Roppongi Madness!
After taking care of a few last minute errands at the farm, I loaded a backpack full of dirty laundry into Yulia’s car and drove to Kawaguchiko. It was pretty uneventful hitchhiking from her house to the bus station, but I was fortunate enough to have a good neighbor for the bus ride: Soh just spent the last three years going to school in Pasadena and spoke good English. Upon arriving in Shinjuku we hung out for a little while playing 2 Spicy and he helped me look for a prepaid mobile. Unfortunately the phone was too expensive, but I did make a new acquaintance and found yet another person that proves Japanese are some of the friendliest and most helpful people in the world!
I checked into a dumpy little hostel in Central Tokyo, and was finally able to wash the laundry that had been accumulating dirt and sweat during the last few weeks of farm work. After a well-needed shower, outfitted in fresh clothes, I made my way to Roppongi Crossing and met Kanako and Yuri, her friend who is visiting from San Francisco.
We walked a short distance through pouring rain to a restaurant opening party that Jake told me about. ‘57’, the New York style steak house was overflowing with a very chic international crowd and we were lucky enough to get in a few minutes before they closed the door. A couple dancers wandered the party entertaining guests and posed for a never-ending barrage of photos. I took the backpackers ultimate opportunity to stuff myself on the continual flow of gourmet food samples and imbibe all of the expensive wine I could seize, before leaving to meet friends that showed up too late to get past the front door.
We spent the rest of the night hopping between a couple Izakaya consuming food and alcohol until realizing that it was past midnight. A frantic dash to the nearest subway station revealed that I had indeed missed the last train. The options were limited; I could shell out ¥4000 for a local capsule hotel, sleep outside in the rain, stay up drinking all night until my tattoo appointment the next day, or take a ¥2500 taxi back to the hostel where my bag was. I ended up opting for the taxi, and was a little dismayed about spending $20 before realizing that all of the free glasses of wine and food at 57 would have cost much more under different circumstances. You win some, you lose some… but my side of the scoreboard is pretty full!
Tags: Asia, Japan, Japan: Toyko, Party, Roppongi, Tokyo
Adam Shane
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