Karaoke, more bars and even an earthquake

  Tokyo, Japan
Wednesday, September 6, 2006

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WEDNESDAY 06/09/2006
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Karaoke ... and then more bars!!

Yay! Water in the apartment! No more public toilets. First thing - nice cold shower! Washed my hair. Then shopping in Shibuya with Mel. Tried to find a souvenirs shop but walked around and around but couldn't find one. Heaps of shops though! And we managed to stop at the Starbucks overlooking the large crossing in Shibuya. Pretty sad that in Japan Starbucks is the only place I can get my Cafe Latte with Soy milk. But ahhh sooooo delicious.



Met up with Owen, Visal and Megan (the Kiwi girl we met from The Ruby Room the night before). Dinner at the Pepper Steak restaurant. You pick your meal and pay from the vending machine. Service is quick and efficient and food was good. Even though I can't eat pepper!!

Visal went home and the rest of us went to KARAOKE!! Karaoke in Tokyo! yay! Most of you know that I luuuuurve my karaoke - I'm not that good at it BUT I love it! Massive selection of songs. Highlight of the night was Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - great group effort - scored 9.4!!

Got a huge room with a view and sang ... and sang ... and er... actually screamed ... and danced!





IMPRESSION: New fave alcoholic drink - Cassis and Orange.

Once we got tired of singing met up with Richard. He took us to this hidden (and of course TINY) bar in Shibuya that he calls the Red Room (not it's actual name - but it's very red). Gorgeously decked out in chandeliers on the ceiling and funky door knobs and paintings on the wall (and a couple of deer heads).

It was the bartender's birthday and heaps of his friends turned up with a cake, pressies and streamers. Had fun drinking more cassis with Orange. Met some of Richard's friends - Tomi (construction builder), Shinobu (interior designer) and Taro (the manager of the French cafe we went to with Richard on Friday). This bar is a hang out for a mix of Japanaese designers, artists, editors etc.

Mel, Bev and Richard

Had fun trying to make conversation with drunk Japanese guys that speak only a little bit of English. (Some would say that's a good thing)



Bev and Shinobu ... and with Tomi

Then Taro and Richard drove us to a private and hidden bar in Ebisu. This is a upper class area and the bar is upstairs in a TINY (surprise surprise) 2-storey apartment converted into a bar. The bar is downstairs and up the squishy winding stairs is a lounge area. Felt like I was in someone's house. It was the bar's 5th anniversary and only Japanese people hang out there.

Taichi, Taro, Bev and Mel in Ebisu

We got back to Richard's at 4am zzzzzzzzzz

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THURSDAY 07/09/2006
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Earthquake ... then sushi and a new camera

Whilst lying on the lounge room floor at Richards, there was a small earthquake. Lasted 5 seconds. I thought the neighbours were moving something - but the floor actually moved and it didn't stop. A little scary!

Richard took Mel and I too eat at the local Sushi Bar. This place is usually packed with people lining up down the street. Luckily we didn't wait too long. The sushi is amazing. It's SO FRESH. And it's so beautifully displayed. Almost didn't want to eat it. Almost.





Richard took us to Shinjuku to do some more shopping.

Mel and tried some freshly mixed icecream at the Ikekekuro train station. They mix the ingredients on a marble plate and serve it in a waffle cone. Delicious. You could spend the entire day inside the train station.



Mel and I went to Akihabura (about a 30 minute train ride). This is the electronics suburb. It is packed full of the latest gadgets at the best price. Ideal for me - as I decided to splash out on a new camera! By the time we got there it was 10pm and most of the places were closed. But luckily - one of the huge department stores was still open. I already had decided on a Fujifilm camera. It's tiny, light and takes remarkably clear pictures. Alot better then the Canon IXY I was going to get. It's a really popular model in Japan. So after a bit of bargaining I got it for about AUS$460 with accesscories. Not a bad price considering we left it to the last minute. It was such a pain in the ass and I dragged poor Mel everywhere to get the damn camera. I'm such a gadget junkie - I am travelling with my laptop, ipod, O2 Atom phone, external hdd and now a brand new camera!! If I had more time in Japan I could go nuts on all the gadgets they have here.



By the time we finished and got back to Shibuya Richard was on the way home and it was too late to meet up with Lubo (who had been flat out with work all week). Feeling tired from the day long shopping expedition - we had just enough energy to get dinner. We wanted to get Okonomi-yaki (Japanese pancakes) and followed directions from Richard. Of course we could not find it so stopped into a small clothes shop to ask for directions. The dredlocked Japanese guy was so helpful he showed us to the restaurant himself. How sweet!!

Unfortunately it was closed, so we randomly picked a place for dinner. Not bad. It was in a dark little place upstairs where people sat in their own cubicles. Ate tofu, eggplant and toasted bread, cheese and taco sauce (?) - Japanese style. Served with popcorn (strange) and washed down with Cassis and orange.



Back to the apartment in Ikekuburo for packing as we leave for Vietnam tomorrow.