Where's Scott?

Yes, the sake is phenomenal, as is the bill! We’re closing The Bar at 4:30am and my credit card’s been declined! They run it several times, but it’s clear something’s very wrong. A quick call to the intl customer care, and we discover someone has tried to use the wrong PIN on the credit card; it appears yours truly, in another failed attempt to extract cash, stuffed the Visa card (not the ATM card) into a machine just downstairs, and managed trigger a suspension. Ooops. The shame …

We eventually settle the bill, and grab a cab for the Tsukiji fish market. It’s still pitch black out when we hit the market, and immediately run into a fast talking young women who’s also in search of the tuna auction. She’s from Africa, but claims to have lived some time in London, which interests Seb who quizzes her and quickly comes to the conclusion that she’s putting on an act and hasn’t lived in London at all. Nevertheless, she’s much better prepared for the fish market, and quickly leads us to the auction, something I’m sure neither Seb nor I would be capable of in our drunken and exhausted state.

We watch a while from our “visitors pen” while the professionals drag around huge, solid frozen 7′ tunas around the floor, and decide we have no idea what’s going on. We decide to wander the floor a bit and find a wondrous variety of crab, squid, octopus, shellfish, and dozens of unidentifiable species (of presumably edible) crawling and swimming species; some live, some frozen. The warehouses are huge, and there’s the constant threat of being run over by the many fast moving mini-forklifts moving the huge quantity of ocean bounty from seller to buyer.

A “must” at the market is to visit one of the sushi houses on sight, for the ultimate in fresh fish. We locate one that’s on the “epic” list, and join the hour long line outside. At this point, Seb and I are both absolutely famished and absolutely destroyed. We barely stay conscious in line, and can only vaguely recall the rapid seating, eating and leaving that followed (they run a tight ship at the market sushi stops!). I have an inkling that is was some exceptional raw fish, but we’ll have to go back someday and confirm it 😉

We sleep until well after noon, and finally have to roll out of bed to make our lunch date. We meet mom, dad and friends Gayle and Jim at the hotel, and head out to find the sushi house they’ve picked. Even with written directions, the restaurant defies our best efforts at discovery, and we eventually start begging help off locals. The spot couldn’t be more difficult to find, buried down a narrow, scantily marked stairwell, and with a shingle nothing like our written directions. We have a fairly average sushi lunch in a private room (but hey, we’re spoiled rotten), but the company is great, and we have a great time trading stories.

After lunch, we make a point to show everyone the awesome crosswalk by the Sony store (you know, the one with the diagonal walkways where everyone clashes in the middle – it was in Lost in Translation!). My parents travel schedule pulls them away, so we promise to meet for a night cap later. Seb and I grab a quick coffee to warm up, and decide to play it easy and shop a bit; we return to the Sony store and waste some time gawking at overpriced gadgets we can find at home (disappointing!).

After Sony kicks us to the curb, we realize we’re still wiped from the previous night, and start looking for places to put up our feet. We recall a “relaxation lounge and i-cafe” we spotted last night (we’re learning to look up, it’s on the 3rd floor), and hunt it down again. Bah, club membership required! We’re desperate, and sign up (like $5), and find it’s fantastic: dark, quiet, with private cubes complete with ‘puter, headphones and comfy chairs to nap in for a bit. Money very well spent! (Place even has a shower, massage chairs private movie rooms, espresso machine, and comic library! Where are these in the states?)

Refreshed, we head to the Imperial to meet the parents for dinner. I have a great recommendation from my friend Gaku, but the concierge can’t get them to answer the phone; we cab it down there anyway, but the place is dark. We settle for a very ordinary sushi house without a whip of character, but decent fish.

After sup, we “drag” mom and dad back up to “The Bar” to experience the sake and the view (hell, even the chocolate is amazing!). We don’t want to leave (ever), but the parents have an early date, and so we wish them happy trails, and decide to turn in early.