Beautiful Japan

Beautiful memories of my trip to Japan. I left exactly 2 days before the disaster happened...

I had only been to Japan once before several years ago. My biggest impression of my first trip was the beautiful culture, incredibly friendly people and the amazing food. I had been wanting to repeat that experience and I was able to do that very recently!

One of the best ways to get to know a culture is through the food!
The first meal upon arrival was with Mio at "Sakura Sakura" in the Ichigaya area.

                                                                              
                                                                                Mochi with Ice cream and caramel sauce...


I got the chance to meet composer Kenji Kawai. He composed the soundtrack for movies like Seven Swords, the Ring and Ghost in the Shell and also lots of anime movies and TV shows.
He did the music for a lot of horror films, but he told me he actually loves composing for comedies!


A cute little restaurant near Yoyogi-Uehara train station.







Shibuya


I love this place, FOODSHOW! You can find it near the Shibuya Subway station


Strawberry season! You can't tell the size from the picture, but they were the biggest strawberries I had ever seen!


A noodle restaurant in Shinjuku
The bowls of noodles were huge!!!
A good friend in Hong Kong introduced me these two beautiful ladies, Kyong and Mai. They are musical performers in Japan and have done many shows including some of my faves, Miss Saigon and Les Miserables! Can you believe that the girl next to me is over 10 years older than I am, but she looks much younger than I do!!! Gotta find out her secret!!!


I don't know the name of this dish, but what I do remember that the meat was deliciously tender... The curry noodles were great too!


I love the Shibuya area!                                       Sakura (cherry blossom) milk tea at Pronto


One of my highlights, a trip to Tsukiji fish market. A must if you're a sashimi fan!


The restaurants are tiny, but they have the freshest fish you can imagine! Some restaurants even had 2(!) queues!



The best time is to come early in the morning: a big bowl of sashimi for breakfast!!!


Tuuuunaaaaa....                                                    The oysters were really big and fresh!!!




I met up with Loan and Mio in Sunshine City and we had some yummy cake!


With Loan and Mio The Monster Restaurant in Rappongi!



Monsters will come and threaten that they will turn you into sashimi!


A day trip to Kamakura
It must have been an auspicious day as there were many newly weds taking photos and there was also a wedding ceremony.                        The first cherry blossoms of this season...





The sake for the monks...let's party!!!


I met Yuriko through Mai and she was so nice to join the Kamakura trip. Here she showes me the proper way of how to do the cleansing ritual.


There's a temple where you can rinse the coins and when you keep the coins with you, wealth will come!!!


The big Buddha in Kamakura



Japan, you have given me so many amazing memories, my heart goes out to you!!! Let's support the recovery and relief efforts as much as possible!!!