Day 2: All over Tokyo

Jet lag has been a real bitch on this trip and we've not managed to sleep more than a few hours at a time yet. Meanwhile, our guidebook said that to really see the Tsukiji Fish Market in action you had to get there by 6:30AM when it is truly busy. Therefore, we used the power of jet lag for good instead of evil and popped out of bed at 5:30.

The fish market is HUGE, with thousands of fishermen, mongers, wholesalers, and packages plying their trade. Best of all, they seem to be used to random tourists getting in their way and blinding them with camera flashes.

For the record, "Sushi for Breakfast" is not as strange as it might sound, especially when:

1. You've spent the last hour looking at and smelling fresh and/or live samples of just about everything the sea has to offer.
2. The fish is so fresh that most of it was still swimming when you got out of bed.
3. You've been up for three hours already.

For the late morning we hit the Imperial Palace which was, in a word, boring. The Japanese haven't managed to find the middle ground between LOUD, NOISY, BRIGHT, SCREAMING, CROWDED STREETS OF LOOKATME, LOOKATME, LOOKATME... and completely plain, unadorned gardens.

Now having a siesta before heading out to a baseball game tonight...