Final Hours in Tokyo

For my last night in Tokyo, I decided to stay at the Conrad Hotel. The Conrad definitely lived up to it's reviews and it was located in one of the most picturesque parts of the city; right across from the Hamarikyu Gardens and overlooking the bay. If you have time for it, I definitely recommend having afternoon tea at TwentyEight . They have a great selection and their sweets were divine.

One of the other reasons why I stayed at the Conrad was it's proximity to the Tsukiji Fish Market. People start lining up outside the market as early as 2:30 in the morning to have a chance to catch the famous tuna auction, so having it within walking distance was key. 

The Tsukiji Market was one of my 'must-sees' for my trip to Japan. The best sushi chefs from around the city come to the world's largest fish market to pick out their cuts for the day. 

As a tourist, you are given a yellow vest and a small area to stand and view the auction. I was completely fine with this considering that you are getting to observe the real Japan. As long as you do your best to stay out of the way, you get to see some pretty interesting action. And, at times, I'm sure the bidders found us equally as entertaining as we did them.

After your 25 minutes is up, you are escorted out of the auction. Keep your eyes peeled for the massive amount of men on carts flying around the market. These guys won't stop for anyone!

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The only way to end the experience is to indulge in some delicious, fresh sushi. Sushi Dai is by far the most popular place in the market, but Daiwa-Zushi is a great second option. Expect to pay upwards of 700 yen per piece of fish, but trust me when I say, it's worth every last yen.

Romping through Roppongi

Around 2:30am this morning, I was woken up, or shaken up rather, by a not-so-pleasant surprise. A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit Fukushima and subsequently made it's way up to Tokyo to scare the living crap out of me. While I envisioned myself waking up to the sunset in my apartment in Shinjuku, I was now sitting straight up in bed praying that the pictures on the wall didn't fall off, or worse the whole building didn't crumble underneath me. Luckily, neither of those things happened, and after taking a few deep breaths, counting to ten, and confirming with the Twitter world that it indeed was an earthquake, I managed to fall back asleep. 

Not too terribly long after, I was woken up by the sun peaking through my shades. Much like I did in Santa Barbara, I quickly assembled my camera and made my way out to the balcony to capture the sunrise. It was a sign that I should put thoughts of my shaky morning in the past, and continue on to the beautiful day that lay ahead.

After breakfast, I journeyed towards Roppongi. Roppongi is known to be the least Japanese part of Tokyo, where most of the expats reside, but it is also home to the Tokyo Tower (technically in Minato, but right on the boarder) and some of the best sushi in town. After getting off at Roppongi Station, it is a bit of a walk to Tokyo Tower. You pass a lot of consulates along the way, heavily guarded by police men. Although in uniform, they always offered a nod and a smile. After about a 15 minute walk, I made it to Tokyo Tower. It was 820 yen to go to the main observation deck, where you could see just about everything.

For lunch, I headed back towards the center of Roppongi to Fukuzushi, which is situated in an alley off of Gaien-higashi-dor. It was around 2,600 yen for a set nigiri lunch. Not too bad for the area. I sat at the bar and had a pleasant conversation with the Itamae-san. Between my sub-par Japanese and his broken English, I think we did a pretty good job. 

The sushi was divine. This being my first official sushi in Japan, I had high expectations, and they were surpassed. I have never had unagi (eel) that melts in your mouth like it did. The tako (octopus) was so tender, and the ebi (shrimp) was the sweetest I have ever tasted. And not to be forgotten, the akami (lean tuna) was by far my favorite.

Afterwards, they lead you to a separate part of the restaurant for dessert and tea. The best way I can describe the dessert is something like 'coffee-jello' topped with a dab of chocolate sauce. I sat there and drank my tea and read for about an hour before heading back to Shinjuku to get ready for my first Friday night in Japan.

Sunglasses: Kate Spade

Tonight, I am planning on heading back to Omotesando to have a drink or two at Den Aquaroom. Here's to hoping there are no earthquakes that wake me up tomorrow morning. xoxo

Konnichiwa Tokyo!

First stop on my tour around Asia: Tokyo! Moshi, moshi ah no ne. I honestly can't think of a better way to start the next three months. Customs and immigrations in Tokyo was a breeze. You truly experience the friendliness of the Japanese people the minute you step off of the plane. One of the not so great things about Narita Airport though, is that it is quite far outside of Tokyo, so you need to either take a train to the center of the city, or split a cab with 2 or 3 people. I picked up a Suica N'ex card to go from the airport to central Tokyo. This is a great option (roughly $50 round trip), and you get a Suica card pre-loaded with 2,000 yen, which is the card used for their subway system. I had to transfer at Shinjuku station, which was quite hectic. Luckily, a very nice young man offered to escort me to the Oedo line, in exchange for practicing English with him, which led me to where I will be staying for the next four days. After arriving at my apartment, I was out the door less than an hour later for dinner with two guys who I had met on A Small World. We went to Two Rooms for dinner and drinks. I recommend the Kiwi Mojito to start your night off; super refreshing. To eat, I had the Tsukiji fresh carpaccio of the day and the veal chops, which were both delicious. After being up for 30 hours and having a few cocktails, I headed back to my apartment and slept like a baby. 

When I woke up today, I headed straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This is one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo where you get a 360 view of the city at the top. It definitely puts the size of Tokyo in perspective. This place is huge! 

On the main floor of the TMG, there is a tourist center where you can pick up guides for different portions of the City in English. I picked up a few for Ginza, Roppongi, Shibuya and the Harajuku area. I have a feeling I'll be back for some other areas in a few days. I decided today I would do Harajuku. The self-guided tour has your start at Omotesando station, which is just a quick ride from the TMG. Before trekking through the streets, I grabbed a quick lunch at Hiroba. Hiroba does a lunch buffet for 1,260 yen until 2:30. The organic Japanese buffet includes primarily vegetarian options, but they have meat options as well; descriptions are only in Japanese, but signs for each dish include cute drawings of fish, chickens, or pigs to help you figure out if animal ingredients were used. Everything was super yummy, and I recommend the little quiche squares that they have. So good!

After lunch, I strolled down Omotesando street and browsed in the shops. There is everything from Prada to Laforet, where I managed to pick up some fashionable souvenirs. 

The corner of Omotesando and Meiji-dori

After having a taste of the modern, fashionable world in Tokyo, I decided to switch it up and take in some of the more traditional sites. Just a 5 minute walk from the shops is the entrance to the Meiji-jingu shrine. This particular shrine is a Shinto shrine, which is the ancient original religion in Japan. After walking through the gate it is about a 10 minute walk to the shrine through a nice park. 

Before reaching the shrine, you encounter a few more gates and barrels of sake wrapped in straw. These sake barrels are offered every year to the enshrined deities to show respect. 

Before entering the shrine it is customary to rinse your hands at the temizuya. One of the guides told me the very specific wash instructions: First wash your left hand, then your right hand. Then take a scoop of water and wash your mouth with your left hand. After your mouth has been washed, rinse your left hand again, and finally rinse the water dipper. 

Once inside, it is frowned upon to take pictures of the area where all of the ceremonies are performed, but I managed to take a few shots of the surrounding architecture.

These are special votive tablets for personal prayers of gratitude toward the deities. 
They are hung around a divine tree with your wishes written on one side and then they are offered at Mikesai.

That about wraps up day one. Tomorrow I'm going to be exploring Roppongi and Ginza! More to come, mata atode ne!

Tank: Rag & Bone

Skirt: H&M

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sunglesses: Chanel

Sandals: H&M