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The Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo Japan is the world’s largest wholesale fish market. The video takes you on a whirlwind tour of the Marine Products section, where the fish is sold. Also included is a final shot of the restaurant section at Tsukiji.
In the Daiba mall on Odaiba is a section known as “Little Hong Kong”. Two floors of the mall have been decked out to resemble 1960′s Hong Kong. Pretty neat.
The Odaiba neighborhood in Tokyo is a series of man-made islands in Tokyo Bay. As one of the more recently developed areas, Odaiba is home to some of the more modern buildings in Tokyo, including the famous FujiFilm building. Odaiba is also home to Tokyo’s only beach.
When I was in Tokyo last December I stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Tokyo Ginza.
I booked a standard queen size room, and checked in to room 1008 on the 10th floor. I asked at the front desk about the possibility of an upgraded room and was told that all of the rooms on the executive floor were already booked. As a platinum member I chose the welcome gift, of “Orange Juice, Fruit, and Japanese cake.”
The room itself was small by typical American standards, but huge by Tokyo standards 
. Some of the interesting touches included the two Japanese style robes on top of the bed, and a cool lighting control panel next to the bed that can be used to turn on and off all of the lights in the room. Many Japanese hotels still use metal “keys” for the room — the courtyard does one better, and has RFID key-cards that you simply touch to the door to unlock it.
The room also had a medium size work desk, flat panel television, sofa/chair thing, and a mini-bar refrigerator. I found the room to be nice and quiet — very important for me!
The bathroom, like most Japanese hotels, had a toilet with a Japanese bidet seat. The bathroom was well stocked with toiletries including toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brushes, and two *individually wrapped* cotton swabs.
The only real negative for the Courtyard is that the air conditioning and heat is either on or off for the whole hotel. When I was there in December, it was a pretty warm day, and the room was a bit too warm for my tastes — but no air conditioning was available because the hotel was seat for “heat” and not A/C. At least the window in room opened so I could get some fresh air that way.
Getting from the Courtyard to the airport is a snap, as there is a Limousine bus that picks up in front of the Courtyard every hour bound for Narita. 3000 Yen, and well worth it! Location wise the Courtyard is a pretty central area in Ginza — just a few blocks from the Higashi-Ginza metro stop, and right across the street from an AM/PM and a Denny’s.
Overall I highly recommend the Courtyard, it’s quiet, centrally located, and relatively inexpensive for an American chain hotel in Tokyo.
Shibuya is a popular meeting and hangout spot for the 20-something crowd in Tokyo. Being such a busy place, people need a meeting spot before heading out to the bars — and that meeting spot is at the Hachiko statue outside the train station. After the bars, folks also need a place to spend the night when all the trains stop running, and what better place than a love hotel with that “special” someone?
Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo Japan is the world’s busiest intersection. The intersection is directly in front of the Shibuya train station, and has a 4-way pedestrian crossing that is a sight that needs to be seen to truly be appreciated. Every couple of minutes when the walk light comes on, chaos ensues in the intersection.
Today is a rainy miserable day here in Washington DC — so a great day to edit video! Here is a video from my trip to Japan last December… looking at the neighborhood of Harajuku in Tokyo.
A continuation of our honeymoon coverage in Cabo San Lucas. We visit Playa Medano, take a glass bottom boat to “The Arch”, and dine at “The Hangman”.
For more pictures (and coverage in Chinese) of the Hangman, check out Tanya’s blog
In South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, every lifeguard tower is different and unique. Check it out! Where else can you see a pink lifeguard tower?
The Thriller is a 50mph+ tour through the Miami Harbor. The tour also includes some “slow” stops by “Star Island” where many celebrities live including Ricky Martin, and Elizabeth Taylor.