The Nippon Bimbo

It all started mid last week when I got an email from my good friend Dr Kroy:

"Where U for NYE?...scored cheap as tickets to Tokyo...wanna meet?[sic]"

Well, what are you gonna do when you get an email like that? Thanks to the vagaries of the Korean stockmarket I was in a position to say "Of course I'll Meetchya!" and so I headed across the Sea of Japan East Sea on the afternoon of the 31st.

In actual fact I picked up quite a sweet deal considering the time of year and got my flights and 2 nights accommodation for a touch under USD$500. Staying in Nihombashi (by Bakurochō station) the trip to and from Narita Airport was simple and reasonably quick, (About 1'20") and I was within walking distamce of Akihabara.

December 31st

I caught up with Dr Kroy and his wife in Shinjuku at their hotel near Ōkubo where we proceeded to make a dent in some duty free liquor and have a bit of a reminice, not having seen each other since (The then bachelor and Honours student) Kroy came to Korea in 2004.

Dr Kroy esq.

After a lengthy discussion as to the appropriate use of a comma with "and" in a list, (Kroy is a Patent attorney and spends a lot of time sorting out the legalities implied by such commas, and of course I'm an English teacher so we both had long treatises on the matter) and a few more scotches we headed out for dinner. I satisfied my craving for some nice greasy Japanese pork Ramen with Renuka while Kroy had the liver:

Liver and Mandu

From dinner it was into the maze that is the Tokyo rail network, and to Tokyo tower to bring in the New Year.

A note on the rail network in Tokyo: It helps to have an English map with you. Often there is a map at the station, but it is never usually in the same area that the ticket machines are. Also some lines are not actually marked on most maps! Don't believe me? Find Ōkubo station on a map. No, not Shin-Ōkubo, that's a completely different station miles up the road!

Also transfers can be confusing. While in Korea you have to move to a completely different platform to change lines, sometimes in Tokyo you have to stay on the same platform and wait for a different train. And then there are stations like Yoyogi with six platforms....!

Single serve Sake.

Anyway we got to Tokyo tower with enough time to pick up a few beers from Ministop on the way, and see in the new year:

Tokyo Tower, lit up prior to midnight

After quite a few Asahis!

And after Midnight

Happy New Year!

Renuka and Kroy bring in the New Year!

The rest of the New Year's frivolity happened in an Irish Bar "Paddy Foley's" in Rappongi. Needless to say a couple of Kilkineys were followed up by an inordinate amount of Vodka and Redbull as Kroy, Renuka and I partied into the wee hours. Somehow I managed to get back to my hotel. Taxis are amazingly expensive in Japan, as anyone will tell you, the flag fall being ¥710 or about ₩10000. That being said, what was left of my drunken dignity wasn't going to stretch to the long and overly complicated subway journey required. So a taxi it was. ¥3000 later I was at Asakusa-bashi station, but at the exit furthest from the hotel. The brisk walk back to the hotel in the cold, early hours of the year was refreshing, as was the litre of Pocari Sweat I downed before falling asleep just before the first sunrise of the new year. Oh well.

January 1st

What better way to start the year with a rousing bout of Street Fighter IV? While coming out for consoles early 2009 one can play SF IV cabinet style in Japan. So after getting myself together (cf. Redbull and Vodka) with another litre of Pocari Sweat (Which, by the way, tastes much better in Japan than Korea) and a handful of aspirin I took the 15 minute stroll to Akihabara.

 

Boats.

Akihabara, often shortened to "Akiba", is the well-known geeky paradise of Japan and some cite it as the inspiration behind Ridley Scott's opening shots in Blade Runner. Obviously on New Years day it was a little less lit up, and not as crowded as it may be. Nevertheless I had my ass handed to me to the tune of 20 bucks in Street Fighter.

Taito Station in Akihabara

Over all I was pretty constrained in Akiba, purchasing only a book (The Full Konami guide to Metal Gear Solid 4 - In Japanese, but 544 pages of awesome none-the-less) and a Gorillapod.

Tokyo was rather quiet with a lot of shops closed for the holidays, but wishing people all the best for The Year of the Ox.

In all I spent about 4 hours in Akiba, perusing many of the game, comic(,) and DVD shops in the area, trying to avoid the large hentai / maid / school girl pornography sections in each shop. No really.

Tommy-Lee Jones is The Boss

That evening I caught up with Kroy and Renuka again and had dinner at a Sushi restaurant in Shinjuku, before returning to Nihombashi for a decent night's sleep free from Redbull and / or Vodka.

January 2nd

The New Year holiday is one of the few times each year the Japanese Emperor makes public appearances and lets people come and see him at his house. So I got up early to meet Renuka and Kroy at Otemachi Station to go and see the guy. (It would be rude not to I guess since we were visiting his Capital City). We were supposed to meet at 9:15, but by 10:13 Kroy and Ren were a no show. Having stood in the cold for an hour I was about to head back to the hotel when around the corner they came having suffered the slowest check-out of a hotel in the history of Mankind, and apparently getting lost in the subway. (which I can understand.)

From Otemachi we headed upo to the Imperial Palace and got to see the Emperor and his family wave to hundreds of flag waving and "Bonsai!" shouting Japanese folk.

From near the front of the line to get in, seen here is about the halfway point of the line.

The Imperial Palace, or part there of.

Waiting for the Emperor

The Emperor appears. Bonsai!

His Imperial Majesty, Akihito, Emperor of Japan (centre)

Total coincidence that we should be in Tokyo the day The Emperor opens his garden, but interesting to see him in person as it were. A stroll through said garden was in order and a few photo opportunities presented themselves:

A tree with blossoms in the middle of winter!?

Kroy and Renuka

Kroy and The Bimbo

And of course no statue is free from molestation when there is a camera in the vicinity

It was about this time on Friday that the three of us needed to head back to our respective hotels, grab our bags and head to the airport. After a cuppa at Starbucks and a cinnamon doughnut (and an orange scone) Kroy, Renuka and I said our goodbyes at Tokyo Station.

Bloody Excellent to see James (his real name) and Renuka after so long! For those who don't know Kroy and I went to boarding school together and indeed, had a flat together while we were at University, the last time I was home he was in England and so we were well overdue for a catch up and a few beverages. "A few beverages" being an understatement in this (and probably the next) case.

The journey back to Korea was not without it's own little trials. My flight was delayed for two hours on the tarmac at Narita airport because someone had apparently put all the baggage up one end and the plane was "unbalanced". Luckily I had splashed out for a business class upgrade (about USD$100) and so for those two hours the champagne was flowing, so no biggie.

It did mean I finally got to Incheon a little later than expected, but managed to hop the last bus into Gangnam at 22:45 and was finally home a touch after midnight on 03 January.

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Wondering about the Black and White? Just using this post as a bit of an experiment. I like the look of the blog with B&W photos. For colour versions of the photos above go here.

Comments

[Ladyslippers]

I just saw a commercial for an old Seinfeld episode in which John Cortes plays Elain's boyfriend. Jerry & George like the guy a lot and Jerry says how Jon's character is a male bimbo, that he's a mimbo... Initially, when I first started reading your blog, because of the bimbo, I thought you were a girl...