2:30 a.m: I'm awake, cursing jet lag and it's too hot to go back to sleep--a good time for writing blogs! There's a little box on the wall which I'm 99% sure is the AC control, but there are no English instructions and there's the 1% chance it's the fire alarm or the self-destruct button. Better not mess with it. Lynda was braver than me, so now I know it's definitely the AC. No more hot nights!
On a side note: Here's a picture of the sink/shower gadget--very efficient, but can be messy if you have a short attention span. Note that the hose goes to the shower and the shower and the sink faucet have the same water source. You turn the knob, depending on what you want to use. Unless you forget that the shower connection is turned on, but you want the faucet and the shower head is pointed directly at you. It's messy--believe me, I tried it 3 times!
Another good way to spend the very early morning is to go to the Tsujiki Fish Market with all of its food booths and vendors. Sushi for breakfast? Heck, yeah! Lynda was not so convinced, but finding a cafe that opens before 7:30 and has something else besides hot dogs and nasty ham sandwiches is pretty much impossible. So we met at 6:30 and hit the subway. Navigating the Tokyo subway system is pretty easy, especially if you have a pocket wifi box (thank you, Agnes, for that idea), the subway app and then Google Maps for actually finding places. That pocket wifi is a life-saver!
People waiting in line for the coffee shop to open.
Lynda at the entranc to a subway station. Buddhist Hall.
The outside market at Tsujiki consists of very narrow streets croweded with restaurants and vendor's booths selling mostly any kinds of fish, but also knives, household wares and vegetables. A small carton of strawberries is around $7.50-most fruits are pretty expensive, we've noticed. Ah, but the fish! I had to stop and try some crab brains. Just seeing Lyinda gag was worth it! Tasted like--crab! The brains of a crab. Come to think of it--how big of a brain does a crab have? Was that really all brain? Should I quit worrying about it?
We started getting really hungry, so we seized the moment and decided it was never to early for sushi! It was about 8 a.m. at that time and we found a little shack, enclosed by plastic, which looked really good. It had only 4 small tables in it and we made ourselves comfortable. It must've been mentioned in some guide books, because one gaijin after the other came in. Some of them ordered beer, which looked really refreshing in the already upcoming heat. Since I don't like beer, I ordered some cold sake which was served in a glass, which was in a wooden box and the sake was poured into the glass, until it overflowed into the box. Thank goodness for Google--a quick search told me I could drink the sake from the box after the glass was empty. Lynda really wanted some beer, but didn't want to drink so early; I figured I don't care--1.) I'm on vacation. 2.) It's Thursday evening for my body.
This breakfast was all I thought it would be and afterwards we weren't up for crowds and decided to take a stroll toward Ginza, passing the Kabukiza Kabuki Theater on the way.
Kabuzika Theater
Public toilets--yes, they are that roomy. And clean. And luxurious.
Have you noticed anything while looking at the pictures? Not one piece of trash or graffiti! 38 million people live in this city and not a piece of trash to be found! We've noticed this in our previous travels--whenever we do find trash, we take pictures, because it's such a rare thing.
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