This, most regrettably, is my first completed post since I've been in Japan. Before I get to Jason's Birthday outing in Tokyo, I feel it's necessary to give a bit of background.I've been in Japan since December 06, and for almost exactly a year I've been living and working in Tajimi. It's quite close to Nagoya. My city and job are stories in themselves, but that's for another time. In Japan you get to know pretty much every foreigner within a half hour train ride from you, and Jason lived just one town over. He was one of the first people I'd met after finding my job.
As my relationship with Katie was on it's last leg, she left for Toronto. That was at the beginning of September. Just prior, the three friends I'd made in my city (Chris, Yuki and Odette) left Japan and Jason changed jobs and cities. Suddenly I was in a town where I didn't know anyone - again! Jason was in the same situation. We weren't all that close, but our isolation and sense of adventure pushed us together. Even though we were about an hour and a half away by two trains and a bus, we became really close friends. Almost every weekend we've met up for adventures all over Japan. The weekend I climbed Fuji (blog to come?) might be the only exception. I have to say, he's an exceptional guy and I feel very fortunate that things worked out the way they did.
Jason mentioned offhand that his birthday was coming up on February 1st and he was thinking of spending it in Tokyo. Done. We made arrangements for transportation and found out that our friend Tom and his girlfriend (who lives in Tokyo) would be there that weekend. We didn't really know what we'd end up doing, but we knew it would be good times.
Friday night I met with Jason in Nagoya. I left straight from work, showing up in dress shirt and pants. We grabbed a bite and got on the over-night bus to Tokyo. It ended up being quite comfortable, seats reclining close to horizontal. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well because I'm used to going to sleep around 4am and Jason didn't sleep all that well because the guy in front of us snored like someone was throttling his neck. After 7 hours on that bus I'm surprised no one did.
We rolled into the west side of Tokyo just before 6am and made our way to the south-east side for our first stop: the Tsukiji Fish Market.
The Tsukiji Fish Market is one of the largest fish markets in the world. I know, it doesn't sound all that exciting does it. Live here for a bit and you'll see why it became one of only two mandatory items on our agenda. Fish is an almost inescapable part of the daily diet in Japan. It is rivaled only by rice. The difference, of course, is that much of the fish eaten is raw and needs to be moved very quickly. Every day 2,000 tonnes of marine products move through this market. 2,000 tonnes! It's open 24 hours a day but most of the action is between 5:30 and 7am. There are more than 450 kinds of products (mostly fish, fruits and vegetables), which all have their turn to be auctioned off by hoarse men to a frenzied crowd. It's a labyrinth of sellers and buyers pushing and motoring through narrow spaces between vendors. It's a madhouse.
We made sure to get to Tokyo early so we wouldn't miss too much of the action. It's rather uninviting from the exterior, and even with hoards of tourists making their way through the gates I felt like I was walking into the "Staff Only" door. We started our tour in the vegetable market. The sheer number of boxes filled with vegetables was staggering. I expected that there'd be a large stack of cucumbers, then a large stack of seaweed, but instead there'd be various small piles of boxes, with each box containing something different. We had the great fortune of watching some vegetables being auctioned. We couldn't get close enough to see what was being
sold. The bidding was fast, furious, and to my ear unintelligible. I tried to take video and got some good footage, but the focus flies to the ceiling and floor as I constantly avoided being run over by the mini vehicles ("turret trucks"). Also, it seems that every box is being moved to another spot just as you stand in front of it, so no matter where you stand you're in someone's way.
Next we made our way through the section for seafood. We were first struck by enormous frozen (what I believe were) tuna, but most of the sealife was still alive. The variety was stunning. Creatures you've never seen or imagined await their imminent fate in countless rows of Styrofoam boxes. At the bottom of the picture to the right you can see a giant crab. It was massive and alive. If I placed my forearm across the top of the box it would span from wrist to elbow - though, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to do so.
Here we see the large frozen fish being cut by a jig saw. They used that saw to cut a whole fish into smaller and smaller pieces until each was smaller than a boneless chicken breast.The whole place is wet. There are puddles and slop everywhere. Everyone working there wears goulashes, and all the guide books warn you to bring appropriate footwear. I'm sur
e there have been many people that walked through wearing open-toed sandals, and just the thought makes me uncomfortable.With the market open 24 hours a day, and with all that the commotion I have trouble imagining how they manage to clean the floors. Discarded messes were occasionally disturbing. One particularly gruesome example can be seen on the right. You can be glad it's only a small photo - it was like something out of a horror movie.
Even after all that we still managed to have an appetite. We found the strip in Tsukiji that housed the sushi restaurants. Surely these restaurants have some of the freshest sushi in the world. The whole walkway was filled with people waiting to get into one of the tiny restaurants, but we somehow found one with seating for two and made our way in. We both ordered a plate with tuna and salmon sashimi. I never thought I'd enjoy sushi for breakfast, but the fish was amazing. The texture was so soft. Needless to say, it's the best sushi I've had so far.
As I mentioned before, we only had two items on our agenda. The second one was to celebrate the birth of Jason good and proper by going out on the town. By this time it was still before 9am, so it would be a while before we were hitting the clubs. A long while. We pulled out our guidebooks and decided to head to Ueno. Jason wanted to go to a street market that's there, but it was closed. Ended up we just got drinks at a coffee shop and moved on to our next destination. We headed to Ginza to check out the Sony Store. It's much more than a place to buy products, it's actually more of a display of the latest technology - some of which are yet to be released. Unfortunately, it wasn't open yet either! You'd think more would be open in Tokyo on a Saturday morning.
So we wasted some time walking around the Ginza area. Checked out a bookstore, and went into the Gap. We walked through the store, chatting loudly and having a good laugh. After about five minutes a security guard ran over to us and quite urgently told us we had to leave. They weren't open until 10:00. We were quite amused that they left the doors unlocked and unattended, and it took five minutes of loud conversation for them to notice us. He said we could come back at 10 when they opened. It was 9:58. It just seemed too demeaning to walk to the front door just to wait 30 seconds to be let back in, so we opted to wait at the Sony Store instead.
It was a definite highlight of the trip. We got to see the latest breed of sharp image televisions, new earphone technology, play with the latest cameras and recorders, and see the new "Rolly" in action. If you haven't seen a demonstration yet, you should check it out at this YouTube link. It's really neat. It's an egg-shaped remote speaker that rolls and 'dances' to the music. There's a picture below, but it doesn't do it justice. It's really cool to see live.
As the morning moved on we'd made plans to meet with our friend Tom in Shibuya. Tom's a great guy. He lives in Seki, close to Jason. When I first met him I was shocked to discover that he wasn't from the States. His English is perfect. Completely natural. Apparently he learned most of it from watching "Friends". Ahaha. Really cool guy. It was a bit difficult finding him because it's a busy area. I got a quick shot of the famous intersection below. This is nothing compared to peak hours.
All of us were hungry, and Tom knew where "the best Ramen shop in Tokyo" was ("Ramen" is
the legit form of instant noodles - and ramen restaurants are one of the most common restaurants around). It was way out of the way - and there was nothing else to be found in that neighborhood - but it was that kind of day. We had to wait in queue outside in the cold for 15-20 minutes. Inside we found out why. It was simply delicious.
Next we were off to meet Tom's girlfriend Marie (Mah-dee-eh). As we waited in a coffee shop, Jason tried on the birthday gift I got him. An over-sized red sequined bowtie. He liked it so much he wore it all day. Ahaha.We were particularly tired from all the travel and lack of sleep, so they suggested we spent a few hours at a Capsule hotel. You may have heard of these. They are coffin-sized rooms which contain a tiny shelf pay-TV and a futon with sheets. That's it. Here's a site that shows some accurate pictures (unfortunately it slipped my mind to take a shot).
The rooms may lack features, but Capsule hotels major draw is found in it's shared facilities. A wonderful sento (public bath) with various tubs of different temperatures, a sauna, and a relaxing room with a large screen TV and leather reclining chairs. It's a brilliant idea. Really cheap rooms and great hotel features are ideal for business travelers and poor slobs like us that need a rest. I don't remember what we paid, but it was very very cheap and we had a much needed bath and a few hours rest.
Afterwards we met up with Marie - Tom had to meet with another friend for a few hours. The three of us decided to check out Harajuku. The Harajuku region of Tokyo is renowned for being a spectacle of interesting and catastrophic fashion. After work or school, the socially repressed youth change into outrageous outfits with matching makeup and hair to temporarily fight their restrained lifestyles. If you've ever seen a bizarre picture of a Japanese kid dressed up, it's probably snapped here. It's quite a beautiful area with many interesting shops. Jason certainly found a store that interested him.
After poking around a few places and having a few laughs we went for dinner. Jason and I split a
bottle of shōchū (what you could call Japanese vodka - though a bit more drinkable than it's European counterpart) as we waited for Tom to meet up with us.A few drinks after Tom arrived we were off to meet with Marie's friends and make our way to a club. To the right you can see a photo of Marie wearing Jason's bowtie while we waited. We were hoping to find a good club because our plan was to stay out until the first train and crash at Marie's house.
We got some nice treatment at the first club we went to because Tom's friends with a dancer there. It was a pretty decent place, and it was really interesting being in a club where half the foreigners there were paid to be dancing on a stage. We started to get our drink on, and decided to check out another place that Marie heard was good.
Off we went to the next club, Tom sporting my Travel Monkey through the streets of Tokyo. The second club was a lot bigger. It was still a bit crowded, but by Japan standards it was quite huge with 3 floors and multiple rooms of music. I was happy to see that Jason decided to wear his birthday bowtie on the dance floor and over the course of the night I treated him to a fair number of birthday drinks. It was one o'clock when we walked in, and somehow time flew until we were walking out around six. I'm going to pinch a quote Jason wrote on his blog - it really captures the night: "Maybe it was the company, or the drinks, or the club, or the big red bow tie, but what ever it was the time I spent in that club from 1 till 6 was one of the best nights I’ve ever had in Japan, which means I can also credit it with a top life moment." It truly was a great night to finish off an amazing weekend. Happy Birthday Jason.
Tom, Marie, and one of her friends.
An unflattering photo of the birthday boy and his big birthday bowtie.
I have no recollection why I made this face. Ahaha.
A sexy sweat-stained picture of me after about 4 and a half hours of dancing.
Jason's Birthday Entourage
