Things I'll Miss About Tokyo & Things That Will Take Some Getting Used To When I Come Home

So, the dream has finally come to an end. I'm back in LA, and Tokyo is on the other side of the world. I can't believe how much I miss it already.

As we pulled away from Ikebukuro on the Narita Express to the airport, we passed by all of our favorite places and stomping grounds: Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinagawa. I just remember thinking, "Wow, I'll never be able to make an impromptu trip to Shibuya like this again." It's weird.

I made a list of stuff that's going to be weird... going home... ugh...

Things I'll Miss About Tokyo:

Vending machines

Clean public bathrooms/toilets

The metro, sleeping on the metro

Tabehoudai, nomihoudai restaurants

Convenience stores

Purikura

People handing out tissues

Getting anywhere by train

Cell phone etiquette

Walking

Neon Lights

Safety

My Japanese cell phone

Flee Markets

Adorably-dressed Japanese babies

Karaoke

Azalea House and all the people in it (yes, all of them)

Things That Will Take Some Getting Used to Now That I'm Home:

Seeing minorities

Censoring my public conversations

Acceptable standards of drunkenness

Sloppily dressed people

Not having to dodge bikers on the sidewalk

Traffic

Street names/comprehensible directions

Morbid obesity

Food portions

I've now been home for 3 days.

I had the time of my life in Tokyo. I went to places that I didn't think existed, I met friends that I hope to keep for a lifetime, I wake up every morning in my own bed thinking, "Did I dream it all?"

I miss Tokyo. I'll never forget it.

７月３０日 Day 128: Last Day, Last Night...

A fantastic night of clubbing was had by all.

Day... seized. Didn't sleep for 2 days... stayed up all night saying goodbye and reminiscing with friends... then spent tonight clubbing until 6am... got Jonathan's bread breakfast buffet again... spent the entire time making Azalea House superlatives, trying not to cry when I left them all.

It's going to be so weird without them in America...

７月２８日 Day 126: How We Study for Finals

Today, I woke up at 5:30 to get breakfast buffet at Jonathan's with my friends, Fady and Nick. We ate an epic breakfast of all-you-can-eat croissants and salad before our Japanese finals. I think it made me do a lot better.

I mean, who couldn't do well when their friends make little faces in their tomatoes?

After the test, I went out to Office Bar with some other friends... regardless of the fact that I have a literature final that I'm not exactly 100% prepared for. Dutch courage is always the answer when it comes to literature... (jk kids, be sure to study hard!)

Office Bar is in Gaienmae, between Aoyama and Shibuya. It has a kick-ass view and over-priced trendy drinks in an Urban Outfitters-esque atmosphere. The walls are lined with new paintings up for auction every time we go, and there's often a DJ there playing some spiffy background music to the dimly lit room.

I wrote this while I was waiting for my friends... I was waiting for a while.

Standing with a glass of white wine at Office Bar, a lone DJ plays to a new gallery of neon paintings. A small child runs carefree amongst the empty tables and chairs, her parents monitoring cautiously from their table as they peruse the drink menu.

The DJ changes the track, lights a cigarette, and sips her wine. She looks at me, the only other customer in the bar, our eyes meet for a split second, but she breaks the undoubtedly uncomfortable gaze. She blows out the smoke.

I want a cigarette.

She's probably wondering why I'm sitting alone at this bar on a Wednesday night. My last Wednesday in Tokyo. I'll let her wonder.

I'll gaze pensively at the people on the sidewalk. They push past each other as they cross the street. They're just as alone as I am. Briefcases instead of bruises.

Jordan and Joelle should be here soon. Until then, I'll just be another American in Japan, sitting alone at a bar, wondering how in a city of millions, I wound up alone. My last Wednesday in Tokyo.

７月２５日 Day 123: Cat Cafe

After a night full of drama and trauma, my friends and I decided to unwind by going to a cat cafe called Nekorobi in Ikebukuro.

For those of you who are wondering, cat cafe is just like what it sounds like-- a cafe with a bunch of cats inside. You play with the cats, snack on some soda and cookies, play Wii or with the new iPad, and just chillax with the cats. It's very therapeutic, and kinda hilarious. Most of the customers are clearly cat people, cooing and kyaing at all the widdo kitties. After what we had been through last night, a visit to cat cafe was just what the doctor ordered.

And now for some gratuitous feline imagery.

My favorite: Anko and Alex's favorite: Aisha

Doraemon was cute, but not really all that affectionate.

This one's called Kantaroso, he was a total sweetheart.

They had shaved Kuririn to look like a lion. Wonder if that's humane... Wait, it's cute-- humanity becomes irrelevant when it's CUTE!!!! =^+^=

Me feeding Anko.

Then we wrote in the guestbook!! My entry says: "Nya~! I love cats!" My friend Keith wrote "I LOVE DOGS. Love, Keith" The owner of the place said to us, "Dogs? Don't you mean cats? You mean cats, right? Oh wait... ha ha..."

One of those uniquely Japanese experiences... for sure.

I'm surprised something like this doesn't exist in the states. Then I remembered, Americans have no common sense. They would probably kill those cats, or just need to be regulated because they wouldn't understand that cats can't be forced to love them, or that cats don't just indiscriminately play with people the way dogs do.

Dog cafes... those would be popular. But messy.

I like cats :3

７月２４日 Day 122: Mori Tower and Golden Gai

Today, I went to Mori Tower in Roppongi with my family friends. We at kaitenzushi at Roppongi Hills which was DELICIOUS and then went to see the view from the observation deck. Sadly, there was a high risk of lightning storms, so we couldn't step out onto the famous helipad to see the most awesome view of the greater Tokyo area.

Instead, we saw this cool exhibit called "Seeing Nature" featuring all these cool pieces that had to do with seeing the environment in new ways. It's been so long since I've been to a museum, so I really enjoyed myself...

Feathers and fluff disguised as snow.

Paper mache gopher holes.

Since it's my last weekend in town, I decided to go to my favorite place in all of Tokyo, Shimokitazawa, one last time. I walked around, visited all my favorite stores indie/hippie/trendy second-hand stores, and left knowing that I will someday return.

Later that night, my dorm friends and I decided to go to Golden Gai, a cool bar district in Shinjuku. The first bar we went to was a drag queen karaoke bar. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves watching Japanese drag queens in green wigs drunkly slur their way through "My Way" whilst trying not to disturb the contents of their stuffed bras.

Then we went to a significantly smaller bar called Ace's. It sported a 6 seater counter and a wooden shelf full of brightly colored spirits and mixers. The bartender was a stone-faced Japanese guy in a pageboy hat who didn't know how to make a Manhattan. I got a Beefeeter on the rocks instead.

Around 3:30am, I was talking shop with the bartender for a while, getting a slightly self-satisfied "I'm-so-hip-with-my-Beefeeter" kind of buzz when I decided we should start thinking of our next destination. The other two people seated at the bar, a white girl with her Japanese boyfried, overheard this comment and immediately asked us where we wanted to go and if they could come with.

We didn't know, we wanted to see where the night was going to take us, we insisted. The girl was persistent, she kept asking, probing, interrogating (in English, but she spoke to her boyfriend in Japanese). Her boyfriend sat next to her uncomfortably as she kept at it. Finally, I said we were on a tight budget because we were students and didn't want to go anywhere expensive. She insisted on paying for our drinks at Ace's so we could accompany her to her friend's bar afterwards. She tried to pay with credit because she didn't have cash, but since it was a small bar, they only took cash. Her boyfriend paid for us all. I think the total tab was about ¥6500.

Frugal and stupid, we accepted the free drinks and proceeded to follow this crazy girl to her "friend's" bar. She started walking towards Kabuki-cho, the red light/yakuza district and we hesitantly and cautiously followed behind. While she babbled on about how she had graduated from UCLA, how she was the lead singer of some hardcore band, and how many host clubs she had been to in the past year, I tried to practice some Japanese with her boyfriend.

In the 10 minute walk from Golden Gai to Kabuki-cho, I found out that this guy was a 35-year-old film assistant for some anime studio and that this girl had picked him up at the Nerima train station that very day. It was their first date. I grew increasingly worried as we drew closer and closer to the heart of the red-light district. My friends knew where we were going and kept saying, "We should just run, let's just run for it right now... this is so weird, she's so crazy... Where are we even going?"

Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst, we watched the girl ask a Nigerian guy for directions to "Hiro's place." The Nigerian led us to an underground entrance, the girl ran straight in with him, her boyfriend that she had just met didn't follow. Neither did we.

"I'm going home," he said.

"Why?" I asked nervously.

"Well," he said scratching the back of his head, "I've got work in the morning and don't really want to stay out that late."

"...Are we in some kind of dangerous place right now?" I quietly queried.

He looked in the direction of the underground entrance, "Well, I'm sure if she's taking you in there that it's probably safe..." he trailed off.

"...But?" I said.

"Other places around here aren't."

After explaining this conversation, my friend Alex said "Let's get the FUCK out of here!" So we ran out of Kabuki-cho, hid in a Matsuya, and then decided to walk from Shinjuku to Shibuya to kill time and catch the first train home at 5.

Definitely one of my more memorable nights here. Great way to spend a Sunday morning!

７月２日 Day 99: Alcatraz

Sorry this is WAY late, but I've been too busy with final projects, essays, field trips and fun to be updating this blog...

I've also been ducking the rainy season like a NINJA. Thanks, new leopard boots!! ^w^

Last Friday, my friends and I went to Alcatraz, a prison style bar in Shibuya. We had been to this other bar called Lock-Up the week before, which was a bar that looked like a jail, where the prisoners/waiters scared the crap out of you while you were eating.

Alcatraz wasn't like that. It was supposed to be kinda...

*Please note that this post has an 18 and over requirement from this point on*

...kinky.

We were a big group... about 16 of us, and we ordered the all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink courses. The courses had some very memorable highlights. We had Russian Roulette takoyaki, which was a plate of about 20 takoyaki... but 5 of them had tons of wasabi in them. I hate wasabi, so of course, I picked one with wasabi in it. Blegh. Straight up my nose. (X_X)

We also had a flaming chicken, complete with intertwined chicken feet... which I totally didn't expect (Like, srsly? Are we in China? Dirty!)

Yes, here are the waitress uniforms. Exposed thongs. Note the guys in our group... haha ;)

The place had some pretty spiffy drinks, I must say.

Test tube drink.

Some really cheap beer in test tubes.

My penis banana drink... and my other friend's drink... that was mixed with (if you haven't guessed already) a vibrator.

We all got pretty hammered... and took drunken purikura.

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２１日 Day 89: DISNEY SEA

As a typical Angelino, I've loyally bowed my head southwards towards my Mecca, Disneyland, since my infancy.

Now at the ripe age of 20, I've decided to convert. TO DISNEY SEA.

My friends on the Disney monorail. Note the handles and the window!! Japan goes APE for Mickey!

The center of Disney Sea. Have no idea what movie it's referencing-- but damn, it's cool. PS: That volcano is hollow and full of a Journey to the Center of the Earth ride.

The Main Square of Disneyland looks like old America. The Main Square of Disney Sea looks like old Italy. LOVED IT!

The Aztec portion of Disney Sea: complete with an Indiana Jones ride replica and other flaming coasters.

The Agrahba Sect of Disney Sea. Yes, it's from Aladdin. Which takes place in "Arabia" but this land has some Indian influences as well. Not like Japanese people would notice or care about the difference.

Felt like I was in Turkey!

Here's Ariel's Castle. Aka: every little girl's dream.

Here's King Triton on the inside.

On the inside, you can also ride these tea cups and spinning blowfish.

It's mostly for little kids, but that's never stopped anyone.

Here's the stage of the most amazing on-site Disney Show I've ever seen. It was basically the Cirque du Soleil version of The Little Mermaid-- I wish I was allowed to take pictures. There were spinning trapeze artists and a starfish doing interpretive dances. There was also a HUGE robotic Ursula head that BLEW MY MIND. I would go back to Disney Sea for that Ursula head.

We stayed until 10pm, closing... probably one of my favorite days here :]