Tokyo! - Day 3

Monday morning in Tokyo was a whirlwind. I was trying to remember all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes, but also trying to actually enjoy them at the same time. Liz and I checked out of the Ace Inn and travelled with our bags to Tsukijishijo Station, exit A1 to meet Yuko and Zach. Exit A1 was a little ambigous, and it took us a while to find each other. It was drizzling a bit and the air smelled slightly of fish. We were trying to wait patiently, but we were getting to that "it's time to go home" point. Finally, Yuko saw us from across the street and we were a family again!


We made our way into the Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market. The first half was a consumer market that didn't have a lot of fish, but fresh fruit and vegetables, knives, fish baskets, boots, etc. This is where we found the restaurant to have our Monday brunch... SUSHI!


Here we are waiting in the line/rain for seats at the small restaurant.


We waited about 45 minutes until there were 4 seats available at the bar. There was only seating for about ten people. We were served green tea, and then had a tray in front of us with ginger and wasabi. Slowly but surely, the chefs filled our trays with an assortment of sushi. There was salmon, tuna, shrimp, eel (cooked), and other fish served as sushi (just pieces of fish on rice). Then we also had pieces of spicy tuna and salmon eggs in sushi rolls. It was all very good. Liz struggled a bit, even gagged on her last attempt, but we were proud of her valiant effort, and happy to help her finish!

Here is the inside of the restaurant:

Here is my tray of sushi, full except for the 6 rolls we also received:

Sushi at a fish market in Japan!

After Sushi, we proceeded to the commericial side of the fish market. This is where the fisherman were. They were throwing around their catches from the morning, chopping the fish, gutting it, and packaging it for delivery to the local retailers. Anyone can visit, but the rules are that you have to stay out of their way, and take no flash photography.

Zach, Liz and Yuko at the market:

Me at the market:

I had never seen wasabi in fresh form... but this is what it looks like:

mmmmm. Tuna shark (I think?)! Look how BIG it is! well, was. That basket is a normal-sized laundry basket.

Fisherman closing up shop and wrapping up the day (at 11 am).

After the market, we got some coffee and walked around Tsukiji and found our way to Sony Plaza, which was this big room of Sony electronics that would be played with. We were pretty zonked though, Liz was still trying to keep her fish down, so we found some benches and waited while Zach went and bought a battery for his camera. Then, Yuko guided us back to the train station. It was time to head back. Zach was flying stand-by again and when we arrived at the airport, the lines to United were very LONG! Liz and I left Tokyo at 5 pm on Monday and returned to Seoul a little after 7. We boarded the bus to head back to Dongbaek. Upon arrival, we had both received e-mails from Zach saying he was stuck and was going to try to get out the next day.

We were both very nervous for school the next day, but we crafted a pretty good story about Zach's absence and all is well in kinder land!

I head to the Demilitarized Zone this weekend to take a peak at North Korea! I just finished the memior, "The Aquariums of Pongyang." I highly reccommend it if you're interest at all in the current happenings in North Korea. Kim Jong-Il and his father (The Great Leader) could really give Hitler a run for his money, they just haven't tried to take over the world yet. More about the book after my return from the North!