Gives new meaning to the term "fresh frozen", originally uploaded by docfranxusc.

What a weekend! Our friends, Julianne (JLo) and her fiance Marc (getting married in December) came to visit Tokyo on their way to a traditional Japanese wedding in southern Japan. What a 36hrs we had!
First, dinner on Thursday...maybe the best $35 i've ever spent. So much food. So much Sake...the boys can tell you about it. JLo and I weren't partaking as much . Fantastic!

Then, after a bit too much Sake, we had to get up at 0500 for a trip to the Tsukiji Fish Market -- famous for the rows and rows and rows of fresh fish...HUGE fish. It was hard to believe. SHould have worn shoes OTHER than sandals, because I was very concerned about all the fluids on the floor splashing onto my cute toes...dear. What you have to understand is that this is not a tourist attraction for anyone other than the foreigners -- it is a busy busy marketplace. We were dodging big fish and motorized carts everywhere.

The best part was when we were trying to leave the maze and this nice Japanese man came up to us with his cart, looked at our map and said (or gestured) "get in"...SWEET! The 4 of us got a ride through the market back to the front gate! It was a scene out of a movie, i swear.

Then we went to breakfast (mind you, still full from the night before) -- and had incredible fresh sushi on the same premises. (Yes, sushi for breakfast)...some of us almost couldn't choke it down. (Sake has lingering effects). It was fantastic sushi.

Our next stop was the Hararyuku Gardens -- one of the oldest in Japan...so beautiful. Such a sanctuary in the middle of this bustling town.

Then we took a boat ride up the Sumida river on one of the most beautiful days I can remember. So crystal clear, a little warm, a little breezy. Just great.

We landed at Asakusa, the oldest neighborhood in Tokyo. The main area is lined with cheesy tourist shops (all sorts of good stuff there) and the Shenjisu shrine (oldest in Tokyo) sits at the end of all the festivities...

At the shrine, it is tradition to stand by the incense and "pour" it over yourself -- for good luck and spiritual cleansing. Also, you need to wash your hands and palette with clean water (community water?). Then you throw just a few coins next to the shrine and offer up your prayer (hey, the gods aren't stupid - answering prayers is full time work!)

You can get your fortune at these shrines. Once you find the symbol that matches the stick that was randomly selected for you (in silver containers), you read it...if it is good, you keep it. If it is not-so-good, you can tie it to the wires that sit nearby and let the gods help you out. Good system.

We wandered around and, after random Japanese schoolgirls stopped us and WANTED TO TAKE THEIR PICTURE WITH US (first time that this happened to me in Japan), we made our way back to the TOkyo-Edo museum (GREAT interactive representation of tokyo's transformation through the eras) and then all the way back to our hotel. Day over? oh no...

Dinner was an adventure...trekking through the ultra-hip Roppongi district on a search for Kobe beef (can we say pricey?) and ultimately, dinner at a Tahitian restaurant to celebrate good food, good friends and Julianne's 30th birthday!

yay!

Amen to good friends and good times.