(no subject)
Thursday and Friday I had to work but Paul and I still managed to have fun in the evenings. Thursday we went out for all-you-can-eat shabu shabu (vegetables and meat cooked in a pot of water on your table) in Shinjuku. Took us about 40 mins of wandering around in the rain to find the damn place, but it was definitely worth it once we got there. Friday night we were planning on going out clubbing in Roppongi so we ate an early dinner at the KFC near where I work before briefly checking out Akihabara and then heading back to my dorm to suit up for the evening. We did some research online though and found out that not only did almost all the clubs in Roppongi charge a crazy cover, but the trains and the metro stop running at midnight, making late-night transit something of a pain. We ended up just deciding to stay in and watch How I Met Your Mother online.
Saturday we went over to Asakusa so Paul could souvenir shop at the bazaar near the Thunder Gate and in the surrounding area. We both ended up getting a ton of random souvenirs for our various relatives, though other than that it was fairly unremarkable. For dinner we just wanted to do something fast and cheap so we went to the beef bowl place near my apartment and bought more $5 curries. Saturday we decided to try clubbing in Shibuya (an area aimed at a younger, less rich crowd) and to get around the transport problem by just staying out till the trains restarted at 5. The first place we went was a hiphop/R&B kindve club a little north of the station. The first club was mostly a bust. We were way overdressed for one thing (we both had dress shirts and slacks on while most people there were just rocking jeans and tshirts). Also the girls were just not happening for either of us. We kept trying to approach and talk to groups in English and in Japanese but never got more than 4 or 5 sentences into a conversation before they'd walk away. The club was also literally about 1/3rd foreigners, and of the remaining 2/3rds, about half were Japanese in groups with foreigners, so we had no novelty advantage. There was one thing about the first club, however, that turned it from lame to legendary. When we got there we were let in by the bouncers and then went through a coat room before getting into the club. On a table in the coat room there were a bunch of stacked cups that Paul and I just grabbed as we walked through. People were just taking them up to the bar and asking for drinks without paying. We didn't really get it. We ended up finding out later that there was a $30 cover, and that with this cover you get free drinks when you showed the wristband they gave out. Somehow the coatroom people missed charging us and the bartenders didnt check, so I ended up drinking 8 or 9 beers in the space of an hour and a half and Paul had 4 or 5 jack and cokes all FREE. We were a little bit scared at first that the bouncers would beat the crap out of us, but as the alcohol kicked in, we managed to relax more. Since the people were all lame, at about 2 we decided to go find another club. We ended up just going to one upstairs. This one had a $20 cover but had way less foreigners, better ambiance, and better-dressed people. After only like 15 mins there we ended up talking to these two Japanese girls we met (I spoke to one in Japanese while Paul spoke to the other in English). This went really well for about 2 hrs until about 4 when we said we wanted to get up and dance. As soon as we did this they kindve kept their distance from us (much to our shock and dismay as they'd been really friendly and open before). After about 45 mins of this Paul and I decided this wasnt going anywhere so we decided to give them the hand before they did it to us and peaced out. We got back to my apartment at about 6 am and slept till 3.
On Sunday we went to Harajuku to do more shopping at the Oriental Bazaar before going to the trendy youth shopping district of Shimo Kitazawa. After some more shopping we found an all you can eat Yakiniku place at which we both ate literally 3+ pounds of assorted muscle and organ meats over the course of our 90 minute time limit. My colon is likely not happy right now. Afterwards we found a smoke shop that had a whole bunch of cuban cigars for sale. We ended up buying two for later. Back at the apartment we ended up standing on my balcony for about an hour smoking them while drinking whisky and listening to Frank Sinatra with my laptop. Epic Win.
This morning Paul was packing to leave for home just as I was leaving for work. Great end to a great vacation.
Saturday we went over to Asakusa so Paul could souvenir shop at the bazaar near the Thunder Gate and in the surrounding area. We both ended up getting a ton of random souvenirs for our various relatives, though other than that it was fairly unremarkable. For dinner we just wanted to do something fast and cheap so we went to the beef bowl place near my apartment and bought more $5 curries. Saturday we decided to try clubbing in Shibuya (an area aimed at a younger, less rich crowd) and to get around the transport problem by just staying out till the trains restarted at 5. The first place we went was a hiphop/R&B kindve club a little north of the station. The first club was mostly a bust. We were way overdressed for one thing (we both had dress shirts and slacks on while most people there were just rocking jeans and tshirts). Also the girls were just not happening for either of us. We kept trying to approach and talk to groups in English and in Japanese but never got more than 4 or 5 sentences into a conversation before they'd walk away. The club was also literally about 1/3rd foreigners, and of the remaining 2/3rds, about half were Japanese in groups with foreigners, so we had no novelty advantage. There was one thing about the first club, however, that turned it from lame to legendary. When we got there we were let in by the bouncers and then went through a coat room before getting into the club. On a table in the coat room there were a bunch of stacked cups that Paul and I just grabbed as we walked through. People were just taking them up to the bar and asking for drinks without paying. We didn't really get it. We ended up finding out later that there was a $30 cover, and that with this cover you get free drinks when you showed the wristband they gave out. Somehow the coatroom people missed charging us and the bartenders didnt check, so I ended up drinking 8 or 9 beers in the space of an hour and a half and Paul had 4 or 5 jack and cokes all FREE. We were a little bit scared at first that the bouncers would beat the crap out of us, but as the alcohol kicked in, we managed to relax more. Since the people were all lame, at about 2 we decided to go find another club. We ended up just going to one upstairs. This one had a $20 cover but had way less foreigners, better ambiance, and better-dressed people. After only like 15 mins there we ended up talking to these two Japanese girls we met (I spoke to one in Japanese while Paul spoke to the other in English). This went really well for about 2 hrs until about 4 when we said we wanted to get up and dance. As soon as we did this they kindve kept their distance from us (much to our shock and dismay as they'd been really friendly and open before). After about 45 mins of this Paul and I decided this wasnt going anywhere so we decided to give them the hand before they did it to us and peaced out. We got back to my apartment at about 6 am and slept till 3.
On Sunday we went to Harajuku to do more shopping at the Oriental Bazaar before going to the trendy youth shopping district of Shimo Kitazawa. After some more shopping we found an all you can eat Yakiniku place at which we both ate literally 3+ pounds of assorted muscle and organ meats over the course of our 90 minute time limit. My colon is likely not happy right now. Afterwards we found a smoke shop that had a whole bunch of cuban cigars for sale. We ended up buying two for later. Back at the apartment we ended up standing on my balcony for about an hour smoking them while drinking whisky and listening to Frank Sinatra with my laptop. Epic Win.
This morning Paul was packing to leave for home just as I was leaving for work. Great end to a great vacation.