Diary of a Cranky Traveler: Rizzuto seeks Food, Clothing, and Light
 

November is a grim time in New England. The sunny days of October, filled with crisp air and glorious foliage, give way to a persistent gray murk, punctuated by icy crud falling from the sky. The days grow shorter and shorter, and when the disgusting month is finally over you can look forward to 4 long months of winter. Unless you have a trip planned for the end of November, which is what his little post is all about.

[Incidentally, for an excellent description of this revolting month, pls see Thomas Hood's <i>November</i> - http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/november-2/. Leo McKern does a perfect reading in one of the Rumpole episodes.]

Back to traveling. I had 130,000 American miles (almost all fropm credit card bonuses), which was just enough for a modest round-the-world trip in business class, flying to Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Lyon (France). Japan is at the top of my current favorite list in large part because it's a place where everything always works right, Hong Kong is a joy because it's the land of instant gratification, and Lyon has its annual Festival of Lights, a 4-day extravaganza in December where fantastic light shows are put on throughout the city.

In Japan, my goals are self-indulgence, sushi, and tonkatsu. Tonkatsu is a simple food -- a pork filet that's fried in a light batter and served with a delicious sauce -- but it's one of the great comfort foods of life. I've got the addresses of hole-in-the-wall places in Tokyo and in Gora where the tonkatsu is said to cause paroxysms of unspeakable delight: we shall see. I'll also be spending a couple of days at the Hyatt in Gora, decked out of course in my yukata, and taking the the waters and the air.

Hong Kong is where the clothes come in. I am of a shape (spherical) to which Macy's does not cater. And yet, I don't mind walking down the street in clothes that fit. Hong Kong, where the Customer is King, is where men like me get decent duds. Walk into a tailor, and I've got (literally) hundreds of bolts of cloth to choose from. So I choose this one and that one and those two and ok, those two as well, then let the man do his tape measure thing, answer the "dress right or left?" question, and three or four days later I've got a bunch of slacks and shirts. To pass the time during those days, there is much to do. I am very much on a char siu hunt -- char siu, which has many alternate spellings, is a BBQ meat that can have the same effect as tonkatsu -- and there will also be some tastings of egg tarts along the way.

Finally is Lyon. The motherless French swine nearly ruined my trip when they rearranged the dates of the Festival and I had to scramble to change my hard-to-get FF award tickets (the Festival is always 4 days and usually ends on Dec 8; this year they announced, long after I'd got my original air tix, that the Festival would <i>begin</i> on Dec 8). No matter, I was not going to be outwitted by the Snail-eaters.

(I especially enjoy going to Hong Kong and France back-to-back because the places are, in so many ways, polar opposites. In Hong Kong, the customer is king; in France, he is a nuisance to be barely tolerated.)

It's Thursday evening, I'll head out early tomorrow. Cheers,

It was cold, rainy, and utterly miserable when I left the house at 6.15am. Drove to the airport in a find Toyota Corolla from Hertz, an especially foul beast that groaned and farted and only vaguely went in the direction to which its wheels were pointed. But I had no time for annoyance: instead, I could only stare in wonderment at the insane numbers of people who had chosen that hour as a good time to spend their money on whatever baubles KMart and Best Buy insisted that they needed. It also appeared to me that this might be the single day out of 365 when certain people (many of who were also driving Toyota Corollas) became aggresive drivers rather than the usual milquetoasts. The same 96-pound grandma who suddenly find the strength to lift the ForeRunner off of her Snowflake also turns into a venomous driver on Black Friday at 6am. It's satisfying, in a way.

Anyway, flying the day after Thanksgiving isn't such a bad idea, because half the usual flights aren't operating, so Air Traffic delays are non-existent, even in crummy weather. Flight to JFK was fine and on time, and the 11.35 flight to Tokyo boarded on time. Then sat there. at 11.40, Captain Stowe tells us they're loading the last cargo, we'll be on our way in a minute. At 11.45, Stowe says there's a minor electric problem with the cargo belt, they have to load by hand, we'll be under way in 10-15 mins. At 12.15, the now-untrustworthy Snowe announces that the plane is Out of Service. But there's another plane at the pother end of the terminal, and we'll use that one and take off within an hour. We took off at 2.00.

Other than the delay, the flight was the usual from American: outdated business class seats, food that was edible if you were really hungry, flight attendants who are mostly good-natured (as compared, say, to United's staff) but who (very much like United's staff) believe that after the first meal is served, their sole work responsibility for the remainder of the 14-hour flight is to sit in their seat by the door and do sudoku. Which was fine with me, as I was happy to curl in my seat, watch a bad movie (Up in the Air), then listen to ear buds playing 18/19C classical music and opera. American does offer its Bus & 1st customer Bose headsets, which are nearly useless because the lowest possible volume is about 3 gazillion decibels. But I digress.

I mentioned earlier that in Japan everything works. Once again, I was out of the airport 35 minutes after the plane had parked, even though I had checked baggage, and even though the monstrously incompetent check-in agent in Boston had neglected to put a Priority tag on my suitcase. (She had gotten completely flummoxed because my BOS-JFK ticket was on one itinerary and JFK-NRT on another.) Took the Narita Express to Shinagawa (Keisei would have been a bit faster, but after the long plane trip didn't feel like dealing with a suitcase on the Yamanote Line), and a taxi to the Hyatt via one of my favorite neighborhoods, Azabu Juban.

No idea what's in store for tomorrow (other than the Big Tokyo GTG). No interest in proofreading this post, either. Sorry.

Cheers,

1 more thing: if the Fodor's Editor sees this, could you slap a "Trip Report" icon on the title? Gomen nasai, etc.

1. I actually quite liked "Up in the Air". We can disuse the finer points over tonkatsu.

2. Invest in a volume attenuator (surely to be found in Akihabara) to make the Bose headset compatible with the way-too-loud plane sound system.

Following along - lucky you to escape NE, and on "Black Friday" no less...

thanks for thr humor at the start...

Rizz, glad you were able to "get out of Dodge" and hope you find all you're looking for in your multi-venued soujourn. it sounds pretty cool.

Bob, Rizz owes me some "props" for this thread, as I called him Mr. Crankpants on the Craig Birthday thread.

BC

Great start Don, funny and clever all in one. Ask for an upgraded Japanese room in the Hyatt Gora, your Plat status will get it for you free if available. Just love that place and the atmosphere(along with the free wine and champers in the evening).

The winter months are also the best time of year for a clear morning view of Fujisan from the ropeway or from the window near the check in area of the Hyatt Gora.

Can't wait to get to Osaka on Tuesday.....all the S Korean people here I have talked to are fed up with the threats and provocations from the North and now want a war(can you believe that). They feel that enough is enough and it is time to deal with Pyongyang(sp)and its thug dictator one way or the other and they tell me that most of the N Korean people also want a war because they feel that the North would loose eventually and they would be better taken care of by the govt in the South which won't starve them. Wow, fantastic shopping here but not into experiencing a war right now.....

Are you staying at the H Vendome in Paris?

Aloha!

OMG OMG OMG, how could I have forgetten this. Major, <u>Major</u> Celebrity encounter at the JFK Admiral's Club. Gabriel Byrne! Can you believe it!! Or, actually, have you ever heard of him? He's an Irish actor, been in a bunch of movies, usually Indies or with 3rd or 4th billing (or lower). He was yakking away on his cell phone loudly enough so that it couldn't even have been categorized as eavesdropping -- Sinn Fein don't have any ideas how to handle the economic woes, haven't seen blah blah in a long time, glad to be getting back to films, going to London in Jan to be in a film.

It's a weird situation, don't you think, when you see someone you recognizde from movies or politics or sports or whatever. I mean, if you're in a restaurant walking down the street and you see someone you know, it's downright rude not to say hello or at least wave Hi. (If you don't believe me, ask Unlce Leo.) So part of your brain is telling to to make some sort of contact, and some other part of it is insisting that you don't actually know the person, you only only the persona, and neither that persona nor that person knows you.

My best celebrity spot/encounter was Jacqueline Kennedy O. in 1973 or 74, at Logan Airport in the boarding area of the 7am Eastern shuttle to LaGuardia. She was a working girl then, an editor for somebody or other (Knopf?) in NYC. Next best, and far more substantial, was Jimmy Carter in mid-1974. We shared a row on a Delta flight that meandered from Manchester to Boston to Baltimore to Atlanta (flights made those kinds of hops back then -- maybe that's why Carter deregulated things). Carter was Governor and nobody knew him from Adam. He was traveling alone from Manchester to Atlanta, I was going from Boston to Baltimnore to visit a girlfriend. I imagine he was coming from some meetings trying to gague support for an election bid in 2 years; I was coming from Herbie's bar on Atlantic Ave. Anyway, we struck up a conversation about nuclear energy and its potential uses and safety issues, and he mailed me a pleasant-enough handwritten note afterward, no doubt looking for people who might potentially support him in the Bay State. Those people did not include me, though: I wound up working for Mo Udall in '76 because he was a good guy and I knew he had a far better chance of winning than did Carter.

Bookchick!! Props to you. I will tell you that your mind is channeling mine (well done!), as I'd written the "Cranky" part of the title before I'd left town.

It's a gorgeous morning in Tokyo. I was up and wide awake at 5am (3pm Boston time). When I head off to Asia, I don't concern myself too much with keeping normal hours: I sleep when I feel tired, etc. The body gets confused by all this time-shifting (and it's not just sleep -- a whole bunch of body parts are asking "huh?"), so compromises are necessary.

I had originally planned to stay in Nippori, in the northeast part of downtown not far from Ueno, and I think I'll head over there this morning to do some exploring. There's supposed to be an interesting shopping street there, and it's close to Ueno Park and the Nezu area.

Tokyo can be a terrific city to explore, once you get yourself away from the charmless office buildings. Admittedly, I miss a lot not being able to read Japanese, but still. Take a walk down streets like the main drag in Azabu Juban, or the pedestrian street that goes from the kitchen goods street to the big temple in Asakusa, or the Ameyoko in Ueno, and you could just as easily be somewhere in the 13th in Paris or the Mala Strana in Prague. Comfort food for a traveler's soul.

Travel has its compromises. After blabbing about pleasant Japanese neighborhoods, it seems preporterous that I'm staying in a posh Western hotel and not a more traditional Japanese place. Point taken. Still, at an amazing rate of 21k yen/night, this place is hard to pass up, and life here is easy: easy to get meals delivered promptly to the room, plenty of space, no problem in making special requests ("could you pls make up the bed with just a top sheet instead of the comforter that is better suited to an igloo?"). It would be nice to get an "ohaiyo gazaimasu" instead of "good morning," but I'll manage.

Thérèse, I may have been slightly harsh about Up in the Air: it was probably only insipid, but not totally awful. Is there an Oscar for most product placement? And I suppose that American Airlines would have chafed too much if the Clooney character had admitted that half his 10 mil miles had come from credit card churn. But I'll admit that I was in an especially grumpy mood when watching the movie: only 3 hours into a flight that's already 2+ hrs late, and the clock-watching had started way too prematurely. I am willing, at this point anyway, to hear about the film's redeeming qualities. (At least it didn't have an enormously stupid ending.)

Peter: I too am amazed at the attitude of the Koreans, at least as seen on the NHK news that we get at home. Amazing. It would not be the first time, by any wil stretch of the imagination, that a people are all for going to war. A year later, things always -- <u>always</u> -- change. And I am staying at the Vendôme in Paris, but not on this trip. I'm going to Lyon this time, and then to Paris (and Sorrento) in June.

Cheers,

Char siu . . . I tried several recipes for it when we got from HK in 2008. They were all nasty. If you find out how to make it, send us a recipe.

Great report.....keep the juicy details coming.

My best celebrity spotting on a plane was also on AA. July 2003. Martha Stewart, waiting to be on trial or thrown in Club Fed, taking a little jaunt to Rome from JFK. We stood next to her at the baggage carousel trying to catch a glimpse of her ankle bracelet/monitor.

milton bearle holding forth in the manhattan hilton in the 80's...

jack welch and suzi (?) sitting on a park bench in the boston public garden last spring....

I met Jimmy Carter on a plane also - in the early 80's after Reagan had taken over. On a flight to LAX from BOS - he was on a tour plugging a book of his memoirs, as most past-presidents seem to do.

I don't name-drop, but I did meet a number of "famous" people in my last job. Anyway, of course I know who Gabriel Byrne is and I like his work. And thanks, Rizz, for the shout-out. Continued happy travels to you on this trip, and looking forward to hearing more about it.

BC

Don:

I can tell there aren't any Angelenos on this thread..we see and chat with celebs, commonly.

Raquel Welch was my next door neighbor the past three years..she left without saying goodbye (RHK-KMK know all about this). Hank Azaria lived at the end of the street....Crashed a press conference in Prague for Vaclav Havel in '93 (good pix) ..Mort Sahl hangs out at our little mini-mall and looks terrible afer a nose-job...he and his old friend Robert Blake take weed "hits" while sitting in Mort's car...even offered me a drag once (politely refused, of course)...ah, me, Spielberg lived with us for three of his teenage summers...(he crashed Univeral Studios sitting with me driving, in the front seat of my car, no matter whatever you've heard or read))...met JFK at Nantasket Beach when he was hustling votes votes in the early '50's,(during the 1960 convention,I saw him again at the Huntington Hartford Hotel and he not only remembered meeting me in Nantasket, but remembered my name... sat next to Edie Adams on a transcontinental flight in 1957, introduced me to husband Ernie Kovacs at LAX...involuntarily "baby sat" a 10 year-old-Michael Douglas also on a transcon; introduced me to Kirk when we got off the plane at LAX (who thanked me for "putting up with the brat")...have known Elie Wiesel personally for more than 40 years, still talk on the phone occasionally...sat on The Super Chief to Chicago and Ronald Reagan invited me to join him in the diner for lunch..and later dinner. He was hosting the GE Theater at the time...Robert Morse and I bump into each other occasionally at our neighborhood market...we talk about his home town (and my late wife's also) in Newton, Mass. They went to the same grade school together. Had my picture taken with Janet Leigh that showed up in Screen Magazine...met with Harry Truman in his library in Independence..I was escorting 10 of my fellow RAND Corporation employees, and he was gracious enough to invite us into his office on the same day that a special with Jack Benny was to be filmed there.(Took pix and he signed autographs). I won't even get into the many sports figures I've met over the years, including our beloved Teddy W., Don!

Ho hum...how boring, y'say? I don't want to go on, hijacking Rizzuto's thread, <u>but he started it!</u> RHK, what can you expect from a rural rube from the likes of Billerica. (But I love the start of the report, Don). I visited Tokyo and Kyoto in '07, my first time back since 1946-48, and also went to Beppu in Kyushu where as a young G.I. I was stationed for two years. Have a great round-the-world-er!
stu

BC...Name dropping...I absolutely never name drop unless someone makes the first move..then I let both barrels roar, as you can see. With Don's enthusiasm about his Byrne encounter, I couldn't resist.
Happy Travels.
stu

It was an excellent day.

Up early, and out the door at 9am. Walked around the nearby pleasant Nishi Azabu neighborhood to make sure I could find the place for the Big Tokyo GTG, then down some or another street until I got to a subway station. Took the long way round to Nippori station, looked for the West exit only to find that the only choices were North or South, so headed in the direction that seemed the more interesting. Eventually found my way to Yuyake Dandan steps and the Nippori Shopping Street. Plenty of food shops, some of which were immensely popular with the locals, judging by the lines. One great joy of these shopping streets is the smells from each of the restaurant and food stands -- sort of the food version of 2nd-hand smoke. Well, that analogy doesn't hold up for a millisecond, but you get the idea.

The nearby Yanaka neighborhood is filled of people, the great majority of them deceased. I'm fascinated by cemeteries, and Japan's are as interesting as places that in in my upper echelon (Paris, New Orleans. The best in Paris is not Pere Lachaise, though that's surely worth a long visit. Paris best is the Pet Cemetery in Asnieres, just on the other side of the Seine. Go in the morning to see the old ladies place fresh flowers on Fifi's grave, which has a headstone typically engraved with something like "Deceived by Many Men, But Never by You.") Back here in Japan, though, one feature of some (human's) headstones is the calligraphy in the engraving. Gives it a very special feel compared to Western styles.

Kept walking and walking and walking and walking and walking, which is what you do when in Tokyo. No wonder they live so long. (But getting back to cemeteries in France for a moment, did you ever notice that the Sisters all live to be about 96? I assume that the all kept teaching until the very end.) Worked my way to Nishi-Nippori, took the more direct roue back to Roppongi. By now it was 1.30 and I was dog tired. Stopped in a kaiten-zushi shop in the restaurant arcade next to the Hyatt for a small (3 plates) lunch -- seared scallop was excellent, toro and a mystery fish were OK but non-special.

Sore feet and sore back were treated to a long soak in the huge bath, followed by a brief nap.

The Inaugural Tokyo GTG was a huge success. The locus was Butagumi restaurant in Nishi Azabu, supposedly known for its Tonkatsu. Therese and I opened the place at 6, and we were warmly greeted by the staff. They even had an English menu and our server spoke excellent English, explaining the what each of the different bits were for. Therese and I had a loud argument over the merits of "Up in the Air," but no one seemed to mind. Probably because the pork fillet for the tonkatsu was so delicious.

So now I am desperately trying to stay awake until 10.30 so that I won't wake up at 5 again. Don't think that I'll succeed, though. Cheers,

ps to stu: rural rube!! I was born and reared in Newton, NHS 65.

Don, I practice-taught (history) at NHS in 1951. Filled in for Mr. Ludwig (forgot his first name) when he took ill..had a ball....also filled in for Floyd Rinker at times during the month. It was the month before I graduated from Emerson. I was hoping to latch on to a permanent position at NHS (that was long before NHS-South was built...but the baby boom hadn't hit yet so there were no openings except the "sub" list. I couldn't afford that, having just gotten married...so we went way out west to Crowley, Colorado (pop.300) where I taught history and English in the little high school and
coached football (6-man), basketball and baseball and
wife taught in the elementary school. Went back to get ny Ed.M at BU and taught at West Bridgewater High and ended my five-year teaching career at Wellesley. Pitiful pay in those days for a guy with two kids. Quincy is my hometown.

I looked through my journal for the name of a marvelous okonomyaki joint (tiny place upstairs on Omotesando),a building (Maryoshi),advertising sign out front, next to
Tod's Shoes, Shu Uemura Makeup and The Oriental Plaza, across the street from the ubiquitous Benneton. Didn't record the name...but if in the vicinity, try it out...superb.

Have fun...and recite this from a song we used to sing back in the old post-war days...<i>sayanara,Beppu yo, mata kura ma dey wah...shiiba , wakarenu, namidaga ni ju mu</i>. I promise you won't get your face slapped...it's a clean one!

Best to my favorite Billericano! (and to RHK, rural Need-um!)
stu

This reader, presently stuck in "grim" New England and recovering from cooking a holiday dinner for 16, is enormously enjoying traveling along with you. Looking forward to more.