I am Proud of Myself
It’s no secret that I have no patience and a temper when things don’t turn out the way I expect them to. But prior to my departure I resolved to be a better person on this trip, and I am proud to note my progress:
1. Instead of ordering an egg white omelette for breakfast yesterday, I had the Japanese breakfast of rice, snapper, seaweed, and picked vegetables instead.
It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever had but I’m glad I had it anyway.
2. Instead of getting frustrated because Ali was determined to find a Japanese restaurant recommended by American Express, and he led us around the entire Harajuku area for 45 minutes with his iPhone leading the way:
I put one tired foot in front of the other and carried on without a word of complaint.
3. And when we didn’t find the aforementioned restaurant and ended up eating at a Balinese restaurant instead:
I popped a Lactaid tablet and ate my cream-laden vegetable curry without a second thought. I also had rice for the second time in one day and didn’t worry about carb-overloading.
The verdict? I’ve never had Balinese food before but this was really quite good. It is kind of mix between Indian food and what I think Malaysian food is like. I’ll let you know tomorrow.
4. I enjoyed seeing a bunch of beautiful Tokyo attractions and didn’t get upset that all the signs explaining the attractions were in Japanese.
I also didn’t lose it when Ali mentioned, for the 25th time that we could hire a Japanese guide for $65 an hour who could translate everything for us. I didn’t roll my eyes when he wasn’t looking either.
I’ve progressed beyond my wildest expectations.
5. I enjoyed the highlight of my 3 days in Tokyo – High Tea at the Peninsula – without worrying too much about how I’d feel afterwards.
I didn’t even get upset when Ali brought his Netbook to tea with us and typed away.
I didn’t laugh at him when the wireless internet went down (okay I laughed a little to myself).
Yes, I did get a stomach ache after eating 1.5 scones and a bite of each dessert, but it was nowhere near what I thought it would be. And it was worth it.
6. All joking aside, I am very proud of myself that I have not been to the gym once in 3 days. Normally I would have based my hotel selection on how nice the hotel gym is. Normally I’d be up at the crack of dawn and in the carefully researched gym to get in a hardcore workout every.single.morning of my trip. Normally, I’d be so exhausted after my workout that I wouldn’t have any energy left to walk around the rest of the day.
But instead of killing myself I went for a swim this morning in quite possibly the most beautiful pool in the world, without a second thought about calories burned, laps swam, and I didn’t consult my watch to make sure I worked out for a pre-determined amount of time.
Now that is progress!
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.
How to Kill 12 Hours
99% of the trips I take are courtesy of the frequent flier miles that I basically steal from my father and father-in-law. That means that with the exception of short trips I never actually purchase plane tickets.
This trip to Asia is a little bit different in that we actually utilized Ali’s frequent flier miles for a change instead of pilfering from our respective fathers, and we were fortunate to have enough miles for business class seats. I have heard SO many good things about Singapore Airlines and their business class, namely from my brother who waxes on about the very hot flight attendants, and my dad who insists it is one of the best airlines in the world. So it goes without saying that I was very excited to hop on board today (or yesterday, I am all mixed up).
Honestly? I think British Airways is the best airline I have ever been on. While Singapore’s customer service is out of this world, the plane we were on was older and a bit dirty. And my television didn’t work:
12 Hours with no television = a long, long flight. I had to find alternate ways to entertain myself. And entertain myself I did.
I finished this excellent book:
I utilized Ali’s netbook to read a script a friend had sent me and wrote up my comments/revisions. I always make fun of Ali’s nerdy ways but I’m the first to utilize his technology with no apologies:
I watched Ali eat:
And eat:
And eat.
And eat some more:
In addition to the above he had a Kit Kat, a yogurt, and a roast beef sandwich but at that point I was more grossed out than fascinated at the amount he could eat in 12 hours.
Meanwhile I had some cashews and water:
And about 5 more bottles after that one. What they say about avoiding caffeine on a long flight is right, I felt SO much better not having any coffee/tea.
I finally got hungry somewhere over who knows where, and I ordered this delicious bento box:
Sorry for the fuzzy picture but it was dark and I didn’t think my fellow passengers would appreciate a flash photo in the middle of the night. The box contained a bunch of different things including some delicious sushi and black cod.
We arrived at our hotel after about 1.5 hours on a limousine bus which is apparently the easiest way to get from the airport to your hotel. I’d be scared to see the long way. But as soon as we came into our room I realized the long journey was worth every second as this is by far the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at.
Heated bathroom floors, a nail dryer, and televisions in the bathroom? The Japanese know how to do things right. I may never want to leave here.
After a delicious bowl of steaming hot soba noodles from a place around the corner:
I collapsed in bed and woke up at 4:00am local time. In order not to wake up Sleeping Beauty, I am writing this post from biggest closet/dressing room I have ever seen:
Hope you are still with me after this epic post and all the pictures…more to come soon…
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
