It’s a ten hour flight from Vancouver to Tokyo and I had hoped to sleep through part of it, but just as I was nodding off, about seven hours, I was awakened by one of the entertainment systems malfunctioning, emitting a sound akin to a spoke card’s rat-tat-at. For about a half an hour. That’s how long it took them to fix it. By which point it was all relative because the noise had awakened the baby three seats back and he wailed for the duration of the flight.
So, by the time we got in last night at around 8:00 p.m. Tokyo time (4:00 a.m. PST), I was ready for bed. But rather than call it a night, we went out for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants, toughed it out, and went to bed at 10:30 p.m.
And so, by 7:00 a.m. this morning, Akemi and I were up and at ’em, determined to pack as much into Day #1 as possible. This is how we fared…
Ginza at 7:30 a.m. I’ve never seen the place so deserted.
The Wako Building – one of my favorites.
We walked down to the Tukiji Market for breakfast. “But, Joe,”you’re undoubtedly asking. “Isn’t 7:30 a.m. a little early for breakfast?” Well, not at the Tsukiji Market which actually opens at 4:30 a.m. Some of the more popular sushi-ya’s have line-ups starting at 5:00 a.m.
Heading into the Tsukiji Market.
Akemi did some advance research and wanted to try this little horumon place – horumon being “offal”. The day’s special was bubbling away in a giant pot and, once you placed your order, a generous portion was spooned over a bowl of rice. Akemi wasn’t a fan of the elderly woman manning the pot – who wasn’t a fan of having the pot (or, as I discovered) her photo taken owing, I suspect, to her criminal past.
Gut Bowl. Despite the fact that Akemi and I were unable to identify anything we were eating, it was pretty good – though a tad underseasoned.
We parked ourselves at one of the little impromptu communal tables, ate, and then continued our foray.
That’s a lot of dried squid. Located a couple of stalls down from the whale bacon.
And that’s a lot of cod sperm (shirako) – bottom right.
Akemi lands the catch of the day!
If I actually lived in Tokyo, I’d be down here all the time. Of course, if I lived in Tokyo with its high cost of living, I’d probably be doing little more than strolling.
It never fails. Every time I visit Tokyo, I’m stopped for one of those man-on-the-street interviews. I should just move here and become a t.v. personality. Or convince Ivon to join me and we can be a comedy team: Gaijin and Tonic.
I had an omelet popsicle. Perfect for those hot summer days!
Fresh wasabi.
This curious culinary creation caught my eye. It’s a black ash bun stuffed with seafood and topped with fresh sea urchin. After much dithering, I decided to give it a try…
And it was delicious! I’m going back for more tomorrow morning!
Picked up these cool spaceship cufflinks at the hotel boutique. I’ll wear them on the first of shooting – sometime in early January.
Apparently this mascot for the town of Tottori – an emaciated, hunger-ravaged little girl holding a frog – was retired when it was deemed to depressing.
Curious print ad in the Tokyo subway. What the hell is going on here?
I think they missed their stop.
We had lunch at Tsurutontan, Akemi’s favorite udon restaurant. Check out my bowl of curry beef udon. Good thing I didn’t order a double.
VERY tasty.
But messy. Curiously, I was the only one at any of the tables who was given a bib.
And, for dessert, the udon ice cream. No, really, It tasted like very subtle creme fraiche – with bits of udon.
Then we headed over to Tokyo Midtown for a hot chocolate – and dessert #2.
I sampled an aged sweet sake. Intriguing.
Then stopped by Uniqlo where I purchased some down jackets in preparation for the bitter Toronto winter. Here’s me modeling one of my buys.
Kids heading home from school. I was thinking of picking up one of these uniforms – Gilligan hat, culottes, white athletic socks, and backpacks, and then just blending in.
Off to Osaka tomorrow to visit Akemi’s family. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a tie for the tea ceremony. Fortunately, I was able to pick one up at a little specialty shop offering various goods from Gun-ma region. Now having worked in show business as long as I have, I’m not normally star struck but as I was walking out of the shop, I spotted the man (woman? thing?) himself: Guna-ma chan, the official Gun-ma mascot.
Who was gracious enough to pose for a photo with Akemi (who was none too shy about waltzing up and striking a pose).
On our way back to the hotel, I received an email from blog frequenter and Tokyo denizen benjamdisco who apparently spotted Akemi and I strolling the streets of Roppongi after his haircut. He was apparently too shy to say hi – so, instead, he took some clandestine paparazzi pics:
While I commended him on his surveillance prowess, I had to admonish him for not saying hi – and potentially joining us for ice cream udon and shopping at Uniqlo.
Finally, I checked in with sis this morning and she reports that the dogs are great. Jelly has been a little more active of late, Bubba a little more relaxed, and Lulu her usual gassy self.
Bubba.
Jelly.
Lulu.
Dinner tonight, then catching the bullet train to Osaka tomorrow! My feet hurt already.
Hmmm…those ash buns look familiar. http://www.kens5.com/story/news/weird/2014/09/11/burger-king-japan-black-burger/15455977/
(Joe: Same link I sent via email.)
Gilder Anne McCarroll baterista9@aol.com San Antonio, TX, USA Sent from my iPhone
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Except for the flight, the trip sounds fantastic! Maybe you should change your career to travel writer?
That is sure a full first day, no wonder your feet hurt, put on your comfy slippers. Thanks for the pictures and updates, I meant to tell Akemi, I love her long hair,looks so pretty,but then she is pretty.. It grew fast. Enjoy the day, for you may have already started or may be already done, or it may be tomorrow already, whew, Thank you for the desserts and pup pics, Have more fun. Enjoy the bullet train.
7:30 am? I’m at my desk in the morning by that time! 🙂 Sounds like things are going great so far, although I do prefer to be able to identify (or at least have been told) what I’m actually eating for breakfast.
I don’t get the Santa poster thing at all. It seems to be some promotion for Tokyo, but it doesn’t really make sense.
Have fun today!
I want a Santa snowflake kimono! And indeed, where are the fireworks?
My favorite blogs each year are the ones about your trips to Japan. I agree with Tam Dixon, you could have a back up career as a travel writer.
Great first day write up! I hope you will be able to keep up the pace the whole trip! How crazy is it that a blog regular runs into you after getting a hair cut!?!?!?! I think you should be the new face of Dos Equis…
Mmmm…gut bowl.
Mmmm…cod sperm.
Mmmm…omelet popsicle.
I didn’t work out the price of the wasabi, but you should bring some back and sell it at a huge mark up.
The black ash bun with urchin looks interesting. I’d try that.
Everyone knows Santa LOVES his fireworks!
That’s a huge freaking bowl of soup!
benjamdisco should have said “hello”.
Hehe, my photo made the cut;)
Oh, how I miss the ramen! And, though I’ve forgotten most of the little Japanese I used to be able to speak, I haven’t forgotten, “Shashin wa totemo ratemo ii desu ka?” (not sure of some of the spellings). Remember it next time you go for offal!
Always love reading about your Japanese travels.
Oo! Oo! Joey, Joey! You would have LOVED being in my office yesterday!! We had a surprise visitor stop by.
Anyhoo…it all started when one of the guys opened a cabinet door to get a thermostat, and lo and behold! He spied Mr. Tickles! 😀 He quickly shut the door and scampered outside to share the news with everyone else.
Now…Mr. Tickles was a wee black racer…I think…or maybe a juvenile rat snake…but I’m leaning towards the black racer (about 18″, max, no bigger round than my chubby li’l pinky finger). So the guys tell me about Mr. Tickles, and I go in the office to check him out, but he’s slithered out of the cabinet and is now on the ceiling light fixture, reeeeeeaching his neck out, ready to drop to the floor. I grabbed the trash can to catch him, just as one of the workers prodded him to move along, but instead of dropping in the trash can he sprung over the top of it (BOING!!!!!!), and landed on the counter, right next to our spanking brand new printer! Guess what he did then? That’s right…he wiggled right inside the printer, and went deep inside the mechanism. 😛
Now I didn’t want smushed snake guts all over my next print job, so I unplugged the thing, and we took it outside and dismantled as much as we could. With flashlight in hand we diligently searched for the little sucker, and when we were about to give up I saw him tucked way in the back of the thing, all coiled up. With a little poking he finally got the idea and found his way out and raced away, off into the wild with a great adventure of his own to tell!
I’ll miss the li’l guy, I will. (See…I knew there was a snake in the office because I found snake poops…it’s a bit like bird poop, only – ya know – a bit longer. 🙂 )
Shame you missed all the fun. 🙁 Double shame I didn’t think to take any pictures. 🙁
das
Really cool spaceship cufflinks. i think they are your lucky magnets for the new serie. :star:
The curry beef udon looks super (by the way i need a bib too). 🙄
At the end a very good start. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your adventures and great pics, what fun! Not sure I could manage the gut bowl for breakfast–maybe the omelet popsicle…
Apparently this mascot for the town of Tottori – an emaciated, hunger-ravaged little girl holding a frog – was retired when it was deemed to depressing.
why would anyone think that was good idea to promote the town?
Then stopped by Uniglo where I purchased some down jackets in preparation for the bitter Toronto winter.
if i did that, with my luck it would be the warmest winter in 20 years.
Hey while you are there… try these and let us know 🙂
http://www.cnet.com/news/black-cheese-burger-king-japan-unveils-burger-dark-as-night/
Man I love your Tokyo trips. One of the highlights of the blog for me. I hope to one day visit myself.
@udon ice cream
That actually doesn’t look half bad Joe.
Love the puppy pictures. That one dessert looked good. I think I should book a flight to Japan so I can lose weight. I’d never eat. Okay, maybe that store-bought eclair. Can one survive by eclair alone?