Yokohama....

We stayed on our final days at the Sheraton Hotel across from the Yokohama Station, where we practically go through every day.  Yokohama is perhaps the best place I like in Japan.  It is clean, modern, and accessible.  From where we stayed you can see the Yokohama Bay Bridge in the back.  Things that I will miss most in Japan.......definitely the food, patisserie's, and the boulangerie's.

とうきょうタワ-。。。。

 Since we are nearing the end of our stay in Japan I thought it would be nice to visit Tokyo tower once again.  Here are some images of Tokyo tower and Zojoji temple.

Rainbow Bridge

築地(Tsukiji Market)....

After 1 year I finally got around to going to Tsukiji. It was impressive to say the least. We got there around 9am. I didn't want to go to early and get caught among a mass of people. Yet, it was still busy at that time. I actually managed to do my shopping for dinner, and then some. We ended picking up tamagoyaki(my son's favorite), freshly shaved katsuoboshi, fresh wasabi, chutoro, and some fresh lobsters(the only place that you can actually find fresh lobsters in Japan).

Tsujiki temple

Tamago yaki
Freshly shaved katsuoboshi

Fresh Wasabi

You gotta watch out for these guys driving around in these carts especially if you bring kids here.

Preparing unagi

Shucking clams

あわび (Abalone)

Freshly cut maguro for sale

Assorted fresh crab

たこ (octopus)

I actually had the chance to watch them cut up a whole tuna which was somewhat なつかしい. My first duties, when I started as a kitchen apprentice, was working in the butchery at the Guam Hilton. There we would actually get whole fish like this and have to cut and prepare the fish for cooking. Yet, we didn't have that 1.5 meter katana-like knife that they had to disect that fish which I thought was pretty cool. I'm sure there must be a name for that knife.

The finished product. Beautiful cuts of hon maguro. The top two shelves are the belly cut of the hon maguro, the most expensive and best cuts of the fish.

Where's the beef........

There is a big difference in the quality of beef that you find in your local japanese grocery stores here vs the beef that you find in american grocery stores. Japanese have a knack in perfecting the art of growing not only exceptional fruits and vegetables but also, producing the best quality beef in the world. We got this rib eye cut at a local grocery store at $42 a pound. If you think that's expensive, expect to be putting out at least $150 for 100 g. of Matsuzaka beef. That's $684 a pound!

おおとろ。。。

Ootoro from the hon maguro/blue fin tuna (the king tuna of all tuna's) is the most expensive cut of the tuna when it comes to sashimi. High in fat content it literally melts in your mouth. 1 pound of this cut can easily run up to $90+.Ootoro at a sushiya-san. Prices can range between $5-$20 a piece depending where you are eating at in Japan. Top sushiya-san in Japan are Jiro and Kyubei sushi, but then again, there are so many good sushiya and sushi chain restaurants to choose from in Japan.

New Year in Japan......

New Year in Japan is a pretty quite one. No fireworks here. This is station in Shimbashi, Tokyo. This is the first time I have seen it with hardly anyone at the station.

In Japan, most of the people are either at home or at the temples and shrines throughout Japan. Here the massive line went way outside past the kaminarimon gate in Asakusa.

あけましておめでとうございます！Happy New Year!

First light of the New Year

Mt. Fujisan in the New Year

Nothing like starting off the New Year surfing. Brrrrrr......ものすごいさむいけど。Many people come out early just to watch the first sunrise of the Ney Year. Just make sure to bring your 5mm. wetsuit if you are thinking of going in the water.