We’re finally through all of the security procedures, and ready to return to the US.

Perhaps our trip to Senso-Ji the other day was a harbinger of what happened when we checked in for the flight. As luck would have it, Andrea gets to sit up front for the trip home, while I’m in row 56 — the last one on the plane with non-reclining seats.

There will a follow-up post or two once we return to Atlanta, as there are just too many thing to write. Sayonara from Japan!

You might recognize the name if you saw “Lost in Translation” — we’re having cocktails at the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Since we have not had sake during our trip so far, we decided to have it as part of one of the New York Bar’s signature cocktails — the L.I.T.

The L.I.T. Iis a lovely drink made from Sake, Sakura liqueur and peach liqueur. Even after two of them, the smooth, slightly fruity taste was still quite drinkable. the view was amazing too, making for a great ending to our trip.

The Yebisu Beer Museum is a modest museum set in the middle of an urban oasis, the Yebisu Garden Place. Compared to the other breweries I’ve visited, this one is probably a redesign away from being noteworthy, as it is a simple partitioned one-room display. But, since Japanese culture stresses modesty and conformity over flashiness, it would not surprise me to ffind this design to be purposeful.

This is the Yebisu Beer Museum’s sampler platter: the “Dream Barley”, a patented “lox-less” malt beer; a smooth Weiss beer; the flagship Yebisu pilsner; and the Black, a roasty, black malt fueled lager that is crisp and refreshing, despite its looks.

The obligatory picture in front of the big beer cans will follow shortly.

If you’re in Tokyo and find yourself in desperate need of making a quick kit beer, then head over to the Tokyu Hands store in Shibuya.

This is store is geared for almost any creative pursuit, as if a Michael’s, Home Depot and SamFlax were smooshed into one 8-level store. In the foodstuffs area, next to the bartending supplies, this little shelf holds a bunch of the basics for extract brewing: fermenter on the top shelf; yeast, bottle caps and smaller bits lower down; and extract kits on the bottom three shelves.

Reminds me of the wit beer I have to keg when I get home!

Because we are cultural explorers (and not because we were hankering for fries), we checked out the McMenu for some local flavor. I ordered the shrimp sandwich (McEbi) and Andrea ordered the teriyaki burger. My sandwich was actually quite tasty. It had real bits of shrimp, so it had to be good. On the other hand, Andrea’s sandwich was a sausage patty slathered in teriyaki sauce — a burger imposter!

One thing of note: the fries here are just as addictive as back home.