おはようございます and Show me the Money!

おはようございます！That's ohayogozaimasu, or good morning!

Well, it is just before 8:00 am and I am about to head out for the day.  I had a minor fiasco last night that made me feel like a Japan rookie and travel rookie in general.

Basically, I couldn't get my ATM card to work at any of the banks.  Wells Fargo had issued me a temporary card that was still good through 2016, and I informed them that I would be traveling in Japan.  

No problem....!  Except it was.  The card wouldn't work anywhere, and four customer service calls later, still no good.

Fortunately, Visa saved me.  I was able to set up a pin and get a cash advance so that I could use my credit card to withdraw cash from 7-11, and also as a normal card to make purchases.  So, big thumbs up for Visa, big thumb up somewhere not pleasant for Wells Fargo. Booooo....

Anyway, on a lighter note, I had a nice breakfast in the hotel this morning, and pretty healthy too.  Pictured above is rice congee with some pickled sea vegetables, cilantro, dried plum and chicken, a salad with a bunch of sea vegetables (kelp/seaweed), a "potage" soup and some Ceylon tea.  

I also had another shot of one of my favorite skewers from last night, of 鶏皮 (torikawa) chicken skin.  It was served with 七味 (shichimi) or seven spice, which you can buy at a Japanese grocery store back home, and a side of homemade miso paste.  If this irks you at all (I can't imagine it would, chicken skin is pretty tame), you might have been more bothered by what I noticed on the chalkboard of specials, which was 鯨ベーコン (kujira bacon) whale bacon 🐳. 

Ummm.....at least it wasn't dolphin?  I've heard Japanese refer to whales as the cockroaches of the sea, in defense of their harvesting of these animals.  I wonder if a cockroach is the whale of the land.  Is tuna still chicken of the sea?

I digress.

The yakitori here is really unparalleled.  There are a bunch of yakitori places in the Bay Area, new ones popping up all the time.  If these pictures are making you hungry and not squeamish, I would say that ゆづき (Yuzuki)  in the Mission and 一服 (Ippuku) in Berkeley are the most authentic and would steer clear of the rest.  Ippuku is really the closest it comes to Japan....IMHO.

Anyway, off now for a fun filled day in Tokyo...will be sure to bring my camera.

Ciao ragazzi and good evening!  Happy trick or treating :).