pakdoktergolfblog

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Love Hotels

27th April 2013

From the Azalea Festival Ground - we walked through the Yanaka district - an old part of Tokyo passing through streets with little arts and crafts shops, temples and cemeteries dating back to the 18th century or older. We passed by a temple on the grounds of which is where the founder of the modern Tokyo Medical School was buried.

We took the train at Nippori Station and stopped at the next station to check out some of the 'love hotels' near the station. As most Japanese homes are small in size - courting couples are served by these 'love hotels' where rooms can be booked for a duration ranging from 2 hours to up to 12 hours. Some of these hotels have different themes to suit their customers taste.

Tokyo Street Food

27th April 2013

At all festival grounds in Tokyo - rest assured there will be stalls offering street food. We sampled quite a few on offer at the grounds of the shrine.

okonomiyaki - a Japanese style pizza

pancakes with red bean or caramel fillings

banana crepe

yakisoba - mee goring Jepun

Rastam with a Korean roti canai

these buns had brinjal and miso fillings

Azaleas Up Close

27th April 2013

A Garden of Azaleas

27th April 2013

The garden of azaleas was located within the grounds of a Buddhist shrine near the university.

Walking through the Tokyo University Campus

27th April 2013

Spring is in the air. The azaleas along the street to Rastam's flat was in full bloom. so we decided to make a trip to a shrine near Ueno famous for its azaleas garden. On the way we had to walk through the campus of Todai or Tokyo University.

the Tokyo University Hospital

a Buddhist temple (above) and a church (below) at the campus

Brunch at Cafe L'Automne in Shin Egota,Nakano

27th April 2013

Rastam does not work on Saturdays anymore. He got home from work at around 1 am last night and pakdokter only remembered to be woken up to hug up as pakdokter was fast asleep then. We all slept in till late morning and woke up for a late brunch at this café near Rastam's apartment. This café is newly opened. A selection of 2 cakes with your choice of coffee cost 1000 yen. Each plate was prettily presented. Sizes were small, typically Japanese, but it does help prevent us from 'overindulging'.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Spring Time in Tokyo

26th April 2013

Pakdokter missed the RSGC Tour of Kyoto and Tokyo this year as it had clashed with pakdokter's trip to Pattaya for golf with the Staroba Senior Golfers' Group which took place the week after RSGC's annual match with Royal Bangkok in early April.

Fareeda had come to Tokyo in late March with our Argentinian neighbor Gracia - and they were lucky to catch the 'sakuras' which came early this year.

So pakdokter's annual break in Japan this year co-incided with the Golden Week holidays in Japan - right in the middle of spring. Pakdokter arrived into Narita this morning to a bright and sunny day. For the first time pakdokter noticed so many golf courses in the vicinity of Tokyo. The Airport Limousine Bus to Shinjuku from Narita took a little longer as there was an accident on the highway. As pakdokter had little sleep during the 6-hour flight - pakdokter napped at Rastam's apartment the whole afternoon and went out to Shinjuku around 6 pm for some shopping and dinner.

The malls in Shinjuku were all having the 'Spring Sale'. Pakdokter spent an hour at the 9-storey Victoria Golf Shop. Golf equipments and apparels were on sale with a 20% discount with a further 10% for foreigners who produced their passports at the cashier.

After the round of shopping pakdokter and partner went to dinner at a Spanish Tapas Bar on Mosaic Street in Shinjuku. We had diced beef sautéed with mushrooms, minced beef grilled with peppers and a seafood paella. With a glass or sangria each the bill came to about 5000 yen (RM 150). Not too bad for Tokyo.