Cake-off: Très Calme's Mont-Blanc over Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe

This weekend's cake-off was a third-round match between two one-and-one cakes. First, I walked, along with two 4-min intervals of running, to Très Calme and got their signature cake, their Mont-Blanc. This has a cassis center and features coffee meringue on the outside, which balance out. This is the only cake with coffee in the my greats list, I think. I took the train back, since it's 7 or 8 kilometers and I had a second cake to get. The opposite was my favorite cake from Bubó Barcelona, their Bubó Xoco Deluxe. This time I let him give me their bag because it was raining and they have an unusually shaped box and a bag decided to fit it, so it was pretty stable. I ran another 4 min on the round trip, which was also 7 or 8 kilometers total, so it was a test of both my walking capability and renewed running.

I enjoyed both cakes, but the Bubó Xoco Deluxe was unable to stand out against the strong favor of the Mont-Blanc and in fact, though excellent, I've decided that I don't need it in the greats, which include a lot of chocolate cakes. The Mont-Blanc remains distinctive. I have a little trouble with the aftertaste, though that might have also been the leeks in my lunch. So I need to get back to Très Calme, though I have a number of shops in the exceptional cake shop list that I need to catch up on, except the top ones in the quite fine shops list keep poking their heads up asking for more attention. Next, though, I want I work on the quite exceptional shops.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin over Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe

Saturday, I got up at 5:30 so that I could get a long run in before coming back at 9:00 to get ready for a 10:00 appointment, which I did. The actual running started after 6:30, as I don't run without breakfast any more and other preparations also take time. This was sort of a neighborhood run, since it was intended to take photographs while I verified courses. First, I decided that I was going to change my rules and allow subway tunnel corridors and stairs for crossing the road, on the grounds that I don't run up and down stairs any more, as climbing fast is exercise enough and adding to the stress by making it bouncy was probably what caused my most recent long incapacitation. Also, the NHK running program, the top people have recommended (to people not trying to be top, granted) walking up steep slopes, unless you're specifically training for slopes, such as the race up Mt. Fuji. So I'll fill in a hole (and allow some surrounding loops to shrink, now that they can ignore what's across the street) by adding a new Minami-Aoyama loop for sectors 3 and most of 4. First, though I had a couple landmarks to verify.

From there, close to where I was doing new loops (though not that close along the route) and next to Hiroo, I worked on verifying parts in Minami-Azabu, mostly temples, but a few parks. On the way back, I used the pedestrian underpass near Roppongi Hills and confirmed that, with the new Roppongi 7 loops, these areas should actually be next in line, so suddenly I have a map crisis, since I haven't even completed making the course around much of that area, much less verified it. It was early, so only the snacks I brought.

After my 10 o'clock, I decided to try for a cake-off, as I didn't expect either of my sources to sell out. I got the Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin by bicycle, which I probably did last time. I shouldn't have gotten Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe by bicycle, as a mousse cake just can't stand up to the vibration, as the picture shows. That might have affected it's impact on me, as I wasn't feeling the greatness this time, which can be expected to happen sometime anway. I'll wait and see how it does in its next round before I bump it from the great list. The winner then was the Rhum Raisin. I'm not that confident that it needs to be in the great list either, though it is the only cake of its kind now, and I appreciate it for that, so it's a clean second win. It about time for me to get a new cake from Éclat des Jours, so now there is added urgency. It's a long run, though, so there's not a lot left even if I can make it in time. I should go when I'll willing to skip cake or when I'm not working a full day.