Chasing Sakura Day 5 - Tsukiji Market

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa.

Ok Day 5! Tiba² aku rajin update malam ni. 

Intro. Aku & Ms G bangun super awal. Dari second day di Tokyo lagi aku sudah plan mau pi tempat ni. Nasiblah Ms P bijak bestari google pasal that market di awal Subuh 6 April tu.

"Bie, kau nak buat apa gi pasar tu. Harini tutup ah. Ni tulis kat google kata pasar tu tutup every Sat."

Aigoo! Selama aku research pasal that market, ndak pernah pula aku encounter info macam tu. Jadinya, mari sambung tidur. Sebab the night before aku tidur super lewat; around 2-ish. Habis mendobi & lipat baju semua baru aku belayar. 

We still have few days in Tokyo pasal tu aku berani mati tidur balik. Recharged energy sebab pagi tu kami akan tawaf half of Tokyo.

Makanya, on our last day in Tokyo...plan untuk menjejak that market mesti jadi! I told the ladies the night before; I will go albeit I have to go alone. And Ms G told me she wanted to follow because it's her wish to visit the market as well. Wake me up; she reminded me. Malam tu kami pack barang siap² sebab akan check out after balik dari market.

Route kami hari tu;

Asakusa (Tsukuba) ----> Shin-Okachimachi via Tsukuba Express Local ---> Tsukijishijo via Tokyo Subway Oedo Line ---> walk to Tsukiji Market

Orang lain sibuk lah semua pigi kerja; yang kami sibuk mau tengok orang berjualan di pasar. Aku suka tengok Japanese ni; regardless their position in the office semua pun pakai suit. Tiap kali naik train kami sibuk meneka apa kerja orang ni, orang tu. Hampas kan perangai.

Memang ndak plan untuk tengok tuna auction bagai. Sebab belum mampu untuk bangun seawal 4am. Tahan teksi lagi. Tu pun belum jamin akan dapat tempat dalam auction hall tu kan. The auction is limited to 120 visitors daily. Based on my reading, ada yang datang as early as 3am pun still ndak dapat secure tempat. Jadi aku pun pasang niat; janji dapat menjejak sudah cukup. 

It's not like everyday I got to visit this one of world's largest fish market. Grateful I am for the opportunity given. Although hanya boleh cuci mata outside the main auction area; memadailah kan. 

8 April 2014

Tsukiji Market

Ya kami sedar diri. Sampai pun dekat 630am. Of course auction sudah selamat tinggal. 

For more info about Tsukiji Market...read here. 

There are Do's & Don'ts when visiting this market. Specially the inner market where the wholesale business & the famous tuna auction take place. 

Matahari memancar², tanda yang kami memang triple hours lambat for the auction. Ceh! Padahal memang ndak plan kan untuk join. 

Lucky for us though, the market was still busy when we arrived. Nampaklah pelbagai jenis kenderaan berlimpasan; lifting boxes of different sizes. Kena berhati² masa berjalan as to avoid blocking the traffic. Kena sentiasa alert with the surrounding. Jangan bajet tourist sangat sampai kacau kerja diorang; gitu reminder aku untuk diri sendiri. 

Kenapa perlu se-organized ni. Kemas ok. Kemas. And we smell no bau hanyir while walking along the market. Pelik! Pasar ikan, kan? Mana bau yang selalu aku tercium kalau pigi pasar di KK ni. Please ditch statement lupa diri tu Bie. 

Bersih! Super bersih to be exact. I understand that an Inspector from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government supervise activities in the market to ensure the sellers & buyers abide with the Food Hygiene Law. No wonder!

Spotted! Big tuna! Tercapai lah kan impian untuk tengok tuna besar. Berlimpasan jak pun ndak apa. 

And I thought we were late enough to not have to encounter such long queue? Mau masuk makan sushi jak pun!! 

We wander around only at the outer market. Which is a mixture of wholesale & retail shops. And that include restaurants; especially sushi restaurants. 

Mau beli tapi berfikir panjang, mana aku mau tunaikan hasrat berkungfu di dapur as we will be checking out from the hostel that morning. Hostel seterusnya macam ndak provide kitchen. Jadinya, niat pun terkubur.

Most of the sushi restaurants near the main road had pretty long queues in front of the shops. Siap waitress keluar ambil order dari orang yang berbaris tu. So we decided to look farther inside. 

And found this one restaurant. Still kena queue but not as long as the ones we saw earlier. Restoran ni pun penuh masa ni, so we have to wait a bit. Ndak boleh main terjah masuk ok. Sila bersabar tunggu di luar until anda dipersilakan masuk. We waited for a good 10 minutes or so. Macam tau jak kan perut aku sudah bergurindam.

"Bie, kau gi makan sushi takajak. Kata gi tengok pasar ikan je." 
Ms P psycho-ed comment at the picture of my breakfast menu in instagram. Lor, ingatkan memang ndak mau ikut. Nasib lah kan, kami sudah di sana. Sedang menikmati juadah lagi.

Hasrat hati mau duduk depan Ahjussi Tuna tu. Boleh tengok dia buat sushi live. Padahal di KK ndak heran pun sepa buat sushi kau makan tu kan Bie. Lagi jauh duduk dari open-kitchen tu ada. Ala aku mau tengok fresh tuna dia potong guna pisau panjang super tajam! Tu jak tujuan utama mau duduk depan.

Up-close sikit. Caution gila aku zoomed masa ni. Takut kedapatan, naya jak kan nanti kena halau dari kedai. 

My breakfast! Sampai sekarang masih terasa di lidah; gitu kan drama. Ms G ndak makan raw meat, so aku lah yang baham bahagian dia. Literally, aku makan 2 servings pagi tu because she only ate the 6 pieces at the bottom. This plate of sushi cost us 800 Yen. Kami pilih yang paling murah sebab yang lain semua mahal gila. Sob. And miso soup they served was super sedap! Seriously sedap! 

They said; once u get to taste the raw sushi in Japan...u will never stop comparing them with the ones serve here. True enough! Sushi di Jepang fresh & sedap! Totally lain with the sushi yang aku selalu telan di KK ni. Tabahlah hati, bukan senang mau pegi Jepang ni. Mau ndak mau, settle jugalah sama Sushi King. 

After makan...kami tinjau sikit lagi area outer market. Memang banyak retail shops. Even jual telur dadar pun boleh jadi bisnes di sana. Different types of omelette diorang jual; creative gila ndak tau mana jak idea diorang dapat untuk deco telur dadar tu. My greatest regret was I didn't bother to take any pictures of the omelette to show here. Terlampau fokus wow-wee menengok I forgot to take out my camera. Perangai.

"Bie, kata nak gerak kul 9am wei. Ni dah kul 9am korang takbalik lagi."

Tettttttt too carried away with the omelette we forgot its time to go back to the hostel. Nasiblah kan yang lain menunggu penuh tensi di hostel. Sayonara Tsukiji Market, till next time. Manatau tergerak hati untuk join tuna auction pula kan. God knows when. 

On the way back to the hostel, jumpa lori sampah. Terus macam, eh kenapa ndak da bau? Kami selamba jalan tepi lori. Ketawa & bercerita. Ndak da kejadian tutup hidung or u-turn 360' bila nampak lori ni. Malas sudah mau compare nanti terus kena buang negara. Erm, apa barang pekerja tu pakai mask? Oh ok, hygiene katanya. 

Sampai hostel, budak lain belum habis breakfast. Hampas tau kasi paniks aku jak. Siap naik bilik & packing last minute lagi. Settled semua, kami pun check-out. Since beban beg makin berdouble triple berat, I decided to take the train from the Tsukuba Express Station. Dekat sikit jalan kaki. Although the station is 3 levels down, it provides lift. The Asakusa Tokyo Metro station doesn't have this facility.

It's time for another shinkansen ride that morning. We're heading to the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon. Which the bombing marked the end of World War II. 

Yang tu kita continue next entry. Aku ngantuk, mau rest. Esok kerja. Boleh bikin muntah statement.

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