ABACUS
...was the word of the day for the rocky start to our Tokyo weekend. Why? Well, we (Tressa, Jody and I) departed from the station closest to my house (about 5 minute walk; unfortunately it's on NO major train lines) called Otago Station. Apparently no skills are necessary if one is looking to acquire a position at Otago station, as the "Station Master" (must be said in
a rough, low voice with one fist punching upward into the air) was completely inept. I felt like we had time-warped when she pulled out her ABACUS to calculate our change! Proving that abacuses are OBSOLETE, she short changed us by over $50!! Ahhhhh!The girls popped open their Chu-hi's (like a cooler, in a can) as soon as we stepped onto our little one-car train; I waited a while... still in recovery from the night previous. The weather was wonderful: crisp and clear. We got close to
Tokyo around 4pm, just as the sun was setting. It was the perfect vantage point to see Fuji-San (Mr. Fuji; Mount Fuji) in the pink horizon; beautiful!We first went to our hotel which was in Shingawa, a smaller ward in Tokyo. It was relatively easy to find and only a five-minute walk from Kamata Station. The hotel was quite impressive for 3-star, business class. Our room featured three super-single sized beds... uh, BEDS! Hello!?!?! First bed experience in 9 months, I was pretty freakin' excited about that! The hotel was the closest one I could find online to Shibuya for less than $400, and was still $210.
After wandering Shingawa a while, eating some SUBWAY, and prettying ourselves up, the ladies and I proceeded on to Shibuya for a night of dancing. Dancing, yeah! Shibuya was quite impressive: highrises, millions of people... Good shopping there. Shibuya train station is the largest in the world; over 2 million people pass through it daily.
Understand that I painstakingly planned this trip down to the transfer times for trains and everything... well, the one thing I forgot was the address/phone number to the club we wanted to go to. I assumed that this club was going to be like the one we visited in Roppongi; basically
we stepped off the train there and were handed a brochure for that club (having decided beforehand it was where we were going) by a tout; the club itself was 1 minute walk from the station... not the case this time.Not only was the club a great deal smaller, but it was neither touted nor immediately visible
when walking up the correct street... no cabbies knew where it was, and people giving directions tended to point us opposite ways!! After Tressa flirted with/asked for directions from a hot street Koban (cop; apparently giving directions is the main responsibility in this position) and I raced into an internet cafe to find a better online map to the club, we ended our 2-hour wander through Shibuya. Actually, it was a good opportunity to see some of this ward, and as it turned out, the club was just starting to get busy when we arrived, so it worked out well.The club was a lot smaller than we assumed it would be, but we were determined to make the most of it. Cover
charge was 2500 yen, or $25 CN, but included all-you-can-drink, which is ever-interpreted to drink-all-you-can, in my case. We could drink anything we wanted; I drank Moscow mules all night, which are basically the Japanese version of Vodka-Sevens. Many of the bartenders (all HOT) were from Canada.Pretty much immediately after entering the bar we were approached by a group of ENORMOUS men. Turned out they are all on a professional Rugby team here in Japan; from Fiji and New Zealand mostly; built like trucks. The music played was great (all hip-hop) and the ballers could
dance, so we spent the entire night shakin' our booties. Actually, we didn't close the bar down (miraculously) but left around 3am. Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to the bar.Cab back to our hotel cost around $60 (trains stop running just after midnight in Tokyo). Got a couple hours sleep before having to get up in time for check out (10am; we asked about late-check out and were told 1.5 hours more would cost over $60. Uh, no thanks!). Predictably, that extra half hour of sleep was more precious than the free breakfast buffet included with our reservation.
We dragged our still-drunk asses back to the station and climbed aboard
a Gap-sponsored train (CRAZY!) to Harajuku. Harajuku station was much smaller than I thought it would be, but the area lived up to it's promise of flocks of strangely-attired Harajuku people. I saw more goth types (think Marilyn Manson x100) than Alice-in-wonderland types, but they were all very cool, and many were extremely creepy. We visited a street famous for selling the outfits that these people don, as well as other crazy knick-knacks and doo-dads. At a great four-floor shop called the Oriental Bazaar I dropped nearly $200 on Christmas presents! Miraculously I spent only $15 on purchases for myself this time (bought 2 scarfs). We visited a perfumery where we found a hilarious line of perfumes/room fresheners with scents such as "Lettuce," "Dirt," "Laundry Room," and "Funeral Home."
After nearly falling asleep on the trains home, we walked in our doors sore and sleepy around 5:30 last night. I managed to stay awake until 7pm, then slept straight through until 8:15 this morning! Spent Monday feeling rather like I'd been hit by a bus. Talk about it.
Props to Jody-chan for finally having posted her account of our exploits before me! Check it out at: http://jodydwhite.blogspot.com/
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