I don’t remember the last time I had to wake up this early. Thanks to our jetlag, it wasn’t as tough as we thought. The reason for waking up this early was to go to Tsukiji, the fish market. The front desk had arranged for a taxi to pick us up, since the subways were not moving yet. The fish market has a daily limit of 100 guests each day to enter the premise. We were lucky that we left so early, because there was already a long line when we arrived.

There was already a long line when we arrived, but we were able to score 2 tickets to enter the fish market. There were all kinds of fish, shrimps, clams, and other sea creatures that I had never seen before. Although there were a lot of people, biddings going on simultaneously, there was a sense of calm, almost even spiritual about the whole ordeal.

After experiencing Tsukuji, now it was time to try sushi. Although sushi for breakfast seemed odd at first, you would be surprised at the number of people up and about at this time of the hour. We were also surprised about the number of sushi restaurants there were in the vicinity. Some were kaitenzushi, and others were smaller over the counter restaurants. We thought that the kaitenzushi would be easier and also a fun experience. We were not let down! It was amazing and cheaper than we thought.

Although it was still early, the trains were running now. We took a 4 minute ride on the Hibiya Line from Tsukiji Station to Ginza Station. It seems that we right in the middle of rush hour. Men and women in suits were being shoved into the trains. We decided to play it safe and entered the women’s only cart. These are temporary cart for only women, children, and handicap during times of rush hour.

Once we got to Ginza, we found out that the stores were only open from 10:00. We took a short break in a Starbucks and after much needed caffeine intake, we decided to take a 25 minute walk to the Imperial Palace. After arriving, there were joggers running around the exterior of the Imperial Palace park. We saw the Koi swimming in the mot and the impressive gates.

We walked back to Ginza and headed to the stores; Japanese brands such as Uniqulo, Muji, Tokyu Hands, international brands such as Gucci, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton,and larger department stores such as Takashimaya, and Isetan. There was no way that we could go through all the stores in one day.

After 3 hours of shopping, we headed to Tokyo Station to eat at a famous udon restaurant called Tsurutontann. Again, there was a line. Even at this hour, people were lining up for lunch. I am guessing this is a regular thing since everyone was waiting patiently, chatting to coworkers, and decided on what to eat. We ordered the original udon and it was amazing. Such simplicity but with so much flavour.

With all our shopping bags, and full stomach, we decided to head back to Hundred Stay. Again, on the JR Yamanote Line, from Tokyo Station to Shin-okubo Station. Although Shin-okubo is further away from Hundred Stay then Okubo, we would not have to change trains. It was actually only a 7 min walk from the station.

By this time, we were exhausted. We ended up taking a short nap before heading back out. We went to Shinjuku to find a good yakiniku restaurant, that served Japanese beef. We were surprised by the types of meat. There was beef tongue, various intestines, and others we have no idea what they were. We were willing to try the beef tongue, and was surprisingly good. Highly recommended for the adventurous.

After the best yakiniku experience ever, we headed into Kabukicho to go see the Robot Restaurant show. Don’t let the name fool you. It is more of a show then a restaurant. We had already eaten, so just packed the small bento into our bags. The show was nothing like we have ever seen before, in a good way. I am glad the staff at Hundred Stay recommended it to us. We were also able to get a discounted ticket at the front desk.

After the show, we headed to Shinjuku Nichome, famous as a gay district. There were a number of bars scattered in the area, and we were not sure which one to go to first. We just went to the most lively and don’t regret the choice. We had a great time. Everyone was super friendly and many of them surprisingly spoke English. There were a few foreigners there too. We had a blast!

After a few too many drinks, we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. We found out that there is an additional nightly fee, but only cost us …which was worth it. We just showed the driver the address of Hundred Stay and he just nodded and was off. Took us less than 10 minutes. I need to stress that it was well worth it!