The Wonderful...Part 1

Tsukiji fish market is a MUST SEE place if you are in Tokyo. It is very famous for it's tuna auction where gigantic tuna fish are laid out on the ground and are auctioned off to Tokyo's highest bidders. Apparently, the market is the absolute best place for the best freshest and best sushi you'll ever have. For foreigners to actually check out this auction, you have to wake up early in the morning, and be able to get in line for 5AM, as they only allow a very small number of people to witness it.

On the train last night at about 4:40am, excited about the prospect of eating the best sushi of our lives and after a very long day and night, some friends and I (by way of a couple of laughing Japanese girls) were alerted to the fact that the fish market is closed on Sundays. We went home both tired and hungry.

I will have to post about Tsukiji fish market another day. The running joke this year so far has been that weekend partying has stopped our ambitious plans of going to see it...and now that we actually tried to stick out the night to see it, we've been foiled by our lack of reading the "Days of Operation". By the rate we are going...we may never see this market until June...


The Wonderful

I can probably spend hours writing about all of the awesome things about Tokyo and Japan. It truly is a wonderful, exciting, interesting, beautiful, charming place. In this posting I want to highlight a few "wonderful" things...

1) Tokyo

• I've posted this serene video on Facebook before, (it isn't my video) of Tokyo at different times in the day, starting in the early morning. Most of these famous places I have already been to and most of them are just 10 minutes away from my apartment. It's cool to see the streets of Tokyo actually empty, as normally it's like an ocean of people.

2) LOST.....in Japan

• The image of this cartoon samurai is meant to symbolize the honour of the Japanese people. To date, I have lost several things in this country...on the crowded streets of Tokyo...mostly due to my negligence and absentmindedness.

 Losing something makes you feel stupid 

• Commuter pass - A credit card size item that allows me to utilize the metro (train) system here in Tokyo. Value = $70 CDN. Lost at Harajuku station. Right after I get through the turnstile (using the pass)...I fumble through my pockets and realize I've lost the pass somewhere! After looking through all my belongings, I finally admit that I've lost my first item in Japan. Several hours later, in a hopeful attempt to see if anyone actually turned it into the station authorities, after giving them my name and going through a drawer, I was surprised to see my pass in the station worker's hands.

•  Wallet - A beverage-filled evening, a few weeks ago, was topped off with somebody (who may or may not be me) losing their wallet in the middle of Shibuya (home to the crazy intersection that everyone thinks about when they think of Tokyo). The next day, a conversation with a police officer in the area said that a visit to the police station 3 days later (due to a long weekend) might offer a good chance. Lo and behold, the wallet was returned to the police office with all credit cards, IDs, and money! The money amounted to be about 50 000¥ (about $500 CDN) and it was ALL there...including change. I wasn't quite surprised this time, but I was deeply relieved. Um...and when I say "I"...I mean "someone". 
• Hard Drive - Without even knowing, I apparently had also lost my new 1.5TB portable hard drive at the same time as my wallet. They both must have fallen out of my backpack during the night's festivities. So when the officer brought the bag to me, with my wallet in it, I was completely floored to see that my hard drive was in the same bag.

 To read my other related posting click here: The Weird...Part 1