Taste of Japan: Day 05

We ventured off to Hakone today in hopes of getting a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. We purchased a "Free Pass" which got us a round trip to Hakone and also included the different ways to get around Hakone. 

We went on various forms of transportation while in Hakone, including foot, cable car, rail car, ropeway, boat, and bus. It was pretty cool because we travelled all around the area using all these different types of transportation.

Today was a day trip to Hakone, and although we spent the day, I'll let the pictures do the talking. You'll notice I don't have any pictures of Mt. Fuji, and that's because it was too cloudy and foggy for us to see it. It was such a disappointment because that was the main purpose of the day. Despite not seeing it, the surrounding scenery was just as spectacular.

Taste of Japan: Day 04

Today was the only day that it rained; the rest of our stay there was fantastic -- sunny with cloudy periods, around 20 degrees. It rained all day today, but luckily it was only light rain, but we still needed an umbrella which was easily purchased from an electronics store we passed by!

One of the most memorable things of the trip was not the food itself, but the experience when eating it. For breakfast this morning, I had soba noodles at a stand up noodle shop. It was around 830am and many people stopped in to have breakfast. I ordered and paid what I wanted from a machine outside of the shop, brought my ticket in, waited a minute, got my food, found a space to stand, ate, and left in about 15 minutes!

Our first stop of the day was the Tsukiji Fish Market. We originally wanted to try and attend the tuna auction in the morning, which they only allow 120 tourists to see, but a new system in place allowed people to book online so we figured it would be sold out. Also, we'd have to be at the fish market by 500am, and that wasn't happening. I guess our luck wasn't on our side during this Tokyo trip because by the time we got to the market at 1100am, and the vendors started closing up for the day. Although we left at 930am, it took us time to get there because we stopped off at some places in between. Although it was closing, we were still able to see how the environment was and experience the market.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant beside the fish market. There were at least 10 different little restaurants that sold mainly sushi and sashimi, and we assumed it was as fresh as it can be since the market was steps away. Since each restaurant only fit 8-10 people, the group split up again and chose our own restaurant. The experience was great as it was a little booth and you get to watch the chefs prepare your meal right in front of you.

The rest of the day involved shopping in the Shibuya district. The rain hampered the day as it was easier to stay indoors, but we did some shopping and also played some games. We made our way to the Shinjuku district and had dinner at an izakaya.