had our last delicious Starbuck's coffee and just hung out together... I was so sad the the week was coming to an end and I didn't want to have to leave Ry!

For our last dinner together, we saved the best for last. We made reservations at Alain Ducasse's Beige restaurant a couple months ago so we could have at least one very special dinner to look forward to. We got all dressed up and headed to Ginza, Beige was on the 10th floor of the Chanel Building. Boy was this a night to remember forever! The ambiance was so elegant and the subdued service was just right. I had a delicate sea bream filet with baby fennels and carmalized onions in a smooth orange sauce and Ry had seared sea scallops with a cauliflower puree and finely julienned black truffles. There was not one setback. Dessert (pictured below) was endless and heavenly. Aside from a fluffy Fromage Tart, we were served these immaculate "pre-desserts" of Chocolate Praline Mousse, hazelnut filled raspberry macaroons, vanilla creme filled chocolate discs, a lemon-mango yoghurt square, and homemade lavendar marshmellows. Five stars all around! It was the perfect way to spend out last night in Tokyo and we were so glad to end our amazing trip on this note.

I was so sad to have to depart for the airport the next morning... I was spoiled rotton to have had the entire week with Ry, now I will miss him even more when I get back to reality! However, we are so unbelievably grateful to have had this time together, we got to explore an amazing city together and create memroies that will last us a life time. We were blown away by how much we loved Tokyo and we hope to explore more of Asia in the future!