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ED209
[Purist]
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PuristSPro Tokyo GTG pics

PuristSPro Tokyo GTG

We woke up early on our first day in Tokyo and joined a 1/2 day tour to get acclimated to the city.  Our first stop was at the Tokyo Tower in the Minato-ku area.  The tower is inspired by the Eiffel tower and is actually several meters taller.  It was somewhat overcast and hazy but we still had some amazing views of Tokyo:



On the observation deck there was a glass floor that scared a lot of adults but was funny to see little kids jumping up and down on it:



Here's DRMW's contribution to the Friday wristscans:



Next we headed over to the Shibuya area and toured the Meiji Shinto Shrine:



Our last stop was a visit to the Imperial Palace:



The tour bus finished up the tour by dropping us off in the Ginza area which was perfect as it was only a short walk to Kyubei restaurant for lunch.  Kyubei is considered one of Tokyo's most renowned sushi bars (I'll post pics in a seperate post on the WFED forum). 
After lunch, we made a visit to the Audemars Piguet Ginza Boutique and had a fantastic tour with Mr. Go Mugino, Representative Director and CEO of AP Japan ( click here for the AP forum post:  www.network54.com .  )


The rest of the afternoon was spent at the watch department of Wako Department store to check out their Grand Seiko collection, and a visit to the Nikon showroom. 

In the evening we headed back to the Conrad Hotel to meet up for the PuristSPro GTG.   Based on a recommendation from the head sushi chef at Kyubei, we decided on dinner at Zakuro restaurant for shabu shabu.  We were greeted at the door by a hostess in a traditional kimono:



Our starters were asupara dofu (tofu with white asparagus & crab meat):



anago kisu oshizushi (pressed sushi with salt-water eel)



a simple goma dofu (tofu with soy and horse radish):



and torigai sumiso ae (clam with seaweed and miso paste):



The main course was the shabu shabu:



a delicious goma sauce with chives and green onions:



and ponzu dipping sauce:



and the most marbled premium wagyu beef I've even seen:



our shabu shabu was cooked in a traditional coal heated copper pot:



the shabu shabu dinner included fresh napa cabbage, shimeji, enoki and matsutake mushrooms, leeks, bean curd, tofu and chrysanthemum leaves:




The wagyu beef was so delicious that we all had to order an extra plate:



Our waitress used broth from the shabu shabu to make noodles:



And added some more chives and onions for a tasty bowl of handmade udon:



It was perfectly cooked, the texture of the noodles were amazing:



Our dessert was a kuzikiri  (arrowroot starch noodles with a sweet brown sugar and honey syrup)




A mango sherbet:



And a sweet fragrant papaya, very simple but refreshing after the hot shabu shabu:



Before we left, I took a short visit to the men's room....  and noticed this very funny sign:



I'm not sure what it implies, since it's written in English and I'm guessing some event must have occurred that the management of the restaurant need to put the sign next to the urinal.... LOL   It was so funny I had to tell everyone to check it out.

Regards,
ED-209



This message has been edited by DRMW on 2009-07-06 22:43:46 This message has been edited by DRMW on 2009-07-07 23:56:58