Wednesday, February 22, 2023

InterContinental Yokohama Grand

久しぶり年末の帰省は、母が以前から希望していた横浜中華街での晩餐をやってきました。

横浜へ行くなら… J.P. Morgan Chase からもらった IHG 系の宿で利用可能な一泊無料クーポンがあって、パンデミックのために利用期限が延長されて2枚あるけど、年末で失効。そこでその2枚を利用して、さらにポイント使ってもう一室を特典予約したうえ、40 泊超えの特典でもらった年間ラウンジアクセス権も使ってみることに♪

横浜にふたつあるインタコのうち、昔からあるほう、切った西瓜を立てたみたいなほうへ...
横浜グランド・インターコンチネンタル・ホテルという名称です。

おおきな建物なので、入場したところがこんなに偉そう。
母と妹… 10月がマークホプキンス、12月が横浜グランドで、インタコに入り浸りです。

「おまえ、年中こういうホテルに泊まってるの?」と、儂の浪費に懐疑的な母…。
「いいえ。サンフランシスコも横浜も、特別ですと、シレッと答える儂。(笑)

今年はラウンジ使い倒したいから、アテネ、イスタンブール、バルセロナとインタコ連続だけど、ないしょ♪

土曜日の午後だったので、少し待たされて3部屋ぶんのカードキーを受け取りました。
3部屋続きで高層階のベイビュー側をもらって。内部はこんなでした。

インタコにしては狭いくらいだけど、日が暮れてきたら窓の外がキレイ。
こんな景色になりました。フォトショップでハメコミ合成していませんからね!

窓際は、こんな革張りになっていてクッションまで用意されています。…外の新都心方向のスモッグに引いた。
ここ、ネコみたいな性格の人にはピッタリだと思います。

執務机の周りは、こういった感じです。
お水2本の隣は、手指消毒のアルコール… 日本はパンデミック対策が、やっぱり周回遅れ。

せっかく設置しちゃったからって、欧米でも手指消毒が置いてある宿もまだあるけど… 激減してきました。聞けばオミクロン株の接触感染で発症する割合は 0.01% 以下だそうで、納得です。

Wi-Fi のスピードテストもしておきました。
アクセスポイントは、ベタな名前…。

スピードテストの起動デフォのままで計測しました。
PING 反射 12ms は普通だけど、下りは 150Mbps、上り 130Mbps 以上出ているのは立派。

これならストリーミングですけべなビデオだってストレスなく観られると思います。でもホテルでそんなの観たら、手動でサッパリさせないとストレスじゃないほうも溜まりそうです…。

クロゼットは、ちょびっとウヲークインな感じ。
追加の毛布やバスローブ、スリッパに体重計、一通り揃っていました。

一晩寝た朝、甥が「昨夜は部屋が寒かった」とぼやいていました。
毛布があるの、気づかなかったんだ。教えてあげればよかった。

バスルームは、こういう感じです。
旧いですが清潔に保たれています。

シャワーブース兼浴槽。浴槽が深いのは日本人向け?でもなんだか狭そう。
シャワーブースのタイルに一部ヒビ割れを見つけたので、チェックアウト時に報告しておきました。

バスアメニティはこんな。ごく基本的な取り揃えです。
このへんはパンデミックの影響で多少調整されているかもしれません。

シャンプーやコンディショナーは、欧州みたいなポンプ式。
回転寿司ペロリストみたいに、こういうの舐める奴いないのか心配。
・・・でも本気で舐めたらポンポン壊しそうだけど。(笑)

窓外の景色は、高層階にしてくれた事もあって、なかなかのものです。
上写真右の方にチラリと見えている黒っぽいビルは、もうひとつの横浜インタコ、Pier8 とかいう奴。

足元のほうを見ると… ガゼボが付いた桟橋みたいなものが見えます。
ここ、夜になったらライトアップされてキレイでした。

あとは… 冷蔵庫チェック! インタコだけあって、いろいろ揃っています。
喉が渇いたら炭酸一本もらおうかな~? でも利用票書くのが面倒いな…と思ってました。
そしたら、チェックアウト時に判った。甥が狂喜乱舞でミニバー大量消費したらしいです。(爆)

チェックイン開始に合わせるくらい早めにやってきたのは、午後ティーを愉しみたかったから。
クラブ・インターコンチネンタル・ラウンジへ突撃です。

儂ともう一名分は年間利用権があるから無料ですが、あと3名の入場は購入しました。「本当ならクラブルームとの部屋代の差額をいただくんですけどね…」という嫌味満載予約係婆に文句タレタレに言われたので、レセプションの偉そうなお父さんにそのあたりを言いつけておきました。あと、ここにも書いてるけどね。wwwww

ちなみにファクトチェックですが、2022年利用のラウンジ入場費用は以下です。(1泊2名利用)

 クラウンプラザ・イスタンブール 40ユーロ(部屋はクラブルームに)
 インタコ・アテネ        60ユーロ(部屋はクラブルームに)
 SFマークホプキンス(インタコ)  80米ドル(部屋は展望スイートに)

そして、横浜グランドインタコでは一泊一名 8,000 円で「特別に」ラウンジアクセスを付けてくれました。予約係のM本様、ありがとうございました。ホントは F-word 書きたい。すごく書きたい…)

参考までに、M本さんからのメールを原文ママで載せておきますね♪

追加3名様のラウンジアクセス料金は、合計24,000円でございます。
本来であれば、クラブルームまでのお差額をお支払いいただいておりますが、
今回は特別にラウンジアクセス料金でのご案内とさせていただきます。
次回以降はクラブルームまでのお差額となりますことご承知おきくださいませ。

特典利用で無料宿泊の客に我儘言われて半ギレになるだろうけど、客にこういう返事した時点でアウトだよ。

さらに、義弟と甥が駐車場を利用したい、という質問の回答も…(原文から儂の姓だけ加工)

駐車料金はobaKoba様ご本人様でございましたら、アンバサダーメンバー特典で
1,800円となりますが、お連れ様がご利用の場合は恐れ入りますが1台につき2,100円を
お支払いいただいております

こんなのわざわざ言わなきゃいいのに…。

300 円くらいの違いなんてどうでもいいし、なんだか行間におまえなんか来るな冷遇してやるみたいな悪意というか瘴気を感じるのは打たれ弱くて小心者で被害妄想な儂だけでしょうか?

確かにこの宿単独の視点だと、タダで3部屋も予約しやがって、その上やれアンバサダーだから良い部屋よこせだの、やれ追加で払うから全員ラウンジ使わせろだの、相当にイヤな客でしょうよ。でもね、年会費払ってアンバサダーになってるんだし、IHG グループの宿に 40 泊以上している実績だってあるんだから、儂の方から見たらこんな対応はつれないよね。・・・って。こんなことしてる儂って、カスハラでしょうか??

とにかく、儂目線では とてもざんねんです。

上述のように予約係の松本婆はとってもネガティヴですが、クラブラウンジにはとってもポジティヴ♪
広々しています。横浜グランドに泊まるなら、クラブラウンジ利用を付けるべきです。

テーブルコーディネーションは基本中の基本。
ざんねんなのは紙おしぼり。きっとパンデミック中だからでしょう。

あと… 黙食は要求されなかったものの、大声は出さずに静かにお食事。
ブッフェアイテムの収穫時にも、マスクかけ直さなくちゃいけません。

日本ってやっぱし、COVID 対策が周回遅れの後進国だと感じました。
こんなことやっても XBB.1.5 ストレインなんかだったら、ほぼ無駄♪

5人がけなので、こういう長テーブルを用意してくださいました。
基本アイテムはすぐに届いて… 儂以外誰もいないのは、既に収穫に向かっているからです。

フランボワーズを使った微炭酸のお飲み物を提供してくれました。
シャンパンもらうオプションもあるけど、晩餐に備えて誰も飲まなかった…。

2段重ねの皿です。こういう二段・三段重ねの皿って、アフタヌーンティーっぽいよね。
上に甘いもの、下にしょっぱいものを載せてあります。

こっちは2人前載せてあるので、もう少しだけアップで。
上段はババロアケーキ、チョコ、マカロン、ブラウニー、クリームパフ。
下段はミックスサンドイッチと、クレム・フレイシュに生ハム?

あと、スコーンがひとりにひとつづつ。ブルーベリージャム…とクレム・フレイシュ?
スコーンはプレーンで、小ぶり。この後ディナーが控えているから文句ないけど、普通だったら物足りない。問題は、クリームです。やはりブリティッシュなアフタヌーンティーには、まっ黄っ黄のクロッテドクリームが欲しい。せめてダブルデボンシャークリーム(ほぼクロッテドクリームの別称w)が欲しい。

重ね皿上段のスイーツを一人分に取り分けたら、こんだけありました。
マカロンはレモンメレンゲ風味。
ミニクリームパフはマロングラッセがはさまってて、まあまあ。
ブラウニーは好きくない。

生ハム生クリーム…。
これ喰って紅茶すするのって、なんだかなぁ。シャンパン頼むのが基本なのかなぁ。

以上、全体的には結構な分量があります。サンドイッチなんか摂ったら晩飯がアウト。
でも今回は、妹の夫と息子という、大容量携帯ディスポーザーが2台も稼働中なのだ。

部屋に帰って… ディナーに出かけるまで、日没後のトワイライトを愉しみました。
窓はこんな景色。なかなかロマンチックになれるかも。

窓の下に見える桟橋は、ライトアップを始めていました…。
遊覧船みたいなのがいて、ちょっとキレイ。
旭光学の望遠レンズ買ったら付いてくる説明書に載ってる作例写真みたいで、我ながら素敵。(笑)
(旭光学の社員がトリセツに載せるためにSMCタクマー®で撮ったら、この程度…と思ったw)

ベイの向こう側には、横浜ベイブリッジ。
今日は土曜日。深夜になれば、あの麓の大黒ふ頭で族のみなさんがバリバリやるんでしょう。

窓際ネコ用よっかかり席は、いい雰囲気になっています。
でも実際は外が寒いので、少しヒンヤリする。

ディナーの予約時間が近づいたので、みんなで階下へ…。
地上階には、羽根を生やした使徒がいました。

タクシーがなかなかやってこなくて若干イラッたけど、無事中華街へ到着。
老舗でたらふく食べてきました。予想以上に美味しい店だったので、まんぞくさん。

そしてインタコへ帰って。
夜になったら地上階のロビーはガラガラに空いていました…。

そして、時は2022年12月、クリスマスが近づいている頃でした。
立派なツリーが飾られていました。

部屋に戻って、窓からの景色をチェック。
夜が更けてからの桟橋も、なかなかキレイ。てか iPhone 14 Pro のカメラ機能、性能バツグン♪

カメラ『機能』って書いたのは、多分ニューラルエンジンとかのソフトで造ってるだろうから。もうこういうカメラ任せにできるスマホを誰でも持っている時代、写真の学校出たのが活かせるのは、ブログとかインスタとかで、なんとなく上手そうな画をお見せできることくらいです。

ベイブリッジもライトアップされていてキレイでした。
この宿って… 反対側のビューは遊園地側だから、目の前は観覧車だよね。
それも面白そうだし、どっちがいいのかは微妙。

そして就寝。

早朝覚醒のクセがついているので、夜明け頃に目が覚めました。
日の出前の景色も、なかなかキレイです。

シャワー浴びて身仕度を調えて、朝食のために皆でクラブラウンジへ向かいました。
朝の入口は、こんな。

内部は、こういう様子でした。
この革張りの椅子は、ゆったりアルコールやコーヒーをいただくのには良い。

でも、お食事をメインで攻めるには、もっとダイニングっぽいセットアップが好き。

ラウンジ側もそのへんは判っていらっしゃるようです。
この広大なラウンジにはダイニングテーブルがあります。
こっちがダイニング用のテーブル群で、お客さんはこっち側ばっかし。

それにしても… 今回のメンバー、男子3名はデカいのばっかり。175cm の儂が一番チビ。一番大きな義弟さんは大学時代にラグビー部の主将だったから、戦車みたいにおおきくて立派。甥も、父に似て長身。

ラウンジのスタッフには「どこの相撲部屋?」とか思われてたかもねぇ…。

朝のテーブルセッティング。
至ってシンプルです。

でも、がっつりいきます。いろいろ収穫してきたら、こんなでした。
スモークサーモン、チーズにハム、ダニッシュペストリーとラタトゥイユ。
コーンポタージュが、とっても日本っぽくて好き♪ クルトンどっさり♪♪

さらに、ラウンジのお姉さんがオムレツは如何でしょう?」と聞いてくれて。
マッシュルームとチェダーチーズだけ封じ込めてもらいました。

内部はフカフカでジルジルの、最高に上手なオムレツでした。ANA のファーストクラスでも、2食目に納豆ご飯を諦めたら、ほぼこういうオムレツにありつけます。おかげで毎回悩ましいです。

今度はフルーツサラダを。
飲み物は… カプチーノ飲んでるけど、冷やし珈琲フレッシュも。

フルーツサラダの具が、イチゴ、キウイ、ブラッドオレンジ、ネーブル、ドラゴンフルーツ…上質な果実ばっかりで、なんだか偉そう。

お姉さんに今度は「フレンチトースト、召し上がってみませんか?」と聞かれました。
こいつは喰うな… と確信を持って聞かれたんでしょう。5名中3名が所望しました。
バゲットを角度付けずに輪切りにして、フレンチトースト仕立てに?

メープルシロップをほんのちょびっとに、メープルアイスクリーム、ベリーのコンポートと生クリーム添え。これはたいへん美味しく頂戴しました。少しずつ、いろいろいただいて大変に満足できました。

日曜日の横浜港はよく晴れていました。スモッグも少ないみたいだよね。
予約で若干アレだったり、施設は旧くなってきているけど、なかなかのインタコです。特にラウンジがイイ!

この後チェックアウト。甥が Toyota Highlander で習志野まで送ってくれました。オムツ巻かれてころがってた赤子が、トラックをブイブイ走らせるようになっちゃって。おじいさん感動。(笑)

次記事は、この横浜インタコ宿泊時にディナーへ出かけた中華街の老舗です。

20 comments:

  1. Please note that as someone who resides in the United States, you may have forgotten, but today is a national holiday for the Emperor's birthday, so the clinic is closed. Therefore, there is no need for me to burden Dr. Doi excessively with posting comments today.

    Speaking of the InterContinental Yokohama Grand, the first thing that comes to mind is the time I had dinner with Atsu-san and his wife at the Chinese restaurant here. The following day, Atsu-san and his wife took me on a tour of many hidden local gems with the Shonan Monorail and Enoden, and even treated me to sushi at a secret spot. I still remember the taste of the rice shochu I had that day. Thinking back on it, I feel very fortunate to have met the people from T Gakuen, which started with you.

    I hear that your mother has been hoping to have dinner in Yokohama's Chinatown. First and foremost, I'm glad to hear that she is doing well. My own mother will be turning 90 this year, and I can't bear the thought of her living alone. Both of us want to cherish our parents, but it can be difficult to communicate, even at this age. I often reflect on the phrase "don't take things for granted" in my heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      Yes, I was watching NHK news and saw his highness Naruhito… and we are still on National Cat’s Day in Japan (or the day of Bamboo Island). I’m glad Dr. Doi is not being abused today.

      The T-Gakuen connection is so strong, and some of the colleagues are still staying in touch like Atsu-san & Oku-shama, but unfortunately, we lost one of our ‘hub’ or ‘key’ person, Mr. Tamura which is totally unexpected tragedy...

      My mom is under UC but still okay-ish at her age almost 90. Last fall, when she visited San Francisco Bay Area, she wasn’t so healthy because of the fatigue by such long-haul flight even in business or first class… but she became well when got back her home, and spend every day as normal. I think my home has too many creatures – mostly cats. And I am surprised your mother will be 90 sharp this year? Then she is exactly at the same age with my mom, born in 1933, right?

      Currently my mom is living alone and much less chance to speak, so I got teamed up with my sister, calling her often – my sister calls every day and I make twice a week, so we can somehow prevent dementia, we hope. At least neither her mother (my grandma) nor her elder sister (my aunt) at 95 don’t show any signs of dementia at all, so my mom would be okay for several years… if any left.

      Delete
  2. You have two free one-night stay coupons that can be used at IHG hotels, and you plan to use them to reserve two rooms for free, and use IHG points to reserve one additional room, in addition to using the annual lounge access pass you received for exceeding 40 nights. Your spirit of using everything you can is admirable.

    The Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel does indeed resemble a watermelon cut in 1/6 to 1/8, but it was probably designed to resemble a sail.

    There are still alcohol-based hand sanitizers placed all over Japan, but I myself hardly use them. However, when entering cafe inside Okayama station's Shinkansen area, I am still forcibly told to "please use the alcohol-based hand sanitizer for your hands" as soon as I enter, rather than asked to use it. As you mentioned, Japan's measures against pandemic is quite meaningless.

    If the actual rate of contracting Omicron through contact is truly less than 0.01%, then it is a truly pointless measure. Is this just the "follow the leader" mentality unique to Japanese people, where they say "for now, we're taking precautions"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      Yokohama Grand IC introduces themselves as a sail-shaped by the harbor, but since the building shown up in Minato Mirai, we are calling it “chopped watermelon” for years.

      Hand sanitizer may be effective for prevent flu or RSV infections too, but personally, it removes my hand grease and damage my cuticles… if I had to use it, I immediately apply hand cream or balm to protect my fragile nails.

      I wouldn’t say anything against the manner of face masking and hand sanitizing, but enough is enough, overdoing is sometimes harm other behaviors or something more important, I feel. At this moment, influenza or RS are still in risk too, so it maybe better keeping these manners for a month or two extra.

      Delete
  3. Regarding the speed test results for the in-room Wi-Fi, with a download speed of over 150Mbps and an upload speed of over 130Mbps, I think that's impressive. With this speed, you can watch adult videos in the room without any stress. However, my naive question is whether the hotel's video selection has programs that satisfy you.

    Japanese people may prefer deep bathtubs, even if they are a bit small. It's probably the opposite for Europeans and Americans.

    You reported finding a crack in some of the tiles in the shower booth at checkout, even though you are a frequent IHG guest. You would likely be a valuable asset to the facility management team.

    It seems that there are some disrespectful people who lick the sushi rotating on the conveyor belt at sushi restaurants, but it's unlikely that a YouTube video of someone licking shampoo or conditioner would generate many views. Besides, it is said that YouTube itself has become a content that has been abandoned, as it has lost its appeal to general or individual users, even though it once thrived.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      As per I wrote other articles, I usually don’t watch TV when I’m traveling except I stay my mom’s home, or 連続テレビ小説 by NHK. Currently I keep watching NHK West’s morning drama “Mai agare!” I expected it would be like ミスパイロット but now it turns into細うで繁盛記… is that because made by NHK West inspired from 花登筐?? The opening narration was “銭(じぇに)の花の色は清らかに白い。だが蕾は血がにじんだように赤く、その香りは汗の匂いがする…” which was so horrific, it harms my metal and created a severe trauma in me…

      Well… Western people don’t soak themselves so often, probably once a month or even once a year… Japan is a country of clean water so you guys have deferent opportunities but for example, here in California, we don’t have enough water so most of us only take shower regularly… and we don’t care about the crack in our bathrooms too, only in some luxurious accommodations where we paid a lot. (lol)

      My mother keeps telling us she doesn’t like tonkatsu sauce at the tonkatsu specialized restaurant because the sauce pot is always sitting there, it should have quite high chance being abused by stupid kids licking the sauce sipper… and voila!! it comes to the real world!! I think those idiotic and stupid behaviors were already there, but SNS disclosed to the public and people horrified the real.
      Now, one of the ‘beauties of Japan’ has been totally violated and breached, what will be the next? Following the States – like gun violence or narcotic drugs?? ;)
      The Prostitution is already accepted by public by changing its name as “パパ活.” (LOL)

      Delete
  4. It's nice to have various drinks available in the minibar. Even some city hotels have emptied their minibars and claimed it as a "preventive measure against infection" since the pandemic started. From the customer's point of view, it feels like various cost-cutting measures are being imposed under the guise of "infection prevention measures."

    It seems that your nephew consumed a large amount of the minibar drinks in excitement, but did he think they were free? I can't say it loudly, but when I booked Kyoto Okura through Centurion in the past, it used to say "All minibar items are free. Shipping is also free." It's easy to imagine what I did. I had the cardboard box for shipping brought to the room, packed all the minibar drinks, and sent them to my home. After that, did this benefit disappear because of me?

    I don't think I used the Club Intercontinental Lounge during my stay at this hotel. When I was with Atsu-san and his wife, I believe we booked the club floor through Centurion, and we were probably allowed to use the lounge, but we were hesitant to enter as we were planning to dine with them.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      IC Athens took all of mini-bar items during the pandemic to follow IHG® Clean Promise, but when they re-install the items, Sensei in Athens really shocked and upset by a bottle of 500ml water price-tagged at 4.00 euro.

      Spending mini-bar items is acceptable but the point was, he didn’t fill out the list on the fridge…
      Raiding free mini-bar is nothing wrong. When we had an offline meeting by Mr. Scallop at Niki Club, Dr. Departures emptied all of leftover items in the fridges, he did it room by room… it was a kind of nightmare too but it was still legal, so you don’t have to hesitate about your behavior. (lol)

      When you’ve met Atsu-san and Oku-shama, the club lounge location, size and the offerings were different because the current club lounge opened two or three years ago, I think.

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  5. "The lounge access fee for the additional three guests is a total of 24,000 yen. Normally, we ask you to pay the difference between the room rate for the non-club room and the room rate for the club room, but this time we will only charge the lounge access fee. Please be aware that from the next time, it will be the difference between the room rate for the club room and the non-club room."

    Even reading this makes me quite upset. In fact, the lounge access fee for the additional three guests alone feels quite expensive. Furthermore, "If you are the guest, the parking fee will be 1,800 yen as an Ambassador member benefit, but if your companion uses it, we will ask for 2,100 yen per vehicle."

    The way they phrase it, as if they were doing you a big favor by treating you to a mere 300 yen, is sure to irritate not only you, but many others as well.

    If this were United Airlines, even if someone with a lifetime 1K status and a significant amount of flight experience paid a considerable amount for their airfare to become a lifetime 1K status member, I don't think they would treat them so coldly and demand additional fees for minor things like this, and would probably even offer good treatment in ANA's first class, free access to lounges, etc.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      Isn’t this so ridiculous??
      I don’t know the actual position of Ms. Matsumoto of IC Yokohama Ground but she needs additional educations to learn how contact with their guests… This is totally opposite to United, which is UNFRIENDLY at all.

      SHAME ON YOKOHAMA GROUND INTERCONTINENTAL! period.

      I hope Ms. Matsumoto replaced to other positions like janitor…

      Oh, btw. Because you added me two more nights at IHG in this year (thank you, doctor!), I will only need three more nights to receive Annual Club Lounge Membership for 2024! I’m now looking for one more opportunity to travel somewhere and stay somewhere, even at Holiday Inn Express. ;)

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  6. I was relieved to hear that your mother has been suffering from ulcerative colitis for many years, yet she is still in fairly good health despite being close to 90 years old. What surprised me even more was that she visited the San Francisco Bay Area last fall. Even in comfortable business or first class, it's easy to imagine that long-distance travel can cause temporary deterioration in health. Nevertheless, it's incredible that she recovered and is living her daily life as usual. I'm not sure if the fact that there were many cats in your house during her stay affected her health, but if I had to guess, it was probably due to the exhaustion from the long trip and the change of environment in a foreign country.

    Yes, my mother will also be turning 90 this year, born in 1933 just like your mother. Compared to your seemingly energetic mother, my mother's physical strength has declined significantly. She can't go out at all from her apartment. I do all the grocery shopping and bring her meals. But like your mother, she still has a sharp mind and from 9am to 3pm on weekdays, she is fully immersed in online margin trading of stocks. It's not just physical stocks, but margin trading which includes short selling, and her annual trading volume is close to 200 million yen. She holds dozens of stocks and records each transaction in detail. What surprises me the most is that she earns more than 10 million yen in profits annually. She is truly the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Unfortunately, I did not inherit her gambling talents.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      I am amazed your mom is RICH!! Probabry she is having fun for doing Kara-uri to damage the stock prices of Rakuten group. If not yet, please ask her to do it! (LOL)

      Due to the info of your mom, I am more concerned about the taxations to her profits. May I propose a good donation? Please donate to iSO-san’s ‘nonprofit organization’ or somewhere helping miserable people. I am so amazed your mom is dong quite well… but her unfortunate son didn’t inherit the talent for winning the Darby.
      I know I don’t have any talent for the gambling – my father’s first cousin in Futtsu (you know who) lost humungous amounts at Las Vegas, or his brother (my uncle) keep demanding some money for horse races. Those are the ‘teachers by negative examples’ so what I am doing is buy only 10 dollars of lotteries. Oh, I hit $102 last Monday so recouped the expense of this year. Yea! …such a small minded person I am. And I keep losing my retirement investments by J.P.Morgan… it never return any profits, just losing. My retirement is just around the corner but the investments never mature at all!! I do hate stock markets or bonds… but I don’t want to see the market crashes before I’ve withdrawn the whole amounts.

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  7. There's another surprising thing about your mother that I learned from your reply. She avoids tonkatsu sauce at tonkatsu restaurants because the sauce container is always left on the table and there's a high chance of stupid people licking the sauce spout. And now, that fear has become a reality. Maybe she already knew that such stupid behavior existed before, but in any case, her foresight should be praised.

    I was also shocked to learn that the 500ml bottle of water in the mini-bar at InterContinental Athens had a price tag of 4.00 euros. Lately, I've been feeling that prices have gone up quite a bit compared to before the pandemic. There are various reasons given for this, such as the weakening of the yen or labor shortages due to staff reductions in response to the decrease in demand during the pandemic, but it seems to me that there's also a significant amount of opportunistic price hikes going on.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      For me, it was annoying or even horrific to hear my mom’s complaints every time when we went into Tonkatsu restaurant like ‘Katsu-Hana.’ When my father was still alive, he always tell he to shut up otherwise the sauce pot feels like a Petri dish to incubate microbes under sweet, nice and warm dipping tank. Anyway, it was so annoying! (lol)

      After refilling the mini-bar at IC Athens, we carefully used complementally water bottles that were being given two 500ml bottles per a day, plus one 1,500ml bottles as a daily gift for IC Ambassador. But by last stay, we never had any problem of consumption of mini-bar items because club lounge was steps away from our room. I even stopped buying Coke Zero from the kiosk at tram station. Club lounge is a perfect choice for thrifty but smart travels actually.

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  8. I am honored that by giving you the two-night stay at the Crowne Plaza Okayama during your visit, you only need to stay for three more nights to qualify for the Annual Club Lounge Membership for 2024. It's funny that even if you stay at a Holiday Inn Express, one night still counts as one night (lol). Please do find an opportunity to achieve your qualification.

    The Club Lounge at InterContinental Yokohama, like ANA, also provides inadequate paper towels. It's a shame that this aspect can't be restored to pre-pandemic levels soon.

    The other day, my daughter and I stayed for one night at a vacation resort in Shiga Prefecture as a thank-you gift for our hometown tax donation (=Furusato-Nozei). When we took items from the buffet, we were asked to put on a mask and to wear disposable gloves on our dominant hand. It was a bit of a mood-killer.

    Despite the declining ratings, it's nice that InterContinental Yokohama provides long tables that can accommodate groups of five, which is a thoughtful consideration. If there were some gaps between seats, the conversations would be inhibited as you guys wouldn’t tend to speak loudly.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      I honestly appreciate your reservation at Crowne Plaza Okayama. This would be a great motivation for me to stay traveling a little even my better half keeps requesting to reduce the trips. I might stay at Holiday Inn close to my home so that I can go back to my home in midnight to give ‘Churu’ to my kitties.

      There used to be those disposable gloves as well as wearing a face mask before/after the eating period at buffet dining even in Europe. But these days, those restrictions are over. Due to my experiences in the countries I visited under pandemic – where is Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, Greece, Singapore and Japan, Japan remains under much stricter restrictions and somewhat uncomfortable for me. Hope it will be changing from my next trip in late March…

      Nothing wrong with the seat assignments at the club lounge, and the staffs were quite friendly and helpful. If there is no more Ms. Matsumoto at the reservation team, I will definitely stay at IC Yokohama Grand again – with IGH points! (LOL)

      Delete
  9. This lounge offers champagne and a menu that resembles an afternoon tea on a two-tiered plate, and if you were to eat a sandwich with this, you might not be able to eat dinner later. However, since they are collecting lounge fees, it's a dilemma.

    It seems that the taxi didn't come easily to Yokohama Chinatown, but in Okayama, the number of taxis is still reduced compared to before the pandemic. They may still be responding to the decrease in demand.

    As you mentioned, in this age where anyone can have a smartphone that can be left to the camera, the skills you acquired from graduating from a photography school can be utilized for blogs or Instagram, especially for still images with excellent techniques. The way you direct light to the subject or fine-tune the image after shooting is truly remarkable in the images you take, and I feel the same for Atsu-san as well.

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      Apologize in advance if I delayed replying after this one. I feel caught a cold – runny nose, sore throat, but no fever yet, Abott’s Covid Ag test negative. So I go to sauna then bed early to fix this as soon as I can… my next trip starts on Tuesday.

      Spending time and money at this club lounge is a kind of exception. I usually raid lounge items as much as possible for cost effective and for my satisfactions. However, this stay is for good memories with my mom and family members. I rarely spend times with my brother-in-law or nephews, so this experience is priceless.

      No enough taxis around in Okayama? Will it be no problem when I visit your clinic? I will be more than happy to take Ryobi bus to Saidaiji terminal which I made last time. And I have purchased disposable diapers for my size! My 38-40 inches of waist fits comfortably on L-sized men’s diaper. If I try to find similar size in Japan it would be XXL or larger, I guess. (lol) So, I will be okay with public transportations. I can safely and proudly leak something in bus or train car…

      Honestly speaking, I always felt the ‘software corrections’ by iPhone are beyond my desired level. Then I found an app named “ProCamera” at app store. This app shows and can control EV levels, shutter speeds, ISO levels etc. Those are the amounts I really wanted to see and control manually sometimes. It costs about $14 per a year plus several more dollars for extra control pack, but it’s really fun to have these as a former professional photographer.

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  10. I hope you take care of your cold. Please don't worry about replying to my comments. I apologize for not visiting your blog for several years and now burdening you with numerous comments to make up for it. Since you will be commuting from California to Europe starting next Tuesday, your article postings may decrease, but it should be a good vacation for you.

    You have a very keen observation, and while my mother's wealth may be in question, it is indeed a fact that she enjoys shorting the stock of the Rakuten Group! However, as I mentioned earlier, she is the daughter of an Osaka merchant and does not hesitate to take money from others, but she would never give a single yen to anyone else, let alone use the word "donate." I grew up watching her haggle at department stores, and her motto was always "haggle as much as possible." Her sales talk actually paid off, and she was quite successful in getting discounts at department stores. Maybe she's the type of person you dislike the most?

    I think the number of taxis in Okayama has relatively decreased, but it's okay around Okayama Station. However, as with other areas, there are always some low-quality taxi drivers. Unfortunately, the taxi stand in front of Crown Plaza Okayama where you will be staying is the worst. The taxi stand in front of Okayama Station is a mix of good and bad, and if you're unlucky, the environment inside the car to our clinic may not be pleasant. The safest option is the taxi stand at the Granvia Hotel Okayama where you stayed before. That hotel has a contract only with Ryobi Taxi, which has the fewest number of bad drivers in Okayama. From Crown Plaza to Granvia, you can get there in a few minutes by passing through the second-floor concourse of Okayama Station, so please consider this option. (I will give the taxi vouchers along with the enema medication to you on the day before your endoscopy date, which is May 25th.)

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    1. Yamada Denki sensei,

      Thank you for your kind words. The cold is healing fast unless the backache remains… hope the joints and muscles recover well otherwise I can’t carry the luggage. My friends are waiting for me in Athens so I don’t want to cancel the trip. The blog articles are set until 8th of March or hopefully two or three more, but it’ll be suspending after that… after returning from Athens, trip to Tokyo is 6 days away then returning from Tokyo, trip to Istanbul is 5 days away after that. March is the busiest travel season

      I don’t ‘dislike’ people who haggle at department stores. I simply don’t do the same especially at Mitsukoshi. My friend’s wife who was working at TV Osaka (or some sort) moved to TV Tokyo and she speaks perfect accent of Japanese as an announcer, but… off the TV show, her Western accent is super strong and she is proud to buy something at lowest prices. I asked her “But you can’t do that at Mitsukoshi, do you?” then her answer was “Of course I do!” Several T-Gakuen involved people with me were totally frozen. As an Tokyoite (or almost Tokyoite), our consensus is; we can’t try beating down the price at high-end department stores such headquarter of Mitsukoshi, Isetan or even at Takashimaya… But I understand the difference of the culture, you mom must be a great person…

      So, I will receive a taxi coupon and GriKan along with Maguro-Call and/or Chlamydia… and I take a taxi in front of Hotel Grandvia? I remember that hotel is adjacent to the bus stop bound for Saidaiji… let me talk about it when I arrived at Okayama. Thank you anyway, doctor. I really appreciate your concerns and detailed help.
      By the way. the worst taxi drivers are in the city of Chiba and nobody can beat ‘em. When I had a meeting appointment at a factory of $ony, I took a taxi from Chiba station to Chiba Port area and that ride felt like a roller coaster! And the worst bus drives are Kanachu in Sagamihara/Machida. I read a news that one of the driver took too much ‘fun’ drugs, after his driving duty, he misrecognized his home… he entered someone’s home and jumped into a cold bath tub to sooth him down… Welcome to Eastern Japan!! (lol)

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