Also, for the past few weeks I've been checking the news daily to see whether downtown Bangkok was expected to be flooded when I arrive there in a week. I was excited to meet up with some friends there after Tokyo and get my travel visa to Burma, but I had no intention of wading around in dirty chest deep water to do so. And the chances of that hovered around 50/50 for weeks.
But now it was time to board the plane for Tokyo, and a great time to finally crack open the
Japan guide book a friend lent me.
Although the flight is a mere eleven hours, you still lose about two days on the calendar to get there. My flight out of SFO left around 10 am Wednesady, and I landed in Tokyo 4 pmThursday. At least I'll get a day back on the way home.
By the time I cleared customs and took the hour train ride from Narita to downtown
Tokyo, It was around 7 pm, right at the tail end of rush hour. I've heard about how they physically cram people into crowded trains during peak periods, so I was crossing my fingers I'd miss that.
The first thing I noticed was that I was the only man on my train car that wasn't wearing a suit and tie and holding a briefcase. I rarely see men in suits in San Francisco where I work so this was definitely a curiosity to me.
The next thing I realized was how out of place I was. Besides not being in a suit, I was the only caucasian in sight in a homogeneous sea of Japanese. At home I'm used to seeing a melting pot of faces and races, but this place didn't seem at all diverse.
Tokyo is an international city, but it's not really a big tourist destination. At least not for foreign tourists. So I realized quickly, this place was not going to accommodate me as an English speaker the way so many other destinations seem to.
As out of place as I felt, no one seemed to notice me. I'm not sure whether it's because they are too polite to stare or that they are so intensely focused on their own destinies. But I felt fairly invisible.
I barely remembered to write down detailed directions to Hotel Sakura before I left home. I even felt a little silly when I snapped a picture of the website's map on my iPhone. But thank god I did. After following my written directions and walking through town at night with my heavy bags for twenty minutes or so, I realized I had no idea where the hotel was. But the iPhone map got me oriented and I found it. That's one point scored in favor of travel paranoia.
I was pleased to see that my ultra budget room ($80/night) even had a private bathroom, although it was comically small. Kind of like something you'd see in an RV. But I like RVs. So I was happy.
I was tempted to crash out. But no way. I'm in Tokyo, man. Time to check it out. I had a few hours before the subways all shutdown around midnight, so I ventured.
I rode the JR train to Shinjuku where I heard there was some nightlife. My first mission was to find some tasty sushi.
I followed the crowd out of the station to the first major intersection where everyone split off in different directions. I chose to walk straight across the major street into a wide, brightly lit, promenade. There were some young men in light grey suits standing around with bleached blonde heavy metal haircuts. One of them approached me and asked me in very broken English if I was looking for a good time. He said I had wandered in to the red light district.
Well that was quick. I had no idea. It didn't look all that seedy. There were no girls in sight. Just a lot of drunken business men and regular looking restaurant facades.
He pointed me down the street to find some food. But before I got too far, a very friendly African man seemed very happy to see me, and w
As it turns out, Nigerian men have begun to infest Tokyo streets touting for such places. I would have thought Japan would have demanded more discretion. I guess they are fine with sleeze as long as it's outsourced.
I actually have no objection to hostess bars, and might have gone to one with friends if it weren't for the seedy touting.
I found some sushi which I happily slurped down, and wandered around a bit more. I found some cool little hole in the wall bars and restaurants. I was actually surprised how few sushi places there are here. It apparently isn't any more prevalent here than it is back home. There are lots of other types of food Japanese eat that we just don't see much of in the West.
Unfortunately, I don't have any idea what most of it was. Walking by restaurants, I'd see many pictures showing bowls of randomness with Japanese scrawl next to them. No clue. Good thing I know how to order sushi.
I spent the next day or so exploring neighborhoods and seeing some sights.
On my last evening before heading off to Kyoto, I met up with my friend Kristen, a blogger and a kind of professional traveler. On this trip, she and her newlywed husband Scott were working on a semester at sea program which had stopped in Japan that week.
Kristen's friends Tracey and Andy both live and work in Tokyo, and happily took us out to a couple of cool restaurants in Roppongi. One was kind of a fancy chicken grill, and the other was a stylish hole in the wall Ramen house. Both very good, and both would have been near impossible for me to navigate myself. This is clearly the way to see Japan. With a knowledgeable guide.
We made it a pretty early night.
I wanted to see some of the legendary Tokyo late night scene, but I was plagued my first few days in Asia with some wicked jet lag. So the perfunctory all nighter was not to be.
Tomorrow, Kyoto.
The first thing I noticed was that I was the only man on my train car that wasn't wearing a suit and tie and holding a briefcase. I rarely see men in suits in San Francisco where I work so this was definitely a curiosity to me.
The two trains I took weren't too packed, but when I arrived at Ikebukuro Station, I saw what urban hustle and bustle is all about. Even after 7 pm, the station was gushing people from one corridor to another.
The next thing I realized was how out of place I was. Besides not being in a suit, I was the only caucasian in sight in a homogeneous sea of Japanese. At home I'm used to seeing a melting pot of faces and races, but this place didn't seem at all diverse.
Tokyo is an international city, but it's not really a big tourist destination. At least not for foreign tourists. So I realized quickly, this place was not going to accommodate me as an English speaker the way so many other destinations seem to.
As out of place as I felt, no one seemed to notice me. I'm not sure whether it's because they are too polite to stare or that they are so intensely focused on their own destinies. But I felt fairly invisible.
I barely remembered to write down detailed directions to Hotel Sakura before I left home. I even felt a little silly when I snapped a picture of the website's map on my iPhone. But thank god I did. After following my written directions and walking through town at night with my heavy bags for twenty minutes or so, I realized I had no idea where the hotel was. But the iPhone map got me oriented and I found it. That's one point scored in favor of travel paranoia.I was pleased to see that my ultra budget room ($80/night) even had a private bathroom, although it was comically small. Kind of like something you'd see in an RV. But I like RVs. So I was happy.
I rode the JR train to Shinjuku where I heard there was some nightlife. My first mission was to find some tasty sushi.
I followed the crowd out of the station to the first major intersection where everyone split off in different directions. I chose to walk straight across the major street into a wide, brightly lit, promenade. There were some young men in light grey suits standing around with bleached blonde heavy metal haircuts. One of them approached me and asked me in very broken English if I was looking for a good time. He said I had wandered in to the red light district.
Well that was quick. I had no idea. It didn't look all that seedy. There were no girls in sight. Just a lot of drunken business men and regular looking restaurant facades.He pointed me down the street to find some food. But before I got too far, a very friendly African man seemed very happy to see me, and w
ouldn't leave my side unless I let him lead me to a nice hostess bar. His car salesman style turned me off, however, and only resolved me to resist doing anything he suggested. He followed me for several blocks before I convinced him he was wasting his time.
As it turns out, Nigerian men have begun to infest Tokyo streets touting for such places. I would have thought Japan would have demanded more discretion. I guess they are fine with sleeze as long as it's outsourced.
I actually have no objection to hostess bars, and might have gone to one with friends if it weren't for the seedy touting.
I found some sushi which I happily slurped down, and wandered around a bit more. I found some cool little hole in the wall bars and restaurants. I was actually surprised how few sushi places there are here. It apparently isn't any more prevalent here than it is back home. There are lots of other types of food Japanese eat that we just don't see much of in the West.
Unfortunately, I don't have any idea what most of it was. Walking by restaurants, I'd see many pictures showing bowls of randomness with Japanese scrawl next to them. No clue. Good thing I know how to order sushi.
I spent the next day or so exploring neighborhoods and seeing some sights.
- Mori Art Museum - At the tippy top of the Roppongi Hills Mori tower is one of Tokyo's newest and best art museums. It was raining pretty bad one of my days there, and a museum was a perfect escape. The exhibit was on Metabolism, an architecture movement that started in Japan in the early 60's that focuses on large scale, extensible structures.
Imperial Palace East Garden - To me, the remarkable thing about the Imperial Palace is mainly its longevity. It has been there in the center of Tokyo (formerly known as Eno) since something like 1100 and is now surrounded by highrises. Mainly the palace area is a giant ancient fortress. There are still structures, huge walls and large moats that used to keep the royals safe from the angry masses. As an ornate garden though, it doesn't hold a candle to Golden Gate Park.- Akihabara - Also called Electric Town, this is gadget central. I didn't see much here that blew me away except that I was fairly creeped out by the baby doll touts, girls dressed in french maid outfits, and shouting something like baby talk, promoting nearby businesses.
- Harajuku - Known for its young, ultra stylish crowd, I wanted to see what this place was about. From what I could tell, it's mainly about shopping. There are tons of big brand and boutique stores here lining the boulevards, kind of like a more stylish union square. Honestly, my impression of Tokyo is that it's mainly about shopping and making money. They seem every so style conscious. Go, go, go. Earn, earn, earn. Shop, shop, shop. Faster, faster, faster. I'm certain that I missed on huge chunks of what the city has to offer, but for the most part, Tokyo seems pretty darned superficial to me.
On my last evening before heading off to Kyoto, I met up with my friend Kristen, a blogger and a kind of professional traveler. On this trip, she and her newlywed husband Scott were working on a semester at sea program which had stopped in Japan that week.Kristen's friends Tracey and Andy both live and work in Tokyo, and happily took us out to a couple of cool restaurants in Roppongi. One was kind of a fancy chicken grill, and the other was a stylish hole in the wall Ramen house. Both very good, and both would have been near impossible for me to navigate myself. This is clearly the way to see Japan. With a knowledgeable guide.
We made it a pretty early night.
I wanted to see some of the legendary Tokyo late night scene, but I was plagued my first few days in Asia with some wicked jet lag. So the perfunctory all nighter was not to be.
Tomorrow, Kyoto.
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