We begin our story on a Friday night. Invited prior to an event, I decided to go to my first ever club and support good ol' Georgie, who was DJing a little shindig in Shibuya. Flanked by some friends, and another club-virgin, we headed out for what would be my first true all-nighter in Japan. The reason for this is because the trains stop from about midnight until 6AM the next morning, so if you miss that last train, you've got to stay out and about until the stations open back up. This event was, of course, late at night, so we got to party hardy until the sun rose. But more on that in a moment.
It all began with the pregaming. Of course, one cannot possibly expect to pay the exorbitantly overpriced cost of a few drinks at the event, so pregaming is vital in order to get a sufficient good feeling going that will last. As per usual, can't ever go wrong with a tall can of Strong. I'll miss these guys back in the states. A double dose of 8% lemon-flavored drink later and I was ready to go. We met Zaru at Totsuka station and all headed down to Shibuya as a team.
And I'll tell you, the infamous Shibuya crossing at midnight is no different than Shibuya crossing at any other time of day. People were EVERYWHERE, and despite the chaos, there is still a clear definition to where everyone is going. If you mess up just a bit though, you may get swept up in another stream of people and lose sight of all your friends (and destination). So take care out there! We met up with George and his girlfriend Arisa shortly after arriving at Shibuya and decided to find a bar before we went to the venue. The bar of choice was a popular spot for foreigners such as myself, holding within a wealth of whiteys found every which way. English speakers all over the place! We spent some time there chatting amongst ourselves, and lucky Zaru and I chose to give some very special drinks a try. We both took a "shot" of what's called Dynamite Kid, a 63% concoction of who-knows-what. All I know is that it tasted of pineapple and other assorted fruits, and was definitely bigger than your standard shot. We sipped half of it down and then shot the rest like champs. Her first time feeling truly buzzed; adorable! =P I got the ultimate brew there, the Stairway to Heaven (68%), containing probably the strongest concentration of absinthe I've ever had. That one, I needed some help with. My tummy was not happy with the mixture. Zaru followed up her shot with a Bailey's Ice Cream, which tasted of no alcohol whatsoever. Just chocolatey, ice cream-y goodness. I wanted one for myself after that Stairway fiasco.
Little did we know, the foreigners at the Hub bar were merely a prelude of what was to follow. The Trump Room was where the event was to be held, and it was basically someone's four-story apartment complex, with each floor holding only one, tiny little room. It was, in so many words, a multi-level house party. And boy howdy, if I ever felt like I was back in America, it was then. Gaijin as far as the eye could see. Tall ones, short ones, European ones, American ones, Hispanic ones, you name it. In fact, the entire night, I probably could count the number of Japanese on my two hands. It was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. Not to mention the DJs before George weren't exactly playing the most superb of musical numbers.
Therefore, myself, Max, and Zaru took a break by exploring a bit outside until we hit an izakaya (restaurant/bar thing). We spent a while there eating some edamame, chicken dishes, and a couple more drinks until it was just about George's time to shine. Trump Room round 2 went much better, with George up at bat. His music choices were superb compared to the other guys before him, and he knew how to play to the crowd. I wish the guy he was co-DJing with wasn't so obnoxious though, as we later found out he screwed with George's set more than once. Either way, good stuff! I taught Zaru how to shuffle a bit, which I certainly hope she'll practice in time for another upcoming event (more on that soon)! Yes, there were dudes everywhere, a proverbial sausage-fest I daresay, but it was still fun out there with the friends.
Afterwards, around 5:30AM, we got tomato ramen. Yes, tomato ramen. This is just what you might guess it would be: tomato soup + ramen noodles, with added corn and cheese too. And it tastes as good as it sounds: fantastic. Such a unique combination, but it was so good! I know now I'll be testing this out myself by mixing ramen noodles in the US with tomato soup. We were all getting mighty tired at that point, worn down by the all-nighter, and thoroughly enjoyed our reprieve in the tomato ramen shop.
I learned earlier that night I would get my own chance to DJ very soon. On December 15th, I am going to DJ at a rock bar in Shibuya for half an hour. My FIRST LIVE DJ SET. AHHHH. I don't know how to mix besides fiddling with Virtual DJ, so I'm trying my best now to hone my skills so I'll be presentable in time for the event. Wish me luck. I WILL need it. Also, I need a decent playlist. Suggestions anyone? :D Electro/house/dubstep is the theme I'm going for.
A day of rest came and went as soon as you might have guessed. Sunday brought with it a fresh, new, tiring day at Tokyo DisneySea. As you might guess, it was big. It was a ton of walking. It was FREEZING outside (and it rained later, just to make it worse). But it was cool. Tokyo DisneySea is the other Disney park in Japan besides their copy of Disneyland. And just like most Japanese things, the power is in the presentation. The theme park was super well-designed, the architecture of the buildings, choice of variety in all the attractions, and even the various unique foods sold throughout the park made it quite the experience indeed. I got to ride on Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sinbad's Voyage, the Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull, watch an Aladdin 3D movie, see a Little Mermaid live play, and ride a 3D Star Tours-esque attraction called StormRider. It was all so neat, I can't even begin to describe it all!
For the rides you can find at Disneyland in CA, they were much the same, but with slight differences. For example, the Indiana Jones ride is laid out exactly like the one at CA Disneyland, except they chose to change the face of the "Hidden Eye" into a Skull that shoots green lasers out of it's eye. Also, the giant snake in that portion of the ride, for some reason, has no hood on it's neck. So instead of being an obvious cobra, it's instead.... a snake of some kind. There was no fire being shot underneath the bridge in the center of the ride either. What was cool was that, while standing in line for quite literally 2 hours, they had a guy dressed up as Indiana Jones walk around and roleplay the character. He was about as American as they came, and only spoke English too, adding to the "wtf scary" looks of all the Japanese attendees. Speaking of, I saw a total of 7 non-East Asian people throughout the entire day. Is Japan homogenous? My experiences point to a resounding YEP.
I almost didn't have enough money to get back to Totsuka, so that was fun. I didn't eat very much that day, and when it came to counting coins, I was over the required train fare by a whole 15 yen (20 cents). CLOSE ONE. And regarding food, I ate three things throughout the day. First was something called Chandra's Tail. Apparently the Sinbad movie is popular in Japan (no, not the washed-up comedian) and spawned that aforementioned ride. They also sold a food item in the shape of a tiger's tail (Sinbad's companion is a tiger named Chandra) that was made of some sticky, chewy bun with a creamy chicken interior. It was really, really good, and the consistency of the "bun" with the inside made it quite fun to eat. Second, I ate at what could be considered the "pineapple ice cream" of Tokyo DisneySea. There was constantly a line throughout the day at the one and only cart there that sold.... Gyoza Hot Dogs. They were in a bun similar to that of the Chandra's Tail, except in the shape of a hot dog. But within was all the ingredients of a typical gyoza (potsticker). Loved it. Can't say I've ever had anything like that either. Finally, I ended my meals of the day with Curry Popcorn. That's popcorn topped with curry-flavored powder. It tasted like curry and popcorn. It was good. 'Nuff said.
DisneySea, Shibuya, and crazy-good foods? Conquered!
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