Rome-ing Minutes: Arriving on Planet Asia: Tokyo Day 3 and 4

After the Robot Restaurant show we walked back to the Park Hyatt to pick up our luggage (and our framed photo). We took a cab to the Andaz, where we would spend our next 3 nights. The Andaz is beautiful! As far as service goes, it's a giant free-fall down from the Park Hyatt but we liked the decor much better and our room was larger and even more comfortable. On each side of the bed was a control panel for us each to control the shades, black out curtains, reading lamps, as well as various other light switches. The bathroom suite was incredible with a waterfall shower, a massive soaking tub and a changing area. The close provided plush hotel robes and traditional kimonos as well as slipper choices (open or closed toe). The view was different from the Park Hyatt view as we were in a different part of the city but from our room on the 50th floor, it was at least as impressive.

Shinkansen Arriving

We took our time in the morning to swim laps and enjoy the beautiful pools. Eventually, we took the train to Tokyo Station where we would catch a train to Nikko, a town a few hours from Tokyo. Before leaving the station, we had lunch at a vegan Ramen restaurant called T's TanTan on Kieyo Street. (Yes, the street is inside the station!) It was so delicious we ended up going back for a final lunch in Tokyo a few days later. In Nikko, we took a bus to see the Tosho-gu shrine. It was a bit schleppy since we didn't have that much time left to spend in Nikko but the workmanship was exquisite and the shrine is set in a hilly, woodsy area which was so pretty. Plus, we got to finally take the much awaited shinkansen (bullet train) that travel at speeds up to 200 mph.

Shinkansen Speeds captured on Waze

On our way back from Nikko, we "accidentally" sat in the green first class car. I reclined my chair, set up my foot rest and relaxed. Josh was pretty anxious the whole time that we would get caught so he didn't enjoy himself as much.

We went to bed "early" in preparation for our early morning at the fish market. We woke up at 3 am and booked it to Tsukiji Fish Market to have breakfast at the famous Sushi Dai restaurant. We were in line by 3:28 AM behind an American couple, who we chatted with for the next 2.5 hours until we were seated in the around 6 AM.

For a number of reasons including the value I place in cultural immersion and experience, I decided to try the real sushi. When we were seated, we handed our Kosher fish list (written in English and Japanese) to the sushi chef. On Josh's urging, I also typed a message to him on Google Translate: "I am vegetarian. This is my first time eating fish."

He looked at my phone and as the meaning of the message set in, his eyes got wide and he stared at me speechless for a moment before stuttering an exclamation of surprise. The chefs placed the first piece of sushi in front of each patron. I forced myself to take a bite and eventually swallow. The sushi chef noticed my extreme discomfort as I chewed and chewed endlessly and said "We can stop...." And then demanded, "STOP!" And I did. He made me a vegetarian roll, which was very different from any vegetarian sushi I've had in the States. For one, it was made with rice and not quinoa (tea room reference). It also contained tamago,which is a sweetened omelet. Josh loved the sushi and said it was the freshest, cleanest fish he had ever tasted.

After sushi breakfast, we wandered around the fish market before continuing on to our next line-waiting activity. We arrived at Kabukiza theater to watch a Kabuki style play. We waited for 2 hours until the ticket counter opened but they made it pleasant by providing fans and benches in the shade. We bought tickets to the first act of the play and rented English subtitle devices. We LOVED the play. When act I ended, I was sorry that we weren't staying for the rest of the play. The acting was so dramatic and the costumes were incredible.

While we were waiting to purchase tickets, Adam had sent me a link about pancakes in Tokyo. I did a little research and discovered that pancakes (or "hot cakes" as they sometimes call them) became a Tokyo sensation in 2013 and the city is still kind of obsessed with them. Obviously, for lunch, we went to Bridge, which is supposedly one of the best places to get pancakes in Tokyo. It was good but not the best thing I've ever tasted.

At that point, we had been touring for almost 12 hours and we were pretty tired. Unfortunately, at lunch they made us get drinks with our food (classic Japan) so we drank coffee, which was the 4th cup of caffeine for each of us. By the time we got back to the hotel, we weren't able to nap so we went to the pool, lounged, and did laps. Then, we each went to our assigned gendered changing rooms to relax in the massage chair. I promptly fell asleep in mine and woke up startled that the timed massage had long ended. I was still pretty out of it when I met Josh and stumbled back to our room. Good night.