Ka Mate..Ka Mate..

Another sevens is over and I have to admit that I have been feeling rather unwell all day today (perhaps it was something I ate). After 10 years of going to Hong Kong Rugby 7's I really should know better by now. I certainly should know that it is unwise to carry on into Wanchai afterwards after the day's activities - never mind. The stadium bore witness to the usual goings on, with the odd game of rugby sometimes distracting the crowd from the general partying and drinking.

Darling decided to give the event a miss this year, having been to several now, admitting that she has only gone along in the past on the off chance of seeing streakers would you believe. She was rather disappointed when I told her that there were three such incidences this year on the Saturday. Perhaps that will mean she will want to go next year now!

On the topic of disappointment, the 'wheels' well and truly came off England's chariot once again in the cup quarter finals - this time to Samoa (who they had beaten the day before). I somehow suspect the glory years of 2002 - 2006 may not be seen again. Fair play to the Kiwis though, impressive throughout and deserved winners of the tournament.

(photos nabbed from the Apple Daily)

Go Greased Lightning........

Up bright and early on Sunday morning I decided to make use of the facilities at the Mandarin Spa – which are free before 9:00am, and headed on up for a steam, sauna and soak in the vitality pool to try and restore some feeling to my legs, which were aching a touch from all of the walking the day before.

Fully refreshed, and after a light breakfast we headed out on foot to take in the sights of the Imperial Palace – well, the outside anyway as you cannot get anywhere near the actual building itself. From the Imperial palace we made our way into Ginza (again) for some more shopping. This time we had a deal – every hour spent in Seibu would be traded for an hour in the Sony building, which kept the time spent shopping down a little.

After queuing for a well deserved waffle, we left the upmarket shopping area of Ginza and headed on over to Shibuya. The first thing that you notice when stepping off the train at Shibuya station is that the place is absolutely packed, particularly if you leave at the exit by Hachiko’s statue, along with everyone else. (If you have ever seen pictures of thousands of people crossing a busy junction in Tokyo, that will be Shibuya). After a final purchase of the day walked on up to Shibuya park to take in the sights. Here, on a Sunday afternoon, a whole selection of rather eccentric types gather to do their ‘thing’ in the park. This ranges from live band performances, juggling, dance acts, Rockabilly routines, parading around in your finest cosplay outfit, through to the rather more regular activities such as badminton in high heel boots. It is quite an intriguing site all in all which reminded somewhat of being in the outer fields of the Glastonbury festival.

From the park we continued on down (and up) through Omote-Sando, stopping momentarily at the novelty condom shop (no – I did not buy anything), before finally staggering onto the Ginza Line train back to our hotel, fortunately waking up a couple of stops before we needed to get off.

After quick freshen up, it was time for dinner. Again avoiding any recommendations in the Lonely Planet we checked with the concierge for any good places to eat Japanese food. A tapenyaki restaurant was soon booked and we were on our way (by taxi this time as we were both shattered), to Roppongi.

The dinner was one of the best meals I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a few). It was, without doubt, the most expensive meal I have ever had – by a long way (even in comparison to booking the Chef’s table at Gaddis in HK). It was rather excellent and all cooked right in front of you by a team of chefs working a large semi circular hot plate. Food done, and completely broke, we managed a quick beer in one of Roppongi’s less upmarket establishments, before heading back to the Mandarin for a final nightcap.

So to close the Tokyo trilogy, a couple of points to note – be careful when asking for a good place to eat (you may be wise to mention your budget). And sadly the Sony building is now rather disappointing – gone are the Playstations and rooms full of ‘toys’ for you to try out, only a few Vaios, flat screen TV’s cameras and stereos remain for you to play with.

Sakura, Sakura......

Well, that's how the song starts....but I cannot remember how anymore of it goes.
Although still early in the year, the first of the cherry blossoms have started to bloom, which has brought the crowds out to Ueno park with their cameras. Not to be outdone, we also joined the hoardes for some cherry blossom viewing, after starting our day at Tsujiki market.

We had good intentions the night before (and even set the alarm clock) with a view to getting to Tsujiki early on to see all the action, which was to be followed with a breakfast of sushi at one of the surrounding stalls. However, by the time we had eventually go out of bed and made to Tsujiki, we were just about in time for lunch.

Without a clue where to dine (and certainly without any intention of following any recommendations within the Lonley Planet), we chose a spot that had a long queue of locals waiting outside (and no tourists). After about 20mins the hostess called "Simon-san", and we were in. I settled on a selection of fatty toro, salmon sushi and raw prawns over rice, whislt Darling went for a Sashimi set of raw scallops and salmon. The sushi was excellent, although I do admit to ordering a large Kirin for assistance.

Once comfortably sate, we walked on into Ginza, where Darling shopped inbetween asking me whether I was bored! Shopping done, we were off to Ueno for cherry blossom viewing, and then on to Asakusa (with everyone else apparently that was not at Ueno Park), for a walk through the stalls and quick look at Senso-Ji, before heading on back.

Tomorrow sees more shopping (I fear) in Ginza, Shibuya and probably Shinjuku. If I get my way we may make it over to Odiaba and the Onsen Monogatari - but we shall wait and see.

Hello, Hello - We're in a place called Tokyo!

I love Japan. Well, in fact I love a lot of places to be honest, but I have always had a soft spot for Japan and enjoyed my previous visits here. Darling absolutely loves the place (mainly due to the extensive shopping opportunities and her liking of sushi), and is always suggesting that we 'pop' over here for a holiday weekend instead of heading off to Thailand. So, for a change, this Easter we decided to head on off to Tokyo for a few days to 'relax'. Despite only being a 3-4 hour flight away from Hong Kong (depending on how windy it is), it ends up being quite a trek in the end, when you add on the 2 hour transfer from Narita to downtown Tokyo. So after about 8 hours travelling we finally checked in to the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.

As it was getting late we headed on up to the bar for a quick beer before venturing on out to Ginza (where unfortunately the shops were closing ;)) in search of a BBQ restauraunt. After seaching several side streets we eventually managed to get a table at what, turned out to be a rather popular place. After a few minutes of conversing they worked out that Darling is not japanese and managed to find someone that knew some English. Baffled by the menu, and rather hungry by this stage, we let our server choose our dinner.

After several beers and a touch too much food we headed on back to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for the day, which finds me writing this post from the comfort of our room and courtesy of the free wifi. Tomorrow sees us head on out early to Tsujiki fish market to catch the trading in action and a spot of very fresh sushi - breakfast of champions!

So, time to sign off and get some well earned rest. I'll leave you with one piece of advice - do not try navigating the Tokyo metro system after several beers, otherwise you may find out that what should be a 10 minute journey takes you well over an hour!

LA Galaxy in Hong Kong

Fancying a change to our normal Sunday afternoon routine, we decided to head on out to watch the LA Galaxy play an invitational South China side at the Hong Kong Stadium. Admittedly the biggest draw for us, and probably everyone else for that matter, was the chance to see David Beckham play. Late confirmation that the game would be hosted coupled with the fact that Becks was visiting this time with the LA Galaxy (not Manchester United or Real Madrid), meant that the stadium was only a third full - not that it mattered to most.

The game itself was a little disappointing, finishing up at 2:2 at the end of normal time (after Becks equalised through a last minute penalty), before going on to be settled by a spot kick shoot out - with South China ending up the eventual winners.