Day 5 has our adventurers moving onto the city. Jeff, Steve, and I packed up and left the Tokyo Disney bubble (Bye Tokyo Disney! See ya later!) and we headed to Shibuya in Tokyo. Funny thing is, we really are going to see the bubble again later since we got tickets to see one of the last remaining shows of ZED on Sunday, which is closing at the end of the year. I've been DYING to see this and the show was sold out on Wednesday (dark Thursday and Friday). We even were able to score the Resort Hotel discount package even though we weren't staying there on Sunday and shouldn't have been eligible for it... so we'll be back on Sunday to the bubble.
We took the train over and that was pretty uneventful (but I learned through advertisements that McDonalds had a KOREAN BBQ BURGER CALLED THE KBG) and thankfully uncrowded. We checked into the Shibuya Excel Tokyo which is very different then the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay. The rooms are your typical Tokyo-style hotel... it's very nice but small and functional. The beds are super firm, which is what I like, but poor Jeff doesn't seem to like it very much. Also, the toilet seat doesn't warm, which I actually miss very much. It still has the bidet/shower thing where it squirts water at your butthole or vagina but I haven't had the courage to try it yet. Thankfully if you wait a little the water will be warm or you can have cold water squirt as well... ick.
The hotel is conneted to the train station so I got to see the Crossing from above and, one of my dreams in life to actually see in person, the Hachiko statue. If you don't know the significance of the statue, read up on it... but needless to say, ever since I got interested in coming to Japan and heard about this wonderful story about a dog's undying loyalty to it's master... I've always wanted to see this statue that was erected to pay tribute to this wonderful dog. It's always been my dream to see this statue for myself. Now while I only saw it from above and while we're headed to the station, as I was walking away I did cry a little... it was that important to me. More on this later.
After settling in a little we went to a Yoshinoya. Yah, a Yoshinoya... just like the ones in California but waaay smaller. It was just a long counter that you sit at and the food comes out to you in like 30 seconds. People were just coming in, wolfing down their food, paying, and then leaving. The seat next to me had like two people come and go by the time that we stupid gaijins were even done with our food. Tokyo is just so on-the-move and everyone is such in a hurry. It's crazy actually... but time is of the essence here.
After lunch Steve went back to the room to work (he's always working!) and Jeff and I went exploring a little. First thing we did was actually walk through Shibuya Crossing so Jeff can get me closer to the Hachiko statue. Shibuya Crossing is the largest, busiest intersection IN THE WORLD. I was amazing on how many people just went through the crossing... and it wasn't even that busy (I've seen pictures during rush hour and it's just INSANE). I felt so small among the hundreds of people that walked across, and even diagonally, through that square. It was just insane.
After we crossed we got to the statue. The statue is actually the most popular "meeting point" in Japan and there was a bunch of people around it. Unfortunately, there's a smoking area nearby so it was just thick with nasty cigarette smoke but I didn't care. I did the tourist thing and had Jeff take a picture of me with the statue and I could have died right there and been happy. Again, I am so fortunate that I could do things like this finally at this point in my life and I am thankful for friends to help me accomplish it.
After meeting Hachiko for the first time, we walked over to the Family Mart which is kinda like a small 7-11 (which they also have here as well). Halfway we walked past a Krispy Kreme and a Baskin-Robbins. The Krispy Kreme prices were INSANE at 200yen for a single glazed donut. 200y right now is about $2.63. LOL.
After buying some stuff Jeff and I headed back to the room to rest up for Sayuri's arrival. Sayuri is a wonderful Japanese national that worked with us at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge for a term with the International College Program and it was wonderful to see her again. Jeff and I met up with her, and since we really had no plans, just wandered around the city. We went to a four story Disney Store (it's not that big because all the stores here are really skinny and they just build upwards) that had ALL sorts of stuff that they don't sell at the domestic Disney Stores. All sorts of plushes, items, stationary... I do need to go back and get some more stuff here before I leave Japan to take some. We also went to an eight-story department store called the Loft and walked around in there.
At that time Dustin, a Korean national that lives in Japan to go to school, arrived at Shibuya after work. Sayuri and Dustin go to school together and Dustin too also worked with us at the same time as Sayuri at DAKL. We met up with him and Steve and then headed to Roponggi Hills to head to the Mori Art Museum. After a few trains and subway rides, we got to the art museum that is on the 54th floor of a high-rise. Now Steve, Jeff, and I knew there was an interesting exhibit there about the Metabolism design movement in Japan in the 60s that we wanted to see as well as go on the observation deck to see the city from that high... but when we got there I ABSOLUTELY GEEK'D THE FUCK OUT. On the pillars and on signs... the Mori Art Museum also had an exhibit celebrating the 25th anniversary of DragonQuest. FUCKING DRAGONQUEST... my favorite RPG series of all times and it was HERE.
Dustin and Sayuri were hungry so we all split up and Steve, Jeff, and I headed to the museum. The Metabolism exhibit was really interesting... and we all concluded afterwards that Walt Disney probably got a lot of his ideas about design and stuff for Epcot and such from this movement. There were a lot of similiarities. Now I'm not much of a "stand there and ponder"-type person when it comes to art museum exhibits and frankly, I wanted to go see what I really wanted to see at the OTHER exhibit, so I rushed a little and left to go to the second hall on the lower floor.
GEEK'D THE FUCK OUT. All sorts of stuff from the DragonQuest series history. Everything from still sealed, new-in-box, cartridges to all sorts of concept art and stuff... it was awesome. They had some game you could play by choosing to be either a warrior, fighter, priest, or mage and it was like a puzzle... which I could not understand because it was all in Japanese. Of course, before anyone asks, I chose priest. There was also this real-life role-playing battle session where people from the audience got to act out two battles like you would have in the game. It was hilarious.
At the end of the exhibit you took your game sheet and hold it up to this word puzzle and tell the lady at the end your answer. I looked at it, looked at my paper which I couldn't even figure out what you needed to do since I can't read Japanese, and shrugged and headed towards the exit. I guess the lady saw this and realized that I was a stupid American and stopped me, apologized for stopping me, and handed me a button. It's was the little pin that you got for completing the puzzle. I thanked the lady and then rounded the corner... and GEEK'D THE FUCK OUT.
Merchandise! MERCHANDISE EVERYWHERE!!! Lots of... EXPENSIVE AS SHIT MERCHANDISE! Yah, FUCK YOU TOO horrible American exchange rate! I spent about 20 minutes there trying to figure out what I wanted to buy and then realized that with the exchange rate, there's no way I could justify $77 for a Slime aloha shirt. :( SAD FUCKING SLIME FACE. :(
So I waited for Jeff and Steve at the bar. Yah, they had a FUCKING DRAGONQUEST-THEMED BAR THERE. It had drinks and food items themed after the games... and yah, they were in Japanese too so I couldn't understand what was in each drink. So I ordered the red one in the tall glass... and it was gross. It had ginger ale (which I hate) and it left a spicy aftertaste... it was weird. Steve and Jeff finally made their way through and we reunited to see the awesome cityscape in the distance.
We met up with Sayuri and Dustin (they went to a ramen joint and then Cold Stone Creamery) and we headed back to Shibuya. On the way there I updated them on what was going on at DAKL. Once we got back to the hotel, they had to leave and Steve decided that we were going to go to a Karaoke Box. Now, I was unsure about this but it's VERY Japanese and fuck, they had food, so I was in.
After four screwdrivers... yah, it was a LOT of fun. We spent like three hours in there and had an absolute blast. We got back to the hotel, making a stop at the Family Mart, at around 4am and crashed hard. That is after Jeff and I were just laughing and being just drunk assholes for an hour or so while we were eating our snacks and ice cream that we got at the Mart.
All in all, FUN DAY. I got my GEEK ON and got to cross a few things off my list of things to do in my lifetime. It's been an amazing trip so far and tomorrow we get to see something that I've also wanted to hit before I leave Japan... Akihabara. The Tokyo electronics district where I will GEEK THE FUCK OUT. We're supposedly also going to a Maid Cafe (look it up) and then Steve wants to go to a bar where the girls will slap you (!!!) and a bunny cafe. It's a cafe where there's bunnies everywhere inside... real life animal bunnies. EVERWHERE. BUNNIES!!!
I <3 Japan. Can I move here?
OBAKE!
