Man, my feet hurt and I've got a blister on my heal thanks to all of the walking that we did today! We started out this morning in the Tsukiji fish market which was really cool. It's this place in downtown Tokyo where all of the fishermen bring in their catch and display it for restaurants to buy. It's pretty amazing how many kinds of fish are available not to mention the octopus, squid, clams, shrimp, etc. A lot of it was still flopping around! There was so much action going on- people buying and selling, rickshaw type things bringing in more fish and these crazy little cars that kept trying to run us over. Unfortunately, we both got splashed with fishy water but other than that it was very cool.
After making our way through the market we went across the street where there are lots of restaurants serving incredibly fresh sushi. There were big crowds outside of most of them so we picked one and joined in. It was a really cute little place where the chefs cut and wrapped everything right in front of you and this little old lady went around serving tea. We got the set plate for about $20 which included 8 pieces of sushi and 3 rolls. Unfortunately for me, I discovered that I really don't like raw sushi when it's not rolled in something. I kept gagging on the big pieces or raw fish! Sean loved it though and helped me out by finishing off my squid tentacle, fish eggs and one other piece. It was a really cool experience though and I'm glad we did it.
After making our way through the market we went across the street where there are lots of restaurants serving incredibly fresh sushi. There were big crowds outside of most of them so we picked one and joined in. It was a really cute little place where the chefs cut and wrapped everything right in front of you and this little old lady went around serving tea. We got the set plate for about $20 which included 8 pieces of sushi and 3 rolls. Unfortunately for me, I discovered that I really don't like raw sushi when it's not rolled in something. I kept gagging on the big pieces or raw fish! Sean loved it though and helped me out by finishing off my squid tentacle, fish eggs and one other piece. It was a really cool experience though and I'm glad we did it.
Sean: This was the freshest sushi I have ever eaten. The fish practically melted in your mouth. One of the pieces was octopus, which is usually chewy. This one was firm and just broke apart when you chomped down...man that was good.
We were probably still stinking of fish when we went over to one of the nicest areas of town, Ginza which is compared to Park Avenue in our guide book. We window shopped for awhile and got some coffee before checking out the Sony building. It was full 8 floors of all of the latest stuff from Sony, lots of things I had no idea that they had. Once we'd had our fill of glitz, we got back on the train and went down to Koen park, home to the national museum. The museum housed an impressive display of Asian art with a focus on Buddhism through the ages. We saw lots of carvings, kimono, masks and scrolls. It was also air conditioned and a nice escape from the heat and humidity.
We were probably still stinking of fish when we went over to one of the nicest areas of town, Ginza which is compared to Park Avenue in our guide book. We window shopped for awhile and got some coffee before checking out the Sony building. It was full 8 floors of all of the latest stuff from Sony, lots of things I had no idea that they had. Once we'd had our fill of glitz, we got back on the train and went down to Koen park, home to the national museum. The museum housed an impressive display of Asian art with a focus on Buddhism through the ages. We saw lots of carvings, kimono, masks and scrolls. It was also air conditioned and a nice escape from the heat and humidity.
Sean: One of the exhibits had all the armour and weaponary used by Samurais throughout the ages. One of the Swords they had on display was made in the 13th Century by a man thought to be one of the greatest sword makers who ever lived. That sword was in use and passed down from Samurai to Samurai for over three hundred years until it was given to the Shogun of the time as a present from its owner in the late 16th Century. The sword even had its own name. I'll bet you could take it off the wall and chop up some firewood even today.
We ended the day back in our neighborhood with a makeshift dinner. We discovered a place that sells lots of different kinds of prepared foods so we were able to sample different dumplings, salad and skewered meats. All of it was really good but we have no idea what we actually ate since we ordered by just pointing to each thing that we wanted!
We ended the day back in our neighborhood with a makeshift dinner. We discovered a place that sells lots of different kinds of prepared foods so we were able to sample different dumplings, salad and skewered meats. All of it was really good but we have no idea what we actually ate since we ordered by just pointing to each thing that we wanted!
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