I mean, why do something today when you can do it tomorrow?
Mañana, hombre, mañana!
This doesn't mean we were going to be slackers as the list of Tokyo to do's was still incomplete.
We went to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This did not mean we got up at 3:30am to line up for a ticket, after possibly winning the lottery of getting to sit on a refrigerated concrete floor for 1-2 hours to watch a bunch of fishmongers bid for tuna.
No. It meant leaving our warm apartment at reasonable hour, walk for 10 minutes and join a small amount of moderately sane people looking at vendors, similar in manner to every other market in the world, and try out their goods.
A man impressed with what he sees.
I could have stayed there for a month or two trying out all the stuff I saw for sale but I settled on two oysters twice or three time the size of the biggest oyster I have ever seen at home, two large pieces of bbq'd bamboo roots and a large portion of grilled tuna steak.
nom nom nom
Breakfast shop
My breakfast - two fat oysters, two large scallop with roe
& three large slices of bamboo roots.
All cooked over charcoals.
We followed up with coffee at the franchise called Tully's which helped "share the wealth" and get some much needed caffeine into us
Sensoji Temple is one of those places that pops up on just about every travel "must see" site we have visited so off we went.
It's been getting easier to crack the "Japan Rail Code" (which means "how the freakin' hell do you read these maps, timetables and allowable passes?") so getting there was reasonably easy.
We got there at midday, along with three or four Chinese "new money" provinces worth of people, various boat loads of Russians (who I think have just discovered botox, from the number of stiff browed, duck bill lipped women they had in tow), a few hundred Scandinavians, the odd horde of north Americans (yes that includes Canucks) and a fair smattering of every other continent too.
There was a whole lot of sideshow to the whole place and not much religion from what I could tell. Lots of baubles, foodstuffs and trinkets.
In fact way too much of it and very little prayer, but that's the way of things.
We left there having ticked it off the list, but wondered why it was on there in the first place.
Answer - Everything looks worthy on YouTube!
We decided to have a bit of a rest in the early afternoon, as it would be pointless tiring ourselves out so early in our holidays. IT WAS NOT A NANNA NAP!
Tiz suggested that a look at the Shibuya intersection would be worth the trip.
So, off we went at around 3pm. When we got on the train Tiz remarked that it seemed like the Tokyo peak hour starts early.
This view was supported, in her mind, by the fact that the train had quite a few people on it. After I explained what "packed" and "peak hour" really means in Tokyo she laughed.
We got to Shibuya in the cold and damp.
I was underwhelmed but what I saw but Tiz disagrees.
The bustle, in my opinion, was exaggerated by the umbrellas that everyone had.
Or maybe it was just a quite day.
Watch it live on YouTube, depending on when you watch it it's much more impressive.
..... or take a peek here.
What is a "Basement Foodshow" I hear you ask.
Well, think, like a Japanese, of every imaginable delicious foodstuff and beverage in one very, very,very large basement area and you have a Basement Foodshow.
Words fail me.
When I pass away and I go to meet my maker where he, or she, will show gratitude for my life's good deeds by allowing me free reign of such a place, for eternity,without fear of weight gain nor heartburn. Maybe.
We headed back to our apartment in the late afternoon as the rain got heavier.
It was cosy and comfortable but we had to go out somewhere for dinner, even though it was pouring down rain.
I had noticed a sushi bar just down a little laneway near our apartment.
It didn't look like it catered for non-Japanese vey well so that's where we decided to go.
We sprinted from our apartment block, and yes, I use the term loosely, to the entrance, which is only about 20 metres away! It's called Sushizanmai and we discovered later that is part of a chain.
Through the sliding doors, past the fat little guy statue who seems to be on posters and as a "welcome" statue everywhere in this district, to the welcome of "Irasshaimase" from everyone.
There was a six seat counter on the ground floor, which was not for us, so we found out quickly.
We were escorted to the lift that took us up to the second floor, which had four sushi "chefs" (makers?) behind a counter of a whole lot of varieties of fish.
Even with Tiz's working knowledge of Japanese, and the fish industry,this was going to be more a "point at the pictures" type of ordering.
The chefs, like almost all the Japanese we have met, were extremely kind and helpful.
Pointing, holding up fingers for quantity, the use of the few words we knew of each others language, many smiles, lots of thank you's and bows got us a sushi feed that will live long in our memories, as well as make most, if not all, sushi henceforth taste a bit ordinary.
For ~$55 we got 20 pieces of sushi that melted, and I'm not kidding about this, in our mouths, a lesson in how to eat sushi the way it's meant to be eaten, a "show" on how sushi is made by four very entertaining professionals, a lot of beer and nihonshu.
A memorable and cheap night indeed.
Tomorrow we are off to the Yokota Museum in Yakihara.
Rain, hail, earthquake nor typhoon will stop us!
No comments:
Post a Comment