Well folks, it is 5 am here in Tokyo and the city is alive and kicking. The area i am staying in never seems to sleep. Of course much of the late night activity centers around bars, hostess bars, clubs and very uniquely dressed women and men walking the streets for no apparent reason. Still it is a safe and vibrant area to stay in. I would definitely come back to this area to stay. All the services you could want are open 24/7, food, bars, movies, this internet cafe.
As i mentioned, this cafe is always open. It is filled with booths so small I can barely turn the chair around to get out. I make a tremendous amount of noise banging into the side of the walls and stumbling out of the booth for some air. I was greatful to hear almost everyone else doing the same. I wonder why they could not space another two inches to make a a bit easier...then answer of course is money. There are literally hundres of these booths in this single space. at $4.00 per hour you cant beat the price either. I can hear quite a bit of snoring from people who did not make it home last night. And probably did not make it to a hotel so I guess you can spend four hundred yen an hour and sleep all you like.
Yesteday was another day full of interesting activity. I spent the initial part of the day verifying that i indeed have a better grip of how to understand the address system here in Japan. I did pretty good if I do say so myself. The one critical part is to have a good starting point. Luckily there are very detailed maps of local areas on street corners every few blocks. That helps enormously.
I was not really hungry early in the day but i went to a few department stores anyway and checked out the HUGE food courts in the basements. I ended up buying food for later. They sell everythiung from sushi, to any kind of veggie you want, cook some food to order, tempura, sandwiches and salads....anything you want you can find there. That comsumed a few hours of walking. I moved next to another part of town, Shibuya, where I thought I was going to rest. There was a mobile exhibit of the history of train travel so i spent some time there and kept moving. The number of people in Shibuya is always mind boggling. I heard that the one street crossing at the train station is the busiest one in the world. Millions of people a day cross that intersection each day. I perched at starbucks a few stories above the place and watched in amazement as the hords of people passed and passed again.
Talk about people watching, there is nothing like Harajuku on sundays. The location is just one subway stop from Shibuya but it seemed like another world. Primarily a place for young folds but not exclusively. What I saw yesterday would rival the best halloween celebration back home. People dress up in ways that they feel express who they are and what they believe is acceptable from their perspective. I assume a way to rebel in a society that does not do that very well. Young folks in lots of make up, different and colorful hair styles, shoes that were so high it is a wonder some did not tip over, it was like aparade of sorts. This happens every weekend. I wonder if some will be able to stand the winter. It was a bit chilly yesterday but that did not stop a few from dressing like they were on a beach. And shivering somuch I almost felt like saying to one girl, here ya go....cover up your ass....but I was chilly so I opted not to.
Some people were taking pictures of some of that but i did not feel that was appropriate. It almost felt like invading ones privacy even though they were in public.
Before heading back to kochicho, the area I am staying in, I stopped in shinjuku at a few small shops. I am not buying much these days because I refuse to allow my bag to get any heavier. I still have a ways to haul it. There were two things that kep me walking for a few more hours, one was the underground mall. It went on for blocks. There were mostly clothing stores and some second hand shops (something there are alot of here by the way). the other was an above ground maze of shops and restaurants. I eventaully had a bowl of udon and then headed back to the hotel.
Needless to say i was soon fast asleep. I woke up a few hours later and did some reading and preparing for todays travels, you will read about what I have decided to do soon enough.
Enough for now. hmmm, 6 am now...a few more hours before the places I want to go to open. Maybe i will pop into a bar for a beer.
Talk to you all soon
Craig
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