Today was a busy but fun-filled day! We started the morning going to the Tsukiji Fish Market. There were SO many different fresh sea creatures for sale (some still alive). All the workers were busy milling around, and it was fun to look around at all the different things.
After the fish market, there is a fresh fruits and vegetables market, where I just wanted to buy some of their amazing fruits on display. I saw some huge, perfect apples and the reddest, most fresh strawberries I have ever seen in one container! Then there were more shops and places selling sweets. They were all very entertaining to look around at.
After all this, we went to the Roppongi Hills Building. There was a neat spider sculpture outside of the building.
When we went into the building, we went up to the observation deck. Here is a picture of the view we saw.
We also saw an art gallery inside the building. They had some very interesting art (no photos were allowed).
Then we had lunch together. It was similar to tempura. Lots of fried vegetables and meat. It was DELICIOUS! They had some different bbq sauce to dip them into, as well as ketchup and spicy mustard.
After lunch, we headed to our Sumida River Cruise. There was this beautiful older boat (pictured below) at the dock (I am posing with Charlie, our guide). All of the boats on the river need to be low and flat, since they have so many bridges that they all pass under, and you never know how high the water is going to get.
We thought this boat looked particularly neat (though most of them did notike look like this), and thought I would show you!
After the relaxing cruise, we went back near our ryokan and looked at some of the shinres and temples there. They were very beautiful.
After that, we had free time. Marshall and I got some souvenirs (I got an awesome business card holder for my Samurai Tours cards..how authentic!). We decided to eat dinner at Mos Burger (a Japanese burger chain). In their display pictures, we couldn’t figure out what was on the burger (red and brown stuff). We discovered it was a special chili and sauce. It tasted pretty good! I am still dying to try some fancy ice-cream that some of the restaurants have displayed in their window..it is my goal to get one before we leave Tokyo!
Rachel,
It’s nice to see that you are really enjoying the tour. My wife, sister, and I are taking the same tour in May and I was wondering how much of the language do you need to know to be able to really enjoy not only the escorted part of the tour but also the days where you get to wonder around. Also how is the internet connectivity and how do you make sure that you don’t get lost and are able to find your way back to the hotel(s)? How many people are in your tour group?
Really looking forward to seeing the rest of the updates about your tour.
Regards,
iLya
Hi iLya,
Our tour is currently a full 16 people tour. I don`t speak any Japanese except hello, good morning, and thank you, and we seem to manage okay when we are on our own. Many people are very helpful, speak a little english, or use guestures. We seem to have internet connectivity at different ryokans, or a shared computer in the lobby (though I have only been at two ryokans so far, and I have my own wireless device. Your itinerary will have more details on each ryokan). In our groups, we are escorted around with the tour guide that gives us a good idea on how the subways work, so when it was time for us to be on our own, we figured it out just fine with a map. Thanks 🙂
Rachel