Japan Entry 10

I'll have to combine a few days into this one post since it's been pretty hectic here in Nihon.

To pick up where the last post left off, I had been invited by some of the french guys to join them on the roof for beers and conversation, and when I got up there with my modest tallboy, I saw they had already been through a couple 6 packs. granted, there were about 6 people there when I arrived, so it really wasn't that much. The roof of the hostel had a round outdoor dinner table and a hodgepodge of different chairs set around it. There was a small portable a/c machine in an attempt to counteract the heat (which was on) but Kyoto turned out not to be nearly as hot as Osaka or Tokyo. We talked about our travels, sports, and just about everything else in between well into the night, and I crept into bed around 1 am only to rise at 7 to check out and catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo so I could meet up with my friend Shohei.

Up early, I grabbed some stinky Natto for breakfast and got, with some difficulty, to the correct train stop in order to head back to Tokyo. I hopped on the train and walked through about 5 cars worth of Reserved seating areas, since the station didn't specify where there would be Non-Reserved seats (since that's what my ticket was). Finally, I found a spot as the train began to pick up speed, sitting down next to a pudgy salaryman reading quietly. I'm not sure what it is, but some bigger people seem to have absolutely no spacial awareness, and this guy was all up in my business all train ride. Like, get your elbow out of my ribs, dick. Like, go easy on the ramen, tubby. Oh well, I had the aisle so I just stuck my feet out into it and read Dies The Fire for the duration of the trip, taking a break here and then to glance out the window or rest my eyes. The trip was beautiful, but I became too engrossed with my novel to look very much.

Once there, I met Shohei at his house and together we went to Shibuya so he could interview for a position at a coffee chain while I ordered some lunch and sat down to write in the cafe itself. 30 minutes later he was finished and it was time to head to Yokohama. Once there, after getting packed into the cheapest train available to get to Yoko, Shohei's mother and grandmother greeted us at the station and drove to their home together. I exercised what Japanese I know in talking and being polite, thanking them and all that sort of thing as we drove, and took the time to observe the city. To be honest, it didn't feel much different from Tokyo or Kyoto, but the smell of the air had the distinct ocean smell to it, which was a wonderful change. We then went out for Sushi, which was freaking amazing (this was the first time I'd had proper sushi all trip, a criminal act, I know), and afterwards went so I could experience my very first Onsen which was absolutely phenomenal. I don't know the last time I'd felt so relaxed all trip, and it was a great way to let the stress and anger of travel complications fall away as Shohei and I shot the shit while getting into each different bath. There were the jacuzzi-style bubbly ones, a electrified seat bath that I couldn't sit on for very long, the more natural spring water, and similar one-person baths outside as well. We tried the sauna but it was way too hot in there. The nudity factor wasn't something I'm used to back home, but I quickly grew accustomed and comfortable around everyone else.

The next morning Shohei's mother prepared an absolute feast for breafast and I was so full I didn't eat until dinner. Having a steady diet of tiny little pastries from convenience stores, my stomach wasn't used to getting a decent meal that early, but I was glad to have it. Shohei's father drove the whole gang back to Tokyo, and from there I set off for my hostel and afterwards to Final Roundbat (a street fighter tournament).

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However, the relaxing night before was nothing at all like the one I was about to have. I made my way into Kichijoji station (near Shohei's apartment) and got onto the train that said it was headed in the direction I was going. Except it didn't. It took me 1 stop to notice that it was going the opposite direction, and I hopped out and got back on another train. Except this one was a Rapid Exp. which skips a lot of stops in order to reach larger destination faster, and it was going to skip the one I needed to get to, so I had to get off again and change trains a 3rd time before really getting anywhere. Considering I was on a pretty tight schedule if I was going to get to the tourny on time, this got me sweating a bit. I hustled out of Minami-senju station almost an hour later, dragging my suitcase behind me. Once I finally arrived at the hostel, it turned out that the website I used to book the 2 nights had a technical error, and the place was full that evening. They had emailed me about this, but of course I'd been riding trains/in the car all day. With nowhere to sleep for the night, I decided to just bring my luggage to the tournament and worry about it later.

An hour and a half later, I rode the elevator up to the 37th floor of the Bay Crest building in Shinagawa, and signed up for the tournament. It turned out to be a pretty small event, but everyone there I'd heard of, and they were all cool people. We got down on some casuals and then the tournament started. With only 8 of us, it didn't take long, especially since it was single elimination (lose once, you're out). I played Elven Shadow first, and could tell that he didn't know the match-up so I ended up taking that game, and then faced an incredibly good Japanese player named Tokido who is very famous in the fighting game community. He didn't pick his main character, but instead probably one of his many secondaries and we got down to business. I was surprised to be able to take the game down to the very last round before losing, but I did get a hint of a feeling that he wasn't playing at full capacity. Oh well, I beat Yosuke (the guy hosting) and secured my 3rd place finish. Out of 8 people. Still, 3rd.

The whole crew ended up munching on pizza and drinking in the Sky Lounge until we'd reached the time limit (you rent the lounge for 6 hours at a time, or something), and the crew made tracks to Shinagawa station bound for Shinjuku to visit a bar that Elven Shadow would be taking us to. It turned out to be a hard rock bar that played loud selections from such bands as Kiss, Nirvana, various hair metal bands etc, and it was a fun time experiencing something I wouldn't have normally, although I had a hard time hearing afterwards. Fizz and I decided to cut out a little early since he, currently living in Kanagawa instead of Tokyo, didn't have anywhere to sleep either. He suggested we could sleep at a Manga-Kissa which is like an internet/manga reading cafe that you can purchase blocks of time at. Locating one, we elevator'd up to the 7th floor and purchased 8 hours worth of cubicle time. The cubicles were outfitted with shitty Dell computers, a tube tv and ps2's, as well as a set of cheap headphones and a beat up reclining chair which would be my bed for the night. Only trouble was, I couldn't extend my legs fully in the chair due to a wall, and the space was really tight so the chair wouldn't recline very much. However, since it was after 2 already, I slept as best I could until I woke up at 7.

I'm pretty sure the A/C in the joint had busted, cuz it was hot as all hell in there, and I had a pretty good sweat going when I woke up. Stinky, uncomfortable, and feeling slightly off thanks to the previous night's drinking, I dragged myself and my shit out of the kissa and got on the train for Minami-senju. I don't remember much of the train ride other than arriving and hurrying over to the hostel. Check in, of course, wasn't until 3 pm, but I dropped my luggage off and managed to snag some computer time. Not to mention, I snuck into the shower and rinsed off the gaming/bar/sleeping in a shitty place smell from my body before heading back out. Exhausted, I didn't end up doing much other than touring the Akihabara arcades looking for people to play against. I got in a small session of Border Break where I worked on my sniping skills, played a scrubby Zangief in SF4, and looked for some gifts. All things proved fairly unsatisfactory, and with a few hours to go until check in, I went to Shibuya. I need to research Shibuya, because there was little to nothing to do there upon arrival. Perhaps, had I utilized google, I would've known to go to specific areas, but I just walked around aimlessly and ate some lunch, checking out the Shibuya arcades which proved to be absolute shit. Finally realizing it was check in time, I hurried to the station and came here, where I sit now. I'm glad to finally have an actual bed to sleep in for the night, but I'm not sure if i'll do anything with the rest of my day.

I'll post if anything fun happens, check below for pics from the tourny and my travels,

GT

Pics 78-148 (taken by Scott Popular, mostly)

My pics from the last few days