TSUKIJI FISH MARKET > TOKYO TOWER > AKIHABARA > ODAIBA

Once more I failed to wake up properly before 4a.m. ( which I’m supposed to ) for the early morning rush at Tsukiji Fish Market. I’m terribly sorry that Sam have to deal with a grumpy and narcoleptic me every morning before it hits lunchtime ( my solar alignment tends to settle down somewhat then ).

Anyway, once more we hit Asakusa Station for Tsukiji Fish Market. I probably will not manage anywhere on my own without Sam because she was the one that made notes prior of which station goes where and what lines goes where next XD; The so-called planning on my side are purely selfish because all I can think of before starting this trip was “I wanna go there! I wanna see that! I MUST get my ass to this place!” without actually studying the routes to do so XD;

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET [ 築地市場 ]

To tell the truth, all the books and guides I ran through just told me that Tsukiji market is extremely near the station’s exit. But we REALLY didn’t have the slightest idea of WHERE exactly it is XD We made our way through an ACTUAL wet market ( filled with vegetables and what not ) weaving in and out following other gaijin tourists we see ( especially the ones with cameras in their hands! They HAD to be tourists, no? Yay us for being totally clueless XDD ) We thought reaching the marketplace as late as 7a.m. then will have the entire marketplace dissapeared ( like the Floating Market in London Underground a.k.a. Neverwhere? XD ) but thankfully we were not ones to be detered so easily. We’d already got a whiff of the smelly fishy smell as soon as we hit the station .. so following our nose, we managed to make our way to the ACTUAL fish market! 8D

Once again; a hell lot of pictures under the cut 8D And a bunch of too long text-diarrhea too considering this was the day we visited the most places out of the few days we were in Tokyo.

Most of the fishes/barrels/boxes were transported around by these weird vehicles that mainly consist of the plank ( to put stuff ) and the engine + steering wheel that looks a lot with R2D2 XD;;; I lost count of how many times I nearly got ran over by these… vehicles. Which is really kinda sad if it did happened since I couldn’t even call it car. =_=;;

Those strange vehicle I was talking about XD

I think we missed the main auctioning ( which would have started as early as 4 a.m. ) by the time we reached there ( so sorry Sam! T____T ) but did made our way inside the huge area gawping at the size of frozen fishes that we see there ^^;;

I’d been to fish markets at home pretty often when I accompany my Mum doing her morning shopping; but nothing at home could hold even a flicker of a candle to this place ( first and foremost, even though it stinks of fish, the place is bloody clean .. compared to the ones at home; which is a pretty horrifying sight and experience on it’s own. One that I don’t recommend )

TOKYO TOWER [　東京タワー　]

After the sightseeing ( and hoping and praying we don’t smell like fish TOO much T___T ) we made our way back to the train station heading to our next stop. Tokyo Tower! Which I insist on seeing; even though we don’t plan to head up to the tower ( ¥900 per person and I feel cheap and didn’t want to since we were on Tocho already the day before XD;; ) Exiting the station once more, we ended up walking a lot following the general direction of the tower that we managed to spot in the distance 8D It was so damned cold that morning I was constantly trying to bundle myself up in the not-so-warm clothes to keep warm. Weather in Tokyo = WTF. It was bloody warm the previous day so we thought we’ll do fine with lighter clothing but we were freezing to death with our teeth clattering.

Even though we bundled some bread in our bags; at the sights of people walking around carrying Starbucks cups; the desire for hot warm drinks rose. We were pretty frustrated that we saw NO sign of Starbucks around ( and yet people are carrying the cups! ) we ended up in front of a rather quaitn coffee shop at the far end of a shop lot. Staring at the menu, I was already ready to dash inside to find sanctuary in a temperature controlled room and ordered a cup of soul warming hot chocolate Ahhh tasukattaaaaaa ~~~

Ah First Coffee~ you’re a life saver!

Bracing ourselves to get back into the cold again, we headed off once more. For Tokyo Tower :3 I’d watched too many dorama with a Tokyo Tower backdrop. Damn if I can’t get my ass over there and see the structure with my very own eye This and Rainbow Bridge too 8DDD

After camwhoring a whole deal at the park right underneath the Tower, we headed off in search of the Holy Grail Zozoji Temple. From what I gathered; it’s supposed to be nearby the Tower anyway since they’re in the same park area.

More random pictures before heading off to Zozoji XD The guard at the Tower must be darned annoyed or at least amused with these two weird touristy tourists we were XDD

I got LOADS of o-mamori for my family and a friend. They’re 500 yen each and it really did put a huge dent in my budget there ( I bought about 10 ? ) XD;;;; I saw some cheaper ones in Nakamise-dori the previous day; but those looks awfully … commercial and plastic I didn’t think they’ll want any of those XD; Oh well, at least everyone is happy and I managed to tick something off my shopping/hunting list 8D

It was kind of hilarious when I was inside the temple to purchase the o-mamori. I can read simple kanji but a number of the ones stacked up there really baffles me. Knocking on the glass sliding window to call on the monk in charge there I started :

Me : すみませんが．．．漢字が読めませんから．．．これとこれは何の為ですか？ [ Excuse me, I can't read kanji. Can you tell me what these are for? ]
Monk : ………… *stares*
Me : 日本人ではありません? *frozen smile* [ I'm not Japanese? 8D;; ]
Monk : あ!あ！そう、そう！ [ Oh, OH! Okay okay! ] *heads off to grab a folder with Japanese -> English translation for the charms*

Sam who was waiting for me outside the temple; ended up getting some candy from a nice lady who was walking her dogs(?). We both gathered ourselves and headed off on a random walk to see more sights around. It was barely hitting noon then and we decided we couldn’t do THAT much in Odaiba ( which was the next and final stop on our list ) ; we ended up boarding the train for Akihabara again XD;; ( The previous day walkaround wasn’t satisfactory enough. I mean c’mon. Where are the manga and merchandises! Shaddap I knew there were a whole bunch of mercs ( Oh GUNPLAAA ) in AsoBit City buuuuuuuuuut …. we wanted the otaku-kingdom mmkaaay?? So…

AKIBA AKIHABARA [ 秋葉原 ] TAKE 2!

And so we ended up in Yodobashi Akiba ( which was ironically the building we’re right in front of when we exited the station but didn’t check out the previous day. D’ooooooooooh me >_> ) Found Tower Records and Yurindo ( book store ) on the 7th floor. What happened next? CALAMITY ON OUR PURSES DDDDD8

We decided to go to Yurindo first pushing away the strong urge to raid Tower Records for later in case we spend everything we have on a cd store once more ( *coughs* we spent on albums the previous day in Akiba too XD;; ) Thank goodness we got there because I found the book that Aimo wanted all along 8D Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side ~2nd Kiss~ Official Guidebook Complete Edition 8DDDDD TERURINNNNN ♥ (Aimo can I pinjam from ya when 2nd Kiss DS version? 8D ) There were some leftover money left from what she passed me for the Tokimemo stuff so I ended up getting her Habataki Watcher Vol. 5 too ;D For me? I’d got myself Tokimemo Girl’s Side 2nd Kiss Short Stories Vol. 2 8DD I’m hoping to improve my comprehension by reading an actual novel ( so I reasoned ). But I couldn’t find Vol. 1 anywhere though T__T If anyone knows where I can get Vol. 1, pleaseeee lemme know! ( I mean damnit! I want Teru and Hariya’s stories! )

But the one that made me SQUEE-ed in front of them rows and rows of gaming-related books? まるごと！幻想水滸伝ブック [ Marugoto! Genso Suikoden BOOK ] !!! When I saw that, all I can say was “YOU’RE MINE MINE MINEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” It’s a compilation of info and character guides ( and basic plots ) for ALL the Suikoden games ever released ( Suikoden 1-5, the Gaiden, Rhapsodia and even the Card Games XDD ) Character Bios! Official Artworks! Illustrations! And HOMFG A ONE PAGE COLOURED COMIC from one of the official Suikoden V artist. 20! YEARS! OLD! PRINCE! OF! FALENA!

I can stay a happy Suikoden V fangirl for the rest of my life 8D

Actually, the discovery of the 20 years old Falenan Prince was by Eisu. When I’d got back to my apartment and sorted out my stuff with the rest of them people there XD The decision of not opening the book in Japan was fully worth it; just for that whole 3 minutes spazzing session ( mainly by me; but chorused by Aimo and Hanie XD ). My love for the Prince is fully justified. He’s gonna be HOT when he’s legal

Sam and I hit Tower Records next door after that where we discovered a whole LOADS of Siam Shade albums and singles 8DD But I ended up being reaaaaaally stingy T__T ( I was constantly worried that I might not bring enough cash over ^^;;; I mean, I have my cards, but … I’m sure not ALL the places I’m heading to will take card yanno XD;; ) But ah temptation! I did get myself Daidai DAITA’s EUPHONY. It’s one hell of an album and definitely one I swore I’ll get if I ever see it ( now my Mum wants me to make her a copy of it or leave it at home for her XD; )

Randomness; Yodobashi has the most awesome public toilet EVER XDDDDD Begone! KLCC’s RM2 per entry ones!

Lunch was in Akihabara like the previous day XD;; I really missed the strange vending machine styled ordering format in Japan now that I’m home :\

Gyuuniku don(?) I think for once I actually finished my food XD;; Because we walked so much and I was pretty darn exhausted

ODAIBA [お台場 ]

Odaiba is kinda tricky to get there ( at least to us clueless touristy people XD; ) We needed to switch to Yurikamome monorail line after getting off at Shimbashi ( or was it Karasumori? ^^; ) This had to be one of the older station I’d been hoping on and off of. Everything about the town ( which was what I saw when we walk the way to the Yurikamome station ) looks … old and a little out of early 90s Japanese movie. I thought can feel the slightly sepia tone of the environment XD;; It’s rather quaint to be honest.

Finally taking the monorail ( we were quiet lost initially XD ), we crossed over to Odaiba with a good scenic view of the Rainbow Bridge :3 Yay for seeing both Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge in the same day :3

Blurry picture of Rainbow Bridge taken from inside the monorail while we were heading to the station

Once we alighted, it was practically session of just walking and walking since we have no proper map of the area T_T It was getting dark and cold(er) but thankfully even being the set of lost tourists we are; we managed to find places of interest along the way ( while being totally lost XD )

FUJI TV

We didn’t get to visit the building itself though since we spent a bit too much time in Akiba already XD;;; Whoops

Note, the ones below are places/attractions around and nearby Fort Venus & Palette Town The places are decked out in Christmas mood already in the mid of November ^^

TOKYO MOTOR SHOW 2007 @ MegaWeb

We were just in time there for some sort of demonstration to start XD; We always seem to be on time for something fun/interesting/bizarre to happen XD I have no interest in cars though but took a few pictures for my Dad. Cuz he is a Toyota-fan XD

ZEPP TOKYO !!! ♥

Don’t mind me being fangirlish. I’d read a bit too much about concerts and lives happening here XD

Universal Design Awards

This is right next to the Toyota Showroom so we just jumped in anyway XD

GIANT FERRIS WHEEL [ 大観覧車 ]

When we got into line for the ferris wheel the attendants took a picture of the both of us in front of a Tokyo nightview backdrop and told us we can decide later if we didn’t want to purchase the picture. We headed straight into the Ferris wheel ( the closed and coloured gondola instead of the fully glassed gondola because 1. the wait was 15 minutes for the glassed one but none for the coloured and 2. I’m scared of heights ^^;; ) Ah the price for the ride was Â¥900 per person ^^

I think the whole ride takes approximately 15 minutes since we boarded. We got a good view of Tokyo as we went higher and higher XD Too bad my camera didn’t get any good picture :\ The batteries finally decide that it’s a good place to die off before the next recharge T__T

VENUS FORT

We made a short trip around the Venice-themed shopping complex. There were loads of cute bags and gloves and stuff for sales ( mainly the ones on those stalls/kiosks outside the actual shops ) Didn’t want to get too tempted because I planned to do actual shopping in Harajuku ( La’Foret ~~~~ wait for meeeeee )

Chicks-themed Christmas tree? Too adorable!

And finally we headed out to find Oedo Onsen Monogatari [ 大江戸温泉物語 ]. Which we have no idea where it is. But is too embarrassed to ask XD To tell the truth, Sam and I had been avoiding talking about this part of the plan. Deep inside it feels like we HAD to go experience a sento/onsen. But at the same time, the very idea of going to a public bath freaked and embarrassed the hell out of us XD;; So we walked in near complete darkness ( It was about 6 o’clock when we set out from the bright and colourful Palette Town / Venus Fort area ) and cold once more in search for ANY form of signboard telling us where the hell is the bloody onsen for a good … 30 minutes? Or more if you added in the time we detoured into Palette Town XD; If only I’d done more research prior, I would had noted it was only a good 5 minutes walk from Tokyo Teleport Station XD;; But nooooooooooo we ended up walking a good two stations distance away ( we alighted at Odaiba Kaihin Koen earlier ) XD;;;

After much walking and sore legs and complaining ( on my side because I was lugging *coughs* books and loots from Akihabara earlier ^^; Hellow guidebooks are heavy mmmkaay? ), we finally saw the sign that says 「大江戸温泉物語」. We had a good mind to gave up halfway already to tell the truth. We kept telling ourselves that “Okay! If we don’t find the place before 8p.m. we’ll just take the nearest station and home to Asakusa!” And lo! The onsen wants us XD;; Tired, hungry and DAMNED COLD from walking out like that; I think any final embarrassments and second thoughts about going naked into those HOT WARM WATER of the onsen .. just flew out of the window ( and into the sea and beyond ). We needed the warmth.

After many confusing moments INSIDE the place ( from paying to changing to putting away our stuff and looking for the ACTUAL onsen itself ) .. we were finally INSIDE. Still battling those last remnants of “OHSHIT what did I get myself into??! - thoughts” we finally decided to just screw it since actually seeing SO MANY NAKED WOMEN in ONE room kinda broke my brain. In ways that I didn’t thought it could T__T I think I’ll never be the same anymore after this first onsen experience. Bless me >_>

The verdict?

I’m in loveeeeeeeeeee with the onsen XD;;; Weirdness and embarrassment ( which was gone as soon as aside those huge and many pools of hot water! Jacuzzi! Sauna! OUTDOOR ROCK BATH ! And the lovely wooden tub bath ♥ ♥ ♥ Hwat? The nakedness? Eventually you’ll just glaze over all the numbers of naked boobies and what not because? OMG they are everywhere XDD

I’m quite sure if we had more time to stay in Japan, Sam and I will eventually find an excuse to get ourselves to Odaiba again for the onsen XD

Me + Sam : VICTORYYY! And for surviving the brain breaking experience

All in all we DID had a victorious day that day. We visited every places we wanted to visit ( Minus Fuji TV ) and more ( the detour into Akihabara and Motor Show and Design Awards ). Walked our legs off but it was definitely worth the trouble and pain. I missed that day SO much!

Oh and I think we got scolded by a local Asakusa policeman ( on bicycle ) that night after we got back from the onsen for jay-walking *dies* We are Malaysian through and through I supposed ^^;;

Next up! Tokyo Disneyland 8D

Tags: akihabara, japan, odaiba, onsen, tokyo, tokyo tower