The inspiration for this trip was a lone free day I spent criss crossing the city and its many unique neighborhoods at the end of a short work trip in the summer of 2008. I found myself entirely charmed by its friendly citizens and often bizarrely unique culture. I ached to explore on a grander scale and share in the experience with Steph, so we started planning a return visit shortly after I got back.
Of course, a city like Tokyo is best enjoyed with good company, so we naturally invited our friends Nate and Shelly, who jumped on the idea immediately, and added some brand identity with the moniker "T-10" (Tokyo 2010).
The trip broke down into 3 acts. the last of which was a truly epic finale!
Act I: Akasaka Heat
We base camped at the Grand Prince Akasaka hotel, a modernist high rise hotel designed by renowned Japansese architect Kenzo Tange. We hit the ground running fast and furious. Within 48 hours of arrival (all in 90 degree heat, 90 percent humidity), we had explored Akasaka, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku, Ginza, the Tsukiji fish market, Asakusa, Akihabara, and Roppongi. We drank Asahi at the Asahi Super Dry beer hall, ate roughly 5 pounds of pork, mostly at a bad Japanese restaurant named Yamato, which translates directly to "pig", drank Kamikazes at a Native American shot bar the size of an office cubical, played Pachinko and walked more miles than I care to ever even think about again.
Favorite images and memories from the opening act:
On our way to a yummy dinner on night one
Shelly charmingly asks for more soy sauce after pouring it all into the two ashtrays
Nate tries to extract his dropped chopsticks from the shabu shabu flames. And we are rolling!!
Exploring Yoyogi Park. We tried to find the dancing Elvises, but apparently they got shut down :(
Traditional Japanese wedding procession
Harajuku fashion scene...
Shelly joins the fray, bumpin' new camo rain heels!
Ginza - high end shopping district, and the most expensive commercial real estate on Earth! A bit older crowd, yet still more cutting edge fashion.
Happy diners, before the longest dinner ever, with the least intelligent human being on earth as our waitress...
You can actually see the aura of ineptitude that surrounds her if you look closely...
Tsukiji fish market. A hive of activity!
breakfast sushi... it comes no fresher!
Asakusa Kannon Temple, Tokyo's largest Buddhist temple
Akihabara... electronics town, and our first taste of Pachinko.
Nate already in the zone, up two fifty an hour in.
And finally... Roppongi. On the suggestion of a co-worker, we ate at Robotaya Roppongi, basically Japanese dinner theater. Crazy awesome food and entertainment. A one of a kind experience.
Whew! I'm exhausted again! That wraps up Act I. Act II soon to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment