Fish, 'Bucks, Rain, Shucks! Garden, Shrine, Karaoke Time!

That little spur-of-the-moment poem pretty much sums up my weekend.

Saturday morning, Sian, Ian and I got up early (we're talking 5am early!) to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. This is where all of the local restaurants buy their fish for the day, and where little restaurants and vendors line the streets selling a smorgasboard of nibbles - from fresh squid hanging from clothespins, to strange fruits and veggies. We wandered for a bit, and then sat for some of the freshest sushi in the world. Oh, it was good. Oh, it was expensive.

After this, the weight of the 5am morning and the cold, pelting rain really hit us. Conveniently located near the market, the Starbucks seemed to appear out of nowhere. We headed in for some coffee, and some RER. We ended up staying for about 3 hours. It was a nice morning, chatting and relaxing with friends after a long work week.

Next, we toured the nearby Hama Gardens. What a beautiful spot. There was a quaint tea house in the center, offering a traditional tea ceremony for a steep price... maybe later. We sat atop Mt. Fujimi and chatted a bit more, enjoying the sun peeking from the clouds, and then were off again.

Asakusa is probably my second favorite area of Tokyo. It's more traditional style, with a gorgeous temple in the center of it all. Little shops and traditional lamps crowd the edges of the street, and the vibe is much more relaxed than the rest of the Tokyo Overdrive. I got some souveniers, and we found a cute cafe to hang out in.

We met another friend, and, before heading to meet other friends, we went to Karaoke for an hour. I knew I would like Japanese Karaoke... but I didn't know I would be CRAZY for it. In comfy private rooms, you can choose from a huge selection of english songs - and perform them on a state of the arc sound system. This was much better than the Chinese version! After one hour, It simply wasn't enough - so we headed to Shibuya and paid for an all night room. For 6 hours, four of us (well, three really - one fell asleep pretty early on) jammed and sang our hearts out to a number of famous tracks. At 5am, I was NOT ready to leave. 7 hours of Karaoke didn't satisfy my appetite for song.

Sian and I are going back during the week, if just for a couple hours. Sometimes you just need to sing.

So, We got out of there around 5:30am, and headed home. The sun was up as we finally stumbled into the apartment over 25 hours after we left it, and fell into bed immediately. We realized we stank - of fish, sweat, coffee, and exhaustion - not a good combination. Such a funny night, and one I will remember forever.

I lost my phone that day, too - and went back last night to get it. Ugh - 1.5 hours on the train there, 2 hours back. It's NOT fun when you have to do it all at once!