Day 6: Shinjuku, Ginza, Akihabara & Shibuya

 Shinjuku Panorama

 Some Shinjuku Government Buildings

The touring begins.  First stop, the bank to exchange money.  Owen asks me to carry his pretty hefty SLR camera for him in my messenger bag and we set off.  Half way to the bank, we see a great building, he whips out his camera and finds he probably should have charged it…  SO we get some money exchanged, backtrack to the hotel room, drop off his heavy deadweight camera and back track again back towards Shinjuku Government Building.  The perfectly symmetric government building offers a free observation deck and lots of free tourist info.   As an added bonus, the observation deck also included a very good ukulele player to accompany the inspiring view that really added to the experience of seeing Shinjuku in all directions.  Next, we hunted for food… or actually just a restaurant.  Wandered around west Shinjuku a bit until we happened onto a small place and Owen tried his first adventurous food-ey step and ordered the fish.  He had no idea what he had ordered but was pleasantly surprised at his deliciously grilled mackerel.  I told him I had only had one bad experience with the good old trick of closing my eyes, pointing and ordering whatever my finger landed on.  It usually turns out okay and it worked this time too.

 Shinjuku Government Building Panorama

 Owen, Mike and me.

Next we went to Ginza, the 5^th Avenue of Tokyo filled with fancy window shopping and some fancy architecture.  We saw some real snow, a green wall, a dancing robot that grooves with music and some new prototype technology at the Sony Building.  We also explored the fanciest watch stores we’ve ever seen in one building.  There were 4 separate glass elevators and each one takes you to a specific floor to a specific store.  Each one was glass on all sides and different shapes like cylinders, squares, etc.  and operated on a single hydraulic piston that would push the clear glass box straight up 3 stories to an otherwise inaccessible store.  Some of the watches in there were the prices of decently expensive cars and after trying all the elevators and feeling very out of place in all the stores, we left.  After we’d satisfied our window and souvenir shopping, we made our way to Akihabara.  This district is known as the “otaku” district which roughly translated means “geek” or “nerd”.  There is a whole fascinating otaku culture and world that surrounds this district that is quickly becoming a subculture hiding just under the mask of Tokyo’s acceptable norm.  The streets of Akihabara used to be mainly filled with a plethora of electronic shops ranging from all specialties and sizes carrying some of Japan’s most cutting edge and often overpriced electronic technology.  This is still true, except much of these shops have also now evolved to include anime memorabilia and adult entertainment.  This new otaku subculture has started to make headlines with guys who have given up on trying to find a real life mate and have started to resort to marrying pillows with printed anime characters and virtual video game girlfriends.

 Some souvenirs and food.   Oh yeah, and rabid Mickey and the world's scariest toilet paper.

 Ginza and Akihabara

Are you suddenly feeling incredibly sad that anybody could feel so hopeless that they would completely give up on finding a human soul mate and doubting the strength of the human spirit?  That’s normal.  I really hope this doesn’t start to catch on or the human race is literally doomed.  Anyways, after a short tour of Akihabara, we meet up with the one and only… Charlene Nguyen.  (There actually might be a lot of Charlene Nguyens out there, it’s not really an uncommon name haha.)  Charlene is Mike and Owen’s friend from Irvine and would later be joining us on some grand adventures of Tokyo.  She’s been studying in Tokyo for the quarter and I was hopeful that she was going to be a better tour guide than I was able to be.  But I was quickly disappointed because as I got to know Charlene I realized one of her many hilarious characteristics is that she’s still a complete tourist in the city she’s spent 3 months in.  I was basically more familiar with the subway system than she was and she almost led us in the wrong direction to get back to the train station.  But don’t get me wrong, Charlene’s a hoot and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  We decide to head to Shibuya for dinner and a drink.  The first thing we decide to do though is Shibuya crossing which is the most crowded 4-way crosswalk in Tokyo made famous in the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.  Charlene was giddy with excitement as we crossed this stret three times even though she’s probably crossed this street dozens of times.  For the second time, we decide to eat at Ichiran and then we went to look for a bar to wet our whistles (the hip kids still say that right).  After having a bit of a hard time trying to find a car, we finally found our way to an Irish pub.  There are strangely enough a lot of Irish and English pubs in Japan because they usually don’t charge extra for bar/sitting fees and the drinks are cheaper than at other Japanese bars/izakayas.  We had a round with Charlene and then she was off to catch the one hour train ride home.  We were then engaged by a middle aged white man who was sitting at the next table over and asked us where we were from.  We told him and found out he was here visiting his son who was studying at Pepperdine, then somewhere in Australia and now in Tokyo.  He was nice enough to buy us a round of drinks, told us to be leaders, and called Michael stupid for smoking (in a friendly way) and subtly hinted to his own son to stop smoking.  His wife was oddly quiet and mostly smiled and nodded.  The best part was that the man’s name was Bob and his son’s name was Bobby, narcissistic much?

 Shibuya and Irish Pub

 Actual Shibuya Crossing

 Tokyo Drift Scene 

Best Shot of Ginza I Took

Day 5: Museum of Modern Art, Arrival of Owen and Mike

Check out for my hostel was at 11. It would take roughly 2 hours to get to Narita Airport. Yes the international airport for Tokyo is 2 hours away from Tokyo. Ridiculous? You bet. Haneda, the smaller local airport is about an hour away but is reserved only for domestic flights. Didn’t know this? It’s alright, neither did I till I got here. So I told Owen and Mike I would pick them up from the airport to guide them to Tokyo before I knew it would take me four hours to get there and back, haha, oh well. I had about an hour to kill after I checked out and before I had to head for the airport so I went to the nearby Museum of Modern Art by my hostel. It was not terribly interesting, but I did really like a few works of art.

So I have some fun making my way to Narita Airport. I get to the gate no more than 5 minutes before the guys show up. I was afraid I had gotten there late or that I was at the wrong gate, but I soon see Michael’s goofy smile as he emerges from the gate followed by Owen. We do a customary bro hug (an evolution of the one handed clasped shoulder bump that is a suitable hug for males to share) and quickly get underway on what promises to be one of the most amazing adventures we’ve ever shared.

After catching up a bit on the 2 hour train ride, we arrive at Shinjuku Station. I’ve been to Shinjuku Station probably more times than I’ve been to any other station in Tokyo since and I still get lost there every time. So 4 days into Tokyo, we exit out of the station and of course I’m completely disorientated. The guys are marveling at the Japanese neon signs which are starting to turn on as dusk begins to turn to night. I decide we should just simply get a taxi instead of lugging all our luggage around while lost. We arrive, check in and go up to our room only to be surprised there is only one bed and three of us. This was not much of a problem for me since I was planning to sleep on the ground with my sleeping bag anyway, but the guys were not keen with the idea of sleeping in the same bed together for 7 nights and quickly checked their reservations for the fine print that said they only get one bed for two people. Turns out a twin room, means one room with a big bed and a double room is a room with two beds. We arrange for us to change to a larger room with two beds for a small additional fee. But we later will have to move back and forth between a double and twin room 3 times because New Years Eve and the day before are fully booked. So including our first room we spent 10 minutes in, we lived in a total of 4 rooms in that one hotel in less than one week. We arrange to meet Jessica Yoon for dinner. The guys were hungry and we searched for a suitable and satisfactory first Japanese meal. We decide on Shabu Shabu which I learned is the onomatopoeia for the sound the beef makes swishing around in the hot water as it cooks from Jessica. She has been studying Japanese for a year before she came and her Japanese is much better than mine. She easily orders and converses in Japanese at the restaurant and I stay silent so as not to reveal my own inadequate Japanese. Tabehodai (all you can eat) hot pot and a few beers later, we are full, happy and fondly exchanging drunk stories. I have not seen Jessica for at least 1-2 years and we have much to relearn about each other and college stories are a good way to start. Michael and Owen regale us with some of their best and we have a good laugh. We walk around Shinjuku a little bit and Owen and Mike are amazed by some of the crane games that litter Tokyo. Jessica spots a cute lama stuffed animal and decides to try for it. I feel like I can get it and she lets me give it a try. We are surprised when I actually get it for her on the first try. (I was a pleasantly surprised at myself too and trying not to gloat). The guys try another game and because they have not gotten money yet, I hand them 100 yens as they try their luck on a game that costs 200 yen. First Owen, then Michael and then Owen again. They lose my $6 in about 30 seconds and give up. I tell them how much they had just spent and they say, “crap… I thought those were quarters”. Two expensive and valuable lessons learned: 100 yen coins are worth more than a dollar and crane games are evil. We’ll continue to spend a lot of money and time on crane games throughout our stay in Tokyo. We decide to call it a night and see Jessica off. We’ll see her again a lot more on this trip. We open my treasure trove of gifts that Owen has brought along with him. Included was a fleece top and bottom and messenger bag from my mom, 3 thin ties (which are awesome btw) and a bottle of Peach Absolute Vodka from Owen and Mike, a card signed by all of TMV, a card from my Aunt and Uncle with some money for my travels, 2 CD’s, a card and a Berkeley T shirt from Jackie. I loved every bit of everything. Thank you everyone.

This is a pic from the next day actually, but I have too many pictures to post for that day, so here.

Day 4: Hellogoodbye

This was a bittersweet day.  Jen and her family left for Taiwan but friends from Cal Poly came to visit.  I met up with Jen for an early lunch at 11 AM.  We went to go eat at Ichiran, a popular ramen chain that is also in Fukuoka but I had never tried it until now.  It was famous because it featured an unconventional method of eating.  The restaurant consisted of a series of booths that had a small window where the server would take a ticket and hand you your food without ever having to see you.  Some consider it impersonal, but the philosophy of the restaurant is that the ramen is so good, there should be no distractions from enjoying the meal.  Quite a claim, but I got to say that the restaurant does live up to this almost religious ramen experience.  It is quite a good bowl of ramen and the individual booth is isolating but original.  Afterwards, we walked around shopped a little and we split up.  Jen and her Mom went to shop in a department store and Emily, Eric-kun and I hit the arcades.  After sometime we met back at the hotel to eat a second lunch, haha, yes a SECOND lunch.  Because they had so little time in Japan, they wanted to eat both ramen and sushi and instead of deciding between the two, decided it was easier to just eat both.  Jen and her Mom came back ecstatic about shopping in Japan.  Apparently, Japanese fashion, style and quality was amazing and they made quick work of lunch and went for round two afterwards.  I took Eric-kun to the arcades again and helped him win a small backpack from a crane game.  What a deal, only cost about 6 bucks to win something that probably cost 20 tickets at Chuck-E-Cheeses.  Oh well, god only knows how much money I’ve thrown away at arcades myself during my childhood.  I saw Jen and the Hsiao family off around 2 PM and once again, I was on my own.

I knew that Melissa, Ken and Michelle (all architects from Pomona) were visiting Tokyo at the same time.  Tonight was the night we were all going to get together and eat dinner because the other Americans had planned trips to other parts of Japan and tonight was the last and only chance to all get together.  So I waited patiently and we finally met up in the district of Ryogoku, also known as Sumo Town.  This is where many sumos often come to eat and live.  We ate at a shabu shabu restaurant that also had a large sumo ring in the center of the restaurant either for show or presumably for mock sumo fights.  Ken (and Sean) brought with him(/them) from America a letter and gifts for all of us studying here abroad in Japan.  It was a very nice gesture and I thank them for their thoughts and gifts.  We were all given something to remind us of home and I was given a Chinese lion head.  I used to do lion dancing and it was nice of Ken and Sean to remember.  In general it was a very nice dinner to have all seven Americans eating dinner in Tokyo together for a night.  But it was cut short for me because I had to catch the last train back to my hostel which was relatively far away.  The others stayed longer because they lived closer and didn’t have a problem with catching the last train back, but I cut it close and ran back to the station after dinner accidentally forgetting my lion head under my chair in the restaurant.  Jose/John was kind enough to bring it back to Fukuoka for me.  I went to sleep excited with the promise of the next day when I would pick up Owen and Mike.

Brief Intermission - Onsen

I must interject for one moment a brief interruption in my Tokyo entries to describe my first onsen (hot spring) experience.  Onsen is one of the pure Japanese traditions (besides karaoke) that is unique to Japan.  Last Friday I took a bus from campus deep into the mountains (or about 20 min. away) to try onsen for the very first time.  From the outside I studied the curious facility as it emitted steam from the rocky foundation of this traditional Japanese building nestled inside a valley of shadows.  The surrounding mountains seemed like 2 dimensional silhouettes against a gray sky.  For the Japanese this is a casual excursion/activity that some do as often as taking a bath or shower.  The price for this particular onsen was about three times more than most hot springs, so I was expecting great things.  But for me, $12 USD was a small price to pay for a fancier first experience. The action of using an onsen is also a very symbolic and telling representation of the complex Japanese society.  Japanese society is incredibly structured, systematic and most of all, hierarchical.  For many people the strict boundaries between social classes like that which exists between students & teachers, employees & bosses and even within family structures is very oppressive and the omnipresent pressure makes everyday life very stressful for most Japanese.  In an onsen everybody is naked (within respective male/female halves).  The clothes that brand the people in society are removed and everyone (for a brief moment) is reduced to the same equal level.  This free environment encourages a free exchange of ideas, opinions and emotions.

Inside the onsen, near the entrance the first act in a series of rituals is to splash themselves with a ladle of water upon entering.  Then it's off to the showers to further cleanse the body before actually using the hot baths.  If this seems weird to shower before you bath it's because the hot baths are not actually for bathing.   Because everybody uses it, it's more for relaxation like a jacuzzi.  So the first thing to do is to clean your own body in an open booth with a stool.  After my first sitting-down-shower, we tried the first indoor hot spring.  This was nice and warm, but we soon went outside to explore what true hot springs would feel like outside in the nature.  Outside there were 5 other hot springs, a steam sauna and an ice cold pool.  The ones near ground level were the least hot and the higher up you climb, the hotter the pools get.  Of course they're all artificially created pools and temperatures are carefully controlled but the spring water is naturally heated from the hot springs and is merely redirected back into the pools.  One hot spring had a large bamboo tube directly 10 feet above a stone seat.  The water that falls acts like a powerful water massage.  Another indoor pool had small electrical charges sent through the water and onto your back.  Another interesting outdoor hot spring had a large hollowed out stone circular tub about 4-5 feet in diameter with a constant trickle of water that was constantly flowing into the overflowing tub.  And I realized I may not be considered tall in America, but in Japan, things are designed almost perfectly for me.  This tub was comfortable and sloped on the inside creating a contour for my back.  Above that hot spring further up was another ultra hot pool which was 42 degrees Celsius or about 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit that overlooked a beautiful under-lit waterfall.  Too bad it was too hot to sit in for too long.  All the rocks around us seemed to be steaming and the whole atmosphere is shrouded in a smokey haze.  Inside, my entire body tingled with a confusing mixture of pain and relaxation.  There is a very fine line between realxing-ly hot and painfully hot.  This felt like both at the same time.  Every time I got out of one onsen to go to another, I got lightheaded and dizzy.  Apparently this was a common side effect which was both scary and interesting.  Japanese people have been doing this for thousands of years and they swear by both its physical and mental benefits.  The rock paths between hot springs were freezing cold and moving from one hot spring to another was a pain.  And besides being completely butt naked in the frigid Japanese winter, my bare feet and butt was not really used to the cold hardness of the rocks I had to walk and sit on.  But by far my least favorite part is the last ritual of onsen which is to take an icy cold plunge and wait until you could no longer stand it before reentering a hot spring.  I vowed to try every hot spring in the facility, so I couldn't say no to this.  As Adam and I sat inside literally ice cold water, I begged him to go and return to the hot springs.  He said not until we were actually shivering.  So I squatted and waited for both of us to create outward ripples from uncontrollable shaking.  In the ice water every shift of the body is painful probably because the body creates a small layer of warmer water and every little bit of moment dissipates the heat and the cold water stabs every part of your naked body at once.  Once we had waited for about 3-4 minutes in unbearably cold water, we went outside to warm up.  The air outside felt relatively warm and we all went inside a steam filled cave.  Inside the rocky cavern, Baptiste, Adam, Dion and I had a conversation about Adam's experiences in Europe over the winter break and then went back into another hot spring for the last time before we had to leave to meet the girls again.  The girls have another similar facility that is sectioned off from the male side for obvious reasons.  It's difficult however to designate a time to meet because nobody has any device that can tell time on their naked body so we all just set our internal clocks for roughly one hour.  Afterward, we all came out dazed and in an inescapable state of relaxation and lethargy.  We all drank a small can of milk which supposedly replenishes something that is lost in the body after using hot springs and lounged in a large tatami room designed specifically just for laying down.  There was two such rooms, one had a TV and small bamboo pillows (yes, rigid bamboo pillows).  Essentially, Tokyo is the metropolitan, Kyoto contains culture and history, Osaka has great food and Kyushu, well Kyushu has some of the best hot springs.  So it's a good thing I tried this because I really should know what my own region is about.  I was apparently the only one out of the 7 person group except for Adam's girlfriend Elyse who had just come to Japan, who had never done this.  It's a difficult experience and complex feeling after using an onsen but it definitely induces another altered state of mind.  The weirdest part about being naked and wandering around in the natural Japanese landscape with other naked men all around was the one Asian cleaning lady who was wandering around the men's area who didn't seem to be doing a lot of cleaning.  *awkward*  Another great first experience.

(Sorry I can't take any pictures here, I have a feeling someone would object.)

Day 3: Disney Sea Christmas Day

For Christmas Day, we had the choice of either going to Tokyo Disneyland or Disney Sea, which is like an alternative regional Disneyland like California Adventures in LA or the Animal Kingdom in Florida.  I had read in guidebooks that Tokyo Disneyland is almost an exact replica of the original in California, and since both Jen and I had been Disneyland in LA countless times, we thought it would be better to try something new.  Disney Sea is surprisingly original and most of the rides and attractions we saw there were new, creative and something we had never experienced before.  It also helps that it was built less than 10 years ago and a lot of them were in Japanese.

The Park Itself

The park is clean, large and uniquely themed.  It features seven different “lands” including: Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Coast, Mermaid Lagoon, Mysterious Island, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery and American Waterfront.  The architecture is different than what I’m used to at Disneyland and sometimes seemed a little too random.  There was a large ocean liner that resembled the Titanic at the harbor, a large lake in the middle of what I guess is Mediterranean buildings, a Mermaid inspired spires, a large spinning globe held up by a pillar of water (Universal Studios Globe?) and even what seemed to be the ruins of the roman aqueduct.  In general it was nice but the themes were a little bit too random at times and the park lacks cohesion.  This may also be due to the fact that it is owned and operated by a separate entity that bought the rights from Disney.

The Rides

Most of the rides and attractions were new with the exception of Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones.  We did other rides like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Raging Spirits, Aquatopia, Stormrider and the Magic Lamp Theater that were completely new designs and very interesting to try.  Most were in tune with Disney rides, long lines, short rides, swiftly smoothly moving rides with maybe a sudden but small drop or a loud noise combined with some sort of animatronic monster.  The shows and rides also included things like spraying mists of water, motion rides, hydraulics underneath seats, coasters with loops and even some with a little fire.  Jen screams loudly.

 Submarine - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Ride

 Uh... Car Thing - Journey to the Center of the Earth Ride

I want to extend a special shout out to the Hsiaos and say thank you again for inviting me to be an honorary Hsiao for a day.  It was very nice to pay for my ticket to Disney Sea and I appreciate the hospitality. 

The Day

We actually deviated from the rest of the tour group.  But everyone else was from Taiwan and may not be too familiar with Disneyland.  The Hsiao’s and I were the only ones from LA so it made more sense we tried Disney Sea.  So Jen’s Step Father, Mother, older sister Emily, little brother Eric(-kun), Jen and I (Eric-san) went our separate ways when we got to the park.  Right when we got inside, a park employee handed Eric-kun a bell and he took it hesitantly.  He would later come to regret this because he had inadvertently agreed to join a holiday parade.  Eric-kun is just getting to the age where he’s a little too old for marching in Disney parades and he seemed very unwilling and embarrassed to be marching in a parade of costumed Disney workers and children.  After 10 minutes of playing along, he was a good sport and finally finished his duties.  He was glad to be rid of the bell and his unwanted position.  The lines were pretty long but we saved about 5 hours of lining up by using Disney fast passes.

The Teddy Bear Phenomenon

There was one very strange thing about the park.  Throughout the day, we noticed two souvenirs that every other person in the park had: a plain brown teddy bear of average teddy bear size, and goofy looking hats on almost 50% of the couples.  And the bear had no variation to it, everybody had the same one.  Girls and boys alike clutched to one or sometimes two of the same bear and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  Eventually, Eric-kun professed his need to have one of his own and we went to search out the store in the park that carried it.  We found it sometime later in a far off corner of the park.  It was a single store in the far back corner of the park that carried this one bear.  The hats we later found were also only sold at one location in the park and nowhere else.  The entire store only had a single unchanging design of this one teddy bear.  It had almost nothing on it that made it stand out that it was from Disneyland, just a single Mickey Mouse emblem on its butt and two on its feet.  Other than that there was no other stuffed animal and everybody was grabbing it off the shelves like it was the last one… except the store was filled with them.  I couldn’t figure out what was the motivation to buy this bear.  What brainwashing technique the park had done to all these Japanese people to make them want this plain teddy bear so much.  Whatever it was, they’re geniuses and they made $40 on every bear sold.  And soon enough Eric-chan bought his own bear and named it Chris.

Other Park Abnormalities

There was very little food distributors which is something I’m not used to at Disneyland.  Most of the time, Disneyland is littered with overpriced food retailers to rake in every dollar possible at every corner of the park, but not at Disney Sea.  There was a very long line we noticed at one point and wondered what popular ride it led to.  We found it lead to a stand for chicken legs.  We eventually got one of those chicken legs, and it was nothing spectacular.  Jen’s Dad lined up just to try it to see what was so special about it.  We also ate strawberry flavored popcorn and sesame churros (they also had maple flavored churros).  The popcorn smelled better than it tasted and the churro was an interesting variation on the classic churro.  At first it was strange, but it got more delicious after time and I quite enjoyed the second half of my churro. 

Fishin’ for Dinner

After we left the park we (Emily, Jen and I) met up with Emily’s old Berkeley roommate and longtime friend, Mark.  Mark was a good friend of Emily’s and had moved to Tokyo for about two years now.  So he was now a local and offered to show us a nice place for dinner and it gave Emily and Mark a chance to catch up.  We met him at Shinjuku Station and after some deliberation we agreed to go to a restaurant he promised all the visitors he took to loved, even if it was a little far from the station.  We walked through an underground passage from Shinjuku Station to the restaurant and after about ½ a mile, we all started complaining to Mark for dragging us out so far.  We were tired and hungry from Disneyland and were ready to settle for a hot bowl of ramen.  He insisted this was worth it and that ramen was cheap street food unworthy of tonight.  We arrived in the building and guess what building we were in… that’s right, Shinjuku Washington Hotel.  The one I had painfully searched for hours just two nights before, funny coincidence.  In any case we entered what was an unassuming restaurant doorway only to see a giant boat in the middle of the restaurant.  The boat was sitting the middle of a giant tank of fish that surrounded the fixed boat.  We took a seat at one of the tables on the boat and Mark explained to us that the novelty of this restaurant is that you can fish for your own dinner.  The price of the dinner depended on which fish you caught although it’s something that is pretty hard to control.  They had everything from flat fish to shark (although I’m not sure you can actually catch the shark).  We were given two fishing poles, and two trays of small shrimp that we baited and dipped in the water.  You can fish from your seat on the boat or do it standing up next to the tank which is much easier.  Emily caught a fish and I caught a fish and we had one grilled and one sashimi-ed.  We also ordered other side dishes including yakisoba, buttered scallops, fried chicken, cream croquet and some drinks.  When the fish arrived I was shocked that the remains of the freshly sashimi-ed fish was skewered and left on the plate next to the sashimi meat and was still moving.  Surprisingly, I was not grossed out by staring at the twitching head and body of a dead fish I was eating as much as I was completely fascinated by it.  Some would probably consider this cruel and unusual, but you got to admit one thing, it’s unique.  Only in Tokyo.

Day 2: Omote-sando Dori, Harajuku & Christmas Eve with the Hsiaos

To spare Owen and Mike from boring architecture touring, I decided to go see some of the sights that I wanted to see before they got here in case going to places just for the sake of looking at buildings didn’t intrigue them.  So get ready for a heavy dose of architecture in this post.  First stop was the fancy shopping district of Omote-sando.

1964 Olympic Stadium by Tange Kenzo

I don’t know too much about this building.  But my tutor in Fukuoka told me that this would be a building worth visiting and he was right.  It’s by renowned architect Tange Kenzo who is well respected and even admired by Tadao Ando, so I’m sure there’s something here I can learn from.  It consists of two main structures and it is a short walk from Harajuku and Omote-sando Dori.  I sort of happened on it and made no specific plans to see it but I was glad to have accidentally stumbled upon it.  The site is mostly empty now but I even got to go inside the smaller stadium which was being used at the time for what looked like a high school or college basketball game.  Got some great photos out of the visit and it was a fun building to see in person.

Daytime Architecture – Gaijin Smash

There’s a distinction for daytime and nighttime architecture because in my opinion, the same buildings by day and night look completely different altogether depending on when you see them.  Ginally I get to see some buildings that I’ve wanted to see since I started learning about architecture.  The great thing was a lot of them were all in one place, Omote-sando.  There is Tod’s Building by Toyo Ito which we’ve been learning about since 1^st Year in architecture.  I made it a point to go inside all of them and experience the building for myself in person.  The glass in the Tod’s building is so clean that at one point, I leaned in to peer outside one of the openings and sort of (gaijin) smashed my face into a pane of very clean glass.  A kind (and self controlled) employee told me it was alright while keeping in his laughter and I swiftly exited with what little dignity I had left and to allow him to laugh at me without having to do it to my face.  Of course, the famous Christian Dior building which was surprisingly simple, essentially only made up of slightly varied floor heights and veiled in white curtains around its all glass exterior.  It’s not the fact that this was a new idea, but that it is well executed that makes this a good building.    Other notable buildings include the H&M building by Jun Mistui & Associates, GYRE (Moma design store) by MVRDV and an awesome angled Audi Showroom Building by godonlyknows.

Nighttime Architecture

The street of Omote-sando lights up with florescent trees.  The buildings beautifully illuminated are completely different than their daytime selves and people fill the streets of Harajuku.  One giant curved façade of the Gold’s Gym building looks as if it has become the screen of a huge projection and on it is moving tidbits of holiday cheer.  Other buildings like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tod are mesmerizing and are all interesting or beautiful in their own ways.  Walking down Harajuku, I was approached by four black guys individually, one after another, trying to convince me to buy Timberlands or True Religions.  For some reason, the only black people I see working in Japan are always selling American urban wear or clubs/bars/girls.  I’m not being racist, it’s just my observation. 

Other Sights and Sounds

A band which was highly advertised called Flumpool, a polka dotted Audi R8, sleek and sheik interiors of chrome, glass and matte black leather in Louis Vuitton, the Moma Design Shop, fish feet nibbling therapy and a gang of enthusiastic Santas.  I might have to explain the fish feet nibbling thing a little.  It’s a form of relaxation where you sit and dip your feet into a pool filled with fish that nibble off the dead skin off your feet.  It was something so bizarre I was planning to try it but just never got around to it.  I heard it tickles.  The Santa gang thing was random and cool too.

Dinner with the Hsiao’s

My good friend (of 8 years now, wow) Jen Hsiao  coincidentally happened to come to Tokyo with her family this night.  So I met her at her hotel in Ikebukuro.  She said she was going to be late and I arrived on time, so I decided to rest and ended up falling asleep.  She woke me up and I bet I must have just looked like a bum to her family, sleeping alone in the hotel lobby, but oh well.  I discretely joined her all-Taiwanese tour group for dinner and worked what little Mandarin I could.  We ate a very Taiwanese meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant and I couldn’t help but eat three bowls of rice and other dishes.  I didn’t want to seem like a pig, but I just missed Chinese food so much, I didn’t really care.  They thought that I was a poor starving college student, which is not too far from the truth.  Afterwards I took Jen and her older sister Emily out on the town because they only had about two days in Tokyo and they wanted to take advantage of every chance to see some of Tokyo’s nightlife.  This was Christmas Eve however and even the streets of Shinjuku were a little sparse.  They still enjoyed all the sights and sounds and we even stopped in a small izakaya for some yakitori.  Emily went to get herself a cup of water and accidentally poured herself a glass of sake.  She is not a heavy drinker and left the cup on the table hoping the bartender wouldn’t notice.  Then a couple sitting next to her asked her if it was her cup and she had to embarrassingly admit she had poured out sake to the bartender.  He seemed to understand and didn’t charge us for it.  We made the last train home and I barely caught one of the last trains back to Jimbocho.  Her family graciously invited me to spend Christmas Day with them at Disney Sea.  I knew the next day would be fun and tiring, it was.

 The beautiful Hsiao sisters.

  Jen and me at Ikebukuro.

Tokyo: Day 1 - Imperial Palace, Shinjuku & the Quest for Washington

I slept the whole 1 ½ hour plane ride to Haneda Airport.  I was glad I did, so I would have more energy for my first day in Tokyo.  I was told by everyone, especially from Tokyoites (people from Tokyo) that I WOULD get lost within the muddled, complicated system of crisscrossing JR, train and subway lines.  But I did not get lost.  In fact, the subway system, although overwhelming at first was actually very easy to navigate once deciphered (with a few exceptions I’ll get into later).  Unlike Fukuoka, almost everybody speaks a little English and unlike Fukuoka, there is a metro station literally every few blocks within central Tokyo so it’s pretty easy to find your way.  The strangest transition is using subways as often and frequently as you would your own car.  Once I felt comfortable with that, it was easy.

The four complications of the subway:

1)      Transferring lines can waste a lot of time, but most trains come every 4 minutes or so

2)      Catching the “Shuden” – last train of the night is anywhere between 11:30-12:30 depending on your location, where you’re going and what line you’re taking

3)      Different lines have different fares, some lines are more direct but cost more

4)      Shinjuku Station/Shinjuku Line – depending on which direction you head on the Shinjuku Line from Shinjuku Station, the two entrances for the line are roughly ½ a mile away from each other… a realization that happened to me while trying to catch the last train

All of this can be avoided with a cell phone and the ability to text and read Japanese.  Competent residents in Tokyo can always figure out when to get the last train from anywhere to anywhere as well as the cheapest route, but I managed.

Hitting the ground running… or walking

First thing I did was head for my hostel in Jimbocho.  Jimbocho is not a very busy district and is best known for its antique bookstores.  I chose it not for it entertainment value, but because it was cheap (3150 Yen/night) and for its central location in Tokyo.  I probably won’t stay here next time though.  The imperial palace in Tokyo has exterior gardens that are open to the public year round, but twice a year the interior palace is open to the public for the Emperor’s birthday (Dec. 23^rd) and for New Years (Jan. 2^nd).  And it just so happens that my short 2 week trip included both of those dates, so I decided to visit the palace my first day (the 23^rd).  The Palace is enormous, remnants of an old Edo Castle, the grounds was taken over and renamed the Imperial Palace when the capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Tokyo.  Now, it remains as an incredibly well fortified home for the emperor who holds little political power but who is still highly respected and revered in Japan.  The palace is surrounded by a 200 ft. wide moat and a 50 ft. sheer wall of stone masonry.  It is smack dab in the middle of the city and the stark juxtaposition of the surrounding Marunouchi government skyscrapers against the classic traditional Japanese castle architecture makes this a truly amazing sight.  The gardens and grounds are spotless and the security was extremely tight.  The palace is even complete with its own “London Palace Guard”.  The outer border of the palace is a popular place for Japanese joggers to work out.  On my first visit I saw so many runners that I thought there was a marathon of some sort taking place.  But it was just a normal day of hundreds of people jogging around the palace.  Unfortunately, on both occasions I went to the palace, I was too late to see the inside of the palace itself and hence why I have no photos of that, sorry.  Nevertheless it is still a beautiful place in Tokyo and unlike anywhere else in the city.

That one security guard holding the wheelchair was mad doggin me.  The other 10 people are also security.

 Shinjuku by Night and the Quest for Washington

I had no idea where to go first in Tokyo, I had researched and read a lot about things to see and do in Tokyo, but once I was there, I didn’t know where to start.  So for dinner, I decided to visit Shinjuku (also because Jimbocho had little to offer in terms of food).  Coming out of Shinjuku station was definitely one of the awestruck moments of my life.  I felt like I was living my own version of Lost in Translation, and I happily meandered through the busy streets of lights, people and traffic.  Starry eyed, I moved through the billboard littered streets trying not to worry about where I came from, where I was going or getting lost.  Going by mere instinct, I turned left, right, left, left, right, left and right with no specific intention.  I tried to soak in as much as the city my eyes could take in and stopped only to eat my first meal of the day, dinner.  Afterwards, I decided to search for the Shinjuku Washington Hotel so that I would know how to take Owen and Mike there when I picked them up from the Airport in two days time.  I wandered from the north side of Shinjuku’s red light district, Kabuchiko south towards the station.  After wandering too far south and walking about 2 hours, I was directed by a helpful police officer back north and then west.  For the life of me, I could not find the hotel and I was exhausted after hours of wandering around Shinjuku.  I finally walked towards a hotel that I hoped was the Washington only to be disappointed.  I stopped inside anyway to warm up and rest my tired feet.  After about 10 minutes, I was losing hope fast and I was on the brink of giving up the search.  Then after staring at the tiny map in my guide book all day I thought I had found the street where the hotel was located.  I walked around, did a few 180s and with some luck finally found the hotel.  The strange curving-walled retro hotel was hidden behind a large lit up restaurant and the lobby was located on the 3^rd floor.  The interior décor was a cheesy afterthought and was now filled with multicolored balloons that managed only to make the space worse.  But at least I had found it.  With that accomplishment under my belt I headed home to Jimbocho for a much needed nights rest.

Beautiful Shinjuku Christmas

Home Sweet Fukuoka

Guess who's back, back again? Eric's back, for the win. That kind of rhymes right? Well I'm back from Tokyo, almost missed my flight, but I made it with literally no time to spare. So since I think it's going to take me a little bit of time to sort through the 1200 or so pictures/videos I've collected over the course of the two weeks I was in Tokyo and I'm not sure when I'll get around to this story, I'll tell it now just to give you guys a taste of my adventures and basically what I went through 3 hours ago.

The Way Home

My flight leaves on Wednesday at 7:50 AM from Haneda Airport which is about an hour away by subway from my hostel in central Tokyo. Subways start at 5:15 AM, so if I was to make it to the airport with even a decent buffer of time (an hour and a half) then I would have to leave at 5:15, get there at 6:15-6:30 and have about an hour and a half to find the terminal, check in a bag, go through security, get to my terminal and board the plane. Even with an hour and a half, it was still cutting it a little close.

The Disaster

I could not sleep the night before for some strange reason. Perhaps I was excited to go home. Not that I didn't absolutely love Tokyo, but I did miss Fukuoka and some of the comforts of just being home. So I laid in bed for 3 hours, played with my itouch for an hour, and then fell asleep sometime around 3:45 I think (an hour before i was supposed to wake up). I did not wake up on time. I groggily checked my watch at 6:20 and freaked. I had overslept an hour and a half. I had exactly an hour and a half to do what I had planned to do in 3 hours. Luckily, I had packed everything pretty well the night before so I got out of the hostel pretty quickly. Ran to the station, waited 4 minutes for the next train (I must have missed the last one by 1-2 minutes) and made my way towards Haneda Airport. I get to the ticket counter and one of the employees actually runs me to the airport security check point. I find out that I had forgot that I packed a swiss army knife in my backpack from LA. I had made it into Taiwan, out of Taiwan, into Fukuoka, out of Fukuoka, and into Tokyo with it, but they finally caught it this time. So they confiscated it, I didn't care that much, I just wanted to make it to the terminal, and another employee switched off and ran me to the gate. I get on the plane exactly at 7:50. Not five minutes later, the plane leaves the gate. Closest call ever. But I'm home now, so I guess it just makes for a good story now.

Stay tuned for Tokyo updates. I'll try not to lag too much.