Saturday, March 23, 2024

So, ever since we made our ramen the other day in Yokohama we have been struggling to figure out how we could eat it. The dining area in the hotel is quite small and there was nothing there to cook the noodles in. So, we decided what we could do is get some (ramen) bowls and use the kettle in the room to cook the noodles in those bowls. So, where could we get bowls? The local convenience store had lots of pre-packaged ramen soups in bowls but we did not really want more ramen…Looking online the other day I found what I was looking for, DAISO, an inexpensive department store chain that sells all sorts of things, including, we hoped, bowls in which to cook our ramen. In the past I would have looked for “100 Yen” shops but they seem to be rare now with DAISO taking over this somewhat dubious mantel.

Getting out of bed at 8:30 we had our first objective of the day (after a brief stop for breakfast on the ground floor).

The nearest DAISO was around the corner and only a few streets from the hotel. It is split over two floors with drugs and beauty supplies on the ground floor while homewares is up the escalator on the first floor. Yes, we were ostensibly looking for bowls to use to cook our ramen in but we spent a good deal of time just looking around. It was jammed with all sorts of things that anyone would easily recognize: Pots, pans, cleaning supplies, linen, home appliances, snacks and, of course, plastic cutlery and bowls. We had our pick of ramen bowls, eventually settling on two nice looking black ramen soup bowls (100 yen each), a pack of six white plastic soup spoons (100 yen), a night mask (100 yen), two packs of potato chips (100 yen each)…and a plastic strip of interesting looking ramen snacks (100 yen). We got into a bit of trouble as we attempted to return down the escalator with the store employee explaining that we had to pay for the items on the floor before we left. I was a bit nervous because they only had self-service checkout and I was not sure whether it would only be in Japanese but, thankfully, there was an English option so no problems.

Returning to our hotel room to drop off our purchases we had a quick stop for snacks before taking the subway to Tokyo Station as we had an event scheduled for today. Sadly, it was related to the non-existent Cherry Blossoms, but, hey-ho. In the concourse of Tokyo Station we followed a map which directed us down an art-lined corridor to the Muromachi Building opposite the station where we were to meet our bus for our Cherry Blossom tour.

Of course, we were almost half an hour early for our tour so watched as the earlier tour left in front of us but we checked in with a guide standing with a clipboard nearby. It was not a nice day with a slight drizzle and overcast skies. Not ideal Cherry Blossom watching weather even if there were any to be seen.

We boarded our rather nice, pink double-decker “Restaurant Bus” for our tour, climbing the narrow steps to our seats on the upper deck. There were about 8 or 9 tables with a bench seat on each side on either side of the aisle, much like a (very) small restaurant. There were big windows all around us and the retractable roof was also transparent so a good view was pretty much guaranteed though there was the small matter of rain on the windows…

Our seats had a small basket behind it for our jackets and bags which we promptly filled then sat down, attaching our seatbelts. When booking they had assigned us backward facing seats so I had them change them to forward facing seats - 4C and 4D - but when we sat down it was VERY tight for the two of us sitting on the narrow bench they provided. Our guide was trying to explain something to us but we were unclear what she was getting at only later realising that she was telling us we could each have a bench to ourselves on either side of the table in front of us, which was a huge relief. The table in front of us was set for four people with a clear plastic tray in the middle with holes in it for drinks, which we promptly ordered.

Despite their insistence that they did not speak English very well, they did their best and were quite clear in the small amount of commentary they provided as we drove around the city. Many of the people on our tour seemed to speak English so it turned out well for us. For food, we had chosen the “Japanese Course”, of course (!). There was a classic English lunch option but we were in Japan so chose local. It was an excellent choice with course after course being a piece of art:

Sakiduke (appetizer) - Smoked pickled radish with cream cheese in a yuba pouch

Kuchidori (sake accompaniments) - Fried smelt fish in sweet and sour sauce; Conger eel and okara terrine; Simmered shrimp with seaweed; One-bite ganmodoki

Hiyashibachi (chilled dish) - Snow crab, cucumber, butterbur sprouts, Nagaimo yam, young leaves, rape blossoms, tomato, irisake

Yakimono (grilled dish) - Edo-style sweet miso-flavoured grilled beef wrapped in magnolia leaves

Gohan (rice dish) - Scattered sushi, soup

Anami (dessert) - Cherry blossom dessert (financier/panna cotta with cherry blossom sauce)

Though occasionally fishy the courses were absolutely wonderful if not a bit unusual for our taste. Each dish was prepared with a great deal of care and attention in the small kitchen on the lower deck of the bus, brought to our table by our friendly servers.

The tour started from Tokyo Station, taking in the Imperial Palace Moat, Chidorigafuchi, the modern National Stadium, then Tokyo Tower. It was here we stopped for a few minutes outside of the nearby Zojo-ji temple to get pictures of the tower beyond. Despite the rain they rolled open the roof for us for a few minutes to allow a clearer view.

Next up we were warned that we needed to make sure we had our seatbelts on as we were going on an expressway.

We used the magnificent modern Rainbow Bridge to cross over the harbour to the reclaimed islands of Koto City. On the top deck of the bus meant we had fairly unobstructed views of the surrounding harbour. There was a 30 minute toilet break at the modern Aqua City (Odaiba) shopping centre as there were no toilets on board the bus. Mel and I took the opportunity to take in the views of the nearby harbour and have a quick look in the mall.

Continuing the tour, still uncluttered by views of cherry blossoms, we passed by the new Toyosu Market which is where the Tsukiji wholesale fish market moved to though there is also a large fruit and vegetable market here also - All characterless massive buildings connected with pedestrian walkways crossing above the busy streets below.

We then returned across another bridge to Ginza, passing by the old Tsukiji market now, as we saw the other day, primarily a tourist site, then Kabuki-za and finally returning to where we started in front of Tokyo Station.

So this was billed as the “Tokyo Restaurant Bus Cherry Blossom viewing Japanese Lunch Course” but, as you may have gathered, there were not that many cherry blossoms to view. Yes, there WERE a few trees that made a valiant effort with a few blossoms on display (which we all scrambled to take pictures of) but for the most part the bus passed tree after tree after tree with only bare branches. So, perhaps I am being a bit TOO sarcastic. I am sure in a couple of weeks when they are in full bloom (weeks later than normal) it will be spectacular but for now it was slightly disappointing. The main reason for visiting this time of year was to enjoy “hanami” (the Cherry Blossom festival) and so far we have been somewhat let down. It is a bit of ongoing dark joke between Mel and I now but we make up for it in other ways and on this tour by enjoying the food and seeing the sights of the city from the upper deck.

We said our farewells to the friendly staff (and chef!), settled our modest bar bill (400 yen) then returned to the hotel. We tried out the “washing machine” in the room to “refresh” our clothes and other than making a bit of noise it worked well. I read through the instructions online, added some water, hung up some clothes, and pressed the appropriate buttons on the outside. Easy.

We were keen to give our ramen noodles a try so after a light dinner at the hotel we picked up a (hot) chicken cutlet from Family Mart where we cheekily asked for two sets of chopsticks. Utensils now acquired, we used our two new bowls to make dinner. We added the noodles to the bowls, poured in boiling water from our room kettle, soaked, rinsed and soaked a few more times before adding the packets of broth the museum had given us and settling down to enjoy. It was really quite tasty.

On television we were watching the (Japanese) daily summary of the sumo tournament in Osaka (Osaka Bashi). I do find it fascinating with all of the rituals they follow and the speed these large wrestlers move.

>> Next: Day 9