I’ve been in Tokyo for 2 full days now and walked over 20 miles. We’ve covered so much ground, and yet I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface. Day 1 was spent getting my bearings. My brother lives in Shibuya so he showed me his area, Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park. We passed through Shibuya crossing at a time that seemed to be a record for least amount of people at one time – curious to see it the next time we pass through. It is really hot and humid out so it might be that while still very crowded, there are less people out and about than usual. We saw the loyal Hachiko dog statue, my brother was approached and interviewed by a local tv channel in the square, and then we crossed through Shibuya and the day began.

  

We walked down Cat Street, which is one of my favorite little areas so far. Shops line both sides of the pedestrian street, and it just has a very quaint, almost smalltown feel to it. For lunch we stopped into Gyoza Lou and ate at the bar. The menu is extremely simple…steamed or fried, with onions and garlic or plain/original…but it works!! They also have some side dishes – bean sprouts with some kind of delicious meat sauce, cabbage with vinegar, cucumbers with miso. It was all delicious and a great way to kick off what I know will be 2 weeks packed full of great eats.

  

After lunch we continued to tour the area on our walk to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine. It’s hard to believe that amidst the hustle and bustle of this city there is such a peaceful and quiet area. As soon as you enter the wooden gate of the shrine you feel like you’re in another place. The entire area is gravel with trees lining and covering up top. There are lush Japanese gardens on the grounds as well as the Shinto shrine itself. After ceremoniously bowing twice, clapping twice, and bowing once more, in front of the shrine, we headed out of the park, got ice cream (green tea, for me) and continued on our tour.

     

Next up was a walk through the streets of Harajuku to see some of the awesome fashions (more to come in its own post soon).

 

Exhaustion hit around 4:30pm (12:30am PST) and we headed home to relax for a while. We stayed local for dinner and I went to sleep wondering if I would wake up at 4am again like I had that day.

  

4:30am on Day 2 and I was up again. I debated if I was already too late to make it to the fish market in time for the tuna auction, and seeing as everyone says line up around 3:30am, I opted not to risk it. While I waited for my brother to wake up, I had a rice-ball snack from 7-11 (a risk in itself, just in that it’s a mystery what is in it).

 

At a slightly more normal breakfast hour we hit up Tsujiki Market for breakfast sushi, instead of the early-morning auction. Hoping to capitalize on the heat and the fact that less people seem to be out and about, we got to the market at around 9 and got in line for Sushi Daiwa. The alleys of the fish market are jampacked with small restaurants serving all sorts of Japanese cuisine. We were eating 30 minutes later, inside at a 10-seat sushi bar. We each ordered “the set” and the sushi began rapidly appearing on my plate. I had heard that many of these sushi meals are very quick, and I wasn’t sure if I had to keep up with the pace of the chef in order to stay in his good graces, but after a couple of pieces I found my groove and stopped rushing.

        

Toro; Squid; Shrimp;Tuna Roll; Salmon Roe Roll; Uni; a fish that has no common American translation; Medium-Fat Tuna; Tamago; Seawater Eel. All served with Miso soup and Green Tea. Not a bad way to start the day!!

            

We walked around the fish portion of the market and got to see this vibrant, active market at work, just before closing down for the day. There are men on different vehicles zipping every which way, and if you don’t keep your eyes open you will most definitely get hit…they are not stopping for you! We saw every kind of creature from the sea, and then some, being sold. There were fish heads here, chum there, a fish being gutted over there somewhere, not a moment without visual stimulation!

   

The rest of the day was spent in The Ginza, a big luxury and entertainment district in Tokyo. I’m starting to get the hang of constantly looking up while I’m walking around outside. Each floor of a building can be something else here, so my eyes are always on the lookout. Not to mention the awesome architecture and facade design around every corner!

 

We visited the food halls in the basements of a few of the big department stores and sampled some different treats throughout the day (a basil french macaron, and a mochi with a dried apricot in the center) before a tempura lunch in one of the department stores.

 

The back of our menus had a handy guide to the proper way to eat tempura. The 4 salts on the side of the table (regular, unclear what the purple one was, wasabi and konbu) are one potential method of seasoning and enjoying your tempura. As soon as I tasted the wasabi salt, all bets were off. I started putting it on everything – my rice, in the gazpacho shot they served with the meal…it really just makes anything taste amazing! (In fact, I’m eating eggs right now and just commented that wasabi salt would be a game changer if we had it).

    

After another 10-mile day we were both exhausted. With the jetlag and time difference hitting hard, I could have easily fallen asleep at 7pm, but I was determined to stay awake until a reasonable hour. We headed out to another local spot that we had passed the night before – Tama. From the outside it reminded me of a tapas bar in Spain – people standing at the bar while the chefs cook in front of you, and then lively tables in the back. Menu was all in Japanese, as they tend to be, which was a challenge. Luckily my brother knows enough to converse with the staff, but ordering is still a bit of a gamble. Tama specializes in food from Okinawa – think Hawaiian, in many ways. We ordered based on what my brother had had last time he was there, as well as just by looking at what the chefs were making for others, and the result was SO MUCH FOOD. We started with delicious seaweed called Umibudo, which has an awesome texture. Then an omelette with seasweed and salad with bitter melon, spam, tofu, and egg. We finished things up with a delicious spicy tofu dish, some pork belly, a chicken dish, and finally wontons in a sesame sauce. It was all delicious, and I loved the atmosphere here.

A great end to two days packed full of exploring. I couldn’t stay up much past 10:30pm, but I actually got 6 hours of sleep so hoping that things are moving in the right direction towards normalizing. Stay tuned, it’s only just begun!!