March 2023: Hello, Again, Tokyo

I can’t believe it’s April already! Again, time just flew by. And I can’t believe that just a couple of weeks ago, I was back again in Tokyo for a business trip, and later this week I’m heading back – this time for a much needed vacation. If I was to sum up what happened in March, I’d say it was mostly about work, but with a few notable travel and food highlights in between.

Prior to my most recent trip to Tokyo, booking flights and hotels was tricky as it is Sakura season after all. That said, I was only able to book a flight to and from Narita Airport. While I’ve always liked Narita Airport, lately my preference is to fly through Haneda because it is much closer to the city. From Haneda, I could take a cab without breaking the bank. Whereas with Narita, I have to put in an extra hour of travel to/from Tokyo via the Narita Express. Another reason I had not been keen to travel via Narita these days is I still could never get used to finding my way in a jiffy whenever I am at Tokyo Station. What helps when I’m at Tokyo Station is finding the arrows on the floor labeled with Narita Express and following it as it leads me to the train’s platform. Another thing I’ve come to make as a habit is booking roundtrip Narita Express tickets so I don’t have to worry about finding the ticket booth on top of finding the train’s platform when it’s time to go back to the airport.

Unlike my trip in January when I went there coincidentally on the coldest day of winter, in my recent trip I was told that one of the days I was there was the hottest day of the year thus far. I’m glad I could walk to and from my Ginza Hotel to the office without having to wear a coat. I always brought with me an umbrella, though, as weather forecast showed some nights with light drizzle.

After work I would walk the streets of Ginza. I headed back to the unagi (eel) restaurant I discovered during my Tokyo trip in January and had a bigger cut of unagi this time. That definitely satisfied my unagi cravings. On other nights when it was raining, I got my dinner from Seven Eleven. Japan convenience stores are known for the variety of food options, and I make it a point to have lunch or dinner from Seven Eleven whenever I visit. For dinner I got hotpot with vegetables and chicken meatballs, a Suntory light beer, and edamame and seaweed side salad. Except for the beer, the salad and hotpot were new to me, and they did not disappoint. I am amazed with the convenience store food from Japan, that I’m thinking of dedicating a blog all about it.

One night my colleagues invited me to a hanami party. Hanami is a Japan tradition done at the onset of spring, where people have a picnic and drinks under the cherry blossom trees and admire their beauty. We found our tree at a park next to the Sumida River. I had a taste of different Japanese confectionary while sipping on champagne. I was telling my colleague any sight of a cherry blossom tree captivates me, so that team activity was quite fun and special.

Next week I look forward to going back to Japan with D, and hopefully the cherry blossoms will still be bountiful by then.