Afternoon tea in Tokyo series: Andaz Tokyo

So, I started one of two new hobbies(?)/activities of interest today.

Afternoon tea at the different hotels in Tokyo... Haha!

That's one of the things I kind of liked a lot when I was still living in Singapore - brunch and sometimes, afternoon tea. Hehe!

Sooo.... today I headed to my first of many venues - Andaz Tokyo at Toranomon Hills.

Initially, the weather forecast was cloudy so I wasn't expecting a great view. Also, I booked a table via this great site called JPNEazy. For a measly ¥500, they were able to book a table for me. Of course, I asked for a table by the window but they told me the lounge was fully booked.

Surprise, surprise. When I arrived at the place this afternoon, not only was I able to get in about an hour before my reserved time, they also gave me a table by the window. Hurrah!

The afternoon tea is at the Andaz Tavern on the 51st floor. Because this is Japan (or maybe because it’s Andaz... lol!), the decors, the design was pure understated elegance.

I think the afternoon menu changes every so often. For summer, the theme is tomato from Kumamoto (based on the website).

The sweet and savory creations were served on a three-tiered stand. I’m not really a tea person, so I just got a latte instead. Hehe!

At first, I thought I would finish everything in under an hour. I had to tell myself that part of the afternoon tea experience is to enjoy the view and the food.

So, I made sure I got my money’s worth and stayed for about 2 hours. Haha! I didn’t feel guilty at all because 1.) I paid an insane amount of money and 2.) the place was not packed at all. Anybody could have walked in and they would have gotten a table immediately. Hehe!

Food was enjoyable. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it because it was tomato but I actually loved everything. The service, of course, was great.

I spent a good amount of time taking photos of the food and the outside view. One of the wait staff approached me and asked if there was something wrong with my food. Haha! So I just explained that I was taking photos of everything.

After the meal (and to feel less guilty about what I ate), I walked back to my place from Andaz Tokyo at a leisurely pace. It took me just about an hour. It wasn’t far at all. In the morning, I went for a 7K run. Hehe!

It was a good first experience for afternoon tea in Tokyo. Next month, I’ll try another place. Haha!

Solo karaoke X ohitorisama life...

Recently, I learned of the "Ohitorisama" culture. It refers to people living and doing things alone. (hitori means one person. sama is an honorific title "Mr./Ms." o is an honorific prefix.

To some people, I know doing things alone seems depressing or unbearable. Not to me. For as long as I can remember, I've been okay doing things on my own. When I did my internship in university, I had lunch on my own because I was the only intern in my department and my bosses had their own schedules. I've never had any issues watching movies on my own or dining alone. True that I'm clingy to my friends, but yeah I don't mind being on my own when no one's around.

And it seems I've found the perfect place to live the "ohitorisama" life. Haha!

I've yet to find the same kind of friends I have in Manila and in Singapore. For some reason, most of the people I meet here turn out to be one-way kind of friendships. I was the one always inviting the other party to do something.

I learned my lesson the painful way. Lol. Example, there was this one person I hung out with. One time, I lamented how I have no real friends in Tokyo. The person said, "Hey! I'm your friend." Gullible person that I am, I believed him. But whenever I invited this person to hang out, there was always some kind of excuse. Eventually, I just got tired dealing with the BS and stopped making an effort. There were a few other similar encounters.

Oh well, I'm sure they have their reasons and it's perfectly fine. Thankfully, there are still a few who I think I can consider as real friends.

But recently, I had this realization than I'm done with such kinds of toxic relationships.

So, enter the decision to adopt the "Ohitorisama" life, at least for now.

Haha! That was such a long introduction, what I really wanted to say was that I found this awesome karaoke place for solo people! It's a chain and there's one that's really, really close to my house.

Since today's a holiday, I decided to check it out.

It was goooooood!!! Hmm, the selection of English songs were updated. The downside is you should probably know how to read hiragana/katakana, at least. That's because you'll have to register as a member. Also, if you want to sing Japanese songs, there's no romaji option so hiragana/katakana knowledge would be useful. Chinese and Korean songs are also available.

Because it's Golden Week, the place was almost deserted. I imagine it gets busy on regular days. It was a good decision to check it out tonight.

The facilities were really good. They have a drink all you can station.

One of the really good things as well, and this is going to sounds really "ohitorisama", is that you can sing as crazy as you want, you can sing whatever song you want, you don't have to wait for your turn to sing. While it is true that karaoke with friends is probably more fun, there are times when you just want to sing your heart out. Haha!

The name of the place is 1Kara. They've got a few branches in Tokyo. Will definitely be back soon....

Corrected version...

Below is the corrected version from one of the tutors at italki.com:

今日は忙しくないかったよ。たぶん、GWなのでだから。←なので sounds a little bit formal. You wrote in a casual way and だから sounds better:)

今朝、一つのレッスンはひとつだけだった。レッスンの後で帰りた。 →レッスンの後(家に)帰った。

家から皇居に行って、皇居のまわりにを走った。

それから、２時間に日本語のオンラインレッスンがあったよ。

夜は仕事があった。ちょっと忙しいかった。

明日、仕事があるけど、早く起きなくてもいいよ。すごくよかったよ。 →すごく嬉(うれ)しい。or よかった！ 明日の午後は日比谷でに友達と映画を観に行く予定だよ。 ←日比谷で友達と映画を観る and 日比谷に友達と映画を観に行く:)

楽しみにだよ。

５月２日：今日は。。。

こんばんは。

今日は忙しくないよ。たぶん、GWなので。

今朝、一つのレッスンだけだった。レッスンの後で帰りた。

家から皇居に行って、皇居のまわりに走った。

それから、２時間に日本語のオンラインレッスンがあったよ。

夜は仕事があった。ちょっと忙しいかった。

明日、仕事があるけど、早く起きなくてもいいよ。すごくよかったよ。

明日の午後は日比谷で友達と映画を観に行く予定だよ。

楽しみによ。

Another near miss...

I went out on a date last night. It wasn't really planned. He was one of the guys I chatted with months ago but we never got the chance to meet up.

Anyway, last night our schedules matched and we agreed to have dinner.

It was good. I actually enjoyed. We went to an izakaya around Okachimachi.

I say it was good because the conversation flowed naturally. There were no awkward moments. Plus, I thought it was a good sign because we sort of had a number of things in common: he liked the outdoors; he's interested in similar movies; he likes walking.

As we were about to end dinner, I asked him if he wanted to walk around Ueno Park. He agreed so I thought it was a good sign.

I thought it was also a good sign because he agreed to go walking even though he lived in a neighboring prefecture and even though he had to wake up early today due to work.

Anyway, this morning, I messaged him and invited him to do dinner but he said he wanted to go home immediately after work.

That's my sign I guess.

Another near miss. When will I ever get it right? Lol!

Two new hobbies... sort of...

Last month, my ex was in town and he said, "Make sure you stop to smell the roses."

That kind of stayed with me. I've been working my big, fat a** off every day like crazy. I do find some time to enjoy but I feel that I'm not really making the most of life in Japan.

So starting next month, I've decided to get myself into two new things.

Hopefully, they'll both be good. Hehe!

Sunday run....

So, it was a productive Sunday.

In the morning, I went to work. I had a few lessons and I was happy to see some of my usual students in the other learning studio.

In the afternoon, I did some house chores and some side jobs. At the same time, I also found time to squeeze in a jog around the Palace.

The run was much longer since it was a weekend.

I was pretty happy with my time given that the last time I did a run more than 5K was ages ago. Haha!

Laksa dinner...

Today was a busy day. It wasn't the usual busy but it was busy.

Does that make sense? Lol!

After work, I was supposed to go to a birthday party. However, I was just dead tired and I wanted a quiet evening so I told the celebrant I couldn't make it.

On the way back home, I passed by a Singaporean restaurant near the office to treat myself. Lol!

I've been meaning to try the food at the restau and I'm glad that I finally had a chance to do it.

Initially, I planned to get chicken rice and laksa. I eventually settled for laksa, chicken satay, and.... drumroll please... bubur hitam for dessert.

The food was good. This is Japan after all! Lol! Still, I could taste the difference from Toastbox's laksa and 328 Katong Laksa and the satay stalls at Lau Pa Sat.

I was one happy boy though... even though I had to shell out ¥3,000 for dinner. Hahaha!

Now, I have to look for another restau to satisfy my craving for rendang.

Sometimes, I think I'm too nice...

Someone once told me that I'm too nice. And that I have to stop being too nice.

That person's not the first one to tell me such.

The thing is I don't think I'm a nice person. I'm just your usual guy, I think. I wouldn't say I'm rude, though. Lol. I would say that I was much nicer when I was in my early 20s.

However, life has taught me so many things. Maybe it also comes with age. Now that I'm in my 30s, (most of the time) I just stopped caring about what other people think. I now feel like I can say no without the guilt. I will leave a place if I don't feel like being there. And I noticed I have no more patience to listen to idiots. Lol!

Even so, I still think I'm a nice guy.

Sometimes, I think I should heed that person's advice.

The other day, a friend I had not seen for some time asked me to lunch. I was happy because I had not seen this friend in a while.

On the day of the lunch, all of a sudden this friend dragged someone along.

Long story short I ended up being the third wheel in what was supposed to be a catchup.

It makes me wonder why some people do the things they do.

Lol.

３月２０日: 今日は。。。

今日はよかったの日だよ。

朝の仕事はとても忙しかったよ。だけど、楽しかったよ。

最初のレッスンは７時に始めた。今朝６のレッスンがあった。僕の生徒はほとんど ビジネスマンだよ。いろいろなレベルよ。何人かビギナーズよ。何人か上級よ。

仕事の後で早く帰りた。二つの日本語のレッスンがあった。１２時から午後の２時までだよ。

家に帰る途中コンビニでコーヒーを買うのを立ち寄った。

今日の日本語のレッスンはすごく面白かっただよ。二人の先生は親切で優しいだよ。

だっから日本語のべんきょうをするは楽しかったよ。

夜は仕事があった。午後の６時から１０時までだよ。夜は５人の生徒はいった。

今日は忙しかったけど嬉しかっただよ。(•‿•)