11/25/2023 Planes, Trains, And Automobiles
A drive from Seoul to Gimpo Airport for a flight to Haneda, Japan, followed by another drive to Tokyo to the Ginza Grand Hotel (with the not-so-grand tiniest rooms we've ever experienced.)
We celebrated our arrival in Tokyo at a bar with happy hour drinks and small plates (food devoured before photos could be posted). We loved the presentation, especially Mica and I, with our frozen sliced lemon stacks.
David and Mica's towering drinks.
I told housekeeping not to bother cleaning my room since my additional luggage and rearranging the furniture made it more claustrophobic.
I did enjoy that the Gynza Grand Hotel had 2 breakfast restaurants - one Asian and the other an ecumenical conglomeration of foods suited to any weird taste bud appeal.
I tried the Asian the first morning - thankful for the small English translation below each dish despite slowing down the locals behind me who were scurrying off to work. (I didn't realize you could pay to eat here without staying in the hotel.) And I enjoyed my little private breakfast area as well.
It didn't take me long to recognize several traits common to the Japanese. One I shared was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), especially when it concerned being early to meals, meetings, appointments, and the gym because being on time means we're late.
Japanese seem to limit their clothing to black and white, move in lockstep to and from work, and have an envious public transportation system that is also punctual to the second.
They expect you to clean your plate (I tried but there were some acquired tastes I just couldn't get past.) By the end of the week, I limited my breakfasts to fried chicken, shrimp tempura, fried potatoes, and, on one morning, pasta with red sauce. At least I wasn't busy burning perfectly good croissants in the toaster like others. And, in my defense, there was no granola to dress up with nuts, raisins, or dried fruit anywhere to be found.
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