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Craig and Efren's travels
Our first day to explore the metropolis of Tokyo!
Being completely jet lagged, we woke up 4am. This was perfect as we wanted to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market very early to see the fish action. We realized that we were probably already too late to see the auctions which occur at 5am and apparently tourists start lining up at 2am to get one of the coveted 120 spots available. There was no way we were going to try and get there that early!
It was a cold but crystal clear morning as we walked to Ueno station and had little problems using the subway ticket machines to buy 2 tickets on the Hibaya Line to the Tsukiji station. Actually we got on the first train leaving at 5:08am. As expected, we didn't see the auction, but walked around and had one of the best breakfasts ever. We walked into a hole in the wall place (that had curtains over the entrance so we'd never know it was open if we didn't see people walking in and out) with just a counter, a waitress yelling out orders to the cook in the back. We had no idea what to order (no English menu), so we just pointed to what others were eating. We knew it was a good sign as most of the folks huddled around the counter were fish market workers (no tourists). The soup we had was indescribably delicious. In hindsight, it was probably the tastiest meal we had in all of Japan! The only downside was that the soup was nuclear hot and we nearly suffered third degree tongue burns. It was so good just kept eating without waiting for it to cool off and suffered anyway!
After walking around the market a bit more we wanted to start exploring some other parts of the city. Unfortunately it was only 7:30am and nothing was open yet. As we wandered over to the Hama Rikyu Garden (our next stop, which didn't open until 9am), we found a Tully's Coffee just opening up and stopped there for a latte. The latte was good, but not cheap. Expect to pay at least 500 yen (about $5) for a coffee. Interestingly, the price for a latte is about the same as that of a plain black coffee. In the US the latte is usually 2x more. So, good bye morning coffee, hello morning lattes!
We took a leisurely stroll through the Hama Rikyu Garden. A very peaceful spot right in the middle of the city. The trees were in full autumn splendor, and the many ponds were full of ducks. We were offered a free audio guide that helped point out the highlights of the park -- including a 300 year old pine tree.
From here it was a quick walk to the Ginza district -- Tokyo's fancy shopping area. Pretty similar to other sectors of other cities with major department stores and upmarket boutiques. Not a lot of interest for us, but we did stop in the Sony store to check out the latest electronics and cruised down to the basement of the ritzy Mitsukashi department store to grab some food for lunch. Lots of very enticing stalls to pick up food "to go", but in the end nothing really tasted that great. We ate on the rooftop terrace and ended up getting ice cream afterward even though it was quite cold. The flavors we had were green tea and red bean. Pretty tasty.
We jumped back on the subway and headed over to the Shinjuku district which is the skyscraper heaven on the west side and the lusty red-light district on the east side (Kabuki-cho). We fist purchased tickets with the Odakyu rail line at the massive Shinjuku station for the trip we are planning on taking on Thursday to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji. After the purchase we headed west and went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building for views of the entire city and region -- including great views of Mt. Fuji on such an incredibly clear day.
Tiring of west Shinjuku, we took a taxi and walked around the massive Meiji Shrine before we headed to Harajuku to see the teeny boppers. Think Hello Kitty and Pikachu heaven with Japanese teenagers (and those thinking they are teenagers) with dyed purple hair and funky outfits. We then headed back to Shinjuku and walked around Kabuki-cho to see the pachinko parlors. Kind of like slot machines, but a bit different. The parlors in all Japanese cities are packed all the time.
Efren got a foot massage and we grabbed a quick dinner before taking the subway back to the hotel. Long day with already the beginnings of some blisters, but a good day. Looking forward to exploring more of Tokyo tomorrow.
Being completely jet lagged, we woke up 4am. This was perfect as we wanted to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market very early to see the fish action. We realized that we were probably already too late to see the auctions which occur at 5am and apparently tourists start lining up at 2am to get one of the coveted 120 spots available. There was no way we were going to try and get there that early!
It was a cold but crystal clear morning as we walked to Ueno station and had little problems using the subway ticket machines to buy 2 tickets on the Hibaya Line to the Tsukiji station. Actually we got on the first train leaving at 5:08am. As expected, we didn't see the auction, but walked around and had one of the best breakfasts ever. We walked into a hole in the wall place (that had curtains over the entrance so we'd never know it was open if we didn't see people walking in and out) with just a counter, a waitress yelling out orders to the cook in the back. We had no idea what to order (no English menu), so we just pointed to what others were eating. We knew it was a good sign as most of the folks huddled around the counter were fish market workers (no tourists). The soup we had was indescribably delicious. In hindsight, it was probably the tastiest meal we had in all of Japan! The only downside was that the soup was nuclear hot and we nearly suffered third degree tongue burns. It was so good just kept eating without waiting for it to cool off and suffered anyway!
After walking around the market a bit more we wanted to start exploring some other parts of the city. Unfortunately it was only 7:30am and nothing was open yet. As we wandered over to the Hama Rikyu Garden (our next stop, which didn't open until 9am), we found a Tully's Coffee just opening up and stopped there for a latte. The latte was good, but not cheap. Expect to pay at least 500 yen (about $5) for a coffee. Interestingly, the price for a latte is about the same as that of a plain black coffee. In the US the latte is usually 2x more. So, good bye morning coffee, hello morning lattes!
We took a leisurely stroll through the Hama Rikyu Garden. A very peaceful spot right in the middle of the city. The trees were in full autumn splendor, and the many ponds were full of ducks. We were offered a free audio guide that helped point out the highlights of the park -- including a 300 year old pine tree.
From here it was a quick walk to the Ginza district -- Tokyo's fancy shopping area. Pretty similar to other sectors of other cities with major department stores and upmarket boutiques. Not a lot of interest for us, but we did stop in the Sony store to check out the latest electronics and cruised down to the basement of the ritzy Mitsukashi department store to grab some food for lunch. Lots of very enticing stalls to pick up food "to go", but in the end nothing really tasted that great. We ate on the rooftop terrace and ended up getting ice cream afterward even though it was quite cold. The flavors we had were green tea and red bean. Pretty tasty.
We jumped back on the subway and headed over to the Shinjuku district which is the skyscraper heaven on the west side and the lusty red-light district on the east side (Kabuki-cho). We fist purchased tickets with the Odakyu rail line at the massive Shinjuku station for the trip we are planning on taking on Thursday to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji. After the purchase we headed west and went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building for views of the entire city and region -- including great views of Mt. Fuji on such an incredibly clear day.
Tiring of west Shinjuku, we took a taxi and walked around the massive Meiji Shrine before we headed to Harajuku to see the teeny boppers. Think Hello Kitty and Pikachu heaven with Japanese teenagers (and those thinking they are teenagers) with dyed purple hair and funky outfits. We then headed back to Shinjuku and walked around Kabuki-cho to see the pachinko parlors. Kind of like slot machines, but a bit different. The parlors in all Japanese cities are packed all the time.
Efren got a foot massage and we grabbed a quick dinner before taking the subway back to the hotel. Long day with already the beginnings of some blisters, but a good day. Looking forward to exploring more of Tokyo tomorrow.
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