My 5 hour birthday in Japan!

What happens when you leave the US the day before your birthday on a trans-Pacific flight to Japan? You get a 5-hour birthday when you touch down! :) We left LA around 3 PM on a non-stop Singapore Air flight to Narita Airport, in Japan. The flight attendants were all immaculately dressed (the men in suits and ties, and the women in beautifully-patterned sarongs and shirts). The food on the flight was great, and I slept for a whopping zero minutes. :) We took a great circle route, and got to see some amazing mountains, snow, glaciers, and sea ice over Alaska. The rest of the flight was over cloud-blocked water, but I'm glad I was able to see so much of Alaska (for those 'in the know', we flew over and west of Kodiak, and then north of the Aleutians).

Mountains northwest of Kenai, Alaska

Corey and I made it to Japan at 7 PM local time, got out of the airport by 8ish (thank you, Immigration), and to our hotel a little before 10. We were upgraded to a queen-size bed (a rarity in Japan, without paying dearly for it), and passed out immediately.

We woke up this morning at 3:45 AM, left our hotel by 4:15ish, and headed to the Tsukiji fish market--the largest fish market in the world, and home to the famous Tokyo tuna auctions. Tsukiji was HUGE, and we lucked out and were two of the 120 visitors that get to see the tuna auction daily (5:45 AM). We talked to a few other people later in the day who arrived a few minutes later than us, and the tours were already full! The auction process was interesting to watch. The fish are frozen, and a section above where the tail used to be has been cut, allowing potential buyers to see the meat of the fish, and to feel the texture. These guys definitely knew what they were looking for. After buyers have had a chance to peruse the selection, the auctioneers (there are many) ring a bell, do some sort of little dance and then in a very rhythmic, cryptic, and sing song-y way, auction off their catch.

Inspecting the quality of the tuna with a hook and flashlight.

The auctioneer is at the top of the image, with his hand in the air (I think this signaled that a new fish was being auctioned).

After seeing the auction, we explored part of the rest of the market. This included a lot of vegetable, fruit, grain, seafood, and small restaurant stalls. A lot of business can be done in a very small space!

We grabbed breakfast in a sushi restaurant not far from the heart of the market. I had 6 pieces of nigiri sushi, and Corey had 3. (If you know Corey's food habits, you know how miraculous this truly is. I'm so proud!) The tuna toro was unlike any sushi (including toro) that I have ever had. It was the $300 Wagyu steak of sushi! :) YUM.

From the left: tuna with green onions, salmon, tuna, toro tuna, amberjack (similar to yellowtail, I think), tuna, toro, sweet shrimp, and tamago (egg omelet). A.K.A. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!

Corey grabbed some chicken from another stand on our way out. All of this before 8:30 AM!

We walked to nearby Hama-Rikyu Gardens, which was a place of respite for Shoguns many centuries ago. The grounds were beautiful. We saw cherry blossoms (which smell fantastic!), a massive field of yellow flowers (which smell like Manuka Honey from New Zealand!), a cat that looked like a bear, and tons of beautifully manicured plants and trees. I also discovered something that may give Japan best-country-in-the-world status, and it can be described in three simple words: heated. toilet. seats. :) Another fantastic part of the gardens was the hands-free English tour device we were given (included with the $4 admission). It looked like an i-phone, and had sensors that could tell when we were getting near a point of interest. We never had to touch it, and it would tell us what we were looking at, and which way to turn! Very cool. :)

I found the juxtaposition between nature and the modern mega-tropolis of Tokyo very striking! (These pink cherry blossoms were so incredible. As you can tell, I was very captivated by them.)

That's right... I do bridges on a bridge.

I liked this cherry blossom photo a lot because it shows the front and back of a blossom, plus one that has not bloomed yet.

Cherry blossom tree in the foreground, skyscrapers in the back, and a sea of yellow flowers in the middle!

Yep... :)

 After finishing in the gardens, we took a boat up the Sumida River to Asakusa. We walked towards the Sensoji Temple, but stopped for a hot lunch at an udon and soba restaurant first. It was getting chilly, and had been raining for a few hours.

Kitsune (tofu-pouch) soba with two types of onion for lunch.

Around Sensoji, there are many shops selling food, gifts, and handmade crafts. It was very interesting to see all of the different goods. Sensoji itself is very beautiful, and is a buddhist temple. The two most interesting parts to me were the main building, which had a very beautiful sanctuary with people praying in it, and the 5-story pagoda building, which has a relic of the Buddha. The rest of the grounds were very beautiful, as well.

Corey and I outside the main building of the Sensoji Shrine in Asakusa (neighborhood in the NE of Tokyo).

We wandered around Asakusa for a while, and then eventually found our way (not easily) onto the subway. With the help of a very nice young woman, we found our way back to the hotel. Maps here have select landmarks or buildings on them, but do not seem to include many street names. I'm still getting my bearings, as well. We've taken a short rest at the hotel, and are going to hit the streets in hopes of finding a yummy dinner. I suspect we'll have an early bedtime tonight. Tomorrow, we're heading out of Tokyo, and taking the bullet train (Shinkansen) south to Osaka. We'll spend a day each in Osaka and Nara, before heading to Kyoto for three nights. We'll head back to Tokyo on the 29th, and catch the Mariners-A's baseball game in Tokyo (MLB is opening the season here this year, and we were able to get tickets to the 2nd game)!!! I have my Mariners shirt and earrings ready and waiting! :) We'll spend a few more days exploring Tokyo before heading back to the states!

Hopefully we'll have internet, and find some time to post a few more times while we're here. Thanks for reading this long post. I hope you enjoyed reading about our first 24 hours in Japan!

I'll leave you with this: my favorite strange sign of the day. As far as I can tell, the girl in the yellow shirt is feeding a bird three times her size, which causes it to poop and make a small sad ghost appear. Any better guesses? (If you speak Japanese, care to enlighten us what it actually says? I'm sure it is intended to dissuade people from feeding animals...)

Do not feed the birds, lest they will poop on you and make ghosts haunt you forever.