(Day 17) Jama Da Yo

The day has dawned, once again, on which I will I will depart the country. Get that ol’ stamp in the passport. My head feels funny from the late night/early morning and copious amounts of alcohol. I’ve somehow conned the front desk staff into holding our bags for the next few hours while we traipse through the city one last time. I have a few last-minute items to pick up.


Oh Akasaksa Sacas. Akasakasakasu. Say it three times fast.



Since our heads were a little bubbly, we headed to Shibuya for some lunch and black harem/shorty-diaper pants from CdG that I’ve been pondering.





The place we ended up at was called Venuto and it was like, half Chinese, half Italian. They had all-you-can-eat salad bar with pasta for 900 yen. Yesh preese.



After Shibuya we headed to Harajuku and I got really pissed off because they made us get off on the other side of the train which led into Meiji shrine. THE HERDS! I started to get a wee bit frustrated with people and vowed my departure from this forsaken place would not be without its own joys. And at this moment I realize I take after my father. Bah. But seriously. You had to wait to walk down the street. It was that full.

We headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and part ways. I wanted to get a final picture of Janelle, but she was having none of it. Or was she just so sad and going to miss me?



Goodbye my love! And with that I headed up to Nippori to catch a new airport train (for me, at least), the Keisei Skyliner. It was cheaper-ish.







And with that, I hauled my junk back through Narita airport once again. I had a bit of money to burn, so I ended up eating some really yucky dinner set at some little food shack.


Not oishii.

I got a little choked up when I was heading down to customs and the sign read “Hope to see you again”. I spent my time waiting for the plane in the gift shop, trying to spend my change. I win! I came home with exactly 1,600 yen.

So that was my last trip to Japan. It was supposed to be my last trip for a few years, and it very well might be. You see, the jury is still out on whether I can pull together enough shekels to make the true last journey in late May/early June. I’m not sure this crazy Japanese adventure will have a sixth sequel. Stay tuned.

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(Day 16) A Madhouse

How is it that I’ve come to the last day of the trip and I still haven’t got a lick of the souvenirs I’m supposed to buy? Worst. Oh yeah, I haven’t because I never know what to buy people. Why do I still bring souvenirs from Japan anyway? I’ve been here five times in four years. I set a bad precedent. Lame.

Today we were meeting up with Maya in Omiya, wayyy wayyy up in Saitama. We grabbed lunch at our local CoCo Ichi and it was, as usual, delicious.



Omiya was uneventful except that everyone and their dog was out shopping for fukubukuro and new years items. You see, all of Japan pretty much is on holidays the first few days of January. Get ready for sardine ni kanjiru (feel like a sardine.)



We shopped a bit more at the Parco in Urawa before heading to Maya’s homestead for dinner, provided by her gracious Mother, Tomoko.




Kind of after the fury…I know that plates drizzled with puddles of soy sauce isn’t exactly picturesque.


The bizarre little fishes that Japanese people eat. I don’t get it.



After dinner at Maya’s, we always watch some TV. And it’s strangely addictive. Janelle just made herself right at home and curled up on the couch for a nap…and she tends to sleep with her mouth open, so naturally I assume there was some drooling…?



We partook in some chocolates that I had brought over as a gift – so…this picture isn’t actually Japanese anything at all, as the chocolates were made in Coquitlam.



We eventually bid our hosts adieu and headed back into the big city. Next, we powerhoused ourselves into looking right fit for our last night on the town. Roppongi, here we come for the last hurrah…

Our last night was full of drinks and dancing and me, kind of singing all loud-like against the back wall of the VIP. Strange. Janelle got all strange and huffy and I had to go look for her outside, huddled against the wall in the alley. Some shacho bought her a hot coffee from the machine. Uneventful, sadly. We headed for our last nani ramen and called it a night. Oh yeah! Some blonde Australian boy snuck into the VIP to talk to me too. That was kind of hot or whatever. HA HA! He said he had a “real job” and I was like, “me too!” And he was totally in Finance too. We must have looked funny.

So that was it. Bye Lex.

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(Day 15) For Relaxing Times...

Akemashite omedetou. I’m not writing that in hiragana because that’s so yesterday. So we’ve officially entered 2011 with this entry. Mind you, we kind of missed the first light of day because, well, we were sleeping as per usual. So, we were up and at ‘em for dinnertime. And where do we eat the first supper of the year? At our now-favourite buffet spot on planet earth, Bitter Sweets Buffet.





So it was really odd to be in Shinjuku today…the streets were mostly deserted, nearly all shops and restaurants were closed, and…Studio Alta was black. It was like the rapture came on New Year’s Day.



Eiji texted Janelle and wanted to meet up a bit later, so to kill time, we did the usual.


Utahiroba!



No trippy hallucinogenic fluorescent paint here…but a nice view of the street eight floors below. All my fans were gathering around, so I sang to them from above. Like an angel.





HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA soooo terrible. I laugh everytime.

After singing our voices dry, we enjoyed a nice stroll through the Southern Terrace’s Christmas light celebration.





For a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas, they sure do a nice job of pretending.



When the time came to meet with Eiji, he grabbed and threw us in a taxi and we rode up the road to the swanky, I’ve-always-wanted-to-go-there, Park Hyatt Tokyo. And it’s totally like it is in ‘Lost in Translation’ – the service is flawless.



Ahhhhhh! Wait a minute. Lest you think this post is about to take a turn for the freaky-deaky, we weren’t coming to the hotel to get a room. Oh gosh, that didn’t even occur to me until I wrote the above. No, we are here to visit the New York Bar on the 52nd floor. It’s like, no big deal, or whatever. But…HUGE deal.







That green concoction is a Greven and the crazy delicious. Cheapest drink on the menu was 1,600 yen (~$19.) Yup. And there’s also a 2,200 yen (~$25) cover charge. Yup. But there’s also smooth jazz and a whackload of whities. No Bill Murray.











After Eiji took care of the bill (I LOVE YOU EIJI), we headed down to the 41st floor to partake in more libations. No amount of libations is enough today. HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Because this is what “rich” people wear drinking.





More champagne, mimosas…more laughter. I do believe there is a connection.



After Eiji took care of the bill (THANK YOU EIJI. DID I MENTION THAT I LOVE YOU.), he threw us in a cab again and we headed over to Akasaka where we decided that some karaoke would be nice because Eiji really wanted to sing some Fukuyama Masaru (and Lady Gaga.)



He told Janelle she smelled better than the best tuna. He told Janelle she smelled better than Tom Cruise. It was hilarious. We put poor little hammered Eiji in a cab and sent him on his way, hoping he’d make it home. Poor lil guy.

Tomorrow we hanging out with my second family, the Suzuki’s, and do a bit of shopping before rolling it all up for one last rager in Roppongi. Giddyup.

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