Scenes From Japan: Day 1 Of Foodtripping

We took an early flight out of Manila yesterday so we arrived in Tokyo around noon. It was raining and my Japanese colleagues were telling me to anticipate the cold when we head outside. We took the train to Ueno and the ladies decided to take me on a 'mini' tour first before checking to our hotel in Kumagaya so we left our bags in rented lockers and headed out for a walk. At  noon, the temperature wasn't that bad. It was fairly tolerable and I only had a sweater on. The rain had also stopped but we were praying it doesn't get windy because when the wind starts blowing that's when it gets colder.

They took me to Akihabara Electric Town (I will have to ask my colleague what exactly was that called again) but I'm really not very fond of electronic gadgets. My eyes zeroed in on the restos that were scattered all over. It's comforting to know that you will never get hungry in Japan (as long as you have the money to pay for it, you will never ever get hungry. Restaurants are almost in every block). I found several that sold your usual Japanese fare (tempura and sushi) but I was particularly looking for a ramen shop because I kept thinking the hot soup can help warm me up (hahaha). There was also a Mister Donut outlet and my colleague bought a piece of this for me to try:

Pon de Ring. So good. But a little expensive too. 136 Yen for a piece of donut.

Miso Ramen from this hole in the wall ramen resto in Ueno. It was a large bowl. For 800 Yen. I could share it with 2 more ladies but I was looking around nobody was sharing a bowl. Hahahaha. 

After that ramen experience, we decided to skip dinner already. But we bumped into our boss in the lobby and we just couldn't decline the dinner invitation anymore (after dodging about 3 others prior to this) so we just ordered food to share. This steak was so good. Super tender. I wish Tibs was with me. He would absolutely like this. This was from Blue House, a Japanese restaurant just right across our hotel.

Mixed seafood tempura. The Ebi tempura wasn't the best I've tasted but I love the veggies though.
And the coating was just right. And very crispy. 

This was the best part of the night. Warmed me up. And helped me sleep soundly last night. Haha.
(and I haven't had a full glass of cold draft beer for awhile so this was a good welcome for me)

I will probably gain a lot of weight here. So I will have to start training hard for that half-marathon in July to get back to my post-marathon shape. For now, foodtripping is probably going to be my after work activity in the next 5 days so I'm totally embracing food for now and putting that word DIET back in my memory box.