Watch our adventures on YouTube, or keep reading if you prefer a blog format.
It’s our first full day in Tokyo! We woke up to a foggy morning, excited to explore.
Trying Natto
Kuniko-san made a nice breakfast for us. But before we could eat, we had to make Chris try natto.
Natto is fermented soy beans usually eaten with rice. It’s stringy and goopy and has an interesting smell. Really popular for breakfast, but definitely an acquired taste.
Chris stirred in some green onions, and glooped some natto in his rice bowl. Without hesitation he took a huge bite, chewed, and made a ‘not bad’ face! We all thought he would tap out, but Chris dove in for a second bite! This was to be his downfall, as the natto flavor started to kick in.
May, Jess, and James all tried it again just to reaffirm that natto is not for us.
Sushi at Tsukiji Market
First up for the day: Tsukiji market. Tsukiji is famous for their early morning tuna auctions, but we weren’t looking to buy 120kg of tuna. Tsukiji market is scheduled to be moved soon, but the outer market still has plenty of shops open for an early meal.
We explored the narrow alleys for a bit, then decided to get some tamagoyaki (rolled egg omlette). Piping hot, fluffy, sweet, and delicious
“May! May! May!”
“huh?”
Was someone was yelling May’s name or was a shopkeeper advertising some new food we hadn’t heard of?
Turns out is was Lydia, a friend from college! She was visiting Japan too!
We ran into Lydia, a friend from college!
We found a small shop in an alley and stopped for kaiseki don, raw fish over rice.
After that delicious meal we still wanted to try more fish, so we grabbed some chutoro (medium fatty tuna) to try! May says it was “omgz”
Art Exhibits in Odaiba
Next up, some crazy art! After a trip over the Rainbow Bridge we made it to Odaiba. Jess had seen pictures of an art exhibit called “TeamLab Borderless” so we had reserved tickets. It’s in a large building, with dozens of rooms full of cool interactive light art. Hajime says it’s very good for instagram and he’s right!
We’ll write a separate post with more detail about Borderless soon.
10 years ago I came to Odaiba to see the life-sized Gundam statue, so today I had to go back. It’s a different, newer Gundam but still pretty cool!
James in front of a life-sized Gundam today
Retro Gaming in Akihabara
With a few hours before dinner, we swung by Akihabara. Akihabara is well known for electronics, anime stores, and maid cafes. We explored a 5 floor store full of all sorts of anime and gaming goods, and Jess found a pokemon coin purse.
Across the street was Super Potato! It’s a famous retro gaming store.
2 floors crammed full with stacks of old gaming systems, rows of gameboy and supernintendo games, small toys and memorabilia. If you’re looking for anything gaming related from more than 10 years ago, it’s at Super Potato.
Izakaya and Karaoke in Shibuya
Night approached and we headed to Shibuya to meet up with Hajime for dinner.
He guided us through the chaos of Shibuya crossing and down a side road. “It’s here,” Hajime said, pointing to an unmarked concrete staircase. We went down a flight, and another, and down some more… how many floors down is this place?
At the bottom of the endless stairs was an izakaya!
Hajime ordered a huge variety of dishes: sashimi, oden, kaarage, French influenced beef stew with poached egg, and more. Everything was delicious.
We had plenty of sake in bamboo cups and umeshu on the rocks.
May’s been practicing Japanese songs for months, so we had to go to Karaoke.
After ordering an all you can drink set it was time to bust out ‘Linda Linda’ – the classic Japanese Karaoke song.
Voices hoarse, we stumbled home and promptly fell asleep.
Thanks for showing us around Hajime!
Tomorrow: Totoro!
Watch our adventures on YouTube!
