This was the inevitable entry in this blog, the one in which I talk about the Japanese enjoy their nights. Basically, the obligatory "party" entry. Being a large city, Tokyo has plenty of places to go to at night to drink, dance, club or wander. That is one of the perks of living here, however most of my experiences in nighttime Tokyo are centralized around two areas: Shibuya and Roppongi. And sadly, it has been the latter more than the former.
There is a large market for social gathering of the party variety in Japan. Walk around Shibuya long enough, you will see a number of clubs and bars with "love hotels" conveniently placed about a block away. Trust the excellent urban planning of Japan to develop that not so subtle suggestion. Also, Shibuya has some awesome names such as "The Red Room" and "The Womb." However, I am a college student on a budget and Shibuya is expensive, so I have been limited to Roppongi.
My fellow students and the staff at TUJ have warned many incoming study abroad students to avoid Roppongi as much as possible. This is primarily because Roppongi is notorious for bad things happening to foreigners, such as stolen property, spiked drinks, and other questionable criminal activities. However, despite all the warnings, Roppongi is still the go to party place to spend a Friday or Saturday night because of the sheer abundance of affordable places to spend your night.
To this day, I have went to Roppongi four times, which is about three times more than I intended. Roppongi is a hot spot with a very lively night life with locals and foreigners congesting the streets with aspirations of drinking and dancing. Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of this but that's because I don't trust Roppongi with my phone or my camera. Or my credit card. Or more than 5000 yen in my wallet. Okay, so I just don't trust Roppongi at all.
To be fair, Roppongi is vastly different than I expected. It's more popular and less "sketchy"with many more Japanese out and about. I was anticipating nothing but foreigners around my age who wanted to get completely drunk in Tokyo just to say they did. Well, apparently the Japanese like to party just as much as we do.
The Japanese tradition of partying is a bit different than the American way. Our parties build up slowly, hit a few peaks, and gradually clam down. The Japanese have a toast or a "kanpai!" an BAM! They party. It's a like a button they turn on and go crazy. And then just as quickly, the party can end when they need to catch the train home. That could be the last train at 12:30(ish) or the first train at 5am.
My first venture to Roppongi was, as briefly alluded to before, supposed to be my last. Going to a club called "Jumanji" for an affordable 2000 yen (a bit more than 20 dollars) for all you drink for four hours, the brief excursion was fun. You drink a few drinks, attempt to dance and chill out. No harm done. I even made a Japanese friend. As far as I am concerned, it was worth it.
And then I was invited to another trip to Roppongi. This time for a "Tokyo Pub/Bar Crawl." Run by one of my dormmates' bosses (he is working as an intern), this is basically a deal to check out about 4 bars/clubs for a flat fee which allows you to get into the place without paying its service/entrance charge and a "free" shot (you are paying the Pub Crawl people so it's more or less included). I was 50/50 on doing the whole bar crawl thing, but I was convinced by the irresistible charm of my friends. The crawl was pretty fun even though we were late, so we only got to go to 3 of the 4 bars/clubs. I only remember the name of two: Propaganda and Wall Street. I just love the Japanese names for things, even though I am pretty convinced both of those two are run by Americans. Oh well. Still cool names.
Oh, I also went to Roppongi for Halloween, dressed in a makeshift Mario costume much to the amusement of every Japanese person in the area. That was priceless, especially since I had a Luigi with me. I must have taken at least 10 pictures for Japanese people because they loved the dumb American in a Mario hat. It made my day worth it.
Nothing much to say here. Stay tuned for my blog on my trip to Odaiba, which will hopefully be written this weekend. Also, my thoughts go to all those who are experiencing problems with the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. I hope all those affected by it will preserve. We can do it New Jersey. We've had worse.
Showing posts with label Shibuya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shibuya. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Everything in Japan is Small
The Japanese really do not eat a lot. At least their portions in restaurants make me think as much, as it has become all too common that I end my days in my room sitting around being hungry. And seeing how my wallet will limit my eating habits to two or three meals a day, I am in for one hell of an adjustment.
Most Japanese meals are a fair size, but their portions are generally smaller in favor of giving you a number of different dishes. Most meals come with your main course, salad or soup, noodles or rice, and one place even gave me a piece of tofu. It is a wholesome variety and I have not had a bad meal since I landed here. In fact, most of been absolutely amazing but I rarely end my day feeling satisfied. It could be I am not used to the portion or the diet itself, as it is possible I am still used to eating a certain brand of nutrients. I rather not binge eat here (or simply eat a ton of food regularly) since likely I will not be eating as healthy as I was at home (seeing how I have to cook for myself and I am a disaster in the kitchen) or be as active as I was back home (there is no gym or recreation center on campus) so gaining weight is very likely. Also, my wallet (and parents) will hate me if I buy too much food.
Enough complaining about food!
Wednesday and Thursday were all about orientation, getting registered to live in Japan, getting around and completing the transition to live abroad. It helped me out a lot to spend those two days outside of my dorm since the fact I am living in Tokyo is settling in. Wednesday, my group took the bus to campus which if I recall correctly is in central Tokyo. The bus ride was about 40 minutes, which is apparently not too bad for a regular commute to university or work but I could see it being closer to an hour on most days given how crowded the streets in Tokyo can be. You see, the streets are very narrow and cars here are designed to fit on these small roads. Most cars here are about half the size of most American cars and it is very rare to find large 18 wheelers or anything of that nature on the freeways. Personally, I kind of like the smaller cars but the narrow roads are almost frightening since most streets don't have sidewalks.
Anyway, Wednesday's orientation was mostly about rules and regulations of TUJ's campus and basic guidelines to follow and some tips on getting around in Japan. One interesting note was the police in Japan get very bored seeing how the crime rate is pretty low here and they can apprehend you merely on suspicion. Basically, you are guilty until proven innocent.
We took the train back Wednesday, got our resident cards, health insurance and bunch of other papers.
Those are all the things I have to carry on me at all times. Otherwise a police officer won't be too happy. The train was fun at least as I got to experience the crowded trains of Tokyo and they live up to the hype. It is not uncommon to be nearly crushed by other commuters and train eidetic is fairly strict. Men are supposed to have their hands above their waist for all too obvious reasons and they are some train cars that are women only to prevent illegal touching. Personally, I prefer the train over the bus at is was more fun, but I will likely end up taking the bus because it is closer to my dorm and a bit easier to navigate. Getting lost in Tokyo is something I rather not do.
Thursday was more of the same, though the orientation that day was more focused on "academic" things such as adding and dropping classes and getting to know the school faculty. We got a tour of our campus which is pretty small and ill equipped but luckily enough, the student body is pretty small. I did get a foreboding warning that Japanese classes here are painfully difficult, but hopefully "Japanese Elements I" is not too bad. I rather not fail a class if I can help it.
I went out Thursday and Friday after some getting some shopping done, which was pretty fun. I experienced a sneak peek of the nightlife in Tokyo (Shibuya to be more precise) and it was interesting to say the least. Shibuya reminds me a lot of Times Square, just a lot busier. They are plenty of bars, restaurants, "maid cafes" and "love hotels" scattered about. I definitely plan to come back here a few times to check out a few more things, as the first time we were just really looking around and seeing what Shibuya had to offer.
Now this is Tokyo.
Most Japanese meals are a fair size, but their portions are generally smaller in favor of giving you a number of different dishes. Most meals come with your main course, salad or soup, noodles or rice, and one place even gave me a piece of tofu. It is a wholesome variety and I have not had a bad meal since I landed here. In fact, most of been absolutely amazing but I rarely end my day feeling satisfied. It could be I am not used to the portion or the diet itself, as it is possible I am still used to eating a certain brand of nutrients. I rather not binge eat here (or simply eat a ton of food regularly) since likely I will not be eating as healthy as I was at home (seeing how I have to cook for myself and I am a disaster in the kitchen) or be as active as I was back home (there is no gym or recreation center on campus) so gaining weight is very likely. Also, my wallet (and parents) will hate me if I buy too much food.
Enough complaining about food!
Wednesday and Thursday were all about orientation, getting registered to live in Japan, getting around and completing the transition to live abroad. It helped me out a lot to spend those two days outside of my dorm since the fact I am living in Tokyo is settling in. Wednesday, my group took the bus to campus which if I recall correctly is in central Tokyo. The bus ride was about 40 minutes, which is apparently not too bad for a regular commute to university or work but I could see it being closer to an hour on most days given how crowded the streets in Tokyo can be. You see, the streets are very narrow and cars here are designed to fit on these small roads. Most cars here are about half the size of most American cars and it is very rare to find large 18 wheelers or anything of that nature on the freeways. Personally, I kind of like the smaller cars but the narrow roads are almost frightening since most streets don't have sidewalks.
Anyway, Wednesday's orientation was mostly about rules and regulations of TUJ's campus and basic guidelines to follow and some tips on getting around in Japan. One interesting note was the police in Japan get very bored seeing how the crime rate is pretty low here and they can apprehend you merely on suspicion. Basically, you are guilty until proven innocent.
We took the train back Wednesday, got our resident cards, health insurance and bunch of other papers.
Those are all the things I have to carry on me at all times. Otherwise a police officer won't be too happy. The train was fun at least as I got to experience the crowded trains of Tokyo and they live up to the hype. It is not uncommon to be nearly crushed by other commuters and train eidetic is fairly strict. Men are supposed to have their hands above their waist for all too obvious reasons and they are some train cars that are women only to prevent illegal touching. Personally, I prefer the train over the bus at is was more fun, but I will likely end up taking the bus because it is closer to my dorm and a bit easier to navigate. Getting lost in Tokyo is something I rather not do.
Thursday was more of the same, though the orientation that day was more focused on "academic" things such as adding and dropping classes and getting to know the school faculty. We got a tour of our campus which is pretty small and ill equipped but luckily enough, the student body is pretty small. I did get a foreboding warning that Japanese classes here are painfully difficult, but hopefully "Japanese Elements I" is not too bad. I rather not fail a class if I can help it.
I went out Thursday and Friday after some getting some shopping done, which was pretty fun. I experienced a sneak peek of the nightlife in Tokyo (Shibuya to be more precise) and it was interesting to say the least. Shibuya reminds me a lot of Times Square, just a lot busier. They are plenty of bars, restaurants, "maid cafes" and "love hotels" scattered about. I definitely plan to come back here a few times to check out a few more things, as the first time we were just really looking around and seeing what Shibuya had to offer.
Now this is Tokyo.
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