Tokyo Stint 6May06 - TSUKIJI & GINZA

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We woke up at about 7.30am the next day. We took the subway and stopped at Ginza and walked to Tsukiji. Past the Kabuki Theatre. We thought that we went the wrong way as the pedestrian traffic towards was minimal. So, anyway, it was one straight road (Harumi-dori) from Ginza to Tsukiji.

Then came a centre, bustling with activities. It was a row of eateries at the External Market. We saw many people queuing up to order at a what seemed to be a very popular ramen stall. It was crowded with people standing and slurping down their noodles. There was another tempura soba/udon a few stalls away, it was also crowded with people. We made turned left and walked further in, along the perimeter Tsukiji External Market. There were shops selling dried nuts and all kind of ingredients, cutleries and knives, pots and pans, plates and bowls. What seemed to be unfamiliar to us were the sight of many electric carts moving quickly on the small side road.

Finally we arrived at Tsukiji Fish Market. I have never seen such a huge fish market ever before in my life. There were many (still) electric carts criss-crossing in front of us, lorries and trucks loaded with seafood and what have you. The parking area in front of the market was very messy, mucky floor. In the fish market, it dimly litted and there was no bright spotlight lighting up every corner of the alley. Each stall however were fitted with light bulbs and spotlights shining on the seafood. There were many people and (still) many electric carts were hovering up and down the narrow walkways. It was an experience to see the colorful choices of fishes, shell fish and whatever creatures that are edible from the ocean. Fun, but mucky. After we thought we had walked enough, we sought our way out from the fish market. Apparently the fish market was defined by different zones. Can't quite remember which zones we were at. Just outside the Tsukiji Fish Market, there was a shrine Namiyoke-jinja. Wholesalers and middlemen who go to the fish market would pray at this shrine before entering the market. It's 10am plus when we decided on a brunch. We went back to the main road where we saw the tempura soba place and ordered a bowl. It's really good. Then we explored the External Market. We had more food in the External Market. There were many conveyor belt restaurants so we decided to have a bite in one. We ordered Chutorro and Sake sushi... Beautiful.... Then we went on window-shopping at the External Market. We saw the seafood fastfood place. Many locals were eating sea urchin right off the shells. I never liked sea urchin... then I saw OYSTERS. Super huge fresh oysters and they cost only 700yen! Welll, i took 3bites to finish the whole oyster. We also ordered grilled scallop, just grilled with no seasoning. Both oyster and scallop were really succulent... As we walked further down, we saw a shop specialising in Tamago. There was a demo on how to make these sweet egg rolls. We bought a small piece to try. It's sweet stuff. Then we saw another type of dessert, sold elsewhere. Rice balls in red bean soup, served cold. It's pretty much the same as Chinese red bean soup with glutinous rice ball.

The whole morning was at Tsukiji. We walked back towards Ginza at about noon. Had some cappucino and latte, tried red bean paste Mochi (which later we found out they could only last for a day - NO preservatives, so we could not buy them back home), had maple syrup flavored Belgian waffle. It was a Saturday so in the afternoon, Showa Dori was blocked off and became a pedestrain-only street. We saw people started to place chairs and tables in the middle of the road. Kids were running around happily. Weather was nice, not too warm. We hung around Ginza till 5plus 6. Then we decided that we should have Yakitori for dinner. I read on LP about Yurakucho Alley and so we went. There were many Yakitori stalls under the railway tracks. Who cares about the rumbling?! Food was nice, beer was good. We ordered a few types of Yakitori. It came out to be around 3000yen. After that we went back strolling in Ginza and then decided that we should have another bowl of ramen. LP recommended Naokyu Ramen (cheapest and most popular place in town) at Hankyu basement in Ginza. We tried the ramen and its gyoza. It's tasty. And that was day2. My legs were in pain, been walking the whole day... i retired early that night.

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