patty and tiffany do japan: part one

the train from the airport…

so aunt sissy patty has come and gone. our time together seemed so short, as time always does when you are staying busy and enjoying yourself. i’ve experienced and seen and felt so many things here that i really want my family and friends to understand. i was so anxious for her to arrive so that i could see her reaction to the oddities that have become part of my life, so she could more easily understand what my existence is like these days. her company was really comfortable in a lot of good ways. like us collapsing in the hotel room, popping open a nice bottle of petite sirah she’d brought from home, and launching into conversation. afterwards we jumped into the ocean of neon that is the shinjuku area of tokyo.

we detoured through yakitori alley…a narrow walkway packed with closet size restaurants, most with barely room for a row of stools, many require you to sit in the alleyway. they all serve pretty much the same fare, meat and vegetables seared on blazing grills atop the counters.

although it’s delish, i couldn’t resist the urge to take patty to the fry-daddy restaurant that has a special place in my heart.

we were talking, not tending the deep fry, and i slightly overcooked my piman. oops. luckily it’s all you can eat…back to the buffet.

afterwards we wandered into a pub where i had the first pint of bass ale that i’ve tasted in 15 months. fabulous. that’s where we met these nice fellas. the asian john lennon had pretty darn good english.

they dragged us to the nearest karaoke box. ok, that’s slightly mischaracterizing what happened…i love karaoke and recognized it as a perfect opportunity for patty’s first time since we’d been chugging the liquid courage. can you believe it?!! her first time?!?! she loved it!! this is one of the less embarrassing pics...

the next morning we were a little foggy. sissy admitted she’s outta practice drinking and partying, something that happened after my departure. she also said her mouth isn’t as dirty, she eats healthier, doesn’t stay up as late… what exactly is she trying to say about my lifestyle?! we headed towards the buddhist/tourist mecca that is asakusa temple.

patty tried her luck with the mikuji, where you shake a wooden straw from a tin, match up the kanji letter written on it with a drawer and in the drawer you’ll find morsels of psychic wisdom. here’s patty’s prediction. let’s hope it’s all a load of…

we braved the rain to wander some in the northeastern part of the city. through a ching-ching-blang-flash-flash-woo-woo-clang-kadoing-kadoing lively gamecenter. there were cute couples on dates, housewives with their sleeping children strapped to their backs, grandmas, and men who appeared to have been there for days.

we were corralled into a cute little open-air, old-timey restaurant by english cries of “welcome!” in retrospect, we both regret not getting any photos of the place, the delicious food [their specialty was a tender pork roast stew] or the handsome traditional tattoo artist whose english was good enough to have beckoned us. he treated us to some food and chatted with us a bit. we called it an early night [as much as it killed me to be in the hotel room by 10 while in tokyo] because we were rising early to hit the fish market.

tsukiji is a port in the southeastern part of town famous for it’s weekday tuna auctions. i couldn’t believe how fresh and huge some of these fish were.

guess i’m just used to the bream that granny catches in the river. sorry granny, no comparison.

the workers wielded knives with unbelievable deftness as they quickly carved the quality meat from around the gills and bones. each person appearing to have a specific role to play in the preparation process, each wielding their own specialized tools; from samurai-like swords, to huge hooks, to glistening filet knives.

the place was hopping; a loud marketplace with prices and orders being barked across the expansive warehouse. fish forklifts [?] zipped around creating a din of electric whirrs, making wandering feel sorta like a game of frogger. i felt as if i was constantly in the way, although most workers and patrons seemed gracious. as patty and i eyed one stand, where they were making an assortment of salads from the fresh catch and other ingredients, the proprietor urged us to help ourselves to some of the samples. we lifted bites of some of the unidentifiable but attractive food onto our palms with chopsticks before tentatively eating them. the worker was pleased at the looks on our faces and he came over to explain what everything was. a really friendly gesture considering we were obviously tourists not equipped to buy anything that needed refrigeration…we were only nosing around. he suggested a few more things, including a jellyfish and pig ear salad. i swallowed hard and lopped some into my hand. he stared as i tasted the colorful mess…a sweet porkrind flavor with a strong hint of sesame. the texture was a bit odd, both the ear cartilage and the jellyfish were firm and semi-crunchy. patty liked it too. to our surprise, we saw only about 6 other tourists, most of who were asian. we also wandered through the vegetable department and watched them auction off what must have been delicious mushrooms considering the price and the care with which they were handled. around the tsukiji neighborhood are tons of other markets.

patty and i travel well together for many reasons, one of which is that we are both fascinated by gastronomy; food and drink, its origins, methods of preparation, presentation, taste, potential. we weaved through the alleyways in search of breakfast.

we’d arrived at the market about 6:45 and by 8:30 we were ready for sushi. i was stunned to find that we had to wait for seats at a sushi bar this early in the morning, but considering this area's reputation for the delicacy, we didn’t mind. we took a seat at the counter, promptly ordered an assortment of fresh-as-can-be fish and some nihon-shu [a.k.a. sake…yes, for breakfast…what?!].

i’ve never put a more delicious chunk of fish in my mouth. the tuna simply melted on my tongue. the unagi was flamed right in front of us and had a delectable smoky flavor. the salmon and scallops were also excellent. we left full and happy.
we picked up our luggage from the hotel and headed for the shinkansen. it took us about three hours to make it back to my little slice of japan. we were heading out that night for a yakiniku [grill your own meats and veggies at the table] dinner with some of my friends. carrie met us at the train station and we headed to mine. daniel joined us for a beer and chatting before we headed out to eat. afterwards, it was on to sleeping sheep to help the master celebrate his birthday.

patty retired a bit early and carrie and i partied it up proper style all night long. although they are really for cleaning your hands and face, we even learned how to make penises from the oshibori cloths presented upon arrival in all bars and restaurants in japan. great party trick, huh?

post script: these adventures will be sans liz, as she was all mumpy and under quarantine at the time. i really thought mumps had been eradicated along with the black plague and small pox. guess not.