48 Hours in Tokyo - Part Two
Early the next morning of the second and final day in Tokyo (this was day one), we went on the hunt for breakfast. In case you didn't know: breakfast is the Fraeulein's biggest and most anticipated meal of the day.
So much so, that I will sometimes even have "brinner" - breakfast for dinner...
I love a hearty European breakfast with homemade sourdough (made by Mama SoulFood, not by me - don't be ridiculous! ;) and plenty of carby, eggy, cheesey goodness - not at all typical for Asian cuisine, so I was very curious as to what we would end up with.
Well, it all started with this machine:
Naturally we had to go by the pictures, so after scrolling through a few pages we made our selection, inserted some coins, a little celebratory song played, and a docket for us to pass on to the waitress was printed.
I am not sure why this machine excited me so much - I suppose it's not any different to those digital terminals at Maccas or the likes, perhaps just the fact that it was Japanese and that we were going to be getting food not comparable to anything "fast" food.
In fact, this is what we got:
Miso soup, steamed rice, silken tofu, pan-fried mackerel & miso-glazed aubergine. If someone were to make that for me for breakfast every morning, well I would quite happily trade my beloved bread...okay, maybe I would still have bread for my morning breakkie, and this for brinner! :)
After we had devoured that, we took the jam-packed subway to the Tokyo Big Sight - International Exhibition Centre for the expo.
Well that was an eye-opener...After several hours of trying to make sense of baby stem cell or horse placenta-based health/beauty "innovations", we decided we'd seen enough, and went for lunch. Priorities. ;)
That eggy/mayo mix with rice was amazing. Another thing I plan to replicate soon!
Since we were pretty shattered from the expo, we headed home - hopping off just a couple of stops early to soak up some of the neighbourhood (I think we stayed in Shibuya - Mama booked everything...)
I just loved this entrance - culture mix right there.
Before heading out again in search of dinner.
Mama's plan had been to treat me to a Kaiseki dinner, however since she'd had the pleasure of enjoying an amazing one in a monastery in the countryside, all the Tokyo options seemed ridiculously overpriced.
Hence we decided to leave that for my next trip and went to a tempura restaurant instead, where these two characters prepared our meal in that big silver cauldron.
We were the only non-Japanese in the place, so our co-diners took quite a shining to us, showing us exactly how tempura should be enjoyed, and that is by putting all your spices into the sauce (bottom right hand corner).
After we nailed that, we were rather pleased with ourselves and celebrated with more Japanese beer...
I found the size of the beer glasses most amusing, since as a German, I am used to 1 litre stines...
And it is probably at this stage that I should mention how stoked I was to be travelling with Mama. While we sometimes have our differences, we make a bloody great team. So kanpai to you Mama for not only letting me tag along, but for everything you do for me!
Of course for next time I hope that Papa can come along too, so that I can be in awe of him speaking Japanese (I still don't quite believe that he can... :)
Speaking Japanese would have come in very handy for the next set of events. As a young couple sitting in the restaurant with us, was obviously trying to communicate something to us.
After 20 minutes without success, the guy called his sister who lived in L.A. to explain to us in English, that they wanted us to accompany them to a gig from their friend's band.
We ummed and aahed as we seriously had work to catch up on, but they were so excited to show us - that there was no way we could've let them down! And so we ended up at Kento's...
I suppose it is like a Japanese version of the Hard Rock Cafe, and apparently they have a huge live band like this play every night - and it goes off! Our new friend knew the whole band who busted out hit after English hit.
Again we were the only non-Japanese in the house, but despite the majority not being able to speak English very well, they they knew the lyrics (and moves!!) better than us! :)
And as we were all grooving to Earth, Wind & Fire's September, I couldn't help but get the feels as I realised this is what it's all about. One of my goals in life is to be a "citizen of the earth", which to me always meant that I could be open to all cultures, and sort of feel at home everywhere and anywhere, which I defininitely did in Tokyo, thanks to its hospitable residents.
But as my hairdresser recently "reframed" it for me, we are already all "children of the earth", and I suppose it comes down to attempting to understand each other's cultures and realising and appreciating their similarities to find that common ground.
But I digress! :) Our final hours in Tokyo, Mama spent the morning at her Japanese hairdresser's...while I explored more of the 'hood and the Omotesando Hills neighbourhood waiting for the Onitsuka Tiger store to open.
As it turns out, Tokyo also has very cool street art:
And not to mention the architecture:
I will definitely be back - not just to see more of Tokyo, but explore more of the Japanese countryside. In any case, I highly recommend you put it on your list in case it's not already, and book that trip ASAP, because:
Life is nothing but a collection of "nows".
Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x
So much so, that I will sometimes even have "brinner" - breakfast for dinner...
I love a hearty European breakfast with homemade sourdough (made by Mama SoulFood, not by me - don't be ridiculous! ;) and plenty of carby, eggy, cheesey goodness - not at all typical for Asian cuisine, so I was very curious as to what we would end up with.
Well, it all started with this machine:
Naturally we had to go by the pictures, so after scrolling through a few pages we made our selection, inserted some coins, a little celebratory song played, and a docket for us to pass on to the waitress was printed.
I am not sure why this machine excited me so much - I suppose it's not any different to those digital terminals at Maccas or the likes, perhaps just the fact that it was Japanese and that we were going to be getting food not comparable to anything "fast" food.
In fact, this is what we got:
Miso soup, steamed rice, silken tofu, pan-fried mackerel & miso-glazed aubergine. If someone were to make that for me for breakfast every morning, well I would quite happily trade my beloved bread...okay, maybe I would still have bread for my morning breakkie, and this for brinner! :)
After we had devoured that, we took the jam-packed subway to the Tokyo Big Sight - International Exhibition Centre for the expo.
Well that was an eye-opener...After several hours of trying to make sense of baby stem cell or horse placenta-based health/beauty "innovations", we decided we'd seen enough, and went for lunch. Priorities. ;)
That eggy/mayo mix with rice was amazing. Another thing I plan to replicate soon!
Since we were pretty shattered from the expo, we headed home - hopping off just a couple of stops early to soak up some of the neighbourhood (I think we stayed in Shibuya - Mama booked everything...)
I just loved this entrance - culture mix right there.
Before heading out again in search of dinner.
I must say, I am quite partial to Japanese design. Everything always seems to have its place - not too much crammed in, but also not sterile.
Mama's plan had been to treat me to a Kaiseki dinner, however since she'd had the pleasure of enjoying an amazing one in a monastery in the countryside, all the Tokyo options seemed ridiculously overpriced.
Hence we decided to leave that for my next trip and went to a tempura restaurant instead, where these two characters prepared our meal in that big silver cauldron.
We were the only non-Japanese in the place, so our co-diners took quite a shining to us, showing us exactly how tempura should be enjoyed, and that is by putting all your spices into the sauce (bottom right hand corner).
After we nailed that, we were rather pleased with ourselves and celebrated with more Japanese beer...
I found the size of the beer glasses most amusing, since as a German, I am used to 1 litre stines...
And it is probably at this stage that I should mention how stoked I was to be travelling with Mama. While we sometimes have our differences, we make a bloody great team. So kanpai to you Mama for not only letting me tag along, but for everything you do for me!
Of course for next time I hope that Papa can come along too, so that I can be in awe of him speaking Japanese (I still don't quite believe that he can... :)
Speaking Japanese would have come in very handy for the next set of events. As a young couple sitting in the restaurant with us, was obviously trying to communicate something to us.
After 20 minutes without success, the guy called his sister who lived in L.A. to explain to us in English, that they wanted us to accompany them to a gig from their friend's band.
We ummed and aahed as we seriously had work to catch up on, but they were so excited to show us - that there was no way we could've let them down! And so we ended up at Kento's...
Again we were the only non-Japanese in the house, but despite the majority not being able to speak English very well, they they knew the lyrics (and moves!!) better than us! :)
And as we were all grooving to Earth, Wind & Fire's September, I couldn't help but get the feels as I realised this is what it's all about. One of my goals in life is to be a "citizen of the earth", which to me always meant that I could be open to all cultures, and sort of feel at home everywhere and anywhere, which I defininitely did in Tokyo, thanks to its hospitable residents.
But as my hairdresser recently "reframed" it for me, we are already all "children of the earth", and I suppose it comes down to attempting to understand each other's cultures and realising and appreciating their similarities to find that common ground.
But I digress! :) Our final hours in Tokyo, Mama spent the morning at her Japanese hairdresser's...while I explored more of the 'hood and the Omotesando Hills neighbourhood waiting for the Onitsuka Tiger store to open.
 |
| My favourite trees. |
As it turns out, Tokyo also has very cool street art:
I will definitely be back - not just to see more of Tokyo, but explore more of the Japanese countryside. In any case, I highly recommend you put it on your list in case it's not already, and book that trip ASAP, because:
Life is nothing but a collection of "nows".
Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x
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