First off, it takes a long time to get to Tsukiji Fish Market, or at least from my location. It took about 40 minutes or more, taking two or more subway lines to get there. By the way, the fish trading occurs around 5AM in the morning! But unfortunately, there has been a trend of a lot of visitors to the market at that hour and many fisherman and companies have complained that there presence has slowed down activities because they get in the way or stand in areas that they shouldn’t. So on the website, they state that they would rather visitors arrive later, and be very aware of their surroundings. In other words, it was an excuse to sleep in and not get there so early…but I would have loved to see some actual trading.

Arriving in the area, you see plenty of smaller markets selling an abundant assortment of different goods, ranging from fish to different cooking ware. But these are not the real attraction. On your way to Tsukiji, we passed a market that sold meats and vegetables. They had a lot of ramen and udon stalls where a lot of people, some in suits, were having a quick bite to eat and then heading out to visit the area, shop, or return to work. We had to ask for directions, but once we arrived, we knew we were in the right place. You begin to see a lot of fork lifts and small cars with loading beds connected to them. Tsukiji has many different areas, two of the major ones are the actual trading area, and then a market where visitors can dine on the day’s catch or shop around for plates, books, shoes, and a wide range of goods. Obviously the attraction are the restaurants. Some are relatively busy while others have lines of 15 or more people waiting to get in. This has to be an world wide rule, “look for the restaurants with the longest lines, and you know you can’t go wrong with them, they are obviously popular and offer the best food.” Of the top three restaurants, we choose the one with the most people, hahaha. When we got in line, we were told that we needed to move to another line…so wait, there is ANOTHER LINE!? Unfortunately yes…and the other line is located around the corner. So as people exit the restaurant, the first line moves in, then the spaces that free up in line one, are filled with people from the second line (around the corner). We were seated in line two for about 20 minutes when a very old lady came to us holding two fingers in the air and begged for us to follow her. We walked the 15 feet over to the first line and then we told to choose our meal. So instead of getting straight into line, you are asked to look at a very large board (about 4 feet, on stands that make it 6 feet tall) and choose the meal that you would like. There are many different kinds of restaurants located in this market. We had chosen a restaurant that specialized in making sashimi bowls. These bowls consisted of rice on the bottom and a layer of neatly stacked fish (your choice) and a small cup of miso soup. There were so many different options, but I finally decided on Tuna and Salmon sashimi. Once we both decided, Ayaka and I were asked for our order, which was written down on a small sticky note, and then we proceeded to the back of the first line (oh great, another line). So here, we waited for about another twenty minutes. Once we got to the foot of the entrance, we took some photos when I realized that there was a sign that said, “NO PHOTOGRAPHY!” So apparently, it is ok to take photo from outside, but upon being seated, it was completely forbidden. It wasn’t a cultural thing Ayaka stated, just a personal choice. My assumption was because they were so busy, that people taking photography may slow down the progress of getting people in and out of the restaurant. Regardless, we were showed in, and sat down. The paper with our order must have switched hands without me noticing, because when we sat down, our meal was placed in front of us. WOW, the sashimi was wonderful. It was definitely fresh, but didn’t taste of the ocean, so it was certainly cleaned well. The taste of the fish rang through with every bite, you could really tell the difference between the different types of fish. It was great to see that people in this restaurant were taking there time eating…I guess it is a rest from waiting in line, and then also to savor each individual bite. Ayaka and I traded a few pieces so that we could try each others choice. She took some salmon and I took some tuna. Now, I know, I had tuna as well, but her pieces were the meat located right next to the bone. Some people don’t like it, but fish works like any animal, the most intense flavored pieces of meat are typically found right next to the bones. Upon having a few pieces I was astonished at the difference, it was the tuna flavor, just intensified. It was very good, in fact, the entire meal was VERY satisfying. We finished and left. As we left the market, I saw a small shop selling some plates. I bought a few for home. They didn’t weigh much so my back was happy, since I’d put them in my backpack.

Getting to Tsukiji you pass a bunch of markets down small avenues

I love these small loading trucks! I think it'd be fun to try driving one, lol.

Always look for the restaurants with the longest lines

We were asked to go to another line to wait

People rushing through, on their way to eat and make purchases

OMG! So many choices of different sashimi bowls!!

The restaurant...remember, no photography once seated!

Next, we headed to Odaiba. I had heard about Mega Web and Venus Fort before and so I was excited to check them out. Both of which are located in Palette town. Mega Web is like Amlux Toyota Showcase…in fact it is almost the same. Mega Web is a Toyota and Lexus Showcase. But it has two features that Amlux doesn’t, an E-com RIDE and a history garage. “The E-com RIDE allows you to experience a futuristic short-range transit system with automated driving.” To ride the full course, the fee is ¥200. We elected for the full course. At the half-way point, you can get out and head to the history garage. The history garage features a lot of older Toyota race cars on the first floor and a large collection of varying older makes and models. Within the other makes and models section is an old Fairlady Z and Nissan Skyline GT-R! Ayaka had no clue what a Skyline was…she later said that she had heard about it, but I don’t blame here, even in the US, people don’t know all the models of cars, especially if they are not into cars. Oh, and among these cars was an old Delorean DMC 12, famous for being the time machine in “Back-to-the-Future”. A word to the wise, don’t touch the cars. They have signs posted everywhere…but rules are meant to broken. I touched the Skyline on accident as I leaned into to look at the interior and dash . Also inside the garage was a history museum for fatured magazines and model car kits of “yester-year” and a few current ones. You can buy any of these if you interested, but be ready to pay a large fee for the older magazines or rare model car kits. After leaving the History Garage, we got back on the E-com RIDE to make our way back to the main showcase hall.

Arriving in Odaiba, we had to cross an immense overpass to get to Palette Town

Palette Town

Mega Web...I'm SUPER excited!

Large wheel in Odaiba

The Toyota Showcase is huge, it goes for about three blocks the other way

The entrance to Mega Web

I wonder this track is for?...a ride of sorts?

This little car has to have a great power/weight ratio!

It is called i-swing, small personal transportation

The brand is called POD, and it is a collab between Toyota & SONY

A futuristic model from Toyota called the Fine-X

An E-com car...this is basic, but the ones you ride on have crazy designs painted on them

The E-com RIDE kiosk and information desk

Who the heck is driving this thing!?

A 1971 Fairlady Z (Z432)

A 1970 Nissan Skyline 2000-GTR (KPGC10)

Hugging

One of the many sections offering car books and magazines

After looking around a bit, we headed over to Venus Fort. The name itself warrants you to check it out, but it is pretty cool inside. When you get up to the second floor, you realize that this is no ordinary shopping “mall”. It is modeled after the halls of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. After walking around the shopping area for a while, we headed to the first floor and saw an arcade. We went inside to see what the place offered. Although you can find basketball hoop games at any arcade, Ayaka had told me that she had played basketball in high school so I challenged her to a game. She accepted and we made change at the machine in the middle of the arcade and made our way back to the basketball game. This game allows you to continue playing, up to four rounds, so long as you reach a predetermined goal of a certain number of points scored. Ayaka got to the second round. Okay, so a bar was set…but I wasn’t worried, I usually kill at this game. I finished all the rounds and had a final score of 462 points! But sadly I was slightly less than 200 points away from the machine’s high score of 648 points! After our exhilarating game, we headed to Ahihabara.

Venus Fort from the outside

Kind of reminds you of something...like Caesars Palace

A very elaborate fountain in the middle of Venus Fort

These LEGO watches are pretty expensive for what they are, lol

And egg cup set - to hold eggs!?

A very large LEGO cookie jar!

People of all ages can play with LEGOs!

Awe! Although I don't think the girls on the right think the same, hahaha

Venus Fort, from the third floor

I love the blue accent lights, it gives the fountain a cool glow

a USB flash drive that has a dog, who humps the drive into the USB port

Ayaka trying to shoot for the high score

Akihabara is known for being the electronics district. Here you can find pretty much any electronics item you could ever imagine. All the latest video game consoles, games, cell phones, computers, writing tablets, and even refrigerators (and they do more than keep things cold and make ice) can be found here. Of course, Akihabara is also known for being a heaven for those who love anime and manga. Seriously, it seems that for every two electronics store, there was a comic store. Here, people of all ages read and watch manga and anime. Regardless, I was here on a mission. I looked for two games for Nintendo DS. I found the first one easily but the second took some time. Ayaka patiently waited on my to look through the different aisles of games in different stores. I’ve literally never seen the assortment of game consoles, video games, and accessories for each of them, as I did in the stores of Akihabara. Nintendo DS is king in Japan. There are about four times as many games in Japan for the DS than in the United States, and they all differ in genre, that is the normal way for ordering them, instead of using a type of alphabetical order. It makes more sense though, hahaha. Fortunately, I found the second game and so we left the store.

Arriving in Akihabara

A lot for the eyes to try to focus on, lol

A typical shop selling cell phones

Another street shot, as it begins to get dark outside

We were pretty hungry and so we headed to Shibuya to meet Ayaka’s friend Michi. Arriving in Shibuya early…actually, Michi was still at work (it was 7PM), we headed to where the restaurant was. Like many restaurants in Shibuya, they are located in buildings on differing floors, and share these buildings with other restaurants, stores, or offices. In this particular building, there were stores that sold CDs, Instruments, Clothing, and much more; oh, and each of those categories consists of a floor dedicated to that specific type of product line. So if you want DVDs, you go to that floor, you won’t find them on the CD floor, unless that particular stores organizes it that way. Either way, we went up to the restaurant to make a reservation and then walked around the area. When Michi was nearby, she met us on the floor with the instruments. We headed up to the Shabu Shabu restaurant. We waited about 5 minutes and were then seated. We were given a menu and selected the house special which was all you can eat. Paired with our meal, we had a few drinks, mainly beer but not too much since we wanted to eat more than drink, hahaha. The ingredients were of great quality and tasted very fresh, even though you have to cook them in very hot oil, they still taste of quality! After our meal, we headed slightly outside Shibuya to a new chic bar called Two Doors. It opened about two months earlier but was a hub for Japanese and International workers. The place featured a terrace that overlooked the Shibuya skyline and a was also located near a famous cathedral where many couples are married. After having a drink each and enjoying the atmosphere, we headed out. The end of our day had arrived, but I had fun meeting Ayaka’s friend, strolling through Shibuya again, getting overwhelmed by all the lights and electronic products of Shibuya, and of course the wonderful meal in Tsukiji!

Arriving at the Shibuya station, and looking as crowds of people flood through

So many people across the street, all ready to cross!

You can see Shibuya in the distance, GREAT VIEW!

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon