I am a few days late with this edition due to being at sea. We are on our 3rd sea day and to say it might be rough depends on who you talk to. For me it is just another day at sea. No pool because the pool even has white caps in it.
So today we were once again woken up with the Japanese Drummers beating those drums. They were relentless. It was like they were saying “Rise and Shine , Mofos. Times’s a wasting.”
It should noted that in the past all ships docked in Yokohama which is a fair ways away from Tokyo itself. A new cruise terminal named Tokyo International Cruise Terminal was recently opened in downtown Tokyo not far from several train stations. The terminal is well designed and offers good free wi-fi along with a free bus that will drop you at any of 4 stops including 2 train stations. There is a station on the Blue Line that is about a 10 minute walk away.
Bus stop map
Please note that getting around Tokyo on the train can be a bit frustrating as there are a few different companies operation different lines so you have to pay to go the different lines. It is not seamless.
The plan today was to go to the World Famous Toyosu Japanese Fish Market. This is where the BIG tuna are sold for big bucks. The problem here is the Auction starts at roughly 4:00 AM and is done by 6:30 AM.
Fish Market
worlds biggest tuna ever caught
There is also a Vegetable Market as well here.
The Auction area is several buildings that are 5 stories high. When walking at street level there are a few restaurants and shops but one needs to go up to the 2nd floor to really see things.
It was Flower month while here
Walking around you can get fresh Sushi which was bought at the morning auction. In fact most of the ingredients were bought fresh that morning.
As the day goes on different dishes are marked as sold out once they run out of the fish etc. Don’t leave it too late to eat here.
Green Tea Ice cream was a big seller and we sampled 1 cone. The creamy texture of the ice cream is fantastic along with the taste.
If you buy food to go one can head up to the 5th floor roof. They have built gardens with grass, tress, benches etc. where you can sit and eat your meal. We took a stroll up there and no one there.
From here we decided to head back towards the ship and stop at the mall to find something to eat.
All the malls we have visited so far this trip have had great choices to eat at.This was no different. We selected a Noodle Place where we ordered Ramen noodles with chicken and a plate of Gyoza.
Sitting at the table was a bit interesting as Claudia mentioned that we the only western people in site. I said yea so, have you noticed that I am the only male in this place? We did mange to find 2 other males in here but hundreds of girls. They were all dressed up in designer clothes clutching designer bags.
What puzzled us were these house wives out visiting with friends until it was time to go home to see their husbands?
Walking around the mall was interesting as they have shops where you can go in a pet cats or dogs or ferrets. Want to play a claw machine this is your place.
Need a Japanese knife this is your place. They even have a “test” area to chop vegetables to see how your knife feels.
Back home there are Dollar Stores but here in Japan they have Daiso Stores. They make Dollar Stores back home look like an amateur designed them and selected the stuff to sell. Collapsible funnels and glasses. Japanese snack food with no idea what it is. If it has no price on it then it is 100 yen or 66 cents USD.
From here it was a stroll through the grocery store to see what we didn’t need or what we needed. Nothing was found so we departed to catch the bus back to the ship.
Arriving back at about 7:00 PM we had to clear Japan Customs and Immigration and get our Passports stamped saying we had left Japan.
On my next update I will write about daily life onboard, especially at sea for this many days.