Japan, day three. Tsukiji, Disneysea.

The day started dark and early for the husband and I. Our alarms went off at 3.30am. We'd booked a cab for 4am.

Tsukiji Market

We were worried about the ticking of the taxi meter and thought we'd be broke by the time we got there. About S$100 later, we arrived. The skies were dark and it was cold, and we had no idea what to do or where to go. Upon alighting the taxi, some guards waved us towards the road and the husband and I dutifully crossed it. After which, we just walked in the area. It was a huge warehouse kinda setting and we had no idea where to go. We just walked.... and witnessed workers unloading fish, cartons, driving around on these singular car-bike thingies. 

We saw many doors that had "No Authorised Personnel" type of signs which we walked past, then we saw one that said "visitors' viewing area". We walked in through that door. It was a huge warehouse room where people were walking around, and a lot of unloading of fish was going on. The husband and I stood there for like, I dunno, 3minutes and an old man walked up to us. He started speaking in Japanese or Japanese-sounding-English to the husband, and from their back views, I just saw him do an action of putting on a jacket; while he firmly but surely put his hand on the husband's elbow to lead us out of the warehouse. All of this happened so quickly that I had no chance to take any pictures... so all I had is this.

The husband walking alongside the old man. 

He was walking us back to the entrance where we came from and it all felt a bit strange. Turns out, the husband and I had unwittingly walked about on our own which was not allowed. There are scheduled tours of the fish market! Oops. So anyway, we were led to this holding room with many other people. Everyday, there are only two scheduled tours of the Tsukiji fish market. Each group holds 60 people. The groups were divided into two and identified by coloured vests that the officials distributed. Once the quota is met, sayonara! 

I felt like we were in quarantine with a whole bunch of weird other people

Instructions to everyone (available in various languages) of what to do and what not to do. Most of the market was marked "non-accessible"

The odd thing of the whole experience thus far (it was only 4.45am then) was how surreal and strange everything felt. The bad thing was because of our accidental self-tour, we missed being in the first group. This meant an additional 30minutes of bumming around. The good thing was that we didn't miss being in the tour officially and well, our plan of visiting Tsujiki is still on track. 

5am 

Only 120people a day

After an hour+ of waiting around, we finally were led out of the room. And the guide led us... back to the same exact place that the husband and I had ventured to earlier! 

The husband and I with many fishermen and fish

Serious inspection going on. They hacked at the meat with this thingy, picked out bits of meat and rolled it between their fingers like they were tasting the texture. 

When it was time, a man will stand on a box to elevate himself then ring this bell to gather the bidders and everyone stood around conducting serious business.

The whole business was very swift and efficient. Everyone was very civil and quiet and well, orderly. It didn't feel that long, but half hour later, we were led out of the viewing gallery. The whole experience was very novel to me and the husband expressed his delight at having experienced it. I also think it was quite interesting but what kinda creeped me out was how it felt like we were watching human exhibits live. As much as the fishermen were well, observing the dead fishes more than us, it all felt rather queer.

We were led back to another guardhouse where we returned the vests and were free to venture - only at  areas that were allowed. So the husband and I walked through the rows of shophouses where some wares were sold, along with fresh fruit, sushi and other kinda of food stalls.

Simple breakfast

We then tapau a box of fresh sushi back to the hotel to consume with the mother. The husband and I took the subway back to the Chiba area - it cost us a lot less and we were back within the hour. By the time we reached the hotel, it felt like we'd done a lot but it was only 9am. 

And the kids were (obviously) already up 

After taking turns to wash up, we ate the sushi (I forgot to take a pic!) which was really fresh! The mother helped bring the kids to roam the hotel for a bit while the husband and I managed to take a short snooze. It was about noon when we finally left the hotel to continue the day. That day, we hit Disneysea.

The Mickey shuttle bus that took us from the hotel to the train station. 

Again, we took the train to Disneysea and it was a lot less crowded than Disneyland. The weather was also awesome that day. It was all sunshine and it even felt warm. Upon entry, we saw several mascots roaming around.

Pluto and Daisy at DisneySea

Nainai and Jake, Halloween 2013 @ Disneysea

We had lunch and then put Jake to nap (who was tired and cranky). Kate was snoozy too but it was parade time so she was distracted and temporarily energised to catch the show.

It was a hot and sunny day

ootd pic

After the parade, Kate crashed while Jake awoke. We explored the park and caught some rides.

No idea what this ride was called but it was (another) round-and-round kinda safe ride for the kids. 

An interesting find was the Mermaid Lagoon. We did some rides - that's the "jellyfish" on the top left, the dizzy seashells on the top right, and the bottom pic was Jake getting himself wet in the water area. 

We also caught the Mermaid show "Under the sea" where Aerial sang in part English-part Japanese; we saw the evil Octopus and other sea creatures "swim". It was quite a pleasant show. The kids managed to sit and watch it the whole duration of about 15 minutes.

It was already dark by the time we left Mermaid Lagoon, so we moved to the next theme area which was Aladdin. We had dinner (bad Indian food) that was compensated by the beautiful lit-up carousel. After a hasty dinner (for me, cos I remember the food was really not great), we brought the kids to ride the carousel.

Beautiful dinner view

On the carousel ride - look at how big my kids look sitting all alone on the horses!

After the ride, we hit the store to browse and shop.

Kate trying on a very bling tiara. 

Then walked around to pass time until the main show at 8pm. We walked and walked and chanced upon the pyramids!

Ok, maybe not pyramids. But it was some ruin theme for sure.

Some poorly taken shots of the show - it was really beautiful and I enjoyed it too.  

We also managed to catch the 830pm fireworks which was truly spectacular. At that moment, I remember feeling very happy as I watched the fireworks burst in the sky, and watching the fascinated faces of my children - life was great! As we were leaving, the husband decided that to give Kate a treat to buy something of her choice, so we brought her in... when she spent agessss not able to decide what she wanted to get! Such a typical girl. 

Hmmm... what to get?!?!?!?

After much stress thinking, she picked out some princess clips. We took the train back to the hotel and got ready for another night of wash-up, go-to-sleep regime. 

And just for fun, here's my ootd at Disneysea. My minnie-alike-polka-dotted sweater to match the occasion!

This was our last night in Disney and I was looking forward to moving out to Tokyo City.