Sadaharu Aoki: Mont d'Or

Okay, first with the running. I decided to time myself around Akasaka Palace again, aiming for just one lap at a moderate pace. Since this has hills, it's more difficult than Gaien, which is almost completely flat, but the hills are all during the second half (the way I run it), so I'm not sure how to pace it, and anyway, I haven't memorized enough points of specific distance yet.

Apparently, I did a very fast 1.75 km to get to the starting point (northwest corner), not by the shortest route for no go reason, but it was a good route. The actual loop then was 18'46''14 for 3.31 km, which was actually fast. As I said, it was hard to judge and I wasn't that committed to moderate.

Then a moderate speed 1.87 km to Midtown to visit Toshi Yoroizuka, who was closed for an event (at the bar area, I could see) for the first time I've seen. No problem: I went inside to Sadaharu Aoki, where they had cakes that I hadn't had before as a 10-year "festival" (which is almost over) of being in Japan. The cake, Mont d'Or is chocolate mouse and almond cream on top. The almond cream must have then the pencil line-sized part on top, with the chocolate mousse as the main body. The bottom was a dense and pound-cake like, and is reportedly chestnut and cassis. I suppose there must have been chestnut flour in the cake, as I didn't notice actual chestnut pieces. I would have guessed that the red fruit was raspberry from the taste (and the sense of seeds in my teeth afterwards), but it was just an accent and worked well with the cake. The cake was different from anything I've had before from them, but it was a great, high-quality piece, which it should be for 830 yen. It had been a while since I had cake from a great shop. Still need to get to Toshi Yoroizuka, though. Maybe Thursday.

There were multiple chromometer mishaps, but I seem to have run another 3.3 km slowly (with cake on a crowded sidewalk) coming back, so I hit a variety of speeds today.