…within one 5-day period…
Number of Flights: 7 (2 of which were over 9 hours)
Number of Consecutive Airline Meals Consumed: 4
Number of Airline Meals Consumed: 11
Number of Hours Spent Waiting for Flights: approx. 18
Number of Hours Spent in the Queues at Customs: 3.5
Number of Different Currencies Used: 4
Number of Mountain Ranges Over Which We Flew: 1 (Andes)
Number of Jetlag Hours To Overcome: 12
Number of Times By Which Our Ecological Footprint Has Multiplied For Having Flown So Much: must be at least 3.
Average Number of ENORMOUS Suitcases (i.e. large enough to hold all of our travel gear twice over) With Which People From Los Angeles Travelled: 3
Number of Timezones Crossed: like, 14
State of Mind At Mid-Point: “Time has no meaning.”
Size of Steak Consumed at Stop-over in Buenos Aires: that of my face.
Apparently, it’s quite rare to see Mount Fuji when in Tokyo. Even if one pays the fee to ascend to one of the observation decks in Tokyo, one may not be able to see the mountain unless it’s an exceptionally clear day. When we visited the observation deck of the Mori Art Museum, it was not an exceptionally clear day. Meh, we saw it from the plane anyway.
Our second most expensive view (after the New York Bar extravaganza), is the view from our hotel room in Asakusa. If we hadn’t been using credit card points to pay for it, we would not have been able to stay in this hotel. In fact, there is little evidence to suggest we could afford any hotel in Tokyo and would likely have been staying in a dorm room in the cheapest hostel available or a love motel, if we were lucky. However, 10 years’ worth of points collecting afforded us three nights in a room with a view of Senso-ji temple.
Even with a short stay of three frigid days (relative to Bangkok, at any rate), we packed in the temple visits. There was a climb through the red tunnel of shrine gates and up the steps to Hie-Jinja shrine and a stop at the exquisite Meiji-jingu Shinto shrine, which was arguably the prettiest temple/church/mosque/shrine we’ve seen on this RTW trip. Despite the crowds there on that Saturday afternoon, it maintained a remarkably peaceful atmosphere.
So far, we’ve only been lucky enough to see two others: one in Paris and one in Bangkok, and each spotting is accompanied with a sharp intakes of breath and much excited hand-fluttering. Therefore, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see a branch in Tokyo, the heart of it all, the place where design and form match function and style and then go on sale. Maybe our hopes were pinned a little high – just maybe – because this Muji fell kind of short of our expectations. Though that didn’t stop us from combing the store and dreaming of the apartment we’ll one day have and Mujify.
According to the menus, those were just appetizers but even in our alcohol infused state, we could not justify spending $80 for a rib eye steak or – perish the thought – $190 for the Kobe beef steak. We did have one more glass of wine, though. In total, for two people, two drinks each, two appetizers: $200CAD. Obscene, opulent, delicious, exquisite. Unrepeatable.
Rising at dawn, we visited the Tsukiji Fish Market for the height of the morning rush. After navigating our way through the trucks, vans and motorized trolleys, we found the main fresh fish market with hundreds of vendors selling fish whole, filleted or still alive. Men ran frozen tuna through enormous band saws while others filleted eel after eel or sliced off chunks of fish with a knife three feet long, any of these jobs requiring rubber boats, plastic pants and a wet suit like jacket to keep warm and dry.
Some of the tourists wore plastic bags on their shoes, but that is dangerous on slippery concrete floors running with water and blood. With fish and guts everywhere, I was surprised by the complete lack of smell. Perhaps it’s different in the summer, but on our visit everything was surprisingly fresh.
It was hard not to consider the enormity of it all—a vast industry cleaning the ocean of edible life. At no point could we see the entire market and this was only one market in one city. Live sea cucumber to whale bacon, all prepared or packaged to feed our enormous population.
Those contemplations didn’t stop us from enjoying a sushi breakfast at one of the many restaurants that fringe the market. In Tokyo, few people speak English, but most people are used to dealing with people who don’t speak Japanese. In this case we were directed to the wall menu for a choice of the $20 set or the $30 set and an Engligh drink menu was provided. As the sushi chef completed a serving, he dropped it in front of us on a black laquered board that ran around the bar, which was used instead of a plate. Wow, so fresh. Most were the usual suspects, tuna and shrimp, but one animal we only reconginized from the fish market—a sort of dark flattened shrimp. It tasted much stronger than a shrimp, not something I’ll likely seek again.
Just before we left Bangkok, we used up our last remaining bhat on a spicy green mango salad that was so spicy that I could see through time. We stopped in Seoul the next morning on a layover that was long enough to eat bibimbap with kimchi for breakfast, something we’ve been craving for months. Finally, we arrived in Japan and had a late lunch of a lot of sushi. I doubt we’ll be able to come close to replicating that phenomenon in the future, unless we have maple syrup in the morning and cross the border for American cheese in the afternoon. Doesn’t seem as exotic, though.
Our last day in Bangkok was spent milling around CentralWorld, a new mall with a grocery store of culinary delights. It was rated the 3rd best food retailer in the world and best in Asia. Grocery aisles intertwine with sit-down options, where customers can order sushi, bistro food, or New York pizza. A liquor section had dozens of brands of beer we had never seen before. We mainly stayed near food court that overlooked the store.
The Murahata Fruit Boutique, which was attached to the store, was particularly intriguing. Rather than buying a dozen apples or a bag of kiwi, one buys one apple the size of a softball or perhaps a pair of different apples, including one with a chinese character printed on the side. Whether the fruit is apple, kiwi or melon, each piece is the best of the farmers’ craft, the pinnacle of a simple tradition. Each is perfect in appearance and exceptional in flavour. The melons have perfect T-shaped stems, the kiwis are the size of a fist and the strawberries are bright red. I was able to sample one small piece of apple, which was mild and sweet, not acidic or sharp. As tempted as a was, I couldn’t convince myself to buy the $4 apple or the $20 melon.
We did spend the extra $2 to get the sofa seat at the movie theatre when we watched Pursuit of Happiness. In addition to the typical cup holder, a small tray was provided and the seat backs reclined. And best of all, no arm rest to prevent snuggling.
We ate lunch the first time we walked in: Hawaiian Chicken Burger and Fish & Chips, henceforth known as “the Best Chips/French Fries”. Simple enough dishes but they were crafted exceptionally well, and were remarkably reasonable in price, especially considering the care taken in preparation. We could barely wait 30 hours to return for dinner, which was a parma-wrapped steak with asparagus mashed potatoes for Marc and a mustard-crusted pork chop for me. Now this- this was outstanding. The steak was done perfectly to request and just melted in the mouth. Melted! My chop, served with warm raisin compote, was golden, garlicky, tasty, brilliant. Oh yeah! We also had an exquisite starter of chicken livers sauteed in a whiskey reduction; though, as this is the first chicken liver I’ve ever had, it doesn’t yet warrant a “Best Of” rating. We are going back for dinner tonight and my mouth is already watering. Unfortunately, they don’t serve wine, just beer. No liquor license yet?
Another place we credit ourselves with findin is Ricky’s Cafe. (It’s actually in the most recent Rough Guide travel guide but we don’t have that guide so I take credit for finding it on our own.) The reason this french toast wins the “Best Of” award is because it is actually banana french toast. Who would’ve thought? Mix egg with smashed up, fresh banana and use that to coat the bread before frying = fantastic. It was out of this world. We’ve been back for breakfast there every day but one since we’ve been in Bangkok; they also serve a delicious blue-cheese omelette.
I feel somewhat conflicted about our excursion to ride elephants in Luang Prabang. The decision to take part in this activity was complex, because of all the negative things that can be associated with the commercial use of animals. I mean, 
For the record, though, things looked pretty decent when we were there, a camp outside Luang Prabang called All Lao Tours Camp. The place has been in operation for years and was recommended to us by people who had recently participated in a 2-day ‘learn to be a mahout’ program (mahout = elephant trainer) and they said it was great. We were there only for a short time, long enough to climb aboard one of the three elephants working that day and plod around through the jungle for about an hour. The ride was uneventful, rather unexciting – apart from being able to actually touch an elephant for the first time. The most enjoyable part was feeding them bananas when we returned to the camp. (Check the ‘Videos’ section of our blog to see the Marc feeding one of the females.)