Day 15 - Tokyo/Vancouver/Seattle

Today was our last day in Japan so we decided it was the day we'd get up early and go to the fish market. We tried to go to bed somewhat early the night before but that didn't really happen... oh well. The alarm went off at 6am and we got up, showered and out the door before 7am. We took the subway down to Tsukiji and then found our way to the street. (I should mention it was raining but a very Seattle type rain - drizzle).

I think with it being so early, having not eaten and the rain was kind of wearing on us as we got a bit lost which just put us in a bad mood... After wandering around a bit we finally figured it out and found the place. It's MASSIVE!! We had been told from our friend the night before to not go at 4am like we had planned b/c they don't allow people on the bidding floor anymore and that 7am would be a fine time. Thank god b/c the thought of being there at 4am was not pleasant to me...

I had pictured just one big building where all the fish was ligned up but in reallity it was several buildings with rows and rows of fish vendors. You have to be ultra careful where you walk and pay attention at all times b/c these people are working and there are constantly bikes, scooters, trucks, people all over the place trying to get by. To say it's fast paced doesn't really do it justice. I really felt in the way but we did our best to stay out of everyones way. Noone seemed to mind we were there looking, taking pictures. We even had a few men greet us with "good morning" in English which isn't what we are used to hearing - it took a second to register.

I enjoyed walking around and the strong smell of fish was actually nice - it's fresh fish, fresh delicious fish!! I saw so many fish that I have never seen before. The only thing that made me sad was the poor little turtle I saw trying to get out of a mesh bag. I told Jeff I should buy him and set him free. Poor little guy.

We bought a few items as souveniers after all of the looking and gawking and then decided to head back to our kneck of the woods as we had packing to do and still needed to eat breakfast. The original plan when we first came to Japan was to have sushi here for breakfast but after two nights of partying I just didn't think raw fish sounded good. Thankfully Jeff agreed. We also agreed that we had some of the best raw tuna the night before which came from here that morning so we didn't feel like we were short changing ourselves from the experience. I will also point out that there were in fact many people waiting in lines to eat fresh sushi at that hour at several little restaurants in the market. Hopefully that won't be a regret of mine after this rip is over but seriously, I couldn't have stomached it...

Once back in Ebisu we headed to get breakfast (iced chocolate milk with a shot of espresso and pastries) and then back to the hotel to nap a bit as nothing was really open yet. We had some yen to spend and decided to try and buy ourselves a few things as it seems we've bought tons of little gifts for folks but nothing really for us. No luck... We couldn't find anything we needed or really wanted. We headed over to the grocery store to get one more last look, and to buy lunch, of all that we would be missing. (The grocery stores here are beyond spectacular, we could spend hours just wandering around!! The presentation alone is worth the visit!)

I had bought a big hot pink hard case suitcase the day before so it was time to repack everything. I love that suitcase, it fit everything we bought and made my backpack lighter. Our shuttle bus came at 2:30 so we checked out and headed out... Goodbye Japan, we are really going to miss you!

Our flight wasn't until 7pm so once at the airport we ended up finding the duty free shops and spending the last bit of yen we had on ourselves. Easy enough!! The flight was only 10 hours and that included the hour layover in Vancouver, BC and then the 30 min flight to Seattle. Not bad at all!!

We really had a great time in Japan. I do think Jeff is way more sad about coming home than I am. I am looking forward to my bad, having mpore than 4 outfits and seeing the dogs. He just keeps thinking about all the things he loved about the Japanese and the country and keeps comparing them to home. I think he would move to Japan, I may need to work on that. ;) Obviously being together for 2 weeks straight has it's annoyances but for the most part we got along fine and really did get to do so many cool things. We met some great people who I hope we stay in touch with, we ate some of the most amazing food ever and we saw so many things in such a short time... We are already planning our return for 2011!

Sayonara Japan... or should I say Ja Ma Tay!!!