Tokyo Blond: Tea for Two

It took a moment for me to recognize what I was looking at, as we crossed the bridge from Edogawabashi station. We were on our way to the Four Seasons at Chinzan-so, one of two Four Seasons in Tokyo (my kind of town). I took another doubtful look and sure enough it was a gigantic carp foraging in the murky depths of the river ravine. How can anything survive in there? I thought it was a flood channel. It was spumey green and log-jammed with trash and debris. The fish was gigantic, as big as Ranger the Wonder dog. I made Russell look too. He shuddered.

Turns out it wasn't a storm drain but the Kanda River and along it was a delightful park, outlined by cherry trees. This place must be spectacular during Cherry Blossom season. It was pretty impressive at the beginning of Fall, with the leaves just beginning to consider turning color. We made a game out of spotting more fish, accolades given to the largest and ugliest. There were schools of them and every once in awhile - a beast of cyclopean proportion. This spawned a friendly debate on whether they were carp or catfish. Turns out a helpful sign proved us both right.

Gigantic carp - most likely man-eating.

This picture does not do it justice - the thing probably weighs 80 pounds

Ranger only weighs 60 pounds, but he's on a diet.

Cherry tree-lined Kando Riverwalk

Imagine what this must look like in Spring

Lovely little park along the monster-fish invested river

Lovely landscaping

Resplendent with water fountain

And gigantic butterfly

Russell and I practically frolicked along the lovely landscaped path of the park. The punishing, incessant heat and humidity of Summer had finally burst into Fall. Like popping a bubble of mint gum, so fresh. We reveled in it.

The park actually takes you to the garden entrance of the hotel. I recommend this way. But we didn't realize this until later and instead walked up the steep set of stairs where the park seemingly concludes because we didn't trust my instincts and relied on iPhone GPS instead. Sadly, Russell is addicted to this app. It did, finally, get us there, but in a much more circuitous and less picturesque way.

I did not expect the hotel to be that beautiful. I mean I saw the pictures and I read about the 7 lectares (17 acres) of historic Japanese gardens but I didn't realize it would be like this. The place is dreamy. It encompasses the best of traditional Japanese architecture and horticulture. It's like Walt Disney took the best of Japan and placed it one beautiful setting, you know, like Cinderella's castle. I've been to Germany. I've seen the Mosel River Valley and Neuschwanstein Castle. I get it. If I ever have any visitors; I'm taking them here.

Besides checking another Four Seasons off my list, although technically I have to stay there for it to really count (are you reading this Russell?), we were going there for tea. We'll pretty much go anywhere for a decent high tea. The scones were outstanding: pumpkin, fig and plain. But there was nothing plain about this tea, except maybe us. We were slightly under-dressed. Typical Americans. Hey! At least we weren't wearing tennis shoes and baseball caps.

The list of teas and coffees is extensive. Russell blithely pointed out they even offered Kopi Luwak coffee. That um, supremely expensive, literally crappy coffee featured in the movie The Bucket List. It's made with coffee beans that have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (a small, carnivorous mammal that looks like a gigantic rat) and "passed through" the animal's digestive system. I'm not shitting you. Sorry I couldn't resist.

If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

No, we did not order this. I had Early Grey with cream, thank you very much. And Russell, in true Russell fashion, had a fruity tea. The only thing that would have made Russell happier would be if it came with an umbrella. What can I tell you - the guy likes frou-frou drinks, hot or cold - a personality trait I love about him.

Our high tea caddy and requisite champagne.

Doesn't "High tea" really mean "Champagne"?

We noted we were the only Americans in the joint. There was a European guy with an Asian girl next to us, trying to make time, but other than that the entire hotel was crowded with Japanese. Most of them were dressed up. The tea was nice but it was even nicer just to watch the hotel patrons. A lot of them were wearing formal kimono's. It just added to the dreaminess of the surroundings. I really felt like I was in Japan, not Tokyo, Japan.

After lunch we walked around the hotel and surrounding grounds. We counted no less than five, yes five, weddings going on simultaneously. Some of them were traditional - the bride and groom arrayed in exquisite kimonos. Others were modern, although apparently Tokyo brides prefer much frillier gowns than what's worn in America. They looked like porcelain dolls imbedded in a frothy, sugary confection of ruffles and lace. The wedding guests were equally intriguing to watch in ornamental kimonos, their hair done in elaborate spirals and curls. It was cool. I could have watched for hours.

The grounds surrounding the hotel were equally impressive. Artifacts from all over Japan have been carefully and thoughtfully placed throughout the garden including a 1,000 year old pagoda from the Hiroshima mountains. The place looks like what I had imagined Japan would look like, Japanese maples dripping across still waters, whispering of centuries. Graceful bridges traversing babbling brooks, lead to tiny tea houses with tatami mats and ancient lanterns, like a scene from Shogun. They say in Summer you can sit in one of the traditional restaurants by the pond and watch the fireflies dance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinzan-so_Garden