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Day 3 November 18th
Today Yuki took us around to show us some of the sights and architecture. We walked all over to catch a look at some famous buildings and other cultural sights. We walked from one district to the next hopping on and off the metro line and the JR line (which is like the loop in Chicago). For lunch we went to the Tsukiji Fish Market where all that is fished out of the sea arrives before it ends up in a store or on your plate. If you arrive extremely early in the morning you can observe them slinging fish. However, getting up at say five does not sound appealing to us. After roaming the tiny streets that are filled with vendors and restaurants we stopped to try some sushi. Again we went with what Yuki recomended due to our lack of knowledge on what type of sushi we would like. It looked like a lot of food so Brandon and I shared a dish. Once you decide you pick your dish through a vending machine that gives you a ticket for your meal. Once your meal is ready they take your ticket. All of these restaurants are very small, not much more than a counter with a preparation area behind. We ended up eating outside since there were not three seats together. Our meal consisted of salmon and salmon eggs, some veggies and rice along with some egg. It was very fresh and very good...Brandon even enjoyed it, so perhaps we will become Sushi fans after all. However, it never tastes this good or fresh in the States. We like eating it this way as opposed to the rolls we usually order because you can eat at your leisure...you do not have to shove the whole roll into your mouth! After, the market we continued to walk around. We went back to the Ginza district to check out Itos Mikimoto Store and to go and check our email as well as make hotel reservations from the Mac store (where it is free). We also checked out the Kabuki Theatre as we strolled the streets. We then left Ginza and took the subway to the monorail which then took us out into the bay to an artificial island that offers views of the city. Here there are various extravagant looking buildings such as the Fuji Television Building. It was set up as a boardwalk and arcade type area that you could then walk down to a small beach. This train ride offered an interesting perspective of the city. You could take boat tours from here to see the skyline but as we watched one of the boats load up we saw that is was just as crowded as the subway during rush hour, with wall to wall people pressed up against each other. It is interesting to note how much the Japanese work; they have not one but two nightly rush hours one at around six and another at eleven but pretty much anytime between then the metro is packed. Also everyone is dressed to the nines the woman here are so fashionable always dressed nice in heels or more likely tall boots and skirts. The men are also always nicely dressed in tailored suits...even on the weekend when you assume they are not working! Anyways after we rode the monorail back into the city we got off at the Omantesando stop to check out some more architecture. Once again it was another shopping district lined with all high end fashion shops. It is here that we saw the Prada and Tods stores. We then walked down Cat Street which was a little side street off the main boulevard that was set up to have no vehicular traffic and was lined with boutiques and other trendy shops, here you could find all the great clothes at perhaps a more reasonable price but probably not. However, it had more local flavor than all the major fashion labels of the other shopping districts. We continued walking until we arrived at the Shibuya station. On the way we passed a outdoor soccer field where we caught some kids playing. This field was crazy because it was in the heart of the city in an elevated park that was also next to a highway. At this point we left Yuki who had to meet up with his girlfriend to head out of Tokyo. We then just grabbed a quick snack for dinner and then headed back to the hostel.
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