« OK, OK...here is an update | Main | Cheap drinks at Korakuen »
September 29, 2007
I am lazy. It's great.
Well, we went back to the all-you-can-drink place at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday. It was OK...actually, there is a two-hour time limit, but when you are paying less than the cost of two drinks in Roppongi, it is still a fantastic deal.
When I say "we", I mean Max and two of his newly-arrived-in-Tokyo housemates. It is always interesting to get people's perspectives on Japan when everything is new and different. I have no idea what I told people when I got here, needless to say it probably didn't make much sense. This is a picture of Tokyo Dome from where I sat in the beer garden.
After our two hours were up, we headed over to the Hub in LaQua for a few more drinks. Max's housemates wandered off and I am still wondering what happened to them. It was a pretty lively atmosphere, helped in part by the Tokyo Giants having clinched a playoff spot. Actually, I am only guessing on that last part, but the Giants ARE in first place and there were lots of drunk people waving orange scarves, so I feel it is a safe assumption.
On Thursday, I went with a friend for a long walk through old Tokyo. We started by taking the river cruise from Hinode Pier to Asakusa, and in my organizational brilliance I had us at the pier an hour before the first boat. We had a coffee and watched all the old people get in line in front of us. Well, I love being on the water, even if it is a silly tourist boat, and we got the prime bench seats at the back, so it was that much better.
Once we arrived, we walked through Asakusa, Kappabashi, Ueno and eventually arrived in Yanaka. Unfortunately for you, I did not take any pictures. You will have to take my word for it when I say it was a really lovely day.
Yesterday, I went for a long ride around Tokyo. I went to one of my favourite places in Tokyo for a coffee. It is at the the entrance to Meiji Shrine. I am not sure why I like it so much as the coffee is ordinary and there are tons of mosquitoes flapping around. Then again, it is quiet and the people watching is pretty good. There is a mix of Japanese going to pray and tourists going to gawk and all of them stop at the entrance to take pictures, so you get a good look at them. Anyway, this is the front of the coffee shop.
After that, I spent some time in Yoyogi Park. This picture looks peaceful, but in reality it wasn't.
First of all, there were two pasty white sunbathers on the benches to my left. I say pasty, but I really mean they were painful to look at. On the other side there was an angry salaryman. Well, I assume he was angry because he looked like he wanted to throw his empty genki drink container at me. Maybe I woke him up. To fill things out, there was some kid who thought tap dancing on wooden planks with metal-soled shoes was really, really cool. Needless to say, I took my picture and left.
After that, I rode by a shop that I have been meaning to go to, so I stopped. The nicest woman in all of Tokyo helped me out while I looked at some furniture for the Zushi place. She was so eager for me to find exactly what I wanted. I felt bad that I left the shop without buying everything. I felt worse when she chased me down as I tried to get away, I mean ride away, to give me a catalog.
As for the title...there are three things I should be doing now: getting the Zushi place furnished, studying Japanese, and/or finding a job. Well, there is always next week.