IWFS Kuala Lumpur Hong Kong Jolly January 2019 - Day One

IWFS Kuala Lumpur Hong Kong Jolly January 2019 - A Recollection of Five Days of Food and Wine in Hong Kong, and How I Became a Lap Cheong Mule

Day One - Friday January 18th

Woke up at 5am for a 6am pickup by Jolly Kit and driver Andy. The phone alarm went off smack on time but it was a hard one to get moving. Cold shower and coffee and some warmed Welsh Cakes got the system going. Kit and driver were bang on time, we loaded the cases in the large van and headed off to the airport. The roads seemed surprisingly busy for this time of the morning; not slow, but quite a bit of traffic heading to and from KLIA. And when we got there at just before 7am the place was buzzing. Lots of people dressed in their robes and looking like they were all heading off on a pilgrimage. We weren't sure if it was Hajj season - didn't see anything in the papers. But here they all were. So it goes. 

Lenglui and I had checked in online the previous day but still got made to stand in not a long line at the MAS counter and all was processed in less than ten minutes. Went for coffee with Kit at the Cafe & Kitchen whilst Lenglui went off to pick up the RoamingMan internet hub she had rented. Though she quickly came back in need of cash to lay down as deposit for the thing. The RoamingMan is basically a modem which you can use internationally; wifi on the go, if you like, without having to pay those massive roaming charges. Costs about RM25 a day and up to five people can connect to it. You find it on your phone with the usual wifi search, input the password and boom! you're connected to the world. In theory; we would check it when we got to HongKong. 

"I'm leeee-aving, on a Jet Plane...."

We finished the coffee and headed for immigration. The MM2H gate was naturally closed so it was a twenty minute queue for the foreigners to clear the gate. Thankfully, the metal scanners for your hand baggage have become easier in that bottled water can be taken through and no need to remove iPads and laptops. We were a shade behind the clock so we headed straight to what we thought was the gate - it would turn out to be the wrong one. Got all the way through the gate scanners only to be told it was the wrong gate. Could have sworn the sucker said 32 and not 36. Grrr!! So we all got metal detected again. I have learned not to wear belts at airports and pack them in the backpack for belting up after all the checks. It does make airport life a shade easier to navigate. We saw some others in our Jolly Group who also were heading off a day early and got a lively good morning from them. Always nice to see a friendly face at the airport. 

Jaya and Sze Wan

The plane was a two by four by two seater and there seemed to be a spare two seat at the back which Lenglui suggested I grab when the door closed. I did and it was excellent - right next to the toilet which suited me perfectly. Also suited Lenglui as it meant I did not have to crawl across her to get to the aisle. We all settled in and waited for the up, up and away. 

The flight went by surprisingly fast though the MAS food was unsurprisingly bad. I got hard bread and gungy noodles given the absence of the quickly selected and consumed alternative nasi lemak. Yuck. Still, it was reasonably edible so down it all went. Though it became a fight to get a cup of coffee given the slight turbulence of the plane - they will not pour hot liquid when the seat belt sign is on. Fair enough, but it does make the morning grouchy that little more irritable. As soon as the sucker went off I punched the attendant button for them to bring a necessary de groucher. They did, though the friend who poured seemed a bit surly at having been summoned to do so. Maybe they were also grouchy for having to get up at 5am as well - really puts a dent in the day. 

It all looked a bit cool and grey on landing and the airport did seem a bit chilled. Down some massively tall elevators to get the train that would get us to immigration and luggage. It would prove a long walk to the long queue which bent up and back down on itself for what felt like a 3km walk (though was probably only half - still not unsubstantial and no apparent concessions for the elderly). But - though the snake of people walking along the trackway was unending and continuous, it worked. There was very little standing time, thanks also to staff who directed us to various gates. Have to be fit to live here. 

The passport chop, pop and have a nice day took less than a minute and we were out in search of cases. Though not before negotiating with the Airport Express desk to get a group discount on five of us going into town. Normally HKD110 for a single, for a group of four it comes down to about HKD85. We later learned that the others went against earlier advice from the Jolly organiser and took a taxi direct to the hotel. Slightly easier and they got there about twenty minutes ahead of us. 

Part of this travel victory for them was the result of confusing information about luggage carousels. The problem was that there were two flights in from Kuala Lumpur and naturally we waited at the wrong carousel. A quick trip to information (which was efficiently English speaking and fast in response) got us the right one and we grabbed the bags. Grrr!!! 

Jan and Kit on the Airport Express, with Barry trying to figure the SIM Card

Straight out through the Green Lane, though not before another five minute stop for one of our Gang of Five to purchase a SIM Card so that the partner could get onto the Facebook. Straight on to the Airport Express for the three stop and 20 minute ride into Central followed by two HKD60 taxis to the Jen Hotel with the luggage bungee strapped in the boot. The Money (and Jolly organiser) had previously issued us with Business Cards for the Hotel, and with a bit of Cantonese from Lenglui and Kit the driver figured out where we needed to get to. Took about ten minutes in moderate traffic. Business cards are bi-lingual and in the absence of an ability to speak Cantonese they really help drivers figure out where you need to get to. Tip: try also to record someone speaking the address you need to get to and store it on your handphone to play to the cab driver - also helps. 

The Beef Brisket Noodle shop

Driver unloaded the luggage for us and we all went up the escalator to reception to get warmly met by IWFS KL President May Peng and our fellow MAS passengers who were on their way out for a pre Jolly jolly somewhere in the area. May suggested we dump the luggage and go straight out for a late 3.30pm light lunch at a beef brisket place recommended by the Money and located around the corner from the hotel. This we did and within ten minutes we were all oohing and aahing at the tasty broth and beef and various other bits of mostly pig floating in the bowl with the noodles. May joined us, though she had already eaten there earlier. It was very good. Small place, taking around twelve people maximum. One couple were squeezed into one corner whilst two elderly Honker men played cards and drank beer in the other. We also ordered some of the very inviting Siew Yoke and Roast Duck hanging in the window. We enjoyed the duck over the siew yoke; the latter felt a shade oversalted and not quite crispy by Malaysian standards. We drank tea though I shared a beer with friend Barry. A very hearty start to the Jolly. I wish I had the name to share, but there didn't seem to be one anywhere in sight - at least not one that I could understand. It is on the block next to Hotel Jen and directly opposite the entrance to the HKU Underground. Worth a visit if you are staying near. The Money had managed to get a special rate for the Jolliers at the Hotel Jen which extended both before and after the Jolly - HKD1190 per night plus HKD119 service charge. Not unfair and the HKU station plugs you directly into whatever Hong Kong action you might be looking for.

Waiting for Noodles

Hotel Jen Hong Kong

508 Queen's Road West

Western District

Hong Kong

Tel +852 2974 1234

email hjhk@hoteljen.com

With The Money and The Bank and some Jolly People at The Peak

The evening in prospect would start with a sunset snifter of the goodstuff up on The Peak with the Money and the Bank after which the assembled would then repair to a restaurant on the Kowloon side for a private dinner with supposedly the finestkind traditional Teow Chew cuisine. Can't remember what time we headed off from the Hotel, but we flagged a cab outside and played a Whatsapp recording previously made by the Money to the cab driver in an attempt to help him understand where we wanted to get to. Needed a bit of extra Cantonese from Lenglui and May Peng but it did the job and about thirty minutes later we got unloaded at an imposing looking tower block up on the Hong Kong Hill. It was a bit grey and chilly as we wandered in the general direction of a door where we saw the Bank coming to greet us and direct us to the apartment where the cold and icy sparkles in glasses were waiting. Very nice place, superb views in the sunshine, but clearly somewhere that would get battered in typhoon season. The others in our party were close behind and all of us enjoyed a pleasant reunion and catch up over bubbles and wicked potato chips and the brilliant Kirkland nuts. We got a tour of the apartment and saw where all the bits and pieces got stored. This was a cool place - no real need for a wine fridge if this was the usual temperature. Saw a couple of boxes with the name Enoteca on the side and the Money confirmed this was the name of the usual supplier, though not the one responsible for most of the wines that would get served at dinner. This would be the Freshmart at the Sogo Department Store on Causeway Bay (somewhere that Lenglui and I would eventually end up later in the Jolly) where a receipt later passed to me would show 10% discounts as a result of something called "Thankful Week" back in November 2018. Have to target a return next year, hoh?

Table at The H Kitchen Private Room

We slowly got ourselves roused to get into a couple of taxis booked by The Money that would transport us to our private dinner for the evening at the H Restaurant, supposedly finestkind traditional Teochew cuisine, and located on the Kowloon side in an area called Mong Kok. Took us about thirty minutes to get there, most of it down along the winding road from The Peak. Stopping at a traffic light en the way down, we saw a large wild boar nonchalantly crossing the road in front of us whilst some pedestrian HongKonger was equally nonchalantly passing behind it. Not an uncommon sight, apparently - lots of wildlife prowl the upper hillsides. 

The cab dropped us at the restaurant entrance and we were led through the narrow strip to the back and out and up some stairs to a bar area and a set table and Yasu with flutes of fizz waiting for us. We were quickly joined by Lenglui daughter and serial foodie Lorraine who had heard much about the H Kitchen and the chef and was keen to join. For this piece, I could not find anything on the web about the place. Perhaps it is all in Mandarin... 

Bit of ambience, felt like a private club

This would not be a cheap one - Chef William is commanding HKD1500 per person and a maximum of one table. Whether this included corkage, I did not find out, but the glassware was good and plentiful and the staff mostly knew when to pour and keep the glasses nicely topped. 

Chef William explains the Goose Liver dish

Having said this, it became a fun and memorable evening for the combination of everything - food, people, chef, ambience - and the sense of occasion that somehow we had all come together from across the waters to be with each other. All the dishes were brought out by chef and team and he explained each one. The ingredients were absolutely some of the freshest you could want for, and the preparations had that elegant simplicity of deft seasonings that let them shine. To those who know their Teochew cuisine, this must have been bliss. For me who doesn't, the food was enjoyable, though many of the dishes do not seem to be able to be recalled with any great passion. Overall good to very good, not quite great for me. 

Two style Goose liver and, er, internals

Having said this, some things were unforgettable; the two way goose liver which tasted of… liver. Although the one with the blood somewhat less so. The screams of anguish as I handed one of my Sea Cucumbers to a food neighbour from the rest of the table. I really don't get these things, nor the passion they inflame in some people - I was just happy to pass it on to someone who knows how to appreciate the thing. Especially this one - looked more like a dog's dick on the plate than the usual big suckers you see in KL. Can't please everyone, eh? The constant clinking of glasses through the night, the chit chat, the ooohs and aaaaahs as the dishes came out. Someone called for a song and I rolled out my "Pang Yau" written and made famous by local legend Alan Tam and which prompted Chef to break out his top end whiskey to toast the group and the occasion. Don't get many white boys (Ang Moh or Gwailo as we are called) singing in Cantonese, and it is a great ice breaker. Gets me a lot of "yam seng" booze too. Shout out to The Money for getting some lovely wines for the night - the Rothschild Brut was delightfully chilly and crisp and perfectly rasping whilst the 2013 Lynch Bages was silky wonderful, lending Bordeaux beef to the often delicate finesse of the cuisine. And a total of HKD400 per person for the lot - amazing buys...

Egg White Dumpling 

In sum, H Kitchen is definitely worth a shot for the different side to Chinese Cuisine that Chef William offers, along with the kind of "secret" feel about the whole affair - for once we were on the inside of the foodie scene and enjoying it to the hilt. Having done it once, I doubt the occasion will ever come up to revisit. Which makes the memory that much more special. Sometimes you just have to shut your eyes to the cost and enjoy the ride. 

Signature Sea Cucumber. Yes.

The H Kitchen

G/F 1237 Canton Road

Mong Kok, Kowloon HK

tel 2215 0150, 6466 8488

MENU

Warming Carrot Soup

Special Clams in Traditional Vinegar Basil Sauce

Teochew Goose Blood, Intestines and Liver

Oyster Pancake

Egg White Dumplings with Vegetables and Chicken Mince Filing topped with Crab Sauce

Signature Sea Cucumber braised and pan fried and stuffed with Squid Paste in reduced Chicken Broth

Slow braised Goose Web and Fish Maw

Tiny Sea Snail Fried Rice

Sea Whelk clear Soup

Taro with Sugared Sand

Scraped Avocado and Jellied Palm Sap combination

Goose Web - tasty

WINES

Champagne Baron de Rothschild Brut

Perrier Jouet Grand Brut Magnum

Henri Bourgeois Sancerre 2013

Chateau Lynch-Bages 2013

The Wines. And The Bank.

The evening closed and some got a cab back to the hotel whilst the rest of us opted to follow Lorraine to the subway and get the Metro. It was amazingly straightforward - put your money in the machine, pick your ticket and boom - take the ticket and find the train. Took us straight back to the HKU station and the Hotel Jen. With another day of food and booze in prospect, we figured an earlyish night would be best. Plugged in the phones for charging, switched on the TV and fell into bed. Slept like a pig. 

Click here for Day Two of the Jolly>>>

The Sea Whelk Soup

Sea Snail Frid Rice - felt very healthy

The Big Whiskey - very nice

Yasu and Bubbles

Doing what we do best - eating and drinking. Cheers!

IWFS Kuala Lumpur Visit to Champagne, Burgundy and Alsace September 2016 - Epilogue and Day Eight

PRE-EPILOGUE

This is a rounding up which is followed by a Day Eight report. 

My reason for having the Epilogue first is that Day Eight has little in the way of interest food or wine wise and consequently be likely a bit boring in that respect for general reading. At the same time, I wanted to put something up for the sake of completeness for my side of the Pilgrimage. Pilgrims can thus feel free to ignore Day Eight, though there are some BA and One World experiences that might be of interest. Also, navigating Heathrow by Wheelchair might prove instructive. 

EPILOGUE

Writing all of this up some weeks (now months) after the event, I am struck at the intensity and vibrancy of the memories that seem to have burned into the brain. Impressions absorbed from the various towns and places visited seem to have a richness about them which has made the writing feel somehow more full and direct than previous scribbles. The main memories that seem to come through are the ambience and service at the restaurants and the grandeur of many of the places we visited. Some dishes also shine through, though possibly more for their contrast against the general fine dining throughout the week - the Baeckoffe in Alsace and the beer and sausage plate in Strasbourg stand out wonderfully. But it is mostly the places and the people that get remembered. Dinner at Ruinart, the Pommery tasting room, lunch at Les Parc des Crayeres, Ms Moneypenny in the vines at Bollinger, seeing Big Tony in total bliss sipping the Bolly in the Bolly cellar, Napoleon the bus driver getting nicked for using his handphone whilst driving and the subsequent Gendarmerie Escort through Beaune, meeting and eating with Fabrice Amiot at the Montrachet and Romain Taupenot at his winery, the morning walk with Fabrice through his vines, tasting Olivier Leflaive's first press of the 2016 vendange, the "light" lunch at Taverne Alsacienne, the delightful ambience of Domaine Trimbach, the stunning aspect of the Auberge de L'Ill and the evening chilldown in the gardens, Hugel and the Riquewihr church, the Baeckoffe, the group walk through Colmar and the whiskey at L'Atelier du Peintre, the boat trip and lunch in Strasbourg and huddled in the wet damp cold at the Strasbourg station waiting for the train to CDG at the end of the trip. And the generally brilliant weather we had. These moments stick. 

Some of the wines also stick - the Amiot Magnums at Le Montrachet and the Daume Taupenots in Morey St Denis, also the Bollys and the Domaine Weinbachs and the Hugels and the Coche Dury Meursault at Buerehiesel - but this trip ultimately became for me more a sense of place and people than the gastronomy aspect. I will remember this trip for the great fellowship, the camaraderie, and the general great humour on everyone's part (except occasionally mine - Mr Grumpy can sneak up on me sometimes when plans don't seem to pan out or after a restless night of music in the ether). A brilliant trip, and brilliantly organised by our Dear Leader to whom I feel all us Pilgrims should be grateful for creating such memories. I share some sympathy with the whinge that the scheduling was hugely intense and crammed one heck of a lot of stops into seven days. I certainly would have liked a bit more down time to absorb the impressions and let both lunches and dinners get properly digested. But I also get it that we need to cram as many food and wine experiences into the time available as is felt possible. We knew what we were in for when we signed up, so we can't really complain. And we can always opt NOT to go for that unmissable Michelin lunch or dinner. Can't we?

I think what has also come out of all of this is a sense of connection which in many respects I find quite odd - I am not normally one for connecting to too much or to too many. I have always been a bit detached from the world, preferring to observe rather than participate in it. But this felt different. I found myself connecting on a range of levels - physical, emotional, intellectual, and a bit spiritual - with both people and place. The Pilgrimage has forever connected all of us together both as individuals and a group (yep, including the idiot Napoleon). The hippies used to call these things a "be-in" - getting together and communing with each other and the place where we are, er, be-ing. Sounds not unfair - as it says at the end of Contact - The Movie, the only thing we have to banish our loneliness is each other. At the same time, I feel the Pilgrimage has also connected me with the places we collectively visited. Feels like there are bits of my soul that will reside forever in the Bolly vineyard, the slopes of the Cotes de Beaune, amongst the vines of Trimbach and in the Riquewihr church. Not sure if it can be called spiritual, but it doesn't feel far off. Though it could just have been the wines… 

It has been a tremendous amount of fun writing up this trip. All the food, all the wines, along with some personal memories and observations. I do hope everyone has enjoyed reading these posts and that, for the Pilgrims, they brought back some pleasant remembrances. And Pilgrims, do please feel free to add via comment and photograph. One Pilgrim has passed a previous comment that they look upon these scribbles as a gift for the future to look back on and bring back fond memories of our Pilgrimage de Gastronomy et Vins de Champagne, Burgundy et Alsace 2016. I do like that, and I do hope all the writing and photos have indeed that effect. Anyone want to throw money to produce a book of all this, also can la...

Salut-salut mes braves and here's hoping the next Pilgrimage will not be too long in coming!!

PS just one story to finish - my Singo foodie friend Julian shared that he was researching whether any Sparkling Wine makers introduced gas into their winemaking process to fizz things up. He said his search for "gas and champagne" got directed to my blog posts about Trombones in the ether…

DAY EIGHT

Saturday, 1st October 2016

This was a restless night of sleep, with three get ups to pee or drink water or check email. We took a 7am wake up to pack and get down for 8.15 breakfast. I could not eat anything - the sight of the food was just not appetising at this time of the morning especially after the Buerehiesel beano of the night before so it was just a brief coffee to kickstart the system and down to check out and wait for the bags. 

I don't really like travel connections. They stress me out which is why I like to have plenty of time between them. So when the front desk suggested 9am taxi for a 9.57 train I was a bit "hmmmm…"  Still, one must presume that they know best so that was what we had opted for. But it never quite stems the anxiety I get - I just like to have large margins of time in case something goes wrong. Some people who were on the same train to CDG had booked earlier taxis and had all left pretty much on time. 

Lenglui sauntered down with some packed ham rolls for later in the day on the train, which were most welcome at about 10.30 speeding through the Lorraine and Champagne countryside. The taxi and the bags came smack on time, in we climbed and 15 minutes later rolled the bags into the station. Some of the earlier departees were there, and we figured safety in numbers near the platform entrance waiting for our departure platform to get announced.  It was a bit wet and cold and we huddled and chitchatted - quite a miserable end to the trip. So it goes.  We also took the opportunity to validate the tickets as had been reminded us to do on a few prior occasions. Non validation on the French Railway incurs a big Euro fine and no negotiations possible. We had to go through some automatic glass doors to reach them which would then not open from the inside - had to wait until someone else wanted to come in before we could get out and back to our bags. Bloody French. 

On the validation side, mine got done quite briskly, but some of the others tickets would not seem to get easily accepted by the machines - bit sensitive for some reason. Finally all got punched and printed and we were all set. 

The platform got announced, we headed straight up an escalator (unusual in French stations in my experience) and walked the length of the platform to get on the train. We managed to snag the luggage space at the end of the coach and parked in initially the wrong seats but quickly changed to the correct ones - each coach has the same numbered seats but the coaches are not all labelled clearly. Bloody French. A check on the electronic signage on the side of the coach verified the facts and we got sorted. 

Two grey, dozing and uneventful hours later we pulled into CDG station, got the bags off and followed signs up the escalator after which we said goodbyes as we went separate ways for different airline check ins. Here was where my anal need for connection time let me down as we could easily have made the 2pm BA flight (I had booked the 6pm, figuring we could be a bit lazy in Strasbourg and not counting on all the train tickets being booked en masse and at the same early time. My bad). To change to the earlier flight would have cost Euro285 each at which point we opted to lepak around the airport with coffee and lunch and free wifi until check in for the flight opened at 3pm. Which was actually quite fun - read papers, watched planes, went into my No Zone of daydreaming into the distance and communed with the rain. Ommmmmm…..

Lenglui had ordered a wheelchair at check in which got us through into the terminal shops quite smoothly. It was at this time that she found her phone was missing. I ran back to the security but nothing had been handed in. My guess was that it had been stolen - someone dipped into the bag and lifted it. They must have been damn fast - very few opportunities and we are normally quite careful. But Security rushed us a bit and I fancy this was where it might have happened. Though I will check Lost Property in CDG - one never knows. 

One point on the check in - we were not permitted to check our bags straight through to KL even though both BA and MAS are part of the One World Alliance. Seems the rule is that one must book the entire flight through One World for this to kick in. Bugger. So we had to retrieve the bags at the Terminal Five luggage carousel and then lug them to the transfer terminus for further lugging across to Terminal Four. 

It was a good simple flight to Heathrow, again opting for a wheelchair processing on landing. We were wheeled by a seemingly dour Londoner who turned out to be quite the raconteur. He told us stories about who he had pushed in his wheelchair. Bit like the proverbial London taxi driver - "Oi 'ad that Victoria Beckham in moi cab larst week" kind of chap. He shared that his most memorable passenger had been Pele, and said that it took an age to get him to the destination because everyone wanted to shake Pele's hand. Cute story, non? No one stopped to shake Lenglui's hand. 

On reaching the Transfer desk, we got told it would be at least a forty minute wait for the Special Wheelchair bus to pick us up. What to do? We were pretty locked into wheelchair process so figured we just had to ride it out. I went for a walk and found the toilet. Forty minutes naturally became an hour - but we had plenty of time so no major panic. During this time I witnessed an incident between a BA staff member and the wheelchair assistance receptionist during which he reduced her to tears through his bullying manner and accusations of her not seeming to be caring about a lost elderly passenger he was trying to locate. I passed a card to offer myself as a witness which the office later took up (I wrote and emailed a report, heard nothing since, doubt that I will but there you go. The BA Staff member was unnecessarily mean. Hope his next crap is a Durian). 

We got loaded on the Wheelchair Bus and swiftly transferred with the bags to Terminal Four and straight to Business Class check in. At the last minute Lenglui decided to check in her hand carry and take out her toiletries. This would cause a twenty minute delay as security would yank it to check for explosives. There were quite a number of people getting their liquids checked. One woman had come through with a bag full of toileteries - looked like she would be there for an hour. It does unnecessarily delay things because the checking takes up personnel and backlogs passengers on what was supposed to be the Express Lane. There is a case for Spot Fine to encourage people not to bring liquids through, though enforcing it would be a nightmare - need a trained linguist to communicate with all the various nationalities. Anyhow, the upshot of all this was we only got to the MAS Lounge at 9pm ahead of a 9.50 flight. I managed to down three cans of Guinness and some finger food and nuts - absolutely wonderful. Could totally feel the valves letting out their steam and relaxing thanks to the magic that is the Booze. Lenglui went for the Gin and Tonic. 

We were seated separately in Business Class for some reason but no matter - supper and a sleeping pill and after half a movie I was asleep and getting woken for breakfast two hours ahead of a 6pm touchdown. Got swiftly through customs and immigration, and our bags were almost the first coming out on the Carousel. I booked a limo at the counter, negotiated the KLIA Exit gate, clambered into the limo and we were home just before 8pm. Brilliantly smooth through KLIA and the MEX Highway. 

And that was pretty much that. We unpacked, loaded the washing machine, poured ourselves a couple of Gin and Tonics and turned on the TV and waited for sleep. Tomorrow would be a working day. Back to the world. No bad thing. As the old song goes, it's so nice to go traveling but it is so much nicer to come home. Word. 

IWFS Tokyo February 2014 Day Five

SATURDAY FEB 22ND

Feeling a need for carbo, and seeing the other restaurant had its usual long queue, we had a Western breakfast before checking out of the Keio Plaza and leaving the bags at the left luggage. We had some shoes and clothes and a stolen blanket that we we originally going to bin, but I suggested that maybe we give it to the homeless people outside the Shinjuku station. There were a number of people there, but two old pitiful guys stood out. One was dazed, the other was asleep. We gave one bag to each. The dazed one just grabbed onto it and pulled it to his chest; the one who was sleeping, we left it behind him. When we walked back about five hours later I noticed the bag was still there. Guess he didn't know it was meant for him. At the same time, no one else had taken it. Pride? Or some sense of honesty among the homeless? Not sure.

Katsukura Tonkatsu Restaurant

Before we checked out, we had snagged a map from Paul as to where lunch would be. He had scored it from Reiko. It was the Katsukura, a Tonkatsu place on the 14th floor of the Takashimaya. Reiko had written on it as to what it was (which was just as well since it was all in Japanese and pretty useless to us Gaijin otherwise). Same with a map with directions to a ramen noodle place, which we never got around to visiting. But there you go. Another piece of paper to save as a memory. 

Paul and Ria at the Katsukura

We decided to go straight and first have lunch at Katsukura (as did friends Paul and Ria) and then spend our remaining Yen in the food section. Which we did. We also had coffee and cake at a sit up and beg style bar in the Taka food store, which was a good rest spot. We then proceeded to buy up a hunk of Wagyu beef offered at special discount and some parma ham and salami at the Peck outlet. Peck is a Milan legend for fine food of a pork persuasion and we always buy if we are there. We could not pass up the chance to stock up. There is so much ceremony in the transaction process here. Buying the beef was a bit of an arduous three act play requiring the service of a translator (who incidentally was from Pahang Malaysia doing a Masters in Japan and doing part time work to learn the language and who said he had earlier been helpful with friends Ria and Paul). The Japanese seem to like to make an occasion about what we would consider simple procedures. My feeling is that they are very scared of making a mistake and don't want to be called up about it. Fair enough. Buying the ham was more of a bowing match, littered with pronouncements (in Japanese) of presumably what we wanted, confirmation of what we had bought, how much it was, how much we were giving Mr Peck, how much change we were getting back and thank you very much. Bit arduous for guys who are used to fast action buying but cute nonetheless. 

Lengjai and Lenglui. And Tonkatsu. Yum.

View from the Sky Bar

Headed back to hotel with an hour to spare so went to the Sky Bar for a final drink. Lenglui had sparkling wine with cake and I had a Guinness. Very pleasant overlooking the Tokyo skyline. We had the shadow side, the other side of the Bar had the sunset which was a bit fierce on the eyes. 

Throughout our time in Tokyo, Lenglui had loved the heated toilet seats everywhere and the automatic raising and flushing. Seems you open the door and the seat raises, but we couldn't check if the seat lowered when the door closed on exit. Lenglui tried to fool the seat in the Taka toilet by closing while she was still in there, but the toilet wouldn't have it. Smart toilet seats. Yes.

Back down to retrieve the bags and pack the meat. Bit of a wait and watching some SIA flight crew getting herded onto their bus. Their luggage was large and expensive - nice top of the range suitcases. Our Bus limo to Narita airport took nearly two hours, the first of which was just getting out of Tokyo city. A more direct link via high speed train would be a winner. Apparently, it can be done on the transit which involves a change of train, and is hugely cheaper - the airport bus limo is Y3,000 whereas Transit is Y1,100. But with multiple bags the bus becomes necessary - humping bags from one platform to another is no joke. Presumably there is a reason why there is no direct link from Shinjuku, but it would be a tremendous improvement compared to the two hours on the bus. 

Another view from the Sky Bar

Got stopped by security before entering the airport to check passports and then straight to check in. Paul and Ria thoughtfully blagged the assistant and got us checked us in through their business class counter. As a result, we forgot to check where our seats were and ended up in the middle of the centre aisle. We normally prefer the aisle seat so we can pee without disturbing. But MAS now charge to reserve seats. We forgot to check at check in. Nyaaaaahhhhhhh. 

Ate a ham and cheese roll and shared some beers with Lenglui bought at the airport store for final Yen clearout before boarding. It was a very full flight. Got seated and settled in. It would prove to be probably one of the worst flights I have experienced.  Context - the flight is a seven hour trip, taking off at 9.40pm and scheduled to land at 4am in Kuala Lumpur. We have a supper at 10.40pm. Those who are able to, sleep. Sleep is necessary, since our biorhythms are out of whack to begin with. Yet Cabin crew insist on waking everyone up to feed us at 2am in the morning, two hours ahead of landing. In this, they equally insist on getting people to upright their seats so that those behind can eat in comfort. The food in question was a manky egg sandwich with a cup of cold tea. No utensils were involved. Now, where cutlery and hot food or drink is involved then I can see a point in uprighting seats. But to wake people up at 2am to feed them on a seven hour flight when most people would prefer to sleep (assuming they can sleep on an airplane) AND to upright their seats when no cutlery and no hot drinks appeared to be involved was ludicrous and inane in the extreme. It showed a stunning lack of judgement on the part of MAS Cabin crew (or presumably MAS Management - cabin crew will only do what they are told by senior management and are probably left little discretion to think for themselves). Putting food above a decent sleep and insisting seats be upright just to eat a sandwich I feel is dumb and made for a truly bad customer experience. Very angry at the stewardess for waking up the Lenglui. I will look not fly short haul MAS again. Bad food and service like this with no option not to eat is something I find unacceptable. 

Arrrived at KLIA at 4.15am, easy get through Immigration and baggage. Got whacked by the midnight surcharge for the Airport limo, paying RM175 to get home. Upside was it only took forty minutes on the early morning roads. Got home, unloaded the meat into the fridge and slept the morning off. A wonderful trip but as always, so nice to get back home in your own bed and in front of a TV that speaks your language. A hearty Three Cheers to Tony-san for organising a brilliant trip and our grateful thanks for letting us see and taste Tokyo in such excellent company and in such amazing eateries. Arigato Gozaimas IWFS and Tokyo!!