Wallpaper* City Guides

So, I broke down and bought the Wallpaper* City Guide (you can buy them, here) for Tokyo, where I am going next Saturday for business.

One, because I am just a sucker for any sort of nice travel guide — like cookbooks, I enjoy reading them like books as opposed to manuals on how to accomplish something.

And two, because I want to appear like I know all the cool spots in Tokyo, instead of the places that I really prefer — like the お茶漬け (ochazuke) place next to the Gap on Meiji Dori. This place is really simple and in a basement level restaurant space, yet I have gone there every time I have been to Tokyo, because I love it. This is NOT in the Wallpaper* City Guide. Neither is 無印良品 (MUJI), my other true love in Tokyo. But that is ok, because I already know where they are located. But now, I also can find the Prada Store and the Louis Vuitton Store near Roppongi Hills, in case I feel like buying a pair of shoes for $750.

So, as I was reading my new guide on the subway home from the bookstore, I missed my stop. I was supposed to get off at Canal Street and transfer to the Q train. Instead, I was so engrossed in reading about all the fabulous places where I could never afford to eat on my company's daily stipend, I ended up at Whitehall Street, which is the end of the line for the R train, before it falls into the East River. I looked up and the car was empty, except for me, and a guy with a skateboard. When I had to stand over him to look at the subway map, he asked where I was going and I told him that I missed my stop, that I was going to Brooklyn. He looked at me sympathetically and was like, "You don't go out there very much, huh?" I think he was implying, gee, what loser misses their own subway transfer? Um, I do. To which I replied, "Oh. I actually live in Brooklyn."