Japan: Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday.
A really late start to the day as there was an accident on the train line. Everything was delayed a few hours, and as a result, we didn’t really start the day until 3 or so. We headed off to Akihabara, which is the electronics district in Tokyo. A lot of big electronics shops selling everything imaginable. It’s also home to a unique type of café called a maid café. In these establishments, the waitresses are all cute young girls dressed up in maid outfits. Naturally, the prices are a bit higher for the atmosphere, but I had a good time. We found a small little place, out of the way, that had a really cute girl who even spoke some English. A good time indeed.

After taking off from Akihabara, we headed off to Tokyo bay and the Odaiba area. There we found a lot of the sights that I wanted to take in the next day, including the Emerging Sciences museum and a car museum. We also got to see the Rainbow bridge (very cool) and a ferris wheel that was all lit up…a striking sight. There was also a huge Coke store in the area that we stopped by, where I got my picture with the famous Coke polar bear. I was in heaven.

Back to the station, back to Shin-yurigaoka, and off to one of Brian’s favourite bars, Cathy and Edwards. It’s name was apparently picked to give it a classy, non-Japanese feel. It certainly was a classy place with jazz playing softly in the background, and a really awesome atmosphere. The bartender was great, and spoke excellent English. We had a few beers/cokes, and I even got hit on my an Japanese woman. If only I had been the one drinking, she might have looked good enough to take home. Not sure that there is enough booze in the world, though, to cover up the chain smoking. A couple of hours later (around 3 am, I think), we extracted ourselves from the bar and headed back home for the night.

Wednesday.
Today is the day for some upper-class shopping. Window shopping, that is. I can barely afford to look at the crap they have on sale here it’s so expensive. Found some really nice jewellery for several thousand dollars, though. After a couple of hours wandering about (and checking out a really cool toystore), it was back to Odaiba to actually make it into the museums, where we got to see Asimo (Honda robot) dance. It was pretty cool. At this point it was starting to drizzle, so we decided to head off to Roppongi Hills for some at home love.

Roppongi Hills is supposed to be where all the ex-patriots go to unwind and enjoy a taste of home. Now, I can’t speak for everyone, but unless you live in a sleazy part of town, it won’t remind you of home. Again, lots of black guys asking you to go to clubs, women offering “services”, and more titty bars than I’ve ever seen before. There is a nice upscale part a few blocks away, though, that offered excellent views of Tokyo and more upscale shopping. Problem is, they kinda frown on two white guys in shorts and sandals there. We did manage to grab dinner, though. It was an awesome restaurant with an indoor waterfall…not really sure why it was there, but it was cool. We were easily the worst dressed in the entire place. Easily.

Then, like every night, after a bit more wandering it was back to Shin-yurigaoka for a night cap (this time at Woodstocks, where we had garlic potatoes and caught part of Goodfellas) and a good nights rest.