Just getting off the subway feeling excited, sweaty and overwhelmed entirely, I took a deep breath.
Because there I was!
Taking my first steps onto the streets of Tokyo, Japan; ta
king the first steps of this kind of crazy venture.
Of course, I got lost trying to find my hostel so I was wandering the area for about two hours before I arrived to the check-in counter at Khaosan Annex hostel all flustered and out of breath. I checked in and looked around the common room - a bunch of 20-30 year olds, looking hip and ready for the world, eyes fixed on a ball scurrying across a great green field on a television screen. I dont care what anyone says - the world cup is a magical thing.
Unfortunately and regrettably, I don't have any photos to share from my first night in Tokyo. My camera was out of battery. So I'm going to have to try my best to verbalize this. My very, very best.
I took the keys to my room and walked up four flights of stairs to my floor. The layout consisted of four or five sleeping areas with doors that open up to a single common space that had a table, kitchen area, bathroom and a shower room. My room was an eight bunk mixed - luckily, I got the bottom bunk closest to the door. I set down my bags, did a little stretch and logged onto Skype to tell my mom I made it in safe.
The initial plan was for me to sleep - I hadn't slept for about three nights. I was more or less racing the sun to the coast. Thursday night I had stayed up so that I could pass out on the plane. Me and a good friend went for a drive at 4:00 am to watch the sunrise and have a fond farewell. It was breathtaking, needless to say. Also, somewhat needl
essly said: didn't get a wink of sleep on the plane.
Anyway, so I had just gotten off Skype with my family when I get a facebook IM from a Yusef. I knew Yusef through an acquaintance at Pratt and had met him only once or twice before, but he was in Tokyo and we had decided to "definitely hang out." Deciding to rendezvous in front of Matsuya (Japanese equivalent to Macy's), we met up at around 10 or 11 and bought a case of Asahi Super Drys (a terrible beer that has won Yusef's misguided heart).
Yusef ended up missing the last train back to his stay in Shibuya -- the next train arrives at around 5 am. So, unable to have strangers in the hostel, we decided to wander the streets and observe the night life. Because really, what's one more night of not sleeping? Asakusa, to my
delight and surprise, has a fairly active night scene. After doing a fair amount of wandering, a bar by the name of CafeRest Cuzn captured my attention (there was an I love NY sticker posted on the front door. I know, I know).
We went in and were greeted with an enthusiastic "konichiwa!" from the tan woman with long, silvery white hair working behind the bar counter. After ordering myself a Darjeeling Cooler (a new favorite poison), me and Yusef struck up a conversation with the bartender who spoke English beautifully. In fact, she actually ended more or less every sentence with the word, "beautiful!" which was, in itself, beautiful. She played a lot of dub-step, was immensely kind and asked to take a picture with us. I'm currently waiting patiently on Yusef's uploads.
At around 4 am, we said our goodbyes to our new friend and started walking back to my hostel, grabbing a bite to eat in between. As we crossed the Red Bridge over the Sumida River, I realized that it was just about time for sunrise.
First night in Tokyo --
watched the sunrise over the Sumida River slightly intoxicated and full of soba noodles.
I'm not sure life gets more perfect or quintessential.
No comments:
Post a Comment