Walking, walking, and more walking

Tokyo Day #2; Akiahbara
Akihbara is the electronic district of Tokyo and we wanted to see what fun gadgets we could find. It was actually quite overwhelming and we didn't really find any interesting gadgets. Aside from cameras and computers all we saw was lots and lots of video games and manga (with the mandatory floors of manga porn of course). When you go into the stores (which are all 8 stories high) the clerks yell ALL the time at the top of their lungs. I assume they are yelling advertising or something similar. There is also music and ads blaring over top of the clerks voices. Ahhhh, after an hour you feel like you want to crawl in a nice dark quiet hole. We did find a few neat stores. One full of various little (and large) characters from all sorts of movies and video games (I got a little forest spirit from Princess Monanoke); another had lots of Japanese kitch.
We had planned to visit the Imperial Palace East Gardens, but realized they had already closed. We decided to go back to Asakusa (the area where our hostel is) and wander around from something to eat. We ended up wandering around Shenso-ji Temple (and surrounding district). This was such an amazing experience it deserves it's own post (sorry folks, I try to put it up tonight)

Tokyo Day #3; Tsukiji Fish Market and Ginza District
One of the things I really wanted to do while I was in Tokyo was to see the enormous fish market, Tsukiji. This is where all the restaurants get their fresh fish for the day. We had to get up really early to see all the action. Not early enough that we caught the actual auction though, which starts before 6am (though from fellow travelers at the hostel the auction wasn't that exciting). It was amazing!! So busy and crowded, and full of every kind of sea food you can imagine. The place was full of these tiny little vehicles that are driven standing up. The zoom in and out of the aisles to move small orders of fish to and fro around the market. The men who drive them all looked like they were having way to much fun zooming around. And they do not stop for anyone!! We wandered around in the chaos for awhile, taking pictures, before deciding to get out of the way and go find some yummy sushi breakfast. There are tons of little sushi places right next to the market, so we chose one that looked neat and had a fabulous fresh breakfast. I had some tuna that simply melted when I put it in my mouth (fabulous). When ever you go into a restaurant here all the staff yell out hello (or similar equivalent, as there seems to be many different ways to greet someone here). Makes you feel very welcome.
We then wandered around the markets to the side of the fish market, that are full of other kinds of food. We found a box of tiny tiny pineapples (smaller than my thumb)!!! We haven't tried them yet to see if they are any good. We also caught a picture of real stuffed polar bear (go figure).
We then decided to go to the Sony building that was in the nearby district of Ginza. We had heard this was where all the latest and greatest Sony products were on display for testing. It was actually a big disappointment. There were lots of cool cameras and good quality headphones, but nothing like we were expecting. We didn't stay long. We then wandered over towards the Imperial Palace ground, with a thought to again try for the East Gardens. We ended up in the fountain garden instead and just sat around for a few hours talking. My feet have been atrocious the last few days. I don't know whether it is left over from the plane flight and jet lag, or all the slow casual walking, but they are terribly swollen and after a few hours of walking are very painful. I am hoping they get better because they disincline me to walking...
We then went back to Senso-ji Temple area for some small token shopping (as we missed it that first day we were there). As we were leaving to go back to the hostel we wandered down a side alley. There was this restaurant with a big tank of fish in the window. They looked familiar, and when we went to investigate we realized they were fugu (if you don't know what fugu is, click the link). We had heard that fugu was very expensive, but we discovered that we could have fugu shashimi and sake for $15. Live dangerously right? It was quite good. It had an almost sweet and citrus flavor and a texture like squid. It was sliced very very thin and looked like glass.
We then headed back to the hostel, had dinner, and went to bed.

It's the weekend now, so we are off to Harajuku to see all the CosPlay folks on display!! Might hit another big temple too, shall see where the day takes us. Tomorrow we are off to Kayo San and the temple. From there...we still aren't sure!!