Tuesday was bucket list day. Our first stop was the Tsukiji Fish Market, famous for early morning fish auctions where restaurant chefs come to buy the freshest fish for their patrons. Only a few members of the public are allowed into each auction and the lineup starts at 3am. Needless to say, we opted to get to the market a little later and just take in the general scene. There are vendors selling seafood (obviously), knives, tea, housewares and my favourite - food on sticks. We bought some bbq eel skewers and carefully ate them while trying to navigate the narrow street between the stalls with open umbrellas. Next item on a stick was tamagoyaki, or rolled egg omelette which is prepared by folding many thin layers of cooked egg on each other in a rectangular pan. I've had tamago nigiri before but this was much sweeter, almost too much so for an omelette.
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| Skewers for days |
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| Tamagoyaki |
Dave and I then ducked off from the group to find some sushi. I don't think there is anywhere in the world that could have fresher sushi than the Tsukiji Fish Market, so sushi for breakfast - check! We both got a nigiri set so that we could try various types of fish, as well as a couple pieces of uni (sea urchin) because we had never tried it. Even here, it does not look very appetizing but it is soft and rich and delicious. I think I liked it better than Dave, who was not a huge fan of the texture. We can both agree though, that sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market was one of our favourite things in Tokyo.
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| Sushi master |
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| Uni - an acquired taste |
After the market, we ventured over to Ginza, a well known shopping district in Tokyo. It is home to a 12-storey Uniqlo (I equate it to Japanese GAP) which we spent a fair amount of time in. We worked up a thirst shopping, ending up at the Ginza Lion Beer Hall. When Dave asked the server if he should order the largest beer, the server responded "that depends...are you a man?". Well played.
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| Beautiful art installation at Dover Street Market Ginza |
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| Dave disappointed that his beer was not bigger |
The second item that we checked off the bucket list on Tuesday was the Robot Restaurant. Ok, maybe it's not quite a bucket list item but when in Tokyo, one must see this show. It is not really possible to explain what the show is about, other than random vignettes of weirdness. Everyone starts in the lounge where we were entertained by a singer and musicians who were dressed like Daft Punk. There is not one inch of the "restaurant" that is not lit up or covered in some heinous pattern or design. We were all eventually herded down to the show and what followed was...insane. Our take on it is that this is a show designed for tourists and they made it as strange and incomprehensible as possible on purpose. Mission accomplished.
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| Do you see the guy behind us who is having a nap?! |
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| Human Barbies playing large drums |
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| These girls (who had lovely voices by the way) sang Ave Maria while a giant robot walked in front of them. Seriously. |
What better way to cap a very "Tokyo" day off than karaoke and ramen? We sang to our heart's content and then went in search of Ichiran again. This time, we were successful!! Finally got to see the single stall ramen seats where your ramen is handed to you through a window and you never see an actual person's face behind the rattan curtain. Jeremy discovered his new favourite meal, and this would not be our last late night visit to Ichiran this week.
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| A ramen cubby hole is my kind of cubby hole |
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