The Fab and the Filipinious: Tokyo Drift [SAN]

Day Three: Tsukiji Fish Market & Roppongi Hills
Saturday, July 18, 2009

Prologue

The Tsukiji Fish Market is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market IN THE WORLD and also one of the largest food markets of any kind (click here for more wikipedia info). The recommendation is to go really early so you can catch the tuna auctions, unloading of shipments and also be first in line for the most popular sushi spots... apparently the most popular places can be as long as a 4 hour wait at 6am on a Sat morning!!! (I'll get more into lines in Japan in another blog - crazy!).

So Mom & I tried to wake up super early to go to the market hopefully to see the unloading of all the shipments. We did wake up on time but ended up yapping too much and at 5:30am we hadn't even left yet!

She was so busy telling me how fat I've gotten and how men love stick figures with no curves and I told her that it took a grueling adolesence and shaky college life but I'm finally happy with how I look and her words of "encouragement" weren't really so encouraging. In her defense, I suppose she wasn't trying to offend me, but I guess she assumed that I wished I was skinnier?? *shrug* What is it with Filipinos and always commenting on weight, ANYway?? Too skinny, Too fat... bah humbug!

Anyway, I had no idea how to get to the fish market so figuring it out was certainly an adventure!


6:15am JST, Sat. Jul 18, 2009
@ the Tsukiji Fish Market


Somehow, I feel like I'm in the wrong place. It's not the GINORMOUS wholesale fish market place I imagined/googled, nor do I see the tuna auction place OR the 4 hour sushi restaurant lines! Or maybe I'm just overreacting...

Well, the sign said Tsukiji Fish Market, and there's mad fish for sale here so I guess I'm overreacting.

Anyway, it is quite adorable though and some Tokyoites are SO fabulous! Even at 6am wearing their fancy, shiny open toes, with their fabulous hairstyles and colorful attire.

There are so many tourists here but I still can't help like I'm missing something. Where are the massive lines for sushi? Where are the tuna auctions?! I'm a little disappointed but Mom and I decide to have our breakfast sushi here anyway.

HOLY COW!!!! Sushi here is SOOOO friggin great and fresh. I dunno if I'll ever enjoy Sushi in NYC again. So here's something that'll make you laugh, I got the 6 specific rolls of sushi I ordered and by the way, the kind of sushi they serve in America is not Japanese sushi. It is AMERICAN sushi. In Japan, they don't do those fancy rolls with cream cheese and crunchies and all of that other fancy "dragon/rainbow/tiger etc roll" things. In fact, Japanese chefs would have to take an AMERICAN SUSHI class if they wanted to serve sushi in the States. But... I digress..

So anyway, I get my 6 rolls of sushi, and there's soy sauce on the table, but I wonder to myself... where is the wasabi?? Fearing that I'll end up ordering something like EEL DUNG, I refrain from asking the non English speaking waitress and decide to make do without the wasabi. And... to my WONDERFUL surprise.. a WHOLE section of wasabi was waiting for me RIGHT in the middle of my sushi!...... those TRICKSTERS!!! *shakes fist*

But, now that I know, I can take out the chunks and spread it evenly throughout the roll. Man, I had tears running down my face.....

After a nice sushi breakfast, by 8am, my mom and I are ready to do some walking around and exploring. It got hot/humid really quickly so we were back at the apt by 11am... SWEATING. The humidity is friggin bananas out here. I came at the end of rainy season so now, instead of raining the humidity just hangs around like some annoying guy who won't stop trying to dub you in the club... no seriously, it's worse than an August day in NY at noon.

1:00pm JST
@ Roppongi Hills, Tokyo / Gonpachi Restaurant / Koots

MW and I met up with P at Gonpachi in Roppongi Hills for lunch! The restaurant is one of many that are part of the company she works for so it was cool cuz we got a discount!

But anyway, Gonpachi is a popular restaurant in Tokyo aka TOURIST TRAP because 1) they speak English; 2) former Pres. Bush ate there when he went to meet Japan's Prime Minister and 3) the best part It's the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino for the set of the famous fight scene in KILL BILL Vol 1!!!!!! - you know, with the wrap-around wooden balcony overlooking the main floor/dining area....

What made the whole first lunch in Tokyo experience even more pleasantly cute and authentic was the group of 6 or 7 old women decked out in really nice Kimonos having lunch at the table next to us! Definitely a rare sight for a boring New Yorker like me =P





After lunch, for dessert, P and MW took me to KOOTS, a Japanese style natural & organic cafe that has a whole bunch of authentic Japanese desserts (basically green tea in every imaginable form possible). I got a green tea float (cold green tea with green tea ice cream on top) and Princess & I also shared a green tea sundae of some sort - which had green tea ice cream, jelly, tapioca balls, straberries, red bean paste and some crusty/graham cracker thing - YuMmMm!






So P, MW and I are sitting outside Koots, enjoying our desserts and chatting. This is the first time P and I are meeting in person - I've only known her vicariously through my best friends' facebook so we're just catching up on commonalities aka making fun of Ir and his crazy antics ;)

I'm enjoying the conversation, but it's about 3pm JST (2am in NY) and jet lag is KICKING MY @SS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I started nodding off while everyone was talking and staring at P and MW through bloodshot eyes and was finally like... dude, I gotta go home and pass out. I thank P for the lovely authentic Japanese experience and we make plans to meet up the next day for Harajuku shopping and more sightseeing.


MW and I decide to WALK back to the apt, and when I said we were in Roppongi HILLS, I wasn't lying!!!!! After the humidity and all the walking up and down the sloping streets, not to mention the satisfying meal/dessert I just had had me KNOCKED OUT as soon as I dropped down on the bed...

I was supposed to try and wake up later to go out with P but.. yeah, that failed miserably.

Either way, definitely not bad for a FULL first day in Japan!!!! =)


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Day 4 coming soon.... HARAJUKU/SHIBUYA shopping and people watching, Dancing in Yoyogi park, and world famous streets: Shibuya Crossing, Omote-Sando and Takeshita! - yeah google them!!!

The Fab and the Filipinious: Tokyo Drift [Ni]

Day Two: Arrival (approx 3pm JST - Japan Standard Time)
Friday, July 17, 2009
Narita Airport, Japan to Tokyo, Japan

Getting off that flight, going through customs is a breeze because I'm not sick and I'm not trying to smuggle any guns/narcotics, but altogether it does take an hour. We land on time and I'm finally ready to head to Tokyo (about an hr or so from the airport) by 3pm JST. I get my ticket, exchange some USD for Yen and off I go...

So, I'm sitting on the Narita Express (NEX) en route to Tokyo Station to meet MW (my friend who lives in Tokyo) and... maybe it's because I'm still suffering from airplane delirium and haven't seen the Earth for 13 hrs but I can't help but feel as if I'm upside down. I guess my equilibrium is all off because back home is on the other side of the world and it's 2am ET over there - so technically... I am upside down???? LOL. Listen to me, well anyway, I'm just SUPER excited I'm IN JAPAN!!!! and not just the airport anymore either. =)

As the train passes through the underground tunnel and the sun starts to pour into the 7th car of the NEX, my heart starts to race. I recognize the unmistakable sloping rooftops of Japanese architecture (which is, of course, extremely influenced by the Chinese architecture of the Tang Dynasty) and an automatic squeal of glee escapes my lips.... how embarrassing - I might as well get a tattoo of the word "TOURIST" in big bold letters across my forehead. But it doesn't matter, I'm not here to impress anyone but myself... and barely 2 hrs in Japan and I'm already ecstatic.

My Tokyo Dwelling:
MW's apartment is REALLY cute!!!

• It's a one bedroom apartment in the West Tower of the Ark Towers in Roppongi.
• There's a balcony, bathrom and living/dining/kitchen area.
• The bathroom is one of those high-end bathrooms with the heated toilet seats complete with cooch/booty washers & dryers right in the toilet! (yeah that's my terminology for douche LOL).
• The shower/bathtub combo is especially interesting to me. Apparently, the bathing areas are traditionally huge where 1/2 of it is the shower area and 1/2 is the tub - you're supposed to get clean in the shower, and then soak for however long in the tub. MW and I assume it's this way since the traditional Japanese hotels (ryokan) have the bath water coming from natural hot spring sources which are said to have medicinal/healing powers.
  

Japan Facts/Things I Learned so far:

• Japan Rail - JR = Amtrak This is one way that people get around from city to city in Japan. Foreigners can buy 7, 14 or 21 day unlimited tickets which have to be purchased OUTSIDE of Japan for which they can exchange for a real ticket at any exchange counter within Japan
• Suica Card = Metro Card This is cooler than a metro card because you can use it to buy stuff from the vending machines in the stations too (there are other companies that issue this type of card as well... also unlike NY where there is only the MTA issued Metro Card)
• Narita Express = Super Shuttle or any other company that offers shuttle services from the airport to the city I used this to take me straight from Narita airport to Tokyo Station. This is also serviced by JR.
• Tokyo Station reminded me a lot of the train station in Paris - colorful signs everywhere in a language I don't understand. Tons of people cris crossing through the center trying to get to all the different rail lines
• Elevator etiquette is the same i.e. everyone stops talking and faces forward once they step inside
• LEFT = RIGHT - that is drive on the left side of the road, escalator "slow lane" is on the left... it is really weird to get used to and I'm afraid I may lose my life every time I cross the street out here.
• The JPMC Tokyo office is a 2 minute walk from Tokyo station
• People in Tokyo don't walk as fast as people in NY - even with my 40lb luggage rolling behind me, I practically ran over the people walking in front of me
• Some people wear face masks - I guess they're really nervous about spreading germs and/or really sensitive to springtime allergies
• You don't have to tip in Japan =)

Other traditions I've learned:

1. Always take your shoes off when entering someone's home. You're even supposed to have separate slippers for the bathroom and not wear them outside the bathroom! - so better make sure you always have nice socks/tights LOL.
2. People don't shake hands - they bow. Well, most westerners already know this...
3. You have to be 20 yrs old to buy cigarettes and alcohol
4. They never say "No" - it is too assertive so they'll say "um...." instead (chotto) - the long pause is supposed to imply "don't count on it buddy"
5. They're SUPER apologetic. Sumimasen!! means sorry, and even a slight arm graze on the subway will cause someone to bow furiously muttering SUMIMASEN! several times.
6. They are VERY clean and particular about garbage. You must clean up after yourself! - trash cans are catergorized by "burnable" and "non-burnable". I can imagine how horrified a Japanese person is when coming to the US! - esp NYC... gross!!!

The Fab and the Filipinious: Tokyo Drift [iCHi]

Day One: The Plane - Thurs. July 16, 2009
Newark, NJ to Narita Airport, Japan

A mixture of anxiety and excitement waves over me when I wake up at 3am ET this morning realizing that I have not yet packed for my 10 day trip - my flight is at 11am ET and I still haven't figured out how I'm going to get to the airport... originally, I was supposed to wake up early, drop off my car in Brooklyn with my sister and she would take me to her job where I'd catch the Super Shuttle to Newark... that doesn't work out since it's already 3am and the only available super shuttles were 6:30 and 6:45am, and there was no way I'd shower, pack, get to Brooklyn then Chinatown by then.... I'm thinking GREAT, now what - so, I hop up and hurriedly think up a plan - I convince my sister it makes the most sense for me to get to her house by 7am and she take me to the airport from there. Thankfully, she agrees...

So, it takes me about 2 hours total to shower, get ready and pack what I hope will be enough for the trip. I fly to Brooklyn top speed and from there my sister drives me to Newark where I arrive 3 hours before my flight - tons of time to check in, relax and make my goodbye America phone calls. I am at my gate with 2 hours to kill so I relax for a bit, make some calls, send some texts - then board the plane!

The best part of departure day is anticipating my reunion with my mother. I haven't seen her since April when she left to go to the Philippines to tend to her growing business and religious... um... pursuits? - I think that's the word I'm looking for. Well, yeah, I'm really excited about seeing her again!

Anyway... the flight is 13 hours long and I always chuckle at the way people cringe when I tell them that. Long flights don't scare me. I've done it numerous times before and it's easy for me because I can fall asleep for long periods of time, wherever, whenever - so that takes care of at least 6 hrs of the trip. Furthermore, there are always the complimentary movies, TV shows and video games available taking care of at least 3-4 more hours. The remaining 3 hours I can easily fill in with my usual daydreaming, iPod jamming and journal writing. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that a flight this long really isn't that bad. I'm almost never bored and have no trouble entertaining myself... then there's my mantra "when in doubt, SLEEP more!" =P

One first, for this flight, however is the menu - never got a menu for a flight before and like I said, I've done the 13 hour flight thing quite a few times already & chopsticks came with the first meal - that was cool. They also served us a cheeseburger and haagen dazs ice cream as a late night snack so that was a pleasant thing to wake up to at (God knows what time it was).

So basically - on this flight, I'm feeling GREAT but my main concern is finding my mother. We were supposed to arrive at Narita at the same time but that's not going to happen with all the typhoon warnings in Cebu (Visayas), which is where she was originally supposed to fly to Tokyo from. She left me and my sister a text saying that she will not make it on time since all flights out of Cebu were cancelled but she would try everything in her power to make it to Tokyo - i.e. taking a 12 hr bus ride from Cebu to Manila and catching the next flight out of Manila to Tokyo. Which would be quite a crazy ride and who knows if she'd be successful????? She was cute in her email though saying "I will do everything in my power to make it to Tokyo. Only GOF (God our Father) and his elements can stop me from coming to see you" and boy do I pray that GOF and His elements don't keep me from her TOO long.... I really hope she makes it SOON.

more to come...