Wrapping up yet another mad Tokyo week, while waiting for the Soccer World Cup opening game to kick off at 1AM Tokyo time (-- it's great to be in Japan during soccer world cup, as they are as excited about it as any EU country 'back home' could be.) With only little over 2 more weeks left in Japan i have once and for all given up on the idea of even experiencing some quiet time while here, Tokyo just doesn't lend itself to relaxation very well and I am equally determined to enjoy every minute of this wonderfully mad place and -pace, even if it means to occasional train coma. Fortunately being completely passed out on the train is the standard here, snoring and drooling even doesn't seem to phase anyone...
My German friend Christine took left again this morning after about 10 days packed with new fun adventures, taking me through another few items on my 'things I must still do' list (which however keeps growing continuously :). We kicked off her visit with a half day trip that took us from
Asakusa (old Tokyo the way you'll see it portrayed in movies and guide books), via a
Sumida River boat cruise to
Odaiba, the futuristic home of building's like the famous Fuji Terebi Biru as well as Tokyo's artificial beach (and the Tokyo Big Sight where the Design Festa from a few weeks back to place).
Last Saturday was Christine's Birthday, so in the spirit of general girlyness we spent the bulk of that day cruising through the lovely little streets and shops of
Daikanyama, which continues to be my favorite part of Tokyo. On a side note, the funny thing is that Daikanyama is surprisingly underrepresented in all guide books and I have even met several Tokyo-ites who have never been there, despite the fact that it is just so wonderfully quaint. Quoting the above linked website: "Tourists flock to the big-name glitz of the Ginza strip and the teenage circus of Harajuku. Locals head to the quieter streets of Daikanyama. A low-rise neighborhood chock-full of quirky boutiques and sidewalk cafes, Daikanyama often encloses leafy hidden courtyards within its clusters of shops and homes." perfect, just perfect.
Our plan was to finish off the birthday celebration with a visit to the New York Bar in the Park Hyatt, which is the one Scarlett Johanson & Bill Murray hang out in in Lost in Translation (I have been 'saving' this one for a special event, given the $30 cover they charge just to enter, being a central feature in an Oscar winning movie does pay off I guess...) However we never made it that far, due to a great restaurant recommendation Christine had received from Misao, Amazon.co.jp's PR manager:
Cube Zen features seating, literally in concrete cubes as longs as very nice Japanese fusion cooking & I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a cool place to have dinner in Tokyo.
Next up was a Sunday day trip out to
Hakone a little mountain resort about 90 minutes outside of Tokyo famous for it's proximity to Mt.Fuji and it's hot springs. We did the "Hakone Free Pass" loop, which basically means
that you buy an 'all-you-can-eat', bus, train, gondola, boat pass that takes you through everything worth seeing while there. We were lucky that the initially overcast weather cleared up enough for us to be able to enjoy the great Fuji views and overall this really was a beautiful trip/loop - my only regret being that we weren't able to stay over night and enjoy the hot springs and maybe even do a bit of hiking, something I've been missing a bit as of late.
Christine went to Kyoto on Monday & Tuesday, so our next joint adventure was a Wednesday 7AM trip to
Tsukiji, yep, that's the fish market. While getting up at 5 in order to make it there was a bit of a drag, I have to say that this was definitely a sightseeing highlight for me. The market is huge and very very busy. It's an active market and not a tourist attraction and we almost got ourselves run over many times, by cars and little transportation devices buzzing about at a completely maddening speed in what to me seemed like total chaos. But, we got to see an amazing amount of very interesting fish & see food and were even treated to sampling fresh tuna belly - cut right there and served to us as finger food to be dipped in a big jar of soy. Best sashimi I ever had.
Another fun aspect of the market was the language spoken. Among the variations of Japanese are the versions spoken by men and women respectively - Tsukiji is definitely a man's world - it was very fun listening to. A few notes on the photos included here (I have another 20 in case you happen to be looking for funky fish images :) -- the first one shows a couple of the fish market dudes getting ready to cut up some nice big chunks of frozen tuna (the pinkish things seen on the wheelbarrow). And the next one, well, that would be breakfast!
