Day two in Tokyo began with us wondering how we would navigate this massive, slightly imposing city. We had heard the language barrier would be huge, the subways a maze, and the neighborhoods widely spread out. We started by venturing out for coffee and breakfast and stumbled into the most beautiful grocery store either one of us has ever seen. Recall images of the grocery store in China and then check out the order and beauty of each individually wrapped vegetable and piece of fruit above and below. We picked up salads and a few prepared dishes and headed out to picnic on a bench. It was a surprisingly nice and economical way to start our first full day in Tokyo.
Then we took on the subway.... Brian seemed to master it in just a few moments, but as we were gazing at the vast subway map and complex automatic ticket machine, we encountered our first kind stranger of the day. The impeccably dressed man in the ticket booth appeared with helpful English pamphlets in hand and a big smile (sort of like NYC.......... ahem). Once he helped us, he quickly straightened up the already straight brochures in the cleanest subway station we have ever seen. We were off to the Harajuku area to see the Meiji Jingu Shrine and Gardens in Yoyogi Park and the interesting young people who 'entertain' there (think a bit like Gwen Stefani or Grease).
Success!! (above)
Above you can see the massive entry to the Meiji Jingu shrine and gardens... so peaceful and impressive. Though it is the middle of winter, the gardens were still beautiful and serene - we can only imagine what this place is like in May and June. Above is a woman putting the finishing touches on her Kimono if you look closely on the far left side of the windows.
We met our next kind stranger at the Koi pond in the gardens. As we were looking at all the fish and just taking in the sights, a girl tapped Brian on the shoulder to offer him the food she had brought to feed the fish. We could say yes and marvel at how that would never happen back home.
As we walked back towards the temple, there was a vast square of people criss crossing in all directions. Though a bit chaotic, it was really peaceful and a sight to see. As I was gazing across the crowded square, a man tapped me on the shoulder and whispered "there... it's a wedding march" and pointed to the wedding march that was just beginning to one side. We could have possibly missed this cool sight had this man not pointed it out to us.
After the temple, we ventured into Yoyogi Park, the site of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a lot like Central Park in NY. You can see some of the "entertainment" above... seems there is a fascination with 1950s and 60s Rock 'n Roll culture among the young people here.... leather bomber jackets, poodle skirts, Elvis on the boombox.... This is also an area where the young people just generally dress to impress... you can see a bit more below.
(Above) One of the girls in a costume in a square outside of the park.
The winding streets and alleys of Harijuku - so many people and tons of stores and restaurants. We could have wondered forever.
To end our action-packed first day, we decided to have traditional Japanese coal barbeque for dinner. We were recommended to go to a tiny little spot called Hinokiya where we perched ourselves at the counter and watched the master at work. The entire restaurant staff would call out to announce the arrive of each new guest and each new dish that was presented from the kitchen. Quite an entertaining and delicious dinner experience! We've discovered a new love for Tofu, which is extremely popular here and was one of our appetizers last night. It's deliciously creamy and arrives with special toppings: soy sauce, scallions, minced ginger, and salt. In addition to that, we had grilled sweet potatoes, asparagus, grilled salted chicken, and a grilled fish similar to the one on the BBQ below.
As we finished up dinner, the waiter came over and offered Brian the chance to try on his special jacket and special Japanese head band. As I tried to contain my laughter, the man helped Brian dress and then took our picture. He must of seen in the sea of Tokyo locals that we were tourists and wanted to ensure we could get the full experience.
Brian in the waiter's gear. Another display of the un-imagineable friendly and thoughtful people here.
Last but not least, we arrived home and quickly called for a 3:45am wake up call. We were determined to see the live fish auctions that we've heard so much about here. Groggy, we got into a taxi and headed down to the piers. Our apologetic cab driver dropped us off and explained that the auctions would start at 530am, but he wasn't quite sure where we needed to go.
OH GOD. Our first moment of slight panic in Japan as it was now 4:15 am and we were on the side of a road and had at least one hour to go before any action began. We didn't panic because it feels so safe here and there were still many people buzzing around. We popped into a gas station and asked the man where we needed to go to see the fish auctions. The markets looked vast and we had no idea. He told us to follow him outside where he pointed to a motorized dolly and told us to jump on the back.
We zoomed down through the alleyways holding on for our lives and giggling thinking "how in the heck did we end up here....?" He dropped us off in front of the auctions and we patiently waited for other tourists to show up and for the auctions to start.
What a sight to see. We were so glad we got out of bed for this. Below are some images that probably could not capture how unique this place was.
*********If you do not like pics of animals/fish, please do NOT look below.*******
Inspecting the merchandise that would soon go up for auction. The bells started to ring and the auctions began....
This seemed to be the "Donald Trump" of Sushi - he bid on nearly everything he saw and people seemed to marvel at him.
After the hour long auctions (one for small Tuna, one for large Tuna... the large Tuna were at least 1,000 pounds), we headed in to the actual markets. This is the wholesale market for all varieties of fish in Tokyo. An amazing sight.... gorgeous scallops, crabs, shrimp, and fish of all varieties.
This is me under the clock at 6:20am this morning. After two hours in the markets, we were smiling widely, but incredibly cold. Time to head back to bed and rest up for Monday!! WHAT A DAY. Sorry for the long post, we couldn't bring ourselves to leave anything out!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment