I went to Japan on a business trip back in April, and I’m finally posting photos from it!
You can also read “Business trip to Japan! part 1” before reading this post if you like.
4/24/2012
The second morning, we got up super early again and decided to go to Sushi Dai. I wrote about our visit to this place when Derek and I went to Japan back in 2010. This time we got there by cab. If you get there before the trains start running, there’s almost no line at the restaurant.
Back again... Call this place a "hype" or "touristy" all you want (I was skeptical before I visited this place too) but their personable service and their amazing sushi keep making me want to come back here.
Gotta get me one of those tea cups from a sushi place. They're so thick that it keeps the tea hot for a very long time.
Let's start with Oo Toro (Fatty Tuna), shall we?
Miso soup
Hirame (Flounder)
Kin-me-dai (Golden red eye snapper)
Their uni (Sea Urchin Roe) is amazing.
Akami (Tuna)
Hokke-gai
Dashi maki (Japanese style egg omelet)
Aji (horse mackerel)
Shiro ebi (white shrimp) was in season!
Rolls!
Shima aji (yellow jack)
Anago (Eel)
Last piece... Botan Ebi! (I ordered this for the last piece the last time I was here too.)
I was having trouble translating Japanese fish names to English to my boss, so they showed me this! haha
There was a different younger sushi chef this time. He was super nice!
The same sushi chefs, same smiles. I'll be back again soon!
I left full and satisfied. If you get there past 6:30, you could easily have to wait a couple of hours. (I heard some people would wait up to 4 hours.) Here’s a photo of the line.
You can see the crowd of people in front of Sushi Dai. The line continues around the corner where the guy with a blue jacket and a baseball cap is standing.
The rest of the line continues...
Famous electric cars in Tsukiji fish market
As we were walking back to the main road to get a cab, we noticed there were couple of guys looked like they were rappelling down a building. When they started swinging side to side I realized that they were window cleaners! I lived in countryside, so there weren’t many tall buildings in my town. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen people clean windows like this in Japan. I thought it was cool.
Can you spot them?
A man on a rope wearing a uniform using a squeegee.
And here’s a video of them in action.
We went back to the Hotel Ryumeikan to check out, and checked into the another hotel, Mercure Tokyo Ginza. (We wanted to check out different hotel options in Tokyo for future business trips.)
I booked two single rooms but they had two double rooms for us at the same cost. Happy mistakes!
The toilet was not as high-tech as the one at the Hotel Ryumeikan but it still came with a lot of buttons.
No transforming dryer here.
But they had a bathtub!
I quickly cosplayed put my suit on, and I was off to another meeting! The great thing about having a breakfast in Tsukiji fish market is that the day feels twice as long because your day starts around 5:00AM.
A sign at the train station "Something behind you may need your attention."
"!?" indeed.
Freak's Store
We went out to dinner at Yabu Soba with our friends for dinner! Yabu Soba is a nice little place. Their dishes might not look flashy but each soup dish had a very nice dashi (fish stock) Its subtle flavor reminded me of a nice home cooked meal.
I don't know what this was. But it was really salty and I just couldn't stop eating! It goes super well with alcohol.
Real fresh kamaboko (fish cake)
Mystery goo, which tasted awesome.
Soup with duck (I think) leeks and other stuff!
Who knew a bowl of dashi with tenkasu (crunchy bits of deep fried flour-batter) can taste so good? It also takes a skill to make the crunchy bits so fluffy.
Outside of the restaurant. It looks so pretty.
After the dinner, we went to the building in Asakusa with the golden poop on top. I didn’t know they had a beer bar there but since that building is the “Asahi beer brewery,” I guess it makes sense.
The golden poop looking thing is supposed to be "beer foam."
After a couple of beers, we went back to the hotel, and we decided to have more drinks (shochu) by the hotel. I had a lot of fun! Sleep? Who needs sleep when you’re visiting Japan?
Continue to Business trip to Japan! part 3.
You can see the photos you see on this post (and more!) in the Business trip to Japan 2012 set.
I was born in Japan, lived in New York for a while and now living in San Diego, California. I love creating things with my hands in my free time whether it’s making character bento or stuffing stuff! And now I'm working for 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Someday I will book a trip to Japan based on your wonderful posts
Mystery salty dish, was it roe of some kind?
I believe so. We didn’t stay there for long so we couldn’t finish it… I wish I could’ve taken it back to the hotel!
日本人から見ても面白いですね！
Part3も楽しみにしています
ESさん
お返事遅れてすみません！楽しみにしていただいてありがとうございます！食べ物とホテルの写真ばっかりですみません。^^:
We actually used to live around the corner from each other in Prospect Heights. And I saw you at Pax East briefly. Though now you no longer live in NYC and neither do I. I live in Fukaya. So if you’re ever in Japan again and want to reminisce about the wonder that is Prospect Heights, drop me a line. I really miss NYC, and especially Prospect Heights, which I definitely consider to be the best neighborhood to live in in NYC.
looking forward to part3!!