Herro!

So after a long day/two days of traveling I'm sitting in my hotel room. What a trip! The train ride from the airport to the subway was fairly without incident. I met this Mexican couple who had also just arrived in Tokyo. They seemed nice enough, and we exchanged information and may meet up tomorrow. But when I changed from the commuter train to the subway things just got crazy. The people were just unbelievable. At every stop they somehow managed to squeeze more and more people onto the train, all the while there I was with my huge suitcase and my backpack, not knowing how to participate in the hectic dance everyone was doing to cram onto the train. I hung out near the door, but unfortunately when we got to my stop the opposite door opened. I literally had to shove my way through the people to get out. I dropped my sunglasses but somebody picked them up and they managed to crowdsurf out to me. Navigating my way out of the subway station was another chore, but I managed to somehow stumble to the correct exit to get me closest to the hotel. Finding the hotel itself wasn't bad, it was only one turn from where I exited the subway.

When I got here I was sort of in a daze, just checking things out and recapping on my day so far. There are so many Asians here! It's unbelievable! Without exception, every person I've encountered has been extremely helpful, whether or not they spoke any English. So I left the hotel room and headed for Roppongi, a nearby district (15 minutes away) that the hotel manager said has lots of bars, restaurants, and just a lot going on. I didn't bring my camera, which turned out to be such a huge error that halfway to Roppongi I turned and came back for it. I only snapped a few pictures, but I'm glad I turned around.

So I was starving when I left the hotel room, and yet I couldn't bring myself to enter any of the restaurants I passed. Not because of the food or the people or anything like that. I was a little intimidated by the whole food-ordering process. Everything was in Japanese, and most places were full of people eating. So I just kept passing by restaurant after restaurant, until finally my hunger overcame my intimidation and I walked into this empty restaurant. It wasn't all that big, maybe about 10-12 seats around a bar. The only thing I could compare it to would be a sushi bar that stretched along 2 walls of the place (although they didn't serve sushi). That setup seemed to be pretty common as I paid more attention on the way back afterwards. Anyway, I tried to order from the guy behind the counter, but apparently you have to first go to the vending machine right by the door and make your selection. The machine prints out a little ticket that you hand to the guy, who then makes your food. It took me a while to understand that, as it was communicated via pantomime, since I speak no Japanese and he spoke no English. I ordered a noodle bowl with pieces of diced vegetables and chicken in it. It was pretty good, although I struggled a bit with the chopsticks. One of the kids from the back came out with a pocket Japanese/English dictionary and pointed to 'blend.' Thanks to my extensive schooling I was able to deduce that I should mix around the noodles and vegetables. Oh, and I found out that there were these little crispy things at the bottom, sort of like Kix but not as sweet. I'm pooped, so I just headed back to the hotel when I was finished. On the way back here I passed a group of Americans heading in the opposite direction, probably towards the bars and having a grand ole time. I felt like a chump walking home at 10, but I'm tired and I've got to move from the hotel to my guestroom tomorrow. But to sum it all up, Tokyo is awesome and crazy and fun, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it tomorrow.