I wiggle my toes in soft white sand and watch the children play happily a few feet away. Just add the sound of the crashing surf and you might have tricked me into thinking I was on a beach holiday — as one of the little girls exclaims, emerging from her stroller, "Mommy, are we in Guam?"
Far from Guam, we are in Tokyo's Toyosu district, to be exact, at The Beach 55, a cafe and barbecue joint located in the middle of a "beach" created with 550 tons of pristine, white sand shipped from Vietnam.
Although there is no ocean in sight, The Beach 55 has the feel of a summer cottage by the sea, with inviting, sun-bleached sofas and pillows in shades of turquoise on a deck and sun loungers perfect for lazing away a weekend afternoon in the sun.