Grand Adventure 2017 Day 3: Sake to Me
The trip began today. After all of the travel over the last two days and us dipping our toes into Tokyo last night, today was a full day of exploring the beautiful city of Tokyo. We went to bed last night at around 7 PM and were up this morning at almost 4 AM. It's the closest we've gotten to get on a new schedule in a while. Hopefully, it sticks.
We spent a lot of the morning planning out our day and waiting for the sun to rise. I ended up going to the gym at 7 AM while Jenn did her hair and spent some time selecting our photos. The gym at this hotel is located on the 26th floor with gorgeous views of Tokyo, including the TV tower (more on that later). It's a stunning gym and it was surreal running on a treadmill looking over Tokyo as the clouds parted and the sun came out.
At 9 AM we walked across the street to a nearby Starbucks for our morning pick me up. Jenn got a hot chocolate and a biscuit and I had a coffee. The biscuit was phenomenal. I don't know if I can overhype a biscuit, but it was divine. We sat drinking our morning drinks and enjoying people watching in an outdoor market.
From there it was back on the subway for the first of many trips around Tokyo. Our first stop this morning was at the Meiji Jingu Shrine. It was located right off the Harajuku Station which made it an easy first stop. The grounds of the Shrine were phenomenal. It was so peaceful, relatively empty, and the morning dew was just coming off the ground and trees. Although the main shrine is being completely re-built, there are many shrines throughout the enormous park. We walked around the area for over an hour in what was a breathtaking start to the day.
Like clockwork, it was time to walk to another nearby Starbucks. No, we didn't need more coffee yet (that comes later). For anyone that follows our travels, we collect Starbucks mugs. Sadly with the start of November, all Starbucks have changed to Christmas cups/decor. So we've gone to two different Starbucks so far without finding a new mug. Luckily the third time was the charm. Although it's not a matching style for our other mugs, it's stunning. While we were in there they had us sample their Christmas blend coffee and lemon cake. A nice touch.
At this point, it was just before 11 AM and we were starving. It was time for lunch. Jenn and I have fallen in love with Ramen over the last year. Our go-to used to be Pho, but recently that's shifted, probably in large part to Totto Ramen in New York. Today, we might have found a ramen that was just as good. It was called Ichiran Shinjuku Chuo Higashiguchi and it was a 10-minute walk from Starbucks. We made it there and walked right in and were pointed to a vending machine. We were taken back a little bit but figured out quickly that's where you order and pay.
We both ordered the standard Ramen, I asked for extra pork and Jenn asked for extra green onion. I also ordered a beer with my ramen. From there we stood in line as we looked on at two rows of bar seating where you face the cooks preparing your ramen. When our two barstools opened up we sat down and handed over our tickets and a sheet of paper with our customizations to the ramen. A few minutes later we were handed our ramen, a bamboo curtain was pulled down and it was time to chow down. It was absolutely delicious. We loved every sip of ramen, the noodles, and pork. I wish I had gotten an egg in my Ramen but couldn't figure out how to order it. Oh well. When we left not only was there a line in the stairway of the restaurant but at least 20-people outside. We timed that place right.
After a delicious lunch, we walked most of it off as we headed towards Shinjuku Gyoen, a beautiful garden set in the midst of sprawling Tokyo. This was yet another tranquil walk that never stopped taking our breath away. On three separate occasions, we sat down and just enjoyed the peace and quiet. It's like everyone that pays the 200 yen also got a note saying, take a seat, enjoy your surroundings. It was surreal. We spent almost two hours in the park before heading back out into the heart of Tokyo.
Jenn ended up not bringing a lot of long socks with her on the trip and was starting to get blisters from her new shoes. We stopped at a Forever 21 and bought a couple pairs of socks for the trip and me a cheap t-shirt to work out in and kept going. From there we went to a nearby Blue Bottle Coffee one of my favorite coffee shops. I've been to one in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in similar fashion the Tokyo one didn't dissappoint. I was fading pretty fast so the iced latte we got hit the spot.
Our last stop of the day was the Tokyo Tower. We already knew we weren't going to pay to enter it but wanted to at least get up close and take some good pictures. We got back on the subway after a little difficulty finding the right line and were off. I remember thinking on the subway how incredible it is that a little over 24 hours after we arrived in Tokyo we are navigating the city like we've been here for weeks. Just as we were exiting the subway station we heard a giant "boom" and when we got to the street we saw a really bad car accident with both vehicles having airbags deployed. Luckily everyone was up and looking uninjured so that was the good news.
From the crash, we walked a couple of blocks up a hill to the giant Tokyo Tower. It's stunning both how big it is and also how much it looks like the Eiffel tower. We didn't spend much time at the tower, before walking back to the subway and going back to our hotel. We had a couple of hours between the time we got back to the hotel to the time we were going to dinner to celebrate our 14-year anniversary together. During those couple of hours, we both rested, Jenn took a quick nap and we were back on the subway.
To celebrate 14-years together we went all out. We had dinner at Sushi Sora on the 38th floor of the Mandarin Oriental in the heart of Tokyo. After a fifteen-minute subway ride, we found the hotel and took the elevator to the top. The restaurant only seats 8-people and we were lucky enough to get reservations for 6:30 PM to what would go down as one of the best meals of our lives. There are three set menu options for dinner at Sushi Sora, depending on what you're looking for. Jenn went with the option that came with more sashimi and I went with more sushi. To start with Jenn got a glass of rose champagne and I went with their sake tasting set which came with three different Sake's. Both were divine.
The meal setup started with an appetizer which I sadly didn't write down but believe was blanched eggplant. We also got a small amuse bouche of small potatoes balls that were like mini baked potatoes. From there Jenn got Sashimi and I started in on Nigiri sushi. Once Jenn caught up we both had a bunch of different sushi offerings. The fish ranged from octopus to tuna (our favorite), shrimp, yellowtail, eel, and some others that I didn't catch. Before each roll, the chef would explain the fish, the combination of flavors and any other interesting tidbits. It was paced perfectly and watching the chef's prepare these intricate sushi creations was captivating. We spent over an hour just enjoying different types of sushi and sashimi, with one or two rolls per type of fish. We became so enchanted with the meal that halfway through Jenn got a glass of white wine and I had a beer. By the end of it, I can say with 100% confidence that there was not a roll or sashimi that we didn't like. The fish was ridiculously fresh and succulent and the flavor profiles were divine. I've never had sushi anywhere near this good before.
After we finished our sushi and sashimi courses we got a delicious mushroom miso soup. I don't know if its common to get soup after sushi (instead of before) but it was a nice way to round out the meal. The final course was a Japanese dessert that tasted like a peanut butter cake. It was out of this world. The entire meal was an experience that I'll never forget. Jenn brought these brought green chopstick helpers (because she refuses to learn to use them for no reason) that both sushi chef's thought were the coolest things. There was also a couple that came about 30-minutes after us that liked to photobomb our pictures. But even simpler than that the mere fact that we were eating at a world-class restaurant, with views of Tokyo, on our 14th anniversary was amazing.
When we exited the restaurant at a little after 8:30 PM we heard some piano music coming from the floor directly below us. We walked down the stairs to find three musicians playing jazz music so even though we had already had a lot to drink we sat down for one more. Jenn got a glass of merlot and I had a Manhattan. We sat listening to music, enjoying the glorious views, and drinking two drinks like there wasn't a care in the world. It was one of those unplanned moments that make traveling so dang special. We somehow an hour or two later made it back to our hotel before calling it a night. Although we're only three days into the trip, I'm not sure how you top a day like today.
