Monday, October 26, 2009

Japan Trip: Blog 7

Monday morning was rainy. Really rainy. The outside temp was around 61 degrees and was predicted to rise to 71 degrees. I figured with it being that warm and humid I wouldn't need a jacket. Mistake.

We walked out of the hotel just before 6AM. The guide book stated to get to the fish market early in the morning. After two subway rides we exited the subway to a very rainy street. We had no idea which way to walk. We went right.

After about a minute I saw those beautiful golden arches. Breakfast.

McDonalds Tokyo doesn't have nearly the number of items as in the United States. One really nice thing is the food that we order looks EXACTLY like the photos. Crazy idea eh?

While walking thru the entrance we smelled fish..really strongly...we figured we were CLOSE to the fish market.

After pointing at a picture menu we had our breakfast. Every place we have been has had a smoking section...some have a non-smoking section. Even the non-smoking section smells like smoke. Coffee is everywhere here...problem is the biggest I have found is equal to a small in the United States....but it's a medium here.

After breakfast we headed back into the rain. We found what we thought was the fish market. Lots of vendors selling seafood and such. We walked all around the area seeing foods and sights that were very interesting. After about 20 minutes we found a map that showed us where the REAL fish market was.

After walking thru the rain we found it. That place was CRAZY busy. Lots of motorized carts hustling about. Scary.

The market was huge....size of several football fields side by side.

We walked around and saw so many different types of seafood we have never seen before. I took a lot of photos.

After about 30 minutes we left. Content that there is a lot of seafood I will likely never see again...glad I saw it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOUOtMUtUUs

After the fish market we headed to the auto show. The guide book mentioned to avoid the subway during rush hour. We kinda did.

The first train was decently full...we had to stand. I told Kelli if we got separated that we should meet at the last station we were at. The next train was much more full....we had to stand.

When we got off the second train the walkway was very packed. Wall to wall Japanese...and us. I grabbed another $2 small coffee.

After walking 10 minutes in the rain we reached the autoshow. The show didn't open till 10AM. It was 8:30AM. I figured we should be able to wait in the waiting area. Wrong.

We waited out in the rain...under an awning though. Wasn't horrible. Wasn't great. It was cold.

Finally at 10 AM the doors opened. Wow. Hands down the best auto show I have ever visited. I've been to Dallas, Houston, New York, Chicago and Detroit. Tokyo is the best.

This is mostly due to seeing cars I can't seen in the United States. Some many cool cars are here that I think would sell in the United States. Also of note were the Japanese versions of our cars.

My Mazda 5 is known as the Premacy here. There are many high tech options here that aren't sold in the United States. Same with Kelli's Prius. Sad.

They had free test drives...but only for Japanese licensed drivers. Boo.

More smoking sections.

After a few hours we were done. Pretty tired. The 1 1/2 hours of standing in the cold rain did a number on us.

The subways were standing room only again. The Japanese appear to be a tired culture. On EVERY train so far most of the people sitting were sleeping. Odd.

Today (Tuesday) we are headed to a few museums. Tomorrow is Tokyo Disney. Thursday is home.

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