Daytrip time! Today, we have a train to catch, so of course the whole family sleeps past 7.15am, and I have to make noise to wake up the three sleepyheads I live with! We have a quick bite for breakfast, and are out the door shortly after 8am.
At Osaka Station, we finally locate platform 21, and board the train to Wakayama. The train takes just under an hour, and once we get to Wakayama, we take another train, followed by a bus, to get to Marina City. Marina City is a man-made island in the port of Wakayama, with a fish market and a small European-looking amusement park.
We get off the bus and find the amusement park to our left, the fish market to our right. Joe plans to watch the fish cutting show (!) at 12.30pm, so we have about 40 minutes to have a snack before lining up for the show.
Outside the fish market, there are about 5-6 vendors with tantalizing scents wafting off their bbqs. We chose cheese sticks from one vendor, and meat rice rolls from another, and sat down at the picnic tables to enjoy.
We then headed inside the market to get ready for the show, and found they have masks and tuna hats for you to goof around in while you wait for the fish and the cutting man.
The audience was ready 15 minutes before time, at least those of us with front row “seats” (stands?). First, the fish was brought out, to some applause, then Mr Cutting Man came out, and once he started speaking, he did not stop! 20 minutes of constant Japanese chatter, and I’m sure it was very informative, but completely Greek to me. Or Japanese. I picked up words like “maguro” (tuna) and “toro” (fatty (tuna)), but soon tuned him out.
Boy, could that man cut! And talk! He made a show out of the process, even to those of us who did not understand his words (I was surrounded by Cantonese speakers, Joe and the girls were on the other side of the stage from me). After he had taken off the head, tail and both gills, he sliced off the left hand upper and lower (belly) sides. These were given to his team in the back, who sliced sushi-sized pieces of both medium-fatty and fatty tuna, ready to be placed on balls of rice for purchase at the side of the stage. I had some pretty fresh seabream sashimi yesterday, but this tuna, straight out of the fish in front of me, was probably the smoothest piece of raw fish I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. (Scallops don’t count, they’re essentially the caramel pudding of the sea.)
Our appetites for fish just tickled so far, we were now ready for lunch. Inside the fish market, there was a whole set up of fish, shellfish, meat, veg, marshmallows and popcorn to put on a bbq, and we picked a few skewers for our lunch. Outside the market, there were large dining rooms where every table had a bbq in the middle. We placed our salmon belly, octopus, pork belly, beef strips, mushrooms and mixed skewers for the girls on the bbq, and the smells were absolutely fantastic!
This type of restaurant has horrible service (there is none) and you can’t complain to the chef (because you’re married to him), but what a great place! We loved our leisurely lunch, and with it being such a chilly day, the market was not as busy as it would be mid summer. There were plenty of tables available, and we could take our time over lunch, which is not the norm in Japan.
After lunch, we took a walk along the water, watching families fish, dogs being walked, waves crashing towards the nearby beach, and the palm trees swaying in the wind. What a beautiful place! You can smell the salt of the ocean, hear the gulls cry out, it’s just so comforting being by the ocean again! (That said, there were information leaflets in our train seat pockets with what to do in case a tsunami hits, with all the earthquakes Japan experiences on the regular.)
It was cold by the water, and we had more to see and do, so we headed back towards the market. Next to the fishmarket there’s a fruit and vegetable market, and we head in to see what we find. We find persimmons! LOTS of persimmons! Black ones are particular to this area, and we taste both persimmons and mandarin oranges from the area. There’s a side by side comparison of two farmers’ oranges, and one is spectaculary sweeter than the other! We buy some mandarin orange cookies, a local peach juice and a cup of three different persimmons, and head outside, armed with tiny toothpicks.
It’s 3pm and it’s FINALLY time to head into the amusement park! It’s free to walk around, you only pay ($44CA for adults and $38CA for kids) if you want to go on the rides. There are very few rides. The park seems ready to close for winter. There’s a lone entertainer at the first plaza we come to, and a merry-go-round we can see from a distance.
We cross a bridge and find some very tired arcade games, some baby rides, a handful of visitors, and an ice cream stand.
Turns out, this amusement park closes at 4pm for an hour, reopens at 5pm with all lights on. We are “chased” out of the park by pleasant, smiling, nodding non-English speaking staff, and head for the bus home. An hour on the bus, and we’re back at the train station. We have some time before our train home, and so we grab some buns and sandwiches from a bakery, and settle in for our 45 minute ride home. We figured out that we could have left from a station closer to home this morning, so our return trip is shorter.
When we get off the train at Tennoji, we are so close to our old friend Abeno Q’s mall, that Joe suggests we stop by Bic Camera and pick up that suitcase on our way home. We trudge over towards the mall, locate the Bic Camera, and realize they don’t even carry luggage at this location. Why would they? This isn’t tourist central, and locals apparently shop for luggage elsewhere. We find a bus and head home. Maylin and I hop off earlier than Joe and Téa, so we can pick up some food for breakfast.
We get home after 8pm, and settle in for the night. At least tomorrow we can sleep in!