It’s only been a few months since I’ve been in Tokyo last, but this time it’s only a short 24 hours. It’s definitely enough time for me to roam a bit around the city, eat, then roam around some more, eat… you get the drift.

Let’s talk about some of the roaming first.

The city has been going through quite a bit of urban renewal with the opening of mix-use complexes such as Roppongi Hills and most recently Tokyo Midtown and the Shiodome area, which I reported on not too long ago. Then in areas such as Ginza, which at one point was most well-known for its expensive real estate, many buildings have been remodeled along the main streets; one of these is the Giorgio Armani tower, which just opened on November 6th. The 12-floor building houses many of Armani’s brands such as Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Casa presented with Armani’s minimalistic look. There’s even an Armani Spa, a first for Armani.

But, I’m really here for the food. So let’s move on.

This time I went to a great all-you-can-eat shabu shabu dinner in Shinjuku for less than $25 per person. An $18 all-you-can-eat menu is also available. The only catch is that you will have to finish your dinner within 90-120 minutes, depending on your selection, and drinks are not included. Wished I had taken photos, but I was too busy trying to eat… so these were taken from the shop’s website.

The next morning I went to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market for some fresh sushi. The place that I went to was a conveyor-belt place with truly yummy sushi. My favorite was the anago (saltwater eel) and then the toro (fatty tuna). The sushi was priced by the plate, from 99 Yen (US$0.88) to 695 Yen (US$6.23). It was worth every penny. The best part was when we asked for the bill. The waitress took out this RFID scanner device and just scanned the plates and voila – our bill was ready! None of the manual counting was needed. This was definitely a great application of RFID technology.

After eating, I roamed around some more, and found Krispy Kreme! Apparently people in Japan are lining up more than an hour to get a taste of America. I remember when Krispy Kreme first opened here in California, when we had to wait quite a while just to get a donut. Go figure.

Until next time, Tokyo.