Somehow two months have already passed since my trip to Tokyo. I go there often, but Tokyo always has something new. This time too I mostly went around places I hadn’t been to yet.
Edogawa Park
It’s near Kagurazaka, over toward Iidabashi/Yotsuya… not sure that explanation helps. It’s roughly in the middle of Tokyo’s 23 wards. In the back you can see a sign that says Chinzan-so. What used to be a nobleman’s villa has been turned into a garden. While I was there, I also dropped by the Four Seasons, the flagship of six-star hotels, which sits inside it. Maybe because it was the weekend, I saw people heading to the hotel every now and then. Probably for weddings.
The torii on the way up
Since the Four Seasons is practically on the level you could call the best in the world, apparently a lot of celebrities stay there when they come to Tokyo. It’s close to the Budokan, too. I figured having the hotel in a quiet spot rather than the busy city center is also good for protecting celebrities’ privacy.
The main gate
It’s not huge, but it’s very well kept.
A sofa in the hallway
Gorgeous. You’d expect nothing less from a top-class hotel.
The inner garden
They’ve turned an entire hill into a garden. A very Japanese landscape.
Since I was there anyway, I stopped by the lounge and ordered the afternoon tea set.
I had the Midori (fresh green) afternoon tea, and my companion had the Royal Afternoon Tea.
Here’s the table.
If the Mandarin Oriental is modern, I’d call the Four Seasons classic. I think it’s pointless to rank hotels of a similar class, but I get the feeling Westerners would rate the Four Seasons higher.
White peach tea
The peach aroma really rises up out of the cup. A black tea that makes drinking tea a pleasure.
The Midori tea is brewed straight from fresh leaves that look like they were just picked.
Tea like this can’t possibly taste bad. There’s nowhere in Korea that does proper herbal tea, so I seriously considered starting a little vegetable garden of my own.
The desserts from the afternoon tea set
The champagne jelly on the very top left the strongest impression. And the warm scones dipped in delicious strawberry jam were truly amazing. Apparently you can also get the scones to take away on their own, but I had dinner plans so I didn’t. I didn’t expect much from the food, but it was better than I thought.
The strawberry jam in question
The strawberries had a soft, squishy bite to them. I spread it on a scone and it was so good that I asked what brand it was — it’s a brand sold at upscale supermarkets like Seijo Ishii and Meidi-ya. It looked so ordinary, who knew it would be this good…
After the afternoon tea, we took a walk.
I’m guessing these are for decorating the wedding venue. Being the weekend, there were really a lot of weddings going on.
This is the garden-side entrance, not the hotel side.
The Four Seasons had some fun shops, plus a dessert/wine shop. There were ridiculously expensive whiskies and wines too, the kind I imagine celebrities open when they stay. All in all it was a beautifully put-together place. If I ever make lots and lots of money, I’d like to stay there at least once in my life.