Breakfast Sashimi @ Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo

I awoke at about 4:45am and laid out my full Winter attire. Thermal pants, top, woollen cardigan, jacket, beanie, scarf, gloves - the works. I thought this was going to be the worst of all. I left my apartment in the dark of pre-dawn early morning and to my surprise the cold was not that bad. So I walked the ten minutes down the street in Akasaka, picked up a cheap cup of black coffee, and waited at the spot where I was to be shortly picked up in a taxi by my companions. We then drove to the Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan's largest seafood market.

As we arrived at about 5am the place was buzzing with a flourish of activity. Men driving scooter-like delivery vehicles like crazy, people shouting at each other and the pungent smell of seafood hanging thick in the air.

We stepped into the inner sanctum of the market and the seafood was from another world - like an episode of National Geographic where they are doing a special on species that inhabit the bottom of the sea. Most of the seafood is unrecognisable to what you would see in Australia being sold at Claringbolds at Prahran Market (obviously!).

We spent a solid hour or so running around checking out the massive tuna being auctioned off, bright coloured octopus and general madness that was the markets. For those thinking of coming here, it may be advisable to get an official tour because we were hurried out of some areas and it was a bit unclear exactly where the best places to go were. On that note, after a short period, we were escorted out of the market by an official looking officer of some sort, who pointed in the general direction of anywhere but in the market.

The next mission was Breakfast Sashimi, which is a tradition at the market. It is common for the fish traders to come to the rows of restaurants adjacent to the market for a post-work sashimi meal and maybe even an Asahi or three. Given that this was a Thursday morning, and therefore needing to attend work in a couple of hours, we thought it best to conservatively avoid the beer but were happy to indulge in some of the local produce. I didn't want to mess around with distractions so just went for the straight tuna sashimi. After drinking some warm tea and a great tasting miso, the tuna sashimi was presented to me at the table. I don't think I've ever seen the colour of the tuna look such a deep dark red and the fish is just beyond fresh - if a good steak can melt in your mouth, then fresh sashimi can dissolve in the same way. The texture of the fish is so smooth and soft, it's almost as if you don't need to chew. The presentation is of the dish is magnificent (as was my friend's sushi platter).

Overall a great way to start the day. I don't know if I would eat sashimi for breakfast every day, but if the sashimi was this good I probably would. Looks like it might be time to throw out the muesli and invest in that sushi knife!