Thanks to a circle of diplomatic friends, past and present, I am able to circle the globe and catch up with some of them.
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| Hello Sunnies |
That was what I did with Takako Suzuki and Yuko Ishigawa when I knew we were going to be in Tokyo for a week.
Takako took me to Yanaka, an old street famous for its craft shops, artisanal biscuits, rice crackers among other stuff. It is in the suburbs, away from glitzy Ginza and Shibuya, where you still find old fashioned mom & pop stores, the best Soba, florists, University of Beaux arts and home to many shrines. Thank goodness, Takako helped me choose the correct tea fitting to my tea drinking habits and pocket, as there are all kinds of tea. I bought some miniature ceramic cat souvenirs as Yanaka is known for its alley cats. We queued up in the sunshine at that famous Soba place for lunch and Takako said that it was normal for good restaurants.
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| Yanaka - alley cats |
Tokyo subway is efficient and easy o use, once you know how to buy a ticket and have some yen in your pocket. Takako had suggested to meet at Nippori station, and gave me directions from Hotel New Otani where we stayed. The only thing that was confusing, was to find the West exit but by the grace of God, i found her at the North exit which we weren't supposed to meet as i was looking for the West exit.
We headed for Matsuya, in Ueno as I needed a battery change for my husband's Cartier watch. While waiting for the watch to be ready, Takako and I went to the food section, which is always my favourite department. I especially liked the sweets served at Japanese tea ceremonies. From Ueno, I took the Ginza line and got back to Akasaka-Mitsui stop. That day I became a whole lot street smarter with the subway.
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| Famous Soba Restaurant |
I didn't get to see Manshuk, my Khazakstan colleague as our schedule clashed, so I went to Ginza to look for a Money Exchange company that listed good rates for my KRW. I also wanted to visit the flagship store of Uniqlo on Ginza. I found the Money Exchange company but the rate listed was not any better than the one in Ueno, aaargh.. Nevermind. I lost 18 euros on that transaction. That would have paid for a quick lunch, I reasoned.
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| Can you spot Godzilla? |
Uniqlo was packed to the ceiling with Mainland Chinese shoppers. They are everywhere from Seoul to Galeries Lafayette in Paris. I returned to Ueno to explore the markets and ended up again in Matsuya food department for my wobbly confection, made from some vegetable tuber. In the meantime, I had discovered MUJI, a more upmarket version of Uniqlo and surprise, surprise, no Chinese tourists.
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| Solo Ginza |
I met up with Yuko and she came to meet me in the hotel, which was very nice of her. We travelled the Ginza line (the oldest line and well connected to most places ) to Akasuka, to see the main temple and some shopping. Akasuka is a traditional stop for tourists and Japanese school outings, so on a hot sunny day, we braved the crowds. But Yuko had a trick up her sleeve, she knew Akasuka as her in laws lived nearby, so she showed me the side streets with famous artisanal crafts shops: exquisite fans, wooden boxes, hand printed stationery and a shop for natural brushes. That was one store i regret not buying some brushes. I picked up a cotton blue and white floral Yukata which will be as my bath room for summer days for 1000 yen. A bargain!
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| Akasuka |
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| Meiji Shrine Entrance |
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| For Sake's sake. |
After a quick bento lunch, we went to the Meiji shrine, where just the night before, at a dinner party, I had met the Director of the Meiji Shrine, who kindly arrange for a tour. What a treat! There I learn why Japanese people bow.. and about the Shinto religion. From Meiji gate, we walked to Shinjuku and down that famous street where youths congregate in all sorts of color and costumes. We had coffee on chic Omotesando, dubbed Champs Elysee of Tokyo and then parted way as I disappeared yet into the subway.
The following day, was a scheduled visit to Kamakura and Yokohama. Rachel, my hostess took me to visit her personal friends. Sato-San, an elderly lady who lived next to the Kamakura Buddha temple had the most exquisite Japanese property. We wandered in her gardens and later joined her for tea. At lunch, we met Jinko-San, who is a native of Kamakura and showed us her pretty neighbourhood. From Jinko, I learn the importance of rice in the Japanese culture. Rice is carefully tended like a prized baby by the farmer. Wow.. i will never look at rice the same again.
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| Private gardens of Kamakura's privileged family. |
We stopped by a lacquer shop that has been there for ages and saw what craftsmanship meant to the Japanese people. I began to have an understanding as to why perfection is so intertwined in their DNA. It is this special attention and dedication paid to everything one does. That shed light on why Japanese people would queue up for Hermes bags and Pierre Marcolini pralines. ( I surmised )
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| Entrance to private gardens |
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| Kamakura's many gardens |
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| Kamakura's rice |
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| Typical Japanese lunch |
Yokohama was the next stop as there was the Belgian Beer Festival and this event continues to be very successful with the Japanese. We boarded a ship for the opening cocktails, afterwards we browsed the stalls set up in the park next to the harbor. There were all kinds of Belgian beers, close to 100 and stalls selling Belgian food like Mussels, Fries, Leige Waffles among others.
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| Teppanyaki chef in action |
Back in Toyko, on the last day, I made a stop in the food floor of Isetan and bought more Japanese confectionery. I wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see many top Belgian and French brand of chocolates, Patisserie counters available there.
Japanese are Francophiles, and i don't blame them. I'm that way too. Belgian's
Wittamer was also there, but I will leave the chocolates alone and go for that lovely chestnut enveloped bean paste and some of that bean paste roll and more of that squishy mochi. I added a whole bunch of Japanese cosmetics, face masks to my haul of Korean beauty products which are my hope in so many bottles.
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| Syonara my friend , dinner at Ginza |
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