Selwyn Times: June 27, 2017

26 Tuesday June 27 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
SELWYN TIMES
Travel
Put your taste buds to the test in Tokyo
• By Mike Yardley
ON ARRIVAL in Tokyo, I was
looking for a sure-fire way to blitz
the jet-lag.
The sensory onslaught of
Tsukiji Market fitted the bill perfectly,
as I revelled in the colour,
the cacophony and organised
chaos of the world’s largest seafood
market.
Spanning the size of 430 rugby
fields, the market metrics are
gob-smacking. It’s the stomping
ground for 50,000 workers, where
over 1700 stalls sell 2000-tonnes
of seafood daily, in 480 varieties.
This grand encounter with
the kitchen of Japan groans
with polystyrene crates proudly
splayed with every marketable sea
creature – including whale meat.
Fancy watching the daily Tuna
Auction? You’ll need to get here
at the ungodly hour of 3am, to
score a visitor’s slot in the tuna
auction room. The dealing is all
done by 6.30am.
Humming with post-auction
activity, later in the morning, a
veritable army of workers hauled
freshly sold fish on fork-lifts,
hand-carts and “turret trucks”,
like speed-freak bees in a choreographed
hive. I gazed in awe of
hulking blue-fin tuna the size of
SELECTION: Seafood for sale at the Tsukiji Market.
refrigerators.
Half of Tokyo seemed to be
out sampling and shopping. It’s a
riveting introduction to the core
ingredients in Japanese cuisine
and the ebullient vendors happily
hand-out free tastings. I grazed
on seaweed, benito shavings,
dumplings in soybean flour,
smoked fish and kimchee squid.
Best of all, Tsukiji’s quintessential
sushi restaurants offer
the freshest raw fish fix possible.
My tour group headed for Sushi
Daiwa, situated next to Sushi Dai,
which are the two famous sushi
houses. Their pilgrimage-like
pulling power means you may
well find yourself queuing outside
for several hours. We lucked in,
with only a 15min wait.
Although they staff are too polite
to say so, you are expected to
eat and run at these sushi counters.
Alongside the delectable
slivers of tuna draped over a bed
of rice, we noshed on congee reel,
sea urchin and that celebrated
Japanese delight, tamagoyaki, egg
omelette roll.
If you’re sizing up one big
blow-out in Tokyo, the Park
Hyatt is the pinnacle of high-end
hospitality.
BUSY: Eat fresh raw fish at Sushi Daiwa.
The city’s most decorated hotel
is the Park Hyatt which graces the
upper-levels of a Kenzo Tangedesigned
high-rise, lording over
west Shinjuku.
Considered the father of
modern Japanese architecture,
he was the master planner for
the rebuilding of Hiroshima after
World War 2. With the hotel
floors beginning on the 41st level
with the glass-walled reception,
you can be assured your
accommodation will be dressed
with a sweeping panorama of the
neon-drenched, sky-scrapered
expanse of Tokyo.
HIGH-END: Experience panoramic
views from a room at
the Park Hyatt.
Service is ultra-attentive without
being starchy. Whether you’re
staying in-house or not, the dining
destinations are unmissable.
SOUTHERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Academic or practical? We have a course for you!
Southern Institute of Technology (SIT)
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The Christchurch campus has programmes
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The New Zealand Certificate in Project
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students can begin studying at the end of June
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If you’re looking to get a trade under your
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Beginning in August, this course can allow
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you will attend classes three days per
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into an apprenticeship.
Come and enrol to study at SIT’s
Christchurch campus and kick
start your career today!
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www.sit.ac.nz