Day 2: Tokyo

Day 2: Tokyo

QOTD:  So, what's the name of the restaurant, again?

Weather: mid to high 80s, feels warmer when in direct sun, and some humidity

Pics:  Chaya (from last night), Galapagos Booby (NOT a Marin County Booby), Park Hotel inside and out, Toko Shinoda wall hanging in Conrad Hotel, day time TV in process, Prada store in Aoyama, Sugimoto hanging sculpture in narrow space in Aoyama, something is happening in 2020 though THB is not sure what, Matsubara restaurant, popcorn line, fishing in Tokyo, dinner spot in Ginza

Addenda:  Cost of bus from Narita to Park Hotel - $30/pp

Footnote: THB arranged for a local phone, astutely reserved and picked up at Narita Airport. THB forgot the third part of the cell phone mantra (charge it, turn it on, take it with you) and left it behind today. Good news: just like in E-ville where everyone knows THB forgets all three mantra parts, nobody called.

We sleep in until 4am (not bad for falling fast asleep at 8pm), re-sort our stuff into pre- and post-hike, and hit the breakfast buffet at 7am. THB goes native: rice with nori, greens, and smoked fish, accompanied by rolls and mini-baguettes, and yogurt with ginger jam. DB has cereal and fruit.

At 9, we start the day by remembering how to get to the right subway line (our hotel is in a huge complex of buildings on top of a giant metro complex, with many subway lines and a train line, stretching for at least a half mile). Success, $1.60 each, and we’re off to the Nezu Museum, built by the Larry Ellison of Japan (hmmmm...since this guy is actually Japanese, and dead, maybe they think of Larry as the Nezu of Japan). The building is quiet (that's not Larry), big (that's Larry) and well designed by architect Kuma Kengo, and the collection is better than that now on loan from the Nezu of Oracle at the Asian Art Museum in SF.

From there, we take a short walk through a huge cemetery  to the Yufuku Gallery where they have prepped a private show for us of Mihara Ken’s work. There are a number of pieces from 2008, 2010 and even 2013, all of interest and a few of great interest. Since it is Day 2 (or Day We’re Still a bit Jet-Lagged), we’ve agreed ahead of time to hold off making any buying decisions. Phew, cuz otherwise we might be buying more than we can handle immediately.

Joining us for lunch is Keiko, who was our guide in Tokyo in 2010 and then for DB and the Oakland Art Museum group in 2011. She’s a character, and has great news: she’s engaged, or is it married. She keeps referring to the guy as either a) her boyfriend, b) her fiancé, c) her husband, or d) this guy she lives with. Something to do with a) the paperwork, b) the paperwork being completed, c) her father having had too much to drink, or d) who signed on which line.

Lunch is at Matsubara, a quiet soba noodle spot on the second floor in or near Shibuya area (and very near the Olympic Stadium from 1964…obsolete in 7 years). Large shared green salad, small appetizer plates of duck, gingko bean, chestnut, house-made tofu, tomato slice, potato slice, and tempura and soba for DB and duck broth and soba for THB and Keiko.  With ginger ale (sweet and bitter), soba tea, regular tea, $81 for three.

Keiko explains that there are two fads coursing through Aoyama: Hawaiian pancakes and popcorn and, in true Portland style, people are lining up for hours (in the pics, there are two parts to the popcorn line, and Keiko asked…2 hour wait for those at the end of the line).

We say goodbye and congratulations to Keiko and her upcoming, recent, and imminent wedding, and take another subway ride to the New Otani Art Museum (on the 6^th floor of the New Otani Hotel) of a retrospective of ceramic work by a National Treasure, Matsui Kosei. Very unusual pieces: unique and not handsome, in a very unique way.

Back to the hotel for a refreshing cold shower and rest up (though not sleeping) before dinner with Fusao. our Nakasendo walk guide. We walk9 of course) to a yakitori place in the Ginza, maybe 10 minutes from the hotel. It is great, and of course THB cannot tell you where it is or what the name is (they don’t have an English name, and the address/map won’t help you westerners find it, use the pics…sort of a treasure hunt!). Skewers of chicken meat and skin, asparagus with bacon, quail eggs, peppers, leeks, and maybe one or two more, plus two orders of individually cooked rice, one with chicken and one with “variety” toppings, extra good! Two beers, one bottle of cold sake, included in our hike (though we haven’t started the hike, Fusao includes 1+ days of guiding in and the hotel in Tokyo in the price).

This time, THB brings the phone, Fusao give him a test call, and the thing is on, rings, and THB figures out how to answer. All good, all the time.