Tsukiji Fish Market is the creme de la creme of palengkes (markets). They are known for their early morning seafood auctions, and tourists line up for hours to eat in the famous sushi restaurant there. However, JM and I were not ready to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to eat sushi so we settled for having lunch there instead.
You can easily get lost inside the market as there are a lot of things to see. We settled for a small sushi shop along the alley to have our lunch. We had some salmon, tuna and a platter of mixed sashimi. Everything tasted really good; I may be biased, as I really like eating sashimi.
After lunch, we decided to try our luck again by visiting the Meiji Shrine so we hopped on the train to Harajuku. Upon reaching the station, we realized that it was already near the entrance of the Meiji Shrine compared to the route that we took on Day 2. It was a very cold day and it started to snow a little; coming from a tropical country, seeing ice fall from the sky is truly magical.
Meiji Shrine is dedicated to the late Emperor Meiji and his wife. It was quite a walk from the entrance to the actual shrine but there will be a lot of photo opportunities for you while walking, one of which is the famous barrels of sake. I tried to search a little and found out that the decoration of barrels (kazaridaru) signifies connection between gods and people in Japan.
There is no entrance fee to get to the shrine and it is open from sunrise to sunset with no closing days.
We spent a few hours looking around the complex and taking in the sights. We left just before dark and went back to Takeshita Street for some shopping.
Tsukiji Market is not on my itinerary, ayaw ko din gumising ng maaga and hindi ko mahilig sa raw foods. Pero si hubby like niya Japanese foods.
ReplyDeleteHaha ako fave ko sashimi pero ayaw ko gumising ng maaga and mahal taxi noh hahah! Kuripot lang hehe
DeleteI hope to visit Japan for Sakura next year. I'm definitely keeping the fish market on my list! Looks like a fun foodie experience.
ReplyDeleteGo for it! Super worth it ang vacation sa Japan :)
DeleteI didnt have a chance to visit Tsukiji last February. Did you have to line up at the restaurant? May mga nabasa kasi ako na may sushi restaus na open as early as 4am tapos grabe daw yung pila :)
ReplyDeleteHindi na kami pumila sa restaurant, namili kami nung wala masyadong pila. Haha! Okay naman, masarap padin :))
DeleteSi hubby ang excited dito, nasa listahan nya talaga ito. Hahaha! Sana walang changes sa plano namin mag Japan. Pero na-excite ako while checking you blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy! Iba talaga food sa Japan, after ng trip namin nahihirapan na kami ni hubby makahanap ng masarap na Japanese resto sa Pinas or abroad.
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