Ohayo gozaimasu (good morning)!

Sunday, March 28

The following day was Sunday but Scott had to show up for first day of work. We had our first meal in the hotel at their American cuisine restaurant called Symphony. They were having their weekend buffet but we didn't feel like fighting the crowd so we just ordered cheese omelet breakfast. Our first impression was that American cuisine is not their forte lol! Anyway, I was not inspired to eat here again.

Scott got all suited up for the first day but when Roberto-san arrived, he advised that it was casual day since it's Sunday. While Scott was getting dressed I asked Roberto-san if Scott needs some yen for spending money. He suggested 5,000¥ which is about $50 depending on the dollar value for the day. It was 3,000¥ for the subway pass which is the mode of transportation in Tokyo. I noticed later that I would rarely be able to talk about locations without people referring to the subway and train lines which I stayed clueless about since they were not useful to me with their lack of accessibility. I do know the JR line is a surface train.

After Scott left I went back to the room to get my digital camera and painting supplies so I could visit the Japanese garden on the 5th floor. The garden had steps but luckily I was able to see almost everything from the long glass walls of the Genjikoh Restaurant. Their last breakfast guests just left so I had the restaurant all to myself for my photo session :) After over two hours of shooting and taking advantage of their kindness, I decided to have lunch there.

While waiting for my order, the Food and Beverage manager approached me and asked what brand of camera I had. He was very nice of course. I happened to mention that i heard they had a week-old special entrance to the subway, exclusive to hotel and accessible to wheelchairs. He excused himself and 20 minutes later he had several brochures with strips of post it notes on certain pages so I might be able to visit Scott at work in Shinagawa. It just impressed me that he went through all this trouble and so fast just because of something I mentioned :) But what he also reported that most subway stops have no elevator so I wouldn't be able to go anywhere hahaha! In one part, I had to wheel for 10 minutes to go to a stop that has elevator. Yikes! He also gave me a punch card that was good at most of the 10 hotel restaurants for a 2,000¥ gift certificate after I've filled about 20,000¥ of it but I never did because it expired halfway through my stay.

I ordered the most reasonably priced, appetizing and "recognizeable" dish. It's basically an all seafood tray and it's supposed to be "lady's portion" which is as you can see from the image above would feed 3 women. It was 4,100¥ for this most unforgettable lunch! I am a sushi lover and this was the best ever sushi I've ever tasted! My favorite was the creamy texture of ika (squid). But my all time favorite is maguro (tuna). The sashimi was served with a box of rice with vinegar and strips of seaweed. I think the chunk of fish on top is also some maguro with really tiny chunks of onion on top. It was served with 2 kinds of soup. One clear broth with Manila clams and one with some kind of tofu curd (?) and shrimp and vegetables - both heaven sent! The fish in some kind of thickened soy sauce and mushroom was perfect. I also loved the dish of forest mushrooms for salad. I swear, I relished that meal like it was a spiritual moment. I must have taken over an hour to eat so I can remember each flavor, texture and presentation forever. Their wassabi was fresh and more subtle than the ones I've had in America. Nor as "invasive" a taste, just enough to enhance. The tea was had a lot of body and was an excellent addition to the meal. I love my loved ones but most of them would have rushed my through this lovely meal and it would have been a shame to do that.

Japanese eating customs: I learned from my Internet research that guests are not supposed to ask for more wassabi as this is an insult to the chef. Some sushi chefs had to study 12 years for their art, especially for edomae sushi. Furthermore, when you order something and you are reluctant to eat certain things, it is polite to taste it first and not eat if you still don't like it. I'd say that's common courtesy. Also, it is polite to put the dishes back the way they were served when you are done eating.

At the end of my meal, lunch guests started to come in. I headed to the office center and i was able to catch Mom on the AOL Express IM. At about 1PM Sunday, it was 8PM Saturday in California. The hotel person in charge of the office center became my friend and she she said that Genjikoh was a very popular restaurant in Tokyo for it's authentic Japanese cuisine so celebrities go there to eat.

That evening the phone rang in the bedroom and it was the CEO of the company Scott was serving! It's Itamura-san known to friends at Katz-san. He asked what I was doing and invited me to dinner with him and Scott at the hotel! He took Scott "home" in a cab. We headed downstairs and checked all "other" restaurants but since it was Sunday it was booked. Guess what? We ended up on Genjikoh after all!

Katz-san basically ordered for us. In consideration of Mr. Beefeater Scotto-san, we all had beef sukiyaki shabu-shabu style. Which means it's thinly cut beef swished around in a pan with some water, then soy sauce and sake. The waitress in kimono, cracked fresh eggs in small bowls and beat them and handed each one of us our own. When the beef was cooked we were to dip it in the raw egg and eat immediately. IT WAS YUMMY!!!! Even Scott tried it ONCE. Katz-san has excellent taste in food but he likes "course meals" that seem to go for at least 5 courses. By the 4th course I'm stuffed! He had the tea, sake and wine coming all through dinner. As we drank sake (I had one), and toasted "kampai!" he told us that it means "empty glass" so it had to be bottoms up. I can't even think of the tab he had. We always asked to please let us pay but he always responded, "No, you are my guests!"

I excused myself after dinner and the men went up to the 20th floor Orpheus Sky Lounge , Scott said when they got there it was all couples lol. Katz-san said, "Oh, it's for lovers?" Scott teasingly pulled his chair away hahaha! Anyway, up there they drank Macallan 18yrs. old whiskey at 1,800¥ a glass!

Scott was in the room in an hour. And he went to work the next day escorted by someone form the office.

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