So, for my 10 day winter vacation, as previously mentioned, my friends (Andy, Matt, Anup, Atit) came all the out here to the other side of the world to spend their hard earned vacation and money and visit me and Nat. And there's not much to say in that it was truly a good vacation, of epic proportions. It always is! In short, we did so much and saw so much in such a short span that it's hard to really do this trip justice in one condensed (1.5 weeks late) post. But I'll try my best...
On Tuesday the 28th, we boarded an overnight bus all the way to Tokyo. Considering that it was an 11 hour bus ride, I think that me and Nat survived half decently, with the help of sleeping pills and a long day of work behind us. When we arrived in Shinjuku, Tokyo, it was basically immediately apparent just how much more ridiculous Tokyo is in respect to everywhere else I've been. From Shinjuku, we boarded the a train to Harajuku and made our way to the apartment that we were staying at. When we got there, we met up with the guys and it was really good to seem some familiar faces after being in Japan for 6 months now. That day, we all ended up going to Shibuya, one of the biggest fashion and entertainment areas within Tokyo (and therefore, the world). Shibuya is famous for being sort of the Times Square of Tokyo. It has the world's busiest crosswalk, and honestly it didn't disappoint. Even outside of peak hours and during the holidays, the crosswalk is crawling with people going about their daily lights. Crossing it is almost dizzying and it's something that is impossible to experience in Texas, or probably in the states for that matter. Crossing it was fun, and we even attempted to have a 5 man flash mob with Natalie filming it. Worst Flash Mob ever AND we tried to do the Macarena. It was pretty embarrassing, but in a hilarious way. The rest of the day was spent exploring some of the quirkier stores of Japan such as Tokyu hands. We also made our way to the TMG tower which offers a free view of Tokyo from the 40 something floor. It was a really nice view, but otherwise, it was just a run of the mill tourist attraction. Afterwards, I was really disappointed in myself and Nat in that we took my friends to a very, very mediocre Nomihodai, ate very, very mediocre Ramen, and went to a very, very mediocre bar afterwards. Of course, being around fun people, we still had a blast but I would've liked to show them into some nice places. But hey, we were new in town as well (and still relatively terrible at Japanese) Oh well, and this was when the USA chants started.
On the 29th, we all tried to wake up as early as possible so that we could make it in time to see some fish action in Japan's largest fish market; Tsukiji. There's not much to say about the fish market except that it stinks, looks like a fish market, and basically looks like dump (as it should). Yeah, it was interesting to watch but at the end of the day, we came there for the Sushi...and man, that was incredible. You know the sushi is going to be incredible when most restaurants have a 4 hour wait. Yes, 4 fucking hours! These shops get the fish directly from source. It's as fresh as it gets. Enthusiasts swear by the sushi at the market. Although we didn't have the patience for a 4 hour wait, we still ate at a quality sushi restaurant with about an hour wait. The sushi was expensive but worth every penny (or 1 yen coin I should say). Prepared directly in front of you, when you take the first bite, you instantly know that this is the best sushi you've ever had. It melts in your mouth like a piece of warm pie or something. The freshness is intoxicating and the rice is prepared to perfection. Overall, it was an incredible lunch and being the snobs that we are, we're all going to laugh at all other sushi out there. After the lunch, I had planned to take a ferry out to Asakusa (Tokyo's pre-war center of everything) but since it was vacation, it was closed. Instead we had to walk our way to the nearest station with a brief stop in the ever entertaining Don Quijote store of all things madness. Asakusa ended up being pretty cool. It had a really beautiful temple and plenty of things to take pictures of. I'm sure the guys enjoyed it. My favorite part, however, was when Atit got taken advantage of in a side alley. Some priest looking man came up to him, handed Atit a golden card, gave Atit a pen and paper, and told Atit to give him 10 bucks for it (all in the span of 3 seconds). It was pretty hilarious to see the look of confusion on Atit's face. After the temple, me and Nat spotted the holy grail of American food chain's; Denny's! Being the Americans that we are, we decided that eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, and grease buckets were too good to pass up, even in Japan. Much to our surprise however, Denny's in Japan is lacking everything that makes it American. Shockingly, there are no eggs, bacon, or pancakes to be had. Where was my bucket of grease? I so badly wanted to eat grease with my ladle. Instead, everything was replaced with HAMBUG steaks and you know, typical Japanafied western fare. Not that it was bad, it just wasn't Denny's. But to be honest, I loved the experience of going to Denny's and not having Denny's at all. Bizarro Land, Japan is. Afterwards, we all decided that All you can drink Karaoke would be in our best interests. We went back to Shinjuku and found the best Karaoke there is; Manikeneko. All I have to say is that I think everyone enjoyed it. We we truly the loud Americans. Noone sang, only yelled. It was fun and it was one of those nights when you just don't quite remember what Happened. Let's just leave at that.
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