Day 318: November 14, 2015

Diary entry:

Not the most exciting day ever.

Taxi to Hong Kong International Airport.

An hour at the new SkyTeam lounge (Taiwanese Beef Noodles, Yay!) and then a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to Amsterdam.

By the time we drove home and finished unpacking and repacking Erin for her flight to Los Angeles tomorrow, it was well past our bedtimes.

But we still took the time to order in some Doner and Shoarma for dinner. Thanks Thuisbezorgd.nl! 🙂

The Beer:

Name: Yona Yona Ale

Style: American Pale Ale

Producer: Yo-Ho Brewing Company

Alcohol content: 5.5%

Bottle size: 0.35 l Can

Purchased from: Seijo Ishii Grocery Store at Ikspiari near Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

Yona Yona Ale by Yo-Ho Brewing Company. A too-cold beer in fridge – not a good idea for packing without getting everything else wet. Got to drink it I guess. Malty and fruity. Decent enough beer.

Day 316: November 12, 2015

Diary entry:

Well, this was an exciting start of the day!

When we called the Embassy on Tuesday night to ask about our missing passports, the duty officer told us to make an appointment for Thursday morning, but to also call the embassy first this when they opened at 8:30 AM to make sure they knew we were coming, and that it was an emergency.

So when I called at 8:30, and was on hold until after 8:45 (which made me nervous since our appointments were for 9:00 AM and I didn’t want to be late), I was thrilled to be told that they had received a fax yesterday from the Narita Airport police that our passports had been recovered, and were available to be picked up at the Airport Police Station lost and found!

Called the airport police to confirm that the passports were found and were in fact there and available for pickup, and after confirmations all around, a total change in today’s plans.

No longer needing to go to the Embassy, and without the specter of spending the next weeks chasing down new passports, updating all of our residency cards, etc. in the Netherlands, and all other kinds of hassle, instead we just had to make sure we made it to Narita in time to pick up our passports before the lost and found closes at 5:15. The only downside there…our flight is not until 8:40PM, so we’re going to have a few hours sitting in the low cost Terminal 3 until flight time.

But first, we had some time to run over to Shibuya for some photos and a visit to the Disney store there, Erin’s favorite, and then we had to take a 1:30PM airport limo bus.

Luckily, Narita Terminal 3 has a really nice food court area before security, with plenty of tables, so we were able to sit back, have some lunch (which I must admit, was really high quality for airport food-court food), and relax for a while.

And enjoy a happy reunion with our passports!

It was a late night though, as our flight didn’t arrive in Hong Kong until 1:00AM, and we still had to taxi back to our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui and reconsolidate our luggage a bit, since we have dinner plans tomorrow and won’t have too much time to repack before our flight to the Netherlands on Saturday. It was 3:30AM before I finally managed to get to sleep.

Ugh!

The Beer:

Name: Minoh (Koi-Koi) Stout

Style: Stout

Producer: A.J.I. Beer Inc.

Alcohol content: 5.5%

Bottle size: 0.33 l

Purchased from: Osaka prefecture store in Tokyo

Minoh (Koi-Koi) Stout from Minoh Beer, A.J.I.Beer from Minoh, Osaka. Brewed to avoid bitterness, this beer featured a nice dark chocolate aroma. Dark coffee and chocolate flavors. For a regular stout, quite impressive.

Day 315: November 11, 2015

Diary entry:

What to do with an unexpected day in Tokyo?

Today, we’re “stranded” in Tokyo, as we lost our passports, and can’t have an appointment at the US Embassy for emergency replacement passports until tomorrow since today is Veterans’ Day and the Embassy is closed.

May as well enjoy our lemonade!

One issue we have: Where to sleep tonight! We would have gone the AirBnB route again, but wanted a hotel for this night so we’d have somewhere to leave our bags while we’re at the embassy, and hopefully somewhere we can print out all of the documents we need to bring with us for our appointment tomorrow.

I had a few free nights stored up on Hotels.com through their rewards program, so cashed in one of those for our lodging tonight. We chose a new hotel in the Akasaka region of Tokyo, in part because of its proximity to the US Embassy, in part because we’ve never really spent any time there before, and in part, because it was one of the few hotels we could find that seemed big enough and nice enough and affordable enough for us on such short notice! Tokyo is not the easiest city to find last minute lodging in.

Our hotel is the Centurion Hotel Grand Akasaka, which I will admit, I wish I could afford to stay at under normal circumstances, but it looks like normal rates start at $291/night, a bit above our normal cash-out budget. But in a pinch, it came through!

And I will admit, I loved Akasaka!

First, it had a very conveniently located Koban (police box) where we were able to officially report our passports as lost. An important step for getting an emergency replacement passport!

But after that was done, wandering through the streets, with so many restaurants to choose from for lunch, it was an enjoyable afternoon!

We wound up having a delicious tempura lunch at Tenshige, where we tried both the tendon and the kakiage tempura bowls. Delicious!

We also found a number of beer locations, including a Delirium Cafe (where they surprisingly had some great deals on Belgian beer bottles for take away) and another craft beer bar that was opening a few days after our visit. Bummer!

One downside of the food in Akasaka is that while the lunch offerings are plentiful and cheap, at dinner time, the restaurants go higher-end. While our tempura lunch was only ¥1,300 each, dinner at the same restaurant would have run ¥10,000 each!

So, we decided to head off for another Izakaya dinner at one of our favorite restaurants from our prior visits, the original Gonpachi in Roppongi, the restaurant that inspired the location for the famous Yakuza fight scene from Kill Bill, Volume 1.

And then, some Karaoke Honey Toast at Pasela Resorts near our hotel. Delicious!

The Beer:

Name: Yokohama XPA

Style: American IPA

Producer: Sankt Gallen Brewery

Alcohol content: 6.0%

Bottle size: 0.33 l

Purchased from: Gon Pachi Roppongi in Tokyo

Yokohama XPA by Sankt Gallen Brewery. Excellent bitterness. Really lasts in this beer. And at only 6%, not overpowering at all.

Day 314: November 10, 2015

Diary entry:

After yesterday’s exhausting day, we took a slightly later start today.

First stop was booking the airport bus for our trip to the airport for our flight to Tokyo tomorrow. But of course, we needed to stop for an ice cream or two on the way at two of the Japanese prefecture shops we passed on the way to the Courtyard, the nearest bus stop to our apartment.

With the bus safely secured, time for some real lunch. Our mission for the day: Okonomiyaki and Monjayaki at Sakura Tei in Harajuku. Not the absolute easiest place to find, but find it we did. We ordered one of each, and had a fun time cooking and eating them both. Though I must warn, be VERY careful when making your monjayaki not to get much of the soup onto the grill when putting the top layer of ingredients onto the griddle. I tilted the bowl slightly too far while scooping in the vegetables and meat, and the resulting steam gave me a bit of a burn.

The clouds opened up while we were eating, so we took our time hoping the worst of the rain would pass. Which it did, at which time we took a bit of a walk through the shopping areas of Harajuku, trying the Zakuzaku Croquant Chou from Hokkaido, and finishing off with an old favorite from Taiwan, Ice Monster shave ice.

The rain was starting back up, and rush hour was approaching, so we decided to head off from Harajuku to Ryogoku to visit Popeye, the top rated beer bar in all of Tokyo. I received a number of recommendations to visit Popeye, so was really looking forward to the chance.

We managed to secure a nice table right by the patio door, which may be similar to the one on Universal Windows Direct of Syracuse, which afforded us a little extra space, which was good when the meter and a half long board of beer arrived with our ten chosen samples.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the beers we tried here. It was a great chance to try a number of new breweries for me.

Uonuma Rice Weizen by Strange Brewing – Sour and citrusy. Nice bitterness. This is surprisingly good.

Ise Kadoya Hanakin Rouge by Ise Kadoya Brewery – Very fruity aroma. Fruit flavor as well. Dry aftertaste.

Tangerine Trip by Locobeer – Fruity and hoppy aroma. Sour fruity flavor. Quite good.

Oni Densetsu Kin-oni “SSS” Pale Ale Mosaic Ver. by Wakasaimo Honpo – Great citrus bitterness. Totally not what I expected from a session. Excellent!

Shonan 27 Coffee Ale by Kumazawa Brewing Co. – Heavy on the coffee flavor. Very good if you like that. If you don’t, why did you order it?

Fujizakura Heights Rauch by Fuji Kanko Kaihatsu Co. – Nice smoky flavor. Not overpowering. Or too sweet.

Barbed Wire by Strange Brewing – Excellent hoppy flavor. A very nice double ipa!

Shiga Kogen IPA by Tamamura Honten Co. – Nice serviceable ipa good flavor. Decent bitterness.

Winter Ale by Minamishinshu Beer Co. – Ok flavor. Some spices.

And the beer of the day below.

Following our visit to Popeye, we returned to the apartment, stopping for some Taiwanese specialties at a restaurant we stumbled across a block away, and then packed up for our trip tomorrow.

UH OH! Where are our passports?!?!?!?!?

Last thing we needed tonight, our passports are missing! Called all the hotlines for the airport lost and found, train lost and found, the hotel we stayed at last week, etc. I think we lost them! Called the embassy for setting up an appointment for replacements tomorrow so we can still fly to Hong Kong, but of course, they’re closed tomorrow for Veteran’s Day!

We’re stuck in Tokyo until Thursday!!!

Appointment made for Thursday morning at the US Embassy. And thankfully, Delta agreed to redeposit my airline miles for the flight we have to miss tomorrow, with no fee! That was awesome! They don’t fly to Hong Kong Thursday, and no clue how long the embassy will take, so we booked a lat evening flight with Vanilla Air. So of course, now we have to be much more careful on our baggage weight and  carry on size.  Low Cost Carrier vs. Elite+ Status. UGH!

This sucks…

The Beer:

Name: The Dark Side Imperial Stout

Style: American Imperial / Double Stout

Producer: Outsider Brewing

Alcohol content: 8.0%

Bottle size: 0.15 l draft

Purchased from: Bakushu Club Popeye in Tokyo

The Dark Side Imperial Stout by Outsider Brewing. Dark coffee and chocolate aroma. Very dark on the flavors. Moderate alcohol allows the flavors to shine. My favorite of the 10 (+1) beers that I tried tonight.

Day 313: November 9, 2015

Diary entry:

No late start today. We set the alarm for 3:00 AM to ensure we made it to the Tsukiji Fish Market well before 4AM so we could get in to see the auction.

We were approaching the sign-up area round 3:45, when we already saw people walking towards us.  Uh oh!

Turns out that 4:00 AM is no longer good enough if you want to see the auction. Both groups were already fully ticketed by 3:40 AM today!

Rather than take defeat as a kick in the teeth, we decided to take our auction failure as an opportunity, and headed over to Sushi Dai to have some of the best sushi in all of Tokyo. We got into line around 4:15, and were already around the corner, almost crossing into the next block!

But what the heck. We’re already awake and there, and the line will only get longer when the metro starts running again, so we decided to stay in line vs. go back for more sleep.

We wound up being in the day’s fourth seating, entering the restaurant around 7:15 AM. There are 14 seats, with the first seating at 5:00 AM, and each seating takes around 45 minutes. If you get there and are wondering about your potential wait, you can use that to do the math…

When we got into line at 4:15, there were only two people in line for Daiwa Sushi, two doors up from Sushi Dai. Daiwa is also very well-known and respected, so if you’re not fully set on Sushi Dai, you can consider Daiwa if their line is still reasonable.  By the time we were seating at Sushi Dai, the Daiwa line was also quite long.

After our outstanding sushi breakfast, we wandered the fish market for a while, then headed back to our AirBnB for a much needed nap.

Refreshed, we went on to continue our food journey through Tokyo. We went for a late lunch at Kagari, one of the best locations for ramen in Tokyo. A tine shop with only eight seats, we’ve heard of 3+ hour waits for lunch there, but arriving a bit late in the lunch window, we only had to wait around 45 minutes. Again, well worth the wait!

Our post-ramen adventure took us through a series of Japanese prefecture satellite shops, which are located around the Ginza / Yurakcho area. The original idea was to go on the hunt for different ice creams, but this was expanded into seeking out some beers from around Japan as well. I was amazed at the selections!

We hit Tokyo Disneyland for the after-six passport to Tokyo DisneySEA to pick up some Christmas merchandise and see the new shows for this year, and then finished off with an Izakaya dinner at Warayakiya in Roppongi.

The Beer:

Name: Okinawa IPA

Style: American IPA

Producer: Nanto Brewery

Alcohol content: 5.0%

Bottle size: 0.35 l

Purchased from: Washita Shop – Satellite store for Okinawa Prefecture in Tokyo

Okinawa IPA by Nanto Brewery. From the Washita shop of Okinawan products in Yurakcho. A very decent bitter IPA. Surprisingly good. By far the best from Okinawa I’ve had.

Day 312: November 8, 2015

Diary entry:

We got a bit of a late start today, spending the morning with a lie-in and doing some research on all the food places we want to hit on our few days in Tokyo.

We put together a map of our favorite places to eat and drink in Tokyo we wanted to try if we were nearby which came in very handy as we were wandering around town.

Our first stop today was at Tonki at Meguro station for some true traditional tonkatsu. A great stop! We got there around 30 minutes after they opened, and still had a 15-20 minute wait for a seat! But well worth it!

Since we were in Meguro anyway, we popped over to Nakameguro to visit the Baird Brewing Company taproom. I was briefly in contact with the brewer at Baird on Google+ a while back, and have been wanting to check out the brewery ever since. This was a great chance to sample a number of the daily and seasonal offerings. Unfortunately, two of the beers I most wanted to try had kicked just before we ordered, but that’s life!

We spent a little longer than planned at Baird, so our final stop of the evening was at Ginza Cozy Corner to pick up a set of their new Star Wars-themed desserts. Too cute to pass up!

After that an early night, as we have plans to visit Tsukiji Fish Market in the morning.

The Beer:

Name: Angry Boy Brown Ale

Style: American Brown Ale

Producer: Baird Brewing Company

Alcohol content: 7.0%

Bottle size: 0.2 l draft

Purchased from: Baird Brewing Company Nakameguro Tasting Room

Angry Boy Brown Ale by Baird Brewing Company. More hoppy bitterness than I expected. Very good! Not as overly sweet as I expected from a brown.

Normally, I would have skipped this one from the list for tasting, as I’m usually not a fan of brown ales. However, this came recommended to me on untappd, so I decided to give it a shot. So glad I listened!

Commercial Description (untappd):

Pours a deep dark mahogany with full head. Aromas of toasted malts and light pine. Flavors of raisins, light pine, nuts and toasted malts. A little sour. Dry bitter finish.

Day 311: November 7, 2015

Diary entry:

Travel day today. And a long one at that!

We slept in a little bit after a late night last night, then woke to finish packing and head to the airport for our flights to Tokyo. This was a connecting flight, on China Eastern, with a connection in Shanghai. Turned out to be a long travel day, with a long walk in a horribly hot Shanghai Pudong International Airport and a very so-so lounge experience there.

We did first get to experience the new SkyTeam lounge at Hong Kong International Airport, which was quite impressive. An excellent array of food options. Unfortunately, our China Eastern flight gate was not anywhere near the lounge, and we had to take a bus to the satellite terminal for it, so our time there was limited. But we’ll have another chance next week before our flight back to Amsterdam. And it looks like the KLM flight is very close to the lounge.

We arrived at Narita after 10PM on a Saturday night, which apparently means all ATM machines are closed, and the Airport Express has finished its schedule for the night, so we had to navigate to Tokyo via the Keisei Main Line, which took a bit longer than expected.

Our AirBnB apartment for the next four nights was very conveniently located to the Higashi-Ginza Tokyo Metro station, so we had no trouble getting there, and the check-in process was quite simple, even after 11:30 PM.

We managed to find a Izakaya restaurant in Ginza open late, Vegetoro Hana, so walked over for a late dinner before crashing.

The Beer:

Name: Suiyoubi no Neko

Style: Witbier

Producer: Yo-Ho Brewing Company

Alcohol content: 4.5%

Bottle size: 0.35 l can

Purchased from: Seijo Ishii Grocery Store at Ikspiari near Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

Suiyoubi No Neko by Yo-Ho Brewing Co. “The cat beer.” A Belgian White beer style. Decent fruit and a residual bitterness. A fitting end to the day, after a full day of flying and sitting at airports.

Day 304: October 31, 2015

Diary entry:

Flying day today.

Too the 7AM shuttle from the Radisson to Narita International Airport for our China Airlines flight to Taipei, connecting on to Hong Kong. Would have preferred a direct flight, but we’re using miles for these flights between Tokyo and Hong Kong, and the only direct flight with SkyTeam is the direct Delta flight which won’t get us into Hong Kong in time for the Halloween event at Hong Kong Disneyland which ends today.

We had a little scare as we had a congestion delay as we were approaching Taipei, and we only had a one-hour connection time already, but my fears dissipated as we were taxiing to our gate and I saw the gate for our Hong Kong flight was still empty. No plane there means no reason to worry about missing our connection.

We were a little later than hoped getting into Hong Kong, especially due to the wait for a taxi at the Airport Express station at Kowloon. There are a lot of things I love about Hong Kong, but one thing I definitely hate is the lack of taxicabs, especially at the Airport Express stations for Kowloon and Hong Kong. Always at least a 30-minute wait it seems.

We made it to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Tsim Sha Tsui (I do kinda wish work had put me in a hotel on Hong Kong Island this time, but c’est la vie) and turned down the room upgrades they offered to sell me, which were almost as expensive as the room rate itself!

We still wound up with a partial harbor view, which should give us a decent view of the light show.

A fun evening at Hong Kong Disneyland for their Halloween event, followed by a horrific ride home at park closing, with mobs of people, and another hour wait for a taxi at Kowloon station.

So tired! Too tired, and too late, to even go out for a beer tonight, so taking one from what we bought in Tokyo.

The Beer:

Name: Tokyo Black Porter

Style: Porter

Producer: Yo-Ho Brewing Company

Alcohol content: 5.0%

Bottle size: 0.35 l can

Purchased from: Seijo Ishii Grocery Store at Ikspiari near Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

Tokyo Black Porter by Yo-Ho Brewing Company. Very late, after flying in from Japan and a whole evening / night at the Halloween event at Hong Kong Disneyland, including an almost two hour trip back home at the end of the night. Planned to go to TAP tonight, but will have to wait. Decent Porter. Dark roasted aroma. Some chocolate and coffee bitterness.

Day 303: October 30, 2015

Diary entry:

Today is our last day in Japan for this first leg of our Asia jaunt. We started off back in Tokyo DisneySEA to catch the Villains show which we were too late in arriving for on Wednesday, and was the last real Halloween event we didn;t see yet this trip.

Once that was a success and we wandered the park a little while longer, we decided to grab a quick lunch at a famous ramen place that we saw had opened a branch at Ikspiari and skipped last night due to the long lines. Today at lunchtime, Ippudo Ramen had no line at all, and we walked right in for a delicious ramen lunch! Make sure you add the bite-sized dumplings to your ramen. They’re incredible.

We have an early flight tomorrow, so we’re spending the night at the Radisson in Narita. First time staying by the airport. I have to say, I’m surprised how quiet the area is around the airport.

The Beer:

Name: Harvestmoon Autumn Wheat 2015

Style: Autumn Wheat

Producer: IKSPIARI Co.

Alcohol content: 5.0%

Bottle size: 0.33 l

Purchased from: Seijo Ishii Grocery Store at Ikspiari near Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

Harvestmoon Autumn Wheat 2015 by IKSPIARI Co. Slight spices on aroma. A bit bitter. But watery. Not much behind this beer. Had higher hopes. I had this beer with room service at the hotel, for which I did not have high hopes, but was pleasantly surprised, so at least the dinner was a plus.

Day 302: October 29, 2015

Diary entry:

Woke up early hoping to spend the morning and early afternoon at Tokyo Disneyland, photographing the costumes that people are allowed to wear to the Park for the Halloween Event. After that, I had hoped to be able to run into town to find one of the local beer cafes to try some of the better Japanese beers.

Unfortunately, we wound up with a late start leaving the hotel, and didn’t get to the park until after 2PM, so wound up staying until much later than anticipated, not returning to our hotel room until after 10:30PM. With the nearest craft beer bars a 45+ minute train ride + walk from Tokyo Disneyland, I decided this would have to wait for the return visit next weekend.

There were quite a number of fun costumes in the park, though, and the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion is always a treat.

We visited an Izikaya restaurant in Ikspiari for dinner, which was also much better than expected. And not at all smoky, which was an excellent surprise!

The Beer:

Name: Otaru Bakusyu Amber Ale

Style: English Amber Ale

Producer: Hokkaido Brewing Company

Alcohol content: 5.0%

Bottle size: 0.35 l can

Purchased from: Seijo Ishii Grocery Store at Ikspiari near Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

Otaru Bakusyu Amber Ale by Hokkaido Brewing Company. Sweet. Not much bitterness. Pretty meh. Can’t wait to try some better Japanese beers on the second leg of the visit when in the city itself.