Yokoso! Japan Day 6 - Tokyo

Tsukiji Fish Market, Ginza, Odaiba

Rise and Shine! We woke up early today to visit the world-famous Tsukiji Fish market for some delicious sushi. We did not wake up early enough to see the tuna auction tho.

Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the biggest fish markets in the world. Many local retailers as well as overseas restauranteers come to Tsukiji to get the best and freshest fish for their menu, such as tuna belly.

A rather big fish on the slab, waiting to be cut up and sold to retailers or customers:



The fishmonger cutting up some fish:




Slabs of tuna for sale:



Lotsa live fish found in the market:



There were at least 450 types of fish, shell fish etc sold here. I did not recognize more than half of those that we saw.

Not too sure what type of shell fish this is, but it looks like scallop:



This is one weird shell fish, which i cant put a name to it:



These little creepy crawlies are little crabs that were still moving inside the boxes. Fresh indeed:



(From top) Squid, octopi, different kinds of fish:



Clams, and sea urchin (from left to right):



Besides the wholesale market selling fresh, raw fish, there were also small retail shops and restaurants lining the area. You can get almost all the materials you need to set up a small Japanese restaurant; they sell utensils, knives and even those banners commonly found outside Japanese restaurants when you enter can also be found here.

We ventured for some nice sushi breakfast. Our Tokyo friend, Mark, had recommended an Omakase Set sushi breakfast at Sushi Dai, one of the two famous restaurants here. "Omakase" also means something along the lines of "let the chef decide". It cost a whopping sum of 3,800 yen (~S$50).

The usual waiting time for Sushi Dai was 2-3 hours. To our pleasant surprise, we waited only about 1 hour. That was probably bcos we came earlier, at about 9+am.

We were first given some hot towels to clean our hands, and then piping hot green tea and miso soup to cleanse our palatte before the treat. The miso soup was great, with a nice, sweet fish taste to it.

First on the menu, smooth and succulent tuna belly. A real treat indeed:



Next, red snapper. Like the tuna belly, this also melts in your mouth, and hardly needs any chewing:



At this point, the chef took out some nice and hot tamago, and cut one slice for each customer as a treat. The sweetest and softest egg i've ever eaten before *YUM*:



Mackerel fish sushi:



Can't remember the name of this shell fish. The chef had "kindly" informed us that it is still *gasp* alive, and we actually saw it twitch also. I have no idea where i found the courage to put it into my mouth and savour its wonderful taste:



Truly bloody-red tuna (or "maguro"). This definitely puts those found in S'pore or even the maguro we had at Ameyoko to shame. Notice how the raw fish is much bigger than the rice, which makes it not as filling:



Some maguro and cucumber maki, with fresh shrimp sushi. These make less of an impression:



"Anago" (conger eel) sushi. Very nicely marinated:



My favorite, "U-ni" (sea urchin) sushi, totally soft and sweet, with no fishy smell or taste at all. I even had two portions of this as it was so good (the chef had allowed us to choose 1 of our favorite sushi at the end, and i chose this):



The chef had warmly taken out this tray of "u-ni" when he saw us eagerly taking photos of it through the glass shelf *YUM YUM*:



Our chef in the midst of preparing the sushi. Unlike other chefs, this chef talked much less:



Fresh prawns:



In total, we have had about 15 pieces of sushi each. Very satisfying indeed.

I must say, the sushi was really worth the money and the wait. I'd probably had a much better understanding of what sushi really is after this meal.

Having had such a heavy sushi breakfast, we decide to walk to Ginza for some shopping, which was actually in the vicinity. Our main destinations were Burberry Blue Label, as well as Sony Building.

Ginza is one of the most premier shopping districts in Tokyo. Here you can find lotsa brands such as Giorgio Armani, Dior, Gucci, etc.




A scramble cross-junction at Ginza. This means that pedestrians can cross from all sides and to any direction when the cars stop.



A clock tower at the road junction:



One interestingly-shaped building in Ginza. Doesnt look like a shopping centre tho.:



Sony Building showcases the latest Sony products, with some products not on the market yet. I was impressed by the Smile Detect camera, which takes shots once a smile is detected. Also, the latest Digital SLR cameras were super light, and definitely less of a hassle to carry around as compared to the current ones on market.

Besides Burberry Blue Label, we "discovered" Uniqlo, H&M and Fancl here. Needless to say, we spent qt some time shopping here before heading to Odaiba.

Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, and is linked to Central Tokyo via the Rainbow Bridge. It is a main commercial, residential and leisure area for both locals as well as tourists.

There are various ways to get to Odaiba, and we chose to take the Yurikamome, which is an un-manned, elevated train with rubber tires, which connects Shimbashi Station on the JR Yamanote Line with all of Odaiba's attractions and Toyosu Station on the Yurakucho Subway Line.

It had started to drizzle when we were in Ginza, and the rain got heavier when we reach Odaiba. The place definitely looks gloomy and deserted to our dismay.



Fuji TV Building. This is the headquarters of Fuji TV, and visitors can visit exhibits of popular programs and even watch a recording if it is available. Another draw is the observation deck, which was closed due to bad weather when we went.



At Palette Town, a shopping and entertainment complex which consists of Venus Fort, Sun Walk, Mega Web, a Ferris Wheel and Zepp Tokyo, a large concert venue.

At Toyota Showroom:









This sedan seems to be many pple's dream car:



Venus Fort. It is designed in the European style of the 17th~18th century, with an ever-changing ceiling from sky blue to evening sunset, and even to darkness of night. When we were there, we only saw sky blue.



We had dinner at one of the "food-courts" in Venus Fort. They have one interesting yet useful device that alerts customers when their food is ready, so customers need not wait at the counter for their food.

Joey's hot soba with tempura:



My o~yako don (親子丼), which literally means "parent-child donburi", is a rice bowl dish with chicken, egg, green onion etc. It may not look that appetising in this photo, but it was actually pretty good:



Ferris Wheel at Palette Town, standing at 115m tall, and allowing a good view of Tokyo Bay. It was drizzling when we took the ride, so we did not exactly have a very good view. The ticket costs us 3,000 yen (~S$45) for a grp of four.



Us on top the Ferris Wheel:





We were initially worried that we would not be able to see Statue of Liberty and Rainbow Bridge with the bad weather, but in the end our worries were unfounded.

Statue of Liberty. The French Statue of Liberty was moved to Odaiba, Japan in April 1998 in commeration of "The French Year in Japan", but it was so popular that a replica was erected at the same place when the original was moved away.



Rainbow Bridge:



Fuji TV Building at night:



This marks the end of our day.

Next day: Tokyo Metropolitan Building, Harajuku and Tokyo Tower