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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

The Selfish Years

Tag Archives: Tokyo

Keeping it Short and Suite at the Park Hyatt Tokyo

25 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Guest of Honor, Park Hyatt, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, suite, Tokyo

Mrs. Selfish and I stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo twice before – once during the Selfish Year trip, and a second time during our trip to the Maldives. It’s one of our favorite hotels in the world, and one I was looking forward to sharing it with Baby Selfish.

During our first two stays, we had temporary diamond status (back when Hyatt was overly generous with their diamond trial), which meant we had free room service breakfast, access to the sauna, and free admission to the NYC bar during the diamond happy hour. Amazing benefits, to be sure, and ones which we were not going to get this time around as lowly Platinum members.

Upgrading to the Suite & Guest of Honor status

Since I still had a diamond suite certificate to burn, I booked the three of us into a king suite for two nights on a severely reduced paid stay using a combination of the Best Rate Guaranteed 20% discount and buying Hyatt gift certificates at 15% off.

In the end, we ended up paying something like 55% of the rack rate for the room and were upgraded to a suite. Pretty great.

Since we wanted to spend a total of 4 nights at the PHT so Mrs. Selfish’s parents could recover from jetlag, I booked the remaining two nights in a standard king, transferring points over to Cousin Selfish’s account so we could try out the Guest of Honor status.

If you’ve never tried Guest of Honor status you basically get to partake in a diamond member’s benefits if they book the room for you with points. Hyatt’s transfer policy is fairly generous, though a member can only receive points from another member once every 30 days, so make sure to transfer all your points at once!

I was secretly hoping that the Park Hyatt Tokyo would give us the best of both worlds and keep us in the suite for 4 nights while giving us diamond status, but didn’t have high hopes since this IS Japan after all. As expected, they followed the rules down to the letter.

Baby Selfish enjoying the view.

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Baby Selfish’s 1st International Trip: Japan!

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hilton, Hyatt, Japan, Kyoto, Tokyo

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Baby Selfish, Japan, Kyoto, Nara, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo

Mrs. Selfish and I decided to take our Selfish Year journey as an end cap to our fading young-adult years. We had always enjoyed traveling as young professionals, and decided a year abroad together would be a great way to “get it out of our systems” prior to having a kid.

Boy were we wrong.

A year later and I’m more addicted to traveling than ever. In fact, after settling in San Francisco, we ended up spending over 3 of the next 15 months outside of the country.

So when we found out Mrs. Selfish was pregnant, I immediately did what any other miles & points enthusiast would do in my shoes and started planning Baby Selfish’s first international trip.

Yep, back to Japan!

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Where’s the Wagyu Beef? At Maruni!

27 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Maruni, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, wagyu, wagyu beef

During our first visit to Japan in 2009, Mr. Selfish and I feasted at Grill Miyata, which was located in Kyoto but is now closed, for the best wagyu beef ever. With the revelation that most “Kobe” or “wagyu” beef in the States is in fact just regular beef, we knew that we had to have it again while in Japan.

Wagyu is expensive, as it should be. The term refers to several breeds of cattle that are genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of unsaturated fat. This, of course, makes them extra tasty.

Mr. Selfish and I did some research online and decided to try Maruni (1-11-1, Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0004). It is a small yakiniku restaurant where they grill the meat right in front of you.

Wagyu 01Wagyu 04Wagyu 05Wagyu 06

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THIS IS THE FUTURE: Tokyo Robots

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Asia, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Gundam, Robot Restaurant, Robot Show, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shinjuku, Tokyo

During our last visit to Tokyo, Mrs. Selfish and I spent a fair amount of time checking out the weird bits of Japan. We drank at the bizarro-Japanese DisneySea. We chased after lolita girls in Harijuku. We wandered around super nerdy Akihabara, and ultra trendy Shibuya. We even found Godzilla.

Amidst all of our nerdy wanderings, however, we somehow neglected robots. It was time to set things right.

Tokyo Robots 005

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Good Eats in Tokyo: Yuian Izakaya and Jinnan Curry

25 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Tokyo

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Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Jinnan Curry, Little Shop, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Yuian, Yuian Izakaya

I love Japanese food. During our travel during the selfish year, Japanese food is the one cuisine of which I never got tired. Considering that we spent over forty days in Japan, that is quite a feat. Here are two tasty restaurants that we discovered during our last time in Tokyo.

Yuian Izakaya: A Great View and Good Food

Although Mr. Selfish and I are quite partial to the 35 Steps in Shibuya, we decided to give another izakaya a try. We found rave reviews for Yuian Izakaya (2-6-1 Shinjuku Sumitomo Building 52F) online and booked it for our last night in Tokyo. It is located in Shinjuku on the 52nd floor of an office building, which makes for great views during dinner.

Tokyo Eats 09Tokyo Eats 10Tokyo Eats 11Tokyo Eats 12

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Relaxing in Roppongi

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Tokyo

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Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Roppongi, Roppongi Fukuzushi, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Zōjō-ji, Zōjō-ji Temple

Mr. Selfish and I always love visiting Tokyo. We usually stay in the areas of Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, and Harajuku. This time, we decided to go to the expat area – Roppongi.

Ropponggi 01

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Pumping Iron at the Park Hyatt Tokyo

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Park Hyatt, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo

Mrs. Selfish and I were originally planning on skipping Tokyo altogether, having gone there twice before. Unfortunately, I had some difficulty finding a business award flight from Tokyo to San Francisco. Availability was limited at the time I booked our tickets, so I opted to book economy, with the hopes that 2 business class awards would open up closer to our travel date.

After checking back every day for two months, I finally found 2 business class awards. Unfortunately, they were 4 days after our connecting flight from Okinawa. Fortunately, we love Tokyo.

Having had a wonderful 5 night stay at the Park Hyatt Tokyo last May, I decided to book 3 nights at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. While I wasn’t surprised that the hotel was still amazing, I was surprised by who I ran into at the Park Hyatt’s gym – let me set the scene.

The Park Hyatt’s gym is small, especially the weight section, which can’t fit more than 6-8 people comfortably. Just check this puppy out:

tokyo-park-hyatt-022

So it didn’t take me very long to realize that the hulking man doing bicep curls to my left was none other than the Governator himself, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger. After a few awkward glances, I fell into my normal routine until the man left, without saying a word to him. After I told Mrs. Selfish what happened, she told me to wake up her up the following morning, should Arnold be at the gym a second time.

The second morning I woke up and bam!, there he was again. After a quick phone call, Mrs. Selfish arrived with camera in tow, so that we would have photographic evidence of our encounter with Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Behold!

Park Hyatt Tokyo 001

Mr. Schwarzenegger was in town promoting his new movie, Escape Plan, and was a guest at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Though he seemed like he had a packed day, he still took the time to pose for a picture with us, which was pretty cool. Though I never saw him outside of the gym itself, I did see his Japanese bodyguard on several more occasions.

Anyway, back to the hotel itself.

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5 Nights of Pampering in the Park Hyatt Tokyo

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, Japan, Tokyo, Travel Hacking

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Japan, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Travel Hacking

For our last five nights in Japan I booked us at the mother of all hotel redemptions – the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Famously shown in “Lost in Translation,” the Park Hyatt Tokyo has become a point-collector’s dream redemption: a luxury hotel in the middle of Tokyo, with killer food, killer views, and a killer price tag.

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Hiking in Mount Takao Outside of Tokyo

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Asia, Day Trip, Japan, Mount Takao, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Takaosan, Tokyo, Yakuoin Temple

The gym that Mr. Selfish and I found in Tokyo was closed on Mondays, so we decided to take a day trip to Mount Takao on a Monday for some easy hiking. It takes about 50 minutes and 370 yen to reach Mount Takao (aka Takaosan) from Shinjuku. On a clear day, you can see Tokyo, Mount Fuji, and Yokohama from the top.

Mount Takao has seven clearly marked trails. Mr. Selfish and I decided to hike up the Biwa Waterfall trail and down trail #1, which passes the monkey forest and the Yakuoin temple.

Mount Takao 01

The Biwa Waterfall trail takes you along the limpid waters of the Biwataki Stream through a forest of low cedars. We saw the Biwa Waterfall from a distance but weren’t too compelled to come closer since it seemed quite small.

HikingMount Takao 06Mount Takao 07

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Searching for the Best Ramen in Tokyo

29 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Searching for the Best . . ., Tokyo

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Asia, Food & Drinks, Ichiran, Japan, Kyushu Jangara, Menya Musashi, Ramen, Rokkakuya, Tokyo

Mr. Selfish and I knew that as soon as arrived in Tokyo, we would start our search for the best ramen there. We went to three new ramen shops, as well as an Ichiran, which we loved in Fukuoka.

Kyushu Jangara

First, we went to Kyushu Jangara, which is located in Harajuku (located at Shanzeru Harajuku II 1-2F, 1-13-21 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). They serve tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen with a boiled egg, pork chashu, and thick slices of pork belly.

Ramen 01Ramen 03Ramen 04Ramen 06Ramen 07Ramen 08

Verdict: The ramen was quite tasty, especially with the two different types of pork. The broth was porky and flavorful but the noodles were just standard.

Score: 8.0.

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Godzilla!!! and Other Parts of Tokyo

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Asia, Japan, Tokyo

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Tags

Fish Market, Godzilla, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Toto, Tsukiji

Japan is known for its cultural oddities – girl groups, cosplayers, robots, and advanced toilet technology to name a few.  Since our last trip to Tokyo only scratched the surface of bizarro-Japan, Mrs. Selfish and I vowed to find some of the weirder parts.

Starting with a pilgrimage to find a statue of one of Tokyo’s oldest icons: Godzilla.

Yeah, couldn’t resist taking that photo.

Searching for Godzilla

A quick search found that Godzilla was close to the Imperial Palace, in the adjacent Hibiya Park.  With map in hand, we quickly set off to find the giant mutant.

While the park was lovely, Godzilla was no where to be found!  Mrs. Selfish decided to ask the local park information – and discovered that Godzilla was actually in a much smaller park to the east.

Apparently Godzilla is no longer big in Japan.

If you’re trying to find the guy, Godzilla is located right next to the Starbucks behind the Hibiya station.  I guess the guy is down on his luck.

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Nerdy Tokyo: Akihabara, Harajuku, and Shibuya

27 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Asia, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Akihabara, Cosplay, Goth Lolita, Harajuku, Japan, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shibuya, Tokyo

Tokyo has a large nerd culture. Colossally large. So large, that the Japanese seem completely oblivious to how strange it is. While spotting someone dressed in costume Stateside is an oddity outside of Halloween, it’s par for the course in Tokyo.

As part of our nerdy Japan explorations, Mrs. Selfish and I decided we would visit some of Tokyo’s unique neighborhoods – in particular Akihabara, Shibuya, and Harajuku.

What were we looking for?

Cosplayers.

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Big in Japan: Heading to a Sumo Tournament

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Asia, Japan, Tokyo

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Tags

Japan, Ryoguko Kokugikan, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sumo, Tokyo

With 43 days to allocate in Japan this time around, we decided to end the Japan portion of our trip with a two week stay in Tokyo. As one of the largest cities in the world, I figured the sites and food would be enough to keep us perpetually running from one side of the city to the other.

So it was very serendipitous that we happened to catch the tail end of May’s Sumo tournament at Ryoguko Kokugikan.

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Visiting the Other Park: Tokyo Disneyland

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Disney, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Asia, Disney, Disneyland, Japan, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Tokyo Disneyland

Mr. Selfish and I were looking most forward to visiting Tokyo DisneySea but when we looked at the ticket prices, we figured we would also go to Tokyo Disneyland.

A 1-day pass to either park costs 6,200 yen. However, there is no park hopper option for a 1-day pass. Nevertheless, you can buy an after-6pm pass for the second park, which costs 3,300 yen. Together, a 1-day pass and an after-6pm pass costs 9,500 yen, whereas a 2-day pass costs 10,700 yen. Since it wasn’t much of a price difference, we decided to purchase a 2-day pass.

Tokyo Disneyland 01

Tokyo Disneyland is very similar to California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Magic Kingdom. It was built in 1983 and is the third most visited park after its stateside counterparts. The park has seven areas: the World Bazaar, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Mickey’s Toontown, Tomorrowland, Critter Country, and Westernland.

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Sailing the Seven Seas of Tokyo DisneySea

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Disney, Japan, Tokyo

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Asia, Disney, Disney Sea, DisneySea, Japan, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Tokyo Disney Sea, Tokyo DisneySea

Mr. Selfish and I were quite psyched to visit Tokyo DisneySea since we had heard so many wonderful things about it. We had very high expectations for this park, and amazingly, it did not disappoint.

Opening in 2001, Tokyo DisneySea is the most expensive theme park ever built costing over $4 billion USD. It is currently the fourth busiest theme park in the world – just after Disneyland in California, Magic Kingdom in Florida, and Disneyland in Tokyo. However, the park was so well-planned that it actually did not feel that busy.

Disney Sea 01

Mr. Selfish and I found Tokyo DisneySea to be distinctly Japanese. First of all, the vast majority of the attendees (probably 95%) were Japanese. Second, most of the attendees were adults. Third, attendees were very cutsey and adored the Disney Bear – Duffy. Our first introduction to Duffy was back in Epcot in 2011 back when Mr. Selfish and I were still taking vicious photos for our annual Christmas card.

Oh no Duffy

While Duffy isn’t that big in the States, he is HUGE in Japan. Even the men were sporting Duffy merchandise. We ran into couples that had over thirty Duffy bears.

Disney Sea 02Disney Sea 03

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Mr. and Mrs. Selfish are an obsessively organized couple who sold all their junk to travel abroad for a year. Now settled in San Francisco, they have since visited over 200 cities in 44 countries over 6 continents. This site chronicles their travels.

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