The weekend

Out till eleven.
It's a very lofty goal.
I didn't make it.

So like I mentioned before, my friends and I were intent on breaking my roommate's record of staying out until 11 am. We had a good plan - hit the bars/clubs, then have sushi at the fish market, then just sort of play it by ear for a bit.
Well, it was a great night, and I had a great time...but I regretfully did not break my roommate's record.

We started our night in the traditional fashion. Drinking before going out drinking; always a good decision. Then we went to an English pub for a bit and hung out there until a little after midnight. Then we left for the club, where we were meeting up with some friends. Most clubs around here have a pretty high cover charge, so it's pretty much unavoidable. The price to get in was 3500 yen, about $35. Although when we went inside I told the girl collecting money that the bouncer downstairs had promised us a lower price. After thinking about it for a second she let me and my friends in. I hope she's not reading this.

The place was absolutely packed inside. You couldn't dance so much as be moved by the crowd. Which is fine with me, I'm not much of a dancing/club scene kind of guy anyway. There was a breakdancing contest going on. I thought about joining in, but then I remembered that I can't breakdance, so I decided against it. We left the club around 5, still intent on staying out, so we decided to head to the fish market.

Continuing in our illustrious tradition of pregaming, we decided to eat before going to the fish market for sushi. Actually, it was more to wait for the trains to start running again. Whatever the motive, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, then headed for the subway. We somehow managed to find our way to the fish market. I think I mentioned this before, but it's where all the fishing boats come in and unload their catch to sell it at auction. The boats arrive early, so the market is busiest from 3-4, or so I've heard. We must have arrived there at around 630, as things were just wrapping up:

Yes, that's a mountain of styrofoam containers. Even though things were winding down, the activity at this place was unbelievable. There stands as far as the eye could see of small independent salesmen selling the freshest catch. There was processing and cutting of fish taking place, the bigger fish being flash frozen and passed through a huge bandsaw. There were tourists ogling the disgusting sights, and last minute shoppers making purchases. It was a wild scene and I'm glad we made it there.



Finally we settled on a sushi restaurant and got platters of sushi that were still swimming in the ocean earlier that morning. Now I'm no connoisseur, but it was hands down the best sushi/nigiri I had ever tasted (that's right, note the precise terminology). So all in all it was a great night, but at the table eating sushi is where our resolve left us. So we all got on the train and went our separate ways home. I was in bed by 8:30 or so. A valiant effort for sure, but alas I fell short of the finish line.
















So let's say I fell asleep around 9; I woke up around 11 and couldn't manage to fall back asleep. I blame it on my 'bed' - a traditional Japanese futon, aka mattress on the ground. So I talked to some friends of mine and we decided to go check out Tokyo tower. It looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower, only it's red. Behind it we found this really cool park to explore. There were some disgusting-looking hippies there, meditating right in the middle of the path. I thought they were homeless at first, but then they started doing some weird yoga stuff. Anyway, we went back and I rested in my friend's hotel room until dinnertime. We went to an Okonomiyaki restaurant. You order and they bring you the raw food in a bowl with a raw egg. Then you mix it all up and pour it on the griddle that is in the center of your table. It's sort of like an omelette and a pancake combined, then there's all different Japanese ingredients inside; ranging from noodles to beef to pork, rice, etc. Then we went and sang karaoke. Here you get your own private room with your friends, and the waitress comes when you press a button to call her. It was all very good fun. By the end of the night I was beat though, having gotten only a few hours' sleep the night before. Speaking of tired, I'm pooped. Goodnight, and happy fathers' day.

Oh, ps there was a small earthquake tonight. It was my first time experiencing one and it was pretty unnerving. I mean, the ground moves under your feet; the one thing that you wouldn't ever imagine could move. It was wild. All part of the adventure...