CJK business trip - Japan Oct 19-26, 2013

Last stop: Tokyo, Japan!

It took longer to get to the hotel than I expected. I thought I would have a half day on Saturday to explore, but didn't really happen. I took a bus from Narita airport to the New Otani Hotel in Akasaka.

It was dark by the time I settled into my room, so I just ate dinner at the hotel. The hotel was huge and had the feel of resorts, like we will provide all you need, food, drink, shops, dress rental for weddings, etc. so that you don't need to spend your money some place else. Hotels are usually expensive, but I felt the prices at the restaurants were even higher than usual.

Once I found the restaurants within close walking distance, I didn't eat at the hotel any more.

On Sunday, late morning, two of the employees from the office took me site seeing. There was a typhoon in the area, so it was pouring rain all the day.

We had lunch at a sushi place near work that they liked a lot and didn't get to go to often because it was usually crowded and would take too long. On a Sunday it wasn't crowded at all. The sushi was excellent! I ended up going back on my last day in Tokyo.

We first went to Senso-ji temple in Asakusa, taking the subway to get there.

The next stop was the sky tree. It is a mall with a tall structure that you can go up and get a nice view of the city. Unfortunately the top was covered by clouds, so we decided not to go up.

I mentioned that I would like to visit a cat cafe and they found one nearby that we could go to. It was about $8 for 1 hour, they didn't actually have tables to have coffee, but they did have a small fridge that you could buy cold drinks if you wanted. It was a small room with almost 20 cats. It was early afternoon so they were all sleeping but we were still able to pet them.

 

LUNCH

The work week started and spent much of my time in the office. I was taken to lunch each day by my colleagues.



One day we went to a curry restaurant which they had nicknamed the cat cafe because there is a cat in the restaurant. The curry was not the Indian curry I am used to , but it was still good.

The last day we went to a place that was started by a famous member of the kabuki theatre. It was a really nice place with a special Bento box meal at lunch.

EVENINGS

Monday night I took the metro to Shibuya crossing. It was only a few stops away.

Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo Japan

Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo Japan from the Shibuya Station

I then had dinner closer to the hotel in Akasaka: Itamae. It was a reasonably priced sushi place recommended to me by my colleagues. I later found out that they have a special high quality tuna meal that they only have enough for 30 servings per day, that is what they are known for.

Itamae Sushi, Akasaka Tokyo Japan

One evening they took me to the Ninja restaurant. it was fun to go with a group. A little gimicky but still fun. All of the staff are dressed as Ninjas and they take you to your table via a maze that the Ninja has to use magic to open certain doors and bridges. The food also has a Ninja theme to it, as you will see.

Clockwise from left: Akihiro?, Ayume?, Ayoko, me, Casey, Kimiko, Yasuaki

Ninja sake in a bamboo bottle.

Ninja star crackers.

Pate in the shape of a Ninja star.

Tofu in the shape of a noodle pastry.

Chicken wings with cashews and extremely hot peppers. Peppers were for decoration only.

Stone soup, they used a hot stone to heat up the broth and ingredients.

Cold capellini pasta.

Pork with a sweet glaze.

Chinese pudding. With a gummy candy like food in the middle. It was made from seaweed and had a great texture that was smoother than gummy bears I am used to.

Momento from the magic show at the end of the meal.

Another evening, Casey and I went to a cheap fast food place for noodles.

For my last meal, which was lunch on Saturday, I went back to the Sushi place they took me the first day. It was a fine last meal to have in Tokyo.

I was able to fulfill my goal of having sushi everyday! It may not have been the main meal each time, but even the bento boxes had at least one piece of sushi.

CJK business trip - South Korea Oct 16-19, 2013

Second stop: Seoul, South Korea

I arrived Wednesday afternoon. I stayed at the Hotel Riviera in Gangnam-gu (Gangnam style!).

I was met at the hotel Thursday morning by one of our employees and we rode the shuttle service from the hotel to a subway stop, and then walked from there.

We went to lunch for some chicken in broth. It was pretty good, but did not have much flavor. Salt was a welcome condiment.

The weather was good, sunny and cool.

Friday I walked to the office. We went to lunch at a bi bim bab place. It was a little different from what I've had in the US in that they brought everything out in little bowls. Most of the time it is already in one bowl, I just need to add the hot sauce and stir. But here I was able to add the veggies and and as much of them that I wanted.

Friday night the technical manager took me and the employees I trained to dinner for Bulgogi. Again, so many bowls! it really really good. 

On Saturday morning I was off to Japan!

CJK business trip - China Oct 12-16, 2013

I was involved with a project to transition to a new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. I helped provide requirements of the Tech Support organization to the developers and review the development progress. Because of my involvement I was asked to deliver the system training to the tech support offices in CJK. How could I refuse? I hadn't traveled for work since starting at MathWorks and was excited to be given the opportunity. Plus, I had never been to Japan before.

Hotel I stayed in, near the office.

My first stop was Beijing, China. I didn't really have time to explore on my own, I was only there for a few days. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Zhongguancun, a very nice hotel with clean, spacious rooms. I arrived on Saturday evening and had not slept on the plane at all, so it was very easy for me to go to sleep. The jet lag wasn't so bad, I was able to make through the day and only started to feel it towards the late afternoon.

The office was only a 15 minute walk away, so I walked. The pollution wasn't noticeable to me, only when I looked out from my 13th floor hotel room could I see a haze in the distance.

MathWorks office building, shared with other companies.

For dinner I ate at the hotel. the most interesting thing I had was gelato that was Taro flavored. It was a bluish purple color and I assumed it was some berry flavor. The wait staff told me it was taro. It was surprisingly good and had a nice mildly sweet flavor.

Taro gelato

On the days I was at the office the trainees took me to lunch. On Monday we ate at the restaurant in the office building, which specialized in Shanghai style Chinese food. It was all very good. They ordered a few dishes which were mostly pork and some vegetables. I used chopsticks and they were impressed to see that I could use them at all! On Tuesday we ate at a Korean restaurant which they said was run by North Koreans. They said the ladies who served us never left the building, they apparently lived in the same building as the restaurant. I ate bi bim bab which seemed pretty much the same as I have had in the US.

On Wednesday I left for Korea.

Little Breizh - Paris, France

Little Breizh
May 2013

A traditional Breton creperie. This reminded me so much of my time in Rennes, France. It was a simple, but tasty meal. A savory crepe, a dessert crepe and a bowl of cidre. Parfait!

Guy Savoy - Paris, France

Guy Savoy - Three Michelin stars
Date: May 22, 2013
Dinner: 8:30pm
Tasting menu - 12 course $395 euro per person, grand total (with wine) = $1100 Euro

We were seated at a table for two in a cozy corner. A cart with Champagne and aperitifs was promptly brought to our table as they asked if we would enjoy an aperitif. The champagnes were described to us, and we each choose a different one according to our tastes. The recommendations were right on! We were  not informed of the cost, and nor did I ask. Doing my best just to enjoy the experience.

Unfortunately we did not grab a menu or write down the dishes. So here are the pictures, and any descriptions if I can remember!



Oysters in rock salt. This oyster had a refreshing taste similar to the kumomotos that I love so much! Great, but just made me want more oysters!













More peas! These seemed a bit undercooked since they were a little hard.

Lobster! This didn't have much flavor to me, but Brent really enjoyed it.











This was our favorite dish. Caviar on top of blue potatoes, and obviously they looked like rocks. Then they brought out a "birds nest" that was like rectangular won tons arranged as a nest with an egg in it. Inside the egg was a sabayon that they poured in the middle. The flavor and presentation were fantastic!










This one fell flat. fishy tasting and the pick gelee had no flavor.









This was a salmon cooked on ice. They did it at the table. I don't remember the method exactly but it was fun.











This one was a bit odd as well. lobster with a rich savory type of sauce. I wasn't impressed by the flavor combination.
 



This was a morel soup with truffles. They claimed to be famous for. It was certainly rich. It was served with a truffle roll on the side and truffle butter (I think they like truffles).










This had to be second favorite. It was fried foie gras with a ribbon of a root vegetable (can't remember what). So rich and salty, just divine.









Last savory dish.









First dessert - red berries

Second dessert - their take on the Paris-Brest dessert. A traditional dessert served at the Paris-Brest bicycle race. It had walnut butter which was fantastic. It was light and airy.










Earl grey tea sorbet - so refreshing. I could taste the tea and the lemon.

Chocolate gelato, just an extra.



We ordered espresso and then they brought out the dessert cart...There were additional ice creams, chocolates, and cakes. I was so full and wasn't sure if this was extra and how much they were. Turns out it all came with the coffee or the meal, not sure which at this point.


Wines

    

The wine list was a huge tome, I was intimidated by. We shared a bottle of the Riesling which of course was phenomenal. We had a glass each of the Corton (red), and a glass each of the Jurancon, a desert wine. Very lovely!