Got up this morning, it’s a transit day – we are off to Kyoto by bullet train around lunch time, but had so far missed an opportunity to go see the famous Tokyo fish markets. We had planned to go on Wednesday, but found out that (very oddly) the fish markets are closed every 2nd Wednesday of the month, so it was go this morning or miss out.
We hopped a cab to head the few kilometres over to the fish markets – with four of us, sometimes it works out cheaper to use a cab than to all whittle down the credit on our Suica cards – and were dropped off right outside the market area. The smell of fish in the air was immediately noticeable, but given that it is quite hot today, not as fishy as you would expect… fresh seafood smells, not rotten ones. We went for a wander through the markets and saw just about every seafood known to man… enormous tuna, salmon, lobsters, crabs, eels, squid, octopus, scallops, urchins, sardines, oysters, pippis, large fish of unknown species (damn not being able to read signs) and so many other delicious fishy type things.
Saw some other market stalls selling knives, kitchenware, ceramic serving dishes, bowls, cups, chopsticks. SaucyMary picked up some little Japanese garden shears that apparently make a very satisfying ‘ting’ noise when you use them.
After wandering the markets for a while we went hunting for breakfast in one of the hundreds of sushi restaurants serving all the lovely fresh fish that comes right from the wholesale markets. The line ups were incredible. Hours long some of them to get into a sushi restaurant. We had no idea which ones are better than others, so we chose a place where 1) we could stand in the shade and 2) had a relatively short line. One of patrons already waiting to go in, told us the line was very short because this restaurant was relatively new – so ‘no reputation yet’, but he assured us it was very good.
*CUE WAITING MUSIC*
Thirty minutes of standing around later… and we finally get in the door. The restaurant was tiny, about the size of my entry way and ensuite at home, with three chefs and a row of tables and tiny stools. We were given the obligatory hot hand towel to freshen up before the meal, which was much appreciated, and food was delivered one piece at a time as the chef made it, onto wooden serving platters that were placed in front of each person. It was crazy expensive seeing it was so close to the source of all the ingredients – ¥2500 per person for the ‘sushi special’ or ¥3600 for the ‘chef special’, but absolutely worth it.
We tried the sushi special which consisted of fresh tuna, cuttlefish, eel tail, salmon, prawn, sardine, salmon roe, tuna rolls, some mystery fish that I have now forgotten the name of, and some green tea and the best miso soup I have ever tried. The chef was adamant that none of the sushi be eaten with soy… right up until the end where he gave us the little tuna rolls, and said, ‘Ok, now sauce.’ Weird that they feel wasabi doesn’t impact the taste and enjoyment of the fish, but definitely no sauce! The chef special included some urchin and scallop, and while I love scallop, I personally don’t enjoy the texture of urchin having had it fresh off the beach in NZ many years ago. All up, a delicious breakfast of the freshest and tastiest fresh sushi I have ever tried – very happy with my wash! 10/10. Would definitely go again and drag all my friends along.
After that it was back to the apartment and collecting all the luggage – compared to other travellers about the place, we seem to be carrying a LOT of stuff. Part of that I think is because when Australians travel, we don’t just go somewhere for a week or ten days… everything is too far away and that involves expensive and tedious long haul flights, so once we are away, compared to other travellers, we tend to stay away as long as our leave and our budgets will allow. So with a 47 day trip that involves trekking up mountains gear and clobber for formal evenings on a cruise ship, that tends to cause a fairly significant packing challenge, and I find myself cursing the fact that we’re not travelling lighter.
Anyway, back to the train, then off to Tokyo Station and switching to the Shinkansen Train – bullet train for the win! 🙂 Mr K, our transport logistics expert was pretty damn excited to be getting on the bullet train. The trip to Kyoto is 513.6kms and is covered in 138 minutes flat. Love it – clean, fast, efficient and goes every 10 minutes or so. We arrived in Kyoto much sooner than I was expecting, the scenery just whizzing by outside the window, and then it was off to rapidly learn a new transit system to make our way to accommodation, which is here – 知恩院前のバス停 if anyone wants to look it up. 😀
We’ve got a lovely apartment with all the mod cons, right in the centre of where the Gion Festival is happening this week. But after a long day, we decided to get take out okonomiyaki from a place called Arachan that our Airbnb host recommended. Shared a seafood one with SaucyMary for dinner and it was absolutely delicious, full of prawn, octopus, squid and fishy bits. Best okonomiyaki ever. I’d say that we should totally have some for dinner again one night next week, but there are too many other things to try. 🙂
