What a way to start the week

Monday...huh.
Monday morning was another early morning, as we had to pack up (we would be staying at Brian’s place from here on out). The only problem was that the late nights had taken the energy out of Tamie, so she wasn’t feeling too good by the time we got to Brian’s place, and decided to head home for sleep. She felt great the next day, so it was obviously the right decision, especially since she was due back in China on Wednesday (or was it Thursday?).

Anywho, after Tamie took off (around 1), Brian and I headed into Tokyo proper to check out the sights. We hit up Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine there, took some pictures of a family dressed up (I’ll post pics later), did some window shopping in Harajuku (teen fashion place), and grabbed lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s. After that, some more wandering, picked up some allergy pills (I had to cave, my sneezing was just ridiculous), and headed off to Shibuya. Shibuya is famous for it’s bright lights and billboards, like Times Square in New York, so this was my first experience in what I would call “my expected Tokyo”. I also saw the coolest parking garage ever…you drove your car in, where it was lifted away on a ferris wheel like thing, and when you backed out, there was a turntable on the sidewalk to turn your car around. Very cool. We ended up at a pub for dinner, where Brian enjoyed the smallest chicken wings I have ever seen. Honestly, they weren’t much bigger than my pinky finger around.

Then it was off to Shinjuku to (hopefully) find a really tall building to get some pictures of Tokyo from. Problem was, Brian picked the wrong exit from the station, so rather than end up in a brightly lit area, we were in the dark, and no where near where we wanted to go. After some aimless wandering, I ended up following a bright billboard which lead (completely accidentally) to the Park Hyatt Hotel, which was a place I wanted to visit. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed in thanks to Brian’s shorts and sandals, but we got to take some cool pictures. After that, we headed back towards Shinjuku station, where we found all the neon lights and the side of the station Brian was looking for earlier. Much more Tokyo-like in my opinion. Also much seedier as we were approached by hookers and many guys trying to get us to “come, try our club…completely naked nice Japanese girls. All you can drink!”. Very sleazy. I swear, if you see a black guy in Tokyo, don’t make eye contact…they will hunt you down otherwise.

After some searching, we found a karaoke place where we ended the night. A super classy place, it had some naked ladies on the walls, and posted naked pictures of women between songs. Oh, and smelt like an ashtray. Still, it was a good time, and a nice way to end the night.