35 km to Seijo Alpes

This is the running route map. The first leg was to Shinagawa Station. This was good, although muggy even at 5:30 am, and I should have bypassed the route I took through Roppongi: very crowded with people doing the bars or working for the bars (I assume).

Next was Shinagawa to Jiyuugaoka, which had the usual problem of me having trouble navigating Ota-ku. Trying to follow the path above a train line where it is underground, I took a wrong turn just after here

at a five-way intersection. I should stay of Ota-ku unless I'm following a river or something obvious.

After the turn at Jiyuugaoka, I got a sports drink from a convenience and drank it pretty quickly (although I carry two 500 ml water bottles and refill them as I go past park drinking fountains) and then past Nakameguro, I got a Bostoc at Aux Bacchanales,

so now I know what this is. I didn't like it as much as the one from Fraoula. I think this one was a lot moister in the middle. It was okay and only 180 yen, so it was a good midway snack.

I turned east near Yoyogi Park. The last leg following the train line to Seijo Gakuenmae Station (named after a school) was great: enough pedestrian traffic to slow cars but not enough to be a problem except maybe the last couple stations where first there were first almost no pedestrians and then for the last little bit, where I had lost sight of the train line (even though I was near the station), suddenly there were dozens of high school girls going the other way. I think there must have been an open campus event, since they were from different high schools (they wear uniforms, so you can tell, although they tend to travel in packs of like uniforms).

Today, the humidity seemed to burn off a little around 7 am but never felt any hotter and it was cloudy. Guess I'm going to have to pay attention to the weather reports more: no running when the heat stroke index is in the red "danger" zone (last night they said noon for southern Kanto, which includes Tokyo, but actually the temperature was falling by 11 am in eastern Tokyo. It rained from around noon and sometimes afterward, which spikes the humidity, so my timing was good. I'd like to leave earlier next time, though, maybe 4:00 or 4:30.

The cake was okay, but not great. I should have left it in the refrigerator for a few more hours or popped it in the freezer to firm up the mousse, but it did not actually melt. They ask you how long you have to carry it when you buy, but the question is either rhetorical or they have no sense of the difference between summer and winter, since they put in only one tiny freezer pack with my three pieces of cake. Even if I'm not dressed for a cafe, I should eat in.

I got the Noble （ノーブル）for 470 yen、which is hazelnuts in ganache with bavarois (Bavarian cream) chocolate.

Then I had the Mireille (ミレイユ) for 440 yen, which is blueberry and cassis (blackcurrant) mousse with condensed milk cream, with a little white chocolate on top and the chocolate shop name plate, which I respect.

Finally, I had the mousse chocolate and Tahiti vanilla cream, Anphicles (アンフィクレ）for 450 yen. They all seemed fine. If I lived near here, I would go back (actually, my next route takes me back there anyway, but they'll probably be closed when I pass them), but I don't need to.

In the evening, I got this linzer tort and a baguette from Le Petit Mec. This is tiny for 300 yen, but actually the right size. It's raspberry and very good.

Rest Sunday: Seijo Alpes and Andersen

I also got bread bread, but this sweet, Chocobar (チョコバー), was 360 for the box of three, so I could not resist. Energy- and flavor-wise, it might count as three cakes, even if it is less than one cake in terms of price. Very delicious, maybe great pastry. Andersen at Isetan is maybe my favorite bakery. 

The iPod is crippled, so I dug out a ten-year old digital camera which I hope to use from now on. The bread photo was fine, but I had to take a dozen pictures and fiddle with various settings (with unfamiliar icons or Japanese) before I could get an in-focus picture of cake (I don't know what the auto-focus thought I wanted a picture of before I got it right).

After loading up on pastry energy from the bakery, I went out scouting my normal weekday running route to see where the up and down slopes are within the Yotsu neighbor west of Akasaka Palace, which is usually the first place I go to from the National Stadium. I don't have time to jog longer, so I would like to introduce more slopes (but I don't want to do laps). There was running, because time is limited, and even running with heavy groceries. Amazingly, I managed to not break anything, despite having two bottles.

After the groceryrunning (shower, laundry, and eating a vegetable), I ate the cake that I had bought at Isetan. I know I've seen Seijo Alpes before, presumably at Isetan, but I don't seem to have any records. Maybe I hated everything I tried and/or it was before I started collecting the cards. This is Brenda (?: ブレンダ), which was 460 yen. It's caramel, which is always difficult, as there is variation in the taste of caramel. This was the same caramel taste as in standard Japanese pudding, which I hate. Maybe it's not sweet enough, and that's why it has a smoky taste that makes me think of coffee (which I don't drink and actually has a definitely much worse taste that lingers on and on). Anyway, this failed for me but I won't hold that against them. I had the chocobar earlier, so I don't need to go out and get anything else. Still, I'm not sure whether I'll try to hit them at Isetan again or save them for a Saturday run, when I'm ready buy cakes from multiple shops anyway, so I can be prepared with great cake from somewhere else. Speaking of which, I need to prepare my next Saturday map (and pizza dough for tonight). Trying a place that was convenient to my normal haunts this weekend did not work out so well, but I want to try Quatre anyway. Then I've still got to get to Bigarreaux and maybe Jun Ujita, which I stopped by once and got something simple and confirmed that they are okay. After that, there are some remote ones that are coming into my running range that I might visit. I figure, as long as I start in Tokyo, it counts it's suitable for this blog (and these are places that have visited Isetan).