If a vacation is judged by the quality of its meals, then our trip to Japan is probably our best by far. We arrived Thursday evening, and had our first bowl of steaming ramen before settling into our hotel. We awoke the next morning to mouth-watering fatty toro at Daiwa Sushi before walking over to the Tsukiji Market. After wading through the bustling aisles of fish stands and watching mammoth hunks of tuna finely carved with samurai swords, we walked through the Hama Rikyu gardens to board the boat cruise to Asakusa. There, we munched on warm red-bean cakes and browsed colorful souvenir stands along Nakamise dori before reaching Sensoji Temple, where we joined the crowds to wash our hands and bathe in incense smoke. In the afternoon, we watched a Kabuki play in Ginza, then checked out the new toys at the Sony building. Saturday morning was spent in Kamakura, where we visted the Daibutsu, braved the caverns at Hasedera, and even watched a Shinto wedding ceremony at the Tsurugaoka Hachimingu. Lunch took place at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen museum with a family friend. To our dismay, we only managed to eat at one of the eight ramen stands there, not realizing that smaller “tasting” portions were also available. For dinner, we met with an old lab-mate for more noodles at Santouka, a ramen chain specializing in tender pork cheek char-shiu, of which only 200g can be obtained from a single hog. On Sunday, we went to Harajuku to gawk at the crazy fashions of Tokyo teens, shop for souvenirs, and eat the famed black pork tonkatsu at Maisen for lunch. Since tickets were sold out for the sumo finals, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Japan’s largest electronics store, Yodobashi Akiba, where I perused the myriad gadgets that lined the store shelves. We met my lab-mate again for dinner, this time for tasty beef tongue and kalbi at a Korean BBQ joint. Yet, our adoration of Japanese beef was pushed even higher the next day. After immersing ourselves in Miyazaki’s enchanted sanctum at the Ghibli Museum, we had our first taste of Matsusaka beef at Satou Steakhouse, where the grilled steaks were so well-marbled they literally melted in our mouths. Rain clouds were setting in by then, so we spent the afternoon with an indoor tea ceremony, then after a brisk walk through Roppongi, caught an evening shot of the Tokyo Tower. Before leaving Tokyo the next morning, we returned to Tsukiji one more time for sushi. Life has never been better.