The Long Walk Home

On my way back home from a date in Tokyo last Sunday night I fell asleep on the train and awoke to find that no more trains were running anywhere. When I found this out I was pretty pissed off, but since I was only one station away from where I live and I had Monday off the feeling quickly went away and I decided to make an adventure out of it. Luckily I had walked from my apartment to this station before just for fun earlier this year so I knew it wouldn’t be too bad. After nobody answered the door at the police station (this happens quite a bit) I went to a convenience store and got a Xerox copy of a local map, talked to some cabbies to be sure I had the right directions, threw on the iPod and set out on my way. At this point it was about 12:30am or so and I was thankful for two things: 1. That I learned a decent amount of Japanese before coming to Japan and 2. That it’s totally safe here to walk around late at night by yourself with an iPod and some cash.

After walking for quite awhile I came to a big intersection that I remembered from my last walk there, but since the way I came before took about 2 hours I stopped in another convenience store to ask for directions. The cashier who helped me was just getting off work at 1am and wanted to hang out for awhile so with the help of my trusty cell phone dictionary we ended up talking in front of the store for about an hour after he told me to take a much quicker road. Although he was a bit of a weird guy, (he did work the night shift in convenience store in the middle of nowhere after all) we had a pretty good time talking about life in Japan and the rest of the usual when, where, and why questions you get asked as a foreigner here. Eventually it was time to get going so I set out once again and after about 10 minutes the roads started to look familiar and I was back on my home turf.

The Search For English

Aside from the occasional book here and there, I’ve never been an avid reader. However after almost seven months with no magazines, books, or newspapers, I desperately needed something more to read other than the back of random T-Shirts with brilliant bits of wisdom like “Let’s make beautiful happy in lifeday” printed on them. Of course I have the Internet to turn to, but there comes a time when that just doesn’t cut it anymore so I set out in search of a bookstore with English books.

Thanks to Rory I found out about a site called Infinity Books Japan and another store somewhat similar to Walden Books in size and style called Yurindo. I checked out the Landmark Tower location of Yurindo near Sakuragicho station and was pleasantly surprised by their decently sized English section. Most books were fairly priced, but a large majority of “classics” that are usually cheaper than everything else were around $20. Aside from books, I really missed magazines, even if they’re filled with ads and puff pieces on terrible bands I don’t care to read about anyway. I found the magazine section and was completely blown away by the $17 price on copies of XXL, Wired, Time, and even regular comic books.

I just tore through The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe in two days and am going back to pick up the rest of the Hitchhicker’s Guide series.

Clubbing In Shibuya

For two Saturdays in a row Erick and I went clubbing at Camelot in Shibuya. The first time we went was with one of his old friends from America who lived in Fukuoka before, but was only in Japan for a couple weeks on vacation. He had some coupons that got us in for only $10 when the normal price was $35 which was pretty good. I however, being in full summer mode, forgot about dress codes at clubs and had to buy a $10 pair of shoes at the door which surprisingly don’t look too bad…kinda like broke-ass Ralph Lauren dockers or something.

We quickly used up our 2 drink tokens and hit the dance floor to some great house music. I’m usually an especially hard critic of music and I was really taken back by how good it was. Erick’s friend became the life of the party with his ridiculous dancing, and at that time there was plenty of women and room to dance.

On a funny side note, the consensus that I’ve heard is that most women here can not dance. Furthermore, if you can move in time to the music, chances are they will try to copy your every move. This happened to me when I was trying to C-Walk terribly for the first time. It ended up looking like a drunk-Irish-ghetto-jig but nonetheless a group of girls were trying to steal my horrible moves.

We later went up to the second floor which was playing old-school Hip-Hop. For several hours we bounced back and forth between the floors drinking gin and tonics. At about 2 or 3am the place was too packed to dance and the sweet ladies were replaced by sweaty dudes so I went to sleep on what I later learned was the V.I.P. couch. I was woken up once by security, I told them I was just about to dance some more, and just went back to sleep as soon as they left.

The following Saturday we decided to go back, this time with Rory, Nana, and her friend Will. It was a great time, but once again the sweaty dudes came rolling in as the night went on so Rory and I left to wander around Shibuya in search of something else to do. We climbed up some building in the rain and then he fell asleep while I made friends with some British tourists. Rory woke up and I left and I went to eat breakfast with the British tourists. As I went home that morning, I kept falling asleep on the train and as such didn’t make it home until about 10 am. I think for now I’ve had my fill of Camelot, but I’ve heard some good things about other clubs in the area.

The Beach and Chigasaki

I met Josh, a fellow teacher, at the beach for what I thought was just going to be another normal day but which turned pretty wild. After a few hours of swimming and the usual, I got a surprise email from Rory who came back from his moped trip to Hokkaido early. We then met up with him, Mai and her friend, and Craig for what was supposed to be a reggae festival but was just a normal concert at a bar.

After a few hours at the first bar, we hopped to another for some Rokomoko for lunch which I was told was Hawaiian food. It consisted of rice, meat, curry, and eggs and was delicious. While we ate, there was a drunk professional kickboxer who was giving sparring lessons at the bar. We got our picture taken with him, but it looked like he was fighting back the urge to kill as he gave the lessons so we stayed away.

After that, some lame pop-duo performed some songs so we went back to the first bar for the rest of the night before heading to Chigasaki. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant/karaoke bar which was a great time. The owner of the bar spoke Japanese with a thick Chinese accent which was interesting to hear. Midway through the meal, some drunk racist creep came in and tried to cause some trouble but he left after the owner yelled at him.

I planned on  spending the night in Chigasaki until after missing my last train I learned that I no longer had a place to stay. So, Mai’s friend along with his friend drove me home. I got a little freaked out when we got lost since I didn’t know either one of them all too well. We eventually made it home at 3am and I gave them $10 and a pack of my precious American Camel Lights to say thanks.

Come to think of it, things have gotten weird almost every time I go to Chigasaki.

Soccer and The Midnight Festival

I briefly touched on this in a much older post but I figured I would provide some more details on this crazy night. Originally I was supposed to watch fireworks in Yokohama with Erick and Craig, but after they both couldn’t make it I decided to meet Rory in northern Yokohama at the last minute to catch a soccer game between Yokohama’s F-Marinos and a team called The Antlers from somewhere.

During the game things were a little boring. I’m not really into soccer and it was only out of boredom that I went in the first place. However, one thing that really stuck out was how enthusiastic the fans were. We were about the only two people not wearing team colors. Also, everyone stood the whole time and sang chants for about two hours straight.

After the game, I began talking to Shimo who was a friend of Kaori’s. As it turned out we both played music and had a great time talking. We all went out to an Izakaiya and had a great time.

We made some last minute plans to go to Chigasaki for a festival that lasted from 12am-9am. Rory and I somehow managed to catch 3 last trains to get there and we were almost stranded in the middle of nowhere. We finally made it just in time and proceeded to have a crazy ass night.

Since both Rory and I have strange ATM cards from the post office since we’re foreigners, we couldn’t use ATMs and were left with no money until around 8am. Mai spotted us money the whole night as the festival went on and we stopped for beer at every convenience store we saw.

The festival involved everyone from each small town in Chigasaki carrying their own shrine to the beach on their shoulders, while also taking the longest route possible to get there, hence the reason why the festival lasted for 8 hours. It took about 15 people to hold up the shrine and they took one step back for every two steps forward to show how much local pride and spirit they had. The only downside of the night was the occasional racism we encountered, but otherwise it was a cool experience.

Once the shrines had arrived on the beach, there were a lot of food vendors, but we had no money. I instantly passed out as soon as we found somewhere to sit and then caught my train home a few hours later completely exhausted.

Free Food

After visiting the sushi shop in front of my station, Yoroi, consistently for some time now, I have earned the title of “Joren” which means regular customer. It usually gets me a couple free drinks from fellow customers and the occasional free plate of sushi from the chefs. After taking Erin to her first Izakaiya in Ofuna, we decided to stop off at Yoroi for a small bite to eat.

Between an uncommonly nice customer and the chef, I still don’t know who paid for what, but all told we ate about $150 worth of food for free. It started out with the cheap sushi I bought for myself, then two red fish heads and beer from the guy next to us along with plate after plate of gormet sushi from the chef. We ate until we almost passed out and then thanked everyone immensely.

About a week later we went there again for Erin’s last night here and later met up with Kazumi and Yumiko.The second time we had to pay for most of our meal, but we were treated to a bento (lunch boxes) of sushi to take home for the following day.

Hakone

The day after the Enoshima Hanabi, Kazumi, Rory, Erin, and I went to Hakone. Hakone is a mountain town built around Lake Ashinoko and is famous for it’s hot springs and black eggs. For most of the day I was pretty tired and hungover from the previous night, and the techno music and fast winding mountain turns in the car certainly didn’t make matters any better.

We arrived to the main part of Hakone several hours later. It’s a quick climb up a mountain with sulfur gas pouring out of the ground everywhere you turn. We bought six black eggs when we got to the top, and according to legend, every egg you eat gives you 7 years of longer life, however all the sulfur you breath probably neutralizes the effect.

We later walked around Lake Ashinoko and saw an old checkpoint that you had to pass through in the days of feudal Japan. From my understanding of it, people who traveled from the southern tip of the country on the their way to Tokyo would have to pay a toll and get their belongings inspected. As we left Lake Ashinoko we decided to do a little hiking. After only 15 minutes of steep uphill climbing, Erin and I decided not to try to climb Mt. Fuji.

On the way home we stopped at a mall in Odawara and got some really good Chinese food. I then fell asleep for awhile and woke up when we arrived at an outlook where we could see both Mt. Fuji and Enoshima island, set against a nice cool evening. We all smoked awesome American Camel Lights that Erin brought for me and then went back home.

Second Fireworks – Enoshima

Over the Summer months, hanabi (fireworks), is a very popular pastime in Japan. During Erin’s visit we went to two hanabi, one of which was at Enoshima. Fireworks here differ greatly from those that I’ve seen in America. While most fireworks in the U.S. last for only 15 minutes or so, here they can last for upwards of two hours.

When we first arrived there were so many people that it overloaded the cell phone towers so I wasn’t able to get in touch with Rory to find out where to meet. Just as we were about to leave the beach to check the local surf shop, I saw a pirate flag and remembered everyone’s obsession with pirates and knew that it had to be the place. As luck would have it, I was right and we were instantly greeted with cool drinks and food.

After several hours of watching fireworks, Tetsu, an old friend from months ago, broke out the guitar and I played a few songs for everybody. At the end of the night, Tetsu gave a speech and then proceeded to lift everyone up in the air. The night concluded with some guy who was too drunk to stand trying to pee completely naked. Good times!

Music: Myspace.com/TheNationalPool
Email: thenationalpool@gmail.com
Pictures: Flicker/TheNationalPool

Another Enoshima Day

After a usual day of drinking and swimming at Enoshima beach with Rory, we later met up with Shaun, another teacher from our company. We walked around the beach for awhile and ended up at one of the many bars on the beach for a few minutes. With surprising ease, we were able to talk the bar hustlers down from $7 tequila shots to a mere $3…at which point we drank many.

Rory and I were quickly in the mood to find a party after that, but Shaun went home so we went to the other side of the beach where we rarely go and had a blast. I talked to a group of about 10 girls from Tokyo for awhile and we lit off some fireworks. When Rory came back from wherever he was, we went to hang out with a group of about 15 dudes who were way too excited to have the day off. We later met yet another group of people and drank Sho-Chu for awhile. I left to catch my last train not too long after that, but Rory stayed since he lived in the area.

Here Rory and I are making the “I have no idea what’s going on” face:

Music: Myspace.com/TheNationalPool
Email: thenationalpool@gmail.com
Pictures: Flicker/TheNationalPool

Volleyball At The Beach

A couple weeks ago Erick, Rory, Nana, Craig, and I decided to play some volleyball at the beach. We rented a ball from somewhere and played for about two hours. It was a great time but for the next two days I was in intense pain since I normally don’t do any physical activity of any kind.

As we were playing, one of the major TV networks was shooting a bunch of famous people who I didn’t recognize playing volleyball. We had to take pictures of them in secret and were turned away when we tried to get autographs. Apparently, you can see us playing volleyball in the background of several shots and we were in the commercial for the episode for a second! If I remember correctly it aired this past Sunday but I didn’t get a chance to see it.

Here’s one of the pictures that we managed to get:

We later met up with Kazumi at Free Culture for a couple drinks and went home.

Music: Myspace.com/TheNationalPool
Email: thenationalpool@gmail.com
Pictures: Flicker/TheNationalPool