Day 5 28/3/06 - Japan

Tsukiji -> Ueno -> Ameyoko -> Okachimachi -> Asakusa -> Aoyama-I-Chome -> Roppongi

Highlight

• Tskiji Fish Markets. We got there at around 8 am and it was very chaotic. I expected it to be busy but I thought the Japanese were orderly. Was I wrong! There are trucks, cars, and engine-powered loading machines going everywhere. We nearly got ran over a couple of times. We saw loads and loads of seafood and seafood products. We must have walked 2 or 3 kms and we didn't even cover everything.
• All the little food stores and "restaurants" just outside the fish markets. Most specialise in only one thing and the atmosphere was great.
• Our melt in the mouth but expensive sushi (see food).
• Slokky walking around trendy Tokyo with his beanie and scarf and hat hair.
• A really nice lady taking pictures of us at Ueno Park.
• Ameyoko is not as exciting without the people on a week day.
• Like they say, or sing, but what a difference a day makes! The cherry blossoms were all in bloom at Ueno Park today.
• Asakusa - was the most touristy place we went to, and we went to a lot of tourists hot spots. There is a famous temple there, with the streets leading up to it all lined with tourist shops selling everything that supposedly represented Japan. The closer you got to the temple, the more expensive the same items became in the shops. I bought some Japanese slippers for (650) at a side street, and saw the same slippers for sale at these shops, ranging from around 800 yen up to 1300 yen!!
• We skipped half of the stuff we were supposed to see at Asakusa 'cos Slokky is in charge of map reading and he was zonked out again.
• Trying out new cars at Honda showroom including the "Fit", what the Japs called the Jazz. They have so many different colours to choose from here, unlike the boring colours you get in Oz.
• Roppongi was a disappointment. There was no night life, just lots of bars and foreigners. If you don't like bars and girls, don't come here. On the other hand, if you do like bars and girls, this is the place for you.
• Our first vending machine meal. (see food).
• Slokky getting lost everywhere. This one is not a highlight but just a record so I remember.
• Found an Internet cafe, at a very seedy place... but we hadn't touched a computer for awhile and was having withdrawal symptoms, so we paid up. It was pretty difficult, since it was our first Japanese keyboard.
• It rained for the first time since we got here.

Food

• Taste testing fish, meats, pickles, black beans at Tsukiji.
• Sushi set containing 12 freshly (and very quickly) made sushi + miso soup + green tea. The fish were melt in the mouth, the rice still warmed. The sushi specialist shop only sits about 8 people around the sushi bar. They don't give you a plate, instead, they drop the sushi as they are made on the bench in front of you and you eat it straight from there. It was one of the best sushi I've had, but the price really hurt. (6300 for 2).
• Eel skewers - Slokky's indulgence. I wasn't impressed. It was dried and only slightly warmed. And you only get a little piece of eel for the money (100).
• Another pineapple bun from Ameyoko (135).
• Taste test rice snacks.
• Melon porky.
• Grape juice (50).
• Fish ball tempura soba at some fast food joint at Roppongi. The soup was really salty, and I can say now, was the worst of any meal I had in Japan, but it was still passable. The restaurant was cool though. You pick what you want, pay, get your tix at the vending machine, hand it over to the lady, set out your own cutlery, condiments and water, and 1 minute later, your meal is ready (390).
• Katsu don from the same fast food place. This one tasted a lot better (450).
• Morinaga choc sticks. These were divine! (part of 1000 yen throw).