TBT: Musings in Japan: Tokyo Tower & Tsukiji

 And so begins another weekly installment about my adventures in Japan. It was inevitable that we would visit one of Japan's greatest landmarks: Tokyo Tower. I personally love this shot of the tower. The matrix of steels from the base appears sharp and dramatic and the top floor looks as if it is being consumed by flames. Of course, it doesn't show you what it looks like from a distance, but you'll see for yourself in a bit. A blurry photo of the view from up top can be seen below.

 I still don't know what to make of this bedazzled monument of love. It's actually kind of cute in a way. I can see why this tower might be popular with couples. It's dim and quiet inside and has a lovely view of the city all lit up in the darkness of night. Quite romantic, no? Who wouldn't want to take their date here?

 After touring the tower, our next stop was the famous Tsukiji fish market. As it was still night, and the market did not open until 4 or 5 in the morning, we had many, many, hours to kill. We resorted to silly antics to amuse ourselves. It was going to be a long night, after all. I'm not sure if we even slept at all. I think we might have gone to an internet cafe for a little while. With a couple of hours left til opening, we trudged groggily toward Tsukiji only to realize with utter devastation that there was already a long line in front of the entrance.

  And finally at long last we entered the world of Tsuji. Oh, Tsukiji! This is a fish lover's paradise. It is the largest fish market in the world and many sushi/sashimi (and seafood) restaurant owners come here to get the best pick of freshly caught fish/seafood. I absolutely love sushi (nigiri/sashimi) so this was a dream come true. Watching the auction was an unforgettable experience. Slivers of the tuna were sliced off and presented in a row for the bidders to examine. And one by one, each tuna was sold off to the highest bid.

 Real wasabi is hard to come by in the States so when I saw this, I was ecstatic. It's expensive so I can see why restaurants often use horseradish "wasabi". Anyway, we were eager to eat after the auction. It was difficult to choose which restaurant to eat at because 1) they all served really fresh fish and 2) they all had really long lines.

 I don't know what possessed us to visit a museum (I think) after Tsukiji. We'd had no sleep the night before. I remember being so tired we were saying nonsensical things and the word, delirious, often popped up in our conversations. As you can see, some of us were knocked out cold on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I could not summon the will to capture more photos of our time there. It was very beautiful, but it was all I could do to keep walking.