A very personal Decade of Dreams tour! UPDATED 6/5 About This Page:

[Minnie Lor]

What a fabulous Disney store! I love the themeing on the outside -

And the story and statue of the dog had me *sniff*. I love dog stories too.

[Kenny]

Finally caught up! Glad you found your tea bags! More great pictures, and I won't say anything about eating breakfast at McDonald's, it looked pretty good! Loved the Disney store and story of the dog, too.

[chezp]

Wednesday 1 April – part five: dinner with a view

We quickly found the place that the tour was starting from and we were 20 minutes early. Considering they had asked us to be there at 5.00, there was great news when the girl on the desk told us that the tour didn’t start until 5.40, so we had an hour to kill. Fortunately, I had my trip report to write and I gave Mark my Japan guidebook, so he could look at some of the places we’d be going to during the rest of our trip.

The time went by reasonably quickly and soon June (I swear that was what he told us his name was, he even counted the months through, so that we would get the idea!) was seeing to us and finding out what we wanted for the main courses of our dinner. Mark had the sukiyaki – or beef – while I went for the tempura after learning that it was a selection of fish and vegetables. There was also a vegetarian option and raw sashimi, all very good traditional Japanese choices.

It was a fairly small tour, just 16 of us. Eight were a group from Estonia. We eventually had to ask them where they were from, as we couldn’t fathom it out from their accents or the languages they were speaking, although I did guess Eastern European, so I was right with that guess. There was also French couple and he didn’t speak any English, so his wife was having to translate everything for him.

As far as language goes, I did have a couple of conversations with June about the Japanese language and how it works and also got some help with some of the letters that I was struggling to read. He seemed amazed that I knew Japanese and that does seem to be the reaction on the rare occasions that I got to use my language. I have asked for our room key a couple of times in Japanese and they look stunned each time. It’s very true what I had heard before coming here, that the Japanese just don’t expect Westerners to speak or understand their language. And can you get by without any Japanese? From what we’ve seen to date, most definitely yes. The only problem is in restaurants, but even there, they tend to have menus with pictures, so you can point at what you want.

A few moments later, we boarded the bus and set off. We were intrigued by what we assumed to be drinks holders in front of our seats, so I had to get a photo of those. They look like mini basketball rings to us!



Our first stop was to be for our dinner and that would be on the man made island of Odaiba, made around 30 years ago by reclaiming land from the sea, as we learnt on our way over there. We crossed the Rainbow Bridge, built in 1993, which was apparently named through a competition, rather than being able to see rainbow colours in it, which was a bit disappointing, as I was looking forward to some stunning multi-coloured shots, but sadly, it was not to be.





We pulled up at the Washington Hotel and were told that we would be eating on the 21st floor (the top floor) with views over Odaiba, Tokyo Bay and Tokyo.


They’re busy building here…

… so busy that there’s a half finished bridge in this photo!

We were given a window seat, just the two of us. Already waiting for us on the table were our appetisers, including seaweed, pickle and cabbage. We were just getting through that when main courses arrived and along with it, miso soup, rice and sushi. There was a heck of a lot of food and towards the end of the meal, I was beginning to struggle. We finished up with a small sorbet and a cup of traditional green tea.









All in all, the whole meal was very traditional and very enjoyable. As Mark said, this is the kind of meal that he’d been hoping for. I think perhaps the Japanese are so obsessed with food from every corner of the world that they are almost forgetting their own cuisine. It’s a bit like Hong Kong, where we struggled to find Chinese restaurants. Here, it’s the same story with Japanese ones which is a real shame.

We had great fun taking photos of the superb view, as it got darker and darker. All in all, this was an excellent meal and I was already very glad that we had taken this tour.











Yateburi:
Appetisers 8½ 9
Main course 9½ 10
Dessert 9 7
Service 8½ 9
Atmosphere 10 9

Average score: 8.95

Next: visiting the Statue of Liberty and seeing the Eiffel Tower

[HiddenMinnie68]

[QUOTE=chezp;2713835]Wednesday 1 April – part three: attack of the clones!

One thing I must say here. We couldn’t help but notice how similar all the business women look in Tokyo. They are all in dark suits with beige coats over them. We began to talk about them all being clones, they were so similar. It’s almost as if they all shop in the same place to ensure that they look the same and maybe they do. Those beige coats would explain the presence of so many Burberry stores in the city anyway!


A sneaky shot of the “clones”!

Great observation. As you can imagine, we always stick out like sore thumbs whenever we are on the subway or walking around town .

I am really enjoying reading your report and listening to your thoughts. It's true that you can get by okay in Tokyo not knowing much, if any Japanese, although it surely helps when you know a few phrases and is always welcomed. Usually when I say a few words, I'm greeted with a, "Oh! You speak Japanese!!!" and then I let them know I am very limited . Outside of Tokyo it's harder to get by. Restaurants are almost always easy (at least tourist ones or those in a mall) as they have the plastic food displays.

We are personally very impressed with everyone's work ethic here - it doesn't matter what your profession is, you are greeted with first class service. The taxi-cab drivers are dressed in suits and the toll-booth attendants are always dressed professionally and are very courteous.

Looking forward to the next installment - great job

[CastleWishes]

Another interesting update Cheryl!
Am I alone when I say I get totally freaked out when I see unfinished bridge construction? I don't know why that is, but it always leaves me feeling nervous.
Anyway, your pictures are amazing as usual, and the food looked very very good.
Curious if you tried any sushi while there and how it was. I love sushi, but I often wonder if there is a big difference in flavor between what we get here and what you would get in Japan.

[lauren-roxy]

What a wonderful meal!! The views are beautiful, especially at night!!

[Desurae]

Again, amazing pictures!!! I just love the shots you get at night. The meal looks delicious.

[Kenny]

Yes, great pictures once again! Looks like a pretty good meal!

[Wendyismyname]

Okay, were there forks on offer if someone didn't want to or could not eat with chopsticks?

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures! The dinner looks amazing!!

[Hugmonster]

Nice updates. Are you sure you did not know about the Disney Store? How could you have not researched that?

[KMB733]

Great shots of the city!

[Grammy Grumpy]

All caught up again. What an amazing dinner that must have been! Glad it lived up to your expectations.

More please - - -

[mcc0313]

What a fantastic evening. Glad you got to the tour a bit early so you had a few minutes to catch your breath. Dinner looked delicious, it definitely looked like tons of food. Glad you both enjoyed. Loved the pictures, the view from the restaurant was beautiful.

[OhToodles!]

More great updates & photos! Love that you just came upon a Disney store! Glad you finally got a traditional meal. It does look like a lot of food!