Tokyo MidTown

Avoiding the huge crowd since the opening on March 30 of Tokyo MidTown, a new sprawling complex of shops, restaurants, museums, and Tokyo's first Ritz Carlton Hotel, my partner and I finally visited the site on late Friday night, when the shops had just closed. Access to certain floors was still permitted, so we took a quick walk along two floors. First impression: warm and spacious, an antithesis to the cold and cramped Omotesando Hills (although to be fair, the latter had a very limited space to begin with).

We also went up to the 45th floor of the MidTown Tower to the lobby of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. All of the hotel's dining experiences (the Lobby Lounge & Bar, "Forty-Five" restaurant, Hinokizaka, and labels) could be found on this floor, while the lone Ritz Carlton Café and Deli stayed at the ground floor, near the alternative entrance to the hotel and close to the main portal of the shopping complex. Cover charge for the Lounge is currently at ¥2500 per person. High tea is served between 12:00 and 17:00, and offers two main set menus at ¥3900 and ¥8900. All of the dining experiences are non-smoking except for the Bar (just at the Bar, not at the Lounge), which allows it.

Tokyo MidTown is located at Akasaka-9-chome, and is a quick walk from the Roppongi Hills complex, and like the latter, it is also served by the Hibiya, the Oedo, and the Chiyoda lines. Click HERE for Tokyo Metro information.

More on Tokyo MidTown.
More on Ritz Carlton Hotel Tokyo.

The Return of the Cicadas

I recently returned to Tokyo from an extended Golden Week vacation. I left it as the city was trying to shed its cold weather and came back to see that some foreigners had donned shorts and light shirts, which could only mean that the warmer weather had arrived (one cannot really tell by the way most businessmen dress as they always wear the same dark suits, whiter shirts and dark ties, but that all will change soon, and I will explain that more later). The smell of the ginkgo (or gingko) biloba tree wafts throughout the city; these showy gymnospermous trees of Eastern Chinese origin can be found lining up the different neighborhood streets, and the smell . . . , well, let me say that there is a distinct scent to it that any sexually aware human being would easily recognize.

Tokyo mornings are beautiful, peaceful, and enjoyable, especially in the Springtime. The sun starts to reveal himself very early in the morning, around 4:30 or perhaps even earlier, necessitating one to have very opaque drapes and curtains in the bedroom if one is to shield him or herself away from the bright light.

Last night a friend, my partner, and I ate at a restaurant called Cicada (review will be available at the accompanying site at bloompyeats.blogspot.com) on Gaien-nishi dori in the Minami Azabu area. The name of the restaurant proved to be premonitory as this morning, for the first time since the end of summer last year, I heard the first of the cicadas in the distance, competing with the squawking of the crows. I had my window opened but the screen closed to keep the mosquitoes out (perhaps it is still too cool a weather for those blood-suckers to return, but so far, I have found and killed 3-4 of those vampiric pests).

(Now, returning to the dress code of the Tokyoites: the government has recently persuaded their male citizens to shed their dark suits, white shirts and dark ties in favor of "Summer Breeze" outfit [much like the American's Casual Friday outfit]. This was done so that buildings' air-conditioning could be set at a higher temperature, therefore reducing the energy intake and the heat outflow to the streets of Tokyo. The government is serious in reducing global warming [it would be rather embarrassing not to set example for other KYOTO Protocol adherents]. Up until now, female colleagues had had to brace the glacial temperature at offices everywhere because the cooler temperature ensures that their male counterpart would be at ease wearing their layered clothing inside the buildings [for further read: NY Times' James Brooke's article "Is a Salaryman without a Suit Like Sushi without Rice?" at www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/business/worldbusiness/20tieless.html? ])

The Last Shabu-Shabu

Hanezawa Outdoor Dining, originally uploaded by bloompy.

After a 3-day winter-like weather that brought rain and cold wind across the city, Tokyo re-emerged into the sunlight on Thursday, although unaccompanied by the glory of the cherry blossoms. Today the Hanezawa Garden, a favorite restaurant near where I live, offers its last shabu-shabu lunch and dinner for the season. Beginning next week, the Korean BBQ will again be featured as the main and only attraction in the outdoor dining at this elegant restaurant complex.

I was given a seat that was partially shaded by the tree; yet giving me full access to the bath of light available in front of me. The cherry blossoms in this garden still retained some of their flowers, but the look was pretty much emaciated. Throughout lunch, the petals were blown by the wind and fell down to the earth as if scattered by the hands of the gods and goddesses. The effect was magical. The shower of petals looked like a summer snow.

As lunch progressed, the comfort of the shade left me exposed to the mighty sun. Unlike the winter sun whose effect one could hardly feel, this one made its presence known. While enjoying my book -Marco Livingstone's David Hockney- I felt the heat becoming slightly unbearable. The presence of a standing waiter nearby provided a much-needed temporary shelter, but alas, his shadow went with him as he was called by a customer at a far-away table. I was once again exposed.

I am not complaining. After a three-day insistence by the grey winter weather to stay in the city, I welcome the change of weather. Spring, hopefully, is here to stay.

(For a review of the Hanezawa Garden, please consult http://bloompyeats.blogspot.com)

The Bund by the Huang Pu River

The Bund by the Huang Pu River, originally uploaded by bloompy.

Once in an exhibition at the now defunct Mill/Short Gallery in San Francisco, I attended the photographic show of a well-known Hong Kong artist named Fan Ho. The work was done decades before the gallery even existed, and the subject was Shanghai. The play of light and shadow in those black and white photographs remained permanently etched in the deepest pocket of memory. I dreamed that one day I would be able to see the architecture by the river that was immortalized by his camera.

That dream became a reality this morning as I went to see the Western-influenced architecture of the Bund by the Huang Pu (Wang Pu) River. I was originally planning to walk from my hotel to the site, but the concierge told me that it would take an hour by foot. Also, I was constantly reminded by the guidebook that Shanghai was not really a walking town the way Tokyo, London, and Paris were. Indeed, the taxi ride took some time but the traffic going to the Bund was not bad at all. While gobbling his breakfast, the enthusiastic driver slowed down to show me the vista as we approached the area. This caused the other drivers behind us to start honking like mad. I was delivered right in the middle of the Bund stretch, in front of the historic Peace Hotel (formerly the Cathay), whose ground floor currently housed the Citibank, the very institution I happened to need to visit.

According to the Lonely Planet Shanghai guidebook, the Bund got its Anglo-Indian name from the embankments built up to discourage flooding (in Hindi, "band" means embankment.) Bund buildings were first built on concrete rafts that were fixed onto wood pilings, which were allowed to sink into the mud. Thus, the bottom entrance step usually originated 2m in the air and sank to ground level with the weight of the building (Lonely Planet Shanghai, p. 30.) The architecture firm of Palmer and Turner was responsible for most of the buildings that became the famous façade of this mile-long stretch.

The area has changed drastically since the days the Cantonese photographer took his pictures of the Bund: The image of a solitary old man pulling a cart has been replaced by a mixture of noises coming from the creaking buses, screeching cars, and squeaking bikes. Across the Bund, right by the bank of the river, the city built a raised platform, parallel to the stretch, from which one could view the Bund on the one side, and the Pudong area on the other side. Pudong, the area East of the river, is the new development area of Shanghai where most of the new buildings took place. People say that the real Shanghai or the Old Shanghai is Puxi (the area west of the river) where the Bund is. Pudong is also the site of the Oriental Pearl Tower, a sight not unfamiliar in many of Shanghai's souvenir postcards.

Unfortunately, throughout my visit today, the haze never left the area. There was the sun peeking from behind the clouds, but this thin veil never really lifted up, leaving a gauzy impression of the Pudong cityscape. The angle of the sun also made it difficult to shoot a good picture, and as the name implied, "photography" depends very much on proper lighting. When I had my fill of shooting pictures, I crossed over the street by way of an overpass, and arrived at the side of the architecture. Aided by my guidebook and a culinary recommendation from a friend, I headed for the "M on the Bund" restaurant. I did not have a reservation, but I thought I would give it a try. As luck would have it, the famous restaurant, with a great vista from the balcony, was not full at all. I was seated not too far from the window. During the cold weather season, they closed the balcony, but the window provided a sneak peek at how charming it would have been to sit outdoors in a milder weather.

I ordered the set menu and set on reading my guidebook. Then I reviewed my pictures inside the camera, as well as took some shots from where I sat. By then, no one sat in the non-smoking area except for myself, so I had complete privacy. I took my time in that place, and when I finally felt satisfied, I left. I went on a second walking trip, this time along a stretch a block away from the main drag, but still running parallel to the Bund. I looked mainly at buildings that held some significance back in the heyday of Shanghai, around the 1930s, like the matching Hamilton House and the Metropole Hotel; and a Tudor building that used to house the former offices of the company that catered to Martini & Rossi. Although in general these areas are clean, the sidewalks are really grimy. They could benefit from some cleaning, but that may not be a priority in this city. The city is too busy focusing on building the skyscrapers across the river. I am just glad that they had the wisdom to keep this nostalgic façade of the Bund.

I shot some 145 pictures, although I sincerely doubted that any one of them would match any photograph of Fan Ho's, that Cantonese photographer.

The Hanezawa Garden

The Entrance to the Hanezawa Garden, originally uploaded by bloompy.

Our first impression when we saw the Hanezawa Garden from the outside was that it was a public park. The fortress-like compound, however, was too contained to invite outsiders to come in. Upon a quick entry to the complex, we realized that this was a private enterprise with nine enjoyments within: the Salon; the Sushi Bar; the Main Dining (serving French Italian Japanese cuisine); the Bar; the Cigar Room; the Garden Room; the Oriental Room; the Hanezawa Second; and the Terrace Restaurant (serving BBQ in the summer, from April until October, and shabu-shabu in the winter; all outdoors). The Garden Room, the Oriental Room and the Hanezawa Second are used more for private gatherings, available for rent at a cost.

In the Spring, when the weather was excellent, a lot of weddings took place here. Almost every weekend we could hear music coming out from the compound. Other than that, any other noise is provided by the weekend revelers who probably occupy the BBQ place, which is located outdoors.

Lunch at the French (French and Italian Japanese) restaurant is an excellent experience. Usually, during the weekdays, the place is teeming with ladies who lunch. I usually end up being the only man with a book in the dining room. Once when I came in, the room fell silent, the other ones probably wondering why I had strayed in there; but at another time, I saw a table of four senior men, enjoying themselves.

This Dining Room overseas a garden, which provided a nice vista during one's meal. During the day and in the summer, the beautifully manicured lawn are surrounded by lush vegetation. At night, the dining room is transformed into a cozy restaurant, with extremely dimmed ceiling light and lots of candles. The music they play tend to be contemporary pop and soft rock. Even sitting at the bar room next door, overlooking yet another side of the garden, was quite an experience in itself, especially during the twilights. The food never disappointed (more review at the following site: http://bloompyeats.blogspot.com).

For such a posh looking place, it was rather a nice surprise to find that the pricing was extremely inexpensive for Tokyo standards.

[UPDATED NEWS: December 20, 2005]
Sadly, the Hanezawa Garden has recently closed (December 17, 2005) due to aging facility. The architecture has been in existence since 1915. I have decided to keep the restaurant reviews in the Restaurant Review Section for sentimental reasons.