Tokyo Drift (as apposed to Shanghai Nights)

Another week down and only 5 to go. The days in Asia are flying by. Tomorrow (Monday) my work organization begins its P&P process, also known as Promotion and Planning. This is where they promote those in their 6th review (my class) to Audit Manager's for their third year. With it comes a ton of stress, anticipation, and sleepless nights...that is if one was looking for promotion. I, however, am not and took 5 days last week to travel to Japan, land of the rising sun. I do not exaggerate when I say that Japan is one of the best countries I have traveled to. Safe, clean, foreigner friendly, and teeming with culture of every kind. In my 5 days, I traveled to almost every area inside of Tokyo as well as a day trip down to Kyoto. And with it came more travelers stories...

The best part of traveling is having friends that will let you crash at their place for free. And with Tokyo I was in luck. One of my former managers took a new job in which he is training in Tokyo for several months. This gave me an opportunity to utilize my network. He was living in an area just south of Rappongi, which is notorious for its night life. (This I can vouch for.) It is also very close to the subway system, of which I believe it got its inspiration from Pablo Picasso. (see Tokyo Subway - http://www.tokyotechsupport.com/map/rosen_eng2.png; Picasso Painting - http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksInfo?CatID=OPP.11:014.) It seems intimidating but it is actually quite simple and I was able to tame it within a day or two.

I can't say I have a favorite part of the city as they are all quite different so I will just highlight my experiences. It was just the beginning of the cherry blossom season (extremely popular season to visit) and some of the trees were just starting to bloom so when in Rome...er Tokyo, hmm nevermind. So I became one of the tourists. With Lonely Planet book in hand, I traveled to Asakusa and Ueno to the temples and parks that are famous for their cherry blossoms. Needless to say, the scenery is beyond words. The park in Ueno rivals most of the major parks I have seen including Central (NY), Millennium (Chi), Balboa (SD), and even Mitchell (shout out to Deerfield). The best part was that the cherry blossom season is a celebration, so, much like the 4th of July in the US, families, teenagers, friends, etc were all setting up picnics and feasts in the park. However, this was on a massive scale, and the Japanese love to drink. For each box of food packed in, there was a box filled with booze to match. And the amazing thing was they were not here to watch fireworks, they were there solely for the blossoms.

I also was able to visit the Imperial Palace, sort of. It is off limits so you can visit the east gardens and then walk around the outskirts of the huge moat that surrounds the palace. It would take some serious effort to cross let alone lay siege to. I decided not to try.

Other neighborhoods visited included Akihabara (home to huge electronics stores that are something out of my dreams, nerdy but true), Shinjuku (full of tall buildings, crazy sights and sounds, and enormous crowds), Harajuku (with some of the craziest fashions I have ever witnessed), Odaiba (the answer to any boardwalk town in California, Im looking at you Santa Monica), and lastly Shibuya. The experience in Shibuya is probably the best story and most common in my travels.

My buddy and I went in to check out some of the pubs and with an open mind. We stopped off at the first British pub we passed (walking really builds a thirst). In this pub we met quite a lively bunch, including a fellow that I would refer to as Pittsburgh (he wore a Steelers hat). He was teaching English in a village outside of Tokyo and was there with his new girlfriend from the same town. Unfortunately, he picked a pub that one of his mates was at with the ex-girlfriend he had just broken up with. This left my friend and I as a great distraction to remove himself from the awkward situation, and we happily obliged. He told us about his job, Tokyo, his travels to Shanghai and some other stuff. He eventually took off to catch a train with his girlfriend. We took this as a good time to leave. We found the next bar that was open in walking distance and made ourselves at home. The crowd was not too friendly and we were discussion leaving then who should walk in but our friend, Pittsburgh. Apparently they had missed their train. As luck would have it, he had made other friends in that bar the same evening and introduced us. The table consisted of two Indian guys working with an IT company in Tokyo and a girl from the Netherlands who appeared to be "on the clock" so to speak. Also, there were two Japanese fellows who were local DJ's. As we talked, they told us they were expecting another DJ friend who was traveling in from Germany for the weekend. Well, the bar was serving beer at 30 yen a piece, so we made ourselves comfortable and started to get to know the crew better. Turns out, they had all met only that evening. We had found ourselves some new friends. Well a few hours later, the DJ from Germany had finally arrived. My friend and I, acting as impromptu translators, told him we would meet him at the subway station. We arrived and met the most boisterous German in my experience. He literally skipped all the way to the next pub. Well once at the pub came the question that made the night, "Do you guys prefer House or Electronic music?" Hmmmmm....House? Now normally I would have said, are you referring to Techno, seeya later. However, I wanted to see how this would turn out. Well it turned out an an underground dance club that was maybe the most fun I have had in quite some time. Talking to locals (Super Kawaii means super cute if you are ever in Japan, and the girls were just that.) At around 5am, we decided it was our cue to head out. As we walked caught a cab back to the local Udan Noodle house, we watched as the sun began to emerge. And as we finally got back to the apartment, I had to shut the shades to get some much needed rest. "Land of the Rising Sun", it certainly rings true.

As I mentioned, I also spent a day in Kyoto. My expectations were high but I was a bit disappointed. I took the Shinkansen, the Bullet train with a total of 2.5 hours to Kyoto from Toyko. Pretty amazing. However, on arriving at the train station, I found the largest group of tourists I had seen on my trip. In fact, it took me an hour to locate information, find a map, and determine a route to the sights. I took the subway as lines for buses were literally around the block. The walk from subway to destination looked short, but it wound up being 2 miles. Such was my day in Kyoto, walking large distances to see temples and local culture. The sights were spectacular but the distance made it tough. I will have to make it back at some point to see the rest.

The night I made it back from Kyoto, I was able to catch up with a friend living in Tokyo from IU. Thanks to the power of Facebook, we were able to connect. God bless you status updates. We had dinner at a Shabu Shabu restaurant that was amazing. It is kinda like hotpot without the water, more like Korean BBQ with a pot. And catching up was also great, its amazing how reconnecting with lost friends can inject life into ones soul. (I cant wait for more of this during the summer.)

The next day I flew back to Shanghai. It felt like flying home. Shanghai feels like home, a strange feeling. I even feel like I can understand the language even though I dont know the words. However, I resolved to continue to travel while over here. Thailand and Beijing your next. But Tokyo will sit in the back of my head, like water in an abandoned car tire. Depending on what happens this summer, maybe I will be back sooner than I think. Pittsburgh sure did look happy teaching in Japan. There just may be something there.

I'll have more pictures up soon.

Futch