Quick trip to Tokyo

I knew everyone always talks about Tokyo and the craziness it can bring. But I never expected the type of crazy that I encountered.

Before going, I had made a list of things to do and a general itinerary for each day since I only had a few days to see everything. Once I arrived, those itineraries promptly went out the window. Our trip centered around 3 things that were on our "must do" lists: seeing the tuna auction at the Tsukiji Market, visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum and taking a teriyaki chicken cooking class.Getting up at 2:30 am the morning after I arrived in Tokyo was difficult to say the least. I had tried to go to sleep early, but I had one of those "I know I have to get up early and should to go to sleep right now, so naturally I'm wide awake" nights that you have in college before a huge test. But I got up and drug myself out the door to meet Lolly to get a taxi half way across the city. 15 minutes later, we were running around trying to find the ticket line. Several of our friends had gotten up and tried to get tickets but failed, so Lolly and I got up extra extra early to ensure tickets. We finally found the ticket room, at at 3 am, 70 of the 120 tickets had already been given away. But we could rejoice! We were in!

 At 3:15 am, the tickets (aka vests) are nearly gone!

After waiting another 2 and a half hours, our group was guided through the parking lot full of fork lifts whizzing around to the auction rooms. The auction lasted for a short 20 minutes, but it was quite interesting. These buyers took the business seriously. Walking around with notebooks, flashlights and ice picks, they carefully inspected each slice of tuna under their flashlights and poked around the tender meat before scribbling notes then going to inspect the matching fish, chipping a piece off of the tail with their ice pick for a taste test.

 

After watching the auctioneer quickly sell off the huge, and expensive fish (the first fish of the year sold for $35,000) Lolly and I decided to follow the crowds to enjoy a sushi breakfast. An hour later, we were sitting in a tiny sushi restaurant in front of a sushi chef that spoke a little of at least 4 languages. We ate the most divine tuna, along with many other delicious types of fish.

Overall, it was an early morning, but totally worth it. I highly suggest ignoring the Lonely Planet's and all the other official online suggestions of arriving by 4 am, our friends took that advice and they woke up so early for no reason. The day we arrived, tickets were gone by 3:35.Our second (well my first) priority was going to the Studio Ghibli Museum. A few months ago, Adrienne, Marcelle and I made plans to go to the exhibit in Seoul. Having never heard of Ghibli, I had to binge watch his movies, and I instantly fell in love. The stories hold a lot of troubled issues, but also great lessons in life, along with wonderful relationships between characters. The story lines, along with the breathtaking art, had me instantly hooked. So when I got a chance to go to the studio and be able to see original works, I couldn't pass it up. Getting tickets though the Korean travel agent was a pain, but totally worth it. We had a chance to see interesting ways of making their artwork come to life, a 20 original short that was adorably cute and the intricate work that goes into making the perfect shade of each and every detailed color. Our two hour time block was a perfect amount of time to get lost in the beauty of the stories, and was a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Another travel activity that has become quite a tradition in my trips is taking a cooking class. Lolly and I had found a lovely woman that offers several different cooking classes from her home. Originally, we wanted to take a sushi class, but they were fully booked, so instead we signed up for the teriyaki chicken course, which ended up being really fun and delicious. We learned to cook Japanese traditional soup, chicken, noodles and dessert. It was amazing, and I can't wait to cook it again!

 

A pleasant surprise activity added to our trip was a night at the Robot Restaurant. Lolly suggested we go after a recommendation from a friend. At first, I wasn't on board to pay a $70 entrance fee to a restaurant (where you then have to pay more money for food and drinks) but after a little research I realized the "entrance fee" was for the show. And it was totally worth it. The show was absolutely the WEIRDEST thing I've ever seen. From Japanese girls dressed in weird clothes drumming in wigs to a gorilla hanging from a machine butterfly blowing up a warlord riding a dragon, it was an hour and a half of insane, craziness. But a craziness that I would recommend to everyone visiting Tokyo.

 

Aside from my favorite memories from Tokyo, we had other great memories too. Visiting the SkyTree and enjoying the beautiful view of the city over a glass of champagne, watching the insane amount of people cross Shibuya Crossing from the window at Starbucks, eating delicious ramen and sushi, taking in the beauty of temples and enjoying great people-watching in the park.

I have to admit, Tokyo might be one of my favorite cities yet!