Communication is Tricky

It’s 4:20 am on Monday and I am wide awake.  I managed not to take a nap yesterday, mainly because we were out of room from 7:30 am until about 8 pm but then I totally collapsed in bed at 9.  But I have to say that adjusting to the time zone in Asia is 10X easier than in Europe. 

What remains a mystery is why Ali is still sleeping and has no trouble sleeping any time, any place.  I wish I had the ability to do that.

Yesterday started out with breakfast on the 24th floor of our hotel.  The view was amazing:

The presentation was stunning and the food was good.  I couldn’t wait to try the steamed rice in a lotus leaf but seconds before putting it in my mouth I found out it had pork in it.  So I stuck to eggs, potatoes, and fruit.  It was delicious.

The view was out of the this world and I could have sat there all day.  But Ali can’t sit for long so we took off to visit the Imperial Palace Gardens:

Excuse the fobby shoes…normally  I won’t wear my running shoes with pants but we walked about 20 miles yesterday so I had no choice.

After hopping on the subway to check out the stunning Park Hyatt Hotel, we took a cab to the impressive Roppongi Hills area for lunch and shopping.  We asked the information desk what a good vegetarian lunch place would be and she directed us to a very nice place where we sat down and actually ordered.  But then we found out that a “vegetarian place” only means they use vegetables in their meals – in addition to meat/pork. So we left, hit another place that looked promising and both had a pretty terrible meal.  The restaurant was very nice though and they agreed that miscommunication caused the problem and refused to let us pay for the meal.  Ali and I felt bad because we did eat it, but honestly, the food was just…wrong.  They refused to take a dime!  Customer service here rocks.

We were starving after lunch so we headed to Ginza for some coffee at Le Cafe Doutor which was absolutely awesome. 

I think it is so interesting how Japan has so much Parisian influence.  People here love the French.  This place had a line out the door and it was worth every minute of the wait.  We sat on the second floor with a killer view of the packed streets:

Afterwards we shopped some more but the crowds were pretty crazy and the lines to try things on were 10-12 people deep!  So I didn’t buy anything yesterday. 

We were famished at 6:30 and decided to try one of American Express’ recommendations for a 100%vegetarian Indian restaurant called Nataraj.  I know my brother is rolling his eyes right now…“Why are you eating Indian food in Japan?”  Because WE WERE STARVING!  And since I’d already cut into 2 things with pork yesterday, I decided not to leave things to chance again.

Ali and I couldn’t stop saying how amazing the restaurant was. 

I had brown rice and aloo gobi, Ali had spinach and naan.  There wasn’t an Indian in sight but somehow it was one of the most authentic Indian restaurants we’d been to.

Afterwards we hung out in the Ginza district…it felt a bit like New York City.

We left shortly after taking this picture because I told Ali I was about to keel over. 

I think we are going back to Ginza today because we barely made a dent there.  And later we are having afternoon tea in our hotel.  I can’t wait to bite into a scone after 6+ months being sconeless.  I might be doubled over in pain afterwards but I do believe it will be worth every bite.