Tokyo: Day 2.
So I should have written this already but I’ve committed myself to playing Chrono Trigger. Yes, video games take priority in my life still. Ask Megan.
So after day one, my friends and I sat down to figure out what we were going to do the next day. Mostly because we only had this one day left and we wanted to make the most of it.
The two big things on the list were going to Yoyogi park again, because Sunday was the day for the freaks, and to go to the Tokyo Park Hyatt where Lost in Translation was filmed. We also decided to go to Odaiba, or “Future Town” because it was supposed to be pretty neat.
Around 10 in the morning we headed out again. We had a hard time getting breakfast because the bakery we had been going to was closed, so we were slower getting into town. We headed straight for the Hayatt because that was something we really wanted to see. Anyway, we get there and it is immediately obvious that this place is way too nice for the likes of us. It is hard to describe that feeling, but it was there. Everything there was perfect, all the time.
I should mention that we looked into staying there just one night. It would have cost $700. Thats the kind of place this is. Anyway, our scraggly posse went in and up to the bar after nearly shitting our pants that we would get thrown out, only to find out the bar doesn’t open until 5PM.
So we head to KFC to grab some lunch and head to Yoyogi park to have a picnic and enjoy the sun, each others’ company and the nearby freaks, freakishly practicing some freakish dance.
The Harajuku entrance is known for a bridge where the super goths hang out with signs for free hugs. The south entrance is known for the rockabillies that shimmy around in circles. Rockabillies are like greasers, only Japanese; which makes it twice as funny.
They don’t think they are funny though, they are dead serious. They dance so much that their pointy cowboy greaser boots rip apart on the cement, and they continuously tape them up with black tape to keep on rockin’.
We ate a little ways away from them, but not away from the other freaks. Behind us was a small army of maybe 15 people dressed as various anime characters that I am ashamed to say that I recognized, and they were doing some elaborate practice for a dance. We find out later that we aren’t supposed to take pictures of them because they are making a music video or some nonsense. I took a few candid shots anyway.
On the way out of the park we saw a Japanese scam artist. They did this thing where they have a paper cut out of some character that seems to float and dance above the ground. Sounds stupid but it is an extremely effective trick and scam. My father and I fell for it years ago.
It was getting to be mid afternoon, which happens to be when the sun starts to set, so we headed to Odaiba to check out future town. It is an unmanned monorail ride away with its own set of day passes to buy, but was actually very convenient for our regular course of travel.
We went to ride the huge ferris wheel and eat dinner and look at robots. We were satisfied on all accounts. I will say the robots were a little disappointing, as all it did was play a trumpet, but it was free, so no big deal.
Dinner deserves some special attention. We were walking around this building that was 2 floors of restaurants that had all manner of food, but the things that looked good also had a huge wait, so we wound up settling at a waffle cafe. We had some small waffles that were very good, and not very filling. Mine came with chocolate, bananas, almonds, and ice cream. Megan’s came with cream cheese and black pepper.
After dinner we were tired, but we had to got the bar. This was one of those experiences we had to have. We marched in like we belonged this time, only to get stopped by a $20 cover charge. We debated briefly, and went in.
This place was amazing. It had one of the best views of Tokyo I have ever seen. The decor of the place is also really quite nice as well. The drinks are very expensive but they are perfect. Probably more perfect than any drinks I have ever had. We had two perfect drinks a piece and then had to hurry up home. The trains were stopping and we couldn’t afford to be in that bar much longer.
When we got back to where the hotel was we decided to make a pit stop in to a local bar. Courtney and Jason had been there earlier and had to leave embarrassed because nobody spoke English and they couldn’t speak Japanese. We redeemed ourselves. By redeemed, I mean got trashed.
You see, bars like this always have an old man who is there all the time. This old man is always fascinated by us white devils and insists that we try everything. Thankfully Japanese etiquette dictates he pays for it. So he ordered some Japanese food and I ate it happily and my friends tried it all happily as well. Then the alcohol started. He gave us shochu, sake, plum sake, strawberry sake, and green tea plum sake. These weren’t sips to try. These were beer mugs full of ice and hooch.
I can’t stand waste so I insisted they disappear, along with the beers we had ordered. We were a bit nervous at how easily and willingly he would stumble behind the bar, grab bottles, glasses, and ice without protest from employees, and I started pleading for them to help in Japanese. They laughed and made it a point to vacate.
We pulled ourselves away and Jason found an alley where the past few hours of drinking left him, and we went home and crashed.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:17 am by rl
