A Dedication To The B747: SIN-NRT-SIN In Raffles Class

[HUGE AL]

StarG has found his ride!

[9V-SIA]

Back to Roppongi Hills for dinner at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, one of his 3 restaurants in TYO.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

You may wonder why we ate twice in the Roppongi area. We were originally booked to stay at GH.













We were very full so chose the smallest menu

Amuse Bouche





Soup





Wife's Main



My Main



Dessert





It was worth the subway ride from Ginza to eat here, the 2/4 restaurants booked by the concierge

Will caption if I can translate the menu into English. It's in French!

[9V-SIA]

Happy Hour At Peter's

Peter's is the restaurant / bar at the top of Peninsula.

We came here on our last night before a vegetarian meal which was our 3/4 concierge booked meal.

The most disappointing. But then I'm a meat eater!!

Sorry about the reflections. Very hastily taken snaps



As you enter Peter's, bar on left & restaurant straight ahead



Looking back at the lift lobby



Looking towards the restaurant



View from Peter's ( the bar ). Same facing as our room only higher.

Illuminated tip of Tokyo Tower can just be made out ( in red )



Peter's ( the restaurant )



The Imperial Palace Garden from Peter's ( the restaurant )

At the height of the property bubble ( Nikkei 35,000 ), that piece of real estate was worth more than... California!

[9V-SIA]

That Vegetarian Restaurant

Vegetable wholesaler in Tsukijii market decided to expand and opened Nagamine.

We decided to give it a try.

On the the left a short walk past Mitsukoshi along Harumi Dori.



The vegetables at the front warn you what to expect



Counter seating ( as with all the restaurants we booked before our arrival )



There's not much in the way of theatre when cooking vegetables.

We were left in the company of this apprentice slicing & dicing vegetables in front of us

Our food came from a kitchen in the back somewhere



This is how you should slice a lemon!! Shear poetry to watch him work



Sesame tofu, wasabi & soya sauce................Marinated spinach & vinegared red onion



Plum rice-flour dumpling in daikon radish potage soup



Arrowhead bulb, stick broccoli, sweet red pepper, small onion, unfiltered soya sauce



Miso-simmered ebimo taro, devil's tongue & carrot



Grilled pumpkin & white maritake mushroom & soy bean milk cream



Assorted vegetable sushi, pickles & clear soup



Dessert of the day



Their webpage..

Nagamine

We're on to our final lap. Shangri La, Tokyo Station & our last booked restaurant.

[SilverChris]

Those restaurant names are too fancy for a guy like me nice pics btw

[9V-SIA]

Those restaurant names are too fancy for a guy like me nice pics btw

I am working very, very hard to pay for this trip now. Easy credit is not that easy

The next post is dedicated to you.

But you'll have to watch "Seinfeld" Season 7 Episode 6 entitled "Soup Nazi" first to appreciate the humour.

[9V-SIA]

Rokurinsha in Tokyo Station

This post is dedicated to SilverChris

The Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld is about the indignities Jerry & his friends are willing to suffer for a taste of the soup.

I was thinking of that episode as I stood in line waiting to try this place

The queue starts 30 minutes before the shop opens



T-15, shutter opens..



Queue on other side of corridor..



I get to peer into the restaurant



Cross that line before you're called and "NO RAMEN FOR YOU!"



He's watching....



Finally we're in! No looking up when you eat your ramen.



Choose quick or NEXT!!



Biggest & chewiest ramen I have ever eaten..



..dipped in this stock. Remember to slurp..



In Singapore we would say "Die Die Must Try". In Japan I say "Try Or Harakiri"

What the foodies have to say about the main branch

http://exilekiss.blogspot.com/2008/0...-review-w.html

This was written in jest. The staff was gracious & friendly as you would expect in Japan

[StarG]

The ramen looks like udon! I wonder how the Japanese differentiate between thick ramen vs. udon.

[SQ218]

wow looks yummy. Will have to drop and try when I'm there next month.

[9V-SIA]

A couple of interesting facts about Rokurinsha

• The main store is at Shinagawa. This is only branch in Tokyo
• Style is Tsukemen ( ramen separated from broth, not mixed together )
• Ramen is thickest I've ever eaten

It's found in First Avenue Mall under Tokyo Station Yaesu Exit.

Beef Tongue Grill was the other restaurant we enjoyed in Tokyo Station by Nihonbashi Exit.



The set meal consists seasonal vegetables & ox tail soup plus..



.. beef tongue, either salted or with sauce, broiled over charcoal fire..



.. and rice mixed with barley



Kisuke Sorry in Japanese only

For dessert, we head to Daimaru next door for dessert in branch of famous Kyoto dessert restaurant.

Or we buy dessert from Daimaru Supermarket



Quite a view while enjoying our dessert. Modern building on left is Merrill Lynch at Nihonbashi



You can't pay me enough to do his job!

[9V-SIA]

Tokyo Station

Introduction

Tokyo Station is not an easy station to navigate.

Apart from being huge and extremely crowded, it seems to be undergoing major renovations so the maps that you find in the station are not as helpful as in other stations.

Much of the station is also a ticketed zone inaccessible unless you are travelling.

Orientation

This map is lying on its side so that north points to the right.

The Imperial Palace lies to the west ( top of pic ), Peninsula where I stayed to the south ( bottom of pic ).

So Main Entrances are 3 to the East ( Yaesu North, Central & South ) and 3 to the West ( Marunouchi North, Central & South ).

However, from the Shangri La, we use the North Entrance ( Nihombashi )

First Avenue Tokyo Station runs underneath Yaesu Entrances & are full of interesting shops & restaurants.

The ramen place is found here in Tokyo Ramen Street. Easily reached from Nihombashi Entrance.

For those of you interested in Japanese manga characters there is a Japanese Character Street too



Shangri La is at the north eastern corner of the station together with Daimaru.

Four Seasons Marunouchi is at the south eastern corner ( the only 3D building on map )



View of the Nihombashi Entrance. Trust Tower North on left



Shangri La is hidden behind Trust Tower North.



From foreground, Trust Tower North > Trust Tower Main > GranTokyo North.

Hard to tell them apart because they look so similar. Boring architecture!

Shangri La has no frontage at all!

Made worst by the fact that there is a small lift lobby to carry you up the the Main Lobby on 28th floor



Trust Tower Main. Shangri La's Lift Lobby is to the left



The driveway to the hotel is in the basement.

Things get better from here....

[SilverChris]

Thanks a ton for the dedication! You make me hungry for Japanese

[9V-SIA]

Shangri La

Public Areas

Step out the lift on the 28th floor and this sight greets you.

Seating for hotel guests. We didn't sit there because we felt underdressed.

Despite our appearance, the staff were always warm & friendly. Best of the 3 hotels we stayed this trip



The U shaped corridor wraps around the Reception Desk...



... to the lifts. We were on the 36th Floor. 37th was the top ( Club ) floor



The Bar in front of Reception. It shares the same view as my room



Sitting room behind bar



Our floor is where the Presidential Suite is. But we were in the smallest room I think!

[9V-SIA]

Shangri La

My Room

It may be the smallest room on the floor but small is a relative term.

Unlike most hotel rooms, the bathroom is not across from the cupboard as you enter the room



Access to the bathroom is from the room. Double doors ensure the room is as quiet as Peninsula



The "Dry" bathroom. Toilet..



.. and sink



The "Wet" bathroom. The biggest rain shower I have ever used..



.. and the finest view from a bathtub!



All the stationary you would expect to find is there. What caught my eye was this comprehensive "extra"..



..and all the cables you could possibly need



Our room overlooks Nihombashi Entrance to Tokyo Station. The Helipad is on the roof of Trust Tower North



In the distance, Mandarin Oriental in Nihonbashi. Our last booked dinner is there



MO is in Nihonbashi. Nihon=Japan & Bashi=Bridge. So where's the river?

The elevated highway is built over the river! Railway lines running north from Tokyo Station

[9V-SIA]

Around Tokyo Station

From the south east corner looking north is GranTokyo South & North Tower.

GranTokyo North blocking Shangri La. MO seen up the street in the distance

Daimaru in front of GranTokyo north

In the foreground ( blue windows ) is where Four Seasons Marunouchi is found



Extensive renovations in front of Yaesu Entrances to Tokyo Station at the moment

but this is what it'll look like when complete

That low rise red brick building is across the railway lines at the Marunouchi Entrance



From the West

Same goes for Marunouchi Entrances.. building works. The red bricked Tokyo Station ( partially in shadows ) is all covered up.

In the background behind the crane are, from short to tall, Marunochi Trust Tower North, MTT Main ( where Shangri La is ) & GranTokyo North Tower



This is a view of Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station from the Daimaru elevator ( on our way up to have our dessert! )

In the foreground is red bricked Tokyo Station all covered up. In the background is the Imperial Palace Gardens



Architecturally very boring buildings. They all look the same!

But historically, Marunouchi very interesting part of Tokyo

It's been called the Rodeo Drive of Tokyo but in the old days..





For those of you interested.. a useful map to orientate yourself

Marunouchi

From South West Corner

Behind railway lines, Four Seasons Marunouchi ( blue glass ) and GranTokyo South in foreground, GranTokyo North & MTT Main ( Shangri La ) in background



A block behind me when I took this picture is Marunouchi Brick Square, the most architecturally interesting building in this area.

Note: Blue glass building is where FS is



Marunouchi Brick Square

Across a garden courtyard..





.. modern..



.. meets "old"