During our final day and a half of daylight in Japan, we saw few cherry blossoms in Sendai and Matsushima, quite a bit at Tsutsujigaoka and a whole lot back at Ueno Park. Here is where the Great Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Cataclysm occurred in March of 2011, although Sendai itself largely escaped damage:
A few photos, starting with our Hayabusa from Tokyo to Sendai, where we mostly saw snow on background mountains:
The most impressive photo from Matsushima was a giant maguro kama:
This one tuna collar was good for at least twenty meals. In Tsutsujigaoka, a special strain of cherry blossoms is known to bloom early:
We then trained back to Sendai Station. After not having a Japanese wagyu beef meal now for almost two weeks in the country, we asked at the info desk if there was a Sendai wagyu restaurant featuring steak. Yes. Just below the Metropolitan Hotel is Iseya, which served us the very best steak Mystery Lady ever had. Me? It's a semi-regular treat for me. Just read my postings.
That is Makoto Matsuzaka showing us our cut. He kept talking to us throughout much of our dinner:
I got a large mug of beer. The whole cost, including two beers, a bottle of hot sake, miso soup and rice added up to $175. Considering that we each got at least half a pound of S5 wagyu, what a bargain. The place opens at 11AM and closes at 10 PM. You can come anytime to have them make a bento for you. Takes 20 minutes. Makoto took us up the elevator, through the Metropolitan Hotel and out the street, pointing where the Westin was located. This was our best dinner experience in Japan.
Amazing what two days can do, but it did get warmer, and the view from our room showed cherry blossoms when we left:
A not so large free breakfast:
Even the Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo had nice spots of Sakura:
My bento lunch was somewhat minimal, and this was to be our final longish train ride on Japan Rail Pass.
Our last cherry blossom stop was a return to Ueno Park:
Note how much this scene has changed in two weeks. Just click on that to compare. However the rest of the park was wonderful:
The petals are now falling.
Back at the Tokyo Westin, I decided to just enjoy a Whopper for dinner:
The beer was generously supplied by the Executive Club without their knowledge. Tomorrow...Bangkok.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment