SYMPHONY TOKYO BAY DINNER CRUISE

My husband is super sweet and surprised me with a dinner cruise on my birthday. I was so pleased that he did as this was by far my favorite thing we did to celebrate some life's milestone.

The huge bonus of this cruise is that it allows you to see a lot of sites from the water that you might not otherwise get to see in Tokyo.

 The cruise is really a high point of the experience.  You will pass Tokyo Sky tree,  Disneyland,Tokyo tower and the city's skyline and up-to-and-under the new Tokyo Bay Bridge and Rainbow bridge.

 The weather was freezing  when we took our trip, But,that did not stop us from having a blast and making this tour worth every yen, though--lol.  

 We assumed going in, that the price was more for the views and the experience, and were only expecting mediocre food.  Needless to say, we were blown away by the quality, and amount of food!  

 This definitely topped any birthday I have ever had in my life by a long shot. The year before was pretty nice but this year was unforgettable. I had never been in a cruise on the ocean in my life besides one parked at the docks. lolz.

HARD ROCK CAFE TOKYO

I am a big fan of  Hard Rock Cafe no matter what country I'm in and this one stands above the rest in every possible way.

THE FOOD!!!!- the most of important part of a restaurant is the food and Hard Rock does not disappoint! After sampling a fair cross section of dishes on the menu I can safely say you will be safe with whatever you order, although I highly recommend the cobb salad in honey mustard dressing and any their fish and chips. Dessert-wise they have an amazing brownie ice cream thing that just gets me!

 If you're super hungry be warned- if you're going during a busy time you may have to wait 15-20 mins OR eat at the bar. It is definitely worth the wait and you can totally sample some of their amazing cocktails while you're waiting.

Overall an amazing restaurant and I love, love, love coming here with friends!

 

SHERATON GRANDE TOKYO BAY HOTEL

Grand Cafe's buffet at this hotel is awesome on weekends for the their surf and turf night.  And we went to this place to celebrate  hubby`s bday.

 I load my plate up with sweet delicious lambs, and sirloin steaks They have oysters, clams, sushi, and all sorts of other standard buffet items. I've tried a variety of things, the mac and cheese, the prime rib, mashed potatoes, and they have an asian section with sweet and sour chicken, rice, wontons etc.

 We had a good experience here, hence the 5 stars. Some people won't have a good experience here, which I understand. You have to be very hungry to enjoy a buffet, and get your money's worth. Otherwise you'll pick at a few things here and there, and you won't eat well.

BACANA GINZA

We popped in on a Friday to celebrate mine and Pao`s birthday with a couple of friends.
We are seated and given some rolls and told to check out the salad bar. The salad bar was fine but a waste of time because you are in meat heaven and don't need no sticken veggies.

You are given a green sign to put up if you want them to walk around and give you the meat. Boy oh boy do they give you the meat. All sorts of beef, chicken ,pork and some pineapple. The men with the meat walk around continuously. You definitely get your moolahs  worth. You can even request the meat you want and they will come over. My favorite was the sirloin and the pineapple. Delicious!! 

Bacana also offers a plentiful salad bar and I really was amazed at how wide of a selection they had. From salads, to salami and cheese, to soup-- they really had it all. I tried to refrain from filling up on too much salad bar though because the meat is the star of the show. The meat itself was really tender and flavorful. Everything was seasoned to perfection. I am totally a 'medium' girl though. I felt that a lot of what they were bringing was too pink for my likings. However, I still ended up getting quite a bit of meat and really enjoyed everything I tried. And the grilled pineapple?????! om nom nom nom. My favorite non-meat related item was definitely the mashed potatoes they brought to the table. They were so creamy and cheesy!

During dinner, they have samba dancers come out and perform, though we enjoyed their performance, it was a little uncomfortable because they were awfully close to our table.  It was almost like being in a private room at a strip club because you literally can't look anywhere else but at the dancer situated right in front of you.

Anyways, a very good place to go for a special occasion with the right company...

Happy bday Pao!!!

DURING THE MARCH 11, 2011 EARTHQUAKE THAT HIT JAPAN

This was taken from my my old blog  2 months after the 8.9 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan 

It was around 3 p.m. I was on a video conference with my colleagues from another side of the globe at the 27th floor of my office building when the ground began to shudder uncontrollably. And it was different from what Im used to after living in Japan for 9 yrs wherein a daily shake or two is becoming a norm. It was then that I felt the ground move under me slightly—it was almost imperceptible, like a subway rumbling through a tunnel far beneath my feet. My first option was to run for my life, but I saw my colleagues all collected and calm so i opted to stay. Then another rumbling came after and it was huge. I hid under my desk crying and praying for my life and so as the others. I felt that was my end . I was still able to call my family and friends abroad  in between sobs,  while I think of the life of my family and friends here.

Just minutes after the second one another huge one was felt. I was already shaking while talking on the phone with mama and yani. I ran for the door, about 60 feet away. The ground was shaking so violently that it was difficult to run in a straight line, like trying to sprint across the deck of a ship being tossed by swells but only to find out that the elevator was down. The facility Manager and my other colleagues and staff was trying to calm me down coz i really wanted to go down that time. And they assured me that the building is new and earthquake proof and were all safe. There were few more aftershocks after that, the ground continued to tremble, albeit less violently . I would find out later that afternoon that the quake was a magnitude 8.9, the strongest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history. Some people were visibly shaken. There were a few women crying, people pointing up at the buildings as they shook, but many others appeared calm and relaxed.




Making my way back to my home was an epic journey.  The rail system in Tokyo was completely shut down and millions were trying to make their way home on foot with an 8 deg temp as it was still winter during that time.  But how can i walk with a 2 inches heeled shoes? So,  I bought myself a pair of  rubber shoes without checking the price nor its color as it was selling like hotcakes on the store. I walked with my friend about 7 kms which is only halfway home while carrying a whole emergency kit bag provided by the office. ( this deserve a different post) and when I was able to contact my husband who was driving that time and also stuck amidst traffic, we decided to just meet halfway.  The streets were gridlocked, bikes and shoes selling like hotcakes, but I didn’t learn how catastrophic the event had actually been until I got to my home the next day  and turned on the news. The coastal areas of Japan, especially a few hundred miles to the north, were devastated beyond recognition.
News after that was already a bit exaggerated and sensationalized. Yes there were few areas where water and gas and even electricity were cut off. But that was just for a few days. Luckily in my place we never experienced any of that. But i heard from a friend that after a few days everything was back to normal.

This earthquake will be forever burned in my memory as the most harrowing experience of all.