We had to wake up real early this morning, thats 4am, for the famous TSUKIJI WHOLESALE MARKET. The main attraction is the auctioning of fish and other seafood, especially the huge ass Blue-Fin Tuna. The length of the fish is about the height of a full grown man. Weight? IDK. but, it IS HUMONGOUS.
Walking through the hectic market with speeding transport vehicles (that kinda remind me of a bumber car except with a platform for carrying goods), we had to remain unobtrusive, lest they kick us out. There are hundreds of stalls, lined up pretty close to each other selling all sorts of shellfish and yes, TUNA. The size of the fresh catches was extraordinarily HUGE - twice to three times the size of those we find in good SG restaurants. Shellfish sold there include abalone, scallops bamboo clams, sea urchins... other stuff too like seawater eels (anago) and octopus and fish innerts and omg the list goes on.
After an hour stepping cautiously ard fish stalls, we went over to a smaller building, the fruit and vegetable wholesale area. we saw the wasabe root and other extraordinarily huge and colourful vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms (not a fruit or veg but yes) and they all looked so delicious. I doubt they were GM-free...
HUNGER came about soon enough, and we explored the surrounding lil shops, most featured fresh produce right from the market. There were people QUEUING for miles for a few particular shops...those of which were featured in famous books like TimeOut and Frommer's. We decided not to join them, and go for a quieter shop. We were told those popular shops wouldn't be a good experience because A) they don't entertain you much. With service that is. And B) they have a set menu. No choices. just take it or leave it... so thank goodness we chose not to be sheep and follow the herd. haha
Breakfast was a guilty pleasure, costing (total 6 people) 30 000 yen! goodness gracious moi. Haha, but we had one of the freshest sashimi ever. The shi fu who was slicing pieces of raw fish for us was also a jovial man, adding to the experience we had in the restaurant.
With our bellys full and a couple of seaweed as souvenirs from a shop nearby, we proceeded home to get some sleep. After all, we DID wake up at a disgusting hour of the morning.
A train, another train and finally two taxis - there're six of us - brought us to a FARAWAY place.. closest train station being Nishiarai. The journey took us close to an hour and a half... and we had to wait for another hour before stepping into.... A KOBE BEEF BARBEQUE RESTAURANT for dinner. It was featured recently in a foodie's blog, chubbyhubby hence our persistence to go visit it. It was quite a tiny place, very unassuming indeed. But that was a good thing - the food wasn't too expensive, given the quality and freshness of the meat, and the hostess, a Taiwanese, was very humble and sweet.
She'd offered to give us the best cut of the day, which came up to be 10 000 yen! But after cooking it slightly, and tasting a slice of beef heaven, we felt it was totally worth it. It was juicy and tender and so so sweet. The sauce was another burst of flavour altogether, and we were given a bottle to bring home! whee! Isn't the lao ban niang awesome?? Besides the royal plate of kobe beef we had, there were other dishes to go with our rice, such as seaweed&lettuce salad, chicken, pork trotters, egg soup, stew beef and pickled vegetables (kimchi style).
The sad thing, though, is the tiny place fitted with two fans is hardly sufficient in clearing out the smoke caused from inddor barbequing. Since i was wearing my contact lenses, i couldn't quite feel what the rest were going through, especially Mi Chelle. Her sensitive eyes kept tear-ing from the smoke and oil.
All in all though, that meal wrapped up a day of indulging in quality food, an occasional guilty pleasure(:
DAY 3
Today was quite a walk-much day, us busy scurrying from place to place via public train. Oh by the way, one ride costs quite a hefty sum, not surprising as Japan's cost of living IS pretty high. Mm, for example, the ride from the airport to the city area cost us 600yen. Which is... about S$9. i could take a cab with that amount! oh, the cab's flag down rate is 710 yen (11 bucks!!), followed by increments of 90yen (slightly more than a dollar). EEK.
Well, moving on, our (Mom, Chelle and I) first destination was ueno park, a large open green space, with the largest concentration of museums and sculptures in Tokyo. It holds the famous Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo Art Museum and Tokyo Science Museum. Oh yes, it is also home to the Ueno ZOO! When we were there, it was pretty windy! And hence quite cold. Because we had a long day ahead of us, we basically skimmed through the park and went back to meet the other three.
We then took the train to HARAJUKU. A teeny bopper heaven with stores catered to youth and weekly cosplay "parades". Arriving at about 2pm, we split up once again into two groups and explored the area, squeezing through throngs of well-dressed teens and tweens. A bunch of Harajuku Girls were at the entrance of the train station. All donned in short skirts, stockings, stilleto boots and trendy clothes. Not forgetting HEAVY makeup, comprising fake eyelashes, body glitter and coloured contacts. I couldn't help but STARE. Then this girl reached into her LV bag and took out... an A4 size MIRROR. wow.
The stores lining the main shopping street reminded me somewhat of Bugis street. Execpt more expensive. Haha, well, we hardly did any shopping, besides Chelle buying hair accessories. What we did in the hour or so we were there, was to people-watch. I felt kinda like a paparazzi, looking out for oddly-dressed people/cosplayers.
Shinjuku was our final destination that day, and by then we were HUNGRY HUNGRY.
We searched up and down for dinner (from OIOI - marui shopping centre to mitsugooshi to isetan..) and finally we ended up at a ramen stall, quite a traditional one, in fact. The ramen is cooked in huge cauldrons instead of modern pots and pans. We also drank ume (plum) liquer..aka Choya (which is the brand of the liquer). It wasn't too sweet, but very pleasant to the palate(:
After filling our bellies, we found our way to Kabuki-cho, a notorious red-light district in Shinjuku. i was quite excited to go there, not knowing what to expect. Haha,but i was surprised to find restaurants and (clean) shops. The street was neon-lit, very busy and not at all a stereotype geylang-type area. The "escorts" weren't out on the streets..Instead it was an organised brothel disguised as an "entertainment" centre. The entrances are covered with a half-length curtain with a "restricted" sign and a number 18. We peeked past the curtains and saw bar stools in a line facing computer screens filled with pictures of girls. The "potential clients" would walk in there, sit down and take their pick(s) and then proceed upstairs to...be entertained. Activities besides the obvious include karaoke, pole dancing and hm, striptease. Well, i guess it was an eye-opening experience ;D
Along the way, we met a three-way junction where about 20 men stood, scattered, all donned in black. We were told that they were hei she hui (black society) and they ran the brothels and kept the street, Kabuki-cho, under control. We also observed some of them taking interest in young ladies, stopping them to pass a pamphlet. Recruitment, it seems, was taking place...
That night, i slept around 1am, updating my journal!
