Index: Every Post, by Where It Happened

Everything I have written here, grouped by where it happened. I went to all of these places myself, took the photographs myself, and wrote them from my own notes. Within each group, the newest comes first.

Tokyo & around (46)

• [Toyosu] Eleven O’Clock Is the Answer at Senkyakubanrai: Maruri Suisan’s Uni Bowl and the Spend That Makes Parking Free
• [Toyosu] Mundo Pixar: Twelve Rooms, and the Longest Stop Was Remy’s Kitchen
• [Yokohama] A Kyoto Breakfast at Hotel New Grand: Rice or Porridge on the Fifth Floor
• [Yokohama] Nine Seats at Katabami: A Courtyard Sushi Counter and Six Kanagawa Sakes
• [Yokohama] Sunday Brunch-Hopping at BASEGATE Yokohama Kannai: Korean Pocha and Berkel-Sliced Prosciutto
• [Yokohama] Breakfast at Le Normandie, Hotel New Grand: A Monte Cristo With the Harbor in View
• [Haneda Airport] The Trip Starts with a Morning Beer at Terminal 3’s TIAT Lounge
• [Maihama] Tokyo DisneySea After Work: A Two-Hour Evening Visit and a Night at the Disneyland Hotel
• [Azabujuban] The Restaurant Where Pasta Has the Last Word
• [Yokohama Hammerhead] A Simple Day with My Wife
• [Toranomon] Green at Night, and an Omelette in the Morning
• [Toranomon] A Room with a Terrace on the Thirty-First Floor
• [Oimachi] A Quiet Evening of Handmade Soba — Sobamichi
• [Motomachi] A Refined French Deli Lunch. Olive Delica, Where Simple Meets Chic
• The Westin Yokohama club lounge: the steak was the thing
• You Can See Tokyo Tower From the Pool: ANA InterContinental Tokyo
• MARLOWE at Hayama Marina: the pudding comes turned out onto a plate
• Korokke from Hayama Asahiya: thirteen minutes and a Sunday queue
• The Kahala Yokohama: an indoor pool, and a morning with nothing to hurry for
• Aman Tokyo Afternoon Tea: The Black Bamboo Tray, and Why 11:00 Is the Seating to Book
• &MOON Noa in Hayama: the night the bedroom was a cinema
• Hyatt Regency Yokohama: the night we opened champagne for no reason
• The Rose Hotel Yokohama rooftop pool, on a day-use booking
• The Tokyo Marriott Depends Entirely on Lounge Access
• New Year at InterContinental Yokohama Pier 8, watching the sunrise from the chair
• Fantasy Springs: the Standby Pass was abolished in April 2025
• Five seats for caviar under Azabudai Hills: Prunier
• RED° TOKYO TOWER Closed on 6 May 2026: A Record of the Visit
• Kamogawa Grand Tower: only one room in the building has a jacuzzi
• Hotel Springs Makuhari: 2 minutes from the station, 15 from the Messe
• The Westin Tokyo: the smallest room in the house is 42 m²
• Toranomon Yokocho Is Built for Hopping: The Five Rules on the Board
• Kyubey at The Okura Tokyo: What the Cancellation Policy Tells You
• RistoPizza by Napoli sta ca, Azabudai Hills: Soft Neapolitan Dough in a Sixteen-Seat Room
• BEAR ART TOKYO Is in Kuramae, Not Asakusa — Pour-Paint Art With No Skill Required
• Ginza Sembikiya Fruit Parlour: Eating Upstairs from the Fruit Shop
• Teppanyaki Sagami, Yokohama Bay Sheraton: Order Both the Beef and the Seafood
• Drive to The Westin Tokyo: the valet parking is the reason
• Kabuki-za for the first time: the barrier is outside the building
• The octopus at Del Mar was astonishingly tender
• That doll you call a Labubu is not named Labubu on the box
• UNDER BLUFF COFFEE in the morning, after the climb
• Design Ah neo Was an Exhibition of Verbs — and It Closed in October 2025
• The museum, then lunch, and the conversation carries on
• A properly meaty burger at Larboard, by the Red Brick Warehouse
• Morning coffee at ZEBRA, on the water

Korea — Busan & Gyeongju (22)

• [Shin-Okubo] Gaemizib Opens in Tokyo: Chasing the Busan Nakkopsae I Could Not Forget
• [Busan] Sea Urchin and Abalone at the Yeongdo Haenyeo Divers’ Hall, Where You Order at Full Volume
• [Busan] A Container-Built Miffy Cafe on Yeongdo, With a Terrace Over the Harbor
• [Busan] Miffy Store Busan: Sea-Blue Exclusives at the Foot of the 100-Story Tower
• [Busan] Up the 100th Floor at BUSAN X the SKY: The World’s Highest Starbucks and a Forest of Towers
• [Gyeongju] The 10-Won Bread Queues of Hwangnidan-gil: How Bulguksa’s Pagoda Became a Cheese-Pull Snack
• [Gyeongju] A Hanok Miffy Store on Hwangnidan-gil, Home of the Stone-Gray Gyeongju Miffy
• [Gyeongju] My First Real Milmyeon at Hwangnam Milmyeon: The Mild Broth Has a Reason
• [Gyeongju] Walking Bulguksa Temple: The Pagoda on the 10-Won Coin and a Pond of Water Lilies
• [Gyeongju] Seokguram Grotto: Lost for Words Before a 1,300-Year-Old Granite Dome
• [Korea] Driving from Busan to Gyeongju: A Look Inside the Oedong King Munmu Expressway Service Area
• [Busan] Morning Dwaeji Gukbap at Eom Yong Baek: Raising the “Ideal” Clear Pork Soup
• [Busan] Ending the Night at Eom Yong Baek, Haeundae: Thick-Cut Pork and a Table Full of Side Dishes
• [Busan] BIFF Square to Bupyeong Kkangtong Market: An Evening of Street-Stall Hopping in Nampo-dong
• [Busan] Gamcheon Culture Village, the Machu Picchu of Korea: A Colorful Maze With a Story Underneath
• [Busan] My First Live Octopus at Sindonga Fisheries Market — and Grilled Abalone That Calls for Sake
• [Busan] A Local Kamado-Rice Lunch at Goseul Goseul: Bulgogi That Rewrites the Definition
• [Busan] Haedong Yonggungsa, the Temple That Stands on the Sea — Walking Dragon’s Tail to Head with One Wish to Leave
• [Busan Haeundae] The Westin Josun Busan: A 1978 Grande Dame with the Beach at Its Door and That Unmistakable Westin Bed
• [Busan Haeundae] Ride the Blue Line Park at Night: How a Sold-Out Afternoon Led to the Better Ticket
• [Busan Haeundae] An After-Dinner Walk through Haeundae Traditional Market, Busan’s Answer to Komachi-dori
• [Busan Haeundae] Collecting Our Daughter’s Homework at Gaemijip: Nakgopsae, the Pot That Hurts and Delights

Korea — Seoul (9)

• [Gimpo Airport] The Domestic Terminal Transfer in Practice: Check in on 2F, Depart from 3F, About an Hour to Gimhae
• [Getting to Busan] Haneda to Gimhae via Gimpo: Korean Air’s In-Flight Bibimbap and the Free Terminal Shuttle Transfer
• [Yokohama] The Elevator Doors Open onto Seoul: A Revenge Reservation at Korean Restaurant Kimuchacha
• Myeongdong at eight at night, where you cannot walk where you want to
• Neungdong Minari in Seongsu: a minari hotpot with the whole surface green
• Hotel 28 Myeongdong: a film-set room on a work trip
• Breakfast in Myeongdong: Why the Best One Is Soup, and How to Order It
• Skip the duty-free floor, go down to the food hall
• Samgyetang at nine in the morning: a whole chicken, in one piece

Thailand (18)

• Wat Arun’s steep stairs, and the soles of the Buddha at Wat Pho
• [Yokohama] BAAN PHADTHAI at Hammerhead: Testing the Hard-to-Book Bangkok Original’s Reputation over a Family Lunch
• The St. Regis Bangkok “Spa” Is Actually a Longevity Clinic
• Riding an elephant in Ayutthaya: a two-person saddle, and one of me
• Afternoon tea at The St. Regis Bangkok: not to my taste, and still worth it
• I left the airport in Thailand without buying a SIM
• QR payment in Thailand did not work for me — and here is exactly why
• Four nights at The St. Regis Bangkok: the window was a field of green
• POP MART at ICONSIAM: the one I wanted was sold out
• Pad Thai at ICONSIAM: The Cheapest Meal of the Trip Was the One I Remember
• The outdoor pool at The St. Regis Bangkok, with a chair a few steps away
• The Buddha head in the tree roots at Ayutthaya is smaller than you think
• Mango and sticky rice after looking up at Wat Arun
• A sharing menu at IGNIV Bangkok, and a star I could not quite taste
• Blue Elephant Bangkok: a 1903 mansion, and tom yum kung in a navy pot
• Yào Rooftop Bar, 32 floors up: take the table under the roof
• A monument to a victory and a burned royal temple, in one morning
• Taking the Chao Phraya ferry, which is more fun than it has any right to be

Shikoku & the Inland Sea (7)

• Angel Road on Shodoshima: we missed it by a little, so check the tide table first
• Shodoshima Olive Park, where the three of us jumped on broomsticks
• Fresh somen at Shodoshima Furusato-mura, which our daughter loved enough to have two days running
• Takamatsu to Tonosho by ferry: sixty minutes with the car on board, and green islands that cleared my head
• Three udon shops in Kagawa, and the best was the kamaage at Waraya
• SolaVilla Umi Terrace Minami-Awaji: a barbecue on the terrace, and the sun going down into the sea
• Yamaroku Shoyu on Shodoshima: a wooden-barrel brewhouse home to a hundred microbes, and ice cream with soy sauce

Work and money (6)

• An Amazon suspension, and what it means to trade in a borrowed garden
• Being quiet is not the same as being empty
• You can build the box. You cannot build the contents.
• Twelve years, and the NAV is flat: holding a monthly-distribution fund
• The day I founded a company, and nothing happened
• Borrowing to buy a monthly-distribution fund — and the transfer is still done on paper

Kansai (4)

• Canes & Tales, Waldorf Astoria Osaka: Go at 5pm, Stay Until It Gets Dark
• The St. Regis Osaka: check in on the 12th floor, sleep from the 17th
• Kinkaku-ji is not all gold: the three storeys, and what the reflection needs
• At Opening, USJ Splits in Two: Nintendo World or the Empty Park

Hokkaido & Tohoku (4)

• Sapporo Dome concert trip: the name, the line, the start time, the hours
• You Watch Them Through a Scope: Winter Birds at Lake Kussharo
• The Notsuke Ice Horizon Is Not Something You Just Turn Up For
• Why Sendai Gyutan Always Comes With Barley Rice, Oxtail Soup and Miso Nanban

Singapore & Taiwan (3)

• Sheraton Grand Taipei: one line from Shandao Temple to Ximen
• Marina Bay Sands Is Better Seen From Across the Bay, Not From the Top
• The Changi Waterfall on a Layover: Three Hours and One Catch

Things I carry (4)

• Hermès Sac Orange: 5.3 × 6 cm, but It Hangs 23.5 cm
• Hermès Izmir Men’s Sandals: Sizing, Break-In, and One Year of Wear
• Hermès MagSafe Card Case Review: It Holds One Card — and I Still Use It
• Watching the Port Opening fireworks from a top-floor table

Central Japan & Izu (1)

• Pearl Star Hotel Atami: every room has an onsen — the room name tells you which kind