Oh Tokyo, how I will miss you
Well, the Bonster asked for updates from people and I am back in boring Acton, so I figured I would write about my last couple of weeks in Tokyo. Oh, I am missing Tokyo already.
So, two weekends ago the Bonster visited! And, as always, we had a pretty fantastic time. She got to Tokyo Tuesday afternoon and wasted no time by going into Shibuya that night. We went to my favorite bar, Zaru, and ordered champagne cocktails and smoke rose flavored cigarettes. It was delightful. And after that we decided to go the cheap route and bought strong Chuhis at the conbini and went to drink in Yoyogi park.
The rest of the week was spent skipping classes whenever I could so that I we go shopping. Hit up all my favorite places in Shibuya, Harajuku, and Lalaport. Then we also went to see the Hana Yori Dango movie in the theater. It was absolutely hilarious. Subtitles obviously were not necessary to make it a great movie to watch.
On the weekend we wanted to make the most of the time we had left so we decided to go to Womb on Friday night and then Harlem on Saturday night. So Friday night started out with more Chuhi and dancing in my room. We also brought along a water bottle with Vodka in it to keep us topped off until we got to Womb.
Hanging out in my room pre-Womb
The Bonster at Baraki Nakayama eki
When we got to Shibuya we didn't want to get to Womb too early so we decided to purikura first. And, I must say, they were quite fantastic
Around 12:30/1 am we head over to Womb. As always, we enjoyed the trippy light show that makes you feel like you are high. And got about 1000 high fives as always. Towards the end of the night when Bonnie and I were heading to the dance floor one last time this really tall foreigner stopped us. He was this Australian guy and he ended up following us to the dance floor. The whole night we pretended to be from Canada so we told him that when he asked where we were from. He also got quite excited when we heard that we are sisters, which all men seem to get excited about. So I ended up dancing with him for a while. Except, it was quite difficult at times because he was so damn tall (over 6 ft) and so my neck was in constant pain from having to look up at the ceiling. And my favorite quote from the night was when he told me that I was "the hottest Canadian chick [he has] ever seen in Japan". It was so hard to not crack up. And then he also asked me to go to a love hotel which I politely refused. Eventually Bonnie found me (she was off dancing with a Swedish (?) guy) and we left. Went home and then slept the day away.
The next night we went to Harlem with my friends Nandi and Jane. Headed into Shibuya and did some more purikura.
Then on the walk to Harlem, guess who we ran into? Australian guy! It was the weirdest coincidence. Had a great time at Harlem like we always do. Jane was pretty crazy on the dance floor. She would keep coming up behind us and dancing with us. The Japanese men looked like they didn't know what to do when the saw us dancing together. They got very very excited to say the least. I actually did meet one guy, Masashi, who I hung out with for a while. I actually ended up staying with him at the club after my other friends left. We danced for about an hour longer and left the club around 5:30. We walked back to the station where he tried to get me to go to his place, but I eventually convinced him that I had to go so that I could talk Bonnie to the airport. I did actually see him about 3 times after that night.
That morning I had to say goodbye to the sister which was so sad. I miss you so much Bonnie!
The next week was my last week in Tokyo. Let me tell you, that was a hard week to get through. The weekend was amazing though, even though it involved saying goodbye to so many people. Thursday was my last day at school so I had Friday off. Thursday night a group of us (me, nandi, jennifer, joy, jane, chris, and andy) all hung out in baraki nakayama drinking. Then we went to a place called the Warehouse which is essentially a huge arcade designed to look like a an old abandoned warehouse. I don't have any pictures, but Chris went crazy taking pictures that night so hopefully I can get them from him sometime. And, as always, took some more purikura.
Friday was the Sayonara party which was really really really sad. Said goodbye to a bunch of people.
I am especially going to miss all these ladies.
Before going to the beach in Makuhari (where all the IES kids were going to party) went to purikura (one last time!) and karaoke with some of my favorite ladies.
We stopped at conbini for some Chuhi and then head off in search of the beach. Eventually we managed to find the large group of very drunk foreigners on the beach. Everyone already seemed quite drunk from the time we go there so we had to make sure we caught up. Since I only bought one Chuhi before coming I had to get going on the mooching of alcohol. I managed to be quite successful. I am not even sure how much I managed to drunk. But I do remember taking swigs of rum, wine, and someone giving me another large strong chuhi.
The second woman from the right in the above picture is Ishikawa-san. She was in charge of the field placement program. She ended up staying at the beach with all of us (and got incredibly drunk).
One of my friends, Andy, was quite drunk and actually ended up flirting with me quite a bit. We were telling him that he should stay out all night and he said he was going to as long as I was. He also kept grabbing me and holding me around my waist/kissing my cheek.
A group of people decided to go to the park to continue drinking (Ishikawa-san included) so we decided that we would go join. It was nandi, chris, andy, me, jen, and megan. Megan lost something so she and jen went back to the beach to look for it. So the remaining four of us proceeded to get very lost in the park trying to find our friend joy. We eventually heard that the group of people with ishikawa-san headed back to the beach (with $50 worth of alcohol purchased by ishikawa-san). So nandi and chris told andy and I to head back in the beach and they would continue looking for joy. In my mind I didn't think that leaving andy and i alone together was a good idea since he was continuing with the flirting. But I was so damn drunk that I didn't really care that much. So there was lots of drunken wanderings in the park. I think we eventually ended up holding hands, which I was doing merely to keep walking in a straight manner. And I am not sure exactly how it ended up happening, but we ended up making out in the park for a really long time.
Eventually made it back to the beach and began drinking again, which was probably not a good idea. At one point someone handed me a bottle of alcohol and I spent about a minute trying to unscrew the cap. Eventually someone told me that there was no cap on the bottle. That was when I realized just how drunk I was.
So I ended up spending most of the night lying in the sand hugging jen with the two of us telling each other how much we love each other as friends. People who come over and I would pull them down with us, but it was mostly just me and jen. I think we were like this for about 2 or 3 hours. Truthfully though, I don't remember anything from when it was dark until when we were at the techno gardens by the kaihin makuhari station. Absolutely no memories.
Don't remember this pic being taken
Megan asleep on the beach
Apparently we found Max passed out on the beach
Megan and Jen asleep on the bushes in the techno garden
Waiting for McDonalds to open
We got some food and then hopped on the train to head back home. I remember sitting on the train , passing out on Nandi's shoulder and then somehow magically being back at my room. Apparently I kept waking up and talking to Nandi, but I don't really remember.
I woke up later that day around 4 pm still drunk and feeling like shit. My room was also covered in sand. Not a good way to wake up.
Later that evening Nandi, Jen, Megan and I got together one last time and went out to Kaiten sushi. Then we had to say goodbye to Megan on the Tozai heading back home. It was so sad, very difficult not to cry.
At McDonalds getting desert. Awww, I miss these girls so much!
So, the next morning it was off the airport. More extremely difficult goodbyes. I hard to hold back the tears when saying goodbye to Jennifer and Nandi. Two of my best friends ever who I am going to miss dreadfully.
Alright, this is hella long and the parents are yelling at me to go do stuff. Ah, being home. Hope this didn't bore you all too much.
So, two weekends ago the Bonster visited! And, as always, we had a pretty fantastic time. She got to Tokyo Tuesday afternoon and wasted no time by going into Shibuya that night. We went to my favorite bar, Zaru, and ordered champagne cocktails and smoke rose flavored cigarettes. It was delightful. And after that we decided to go the cheap route and bought strong Chuhis at the conbini and went to drink in Yoyogi park.
The rest of the week was spent skipping classes whenever I could so that I we go shopping. Hit up all my favorite places in Shibuya, Harajuku, and Lalaport. Then we also went to see the Hana Yori Dango movie in the theater. It was absolutely hilarious. Subtitles obviously were not necessary to make it a great movie to watch.
On the weekend we wanted to make the most of the time we had left so we decided to go to Womb on Friday night and then Harlem on Saturday night. So Friday night started out with more Chuhi and dancing in my room. We also brought along a water bottle with Vodka in it to keep us topped off until we got to Womb.
Hanging out in my room pre-Womb
The Bonster at Baraki Nakayama eki
When we got to Shibuya we didn't want to get to Womb too early so we decided to purikura first. And, I must say, they were quite fantastic
Around 12:30/1 am we head over to Womb. As always, we enjoyed the trippy light show that makes you feel like you are high. And got about 1000 high fives as always. Towards the end of the night when Bonnie and I were heading to the dance floor one last time this really tall foreigner stopped us. He was this Australian guy and he ended up following us to the dance floor. The whole night we pretended to be from Canada so we told him that when he asked where we were from. He also got quite excited when we heard that we are sisters, which all men seem to get excited about. So I ended up dancing with him for a while. Except, it was quite difficult at times because he was so damn tall (over 6 ft) and so my neck was in constant pain from having to look up at the ceiling. And my favorite quote from the night was when he told me that I was "the hottest Canadian chick [he has] ever seen in Japan". It was so hard to not crack up. And then he also asked me to go to a love hotel which I politely refused. Eventually Bonnie found me (she was off dancing with a Swedish (?) guy) and we left. Went home and then slept the day away.
The next night we went to Harlem with my friends Nandi and Jane. Headed into Shibuya and did some more purikura.
Then on the walk to Harlem, guess who we ran into? Australian guy! It was the weirdest coincidence. Had a great time at Harlem like we always do. Jane was pretty crazy on the dance floor. She would keep coming up behind us and dancing with us. The Japanese men looked like they didn't know what to do when the saw us dancing together. They got very very excited to say the least. I actually did meet one guy, Masashi, who I hung out with for a while. I actually ended up staying with him at the club after my other friends left. We danced for about an hour longer and left the club around 5:30. We walked back to the station where he tried to get me to go to his place, but I eventually convinced him that I had to go so that I could talk Bonnie to the airport. I did actually see him about 3 times after that night.
That morning I had to say goodbye to the sister which was so sad. I miss you so much Bonnie!
The next week was my last week in Tokyo. Let me tell you, that was a hard week to get through. The weekend was amazing though, even though it involved saying goodbye to so many people. Thursday was my last day at school so I had Friday off. Thursday night a group of us (me, nandi, jennifer, joy, jane, chris, and andy) all hung out in baraki nakayama drinking. Then we went to a place called the Warehouse which is essentially a huge arcade designed to look like a an old abandoned warehouse. I don't have any pictures, but Chris went crazy taking pictures that night so hopefully I can get them from him sometime. And, as always, took some more purikura.
Friday was the Sayonara party which was really really really sad. Said goodbye to a bunch of people.
I am especially going to miss all these ladies.
Before going to the beach in Makuhari (where all the IES kids were going to party) went to purikura (one last time!) and karaoke with some of my favorite ladies.
We stopped at conbini for some Chuhi and then head off in search of the beach. Eventually we managed to find the large group of very drunk foreigners on the beach. Everyone already seemed quite drunk from the time we go there so we had to make sure we caught up. Since I only bought one Chuhi before coming I had to get going on the mooching of alcohol. I managed to be quite successful. I am not even sure how much I managed to drunk. But I do remember taking swigs of rum, wine, and someone giving me another large strong chuhi.
The second woman from the right in the above picture is Ishikawa-san. She was in charge of the field placement program. She ended up staying at the beach with all of us (and got incredibly drunk).
One of my friends, Andy, was quite drunk and actually ended up flirting with me quite a bit. We were telling him that he should stay out all night and he said he was going to as long as I was. He also kept grabbing me and holding me around my waist/kissing my cheek.
A group of people decided to go to the park to continue drinking (Ishikawa-san included) so we decided that we would go join. It was nandi, chris, andy, me, jen, and megan. Megan lost something so she and jen went back to the beach to look for it. So the remaining four of us proceeded to get very lost in the park trying to find our friend joy. We eventually heard that the group of people with ishikawa-san headed back to the beach (with $50 worth of alcohol purchased by ishikawa-san). So nandi and chris told andy and I to head back in the beach and they would continue looking for joy. In my mind I didn't think that leaving andy and i alone together was a good idea since he was continuing with the flirting. But I was so damn drunk that I didn't really care that much. So there was lots of drunken wanderings in the park. I think we eventually ended up holding hands, which I was doing merely to keep walking in a straight manner. And I am not sure exactly how it ended up happening, but we ended up making out in the park for a really long time.
Eventually made it back to the beach and began drinking again, which was probably not a good idea. At one point someone handed me a bottle of alcohol and I spent about a minute trying to unscrew the cap. Eventually someone told me that there was no cap on the bottle. That was when I realized just how drunk I was.
So I ended up spending most of the night lying in the sand hugging jen with the two of us telling each other how much we love each other as friends. People who come over and I would pull them down with us, but it was mostly just me and jen. I think we were like this for about 2 or 3 hours. Truthfully though, I don't remember anything from when it was dark until when we were at the techno gardens by the kaihin makuhari station. Absolutely no memories.
Don't remember this pic being taken
Megan asleep on the beach
Apparently we found Max passed out on the beach
Megan and Jen asleep on the bushes in the techno garden
Waiting for McDonalds to open
We got some food and then hopped on the train to head back home. I remember sitting on the train , passing out on Nandi's shoulder and then somehow magically being back at my room. Apparently I kept waking up and talking to Nandi, but I don't really remember.
I woke up later that day around 4 pm still drunk and feeling like shit. My room was also covered in sand. Not a good way to wake up.
Later that evening Nandi, Jen, Megan and I got together one last time and went out to Kaiten sushi. Then we had to say goodbye to Megan on the Tozai heading back home. It was so sad, very difficult not to cry.
At McDonalds getting desert. Awww, I miss these girls so much!
So, the next morning it was off the airport. More extremely difficult goodbyes. I hard to hold back the tears when saying goodbye to Jennifer and Nandi. Two of my best friends ever who I am going to miss dreadfully.
Alright, this is hella long and the parents are yelling at me to go do stuff. Ah, being home. Hope this didn't bore you all too much.