Apologies for the delay. It's been crazy here in Tokyo, and I've had hardly a moment to spare, what with all the staring and slack-jawediness.
Yesterday was long and awesome. I woke up pretty early and looked outside to find a surprise. It was snowing! Freaking snow! In Japan! I told everyone that's one of the things I wanted to see while I was here. Who knew it would happen the first day?
Tei and I started our day heading out of Sagamihara and into Shinjuku. It seems I am to see a lot of Shinjuku on this trip, as it's a big hub for all of the trains around Tokyo. We hit the streets of Shinjuku and just wandered around for a bit. I was amazed by everything. Anyone who knows me should not find that entirely shocking. Of course everything in Japan would amaze me, right? We ate lunch at a small ramen stand. I didn't get it's name. It was good, though. Shoyu Ramen, way better than that trash water I'm used to at Mitsuwa (Okay, Mitsuwa's noodles aren't that bad, but I had to emphasize). After lunch we jumped back on the train and headed for Roppongi.
Roppongi is a really nice area. It's all fancy shops and museums. We went straight from the station to Roppongi Hills. Mori Tower, to be specific. One of my all-time favorite artists, Takashi Murakami, branded that entire part of town. We went into the building, and it was like a giant confusing mall for rich people who like gaudy jewelry and ugly shoes. We skipped most of the shops, and headed straight for the museum gift store. That was way cool. Shirts, buttons, art, etc. from tons of different artists that have been featured in the tower. I didn't end up purchasing anything from there, but it was cool nonetheless.
Next, for the small sum of １０００円, we went up to Tokyo View. Seeing Tokyo from the 56th floor of Mori Tower is ine of the greatest sights I've ever witnessed. We were basically standing on equal footing with the tip of Tokyo Tower. Tei bought me a smoothie, and we took some photographs of the city.
After Tokyo View, we headed off to Mitaka and the Ghibli Museum. At the risk of making everone who is reading this jealous, I just want to say one thing: the Ghibli Museum is better than almost anything. I promise. I took some illegal photographs, as I've come to learn (the hard way) that taking pictures in most museums and shops in Japan is prohibited. Even in many arcades. But I was able to sneak a few good ones anyway. We learned all about how Miyazaki hooks us up with the awesome crap he does. There were entire rooms plastered with storyboard sketches from all of his films, including Earthsea, which isn't even out in the States yet. There's a giant plush Cat Bus for kids to climb on, and rad gift shop. This is the kind of place I want to spend entire weekends.
Leaving Mitaka, Tei and I made our way back to Shinjuku and ate dinner at a place called Ootoya. I had the tonkatsu. Back in Roppongi, we went to Watami for drinks. Watami is a traditional-style Japanese bar. Not many foreigners, which was okay by me. We both got kinda' drunk on beer and sake, then wandered the alleys and side streets for a bit. Tei recalled and Irish pub not far from where we were, so we went to check it out. It was called Hobgoblin, and they had live Premier League Soccer on the television. I was up for another beer, and so was Tei, so we hung out there for a bit. I think I saw three Japanese people in the entire bar, and it was not empty. Everyone was either British, Irish, or Scottish, based on what I could hear of their speech. Shortly after Liverpool destroyed Chelsea, we took off.
We missed the last train that stops closest to Tei's house, so we took the next-closest and caught a cab the rest of the way home. I promptly crawled upstairs and went to sleep.
Plenty went on today, too, but I'm way to tired to write about it tonight. I'll try to get to it when I get up tomorrow. Also, I'll be purchasing a USB cable for my camera tomorrow. You should all see photographs very soon. Sweet dreams, everyone.
