August 4, 2013
I pack during the day and head over to Aaron’s place with my luggage at 11:00AM. We take it easy and stay in and then head over to the airport at 7:00AM through Penn Station and the NJ transit line. We fly to Toronto and then chill out with a beer and some food. The airport is quite nice.
The flight is fine. There were 3 meals served. I waked Taken 2, a documentary Nova on food and tastes, and an HBO documentary on a photographer shooting in the dangerous parts of Mexico. A good portion of the 15 hour flight is sleeping.
We get to the airport, get through customs, and then take the train into Tokyo. We check into the hostel, a more residential area of Tokyo. We walk around and grab dinner at a place where you pay into a slot, pick foods based on the picture, then give it to the lady at the counter. Very Kenka/izakaya looking. Great noodles, a beer, $10.
We walk around and then run into Sarah and Kelsey. What freaking odds, but Aaron knows one of the girls and they are Binghamton alumn. They are on their last leg of a trip. Sarah lives in Korea teaching English and her friend is just visiting. We go to a little spot for a beer and chat. Kelsey is in Philly, so I’ll probably meet up with her next time I’m out there. Good to finally have a local in Philly as this summer, I realized that I didn’t know anyone there.
We say Goodbye to them, exchange information, and call it an early night by 2:00AM. Before that, I get tons and tons of work done by separating a bunch of sites by their districts so we know what to do when we do specific districts. Aaron on the other hand is not much help.
August 5, 2013
We get up super early at 7:00AM and then head out. We go to Tsukiji Market, which is an absolutely huge fish market. Literally thousands of workers (and pounds of fish) packed into a warehouse. We then go to a spot near there that has little booths that serve chirashi. A line with only locals, we’ll take it. Tuna and urchin, amazing. The rice, arguably even better. Aaron tries his best trying his mixed bowl, but ends up giving up on it after a little bit.
The convenience stores here by the way, freaking amazing. They have everything and the food is fantastic. Even fried chicken, that is better than KFC or whatever American stuff. Pork buns that are better than Chinese ones. Onigiri, sandwiches, little plates of premade meals, freaking everything and it’s all so cheap. Eating in a store, you can easily get a meal for $4-5, of really delicious stuff and with tons of variety.
Another thing they do incredibly well is coffee. It comes in cans or plastic cups that look like coffee shop take out cups. Sometimes very strong, sometimes very sweet and creamy, but always darn amazing.
Because of this great value and quality, I constantly find an excuse to go to the store and buy something. Be it a drink or snack, I try it so I get as much as I can under my belt.
We then move to Akihibara, which Aaron wants to do. Nothing much other than a 6 story porn store that has some much stuff. We then walk around. Tons of pachinko, little anime/toy shops. Lots of anime in the huge advertisements.
We then move onto Ginza, which is their 5th Ave. It’s pretty standard fare. Lots of American stores, Western stores, then stuff like the biggest Uniqlo and Muji. It’s all okay and whatever.
We then go back to the hostel and shower up. It is so gross as it’s so hot and humid here. We meet up with Lizzie and Sharon. So crazy that I’ve meet up with her in Berlin, after meeting in Paris 3-4 years ago, and then now in Tokyo!
We grab some beers from the store and then walk around with them. I wanted to go to a craft beer store, but that ends up not happening as we just drinking on the street. We meet two guys in their early 30s, who are locals and quite fun. I’m drinking an 8% tallboy of grapefruit malt beverage. With that, more beer, and then some sake that was bought at the store, I get pretty wasted, as well as Lizzie.
We then go to karaoke and meet a former sumo wrestler. After an hour, we split and the guys were nice enough to cover a bit of the bill as it was a bit over $10 a head. At least we got karaoke out of the way. We then get some food from a local spot that does the vending machine ordering. I get a curry bowl by just randomly picking anything. Aaron gets a bowl of cold broth soda, but we switch as he doesn’t like his.
I then get back and deal with some emails and water up. Instead of getting things done earlier, my class has a placement (internship) during the semester and the professor decides to get that done right before classes start. I have to constantly deal with emails with the NYS Attorney General’s Office. I then find out that they want an interview, which I can do when I get back, but they say that is “too late.” I may have to plan a phone interview, and we’ll have to see.
August 7, 2013
I wake up at 12:00PM to Aaron knocking around with the wickedest hangover. Not only that, I’m also super stuffy and feel extremely sick. I let Aaron do his own thing and I pass out until 5:00PM. I guess that’s somewhat okay as I went to sleep at 5:00AM, didn’t sleep well the past few days, and maybe I didn’t get rid of that cold I picked up on the day before we left for Tokyo. It’s disappointing that I missed a day of doing stuff, but basically, I have to be more responsible for what I’m up to when I go out.
Aaron and I get into some stupid arguments for an hour or two as I go grab some food, then we go to Shinbuya to meet up with the girls for dinner. Aaron gets lost and then we eventually find the place with some help.
We go to Alcatraz ER, which is a really interesting place. It’s a prison themed restaurant with nurses as waitresses and medical themed strange drinks and food. Stuff like a “cock” dish, a blue curry dish, a baby bottle beverage that is initially served to your mouth directly by the waitress. That last one came to a surprise to me.
There then is a really weird moment where they turn off the lights, there’s some flashing of lights, lots of weird sounds, and they try to be spooky. One guy with a mask runs around and grabs people. There then is a birthday and there’s a guy with a mic that is too enthusiastic and just keeps going and going. It goes on for 15-20 minutes and Aaron and I are laughing that we’re so freaking exhausted by that guy’s enthusiasm.
We then walk around the Shibuya area, which is fantastic. It’s perfect. Tons of lights and density, and more importantly, all the young people are around. Everything is under 35 or around our age. Interesting fashion, pretty people, lots of shops, bars, lights, signs, everything you could want. We grab some street beer and walk around. We then find an arcade that has lots of darts, freaking Texas Hold’Em, and all those different Japanese arcade games. We play some darts and then take the subway back. It’s an easy night and somewhat early as we have to take the subway by 12:00AM. This is the last train and there are a good amount of grown ups that are simply passed out from drinking. What an intriguing dynamic.
August 8, 2013
Aaron and I go to Tokyo station and we get the station ramen place that David Chang went to. 20 minutes wait, pay at a vending machine, and you get a bib and some of the best dipping ramen ever. Broth is good, but the noodles is where it’s at.
I then want to grab a beer and Aaron and I fight about it. I just want to chill, grab a craft Japanese brew, and whatever. Aaron complains on and on about it and I try to reasoanbly argue that he has dragged me to tons of clothing shops. How is that fair? I guess we’re slowly dealing with compromise, which by the end of the trip, we get a lot better at.
We go to the mall building, which is really nice and have a rooftop view of Tokyo. We have a beer up there with the sick view. It’s really nice enjoying that view and a brew. We walk around the Imperial Palace, which absolutely has nothing. We then go to Roppongi and around a beautiful mall. They interestingly have a Dean and Deluca, we get some killer macaron. I’m tired though. We look for a restaurant forever, but end up having a Hitachino street beer. We then go to Heartland Brewery, which is pretty loungey and nice. Aaron chats with this New Zealand business man forever, while this French coworker and I just sit there. It’s a stupid convo of Aaron trying to rep info when not knowing certain info.
We get back early and call it a night. It’s been a long day of walking. I end up finding Lizzie and she’s worried about Sharon because they split up after a fight and she is not back at the hostel. Thankfully, she’s back and all is good in a little bit.
August 9, 2013
We wake up early this morning and I say Goobye to Lizzie and Sharon. It was lovely seeing them, even for a short time. I can’t believe that I’ve now hung with Lizzie in Paris, New York, Berlin, and now Tokyo.
We meet Grace, who is a British girl teaching in Japan. She’s quite cool. Aaron and I do our laundry, check out, and then see the Asakusa Shrine. It’s our first traditional sight that we’ve done. We then go to another hostel and leave our bags. Isetan is quite amazing and I’ve never seen crazy prices like this of shirts at $80-100 and with shoes at $150 or even more. It’s really classy stuff and it really brings back a traditional sense of what a department store is.
Despite me enjoying it, earlier on, we have fights about Aaron being stuck on going to department stores. I try to argue about wanting to see some sights. In the end, it mostly stupid arguments about finding places, cock measuring about trying to get somewhere. The beginning of this trip has been us bumping heads a decent amount.
We eventually find the hostel after some bickering. The website had clearly not explained everything well, but it turns out to be a capsule hotel. Aaron and I get some self made okonomiyaki, which I’ve never done. It’s pretty darn good, though not really for Aaron’s palate.
When we check in, we realize that this is not what we signed up for. You have to wake up and check out all your stuff at 10:00AM, then move your luggage out of a locker, despite staying there multiple nights. The luggage simply gets left out in the open with all other people’s luggage. Then, the showers are gym style where you have to take it with other men.
We check into the hostel and it’s disappointing. I want to take a shower and think that it’s not the shower when I see it, a shared shower. I ask the front desk and they confirm my suspicions. I’m like that 11 year old that is nervous about something and needs an adult to confirm what I must do. I go quick and take my first public shower ever. My glasses are off and I can’t see stuff, but rocking this little stool with all these people is a bit hard to deal with. I man through though.
We nap and plan the rest of the trip, which involves the hostels in Kyoto and Osaka. It’s somewhat silly that we’ve gone so far without having these solid plans.
I’m really disappointed that we have to check out every morning at 10AM. This means packing every morning and putting or stuff away and then having to check back in later. I want to enjoy nightlife and this involves having to sacrifice that and waking up early every morning.
Aaron puffs his chest and tries to convince me that we should book more days at this place and we’ll be fine. I’m really unhappy about it, but if he can get through it, then I guess I can.
We then go to the Metro Tower, which is free and has a good view of the city. The city is so sprawled out. We go to “Pissing Alley,” which Bourdain went to. It’s this tight little alley of food spots, but is all locals. We go to some place, which has an English menu, but then the matriarch of the establishment sees us and then I hear “gaijin” and I attempt to drag Aaron out. The Japanese are really bad about saying “No,” so it’s hard to immediately understand when something is not a possibility. Aaron is oblivious to it at first, and then drag him out and we give up on this area of only locals. We look around for the redlight.
Aaron is being silly and we go to these slow areas of only host bars. Aaron creeps into these little 4-8 person bars and bothers people by constantly peeking in. I tell Aaron that this is not the “redlight,” which is supposed to be a serious big area. Aaron obviously puffs his chests and thinks these random little places where there is no street traffic is where the fun is at. I concede to his ridiculous assumptions about stuff he knows nothing about. I obviously am proved right when we find the real redlight, where there are tons of hustlers bothering us, clubs, lights, and street traffic.
We get some vending machine ramen with the usual awesome “Welcome” in Japanese when one goes into an establishment. We then find a little area that has all little bars. I’ve never seen so many bars together in a little area. They each fit around 8 or so people. They each have their own little theme and I could spend forever exploring these places. We go to a rock bar, have a beer, meet a guy from San Fran, and listen to some Aerosmith.
August 10, 2013
First of all, cab doors close here. How sick is that. I see someone get out of a cab and I think to myself, “Oh, how annoying that they are leaving it open for the driver.” All of a sudden, it closes by itself. I’ve never seen that before on a regular car, a non minivan sliding door thing. How sick.
In the morning, Aaron has gone 180 on his opinion of the hostel. Lauren was nice enough to book us a hotel, despite it being $150 a night, it’s sacrifice. In the end, it was pretty nice and we got to fully enjoy Tokyo and I really enjoyed Shibuya throughout the trip. That was by far my favorite part of the city.
We check out and go to the new hotel. We have arguments about how to do our plans, but in the end, I give up and go with what Aaron says. I recommend splitting and then meeting up before the bar crawl. I smartly had signed us up for a Tokyo bar crawl earlier in the week.
We walk around and check out the stores in Shibuya. We then go to a coffee shop called Filbert Steps. I cannot explain how this was by far the best coffee I’ve ever had. Just extremely complex and well brewed stuff. They really do everything so darn well here.
We then go back to the hotel, get ready, and off the Mori Museum. By now, my legs are dying. My body is just not used to walking this much. I ideally should have trained my legs for this trip, but unfortunately, I have not. Therefore, my legs are just sore and atrophied to a point of nonstop pain. I realize that I’m seriously enjoy this trip a lot less simply because I cannot stand and look around to soak in how awesome this city is. Instead, I’m constantly thinking about where and when I can sit so I’m not in constant pain.
We head off to the Mori Museum for their Love exhibit, which is one of the greatest exhibits I’ve ever seen. Just a mix of so darn much, including Koons and Nan Goldin. Then after the view, we go to the bar crawl, but not before some combini dinner.
Entering it, it’s a huge crowd of maybe 80 of us. I chat with a few British guys, one of which ran into Karl Pilkington when he was in Tokyo. Therefore, I obviously took a picture of him with Karl, so despite all the different connections, I have a picture with Karl?
After a shot and a couple of beers, and chatting with a youngin that had recently graduated NYU, we move onto the next bar. The place is freaking tightly packed and Aaron and I are chatting with three girls. One is Lisa, who I immediately get a vibe is interested, despite me not being so. I’m still a sweetheart though and grab her beers for her and chat along. The other two are Layne and Alex, who are sorority sisters from Rochester teaching in Korea and about to go home after a year.
Onto the next bar, which is steps up this random stairway, we find this fancy lounge/club kind of thing. I wish I went out more in Roppongi, because it’s crazy how things are just up floors and you would never know they are there unless you know to go there in the first place.
The five of us are tightly sharing a couch and hanging out. A good ol’ jolly fun time. I actually get peer pressured into getting another beer by Lisa, but I refuse. She pushes me 4-5 times over and over about it being vacation and having fun. However, I drank a handful already and if I want to be a human tomorrow, I know to pace myself. Proud that I paced myself, but also disappointed that I can no longer drink like I used to.
We then walk over the next place, which is a “club.” It’s a bit strange with dancers on stage and food set out for only women. We grab a few drinks and then start dancing around. Layne surprisingly immediately jumps for the stage and starts dancing on there. Wow, I didn’t expect that, but I guess she’s a Greek sister for a reason.
I’m dancing around with Alex and Aaron is doing his thing. He eventually finds a girl and is dancing and making out with her. Lisa and I confirm that she must be Chinese, but Aaron will tell you that she is Japanese. Whatever.
I get to chatting with Layne and Alex. Layne tells me that she has a sister in NY that she can hook me up on a date with a sorority sister. How nice. Then again, with few flirty looks she gave me, I probably should have made a move on her.
Either way, when this is said, I have really good sense of social interaction and an ability to read people apparently because I can tell that Alex is unsettled by this blind date idea. I pull her aside eventually and ask her about it, seeing if there was something up with this sister or something. How flattering, but it turns out that Alex has some interest in our boy. What can I say, I’m big in Japan.
There’s then some nonsense where I pay with cash and they give me club money instead of actual change. I get offended and I want real money back. They refuse. I urge and push, but eventually, I give up as I want this beer and I’ll order more drinks anyway, so screw it. I keep the cash to use it later. By the way, stuff was a bit of a rip off because I think two of the tickets, which was supposed to be worth $10 only got me one beer. Either way, drinking in general is a decent deal in Japan and cheaper than NY.
Aaron eventually moves onto another girl who is Japanese and is making moves on her. There’s then a French Belgian guy who does not seem to have made friends during this, but is still down to party and tells us that he is gathering people to go to a club. Hell, it’s only about 12:30, so the night is young. We eventually meet about 15 of us outside to get cabs and to get to Shibuya for Club Air.
Aaron gets into some ruckus with the Nigerian hustlers. Stupid him. They threaten him, “We know who you are! We will come after you.” Basically as if there were a black list between these hustlers and they will seek him next time Aaron is out.
There’s then a worrying moment when a pack of 4-5 muscley bros walk by. Layne is a hottie so they walk by trying to chat her up. She gives that glassy eyed smile, “Oh my. What tall hunks we have here.” Alex being a savior drags her away as Layne clawing at the guys who continue on their way. Phew, losing the girls would have been a bit of a bummer. I guess it’s good that female friends are cockblocks sometimes.
We then get to into a cab. Belgian is a huge hustler and gets everyone into cabs, which involves 4-5 cabs. He takes last and we’re second to last. It’s Lisa, Aaron, Japanese girl, and I. Aaron is being drunk and slurring and asking about things in Japanese, Lisa knows a bit and jokes with Japanese girl.
We eventually take one cab, get to the area, but not the spot, then get to a residential area and a Brooklyn looking intimate bar thing. It surely looks wrong. We wander and I know for 100% that we’re at the wrong place. We use our phones and whatnot, but still cannot figure out where this “Club Air” is. This is under that name and also in Shibuya, but there is just no way. It’s too freaking calm.
The cover for the four of us is like $50. I argue that if this was the right place, there would be some street traffic. Even then, they would tell us gaijin that our friends are here and that we should go in. Without these, I know we’re surely at the wrong place.
We eventually give up and pony up the cover as that is better than have the night die. We go in and it’s a really dead area of about 10 people and a little music. Shit. Lets get ready for a lame night.
We then go into the next door and then HOLY FUCK. It is has now become a serious club scene. There are hundreds of people on the dance floor. Heavy fast music place. Lights are flashing constantly. It has the weird vibe sort of like in Prague. The clubs there feel a bit like where the locals go, instead of a clean, well light, bright shiny, classy, joint that is created for foreigners. Walking through, we’re clearly the only foreigners.
Now we realize that this may be the correct place, but we’re not sure if the rest of the people had made it. I go onto the dance floor and spot Alex. I seriously could have be more happy right now. Not that it’s her specifically, but that with her here, the rest of the gang is here. Therefore, the night must continue. Part II.
We get our dance on and it truly is an absolutely killer experience. From the disappointment of the night being dead to going to a local Japanese club joint (which I wanted to do during this trip), the shift in emotions is enormous. I could not be more elated.
Aaron’s doing his thing with his girl and I eventually get to making out with Alex in a pretty hot and heavy manner. Good job Darwin as you have now knocked off “blonde” from your list. Also, what’s your deal with Michiganders as this girl is from the outskirts of Detriot. It actually turns out that people don’t really do that in Japan, but hey, a lush be a lush. For some reason, I get really concerned for Layne, who is just floating around. I feel bad for her. I then realize that I have been “third wheel” in that situation before and want to assure that Layne does not want to leave. Either way, I plan on seeing the girls again while we’re in Tokyo.
Eventually, I hang with the Brit couple. They’re probably late twenties or early thirties and they’re a British couple that are on their honeymoon in Tokyo. They’re a bit older than us and surely adults now because they’re getting married, but it’s sick that they still have the youth in them to join a pub crawl, but also go this deep into the night and club with us.
The girls eventually head out. I then also want to head out. I look around for Aaron and don’t see him. I had seen him walk away from the club dancefloor so I should have seen him on the way. There’s a sign that says there is no reentry. Part of me believes that he is either doing his own thing or has already left with the girl (who by the way is an absolute sweetheart. Great English. Super kind to offer to pay for the cab. And hell, she hung with us during the whole debacle of whether this was the right place). I eventually decide to turn back and do one more look. Doing downstairs, I see an Aaron that has his head down and is barely standing by his own volition. Boy is this kid lucky that I turned around and found him.
I drag him out. I try to get a cab, but the guy chatters on about something. It turns out that an ambulance has blocked the road. The more impressive part is that I immediately picked up that he was not giving us a ride. Once he started going on, I dragged Aaron away.
There’s something about Japanese culture where they do not say “No.” I learned the word and did not hear it once. Instead they prefer to cross their forearms and give you a “Not possible.” I could look into it, but I think the idea is that it is rude to outright reject someone or the idea of something. Instead, giving a more moderate answer is more formal.
Another thing, vending machines. They are everywhere. Almost all only sell beverages, but being there for so long, the selection is endless. We kept passing by machines that sold all kinds of different drinks from colas to coffees to waters to their Gatorade (Pocari Sweat). Looking it up, Japan has the highest per capita with a vending machine for every 23 people. The factors for this make so much sense. Labor is expensive, there is little space for stores, and there is little or no petty theft or vandalism. You can’t have this in NYC because of the crime issue. We only ran into one machine that sold beer and then a few that sold cigarettes, but those involve scanning your ID or something. I just used the stores then.
I get two waters. Aaron smartly keeps refusing to drink water as he stumbles down the street. He then says that we have to catch the train. I tell him, “Dude, it’s 3:30AM, ain’t no trains.” We find a combini and the girls are actually right there. They apparently ran out of cash and need to find an ATM. I go inside with Aaron to get some food. Aaron has this “Ambition baby” where he wants ramen. I tell him not to, but hey, it works out.
He is able to get ramen, I pay for his junk because he can’t do that now. He then wanders to the hot water and pours that water into the ramen. Well, not without burning himself obviously. When we get out, I’m eating a sandwich and the girls say they will look for an ATM to get a cab back. I had offered to help them, but they go off on their way.
I try to say Bye, but with that dry egg from the sandwich in my throat, my attempt is quite poor and embarrassing. Aaron with his ramen leaves a trail of noodles all under him. I then get him to walk a bit, but then he gives up and puts his head down. He randomly says, “We should get hamburgers.” What what?! I then realize that we had had burgers for breakfast/lunch and for some reason, over 16 hours later, he is bringing that up?! (The fast food burger in Shibuya by the way was fantastic. Decent meat, but well made burger. Onion rings were sick. Aaron got a serious fresh mozz salad with dressing. You just can’t find a bad meal in Japan. They do things well.)
Either way, I sit with him and he needs to pass out before walking. I accept that fact and let him chill for 10, 20, almost 30 minutes. During this, the police drive by in this little alley. Fuck me. They stop for a bit, but then drive by. Phew. In New York, the police would immediately have Aaron in cuffs and I would have to deal with all this nonsense. People are just better here.
After a while, I get Aaron to walk back. Our hotel is actually only .5 or so miles away so I get us to walk there. This by the way is not without tons of sweat at 4AM. I actually return to take a video of sweat just pouring down me like rain from the heat and humidity. Constant theme of the trip: Sweat.
In the end, what a blast of the night. The stuff started at around 6:30 and 10 hours later, we’re back in our apartment. It was a freaking marathon my friends and your boy and I did it well.
August 11, 2013
Aaron must still be drunk because he blasts out of bed at 11AM and wants to do Harajuku. Today is the day to see the crazy stuff there. I look up a place that has a Waygu burger and we definitely hit that. It’s pricey at $17 for my burger and $21 for Aaron’s. The most I’ve paid for a burger.
Along with that, I get an incredible iced tea served with a huge block of ice like from a cocktail joint. The burger is one of the best I’ve ever had. The inside is just so tender and the meat is so soft and buttery. The place is nice and fancy looking. I constantly get blown away by how “good” things are. Everything is just so well. Food, drinks, décor, clothing. I just love it. Call me a snob, but good is good.
We then go to Harajuku and see these awesome people dancing to rockabilly and 50s rock n’ roll. They’re Japanese men (almost all) in leathers and boots. They have their hair slicked back and dance their butts off. It’s so cool. I so need to bring this to NYC. There’s just something so cool about letting loose with friends on a Sunday with a beer, good music, and dancing.
A few girls walk by drinking Kirin Strong and Aaron asks how it is compared to Strong Zero, a staple of what we have been drinking out here. She immediately answer and offers us to try some. Wow, how nice, but it’s just very forward to offer strangers a try of your beverage.
We end up hanging out with them. The Japanese girl we don’t really get to know well. Maggie is from LA and teaches English in Nagoya. Her grandparents actually own the camp that Aaron went to. Katherine is a bit older and in her 30s. She’s really cool and also teaches English. She met her hussband in Saudi Arabia and is soon moving to Boston.
After checking out the dancing, we hang around Yoyogi Park for a bit. What a beautiful park. We then go to this area that has tons of little stores by Harajuku. And guess what? I run into freaking Steve Feiner, from high school. I keep looking at him at first and don’t believe it. I then ask him if that’s his name. He then says Yes, but then takes a while to realize who I am. His eyes then pop out of his head and he does a double take of, “What what?!” He’s apparently traveling as well and we unfortunately never got to meet up in Tokyo. But seriously, what a small freaking world.
I then split from the bunch because I’m tired, hungover, and again, my legs are seriously dying. It’s a really horrible burden to have your legs in constant pain and aching.
I go back and get my sleep on while Aaron sticks around with the girls to get some dinner. I eventually get up and walk out the door and boy is it a crazy situation. I’m feeling better, the night is here, and I’m just blown away that I’m in freaking Tokyo, Shibuya especially.
I go to meet up with Maggie and Aaron at Office Bar, an office themed bar… I have WiFi and I’m able to keep in touch with Maggie through Facebook because the bar is closed. We end up taking the subway to where Maggie is staying. It’s a Sunday, so nothing is open, so we just chat outside while having some street beers. It really does feel great to be out, sitting around (although my legs are still bothering me), and swapping stories.
We drop off Maggie at the hotel and I’m no idiot so I say that I need to take a piss and run away from Aaron and Maggie. I can tell they’ve got something going on or whatnot. Then again, I actually did also need to piss, which means I unfortunately had to pee on the street. (This by the way occurs 2 more times that night, which I’m supremely disappointed about. The combinis usually have restrooms and I should have hunted those down. I hate to mess around in a city that I love and respect so much).
I then get back to the street to see Aaron and he asks if I had planned my move. Who does he think he is? I’m a fucking boss. When I turned the corner, I could see that they were making out, so my job was done with making that departure to give the two some time.
Aaron and I take a cab back and I grab a few more street drinks. We just roam the streets like some rats and soak it in before calling it a night.
August 12, 2013
Today was a super sleep in today. Felt hungover pretty hard, but just super tired and my legs would not agree with me. Aaron goes out himself while I wallow in pain. I do some Facebook and Reddit for an hour. Then, it’s constantly trying to sleep. I finally get some sleep from 4:00-7:00. Not continuous, but some. I then get ready and get out. Aaron will meet up later. Walking it still rough and I end up doing a fast McDonald’s as I’m a bit lost finding “the” ramen spot here.
Aaron gets back and passes out. I’m ready to get out and I meet Layne and Alex at the dog statue in Shibuya. They’re with two friends. They’re a couple. One guy is from North, graduated ’05, knows people I know. He went to NY Law and just graduated, he’s on his trip. She used to date Jeff Bailey, who I saw last year. What a crazy small world.
We go to Hub, which is a foreigner Irish pub, which is crowded on a Monday night and awesome. We then bar hop and then the couple leaves. The Mark guy (I think that was his name) is really cool and we do some talk about Great Neck landmarks.
The three of us then go to a bar and Aaron comes through. I then get blown away by this Belgian beer bar that was Westy 12 and it’s such a sick place. I’ve been constantly surprised by awesome places because they involve going down a discreet stairs and then there are such cool cool scenes. NY is more about looking it and doing some expectation of what you do when you go in. Here, it’s always a surprise.
The girls split. Aaron and I wander around. Some fuck head is fucking shit up. Ruckus on the street and banging on shit, throw stuff around. He gets caught by the police, but they seem cool with him. Freaking Tokyo police.
It’s almost 2:00 and we’re tired, so we go back. Tomorrow might also be a chill out day.
Outside our hotel, we see a girl vomitting and really out of it. Aaron and I try to help her out and then there’s a guy helping her out too. It’s raining and she’s all wet in a puddle, her knees are all ripped up. Aaron and the guy carry her into the hotel. We then try to get her a room. Aaron and I are like… Wait, that’s not a good idea. She needs a hospital. I go on Google translate, “dangerous” and “hospital” were used. We then realize that the guy is her friend, so he’ll stay with her in the room. He grabs her wallet out of her bag and pays for a room. Hotel staff helps bring her shit into the room.
We got her a water, Aaron and the guy fireman carry her to the room. We leave her there. The freaking smell in the elevator of vomit was crazy. We make sure to Google Translate that she needs to be on her side. We then go back to the room, holy shit. I also get us to the wrong floor where there is a huge cicada flying around. Holy fuck me. Crazy huge thing. It was scaring the shit out of me.
August 14, 2013
Today was a sleep in day. With the drinking, leg recovery, dancing hard, not sleeping much, going to sleep at 6:30AM, things took a toll. I spend the day sleeping while Aaron heads out at 4:00PM to a gallery.
I later get out of the door a few hours later. Not much sleep, lots of tossing, and a bit of computer procrastination. I man up, shower up, and run out. Walking down the street is crazy. I actually look left and right this time and keep my out for things so I find a liquor store. Turns out that it has a really awesome craft beer selection with Japanese, European, and American crafts. I pick up some stuff.
I then just get overwhelemed. It’s a combination of how many lights and people there are, the realization that I don’t have much time here, the realization that I didn’t do much today, and that there is almost a burden that there is so much stuff I need to do here and the all the possiblities. It’s just freaking overwhelming.
I go to get some sushi at the conveyor belt place. It’s crazy. You go in, you get a thing that tells you what number table you are at. The computer tells the waitress what to give you. You then sit down and there’s a screen. You make yourself some matcha tea with the powder at the table and the hot water spigot at the table. You scroll through the screen and choose what sushis you want. You click a button and then the food rolls onto you on a belt, stops at you, and then you take the plate, press a button so that it goes back to where they make the food.
Holy shit is this stuff amazing. Very smooth easy, rice just has a perfection amount of heat, texture, bite, softness. Rice here is always perfect. The fat tuna loin, fresh. Now that’s the business. That stuff is on a whole different level of texture and flavor from the frozen stuff. After that, I get out and go on a bit of a walk. I run into Hemel, which is a Belgian bar in search of Westy 12, one of the “best” beers in the world, but they are out. I grab an IPA instead, which so far, they have been quite good about.
I get back to the hotel and Aaron is sick. He’s chatting with Lauren and I write up a quick list of things she needs to hit up in Barcelona and Paris for her trip. We get ready and try to figuer out plans. We go to Office Bar and I hilariously find out that Maggie and Aaron were at the wrong place.
It’s a very small and chill spot. We actually chat with the DJ who is playing some cool stuff like old school R&B, blues/soul, Brazilian funk, etc. He’s from France and has lived here for a while. Very cool guy and he recommends going to The Room. Great guy and after a quick beer and some fries, we’re out. It’s 11:00 and we go to Roppongi. I head us towards the wrong way, but Aaron stops off for a cool sandwich. Turns out that it’s a fast fish filet. What she order? Fish filet.
He hates it. I personally think it’s a well made sandwich with slaw, sauce, etc., but I’m also not into fish filet, the filet part, not the fish part. We go to Serependipity, which is one of these speakeasy bars. Away from all the business and people, there’s a little sign, that is overwhelmed by other signs as buildings have basements, as well as possibly 7-8 stories. We go down and there’s a phone. The door is opened manually for you, two doors, and then you’re transported into this very dark, cozy, joint. There’s a bit of a Middle Eastern theme, a bit of a dark library thing, a large painting behind the bar, no space truly other than the bar, which can fit possibly 8 people.
There is no other staff than the bartender, one man at the bar, that is all. He has his vest, professionally dressed, and hands us a scented wash cloth. The bar is high and you must place your arms pretty high, which is slightly uncomfortable.
We order the special and the Roppongi Sling. Holy smokes, watching this man make these drink is a freaking performance. Every motion is precise. Every bottle is kindly placed onto the bar facing out. After every pour, there is a cloth that wipes the lip of the bottle. Ice is reduced to proper size with water, while also chilling the glass. The pouring of soda is gentle and not onto the ice, as to avoid loss of carbonation. The stirring of a carbonated cocktail is surgical as not to agitate the drink too much. All during this, everything is done at a very quick pace. It’s an art.
The Serependipity we get is fantastic. I get notes of peach, apricot, something juicy, but then there’s this sensory overload of just spices. Nutmeg, cinnamon, a huge finish of clove and star anise. What a tasty drink.
The Sling on the other hand definitely has pineapple and a bit of boozy bite from the whiskey.
We chat with the guy. Turns out he used to bartend in NYC and is friends with the bartender at Angel’s Share. He drops names from Pegu Club, PDT, etc. He’s been to NYC a bunch apparently. What a cool guy.
After a drink (at $15 a piece), we roll out. We catch a $17 cab (one of the very pricey things here) to Shibuya. We take forever looking for another cocktail joint that I looked up. Unfortunately, we find it at 2:00AM, which last call is. We walk around for a bit, we eventually get some late night food, and call it a night. Late night food is always so darn good. For $5-7, you literally are going to a restaurant, putting your money into a vending machine, giving the chef your ticket, and then getting a freshly made bowl of noodles, gyoza, rice dish, what have you. Always fresh, always well done, always delicious.
August 15, 2013
Because of the easier night, I’m able to get out of the hotel at around 11:00-12:00. Aaron on the other hand is staying in. I finally go through Mark City, which is basically a mall that leads you to Shibuya Station. We stupidly have been walking on the street the whole time. There’s this amazing abstract piece at the entrance that is blue and silver long long panels. One of my favorite things about where we are. On the walk, there is a long long line for a sushi joint. I wish we made it there, but did not during our trip. Not much sushi was eaten, but I’ll find some in Osaka.
I then find the Hikarie, which is a freaking crazy 10 floor department store. The restaurants on the top floor are lined the hell up and I give up on waiting for them. I go to the bottom floor and it’s tons of little shops. Selling prepared foods, tonkatsu, sandwiches, nuts, chocolates, specialty foods, and there’s a Pierre Herme!!! The world class macaron from Paris that is not even in NYC. I just highly recommended this place to Lauren in Paris. Quite expensive, but I splurge for three.
I then finally get onto the JR line to Ueno. I walk around the back streets where there are little food joints and stalls selling souvenirs and what have you. Then into the park to enjoy my macarons, which by the way have a freaking ice pack inside so they stay cool. Amazing stuff. The little booklet is of no help because I ordered some special macarons I guess.
I then go through the park to the Museum of Western Art. It’s a small joint, but it’s great see Le Courbosier’s architecture and how he made this museum. Some great Rodin on both the inside and outside of the museum. Some fantastic pieces, but in the end, a smaller collection. I’m still quite happy that I did this.
I also then notice that two people are trying to raise awareness for animal adoption or something. They’re standing out in the hot hot sun, shouting, bowing, and that is all. The optimism that people have with their work is incredible. Every employee, even working super super late nights, is always kind and repeats that same kindness for every customer. No faces, no dirty looks, always a smile, always welcome.
The Mori Museum actually commented on this with a video of youths being in the middle of a tsunami hit area and huddling together and shouting chants like, “I will get a girlfriend next year,” “Go fishermen!,” “I want to be a fisherman,” “Everything will be wonderful.” I think it awareness to the harsh realities of what has occurred and the heaviness of the situation, yet people keep their “face” on. This is something that I really could get interested in exploring and learning more about.
I then go to Ebisu. There is a very cool mall area that is just freaking well made and almost looks like a utopian paradise of the future. I go to the Yebisu Beer Museum there. It is a really large and incredible space that they have with red and high ceilings. I do not go on the tour as its in Japanese. I see some tourists here. I grab a beer, which is okay, but pretty mediocre for a brewery’s offering of, “Come to our brewery and see our stuff and drink our beer.” After a beer, I check out their little history exhibit of the brewery, and then head back home.
I find out that Aaron had stayed in all day. I’m exhausted, so after throwing stuff in the laundry. We both pass out for a good 2 hours. There are some Canadian girls on our floor, but they end up staying in and not hanging with us. Aaron wants to drop $50 for “Robot Restaurant,” which is more of a show of robots and girls with few clothes than a restaurant. On Trip Advisor though, people do love it. Comparing it to Cirque de Soleil, Broadway, etc. The quality of the experience seems to be there, but I’m really just not a “show” guy. Even concerts, I’m just hesistant to drop $50 on this, so we don’t end up doing that.
We go to the bar we tried to go to yesterday, Ishinohana. This place is more well light, a few more people, but feels a lot less like a speakeasy secret situation than just an extremely classy bar. The guy makes a “Claudia,” which is crazy with its cherry, grass petals fanned out, and a freaking entire lime’s peel used as a garnish. It’s wild seeing him expertly cut that entire lime so fast. The drink is pretty good, pushing at that punch or pina colada thing, but also has this wonderful cracked cardommom flavor. Their gin and tonic is a classic and simple, but one of the best G&Ts I’ve had.
The other bartender is also very kind to us explaining whiskeys as Aaron had asked what Japanese whiskey he should bring back home.
We then look for Trump Room, which is supposed to be a crazy awesome place. We spent an hour and a half two nights ago looking for it. We finally have someone point us to a closed gate, but we finally do at least see the sign. I don’t know how we missed it as we had microscopic precision in looking on that block so hard for anything. It’s our last night, but at least we know where it is now.
We go back to Craftheads, a beer spot. I order a $14 bottle of Alpha King, something that we cannot get back in NY. It was good, but a bit underwhelming, maybe an older bottle. I try to beer geek with the owner, who clearly has lived in the US or something as his vocabulary and accent is way too American. For some reason, he’s pretty unresponsive to my questions about where he’s from and beer geeking convo. I can’t tell if he’s just a geek (of beer) that is not great at speaking to people, or just an asshole.
Aaron and I then go to The Room. A DJ spot apparently and it’s really small and intimate. $20 (with a drink) though is steep. Place has about 10 people, some chill music, but that’s about it. We meet Mari, who is British, lives in US, lived in Sydney, half Japanese, so crazy accent. She tells us that we came on a special night. The DJ is a legend, we got here early (at 1:15) before it gets poppin,’ and that it’s too crowded on other nights.
It’s sick to know. We meet her sister who is a DJ, probably in her mid 30s, despite looking mid to late 20s, and has three kids. We meet their cool friend from Vancouver. Very chill and great to hear a “city” guy chat with us. Aaron chats it up with a Japanese girl to no avail and I have a convo about girls with Mari.
There’s then this sick live show of jazz, funk, blues. Blows me away is that Mari sings and her voice is freaking amazing. Then this youngin, who is 20, but looks 18, goes up on stage and blows the drums away. Some of the best drums I’ve heard in real life.
We chill out around, while I’m also in love with this girl with reddish brunette hair that is taking videos and photos of the event. A very hippie style, a taller “bigger” girl, though with closer inspection, not as gorgeous as I thought, but I surely did have a “wife” for a good hour or two.
We get ambitious and stay out until 4:30. We get a bite at the place I ate with the bachleor party bros. I mysteriously somehow pick the same order. A hot soba bowl with curry rice. I did the random “pick anything” on the vending machine move.
On our walk back, we see Club Atom get closed out and people walking home. The sun is coming up and it’s the same time as when we came back from Atom that night.
August 16, 2013
I somehow have the energy to get up at 10:30. Check out is at 11:00. I spent to sleep 5 hours ago and do not feel great for the drinking last night. Aaron is worse and takes forever to get up. We check out about 15 minutes late without penalties. It’s freaking hot and I feel gross. This heat is ridiculous and it scares me that it is only hotter in Osaka.
We get the JR to Shinagawa. Then we try to get onto the Shinkansen train (bullret train). We try to run the train ticket through and it won’t get us through without “all tickets.” Both our tickets, no go. Then we’re told that we have our subway ticket from before (you always need your subway ticket when leaving to assure that you paid the right amount when getting into the station, so you are not leaving from a far far away station and gaming the system). So you put in both your bullet train ticket, and then your subway stub in at the same time. No matter the direction, machine can sort both, give you your bullet train ticket back. Freaking blown away. It’s literally a video game moment where you say, “Oh! I have that piece, tool, or weapon from earlier. I have to use that now along with what I just got in order to proceed.” It just never crossed my mind as I could not fathom the machine being able to take both tickets.
On the bullet train, it’s very nice. Airline like seating, tons and tons of space. Quiet and boy does this thing move fast. Never remotely come close to going this fast on land before. It’s a pretty nice view of things. We also really messed up. We did not get food for the train, which leaves every 10 minutes, so we could have gotten food. Instead, we’re starving and every person on this train was prepared with a Bento box and eating their hearts out. Aaron does at least get some peanuts and wasabi snacks at one of the stops, but boy could I use some food right now.
It’s a beautiful train ride and it’s great to be on something that moves so darn fast. We get to Osaka and then there’s a girl waiting at the station with some people. Aaron talks about how he may know this girl because she’s in Japan, according to Facebook. We introduce ourselves after we shovel some combini food into our gullets. We were starving from that long, long ride.
It turns out that he did know the girl, Vivien. She had just come to teach Japanese and they were Binghamton alumn. What a small freaking world. I can’t believe it. We decide to meet up at night.
Aaron and I go to our hostel and at first, we believe that it’s a small one room and a mat mattress for both of us. We then realize it’s two separate rooms. I’m absolutely fine with it, but Prince Ali (Aaron) must complain. He’s crying over it. He insists that he must move to a hotel. In the end, the place is a bit dinky, but they give you fresh towels, sheets, etc. and you get your own freaking room with a strong A/C to sleep in. I don’t have a problem with it.
Aaron immediately removes the rest of our reservation. I concede as it’s a bit easier to be together during the trip. I’m not sure how he’ll figure out what to do at night in finding a hotel though.
Instead of doing research, Aaron is too hotheaded and needs to get out of the hostel. I concede that and we go to Dotonbori. What a crazy place. It is just like how I saw it when Bourdain went to Kyoto. There are lights on lights, lots of crowds, really crazy signs, food everywhere, and shopping as well. What an interesting area.
After roaming around for a bit, we want to get out and find some nightlife. Aaron being the idiot he is thinks that we’re in the nightlife area when there are more hosts and hostesses on the street than young people or tourists. I immediately get the feeling that something is wrong and want to get out of there. Aaron completely disagrees and I follow him into some awkward situations that involves peeking into some host bars and then walking away.
By the way, to explain this, host bars or clubs are basically where Japanese men or women go to talk to “hosts.” These hosts are good looking, well dressed, and solicit you on the street. There sometimes are even crazy billboards that advertise these people. You basically go there, pay a premium to sit there, buy expensive drinks, and buy your host drinks. What you’re paying for is attention and someone to entertain you with conversation for a certain amount of time. It turns out that it also works out well for the Japanese because their companies end up paying the tab for some of these host bar visits.
Finally, we go on the bridge and meet up with two Germans. They’re from here so they know what’s up. I’m happy to find out that there are actually foreigner bars and an actual standard bar scene as Aaron was very adamant that we would be stuck with some really expensive host joint or that is “All Osaka has to offer.”
We walk over to a bar that is on the second floor and it’s a great little joint run by a former Navy ex-pat from Hawaii. I’m not at my youth anymore so I turn down the $30 for all you can drink and instead get beers. Crazy system they have as you simply pull beers out of the fridge yourself and pay the bar through an honor system. Japan is awesome.
We meet a guy that is an Osakan, but works with China and speaks better Mandarin that me. Aaron buddies it up with three British guys that are musicians and play their music. They’re darn tight. Another great thing about the bar, there is a computer so that people can go on the Internet to play their own “jukebox” music for free. Aaron is really stuck on hanging with these guys and I joke about how he has been broing out with them all with his “boyfriends.”
We take a cab back and call it a night.
August 17, 2013
During our wandering last night, we were able to find a hotel that charged $250 for two nights. Aaron decides to split it so that I can pay $100 of it as I was content with staying at the hostel and paying $22 a night.
We put our stuff down at the hotel and then go to the aquarium, which is one of the largest in the world. It’s so freaking hot and gross. Aaron recently picked up a cough, which I thankfully never picked up during the trip. He goes to a pharmacy and tries to find something that will help, but they are of no use and he constantly complains about it. For me, I would man up, take it easy, and let the body get rid of my cold. There isn’t much else to do.
The aquarium at first is a crowded mess. Too many people and kids. I cannot remember the last time I was ever around so many annoying kids. The worst are the really little ones as seriously, what good is it for them? The parents drag them into this tight little area with too many people and pay for their tickets and in the end, they will never remember going.
As we go deeper, the crowd thins out and the large tank is quite amazing with huge sting rays, sharks, fish, and two whale sharks. It’s quite a decent experience.
We then go back and I separate from Aaron has there are foods I want to try and he won’t eat. By the way, for someone that does not care for Japanese food and will not eat seafood, our buddy is really missing out on a great part of what Japan has to offer.
I get some fried sticks, which is good, but nothing great, despite the place being really popular with this cartoon angry guy’s face on their building. I then get some decent conveyor belt sushi. I then go back and rest up.
The hotel room by the way is fantastic. There’s a master area where you can control all the lights. There’s a really long and well made shoe horn. There’s a TV with boring Japanese channels. Part of the mirror is covered with a substance that prevents it from fogging after you have taken a shower. Fridge, lockbox, etc.
We then make night plans and thankfully there was a list online of all these bars in Osaka. We go to the first, which is a great Irish pub called Blarney Stone. There’s a super amazing rock/blues band playing composed of Japanese musicians. The two artists are freaking phenomenal.
We also meet a Welsh guy Chris who wants to hand as well as Basti, a German engineer who works for BMW. We then roll to Hub, which we went to in Tokyo. It’s a crowded place with not as many foreigners, but okay. We chat, grab a beer, and then move onto the next place. Unfortunately, one of the bars had closed so we wander for a bit. Aaron finds this really attractive Polish girl and we follow her around along with some other men. Yeah, that’s a good look.
We then agree to pay a “Foreigner $10” with a drink cover fee for a hip hop club. I’m still not sure what the sign means. I guess it’s a discount for foreigners as why put a sign with those words unless you wanted foreigners to come to your place.
We go in and the place is popping. First of all, we get a full Red Bull vodka, so the cover is mostly covered already. Then I notice that the place is just packed, with a good good amount of girls. Then, the music is just all up in my alley. It’s like Girl Talk where the DJ is spinning a few seconds of famous R&B and hip hop tracks and then moving onto the next one. I’m going crazy over this.
` Aaron finds some Japanese girls to dance with and our boy Chris is hanging with this Japanese fellow named Hiro. Basti had split by this point, though we agreed to meet up in Kyoto as he’ll be there and we will be as well.
I end up talking to this white kid who looks so out of place. He has that certain look where you think he was born with a yarmulke on his head. He’s standing by the bar and doing nothing, no drinks, nothing. I find out that he’s in finance, from New York, but moved to Hong Kong for work. He know is just on vacation. He actually is here because he met someone that will hopefully drive him 20 minutes back home. In the mean time, he’s just stuck standing at the bar. I have a nice chat with him, but then split as the poor sucker really does look like he is having no fun.
I dance with all our new friends and some silly pictures are taken. They close the club at 4AM and we roll out with Hiro, Chris, Aaron, and three girls. We wander around the streets looking for this club and it turns out to be $30 a head, so we don’t do that. The wandering itself look almost a good hour. We get some street beers, Aaron eventually gives up on the girls, and we take a cab back. We get back during sunrise, around 6:00.
August 18, 2013
After a crazy night from yesterday, I’m not feeling chipper and end up sleeping really late. Late in the afternoon, we go to the Hanging Garden building. It’s quite a well made building, but don’t really feeling like going all the way up to the garden for the view. We got a good look going up there already.
We then go through Osaka’s shopping district, which is freaking absurd. It opened up a few months ago and is a wild metropolitan looking area. It looks so extremely futuristic that it’s hard to describe. In the 3 buildings, they have 7-8 stories of all stores. It is never ending and overwhelming. Firstly, as expected, the shopping here is top tier. Shirts running $80-200, shoes running the same, just all the expensive joints. Aaron and I are not sure who shops here and how they are able to employ so many people. Each little store has at least 3 employees, and then you multiple it by the over 200 stores in this area. Truly quite the experience of absorbing how dense a city and shopping can be.
We then go to a supermarket in Namba. I wish I had done this earlier. There are so many great things that I want to try that they have. I even buy some goods for people back home. I then stock up on chicken bites, grape soda, mochi, and most importantly, sushi. It’s late on a Sunday, so sushi is 40% off. It’s $4 for $12-15 worth of sushi in America. When I get back and get into that, damn, that stuff is amazing. So even the supermarket sushi is fantastic here and so darn cheap. I would eat it way more frequently if I could.
I’m not feeling well, a bit sick and very tired. I decide to stay in. Aaron and I share a couple craft brews, which are okay, and then we call it a night. A slow day, a slow night, but with doing so much, the body can only take so much. That goes along with my legs beginning to hurt a bit.
August 19, 2013
It’s time to check out and Aaron takes a while to get up. The hotel is nice enough to give us a grace period. We are off to Kyoto. We get some ramen and then Aaron tries to argue that he has a “good” taste in food. My view is that I personally think he is missing out on things, but if he doesn’t like it, then it is what it is. We don’t like all foods.
Instead of accepting that, Aaron attempts to argue that his subjective views on certain foods are objectively correct in some sense. Even assuming that, seafood is considered by some people as some of the best food in the world. May it be sushi or Le Bernadin, seafood is in the conversation of “objectively good” food. In the end, the point is that eat what you will, but don’t try to justify it based on fake system of food “hierarchy.”
There’s also a difference in opinion based on how frequently foods should be eat. Something like, “Ovaries can’t be that good. Why ever eat it?” The argument there is that because steak is “better,” then it should be always eaten over something like an ovary yakitori. Personally, I’m a man of variation, options, change, and new things, so that mindset does not work for me.
We then get to the station and get a train to Kyoto. Then a bus to the hostel, which is quite decent. It’s freezing in there, which is very much so needed. Leaving Tokyo, which was in the low to mid 90s, Osaka and Kyoto had much worse climate. There were solid in the mid 90s and rising above that.
We meet a guy Steve, who is from Staten Island, taught a year in Korea, and is just traveling now. A really cool guy and we go with him and an older gentleman from the hostel to see the old town of Kyoto and a couple temples. We then take a break by the river and have a few drinks.
We get to talking about girls and Steve talks about how he and his friends made a pact to only date non-white women to explore girls out there. I honestly reply that I had made a pact to myself to do the opposite, only date white women. There’s a constant theme throughout the trip that Aaron says “white women” in an old fashioned Southern accent, “Hhhwwwite hhhwhimmen.” Tokyo is “leg” city as the girls rock those really well, but unfortunately, I do wish I liked Asian women more. I would be going crazy as the girls dress quite well and are really attractive. On the other hand, my eye is still constantly out for the white girls that we come across and by the end of the trip, that is something I missed about America. Of all the things to miss about home, it was simply the women.
We then go back to the hostel, take a break, and then meet up with two Aussie sisters that we had met. One of them is vegetarian so we go to a place they found for that. It turns out that the restaurant is closed, so we find an Indian place. It’s the five of us in an empty restaurant, but with fish curry, rice, and incredible naan, we were very happy and stuffed. Of all places, this was one of the best meals of the trip.
Our gang then starts rolling around in Gion and looking for something to do. We end up sitting at this izakaya traditional style on the ground for a beer. Standing outside of the place, Japan is so safe that a women left her bag open on the street. No one steals anything. If anything, if you lose something, it will be returned to you. The people here are so darn honest.
Oh and bike locks? No such thing. People seriously just leave their bikes hanging around. On the other hand, NYC has it the complete opposite way. Not only d oyou have to buy a lock, but worry about the kind of lock that you need to buy. Even then, people stealing bikes have gotten so crafty. It’s a huge huge problem for us and the police have no way of handling the issue. What a horrible situation.
Aaron starts looking around and I joke, “Maybe is one of those trap bags.” This is as if this exists and there are bags laying around in Japan that are traps if you put your hands in them. The Aussies and Aaron love this joke. Great joke. Traps everywhere.
We then go to another place, Bar Joker. There’s a sign that it is not a host bar and is fine for foreigners. We go in and it’s very much like a weird NYC bar. Rock memorabilia, mannequins, weird lights, a jukebox, carnival and punk themes, and punk music.
They’re very nice to us and then we eventually call the night after sitting around on the river and having a beer. I get some Lawson’s by the river and then I see that there’s ruckus outside. It turns out that they have seen a Lawson’s employee grabbing a guy. The guy eventually gets away and bolts so fast that accounts say that he was the “Fastest man of all time.”
We asked around, it turns out that the guy had taken a panty shot of a girl. The employee was nice enough to chase after him. The cops literally show up in a minute in. What a response by them.
We then call it a night and plan on hanging with the Aussies for day plans.
August 20, 2013
In the morning, I’m a bit hungover, but just tired. We sleep until 12:00-1:00 instead of waking up at 10:00, when we were supposed to meet the girls. I go out of the bed and see that in the front of the room, there is a note. It jokes about us falling for a “sleep trap” and gives us their Facebook info for us to keep in touch. How sweet of them.
Aaron and I get a bit of gift shopping as I get some postcards. On the way to food, I see Grace on the street. Freaking Grace! We met her at the hostel in Tokyo. She’s from Cambridge and teaching in Japan. Now two weeks later and over three hundred miles away, randomly on the street of a city, we run into here. It’s really getting freaky the amount of coincidences that we’ve been having. What in the freaking world man.
She’s now with friends and we say Hi. Aaron added her on Facebook to hang out back in Japan, but she never replied to it. We said that we would hang with them in Kyoto, but apparently she never accepted as well. Jeez, how unkind. Aaron hated her (despite spending a few hours chatting her up at the hostel), but I thought she was a cool and kind gal.
We get their famous “burnt” ramen, which seems to just be broth that has a bit of smokiness in it. It’s a good bowl of ramen, but is way too salty and fatty to drink. We then get to see their amazing food market.
We then go to the Golden Temple, which one of the best sights I’ve seen here. Aaron is an idiot and is convinced that the “monkey park” in Arashiyama is still open at 6:30 or so. I explain that it’s a tourist sights, with entrance, people watching the monkies, a gate, or just a regular closing time like any of the sights. Aaron keeps arguing that it’s a “park” that never closes. As in there are parks in Japan where you can just enter, monkies are everywhere, and you just get to do whatever you want, even if it’s night. Clearly I end up being right because it is basically a zoo that you walk through and it does close and we are way too late.
However, we combini up and hang around the water. It’s really nice being in the rural outskirs. We see this gorgeous Polish girl that is hanging around the water. Boy, I do miss pretty white girls.
We go back and say Bye to Steve. We’re going to see him in NYC when he moves back. Aaron and I look around for something to do and we eventually deal with an “bro-ey” Aussie. Apparently he was in military.
We negotiate and go with him to a club. There is a medium amount of people and we are able to negotiate a lower entrance fee. It was a good time and it’s hilarious to see the Japanese boys go over to Aaron, dance with him, grab his hair, call him “JFK.” The funny thing is then they grab an innocent little Japanese girls and throw her onto Aaron. Nothing of success with the girls, but it’s a fun time drinking and dancing away.
Aaron gets annoyed about the “racist” host bars. I explain that it may be partly that, but they don’t want us. The whole point is that a host has a coversation and hangs with you. If you don’t speak the language, that’s going to be a bit hard getting you to pay for an entrance or drinks. Aaron gets all riled up about it and bitches and moans. Aussie stops him in his tracks and fucking gives him the straight, “Listen dude, you’re in the country. If you don’t like it, don’t come.”
I’m not promoting the traditional sense of how the Japanese treat foreigners, but hey, we have shitty things and they do too. It’s a seriously developed country and I’m enjoying my vacation. I’m going to avoid things that cause me trouble. I came here on purpose and I have to somewhat deal with the norms of this culture. If I’m unhappy about it, then I don’t come. I’m not going to change anything about it as a tourist. Either way, what am I huffing and puffing for? I’m on vacation. I don’t want to bother myself with this when I’m on vacation. Just don’t go to restaurants and bars where you’re not invited or you could not even enjoy for language reasons.
We eventually find an izakaya for a bite. The Aussie seems to be a bit of a bullshiter with his stories, but we chill or whatnot. A long night, we eventually call it at 5AM.
August 21, 2013
We wake up late and we get gyoza. He’s known for that because there was a morning where I try to get him up and he moans “gyoza.” This is as if he was a 5 year old little boy and all he has on his mind is a specific food and moans for it in the morning.
We eventually do get some gyoza and Aaron comments on the “white women” joke again. We see this girl on the street, we’re joking around, Aaron reacts to her laughter of a joke, and we start a convo. We turns out to be German and Aaron says that I have a friend. I randomly drop Ela’s name and she says that she knows who that is! I cannot freaking believe it.
It turns out that she was hanging with a friend that was Skyping with Ela. The friend is close to Ela and they’re traveling together. We make plans to meet by the bridge at 11PM for night plans. It’s strange what happens when people are traveling without phone or WiFi. People have to do things like the “old days” with strange ways to figure directions, asking people for directions, and creating meet up points.
We go to Fushimi Inari, which is wonderful with all the orange/red gates. It’s endless and really a beautiful thing to see. A constant theme about this place is the sweat. It’s been continually hot. Sweat just never stops. I even have my own “sweat towel” that I bought, which is something that the Japanese rock. I even had a crazy thing where I sweat through my shirt and then as it dries, it leaves a salt ring all over my clothes. It almost looks like someone has patted me down with a chalk board eraser. I can’t even believe it when Aaron takes a picture of my back to show me.
Aaron and I get some combini food, which is oh so good. People may think it’s crazy to eat this way, but it’s perfect. It’s fast, convenient, no English menu requests, cheap, and delicious. Aaron and I try some weird Colas, one of which tastes like Red Bull cola, quite good.
We get some chicken on a stick, which is freaking restaurant quality, despite being in a little window box. I also get the white bread no crust (which is everything) egg salad. Another good one. Then there’s a fried potato croquette. Then there’s my favorite of the chicken nuggets, one of which is nacho flavored and the other is spicy. Biting in, it’s actual chunks of chicken. My other favorite is the filet though. A slab of fatty chicken, breaded, deep fried. A bit salty, but super juicy. All the food is really good quality and nothing like what you would expect from a supermarket.
We go back to nap, pack, and then I plan for Vancouver, which I’m so excited for. I also text Ela, who is absolutely surprised by the meet up with Jenni, the German. We then get some dinner at a sick spot. Where we are, there is a river and a really traditional looking are of streets, trees, lightning, and restaurants. Tourists roam around this area, although it is not a “sight” from what I know.
We eventually find the restaurant that I looked up in the area. It’s known as a spot for foreigners. I’m happy we get to enjoy this place. The people are kind, English menus, and they speak a bit of English. With tourists roaming around, I hope people enjoy this place so that more restaurants eventually are welcome to foreigners. This again is a city where tourists just love to hit up. Walking around, we’ve seen more tourists here than the other cities.
Walking in, you take off your shoes and put it in a box, with a wooden block as the key. We sit by the river, while on our butts without chairs. It’s a nice meal of pickles, juicy chicken, beef, and rice. A small meal, about $30 a head, but worth it as it is our last night and I wanted to do something more traditional looking instead of a simple cheaper meal.
We were supposed to meet up with Welsh Chris as well, but Aaron hates him for some reason for being “too much.” I have to message him that we won’t be meeting up with him and only meet up with the Germans. We chat and I get to meet Oli, who has been in Japan for almost a year. He met Ela at Heidelberg and is a really cool guy. Aaron had called “dibs” on Jenni early on and chats her up as we go to Hub. Hub is an Irish style pub. We’ve been to three, Tokyo, Osaka, and now Kyoto. It’s closing early so we go elsewhere. Chatting with Jenni, she just got here recently and getting into the culture. She also drops that she’s into Japanese/Asian men. Lets see how that works with Aaron’s chances.
We then go to Bar Joker and meet an Australian guy who is pretty chill. We hang, have some drinks, chat with the bartenders about music, and then call it a night. I actually find out the next day that Aaron did the bed creep.
We were checking out the next morning and we saw that our hostel room had two open bunk beds. The Germans are traveling off tomorrow and need a place to stay for the night. We offer our hostel, which involves seem for 4-5 hours anyway.
When people go to sleep, apparently a drunk Aaron climbs up the ladder and gives Jenni a “Hey, hey.” He then goes in for a kiss, but gets on the cheek and she says that, “You smell drunk.” I die laughing from hearing this story. Poor girl is on the top bunk and this creep is looming over her. Her only exit is blocked by him on the ladder. This drunk dude is creepin’ hard, but she ends up rejecting him.
August 22, 2013
Well this is the last day and a travel day in Japan. What a life experience these past few weeks have been. We check out of the hostel, go into the ridiculous heat, and onto a bus to Kyoto station. After finding some food, we take our train to Tokyo. I sleep for most of it during this 2+ hour ride.
We then have to take a ride to the airport from Shinagawa. The guy is so nice because we first ask for a ticket that costs $60 for us two, but we get one that is about $30 for us two. He’s so nice about changing the ticket and I’m so going to miss the wonderful attitude of people.
This station is freaking amazing. It is a food paradise of all kinds of sushi, onigir, bento boxes, Japanese olive oil, wine, charcuterie, French baked goods, and simply everything. Everything is just “good” in Japan. It’s literally impossible to find gross nonsense like what we have, where one actually has to seek out quality stuff.
I grab some sushi and then a bento of pickles, ‘giri, and pork sandwich. The train to Narita takes a good hour and fourty. Getting through the airport is so fast at 20 minutes from the station to the terminal. We spend our money on some candy gifts and a beer. Aaron buys some booze and they’re nice enough to let us sample some great Japanese whiskey. Suntory single malt Yamazaki and Hakusu.
On the airplane, I see a decent film, The Place Beyond the Pines. A well done film that is quite different with three naratives told in one film. I actually move my seat for a couple and some kids. The stewardess is super nice and as I leave the plane and tells me, “Things like this in the universe do not go unnoticed.” What a wonderful statement.
Annoying thing about the flight, even though the plane is not going to Quebec, they need English, French, and Japanese. That means over 30 announcements because each annoucement is done in three languages. How freaking annoying.
I get some sleep and then we’re in Vancouver. The flight was delayed. Then we had to deal with some stupidity and misinformation about Aaron’s duty free goods. Because of this, our six hour layover is now a four hour layover. I was so excited to see Vancouver, go downtown, be in a new Western city, and get some nice food. It really sucks we can’t go in, but whatever. Going to Japan I guess should be enough for me.
We get some Burger King and actually spot Seth Rogen. Cool to spot him, but Aaron and I agree that we should not bother him. Our flight to NYC ain’t too bad. I get a bit of sleep and watch some stand up of Louis CK.
We get to the airport and pick up our luggage. Aaron wants to take a $55 cab to Penn Station from Newark. I instead want to take the train, which costs $12 a head. My train is a 3:19, so it’s not a big deal if it takes a while to get to Penn Station after we arrived at 12:20AM at the airport.
We get to Penn, have some pizza, watch some drunk girls being silly, and then sport out. Aaron and I split ways. A great trip between us bros.
I eventually take the LIRR to my home and it’s been a 31 hour trip from the hostel to my house. What a crazy long trip from Japan to New York.
But yes, again to list the amount of coincidences in 18 days.
1. Lizzie traveling all over and having her trip to Tokyo overlap with ours. This way I was able to see her in Paris, New York, and Berlin in the past 3 years since meeting her.
2. Our first night, we run into a Bing person that Aaron knows, Sarah, on the street in the outskirts, Asakusa, where our hostel is. We have a chill night hanging with her and her friend Kelsey, also a Bingo.
3. Maggie’s grandparents own Aaron’s camp that he went to.
4. At the bar crawl, we meet Layne and Alex. We meeting up again, they bring a couple they know. The guy went to North and graduated ’05 and the girlfriend’s ex was from my class at South,.
5. I run into another classmate randomly on the street.
6. We were then in Osaka, in a random station looking for how to get to our hostel, and Aaron runs into Vivien. She’s teaching in Japan, but way far away. She’s only in Osaka for a day and we run into her on the street. No Facebook planning or anything. Aaron knew she was the only person he knew in Japan, but understood that she was far away. And we run into her as she’s traveling too…
7. In Kyoto, we run into Grace on the street, who we met two weeks away in Tokyo at our hostel, which is hundreds of miles away.
8. Then of all the German people we meet on the street, this Stephi girl randomly is traveling with Ela’s friend from Heidelberg. I could have even dropped the name and she would not have known her, but coincidentally, Oli was Skyping with Ela a couple nights ago and Stephi was introduced to Ela that way. Thery were only in Kyoto for one day as well and we run into this connection with Ela.
I don’t know the odds, but that really is way too weird for 18 days in Japan and all these things aligned. In Europe, three weeks, we had none of that. It’s not like it’s something that just happens, it just lots of crazy coincidences all at once. It’s shocking for me.
