Japan 2023

Started the day with a buffet breakfast at the hotel. All sorts of food and some very different options. It is perfectly acceptable to roll out of bed and stroll down to the restaurant in your hotel pyjamas and slippers! For lunch we had a sit down meal in a private room. Everything beautifully presented.
Dinner was a Japanese BBQ. Apparently the meat was amazing but I had vegetarian... getting a little tired of similar flavours at each meal.
At night we went back to see the night-life at night and had some drinks in some cosy bars. Most places are quite small so a little difficult to find somewhere for a group of 13.
One of the guys was very eager to try a particularly popular ramen franchise so we agreed to try this out before catching our uber. The sign at the door said 1 hour wait but with only 14 people ahead of us we were hopeful this was wrong. 1 hour later we made it to the door! Fascinating experience with only about 12 seats inside. Everyone has their own booth and the chef pulls up a bamboo screen to take order and then closes it. You can't see their face. Peaceful music plays and you don't really talk. Mindful eating at its best. Ramen was delicious but couldn't be more different to Western fast food. Got hone at 2.30am!
The systems and technology are amazing here. Sometimes very simple such as a card at the buffet that you leave at your table while still eating and turn over when you finish. You never have to wait more than a few seconds for a lift despite being a very big hotel. Traffic flows seamlessly and despite being a very populated city nothing seems particularly busy or rushed.Lue lisää