Tokyo-a-go-go!

You've landed in Japan, perhaps after a long journey, such as the 13 hour flight from Toronto to Tokyo and you find yourself annoyingly, irritatingly, wide awake at 4:00 a.m. due to jet lag. What's that sound? It's opportunity knocking. The early rising you've experienced is the perfect time to take advantage of witnessing one of Tokyo's famous and interesting sights the Tsukiji fish market.

After navigating our first subway ride through Tokyo, we arrived at the Tsukiji station stop to find our way to the market. This is the site where all the fresh catch is available for purchase. Although it's listed in most guidebooks and websites catering to foreign tourists, it is far from a tourist attraction: it is a real life, working hub of activity. At first I thought we would be killed by the numerous buzzing scooters and mini-flatbed transport vehicles, not to mention all the men pushing carts and all the bicycles..wow! My sense is that the workers at the market are well-accustomed to seeing tourists wander the stalls but they go about their business and do not cater to us foreigners wandering aimlessly - in other words, watch out or you could end up bonked on the head by a fish being carried past you!

Once we got our bearings it was well worth the trip. It was fun and interesting to see all the fresh fish for sale in the market. Giant tuna, eels, squids, gorgeous purple octopii and more. It was a photography enthusiast's dream.

The fish is so fresh that it doesn't even really smell - which is a feature you will welcome since you likely will not have had breakfast at the time of your visit. You absolutely must visit early (pre-7:00 a.m.) - if you arrive by 5:30 a.m. you can see the giant tuna being auctioned. I'm sorry to say we missed the auction and probably arrived around 6:00 a.m. but there were still many great sights to see.

Oh, and furthermore, watch out for the giant buckets of fish water that are getting sloshed about!

Ah, the Park Hyatt "New York Bar", renowned for its fabulous city views, its chi-chi clientele and, of course, made infamous in the film "Lost in Translation" since Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansen's characters spend a good chunck of their time hanging out there. Basically I had to see what the fuss was and we toyed with the idea of having a splash out dinner there but instead compromised and decided to have "a drink". Ten thousand yen later we finally departed. That's right! Approximately $100 Canadian dollars for 2 glasses of wine and 1 non-alcoholic cocktail called a "Rainbow Room". On the whole, I was glad I went because my curiosity would have eaten me alive and the views of Tokyo at night were admittedly fantastic but on the whole I was mostly disappointed by the affair. It was very busy and although that was a bit annoying, my chief complaint was the SMOKE. Cigars were scattered throughout the room and cigarettes were being smoked by just about everyone. I felt so naive but it hadn't even crossed my mind that it would be this way - bars in Canada are now entirely smoke-free! All in all, I was a bit crushed by the discomfort of the toxic atmosphere..when you aren't used to it, it's a bit overwhelming! But, it had to be done...and so it was. I'm glad I went but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others due to the cost and the carbon monoxide levels in the room!

I trekked off to the Imperial Palace in the morning and was not overly surprised to find that it was a pretty big let-down. You can't even get to within 400 metres of the building, (possibly even more than 400 metres) as it is surrounded by a huge moat. You can appreciate the security given that the royal family actually lives within and the moat itself is something to appreciate but there is only one real location with a good view and it is from a bridge that feels miles away. If you have a zoom lens on your camera you can get a nice picture but you never really get a chance to connect with the Imperial Palace and it ends up being a bit of a tick mark in your check list of things to do in Tokyo.

There are loads of joggers running around the perimeter of the castle and it appears to be quite the popular location for this activity. Personally I don't see the attraction - while the castle itself is pretty enough, on the other side you are flanked by a freeway which is not particularly breathtaking! I walked most of the loop on which people were running and decided that "Uchibori dori" as it's called could be nicknamed "Ultra-boring dori". I guess you kind of have to stop by...after all, it *is* the Imperial Palace but I don't recommend allocating a big part of your day to this visit nor do I recommend eschewing other activities in favour of a stop here.

Our first foray into Japanese train travel was Tokyo-Takayama and although I was initially very stressed over the prospect of carting luggage through Shinjuku station, I have to say it went pretty well. Most of the information I read in advance of travel to Japan was that luggage on the trains is a real hindrance. Perhaps I was prepared for the worst but I was pleasantly surprised throughout all our travels that our luggage was really not an issue at all. Our first train, the Chuo express to Tokyo station, was packed but we managed and all the other train travellers seemed to take the presence of our big bags in stride. Maybe the Japanese are too polite to display their annoyances like we in North America might! A good point: but either way it made me feel a lot better. The only real annoyance if travelling with luggage is that there are numerous, numerous staircases in the train stations - prepare for a lot of lugging!

The Shinkansen (or bullet trains) are great as they reach speeds of up to 300 km/h and yet you don't feel as though you are travelling that fast - it's a very smooth ride.As anyone will tell you, the trains in Japan are seriously on time - be thirty seconds late and you will wave goodbye to the back of your train! Without reserved seats you will have to stand in line and grab a spot in the unreserved car which can be a bit worrying if you are on tight schedules but my worries were always needless and we always managed to find a seat.

As for food - travel like the Japanese do and purchase one of the delicious boxed lunches (ekiban) that they sell at the stations. They are delicious, inexpensive and very satisfying. Many trains also offer a cart service where you can purchase beverages (including beer).