Monday, December 1, 2008

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

After our shopping and sushi high at the Tsukiji fish market we decided to wander around and see what the local merchants were selling.  The area surrounding the fish market is a mecca for fresh Japanese ingredients. 

Packaged pickled items

Katsuo-boushi

Fresh Wasabi

Fresh Fish

Fresh Seafood

Bags of Togarashi

The sweetest and best Tamago we have ever tasted

Just when we thought we had seen most of the market we turned a corner and BAM - a whole open-air food court - whoa....

Little booths selling quick lunches crammed packed in little alleyways.  Hello!  Too bad we were full and didn’t want to spoil our sushi high, so we quickly exited the fish market area and headed down into the fancy schmancy shopping area of Ginza.

Ginza was too Fifth Avenue for us with all the major brands represented with their own huge stores, along with huge department stores with the same big labels.  However we wanted to visit the 5-story Mac store.

After a beer pit-stop we headed up to the Imperial Palace.   The Palace is surrounded by a moat and an extensive park, however only a small section of the park is open to the public and the Palace itself is off limits.  

The East Garden is where Tokyoites come for a jog and we were amazed again by the honesty of the Japanese people.  

Piled high along the park walls were the runners' clothing, unattended and waiting for them to return after their jogs.

The Imperial Palace, from what we could see looked traditional in Japanese Design and the elevated grounds looked manicured and beautiful. 

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