The Japan Adventure.. Part 2
Friday, 6th March – Exploring Tokyo
I woke up at about 9am, Tokyo time. I set up my computer, and hooked it up to the free in-room internet. Just for fun, I did a speed test, and almost fell off the bed. Not 150kbps (my ADSL1 speed at home), it was fucking 2100kbps (2.1mbps!) Damn, i’m loving this place already. But internet is internet, and Japan has much more to offer than that. So I showered and got dressed, and headed out to explore.
I bought a subway day ticket for 1000 Yen, which gave me unlimited use of the subway system for the day.
I hopped on, not really knowing where I was going, then studied my tourist map to figure out a good spot to start my sightseeing.
I got off at Marunouchi Station, which is underneath the Marunouchi Buildings.
From the moment you step out of the subway, you realise you’re in an upmarket area. The shops are just so clean and well presented, with smiling staff wherever you look. Even the small convenience/food stores look upmarket.
One thing surprised me though; Buying alcohol seems to be cheaper than in Australia, even with our $1 AUD = 60 Yen. (We were at about 96 Yen before the ‘crisis’). A 1 litre bottle of Absolut Vodka would have only cost me $21.00 (It cost me $26 duty free @ GC on the way back to Australia!). But on the other side of the coin, I saw a pack of TimTams for 450 Yen. That’s $7.70!
Most of the stores in Marunouchi were women’s stuff, so I headed back to the Subway and took a train to Ginza. After coming out of the subway there, I quickly found my umbrella and opened it up as I hit the street. Trying to take pictures of everything whilst hiding under an umbrella, trying not to get the lens wet, was getting annoying.
I went into a few department stores, and in one I found a jacket I liked. But I put it back quickly when I converted the price tag – over $7000 AUD. For a jacket. OMG. It wasn’t that nice.
My stomach started to remind me that it was past 2pm and I hadn’t yet had lunch, ironically right in front of a Yoshinoya. I’d been there before in SG and KL, so I went in. Weirdly enough, Yoshinoya in Japan doesn’t have half the menu I was used to. All you can get is the gyu-don (the shaved beef) meal in a few different forms. But I got one anyway, food is food. And it was probably the cheapest thing in Ginza.
I wandered up and down a bit more, browsing in stores, etc. There’s no way you’d think there’s a recession looming – with all the people spending spending spending.
One thing i’d started to notice about Japan: Where are all the bins? They’re very few and far between, so you end up carrying your little bag of rubbish for you almost all day until you finally find one somewhere.
I headed back to Shinjuku and wandered around there a little bit, (mainly until I found my way out again) and went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.
A friend i’d been chatting to on MSN rang a bit later, as he finished work, so we met up for coffee and he showed me around Shinjuku a bit more. Then he showed me how to order Ramen at one of the ramen places which had no English signage, so my menu options for the rest of the trip would be increased. 
The ramen was good too, as you’d expect. By the time we finished our ramen and chatting, he had to head off to go back to work. The joys of working in a job with split shifts, I guess.
I went back to the hotel room for awhile, planning how i’d go where, and when for the next few days. Another friend msg’d me, arranging to take me out clubbing to Arty Farty, one of Ni-Chome’s better gay clubs.
We arranged to meet at 10.30pm outside Arty Farty, so I arrived right on time. I waited. It was freezing. I msg’d him to find out where he was, and received a reply that he was ‘in a resaurant with frenz’. There was no way I was hanging around in the cold for some flake who can’t live up to plans he made, so I went into Arty by myself.
Inside, it was… nothing special. It reminded me of Star / Opium Den back in Melbourne, which is certainly no compliment. Simply, I thought it was pretty shit. I paid 500 yen for my plastic disposable cup of beer, which then entitles you to go dance on the (small) dancefloor with all the ugly people. Yeah, there were no cute guys there for the whole hour I stayed.
You can smoke almost anywhere in Japan. Restaurants, shopping centres, and of course, clubs. So after an hour I reeked of cigarette smoke, and i’d had enough anyway. I went back to the hotel room, and hung all my clothes on hangers in the shower. Then I left the extraction fan on and closed the door. Hopefully they’d air off overnight.
I fell asleep about 1.30am, and woke up to a message an hour later, from my ‘friend’ wondering where I was. Like WTF? So I just replied with a BAKA! (Idiot!), and he didn’t reply. Some Japanese people are weird. Like the guy who offered for me to stay with him whilst in Tokyo – luckily I didn’t count on his offer, because he didn’t even answer the phone when I tried to contact him upon my arrival. Don’t tell me it’s to do with cultural differences, that’s bullshit. Some people are just useless. Geez.
07.Mar.09 
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
