The Japan Adventure.. Part 3
Saturday, 7th March
I decided to start the day off on a high point, so I walked to the nearest subway station and caught the train to the Nishi Shinjuku Station. From there, it was quite a walk but I followed all the signs on the underground walkways and eventually arrived at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buildings.
I originally thought it was closed, but I guess Govt buildings aren’t really busy on a weekend. I saw someone go in, so I followed. A couple of security guards asked me to take off my backpack and inspected the contents, then I was allowed to continue onto the lift. 37 floors later (I think), and wow, what a view. All for free, too, as opposed to paying for almost the same view from Tokyo Tower!
For as far as the eye could see, you saw city buildings, packed in together. Except for one part – the imperial palace. A vast pool of greenery in the concrete jungle. Pretty cool.
After heading back down to ground, I wandered around a bit. There was some festival/exhibition thing going on nearby, advertising the joys of snow boarding/skiing. There was a jump ramp too, but no one was doing anything so I couldn’t be bothered waiting around.
I walked back to central Shinjuku, and did some browsing in some random stores. I somehow ended up near Yoyogi Station, so I wandered around the little streets near there too. Then I heard a familiar sound.. the railway crossing bells you hear out of so many Animes! I ran toward the sound, just to see a train crossing the tracks. So I snapped a couple of pictures… yeah I know, tourist. Sue me.
My stomach reminded me it wanted some food, so I walked a bit further down some neighbourhood street and saw a place called “Coco Curry House”. No matter where you go for Japanese Curry, it always tastes the same – a bit weird, and a bit instant. Maybe they all use the same packet curry mix? 
I went in, anyway.
I balanced the tonkatsu / rice / curry dish out with a crispy fresh salad, which had a scoop of chilled mashed potato in the middle of it. Sounds weird, but it was actually quite yummy. It’s also hard to ask for a “Lemonade” or any other drink, but universally everyone understands when you say “Coke”. (Or was that “Cock”?)
After lunch I retraced my steps back to Yoyogi station, then took the train back to Shinjuku station (Oops, 1 stop!? lol) where I decided to venture into Isetan.
I’d been to a few Isetans in Singapore and Malaysia before, but this one seemed even bigger. The trouble was… where was the Men’s section? I eventually found it, by going up a couple of floors and discovering a kind of disjointed walkway from the end of the Women’s section which led to a separate Men’s section beyond. Weird.
I did see a few things I liked, but they were just a little bit overpriced. (At this point in time, 1 AUD = only 60 Yen. It used to 1 AUD = 96 Yen.. stupid financial crisis.. *sob*). So anyway back to the Subway, and then I headed over to Shibuya, a supposed shopping Mecca for the young and trendy.
I took the main exit from Shibuya Station, and immediately spotted a shopping tower called “109″. This is one of the main trendy shopping spots, with many floors of little boutique stores selling anything and everything that is in fashion. Kind of like a condensed but sometimes more expensive Harajuku! (This one I saw is actually the 2nd ‘109′ tower, the original one is a block away and consists entirely of chic stuff!)
I think the first 4 levels (6 if you include the two basement floors) were chic clothing, then finally on level 5 I found the Guy’s stuff. Each shop was small, and packed full of stuff. Once you add a couple of salesmen and a few customers, they get pretty packed and you end up squeezing past people while you’re browsing. Not that I overly minded, most of the sales guys (and customers) were kinda cute. Lol. But I was having a hard time spotting the difference between metrosexual and homosexual.. 
In typical Japanese fashion, you’re allowed to walk around the store with your shoes on. But the minute you head for the changerooms – which they’ve thoughtfully carpeted, you need to take your shoes off before you go on. Not that I was worried about anyone stealing them, it’s just a pain in the butt to take shoes on off on off when you’re only trying on tops, anyway.
I did find a few items I really liked, but much to my dismay most things only came in two sizes. Which equates to XS and XXS (Anorexic). I doubt even the average solid Japanese guy, let alone a Sumo, could shop around here.
It was much the same story with each store on the next two levels, as well. Funky stuff, not my size.
After I finished shopping there, I wandered around the streets, until I ended up in an area that had quite a few love motels – all with their little signs out the front advertising their rates. A few thousand yen for a ‘nap’, and a bit more if you want a ’sleep’. Basically hourly rate or all night rate. Depends if you need to get home to the wife or you’re ‘working late’, I suppose.
Walking along the streets again; actually I should say shuffle. Because there were so many people, you couldn’t walk normally. Besides being insanely busy, it was also cold. So everyone was wearing something chunky, whether it be an overcoat, a puffy jacket, or pretty much everything i’d brought with me. This made squeezing through the throngs even more difficult. “Sumimasen” aplenty, I got back to the Subway Station. Finally.
I paused for a moment, and thought ‘What fucking recession?’, because just seeing all that, all the people, all the labels, all the excess… you wonder if anyone’s thought to tell them that.
It was getting on toward about 8pm, so I took the train back to central Shinjuku. I met up with a friend for dinner, and he took me to a place called an Izakaya.
What’s an Izakaya? I had no idea, but I knew they served food, coz that’s where we were going for dinner. But I found out that they’re basically drinking establishments (which are also open until late), which serve food as well. The easiest explanation i’ve used on friends is that they’re like late night Dim-Sum / Yum-Cha places which serve alcohol and Japanese type nibbly foods.
So we entered this particular Izakaya, put our shoes in one of the pigeonholes, then followed the kimono-clad waitress to our booth / room.
Each ‘room’ is partially separated from the others, giving each group a little bit of privacy, as well as helping to lower the ambient noise level – which can get quite rowdy as the patrons get increasingly inebriated!
In your room there is either a Call bell, or a touchscreen. This one just had the call bell, so we looked through the menu (yes, I looked at the pictures) and we selected a bunch of things that looked delicious.
I then ordered a drink called a Chu-Hai, which are collectively known as “Sours”. Chu-Hai is like a Japanese Vodka, and is flavoured with whatever you choose off the list – I ordered the Lime – (450 Yen). When it arrived, it was as big as a German Beer Stein, and damn strong – but sooo Sugoi!
It was a big place – and it was packed, but our food arrived impressively fast. They must have an army out in the kitchen or something.
Not only was the food quick, but it was delicious! Apart from the KFC, I don’t think i’d had a bad meal since, so wondered if this trend would continue..
After we had our fill and were questionably sober, we walked to some coffee shop in Ni Chome which was evidently popular with the gay crowd.
When we arrived, I didn’t have to ask why – The only way to make the place any gayer would be to paint it pink and add feather boas everywhere. And that went for some of the patrons, too.
I ordered an overpriced coffee, and my friend ordered a tea, and a slice of cake. We chatted for a good hour or so, until we decided it was late enough to visit a couple of the clubs.
I didn’t realise we were so close – Across the road and down one of the side streets, and I regained my bearings. I mentioned i’d already been to Arty Farty and didn’t think much of it, so we went to a place called “Dragon” in the next street instead.
Even though I wasn’t alone this time, the atmosphere wasn’t any better. It still felt tired, uninspired, boring. There were plenty of people, but.. big deal. It’s as if there’s this collective assumption that if you just paint ‘Gay’ on the front door and do a half assed setup inside then it’ll be a success. Maybe that is true though, coz there wasn’t anything any better around.
After all my adventures during the day, I decided to call it a night at about 1am. My friend was going to party on until whatever hour of the morning, so I left him to it.
08.Mar.09 
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