７月２１日Day 118: Yakiniku, Gyoza, and Finals

Today, my friends and I went to Ginza for our last yakiniku tabehoudai trip.

I probably ate my weight in meat at this restaurant. It was so cheap, only ¥1,200 for all you can eat for an hour. It's also the only restaurant in the whole of Tokyo with Diet Coke. I suspect this cheap price (and presence of aspartame-sweetened beverages) can be attributed to the fact that owner and clientele of this place are both Chinese. I don't think this statement is racist at all-- Chinese people have a very sensible idea of how to get people to buy things-- MAKE THEM CHEAP (and made by 5-year-olds in a sweatshop). But in all seriousness, NO ONE was speaking Japanese in that restaurant. If they were, it was clearly their second language, a mere bridge that all the foreigners hesitantly crossed to get waiters to change their table grills.

We ate fast, we ate a lot, then we went to a toy store.

I went home with a belly full of meat and (for some reason) complete motivation to study for my impending doom err... finals.

Unfortunately, upon my arrival to the lounge, where most of my studying goes down, I heard the mouth watering sound of the gyoza van:

GYOOOOOOOZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA♪

GYOOOOOOOOOZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA♫

The entire time I've lived in Heiwadai, I've been trying to hunt down this goddamn van. I heard it once, wasn't hungry and never heard it again. I thought the ramen van was satisfactory as far as four-wheeled oily Japanese snacks go, but then my friends started getting the gyoza while I wasn't around...

I heard tales of its delciousness and grew jealous and spiteful. Why hadn't I found the van? How did the driver know to come by Azalea while I wasn't there? Was he secretly watching my every move, hounding the train station waiting for me to leave Azalea House so he could tempt all the other kiddies with his deep fried dumplings!?

Today, I heard the old man's voice cry out from the van again... The proverbial ice cream man of Heiwadai. That voice... that scraggly old Japanese voice... advertising the gyoza, taunting me with it's greasy goodness knowing that I had just essentially consumed a Chinese cow in Ginza a mere hour before... another wasted opportunity, another wasted day. Another day without that goddamn gyoza.

"Not today," I said, "NOT TODAY."

I shamelessly stormed out of the lounge, wallet in hand, and got some yasai gyoza. 12 pieces for ¥500, not bad.

The van promised it in done in 3 minutes (without using water... wtf?), but it was closer to 5. The longest 5 minutes of my gyoza-consuming life. I thanked him kindly and skipped merrily on my way.

I brought the greasy morsels up to the lounge and ate 9 of them, while my friends Fady and Harriet consumed 3 between them. We were all already full, but that didn't stop the gyoza from excreting its juicy deep-fried goodness into all of our eager mouths.

It was almost a religious out of body experience.

... considering the amount of beef we had recently devoured, this gyoza-inspired euphoria might have also been indication of some sort of delirium brought on by mad cow...

But hey, the guy included individually-packaged soy sauce and ponzu. That's not the mad cow talking, THAT's craftsmanship.

OH! And that's not even the extent of my morbidly obese day!

My good friend Oski sent me a care package from the good ol' U S of A complete with Mac & Cheese, coconut-covered marshmallows, blue raspberry Twizzlers, M&M's (peanut AND regular), Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Twix, Pop Tarts, Twilight-themed candy hearts(...?), and an awesome mix CD! PLUS: menus and pamphlets of all his favorite places in New York that I have to visit the next time I go.

...AND WHAT HAVE THE REST OF YOU SENT ME, EH? It's not too late! 10 days left! Haha, only kidding...

Not about the 10 days though.

Omg, I'm not ready to go home.

~☆ : THANKS OSKI : ☆~

６月２６日 Day 94: Yokohama & Trump Room

Saturday was spent on my feet. A few friends and I went to Yokohama to see Chinatown, Cosmo World, and shop.

I have to say in all honesty that Chinatown was a bit underwhelming. *This coming from someone schooled in San Francisco, mind you. I mean, yeah it was cool seeing all the better Chinese architecture and decor and food, but it was WAY over-priced and a little repetitive after a few blocks of restaurants.

The GREAT thing about Yokohama Chinatown (and most of Japan) is its cleanliness. How unauthentically awesome X]

Definitely made me miss SF Chinatown and my favorite dim sum place down the street from my apartment with the softball-sized jendui.

After eating lunch in Ishikawa-cho, we headed to Sakuragi-cho to go see Cosmo World and all the great Yokohama shopping we had heard so much about.

Cosmo World is a theme park in Sakuragi-cho, one stop away from Yokohama station. It's basically like a mini-carnival... the closest thing I can harken it to is Santa Monica Pier... but better because the rides don't suck.

We didn't go on this, but we did go on the Ferris Wheel!

WE WERE SOOOOO HIGH~ and Lisa and Joelle were a little scared... but that's ok because we made it off alive!! ^_^

Photo by Lisa

Greatest moment: seeing a couple in the next gondola sucking some serious face. PDA in Japan is a HUGE no-no, so I think the false sense of privacy this couple felt in this glass enclosure was too much to handle and they just went for it while my friends and I watched, pointed, and laughed.

Oh, Japan and your sexually repressed masses. Gets me every time.

(It was raining when we went, so I clearly didn't take this picture)

After we went to Cosmo World, we went to this mall by the train station. I think it's called "Diamond" but I could be wrong. I scored some serious swag at this place because THE ENTIRE MALL WAS HAVING A 30-50% OFF SALE.

New sandals... from Top Shop ;)

New belt from Top Shop ;)

Then we ate dinner at a soba place inside the mall. I got tempura. DELICIOUS.

On the ride home, I was debating over whether or not I should go to Trump Room, a super posh night spot in Shibuya, and stay up until 5am. I had been up since 9am, walking all day... by the time we got home, it was about 10:30pm. I decided to go out to make sure no opportunity remained un-seized. I downed 2 coffees, threw on some make-up and my zebra print dress from the Flee Market and my friends and I jumped on the shuu-den (the last train).

(Obviously, not my picture)

Trump Room was a surreal club... there's just no other word for it. The interior was basically a baroque wet dream. The walls were covered with ornate gold-framed mirrors of varying size and you couldn't see the ceiling because it was obscured by crystal chandeliers and 2 gigantic disco balls. Red velvet, leather and velour chaises lined the walls while some serious Euro-trash trance music lit up the dance floor and dual-facing stages.

The atmosphere was by far the most interesting one I've felt in Tokyo but the music was undoubtedly the worst... I'm still not sure if the place was empty because the music was so crappy, because we showed up late or just because there wasn't an event going on, but it was a little deader than I expected it to be at 2am on a Saturday...

By the end of the night, everyone had passed out on some kind of chaise and we rode the first train back to Heiwadai bleary eyed and beautiful. CARPE... DIEM'D.

６月２５日 Day 93: Older Women, Older Men, and Me

No moments wasted here. As the end of this trip draws nearer, I've been jam-packing my weekends to make sure I'm making the most of my precious time here (only 34 more days). The week literally offers me no opportunity to explore Tokyo, or the places around it-- so this weekend involved very little sleep.

On Friday, I was treated to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ by a 31-year-old woman I met at Hub 2 weeks ago (I'll explain later). I went to Yokohama with my friends yesterday-- all day. Then I went to Trump Room and stayed out all night. Sunday morning, I went to Shimokitazawa and interviewed 2 complete strangers and Sunday night I spent drinking with my German and English friends while we watched the Germany vs. England match of the world cup.

And now I'll break it down for you.

Two weeks ago, I was at Hub, a British pub in Shibuya with my friend Kana. We had just come from all-you-can-eat Indian food in Shimokitazawa and wanted to have a little night cap before parting ways. Since Hub had very limited seating because everyone was watching the World Cup, we sat at a table with a bunch of strangers-- real bar-like and all that.

I ended up talking to this Japanese guy next to me because he heard Kana and me speaking English. He asked if we were from America, told me his favorite band was Green Day, and how he always wanted to live abroad, blah, blah, blah. It was all a very feeble pick up attempt. I was getting a little uncomfortable when he mentioned that he was 30. He definitely didn't look 30.

Just as I was wondering what I could say to escape the conversation, 2 women sitting across from me and this 30-year-old man saved me. He had asked me what kind of Japanese bands I liked, and I told him I liked Arashi, Japan's biggest boy band knowing that most 30-year-olds hanging out at Hub wouldn't like them. The 2 women across from me heard Arashi and immediately interjected, "Sorry to eavesdrop-- but we heard you like Arashi?"

"Why yes, I do. Thank you for providing me with an exit from this Green Day-loving manchild." I thought. Then we started talking, and the 30-year-old guy felt ignored and rejected (so I thought) and he left. These women were so nice, they asked us questions about where we were from, where we were going to school, really sweet. Then they started talking to us about how guys like Mr. 30 don't eat meat anymore, they're sissies. Then they invited us out to eat pork with them (and that's why we went out on Friday)!

Then the 30-year-old guy came back, placed a new lighter in front of me and said, "Here, this is for you." O_____o

Odd. I actually meant to blog about this 2 weeks ago when it happened... but wasn't sure it would lead to anything so... that's why it's so late.

Anyway, when I met Junko, the woman with the cool bun for dinner and NOT ONLY did she treat me, she brought me a gift.



ADORABLE. I felt like such a jackass for not bringing anything. God, Kate. Didn't you read Lisa's post about gift-giving in Japan? >_<

Believe it or not-- the night gets weirder. Junko had brought her friend Aya, a tomboy coworker of hers who I really liked. After we had finished eating, Aya's friend Misato had just finished work and wanted to join us, but our dinner was already past it's time limit (yes, the dream of tabe-houdai usually only lasts for 90 minutes). So what did we do? WE ATE AGAIN. At a nicer restaurant too!

After a 10 minute walk, we stopped at some washoku place (still in Shibuya) and met up with Junko's 60-year-old friend, Kin-chan, the owner of Ton-chan (the restaurant where we had just finished eating). Kin-chan was really sweet-hearted old man; and a little mumbly chain smoker with 1-year-old triplets. YEAH. He told the restaurant to hold a table for us and had a 99% empty bottle of sweet potato soju with his name on it waiting for us when we arrived.

I was really full from our FIRST dinner and was worrying everyone else because I was physically incapable of eating a second time. I forced down the most delicious eggplant I had ever eaten in my life, while trying to keep down the side of pork I had feasted on earlier, plus 4 or 5 mugs of beer (hey-- those Japanese OL's can DRINK). Then Kin-chan offered me some of the soju. IT WAS MIND-BLOWING. Because I'm only 20 and don't really have a sophisticated palette, I only got a little taste, diluted with water, but THOROUGHLY enjoyed it... wow.

This time, Kin-chan treated. He made sure to drop me his meishi (business card) to contact him if I ever wanted to come over to his house to have his daughter do my nails.

SURREAL.

Who knew strangers could be so cool??

６月１５日 Day 83: The Best Midnight Snack EVER

Yesterday at about 11:45pm, my friend Nick and I were hungry. On our way to 711, we ran across a ramen truck and feasted. Epically.

The ramen truck is basically what it sounds like, a truck that sells and makes ramen. The trunk is essentially a huge hot plate with basins of boiling water. It was cheap, convenient, and ridiculously satisfying.

We were already about half way to 711 and the driver was kind enough to drive behind us all the way back to our apartment to make our ramen. He then told us to get our own bowls so we could take it back inside with us. He had cases of fresh chashu, bamboo, egg, kamaboko and onions. Delicious, and environmentally friendly. AMAZING. And it was only 600円, ALSO AMAZING.

To wash it all down, Nick and I watched some Frasier while we slurped away at our bowls of greasy Japanese goodness. Needless to say, we were very, very happy with our midnight snack. To think, American college students have to boil their own crappy instant ramen. WE GET IT DELIVERED--FRESH!! d(^O^)b

Jealous?

Today, to make up for that horribly irresponsible, yet strangely fulfilling midnight snack, I went for a run with my friend Jordan in 65% humidity. I felt sticky all day because my foot-length skirt basically serves as a portable steam-room for my legs, so I thought the running would cool me down and also make me feel a little less guilty about the ramen. I WAS DYING. The sun wasn't even out when we were running at about 6pm and I was sweating buckets. I also forgot to take my make-up off before we started running, so I'm almost certain I was racooning it all the way home.

Whatever, it was worth it for that ramen X}

６月１２日 Day 80: Buddha, Buddha, Buddha...

My friends and I went to Kamakura to visit the infamous giant Buddha and the infamous blogger, half-breed, Texan hottie (our friend) Lisa. We couldn't have chosen a better day ;)

We left cozy little Heiwadai around 9am and got to Kamakura at about 10:30ish. It was a long haul on the Shonan-Shinjuku line... we were standing for a while before some seats finally freed up around Yokohama (more than half way to Kamakura).

But oh, when we got there... I'm going to tell you all right now that if you're cool enough to get some omiyage from me-- it's likely going to be purchased in Kamakura! The shopping street next to the train station is STACKED. There are touristy, kitschy, buddha-y and foodie things by the TRUCKLOAD so I'm definitely making a second pilgrimage before coming home.

Buddha pillows! Haha!

Novelty senbei!

Gorgeous hydrangeas!

I FINALLY FOUND RAIN BOOTS. Just in time for the rainy season (which starts next week... ugh). They're exactly what I wanted: short, sweet, and leopard print! AND THEY FIT-- AMAZINGLY. Japanese people have tinier feet than Chinese people-- guaranteed. They don't even have to wrap them. You have no idea how desperately I searched in vain for shoes that fit my ogreish feet, and rain boots are especially difficult because not only do Japanese people have tiny feet-- they have tiny calves. Calves so small, I can't get my wrist into most boots. These boots were not only a find-- they were a flippin' STEAL. 1500円 baby! SCOOOOOOORRRRREEEEEE! Oh wait-- it's the world cup right now.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL~!

Here's some ice cream on the way up to the Buddha. Maccha means green tea... but this flavor is called Obamaccha flavor because Obama apparently enjoyed it when he was last here. It was delicious, so the President definitely has some good taste. He must also be able to eat fast because that ice cream melted faster than the polar ice caps when I ate it. (Hah!)

Washin' up before sayin' what up to the Buddha.

Look at the size of it! It's MASSIVE!

It really is a sight to see. For 200円 it's not bad.

Contrary to my photos, there were TONS of people standing in front of this thing taking pictures with it and of it. I must have been in about 20 peoples' pictures because of the insane photo crossfire that hits this thing from EVERY angle.

My friend Mehron commented that he didn't really feel spiritual standing in front of the Buddha. It was the same feeling I got while visiting Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto. Both these places were once spiritual grounds, but these days it only matters that you have a picture of them for your Christmas card. Think about that next time one of your Sansei friends sends one of those things over come November. "Look at how Japanese we are! Merry Christmas 2010!"

HAH.

Then we went to get lunch at this cold udon place. MANNNN it was GOOD!

Mmm cold udon and dashi with green onions, ginger and sesame.

My friend Mehron ordered this unintentionally phallic lunch. This is called Daibutsudon, literally Buddha udon. Although in my opinion, it looks a little like something else... heh heh...

After that, we headed towards Fujisawa to look at the gorgeous place where Lisa lives. It was so breathtaking that I couldn't even bring myself to take a shoddy picture of it because it wouldn't do it justice. I was so happy to see the ocean though. Growing up in LA really makes you appreciate the healing power of the ocean. It was so refreshing to smell the sea salt in the air, to feel the sun warming my shoulders, and to be surrounded by good friends. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to be living in Japan.

６月１〜３日 Day 69-71: Birthday/Midterms Week

This week was everyone's goddamn birthday... and it's midterms-- so things are joyous and painful at the same time right now.

On Monday, I went to cake-houdai for my friend Kelsey's birthday. It was actually more like a cake orgy than a feast. SOOOO MUCH CAKE... We went to the Shibuya Branch of Sweets Paradise, which was full of cutesy middle/high school kids filling tiny bowls with scrawny portions of sweets while my gaijin friends and I stacked our plates with spaghetti, curry, potatoes, kanten and cake. Lots of cake. Puttin' those dainty little Japanese kids to shame.

On Tuesday, we went to kaiten-sushi, otherwise known as sushi boats. I ate 9 plates of nigiri... aka: 18 pieces of pure, uncooked deliciousness for under $10. I didn't need it to be someone's birthday to go completely hog wild on sushi. I just go for excellence.

Yesterday was my friend Natasha's birthday. She had her party at a tabe-houdai and nomi-houdai izakaya in Shinjuku. The food was definitely sub-par... nothing but appetizers and flavorless nabe... but I must have downed at least 4 glasses of beer and 6 or 7 gin tonics... followed by a brief 2 hour karaoke sesh with the birthday girl and crew. *Note: this is what most college kids do on a school night.

Whilst on the way to the karaoke box, we were all unabashedly intoxicated on the 10:30 train. We were all foreigners, exchanging words the way most inebriates do: at a more than audible decibel level... and we were told off. To be more specific, my friends: Nick, Harriet and I were told off my an old Japanese woman who curtly informed us, "This is a public train." in perfect, accent-less English.

God, I've never been so ashamed in my life (in Japan). I've always made fun of obnoxious foreign assholes on the train, but now I've lived to see myself become one. One that makes Japanese people cringe... One of their own converting to the crass and ugly form of communication that is only reserved for shameless gaijin with no regard for the observed dead silence of the sacred train. I sobered up real quick and wanted to die then and there. I hope I never see that woman ever again.

After that public shaming, I kept insisting that I wouldn't go to karaoke, "Nooo, no... I have a midterm tomorrow..." But unfortunately, because of the presence of an extremely hot err-- persuasive French neighbor of mine, I was convinced it was a good idea. After a few good rounds of Disney songs, The Cardigans, David Bowie, Queen, and Britney Spears-- Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On came on, and my friends and I decided to call it quits.

I showed up to my midterm today-- without a (debilitating) hangover! Amazing how Celine Dion cures that... maybe her music reeks of ginger and not French Canadian post menopausal bliss.

５月２４日 Day 60: Shabu Shabu Shibuya

My friends Keith and Harriet took us to this awesome tabehoudai shabu shabu restuarant in Shibuya on Monday. The weather's been rainy, depressing and HUMID so we all thought it would be the perfect occaision to get shabu shabu before it's hot, rainy, depressing and humid.

The way we cooked shabu shabu was a way I've never seen before-- and with sauces I've never used either. We cooked one side of our veggies and meat in soy milk and the other half in spicy stock. The sauces we used were the regular ponzu and daikon sauce, with an additional goma (sesame seed) sauce that was thicker. FLIPPIN' DELICIOUS-- you should all be very, very jealous.

５月１４日 Day 50: Meet the Beatles

On Friday after my religion quiz, I went to Sweets Paradise in Harajuku for well deserved ke-ki-houdai (all you can eat cake). Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds... for people who like cake. I could only eat about a plate and a half whereas my other friends engorged themselves on 3, 4, and 5 plates of cake, creme brulee, and other various sweets and ice cream.

The thing I loved about this place was the fact that they anticipated having customers who had to eat something savory with their sweets. They served pasta, sandwiches and curry rice to combat that craving. I had 2 savory plates, which was probably the reason why I didn't go hog wild on the cake.

After that adventure in obesity, a few friends and I went to go see The Beatles at the Cavern Club in Roppongi.

Please forgive the shoddy picture, it was taken on my cell phone.

The Cavern Club was something I read about before coming to Japan, and I knew I had to see it to believe it. It's a club devoted to the Beatles, and Beatles cover bands. Friday featured the best of the cover bands... I think they were called the Beatles (or the Beatres). You can't tell from the photo, but the place was PACKED with Japanese Beatles fans who were singing, dancing and drunkily crapping, err-- CLAPPING throughout the set.

The "Beatles'" outfits represented the early 60's Ed Sullivan Show time period, but they played music from all stages of their career. The guy playing John was by FAR the best one of them all. He had the voice down, the least 'L' and 'R' confusion and was even sporting some high quality Beatle Boots! Talk about authentic! Paul hit the notes, but I'm pretty sure there are no Beatles songs by the name of "Ret it Be" or "She Rubs You." George's guitar skills were spot-on but Japanese Ringo sucked probably as much as regular Ringo during "Yellow Submarine."

Entrance fare was one $10 cocktail so I chose one called "Here Comes the Sun," which was basically crappy sangria. It's ok though because I also snatched this cool coaster from the place. That's what they get for making me pay that entrance fee!

We ended up leaving the Cavern Club at around 11:30, which was a close call to catch the last train. Too close in fact. The boys in our group had a dispute over which trains to take home while we girls were forced to tag along. We followed the stupid boys down to the Oedo line, but we ended up getting separated down at the tracks. We got off at a different stop, taking an alternate route that only got us as far as Ikebukuro, 5 stops before Heiwadai, where we live.

It was scary knowing that there were literally NO trains running and that we were stuck. We had 3 options, 1.) Walk 2.) Taxi or 3.) Wait in a 24-hour restaurant until 5am when the trains start running again. In an effort to save money, my two girl friends tried option 1 first. Big mistake.

I'd like to think that Japan is pretty resourceful and convenient in most aspects. However, their city planning has something to be desired. It would have been easy to walk home in theory-- it was only about 15 miles or so...(-___-) Unfortunately, Tokyo isn't built on a grid, it's structured like a maze to get people lost trying to find the Imperial Palace, so there's so such thing as right, left, up down, etc. As I said in a previous post where I got lost, unless you know THE WAY to a place-- YOU WILL NOT FIND IT. It also doesn't help that all the street maps (that are supposed to be helpful) are oriented in different directions and don't always point north, so it's even easier to get lost.

After 20 minutes walking in the completely opposite direction of our dorm, I told the girls we should just give up and pay for a taxi. Walking around the streets, we saw nothing but drunk salary men stumbling around trying to find their way home or to a McDonald's. It wasn't dangerous, but it was gross. I saw one guy peeing against a building, one guy puking against a building, and one guy just collapse on the ground in a drunken stupor... no thanks.

It ended up being about 円1000 each for the ride home, so I felt like it was completely worth it. I'm never missing the last train out again... or following stupid boys down a longer train route.

５月１３日Day 49: Nonchalant

Hi all, sorry for the long wait for updates again, there hasn't been much to report as of late so I'll condense most of the week into this post. It's the week of a regular Tokyo-ite.

On Monday, I accidentally took the wrong line to school. It was ok though, because I still knew how to get there. With a shortcut.

On Tuesday, I renewed my train commuter pass for 3 months. Yeah, no big deal. I live here.

On Wednesday, I wandered around Ebisu with my friends Kana and Jordan. No, we didn't go to the infamous Beer Garden. Kana told me it's more like a beer hall, so we're not really missing out on every man's version of heaven. Instead, we went to the Tokyo Museum of Photography and saw the work of Jeanloup Sieff.

My favorite photo:

Afterwards, we enjoyed some acai smoothies, shopping in Harajuku and then GYOZA for dinner at this famous hole in the wall. The place is so famous, it doesn't even have a name! You have to just know where it is and be there before the line starts building. It's only open for dinner, and the line builds like a Disneyland ride on the weekends so only locals and jetlagged tourists are there for the perfect time to eat: Wednesday at 6:30.

My pictures don't really do it justice, but the gyoza was to die for. I had 2 and a half plates, or 15 pieces of sheer gyoza goodness. They only serve 2 different types of gyoza: boiled or pan fried. Personally, I liked the pan-fried because no one can ever make boiled gyoza better than my grandparents'. You can also get rice, moyashi (bean sprouts), cabbage and cucumbers for side dishes, but who wants that when you can have GYOZA for 280円?!

Anyway, Thursday rolled around and my friend Joelle and I went to Starbucks in Shinjuku to study for our religion test.

Seriously, who wants to study in quiet little Heiwadai when you can study in bustling Shinjuku with a perfect view of Isetan?! I made myself quite comfy and only missed 2 questions on the quiz. YAY FOR ACADEMIA!