November 30, 2008: Tokyo Travel Day #8, My Driver Loses His Way, and a Dessert Blow-Out

Among the many fond memories I’ll bring back with me of my trip to Japan are the numerous meandering interludes I’ve spent with many a directionless cab driver over the course of my stay.  Like today, for instance, when a ride to the Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest turned into a seemingly endless cruise through the narrow [...]

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November 29, 2008: Tokyo Travel Day #7, Kaiseki x 2, Desserts x 2, French Bulldogs x 2, and My Drippiest Lunch Ever!

Last night, I had dinner at Ryugin where I enjoyed a spectacular contemporary spin on the traditional kaiseki meal.  Rather than break it down for you, I’ll let the pics do the talking.  Suffice it to say, it was yet another very memorable meal.  So far, that’s six for six on the high-end dining.  Other [...]

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November 28, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #6, My Morning Run Almost Ends in Disaster, Shinjuku Avec Mes Amis!

I must say that one of the great things about traveling alone is being able to improvise your own schedule without fear of holding anyone up, being held up by anyone, being dragged somewhere you don’t want to go, or dragging someone where they don’t want to go.  I woke up at a reasonably early [...]

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November 27, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #5, Neighborly Natives and Western Wankers, Fancy French, and Shibuya Tour.

Here’s something interesting I discovered over the course of my first four days here: Tokyoites are notoriously shy and unlikely to engage in spontaneous conversation but, given the opportunity to open up, they can be incredibly friendly and loquacious. Westerners either visiting or living in Tokyo, on the other hand, are, with very few [...]

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November 26, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #4, Kaiseki Feast, Porking Out, Sweets and Such, and The Weird Food Purchase of the Day – Japanese Ice Cream Edition

Hop into a taxi in Tokyo and you’re in for a wild ride because it’s pretty much a given that your driver will have no idea where he’s going. Chalk it up to the city’s antiquated address system, its winding side streets, or its crisscrossing thoroughfares – whatever the reason, cabbies seem to be veritable [...]

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November 25, 2008: Tokyo Travel Day #3, Sweets Heaven and Hell, Sushi Breakfast, Sensory Overload

So as I was wandering around Ginza yesterday, thwarted by the line-up outside the Pierre Marcolini Café and Ice Cream Shop, when I spotted a promising-looking dessert destination on the third floor of a nearby building. “Sweets Paradise 90 mins.”read the sign outside the window. “Sweets Paradise” was self-explanatory (and just what I [...]

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November 24, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #2, Tokyo Toilet Tour, The Weird Food Purchase of the Day: Japanese Edition

Greetings from rainy Tokyo! Despite the wet weather, my spirits remain undampened – although the same can’t be said for the rest of me as I was strolling through the side streets of Ginza when I got caught in the downpour.
Today, I had lunch at one of my wife’s favorite places – a Korean [...]

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November 23, 2008: Tokyo Day #1, The Sock Hunt, The Dalloyau vs. Pierre Hermes Macaron Throwdown

The fact that we wrapped work up a day early turned out to be very good for me as I spent most of Friday preparing for my Tokyo trip. Yes, there were the last-minute errands, the organizing, the packing – but almost half the day was dedicated to uploading Tokyo maps to my new portable [...]

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November 22, 2008: Special Effects Master Scott Stofer Answers Your Questions

Well, I’m Tokyo-bound but, before I go and lest I miss a day of blogging, I leave you with this Q&A courtesy of one half of Stargate’s detonative duo, Scott Stofer.  If you need someone shot, blown up, or set on fire (uh, in the fantasy world of television), then Wray Douglas and Scott Stofer [...]

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November 21, 2008: Green Week for Some, More of a Mauve or Argentine for Others

I feel sort of like someone who was invited to a Halloween Party and shows up in costume (“Hey, look! I’m Goku from Dragonball Z!”) only to discover that he is the only guest who bothered to dress up. Last year, we agreed to participate in NBC/Uni’s Green Week by producing a “green-themed” episode for [...]

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