Tsujiki Fish Market

Today started nice and early. At 5 am we got up and got ready so we could head to the famous Tsujiki Fish Market. Let me just say, this was amazing! I've been to lots of markets, but this was like no other. The hustle and bustle of this place at 6am was something to witness. And we got a glimpse into the famed tuna auction. It's what I imagine the floor of the stock exchange to be like. Someone stands on a box over the tuna being auctioned and then in a flurry of Japanese and waving papers, the tuna is sold.

Also, they are not joking when they say how busy it is... I realize this is a working market, but the amount of motorized and manual carts zipping around the place is incredible. You completely feel in the way, but it's definitely not something to miss. After we had to go have sushi for breakfast and at some whole in the wall we were able to get our fill. Yum!

Huge will post pictures later, but I'm incredible glad we got to experience the market, and we're thinking maybe we'll head back another time on the second leg of our trip!

First Night

So we arrived to Tokyo last night... after an 11 hour direct flight from Chicago, we were tired and ready to get to it. Because of our changed flight (which worked out really well for us in the end -originally supposed to be on a connecting flight via Seattle, we snagged a direct flight for a few hours later when the threat of mechanical problems threatened our ability to catch our connection), we got into Narita airport a little bit earlier than planned. So we waited for Jon to get through immigration and then we had to wait an hour for our bus (we opted for the "limo bus" instead of taking the train due to travel exhaustion and rush hour craziness, that we just weren't ready for yet!).

After arriving in our hotel and checking in without a hitch, we decided to go grab some food and beers. This ended up being harder than we expected... The first place we went to was a small hole in the wall. With Huge's Japanese, we were able to order a couple of beers and two of the house specialties. It was a risky move, but worked out in the end as we got a few chicken dishes, a couple of skewers and some interesting (intestine?) soup. After that good experience, we thought we'd try our luck and go somewhere else to experience something else. That's where things got interesting. We were turned away from TWO RESTAURANTS! They explained to us (in English) that they didn't speak English or have English menus. We were ok with that as we were just going to wing it, but it clearly wasn't acceptable for them. Sigh... we ended up in a ramen shop where we placed our order from a machine and then sat at the bar to wait for it to be delivered. I will say that it was delicious and after being turned away from the other places, we were happy they were willing to help us.

Hopefully this doesn't set the mood for the trip, but it will be interesting! Thank goodness for Huge's Japanese!

On my way...

So April 1 -April fools day! But that's not why I'm excited... Today I
leave on vacation w the hubs to Japan!! I am so freakin excited. I
hope to update a bit while I'm there so stay tuned. Until then sayonara!

Week 6 and 7

Yah, about that... week 6 and 7... hmm...

To be honest I've just felt blah. Yup... just like that.

My weight has been blah. Week 6 I gained back the 0.4 I lost the week before and then week 7, I stayed the same. My goal to lose the 10 pounds before Japan has been defeated... The scale isn't moving and it's making me a little sad. I have been doing really well at the gym -which is another reason I'm pretty mad at the scale right now. I would really like it to be moving (downward) and so far, no dice.

In other news... I think I should make a conscious effort to cut back/limit my drinking. I know that it will be better for my weight loss... and for my life. Pretty soon (hopefully) I'll be giving up drinking for "health" reasons, but maybe between now and then I should cut back... we'll see how that goes.

Ok, I'll check in on Wed for week 8, but after the somewhat gluttenous weekend I had, I don't have very high hopes. *Sigh*

Week 5

Keeping it short:

Weight:
Down 0.4. Blah. I worked out 6 days last week... and only 0.4. It's still down, but I wanted/expected to see a full number movement.

Exercise:

Like I mentioned worked out 6 days a week... the waking up early before work seems to be a good routine I can stick with... now if only I can drop some pounds.

In other news, I have been a bottomless pit the past few days! What's the deal!!!

New month = new plan

So... February is over... which means that I only have ONE MONTH to reach my goal before Japan. In an effort to kick this up a bit, I am going to do a 30 day challenge. It was originally supposed to be the 30 day Shred for 30 consecutive days, but I just realized that my DVD player in the living room is broken... so the new plan is just 30 consecutive days of working out. I'm hoping that this will translate into a bigger loss on the scale and more change in my body... I'll keep you posted!

BUT, I think I should get a reward when I accomplish this. Any thoughts? Great pair of shoes? Bag? Jewelry?

Today marks day 1 of my 30 day challenge... Let's see how long I can do it!

(edited to note: I did go to the gym this morning and am going to do the Shred tonight!)