Once the car was straightened out, we were on our way from Narita airport to downtown Tokyo. As we settled in, I was surprised to see the cab driver wearing white gloves. S tells me that all the cab drivers here do, and they take great pride in their very clean cabs.
Despite having barely slept, I was wide eyed and taking it all in. My first views of the city!
As we neared the hotel, our cab driver made a call and we could hear him saying "hai, hai" or "yes, yes". As we pulled in, a retinue of staff from the Mandarin came out and a white gloved (again!) doorman waved us in as if we were an airplane coming in for landing! The service here is seamless and we didn't even have to check in. We were escorted up to our room immediately and our luggage showed up just as we did. The views are amazing from the hotel- which is on top of an office building- and I gasped when we passed the front desk. All of Tokyo laid out below!
Our room rocks.
And there are even kimonos laid out for us.
The views from the room are as awe inspiring as Stefan has said they would be. I am so glad we are here and not the Penisula- even though it is also so nice AND in Ginza- because I doubt I will ever again have such an opportunity to see all of Tokyo from such a height. The city goes on and on and on- as far as the eye can see. I have my fingers crossed for a clear day when they say you can see Mount Fuji!
So, we hit the gym (more S's idea than mine, of course) and had dinner at the Cantonese restaurant, Senses, in the hotel. We were both really starting to fade, but dinner was lovely. I had something I'd never had before- jellyfish! I think it was the tentacles, and it tasted a bit like seaweed salad does. The tentacles looked like fat, clear-ish noodles with a slight yellowy tinge of color. It had a sesame flavor but also a similar texture to seaweed. It was squishy but then has a crunch at the end of each bite. I liked it a lot. It was very refreshing and light.
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