This is Susan’s business trip to Japan followed by our holiday trip to Kyoto and Osaka before flying back to Singapore dell from Osaka on January 29.
I was going to take the blog all the way through Osaka on January 29 but: 1) since it has been a while since I posted 2) because I received some feedback that they were getting a bit too long and 3) because there is a lot to say about Kyoto and Osaka, I’m stopping this report just after leaving Toyko on Sunday January 27, 2019 on the way to Kyoto. (No guarantees that I cut out enough but I am trying!)
January 23
The plan was for Susan to work and go with her boss Gary Da Silva to Toyko leaving around 3 pm and flying from Hong Kong to close-in Haneda airport in Japan Airlines. I, on the other hand, in order to save money (like 400 dollars) was leaving a couple hours earlier to Narita Airport on “Hong Kong Express” Airlines and was to make my way to the Shangri Law Hotel which is adjacent to the BNY Mellon office in Toyko.
So I took the Airport Express train back to the airport. It was a leisurely ride but when I arrived at the Hong Kong Airport station everyone was grabbing their bags and getting off and others were getting on and I had left my three bags up front in the storage area and was a bit concerned about getting off the train in time so I rushed up to grab my bags and got off. I had a strange feeling as the train pulled away and then I knew why as I got to the check in counter for Hong Kong Express Airlines!
LOST ITEM #5
Citizens Bank Debit Card
LOST ITEM #6
Cash Hong Kong Dollars
LOST ITEM #7
Ainope Portable Charger Case
Story:
Unfortunately the large case for carrying the portable charger was bothering me in my pocket so I think I left it on the seat next to me and then when everyone was rushing to leave the train I made the huge mistake of not looking for it again, just like on the massage chair at Jumbo Seafoods in Singapore. Yes, almost impossible to believe but true. The only good things are that I’d earlier taken out my Singapore ID car and about 800 US Dollars and also had kept the actual charger in my pocket so it could have been much worse! Hopefully the LOST ITEMS will stop at 7.
As a result of looking for the lost items and filing a lost item report, when I got to the gate 20 minutes before takeoff they were sounding “last call” and starting to close the door, so this was probably the tenth time in my travel career that I was the last one on board! So watch those times and arrive early. And I learned over the next few days after both me and the hotels calling lost and found in vain that in terms of honesty, HONG KONG IS NO SINGAPORE!
So I got on Hong Kong Express and had a nice three hour flight to Toyko, arriving in the very large and winding Toyko train station, which happened to be right next to our hotel, The Shangri La Toyko!
We were going to stay at the Conrad so Susan could get her Hilton points but this worked out really well because not only was it near the train station but it was right next door to the BNY Mellon Toyko office.
Before we left Hong Kong, Shamus Cahill of BNY Mellon had given me a tip of calling the Shangri La and asking them to meet me at the train in order to avoid the maze of heading to the Shangri La.
On the way to baggage claim to get the train to downtown Toyko I couldn’t help but notice 32 banners advertising the Toto Toilet Washlet System. I didn’t really know what it was but they seem to really like Toto toilets and we do have a regular Toto one in our front hallway in Pittsburgh and we are midway through redoing my bathroom in Pittsburgh so I guess that’s why I was paying some attention to them.
And wow was I met my a Shangri La at the train track who walked me all the way to the hotel lugging all my bags. What service!
In a strange coincidence even though I left and hour earlier I ran into Susan and Gary Da Silva checking in right before me. So we all met and had a quick bite and drink checking out the great views from the Shangri La.
Then when we got to the bedroom and bathroom and…..
Yes, a real Toto Washlet System! Complete with heated seat, oscillating spray, soft and strong bidet, power deodorizer, adjustable water pressure and helpful drawings.
Without going into too many more details, after checking out all the controls I certainly now know what a Toto Washlet System is! Give it a try if you ever get the chance. I liked it so much I emailed my bathroom designer and Jennifer and Susan to get there thoughts on adding it to my bathroom remodeling project. But sadly I was strongly vetoed. Our 469 dollar Kohler toilet had already been delivered but not installed and this one would cost 2,600 and require the plumber to come out again so I reluctantly passed on the Toto Washlet System!
Thursday 24 January 2019
While Susan worked I chilled (literally since Toyko was like 40 degrees F compared to Hong Kong 70 and Singapore 80, but they did have a nice indoor pool.
I did meet Susan and one of the newer attorneys in the Toyko office as well as seasoned veteran Hajime for lunch and we had some tasty ramen noodles (much better than those in the bag.)
That afternoon I made my way to the Hop on Hop Off Bus where they gave everyone blankets and hand warmers. I did learn the secret of sitting in the front row behind the glass with a nice couple I had met when signing up for the bus.
They said they were from Toledo and I said I was from Pittsburgh and the woman said “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette” and I said “Yes that is our local paper.”
Turns out they knew that quite well as they were Susan Allan Block and Allan Block.
Allan is the Chairman and CEO of Block Communications which owns the Toledo Blade, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
and several television stations and other businesses. Allan’s twin brother John is the Publisher in Chief of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Susan is a chef who ran her own business and she recently joined the Board of Block Communication and has served on several civic boards such as the Toledo Zoo, Toledo YMCA and Toledo Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Perhaps I should have known who the owners of the Post Gazette were but I didn’t and they were both very nice to me, including explained why the papers are becoming more digital and giving me the link to the Pittsburgh News Slide App which can be accessed at https://pgnewsslide.com/experience.
They were in Toyko as part of a cruise to Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. So we shared some travel tips and restaurant recommendations and I hope to host them at Longue Vue when I get back to Pittsburgh as they visit quite often. They also invited me to visit in Toledo so that was a great start to the Toyko trip as I continue to expand our contacts.
I finished the Hop on Hop Off Tour but I have to say it was a bit disappointing as it seemed to mainly drive by areas that used to be historical but were now very small or replaced with skyscrapers. It did give me some good reference points that I used later when Susan and I did our own tour.
That evening we met three attorneys from Susan’s BNY Mellon Toyko office at a nice place in Toyko called Ishero which served several different courses of grilled chicken and beef on a stick called Yakitori. It was quite tasty. After we returned to Singapore I noticed a Japanese craft beer place that also has great yakitori!
https://www.isehiro.co.jp/honten/
Friday January 25 2019
While Susan continued to work I woke up to a beautiful view of Toyko Bay from our hotel room.
Later I used the Hop on Hop Pass again to see some different routes and locations including the Toyko Tower, which we found out was largely built from left over metal from World War II.
That afternoon we checked out of the Shangri La Hotel and checked into the Conrad Toyko which included a breakfast but no “Executive Lounge” benefits since they were busy and Susan was only a Hilton Honors Gold Member rather than Diamond, but it was still very nice.
For dinner, Susan and I followed her co-worker Hajime’s recommendation and Yoko made us a reservation at “Ten-Mo”.
Here is their website: (some may need to translate into English.)
And here are a few photos.
We had a great Tempura dinner cooked right in front of us. Just Susan, me and a guy from Thailand. Everything was excellent except that I shouldn’t have told Susan that one of the courses was “Sea eel” as she wouldn’t touch it even though I thought it was good.
We enjoyed seeing the 3d owner who was 90 and the 4th owner who had been working for 30 years. Fortunately the woman also spoke pretty good English.
Now we can understand why Hajime likes the place where a shop was founded in 1885 and has been a restaurant since 1907, and I think Susan said that Hajemi was engaged here (perhaps a few years later?).
The dinner was not cheap (about 242 USD including a 75 dollar bottle of red wine) but it was delicious and certainly one of our more memorable dinners so far!
When we got back to the Conrad we had an after dinner drink in the bar. It had a nice large ice cube in it to keep ice from melting, which I pass on as a subtle tip to Tim Mink, Longue Vue Food and Beverage Manager whom I’m sure is keeping up with this blog.).
Also on the spur of the moment I asked the bar server if the hotel Concierge was still around as it was after 9 PM. Fortunately she was and stopped by with some brochures for tours. She recommended the full day Grayline Bus Tour. I was a bit skeptical after having spent two days on the Hop on Hop Off buses but we agreed to do the tour starting at 8:30 AM and are we glad we did!
Saturday January 26. 2019
Our first stop was to the top of the Toyko Tower, which I’d seen on the other tour but did not get off. We saw some nice views from the tower and the tour guide (wish I remembered her name as I’d recommend the tour for Mark Hollingsworth when he goes to Toyko on April 20 after visiting Susan in Singapore.)
We then moved on to a sacred Shinto Shrine in Toyko where I looked around inside and observed a wedding procession while Susan walked further in to see the saki barrels.
Later our tour guide continued to amaze us with her personality and knowledge as we went to the Imperial Palace and its beautiful gardens.
The Imperial Gardens were close to our hotel and we had a very good lunch as part of the tour at a nearby restaurant.
The tour continued in the afternoon with another good guide although not quite as nice as the morning one.
He took us first to more gardens, the Hama-titling Gardens from which we could also see the Conrad Hotel (third photo down).
Both the guide and this sign above answered my question about why bamboo was wrapped around most of the trees.
Yes the next one is if me “assuming the position” as this day we did 14,396 steps or at least thats what the MyFitnessPal App on my iPhone told me.
We went on to a boat ride past some interesting buildings.
We finished the day at another large Shrine next to a huge shopping area.
That evening we went to the Ginza shopping area and to a great Kobe steak restaurant that Allan and Susan Allan Block had gone to the night before, so we followed her recommendation.
Again the place was not cheap but if you ever wanted to try Kobe Beef this is the place! The chef was very good and also was a huge baseball fan and we were greeted by Juan from Mexico who spoke very good English and said his main job was to welcome the non-Japanese guests. We also posed with their championship beef trophy.
The name is the place is listed below along with reviews.
Bifteck no Kawamura (Ginza), 8F Ginza MST Building, + 813-6252-5011
Sunday January 27, 2019
We got up and had a leisurely breakfast at the Conrad, which coincidentally gave me time to read the paper before we left on the bullet train to Kyoto. I say coincidentally because one part of the paper had this review of a New Mexican burrito restaurant in Kyoto called Que Pasa. More to come in the Kyoto blog.
On the way out of the hotel to catch our train to Kyoto we ran into our lovely and talented concierge who had given us the Grayline Tour advice and she escorted us to a taxi to take us to the train station . If you ever stay at the Conrad Toyko please look for her and ask for details of the Grayline Full Day Tour.
So as we prepared to leave Toyko I mentioned to Susan that while my initial impressions were that Toyko was a giant city with a few old sites, after getting a more intimate tour with Grayline, having some great dining experiences, good business meetings and interacting with the Japanese people, I was very impressed with Toyko and would love to return as I feel there is a lot more to see and do. And now I know why my good friend and former boss John Rowland always described the Japanese people as “unfailingly polite”, a term he used after visited Japan to see his daughter Lizzy who spent a year here teaching English as a second language. John, we couldn’t agree more!
We headed to Toyko Station and followed Bill Donovan’s advice and took the bullet train to Kyoto, passing by My. Fuji on the way. We were going to go in the evening originally but we recommend daytime for the views.
After arriving we checked into the modern Hotel Granvia in Kyoto that was right at the Kyoto train station. It was recommend by our guide Lisa Watanabe, whom we’d found in the Triplelights guide website and she was highly recommended for her architectural knowledge and command of English as she had earned a degree in California before returning to her home in Osaka. Prior to even heading to Toyko we had corresponded with Lisa and she had planned a two day schedule for touring Kyoto and Osaka including taking us to the airport in Osaka. She was our first “hired guide” we used on the trip other than our driver in Kuala Lumpur and our great experience convinced us that getting a highly rated guide with good English skills (and patience for dealing with my questions and sprained ankle) can be a key to a successful tour experience.
End of blog report. Next one will be a separate one for Kyoto and Osaka! There I will give you Our tour guide’s contact information!
Jim Hollingsworth
March 5, 2019
Singapore Travel Blog 