Long story short, I went to the right place with the wrong person.
I met this guy at the hostel on day 1 and he seemed nice. A little creepy, but nice. I let my first-time-traveler naivety take over and conclude that he was simply "nice".
The next day, I was sitting in the common room talking to two hip looking artsy folks. One named (I believe) Asha, from England and another whose name I can't remember but was funnily enough planning on going to Pratt for his masters degree. We were talking about art and all that when said guy asks if I want to go around Tokyo with him. I said sure because he spoke a little Japanese and I spoke closer to none than some.
We took the Ginza line out to Shibuya and on that thirty minute train ride, I was told all about the Love Hotels in Tokyo and all about Love Hotel Hill. I avoided making eye contact for the entire rest of the trip around Shibuya and Harajuku. I also quickly learned that my travel companion was not one with particularly cultural interests. He seemed more into flashy objects, shiny things, easy girls and cheeseburgers. Total lech.
Oh well! On the bright side, I got well introduced to Shibuya, Harajuku youth culture and the Tokyo metro system - all wonderful.
Ah, and unfortunately, I woke up the next morning feeling the grim reaper's scythe inches from my neck so uh.. I stayed in to recover. It was also raining and cold outside. I think this is when I started to make Asakusa my home. Since I stayed in the whole day, it gave me a chance to meet a lot of the people staying at the hostel. We exchanged travel stories, experiences, advice. The best part? I met Brian who very generously offered to let me stay in his apartment in Seoul, after I told him I'd be in Korea in two weeks. "I'm not using it and it's code-locked."
Who has two thumbs and will be crashing in an apartment in Hongdae?
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