Another Random Sunday

After another epic session of overnight karaoke my friend Irene and I recharged ourselves on two hours of sleep. We headed into Harajuku (typical but w/e!) to rendez-vous with some of her friends from Toronto who are currently visiting Tokyo on vacation. After wandering Omote Sando Hills for awhile we made our way over to Ginza to do some more exploring and to meet up with another one of the networked friends.


Dinner took place in Tokyo at an izakaya and we all headed over to Ed's place later for his house warming party. I didn't mean to be an ass, but I showed up with three people, two of which I had only met a few hours ago. It was good old fun; random and spontaneous, a common theme for weekend outtings.

Round 2 JR & Ikea!

As some of you know the last time I tried to casually enter the JR train station at Minami Funabashi with an excessively large Ikea package in hand it didn't turn out so well. Ed, Kyle, and I tried carrying my sofa home one Sunday afternoon back in September and got horribly rejected upon being spotted by the JR station master. This time around Ed and I entered with a slightly smaller box and succesfully got through the train station gates. Take that Japan!


This time around we had a solid gameplan. Yuki was able to run some interference and ask the station master on duty for random directions whilst Ed and I stealthed through the gates with our large box. I'd say it flawlessly worked. The actual package contained four chairs and the table itself so you can imagine how large it was.


About 4 hours from the purchase, this is the end result! Not to shabby if I can say so myself. Assembly was more or less simple as Ikea instructions and technology are for the most part very user friendly. My arms and hands are sore as hell, but it was nevertheless another crazy fun day in Chiba/Tokyo!

KO! Kyoto & Osaka!

While Sylvia was visiting we planned a 3 day trip to Kyoto and Osaka area since it is very touristy. Yuki was able to research and find a pretty affordable hotel right in the heart of the Gion area of downtown Kyoto.


Heian Jingu, apparently a famous place for wedding ceremonies in Kyoto was overrun by a concert/performance in the late afternoon. To me it seemed a little strange to hold that type of event at a temple, but whatever. Can you count the chairs? I'll give you a hint-- there are over 400.


Giant torii gate leading up towards Heian Jingu.


On our first night we ate at a fancy restaurant along the Kamo river. My meal came out to be a little over ¥6000 (~$60), but it was totally worth it. The night after we were able to spot a few geishas in the streets as well. They were escorting an elderly man who was likely their owner out of one of the Gion restaurants.

As for Osaka, I really wish I had been able to take pictures. Went up to Sky Garden and then spent time in the Namba and Shimsaibashi areas. Namba had incredible street food, mainly takoyaki (octopus balls) and some deliciously cheap okonomiyaki. Perhaps one day I'll make a trip back with a fully charged battery >_<.

Chunko Nabe!

*DISCLAIMER*
Before I begin this entry, there's a rumour floating around that three people were spotted foolishy trying to carry a sofa home from Ikea. They were stopped dead in their tracks upon arriving at the station by the Minami Funabashi station master... I'll deny every bit of it...

Yesterday's dinner was "food for the sumo soul". Ed, Yuki, Kyle and I ventured out into sumo town to find a sumo wrestler's meal properly coined as "Chunko Nabe". Similiar to everyone's favourite Chinese style hotpot, it is the meal that sumo wrestlers have in order to stay in top physical form. The good sumo wrestlers are out on tour in Nagoya and Nagano at the moment so we didn't see any at the restaurants. However we did manage to spot a couple getting off the train which were probably in a lighter weight class since they didn't look too large.

Rendez-vous with エド (Ed) but it's the last day of vacation...

It's been a wild week to say the least-- from visiting Yokohama to multiple overnight karaokes to random intoxication to having visitors from Hiroshima & Nagano to almost buying a couch at Ikea. I'm not sure what kind of mood I'm going to be in tomorrow morning when I force myself to wake up and get ready for work once more. Yesterday night one of my best friends from Toronto エド (Ed) landed in Tokyo and we met up for dinner in style by going to an awesome sushi restaurant in Tsukiji. Yuki and Kyle came as well and we left with our wallets feeling a lot lighter; no regrets though, it was absolutely glorious.

Great to see another familiar face here in Japan since leaving Toronto about 4 months ago. It's also going to be nice knowing I'll have another person to turn to in case of any immediate emergencies or unexpected situations. Although I go back to work tomorrow, perhaps having another friend nearby is something to look forward to over the next several months. I'm positive my crazy adventures will only get crazier!

Bowling & Bug Bombs

Yesterday I finally met up with my friend Yuki (Ed's girlfriend) and we headed to Shimokitazawa. It was raining pretty heavily for the entire day but we still managed to have a lot of fun. We found a nice cafe to have lunch at and afterwards had some amazing ice cream for dessert. Seeking shelther from the rain, we headed to Suidobashi for some bowling at the Tokyo Dome. After Yuki bought a pair of socks we were all set to bowl!

Later on I met up with Kyle again and we checked out his new apartment for the first time. We even moved some of his stuff over from his slum into the new place. After staying there for the night we triggered a bug bomb this morning in order to fully extinguish any potential chance of insect life. It was pretty interesting trying to decipher the instructions since they were entirely in Japanese. Using deductive reasoning Kyle figured out how to activate it by the illustrations and we were set to go. I thought it would have been cooler to buy two or three of them to set off simultaneously, but Kyle insisted that one was enough. When we finally set it off we ran away like little school girls!!