We were ambitious today. All our minds and our bellies were intent on making those ambitions come true. We headed out at 4:50am to go to the Tsukiji fish market to witness the tuna auctions, the wholesale market itself and eat sushi for breakfast. When we got there, however, at around 6am, we find out that the auction is over and it had sold out around 4am anyway! There were industrial vehicles and fish vendors buzzing around everywhere outside, and it was dangerous to just stand around (precisely what we were doing). Even though we weren't in the visitors group, we decided to take our chances and walk our ignorant asses into the fish market anyway. What a scene! We were speechless. So much tuna, fish eggs, shellfish of every shape and size, octopus, crab, lobsters, eel... We could go on. I even spotted the vendor from the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"! I was so excited. I definitely consider it a "celebrity" sighting. I didn't have a chance to ask for a picture because a. I don't know how to ask in Japanese, and b. we were about to be (politely) ushered out by the cops! He handed us a flier about all the rules in the market: regular people aren't allowed to enter until 9, visitors otherwise must get tickets in advance, no pictures, etc. We realized we broke pretty much all the rules to be there (except no strollers) and almost got hit by small trucks & people movers a bunch of times, but it was so worth it!
We got out of there around 6:45am and decided we needed to get sushi nearby before we go. For ¥3500 per person, we waited on line at Daiwa Zushi. The meal is supposed to be 7 pieces of sushi, plus 1 roll and miso soup (ours had cockles in it). The restaurant 2 doors down had a line around the block but that may be because they serve more for ¥4000. While on line, T bought some geisha socks to go with her flip flops. It took maybe a half hour to get seated and we split up in order to eat sooner. Wow. The sushi here was amazing. I even enjoyed the egg and I never enjoy the sweet egg. However, there were some LOUD American dudes sitting near us. They were obnoxious on line and carried that over into the restaurant. We have definitely had our loud moments but these guys just seemed like preppy d-bags who had no interesting conversation to offer at all. Plus, they probably had no idea how to eat sushi like the woman next to me (she was putting her sushi in the soy sauce rice side down... Rookie!). When we were done, T was going crazy over the eel. We also noticed we got a few bonus pieces. We left feeling soooooo relaxed, like we got a massage... Seriously! It was the most refreshing, delicious and relaxing meal we could remember. Yup, the food just gets better here.
We got back to the hotel to nap before our next adventure: Biqlo, a department store consisting of Bic Camera and Uniqlo. We literally spent 2 hours here and all our other plans were pretty much shot. OMG, I am Japanese-sized. All the dresses here are the perfect length. It's just such a rare feeling to put something on and see it fit so well. M and T were going crazy over heattech shirts and K (since he is not Japanese sized) opted for nano blocks and other toys. After a rough morning of sushi, shopping and napping, we proceeded to Lumine Est to have a "small" lunch of udon soup. Of course, the portions were huge. How do japanese people stay so tiny?! I had a bowl with chicken, egg and green onion. K had one with duck. T had hers with mushroom and vegetables. And M had donburi.
We then used some free time between lunch and dinner to get our Narita Express tickets (boo!) since M was leaving in the morning and get a nap in there, since we only had small bursts of sleep since we got here. We met M's friend Toki in Ebisu. We weren't very hungry but the soba meal was so appetizing, we finished every last drop. Toki is a food designer. She showed us pictures of her amazing work. She had just been in NYC (during the hurricane, no less) where she picked up visual inspiration from Whole Foods and Crate and Barrel. Thank you, Toki for a wonderful meal and conversation!
We proceeded to Roppongi to meet Emmanuel, a friend of a friend. He took us to Gonpachi, the restaurant that inspired the set of the big fight scene in Kill Bill. Very cool! We then walked around the downtown area, which was described as being very seedy. There were a lot of African men hired to get people into the bars. What was that all about? We also went to Geronimo, a Native American themed bar. When we got there, Emmanuel asked me if I was black? Flattered, but no I am not black. No one has ever mistaken me for such. He asked T, "but she looks black, right?" T was speechless but laughing. He asked K and he said "uh, yes" not to be funny, but because he thought we were talking about T! Emmanuel then proceeded to compare my look to Raven Simone. T&I kind of lost it then. We got home to the hotel and started googling pics of Raven. Not to mention we could not stop laughing on the ride back. Poor taxi driver. What a ridiculous end to the night :)
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