Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Last week, only
on the seventh day did he rest. i've been trying to hold down a grin since monday, and have now failed for 7 days straight. i've been drunk for 6 days of those, taking rest only on the sunday. Tokyo is the party. The week gone by has been a couple of firsts, long resisted by me since arriving. Monday was a quick one after work that turned into more. Tuesday, i forgot my keys, again, and met Matt in some izakaya for one, then more. Wednesday was some guy from the SAN team wanting a drink, which was fantastic, because it involved the usual work politics, and me left wondering why I am the only person who seems to get on with everyone. Thursday was a drink to complain about Wednesday, and then there was Friday & Saturday.
Since arriving in Tokyo a couple of months back, I have managed to avoid learning any Japanese, going out in Roppongi - and therefore Gas Panic, Karaoke, and eating at a pure sushi bar. This weekend struck two of those down.
Friday was some guy from work's leaving night. Having never met him, I thought it appropriate to turn up, especially since it was unlimited drink for 5000Yen. There was some black evil looking brew, which turned out to be quite nice, and I had plenty. Some manager bloke, who I spent a lot of time arguing about bikes with, complained about the red wine, yet he had downed it at a pace that even ??? would be proud of. So I took the liberty of pouring vinegar into the 1/2 finished bottle of red, as a scientific experiment. I am not sure what I intended to prove, and thankfully he never noticed, yet the bottle was stinking of vinegar. So, i'm reasonably sure that i've pulled off yet another puerile stunt without getting caught. Trouble is, that i'm sure someone else held the bottle while I poured. Of course, this could be imaginary, seeing as sobreity did not kick in until about 2pm on Saturday. The result of which, I cannot remember much of the journey onwards to the Karaoke bar. I recall acting as a backing singer with the girl from HR to some non-Citi punter, which I thought was bullet proof, as nobody messes with HR. Yet still, I think i got told off for singing whilst someone else was singing. Anyway, I dont really remember.
Woke up on Saturday and took the Yamanote Line across to Akihabara, or Electric Town in Japanese. Here reside Otaku and gadgets. I'm out of storage on the Thinkpad, so i'm in the market for a desktop, with multiple disks. Geek, perhaps, but a thirst for music and a broadband connection appear to be a profits for Seagate these days. Akihabara is a place which needs to be investigated thoroughly, rather than given the cursory browse. If you do take the time to wander, you will find, in the words of Young 'yourself wandering in some narrow street, and into an unmarked building, up some stairs, until you feel that you are walking through someone's house'. When you find these shops, then you've won. Ignore all the neon and the duty free - they're a waste of time. I found a shop selling second hand digital cameras for 5000Yen - as soon as I find out which one I want, i'm going back, and hoping I can still find the place. After discovery, I meandered on down toward the centre of the metro map, to the offices of the agency I work through. They are the most underhand operation this side of Washington DC, and I hope to have more stories about them later this week.
And then I darted back home to Ikebukuro, and to a shop called Donquixote, which is Japan's discount store. A lot like Lidl, except for the fact that the sell tons of household gear, in a rather haphazard stack-em high fashion. Yet, they also sold Rolex's and, of course, LV. God, if I never see LV again, it will be too soon. It is truly the most repugnant design to ever come from France, and somehow, the marketing man made it work. Hmmm....I wouldn't say no to going long on LVMH, especially with the thirst that China has. Donquixote allowed me to purchase some silver glittery makeup, which I took home, applied to one half of my face, and then considered myself halloweened for the night. Took the train down to The Pong, or Roppongi for short. A night out for a gaijin in Roppongi, like participation in karaoke, is something that Japan is defined by, and yet I have managed to avoid it for so long. Pizza, drinks, the obligatory Scream costume, an Incredible Hulk, an obese cow... the list goes on. Around 11ish, I took the decision to forget the last train home in favour of the first train home. A short time, and 2 beers later I left the bar with 4 girls in a various states of inebriation, beginning at very and ending with extremely. I started to fear that I should have really should have taken that last train back. Well, it was too far to walk, especially since I didn't know the way, and I didn't have the money for a taxi, so I managed to offload two of the girls - the most drunken - upstairs in some takeway joint, thanking the Lord that I wouldn't keep getting asked the same question "So how you liiiking Japaaan?" repeating every few minutes, irrelevant of my response. I found a club with a 2000 yen cover charge, haggled the guy down to 800 with a free drink. Quite a cool place, and the bean beer was even available from a vending machine. One of the rooms was playing a track which has now filled my week - Patife's Inta Out. Go Brazil. At 4am things start to get scabby, and i was begging to for the Metro to open once more. 5am, it did, i got onboard, got back home at 6am, and swore i'd never do that again. I am quite sure that I will.
Sunday, was spent mostly in bed, because I can.
I've actually been doing some work this week, having successfully quit my internet addiction. So i'm feeling sharp, productive, and go-getting. My French is improving, too.
Fear too - as I have two weeks until I fly to South Korea, and unless I get a gaijin card and a reentry permit, I cannot go. Gotta get to the ward office on Monday....
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