My train into Tokyo wasn't bad. I was staying in the section called Akihabara, or Electric City. This is definitely nerd central when it comes to Tokyo. This place is all about video games, Anime and Manga. My hotel was a short walk from the train station, and my room was tiny. It was maybe 10 feet by 10 feet. And for that small space, it was $170 (after tax) for the night. Ouch.
After dropping my stuff off at the Hotel (I arrived a few hours before check in), I left for the next part of Tokyo, called Kanda. It is incredibly close. The very next spot on the train. Later on I would find out that it takes me around 30-40 minutes to walk from the middle of Kanda to my hotel.
In Kanda, I met up with a friend from the internet. He's a big nerd, so this part of town is exactly what he was after. I also learned that I'm not nearly as nerdy as I thought I was. Most of the things available in town didn't interest me. I was more than happy watching other people play these brand new (pretty awesome) arcade games, and gladly walked past the various Anime and Manga shops.
After meeting up, we immediately went in search for ramen for lunch. In doing so, I learned something new. I thought that all ramen was the same. It isn't. Different types of ramen, use different types of broth. We ended up going to a miso-based ramen place, and it was hand's down the best noodles I've ever had. The broth was oily, due to the miso and the fat from the pork, but it didn't matter. It was SO GOOD! It was also incredibly filling. I learned that, in Japan, you are to eat everything (including drinking the broth when you're done). I'm not quite ready for that, so my broth went mostly untouched (except what stuck to the noodles as I ate).
This meal was very filling, but so worth it. That ramen was otherworldly. I wish there was an opportunity to go back for more this trip. Oh well, can't win 'em all. The next thing I learned is that ramen, while incredibly filling, is slightly fake. We walked non-stop for the next 3-4 hours, before returning to my hotel and getting my room. At this point, I was no longer full. In fact, I was looking forward to the "All you can eat" BBQ dinner I was told about. However, before it was time for dinner, we had one more stop to make.
Next to the station in Akihabara, is a large vertical mall. It's like 6-8 floors, and each floor has a bunch of smaller shops. In one of these shops, I found a model for this robot anime that I watch, called Gundam. The model in question is from an older series (Gundam: Wing), and it's called the Epyon. This model is roughly 1000 pieces that need to be removed from the molding thing, smoothed up, then installed onto the Gundam. I was told this will take me more than a day to fully assemble. I can't wait, the Model looks awesome and it'll fit great up on my window sill next to the computer.
When we finished buying this Gundam model and a few tools to assemble it (Total came to about $48, I think), we took a train to yet another part of Tokyo, called Ginza. Where as Akihabara is Electric City, Ginza is Money Town. This is an extremely wealthy part of Tokyo, not at all unlike Manhattan. My friend knows of a BBQ restaurant in Ginza that has an all you can eat special, but they have to like you to give you this special. It's no longer listed on the menu, at least.
For right around $80/each, you get as much meat and alcohol as you want. The special is timed at 90 minutes, however, last call is at the 60 minute mark. Our meal started off with a big sampler of about 10 to 15 different types of meat that they serve. Like the restaurant last night, you have a small grill on your table to cook your own food with. On top of that, each type of meat has a little name tag next to it. After eating all of the "sampler plate (they only serve you 1 of these), you must then order whatever else you would like using those name tags from the sampler plate. You are only able to order 1 type of meat per person, and the type is 4 pieces. As a result, we were always bringing 8 pieces of meat to the table so that we could quickly eat them and bring the next set over.
Dinner was delicious, and I was INCREDIBLY stuffed. I thought I still had room for some more, but a few minutes later (while not eating), my brain finally got the signal that enough is enough. I felt like I had a brick in my belly the remainder of the night. I also learned that the two of us ended up going through around $600 in meat. Not bad for an $80 all you can eat dinner.
As we slowly hobbled through town, both slightly inebriated, but very full, we encountered a group of 3 people on the street that we started to talk to. I find it incredibly easy to walk up to strangers in Japan, and start a conversation. Even if I have no idea what they're saying, these conversations usually go quite well. I've had plenty of people give me easy to follow directions, despite not knowing a single word that they said. It's a really city like that.
Anyway, we shot the shit with this group of 3 for like 20 minutes before we continued on our path back to my friend's apartment. Where he lives in the city, the rent would be ridiculously high. To make it easier, landlords do a house sharing type of thing. Each apartment has a common area that everyone can use (kitchen, bathroom, relaxation spot with TV). Then you also have a private bedroom that's around 10x10 to do whatever you want with. The doors for your private bedrooms are always locked.
When we got close to my friend's house, we stopped by 7-11 to buy some snacks and some alcohol. We were just going to sit around in his common area and chat with whomever was there at the time. The snacks are a "friendly lure" to invite the other room mates to sit with you and drink. Sitting around talking with his room mates was a lot of fun His room mates are from all over the world. There was an Israel guy, a guy from Australia, a guy from another part of Japan, a girl from... some other country, I don't remember. There was also a girl from Switzerland there.
We talked about everything, from Anime, movies, music, Gundam models, what we do for work. Everything. It was a lot of fun. I decided it was time to head back to my hotel in Akihabara (his apartment is in Kanda) around 12:15am. My friend was willing to take me half way back, which is fine with me. I'm only going down 1 road, so it's easy enough. The city is completely closed down at this time, though. So much for it being like Vegas. Anyway, I walked past MAYBE 20 people total on my 30-40 minute walk home. The best part of the walk is how peaceful the street was this time of night. I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery, as opposed to rushing through the sea of people to get anywhere.
I was finally in bed around 2am after getting back to the hotel, checking the message boards on my laptop, then taking a shower. What a long day, and I am exhausted. Here's hoping that I sleep for tomorrow.