A bunch of videos
My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
August 11, 2025
I let it slip to Paul, one of the residents, that I wanted to do a food tour, and he wanted to come too. So when was I going to head out? Early! He said he’d join me and we could do whatever I wanted for the day.
I woke up and looked out the window. We were not docked where I’d docked on the Diamond Princess (which was where I’d told all the residents we were docking). It turned out that of the three official documents with the port address, only one of them had the correct dock- and I hadn’t referenced the right one. So after taking screen shots of my route to Tokyo (just in case), I started messaging to get the word out about our correct docking location.
When I was on Diamond Princess, I met a guest who was living in Tokyo as an expat. I asked her, “If I had one day in Tokyo, what would you recommend?” She said Shabuya was a bit overhyped – from the ground it’s just a big crosswalk. She also mentioned a street where they made all of the plastic food used for restaurant displays, and that there might be a museum or a class on how to make it.
Well it was a year later, and I finally had a chance to take her advice. By the time I got around to researching one of these experiences, there weren’t any available, so I decided to go check out the street anyway.
On the way to the culinary street, we found a shrine!
There are shrines all over Japan, but I hadn’t gotten used to that and I was delighted to stumble upon one.
The crowds hadn’t swarmed the street yet.
We glanced into the shops, obviously not needing anything- I only cook when I’m home and Wendy has every kitchen gadget you can imagine. Where was the plastic food? I was starting to wonder what all the hype was about when we came across this shop:
My friend Steven is alergic to soy sauce, so I obviously had to take a picture of a shop that was trying to kill him. And then, next door, I saw an ad for Cheese Tea!
The cloud of air-conditioning that enveloped us as we entered the tiny retreat was heavenly. Outside it was cloudy, but I was already drenched from the humidity.
After our pit stop, we resumed exploring- no longer seeking out a specific destination.
Then we turned the corner.
I stopped Paul and asked him if he was ready fot a quintessentially Japanese experience. He said he was. I asked if he was prepared to be overwhelmed. He said he could handle it.
I can’t say I didn’t warn him!
We entered the multi-story Don Quijote, and Paul was instantly overwhelmed. We were bombarded with color and cutesy voices singing the Don Quijote anthem. Paul kept repeating that he didn’t know what to do.
That’s Don Quijote. They have everything- so much that if you’re not prepared, you can’t even assess whether they have anything that you want. I was pleased that Paul reacted appropriately.
We rounded another corner and found a covered shopping area – a perfect place to look for lunch!
Paul wanted to try some wierd Japanese food.
I concluded that I like chicken – but not their specific organs. Still, I had a great time eating local cuisine.
There were girls fully made up and dressed in yukatas. We had seen some down in the plaza from the window, and a couple sat next to us. Paul was mesmerized.
Back outside, we encountered a few more. Paul asked if he could take a picture with them. They not only agreed, but asked if they could have a picture with him – he was a celebrity!
And found ourselves in a market.
Just one turned out to be enough.
Obviously we stumbled upon another shrine.
Well here we were in Tokyo. It was so hot and humid (even with the cloud cover) that my skin was starting to chafe in places I didn’t know I had. We still had time before the food tour, so we figured out how to navigate toward that neighborhood by subway.
Above ground, it wasn’t obvious where to wander next. We saw a giant golf ball in the distance and decided to investigate.
After wandering through streets that looked like they would be much more fun after dark, we stopped to sit down and try some local beer- when they put this giant lemon in front of us:
I love Japan.
Finally it was time for the food tour. The intersection where we weres supposed to meet was so busy that it took a while to find our guide and the rest of our party. I was beyond excited.
I loved the food tour I did in Barcelona, and now I was doing one in Japan- with two of my friends who are chefs.
That’s right! Before Paul embarked on the life of leisure on Villa Vie, he worked as a chef on small ships cruising Alaska. Victor, our Executive Chef, joined us as well (I was honored), along with his friend Taiki, who had been showing our friends, Steven and Michele, around as their tour guide.
Taiki lived in the neighborhood we were touring. When we introduced him to the group, he said he was from France (we didn’t want to intimidate our guide too much).
Our first stop was a dumpling place.
We had time before our next stop, so our guide gave us a tour of the neighborhood.
Godzilla!
Our guide said that he had been here many times but had never seen him roar. He roared for us- with flashing lights! I’ll put the videos on Facebook.
The Japanese seem extremely honest, but I’m pretty sure he was lying to enhance our experience. I have to admit I would probably do the same.
This is where we went:
These chicken skewers became my addiction in Japan.
For the rest of our time in Japan, I was always on the lookout for Yakitori (焼き鳥) as well as izakayas (small bars that serve drinks and appetizers, which reminded me of aperitivo in Italy- a place for people to socialize in the evenings). Victor knew the names of all the different kinds of Japanese food, but I struggled to remember which was which. Either way, I was happy with Yakitori or Izakaya anywhere we went.
In the bathroom…
Once again, we had time for a walk before our next stop. During my research, I’d read about Omoide Yokocho (“Memory Lane” / “Piss Alley”): A nostalgic alleyway packed with tiny yakitori stalls and casual izakayas, perfect for late-night bites and Golden Gai – a warren of ~200 cozy themed bars in narrow alleys.
These neighborhoods sounded sketchy – I definitely wanted to go there! Unfortunately, I couldn’t imagine going alone- I’d stick out like an American sore thumb. When I realized the food tour included Golden Gai, I had my solution!
A guide could take me to sketchy bars in Tokyo!
I was in heaven! – Later (and before) when I tell you about going to pristine beaches and feeling like I’m in someone else’s paradise- this is one of mine.
I tried to capture every detail, but I couldn’t keep up with notes. Writing this six months later, I wish I’d taken more (or written this before I lost the details). I guess I’ll just have to go back.
We tried a few different kinds of sake – cold sake, sparkling sake, hot sake – which was my favorite? ALL OF THEM! But probably the sparkling because I hadn’t tried that kind before.
The tour officially ended, but Victor was still hungry. Taiki took us to his favorite ramen place, where the boys enjoyed a second dinner. Victor ordered too much food (as usual), so even though I was stuffed, I had a couple of his dumplings. Paul was very impressed with the Ramen.
Taiki offered to drive us back to Yokohama. He had a short-term car-rental subscription. As we followed him to the pickup spot, we talked about the food tour. It was very inexpensive compared to the one I did in Barcelona, so taking that into account, I was pleased. I would have liked to go into one of the izakayas in Golden Gai, but I could see why we didn’t. We all seemed to have a similar assessment. Was it the best? Not really. Was it worth doing? Absolutely.
Taiki somehow got the keys to a car in a parking lot (I was fasinated) and we hopped in. The car needed gas, but a gas card was included in the rental experience. Boy was I glad for this extra stop – the gas nozzels hung from the ceiling! I’d never seen anything like it!
Then he drove us through Shabuya Crossing! How cool was that?! Most tourists walk accross during the day, but we drove through it at night! I’ll post that video on Facebook as well.
We had one more stop- a place that wasn’t in the guidebooks. Up high on the freeway, Taiki took an exit where we circled and circled a parking lot.
We were just across the water from the ship (docked in Yokohama). Taiki wasn’t sure if this would be a good night (weekends were better and it was a Monday), but this was a place where people with fancy cars would come drive around, showing it off, park and hang out – it was like a fancy car get together.
Uncle Stu, my cousin Cameron and my friend Rose would have LOVED this!
Meanwhile, Victor laughed at my total cluelessness about cars.
Well, that was Day 1.
I think I did a pretty good job making up for lost time. There was still so much more of Tokyo I wanted to explore- but for one day, I think I packed in a pretty impressive amount of fun.