Tuesday 21.12.2010

After our day of being 16 year old children, we then hopped on the Yamanote subway line to Shibuya. We were greeted by the most amazing, and icy cold downpour of rain. Our breath turned to instant fog in our nostrils, as if smoking about ten cigars at once. You could almost blow ‘smoke rings’ with your own breath, it was THAT cold. The kind of cold that visciously eats into your clothes, down to your bones.

As we were making our way out of the station, I noticed these shiny drops overlooking one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the country. Looking down at the human sea below, people swam through as though they were fish, in a beautiful and incredibly intimidating organised confusion. I liked how the raindrops glistened as jewels in the neon lights.

Daniel Joy, Duffy, Dana and I didn’t take long to pick a warm, cozy looking restaurant, where we ordered the most delicious meat and vegetable platters. You cook them yourself at your table over hot coles. YUM.

Something I find funny about Tokyo is the fact that on every street, there are signs stuck to the footpaths, sporting a very cute, and sad cartoon cigarette, walking with hands-in-pockets, and scuffing his feet. Written below is a strong reminder that smoking whilst walking down the street is NOT allowed.

BUT, as we sat down at the restaurant, people all around us were lighting up at their tables. Although only in small bursts, I kind of liked the smokey addition to my meal. I know this is bad, but sometimes passive smoke just smells so nice. (See picture above.) 

We stayed here for some time, and had a few beers. We shared a lot of laughs. It was great.

From here, we braved the cold, icy, rain of death and had a look at some of the shops. Christmas music is blaring, and all around people are yelling ‘Irashaimase’!!! (welcome)

 This song is blaring EVERYWHERE… at first it makes you want to stab someone in the face, but then after a while (after hearing it about 10 times), it kinda grows on you. (note, this is just the version used by ‘Docomo’ – a Japanese telecommunication company, buuuut, you get the idea)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDYj4jqCVY

The cold became so painful, we decided we would unfortunately just have to go and get some dessert. We went to an extraordinary dessert restaurant which served the most intricate delicasies laden with strawberries, fresh, sweet whipped cream, and chocolate.

Almost all of the restaurants you pass in the street are fronted by display boxes, sporting plasticised versions of all of the meals they serve.

The rain continued to increase in vigour, and in fear of missing the last service, we called it a night, and bid farewell to our friends. After getting off at our station, the downpour hadn’t subsided at all. My high heels were all wet and squelchy inside. So, I walked home in bare, frozen feet (I feared that gangrene would set in), huddled under Dana’s umbrella, pulling myself into him as tight as I could.

Tuesday 21.12.2010

Today we caught a train to Akihabara to hang out with our friends; Duffy and DJ. Even though this was only our second day in Tokyo, we were still excited to be spending time with some friends.

Akihabara is a technology mecca. It boasts some of the largest hi-fi/tech stores in the world.

Yodobashi – Akiba

I was very excited to purchase my very first DSLR – a Canon 550d, for about half the price it would have been had I bought it in Australia. I bought it at Yodobashi-Akiba. I am still squealing with excitement.

Akihabara also boasts about a trillion gaming arcades. Admittedly, these are pretty darn cool. The curious thing about them though, is the fact that they are FULL of grown ups. I played my hand at Tetris (arguably the best game in the world), and beat two of the boys. I win. Yussss.

THE best and most hilarious game in the world lives here in Tokyo. It is called, ‘Angry Dad’. The aim of the game is to create a path (as destructive as you can) of wreckage, by angrily turning up a table (please see ‘exhibit A’).

Exhibit A: Dana and Duffy – Hai Chi-zu! (Say CHEESE!)

You choose the setting you want – whether it be at the morgue, in the dining room with the family, or in the office. Then the computer screen plays out a scenario for you, and at just the right time, you SLAM your palms down on the table in front of you to get everyone’s attention. Then you use as much brute force as possible to fling the table up (please see ‘exhibit B’).

Exhibit B: Duffy slamming the table up

A scene will then play out on the screen to show you how many people you knocked out, how many windows you broke, how many pieces of furniture you destroyed, etc etc. Bonus points are given for wrecking key items.

WTF???

*NOTE TO SELF: As I soon found out, unless you can read and understand Kanji, there is no real aesthetic  difference between the following establishments:

-          A multi-level super anime store,

-          a karaoke bar,

-          a electronics shop,

-          a gaming arcade, and;

-          a porn shop.

Failure to keep this in mind whilst traveling in Tokyo will result in poignant embarrassment, for reasons I need not explain.