Note:
This is just a short report that I've decided to write after discovering the photos from the flight. You'll notice that it's more than half a year ago so the details may be a bit sparse, but I hope you enjoy the photos at least!
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I had been staying in Tokyo for about a week, eating the excellent sushi far too many times and just generally having a look around, enjoying the city. Luckily, Kana - a friend from university - lives there so I was able to save on the hotel expenses, which basically went straight to paying for sushi instead
The very best highlight from the trip was going to Tsukiji fish market to a restaurant called Sushi-Dai, a name which should ring a bell in many sushi aficiando's ears. Yes, one of the two very famous restaurants in the Tokyo's main fish market which always have queues of up to 3 hours (I waited 2.5 hours) while all of the others around them are mostly empty. I went along at 10am expecting a late breakfast, and eventually went in around 12:30pm nearly dying of hunger and ready to devour the whole restaurant.
It might not look like a huge queue, but there are only 10 places inside!
Signage for this very famous restaurant
Watching enviously at the people (for the time being!) eating their sushi inside
Mind you, it was thoroughly worth the wait. Each and every piece of sushi was simply perfect. The fish would have to be still alive in order to be more fresh. And although everyone else eating there was Japanese, I could speak one or two phrases which seemed to amuse the chef - I did know the names of my favourite fish in Japanese so I could ask for those very easily!
The original plan was to take photos of each piece, but I basically got so hungry that I forgot to take any photos until right at the end, when I had two more pieces that I ordered extra on top of their set menu.
O-toro and Uni (Fattiest belly of tuna, and Sea-urchin)
I really just died and went to heaven while eating there. And having finished the sushi, I realised I was now spoilt - how on earth will I eat sushi back in England?!
The second best highlight from the trip was fulfilling a long-time ambition to go on the Shinkansen. Not just any old Shinkansen, but the very striking Nozomi Series-500 that mesmerised me when I saw the poster for it for the first time in Osaka, circa 1997.
However, the plan was to stay in Tokyo, since my flight to Korea will be departing from Tokyo too. And it was just a bit too much to go on a day-trip to Osaka when the roundtrip train fare would have costed around the US$250 mark. So, I found a solution - I would just travel to Yokohama which is barely 15 minutes away... for now. I will fulfill the dream properly another time, when I could book an open-jaw between KIX and NRT.
Only it didn't quite turn out how I imagined it. I had forgotten that the train I really wanted to go on was the Nozomi 500 series, not the N700 series. N700 series is the latest one, but it looks a bit strange - like a duck's beak - and I didn't like it the same way as the 500 series. But I forgot the name, so I just booked the N700 without realising it wasn't what I wanted. I was therefore quite surprised when I went up to the platform and saw these:
When the train eventually departed though, I was seriously impressed. The ride comfort was simply amazing. It seriously made me think that Maglev was't such a big deal when you have this sort of quiet and still ride. Practically gliding.
This is just a short report that I've decided to write after discovering the photos from the flight. You'll notice that it's more than half a year ago so the details may be a bit sparse, but I hope you enjoy the photos at least!
================================================== =====================
I had been staying in Tokyo for about a week, eating the excellent sushi far too many times and just generally having a look around, enjoying the city. Luckily, Kana - a friend from university - lives there so I was able to save on the hotel expenses, which basically went straight to paying for sushi instead
The very best highlight from the trip was going to Tsukiji fish market to a restaurant called Sushi-Dai, a name which should ring a bell in many sushi aficiando's ears. Yes, one of the two very famous restaurants in the Tokyo's main fish market which always have queues of up to 3 hours (I waited 2.5 hours) while all of the others around them are mostly empty. I went along at 10am expecting a late breakfast, and eventually went in around 12:30pm nearly dying of hunger and ready to devour the whole restaurant.
It might not look like a huge queue, but there are only 10 places inside!
Signage for this very famous restaurant
Watching enviously at the people (for the time being!) eating their sushi inside
Mind you, it was thoroughly worth the wait. Each and every piece of sushi was simply perfect. The fish would have to be still alive in order to be more fresh. And although everyone else eating there was Japanese, I could speak one or two phrases which seemed to amuse the chef - I did know the names of my favourite fish in Japanese so I could ask for those very easily!
The original plan was to take photos of each piece, but I basically got so hungry that I forgot to take any photos until right at the end, when I had two more pieces that I ordered extra on top of their set menu.
O-toro and Uni (Fattiest belly of tuna, and Sea-urchin)
I really just died and went to heaven while eating there. And having finished the sushi, I realised I was now spoilt - how on earth will I eat sushi back in England?!
The second best highlight from the trip was fulfilling a long-time ambition to go on the Shinkansen. Not just any old Shinkansen, but the very striking Nozomi Series-500 that mesmerised me when I saw the poster for it for the first time in Osaka, circa 1997.
However, the plan was to stay in Tokyo, since my flight to Korea will be departing from Tokyo too. And it was just a bit too much to go on a day-trip to Osaka when the roundtrip train fare would have costed around the US$250 mark. So, I found a solution - I would just travel to Yokohama which is barely 15 minutes away... for now. I will fulfill the dream properly another time, when I could book an open-jaw between KIX and NRT.
Only it didn't quite turn out how I imagined it. I had forgotten that the train I really wanted to go on was the Nozomi 500 series, not the N700 series. N700 series is the latest one, but it looks a bit strange - like a duck's beak - and I didn't like it the same way as the 500 series. But I forgot the name, so I just booked the N700 without realising it wasn't what I wanted. I was therefore quite surprised when I went up to the platform and saw these:
When the train eventually departed though, I was seriously impressed. The ride comfort was simply amazing. It seriously made me think that Maglev was't such a big deal when you have this sort of quiet and still ride. Practically gliding.
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