Today began early, as we had a big morning planned before we head to the airport for our final VacAsian stop, Tokyo, Japan. We dressed and packed before taking a taxi to the Star Ferry for a daylight crossing to Hong Kong Island. Once there, we took another taxi to Luk Yu Tea House in the Soho section of Central Hong Kong to meet a few of Robin's colleagues from Exelon and others, who were in Hong Kong for a few days en route to a wedding in Shanghai. (While it is technically possible to take a taxi from Kowloon, where we were staying, to Hong Kong Island, the taxi drivers in each don't know the geography of the other very well and generally stay off of each other's "turf.") Luk Yu Tea House is widely hailed as the best dim sum (as in "you eat some and then give dim sum") in Hong Kong, and of course, we had to see for ourselves. 
The dim sum at Luk Yu was, in fact, remarkable and authentic, but Huey missed the variety he is used to in New York or even the finer places in Austin. The ambience and staff of Luk Yu was, however, second to none. There were few dim sum carts at Luk Yu; instead, the waitrons toted the vittles around on trays strapped around their necks likes those used by the pillbox hat-wearing "cigarette, cigarillo" girls in old movies (or shot girls in "classy" nightclubs). Unfortunately, we did not have access to carbon dating experts, so we could only guess the average age of the waitrons, but words like "ancient," "prehistoric," and "primeval" come to mind. One of the sharp white-jacketed 
waiters proudly showed off a Polaroid of himself at age 50... posing with Kublai Khan and Marco Polo. One of the dour, gray-smocked waitresses proudly boasted about her original Ming Dynasty vase... that she made herself in third grade art class.These cats were OLD, y'all!
The staff spoke no English (and none of us spoke Cantonese), but it seems the words ROAST PORK BUN are universal, and that was something we all wanted. After dim sum, we made 
our way back to the hotel, where we finished packing and grabbed a taxi to the airport. We had to shift some things around to manage the weight of our bags, but otherwise we had no baggage issues. The best part of check-in was the unsolicited free upgrade to Premium Economy, which included more legroom, bigger, better seats with legrests, and a power outlet at each seat, which allowed Huey to work on this Blog while we flew.
our way back to the hotel, where we finished packing and grabbed a taxi to the airport. We had to shift some things around to manage the weight of our bags, but otherwise we had no baggage issues. The best part of check-in was the unsolicited free upgrade to Premium Economy, which included more legroom, bigger, better seats with legrests, and a power outlet at each seat, which allowed Huey to work on this Blog while we flew.We arrived in Tokyo around 8 PM, and immigration and customs were a breeze. Our hotel recommended we take a hotel shuttle bus from the airport - a taxi would have been close to US $200 - but neglected to note that our flight was arriving 45 minutes after the last shuttle bus of the night left for our hotel. Instead, we took a shuttle bus to Tokyo City Air Terminal, where we found a station wagon taxi - though there are only four, our bags are HUGE - to take us to our hotel.
Park Hotel Tokyo is an ultramodern hotel that sits atop the Shiodome Media Tower in the busy Shiodome area of Downtown Tokyo. The hotel lobby is on the 25th floor, so a porter 
took our bags and escorted us up for check-in. Our room on the 31st floor didn't offer much of a view, but gave us plenty of gadgets and amenities to play with. Our porter - who vehemently declined to accept a tip for helping with our bulky bags and admonished us about the general "no tipping" rule for services in Japan - told us about the 24 hour convenience store in the basement pedestrian concourse level of the hotel, so we opted to go down there to forage for our dinner.
took our bags and escorted us up for check-in. Our room on the 31st floor didn't offer much of a view, but gave us plenty of gadgets and amenities to play with. Our porter - who vehemently declined to accept a tip for helping with our bulky bags and admonished us about the general "no tipping" rule for services in Japan - told us about the 24 hour convenience store in the basement pedestrian concourse level of the hotel, so we opted to go down there to forage for our dinner. Family Mart - where you can apparently pick up an extra third cousin or great nephew along with your potato chips and soda - was essentially a Japanese 7-11. While the sign on the front of the store said "Family Mart" in English, that was the last English we were to encounter there. EVERYTHING was in Japanese - or at least we THINK it was Japanese - from the prices to the
labels to the packaging. We had been spoiled by the goods in other countries, which always offered English "clues" about what the signs or labels said in the native language, but there would be no such guidance here. Consequently, Huey spent the better part of 6 hours trying to distinguish among three bottles of iced tea that differed only in the color of the label. (He ultimately picked "the red one.") We purchased potato chips, other munchies, a roast pork bun, some chicken cutlet sandwiches, Coke - which, despite the language barrier, we could pick out based on its distinctive trade dress (a "shout out" to Huey's trademark peeps) - and, eventually, iced tea, and returned to the room.
labels to the packaging. We had been spoiled by the goods in other countries, which always offered English "clues" about what the signs or labels said in the native language, but there would be no such guidance here. Consequently, Huey spent the better part of 6 hours trying to distinguish among three bottles of iced tea that differed only in the color of the label. (He ultimately picked "the red one.") We purchased potato chips, other munchies, a roast pork bun, some chicken cutlet sandwiches, Coke - which, despite the language barrier, we could pick out based on its distinctive trade dress (a "shout out" to Huey's trademark peeps) - and, eventually, iced tea, and returned to the room.Tomorrow HueBin takes on Tokyo!
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