Hostile Traveler

The title will make sense in a bit. In the meantime, let’s get caught up. Last night the regional sales manager type wanted Ken (Korean colleage for those not following the plot) to go out with himself and a candidate for sales weasel in Japan. Okay, fine. So we meet him at Hotel Okura, which is a well-known oldschool hotel here in Tokyo. It’s nice, but there are aspects of it that make it look its age, such as the seemingly endless stream of aging salarymen wandering around. Ken and I had to wait for a bit, so we spent a bit of time in the hotel bar, which may be rated as the place most likely to inspire suicide in all of Tokyo. Dark, smoky, depressing 70s decor, startlingly overpriced drinks - it had it all. Thankfully we didn’t have to spend much time there before moving on.

Dinner was teppanyaki, which is the typical Japanese style place in the states where the chef cooks on a grill in front of you. The thing is, this place was kind of posh, so there were no theatrics involved like the chef flicking shrimp tails into his hat and such. Instead, it was like watching a curiously obsessive chef make dinner while avoiding any sort of eye contact. Very odd. Now, I figured I’d be in good shape food-wise, but the problem is that I’m not much of a seafood fan…but this is Japan, so it’s almost unavoidable. So, I wasn’t too thrilled that the appetizer was tuna sashimi, followed by watching the chef throw still-twitching halved lobsters on the grill. The steaks were admittedly amazing, and I thought that the fried rice might save me as well, but it turned out to be full of tiny fish. Dammit. the other guys seemed to enjoy it though, so I’m sure it was good…just not my thing. I feel like I have something wrong with me when I see how much other people enjoy lobster, but for me, they’re just cockroaches of the sea.

Today was the last day of class, and we ended at around 1:30pm. It’s normally an hour earlier, but this being Japan, there were some overachievers in the class that wanted to redo some things. I told them there were no gold stars, but that didn’t seem to matter. Still, I guess it’s better than the slackjawed disinterest that I get during classes back home.

After class, I made a pilgrimage to geek Mecca - Akihabara. I tend to go here every time I come to Tokyo to see what the latest electronic toys are, plus there are some really interesting collectibles shops around. I know I’m an otaku (geek) but at least I admit it.

While walking around, I came across a bookstore that had the different types of books it sold on various floors listed in the window. It’s hard to not notice a magazine called FUCK with an anime character on the front of it.

The otaku seem to have a major fetish for girls dressed in maid outfits. There are cafes dedicated to this fetish where guys can go and get coffee or whatever while the waitresses, dressed as maids, serve them and flirt a bit. That’s as far as it goes, though I’m sure the nerds go home and beat off like a crazed chimpanzee afterwards.

One of the stores I went into sells figurines, and it seems like 90% of them are of anime women in various states of undress or revealing outfits. And they go for big money, so apparently the otaku are well-funded. Oh, and at the same store they have a cafe on the second floor that I glanced into where the women are dressed in cat outfits - little ears and a tail. Though I guess that isn’t that far from the old Playboy clubs from the…well, from before my time. Guys are just creepy as fuck sometimes, aren’t they? Oh wait, I’m a guy. Damn.

The sign below is an example of one of these cafes. The term ‘moe’ is a bit hard to explain, but I think it means ‘contentment’ - in other words, being happy in the environment you’re in, even if it’s just a fantasy.

And so the maid fetish theme continues. Walking down the street, there’s a vendor selling everything maid-related. Maid cookies, maid cake, and even the elusive Maid pudding. I kinda don’t wanna know…

After a bit it was time to head out of Akihabara before I either spent lots of money on electronics or developed a maid fetish myself. But, before going, I ran into an incredible crepe stand. Nice selection of flavors, though I personally settled for something simple - a #2 (caramel and whipped cream).

Had some time to burn before dinner, so checked out a new complex in the area I’m staying called ‘Midtown Tokyo’. Very very nice place, including a mall with lots of boutique stores that I can’t afford anything in. This is perhaps the nicest mall I’ve ever seen, and I’m sure the picture below doesn’t do it any justice.

Ken and I grabbed dinner at a Brazilian restaurant called Acaraje Tropicana , where I had hoped to introduce Ken to the wonderful gluttonous world of Rodizio. That’s where guys carrying skewers of meat keep coming to your table until your belly tears open from the strain. It’s carnivore heaven. Unfortunately, this place requires reservations for that a day in advance (wtf?) so we had to settle on dishes. Still, not bad, and the capirinhas were good.

Afterwards, I tried to find a tequila bar I had heard about called Agave, which is rumoured to have 400+ types of tequila. Alas, it wasn’t to be because I can’t find the freaking place to save my life. Granted, addresses around here are something I’m still trying to figure out, and this place is in a basement somewhere, but still…

So, we decided to hit a Roppongi mainstay - Bauhaus. Bauhaus has been open for something like 25 years, and the owner has a band that plays every night. They do covers of old American and British rock (Deep Purple, Queen, Led Zeppelin, etc) and they are amazing at it. They’re all tremendous musicians, and they put on a hell of a show. The only kind of funny part is that they speak very little english, so some of the lyrcs are obviously being done phonetically, but it’s easy to overlook something so minor in the face of such talent. Good stuff.

The outside doesn’t look like much….the blown ‘B’ doesn’t help I guess.

…and here’s the band. The singer looks a bit like a Japanese Ozzy Osbourne

And finally, a shot of Roppongi’s main drag on my walk back to the hotel.

Oh - about the topic. Everyone here smokes it seems, and Bauhaus is a pretty small place. So now I feel like beef jerky I have so much smoke permeating my skin and clothes. Time for a shower, methinks.

Tomorrow I’m off to be all cultural and shit and visit a temple area. Well, if they let me in. I wouldn’t.