We were up early again and hit the fitness center. Andy opted for a swim and I decided to try for lower body and core workout despite nearly 20,000 steps yesterday. We miscommunicated and I think my nerves took over as we failed to meet for a steam, BUT we both mustered courage to try the mineral baths. Yep, we did it. In the nude. Of course we were both lucky enough to have the gender specific spaces to ourselves at the time of our taking the plunge. A couple of things to note. You have no choice but to go in nude. You can not enter if you have tattoos. Tattoos are associated with organized crime in Japan and you will be denied entry to onsas if you have them. Often if they are small and you are foreign they might offer you a bandage to cover them. And you shower before entering the bath. I will admit it felt amazing and my skin was incredibly soft afterwards. You do wear a towel or robe between the bath and the locker room area.
After breakfast we packed our bags for our room move and went downstairs to check-out and meet our guide. A lady named Maki we found sitting in the lobby with a sign with our names on it. Maki has been a tour guide for years, but generally for Japanese going abroad, but has been doing more locally since Covid19. She was very kind and ensured we had rain gear in tow and we were off to the taxi stand. We had declined private cars for public transport to have a real experience, so we thought we would be taking the subway. But honestly after all the walking yesterday and more on tap for later in the day we did not complain. She would pay all the fares as they were already included in our trip. So we were off for about a 10 minute ride to Tsujiki Market. Tsujiki we would learn was originally ocean, but was basically reclaimed/filled in and land in the 1700's. This area has been through a lot including a fire and a earthquake.
We would start at the Wholesale Fish Market that opens at 5AM and closes by Noon. No photos were allowed and really she was supposed to do very litte guiding inside, but she managed to sneak in some information here and there. And wow! We have been to wet markets in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Cambodia, but this really was amazing and topped those. The variety and the shear size of things from crab legs to oysters were incredible.
After exiting the market we would take a few minutes to visit our first shrine, a Shinto shrine called Namiyoke Shrine. This shrine is for the gods of harvest and business so people especially visit hoping to pray for luck in business. The main religions in Japan are Budhism and Shinto. Maki would teach us how to properly enter the shrine area/torri gate with a bow, then she taught us how to pray. We would have a 5 yen piece and toss it in the offering box. Then bow twice, clap twice, pray, then bow again before leaving. We would also see the giant Japanese dragons that represent this shrine in festivals. There are also oddities at the shrine like gigantic stones with the words fish, egg, tempura, etc etched in them that are gift from the market. I assume to bring them good business.
After we exited to the street we would wonder up and down alleys of the outside market area learning all about dashi (Japanese soup stock) to salted and dried fish. We learned about the small dishes Japanese use for dining including the famous patterns from fish scales to fish names in Kanji. We would learn the difference between Japanese chopsticks and Chinese chopsticks. We learned about tuna and how the red is actually the lower grade with the lighter with more white being the higher. And oh yes speaking of grade we would learn all about kobe and wagyu beef. We will return before leaving Tokyo so for now we only purchased some antique dishes.
Now completely hungry we hopped in another taxi and were whisked off to our sushi making class at Tsukiji Sushikuro Ginza. We would wash out hands and enter the resturant where Maki would interpret and we would learn how to properly make nigiri with tuna, salmon, shrimp, and salmon roe. We donned chef coats and paper hats for the full experience. The chef was quite young at 21 and had been training for 4 years already. He is the youngest at this establishment and therefore his nickname is "Prince." We would learn which hand to use when pick up the rice, the sushi, and which finger to get the dab of wasabi hidden between the rice and fish. We would learn exactly how to shape it all and lay it for presentation. We woud also learn how to make the traditional Japanese egg dish, Dashimaki Tamago. It's basically a layered omelette that made in a special rectangular pan and seasoned with soy, sugar, dashi, and other. It is often served cold in a bento box. Definitely learning how to make this at home. In addition we had fresh wasabi which was ground from the root on a wood paddle like grater covered with shark belly. Ally would not be happy about this. We all had a wonderful time and Andy impressed everyone with his 100 days of Japanese practice and his ability to read a lot of the menu. I avoided the alphabet part of Duolingo so I can hear and understand some, but can not read like him. Lots of photos and thank yous and we were in another taxi off to our hotel.
We would check back in to our new room, freshen up, and then make a 20 minute walk to TeamLabs Borderless. A interactive massive art installation in the Azabudai Hills a large very high end shopping complex. Just to get to it we walked past Dior, Cartier, and more. This was an incredible experience as art moved all around you and even through walls and to different rooms. When we started I thought we would be bored after 30 minutes, but then the experience took over and 90 minutes later and we were still going. We ended with an interactive ocean once where we created the art of a sea creature of our choice and it was inserted into the ocean on the walls. We did a shark for Allyson and a turtle for Alec. We would find them again later swimming down a hallway and out of their "original" tank.
Now nearly 6PM we found coffee from %Arabica a coffee company founded in Kyoto by way of Kenneth Soji, orginally from Tokyo, schooled in California and resident of Venice Beach before returning to Japan to open his flagship store in Kyoto. Then Andy his takeout and we would walk back and finally make it right under Tokyo Tower. From our hotel it seemed quiet, but it was far from it. With restaurants, ice cream, and even performers the area was absolutely bustling. Now time to put our feet up because tomorrow is a full day/8 hour Tokyo tour with a guide starting at 9AM.
No comments:
Post a Comment