We decided to get up early to visit the Tsukiji fish market here
in Tokyo today. Well, we intended to get up early to visit the fish
market, however to be honest, 0630 came around a bit too soon for my
liking, and really, if the auctions of the endangered species all
happen at 5am, why worry!
We finally left the Ryokan at about 0745, and reached the market
at exactly quarter to nine. This is fifteen minutes before the
general public are allowed into the wholesale market, so to be
honest, I'm quite glad that we didn't get there earlier.
The wholesale fish market is a fully functional
industrial operation. I am used to hanging about in fast moving
warehouses, but I was quite scared of the volume and speed of
movement all around me. I tried to capture this in a little video –
but I'm not sure how to share. if I work it out, I will.
Barred from the market, we walked back
to the (erm?) market, and had some breakfast. Firstly, we set
ourselves up with some protein. Egg lollypops! (They're not as nice
as they look!)
Then we had some carbs. I had a bundle of slightly
burnt rice (yum!) and Mike had some donburi (a bowl of rice with some
eel on top) Against all the odds, I think Mike made a better choice.
Luckily we found a nice quiet place to sit and eat
our breakfast... Before heading back to the fish market, we had a
look around. There were, unsurprisingly, lots of food stalls, some
selling fish, most selling cooked food. There were some pickle stalls
(which is the only acceptable way to eat vegetables in Japan I
think), and a few kitchen gadget shops which seemed to specialise in
anything you can possibly think of!
Inside the wholesale market, even after the 9am
curfew, was a bit fraught. The trucks, and the carts, their
technological predecessors, were still being thrown around at quite a
rate. Also, it's a fish market, so the floor was quite nasty with the
bits of fish and crabs that only their mothers would love lying
around. Although, as it's a fish market, and it's a fish market
every
day, I would have expected it to
stink. It really didn't.
I took this photo for
my ex-boyfriend, Brian, (who, as far as I know is not friends with
anyone here on facebook, so I'm out of touch) who loved a song that
went:
Fish heads, fish heads,
rolly-polly fish heads;
Fish heads, fish heads,
eat them up, yum.
They're not good
dancers, they don't wear make up
da-da da da da, da-da
da daaaaa (can't remember any more)
Please can one of you help me identify this bloody song and the
missing line – it's stuck in my head! (I asked Mike, he looked at
me like I was deranged – but then that's how he normally looks at
me!)
There were also samples of fish on display that were
not in buckets. There was, for example, this fine example of a
beheaded yellow fin tuna. Just look at the size of it compared to the
men standing nearby (sorry, it's out of focus – I did call this bad
photographer – that should have been a clue!). I know Japanese
people are known for being, shall we say, slightly below global
average height, but these guys were not short. I have no idea how old
this fish was – but that's one step closer to extinction of an
entire species. There was also stuff moving around in buckets. I
didn't like that much, so you don't get to see photos.
Bear in mind that this writing lark is just an
excuse for me to show you my (bad) photo album without having you run
for the hills, this photo is truly gratuitous. Don't you think they
look like they are singing in a choir??
We made our way back to the Ryokan for a skulk about, before
venturing out to do some admin. I needed to drop my work stuff off at
the hotel I will be staying at next week. It's 43 floors high! Unable
to contain our excitement, Mike and I jumped in a great glass
elevator, and headed for the sky. Urm, that was it. Forgot to take a
photo. Didn't jump. No story really! I'll take photos on Saturday –
promise!
The other piece of admin was to buy train tickets for the rest of
the week. Holy moly, and you all think Switzerland is expensive??
Mind you, we did reserve seats for both of us on four seperate
shinkansen journeys. Two of
them on the nozumi train
(which Mike is quite excited about – it covers 346km in 100
minutes, which is quite fast apparently, so I've been told!) Even so!
I found it amusing that the ticket guy thought it would be ok to have
a twelve minute “layover” in Tokyo. “It's 8 minutes between
platfoms” he said “you cannot have less time”. I think he
misunderstood my expression.
We went back to Akihabara (Mecca for electronics
freaks – I'm just saying, not accusing anyone who may read this and
think I was talking about them...) Mike needed
another sim
card (most people make do with one!) However, there was a stationary
department in this shop. I likes stationary, I do! Mike has a photo of me with
just some of my purchases - but i don't know how to share. Who'd have thought you could spend so much
money on pens?? (Not as much as you can spend on trains, but it's all
relative I suppose).
Back in Asakusa, we went to the restaurant straight
across the street from our Ryokan. Mike ordered soba noodles and
tempura (this is getting a little repetitive) and I ordered raw fish
and snot. Really, the bowl of white stuff with green bits on top (not the rice, stupid) has
the consistency of snot. I would not be able to judge if the taste is
the same, having never tasted snot. The chef came over and told me to
pour soy on it, mix it up, and pour it on my rice. Not on your nelly,
I needed to eat the rice! He assured me it was good and had “no
calories”. Well in that case, one might ask, why on earth would I
bother? I did try some of the soy enhanced snot and rice. Yep, tasted
just like I would expect salty snot and rice to taste.
For comparison, here is Mike's fare. Now, doesn't
that look appetising. See? Deep fried stuff is much better than snot!
Finally, just a thought. These are my feet.
I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so...
Published in haste - apologies for errors!
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