Konbanwa, Tokyo

I don't have a picture of yesterday's best meal, but I do have a picture of the man who made it. After arriving at the hotel yesterday I dragged Chris out for a bite to eat. We ran into several of Chris's cohorts, including an eccentric Australian translator fluent in Japanese who ordered for us. Treasures arrived in the form of a bowlful of succulent assorted fish slices, roe, tamago cubes, and slimy but tasty onion-okra mix atop sushi rice. Everything was delicious, but the revelation was the spoonful of perfectly seasoned, chopped flesh from the back of a tuna, naka ochi. Must get more, soon.


Service on Japan Airlines is orders of magnitude better than on any domestic airline I've flown in the last 15 years. Although they weren't terrific, these set meals hit the spot, right when I needed them. First meal, clockwise from upper left: red-bean jelly, Caesar salad, a slice of smoked fish, tamago and tiny pile of spinach, roll, over-cooked pan-fried cod with tomato sauce and green beans, and cold green tea.


The second meal: apple juice, a couple wedges of grapefruit and ripe melon, a small green salad with radish and cukes, tortellini with bits of salmon, and whole wheat roll.

Overall, a very good first day.