Thursday, May 29, 2008

how to recap the tenth day of my trip (tokyo edition)

tokyo has some weird shit going on.

first off, there's these things called love hotels, which are pretty much exactly what you'd think they are - except not. before you think bad of me, these things are listed in most tourist books as an area to check out, so we did, right after dinner. this is not out of first-hand experience.

if you travel up a hill in shibuya, you are led to this seemingly unending maze of roads with these love hotels. the concept is this: if you want or need a place to get laid, you can come to a love hotel, plunk down 4000 yen (or $40 US) and get a room for two hours. they call that a "rest". for an all night "stay", it costs about 7800 yen (or $78 US). here's the kicker: the architecture makes them look really nice. they fit with the surroundings. and the photos of the rooms that they have on the outside looked quaint enough too. it didn't seem like something a slumlord or a pimp would own. it doesn't feel like the tenderloin or a red light district. in fact, i don't think it's looked down upon. it just felt like a service, like a hot dog stand or a library.

i don't have any other information past that, all of which i found in a tourbook and a foot tour. but considering how young and attractive the people are here, and all the entertainment outlets that surround them, it's actually quite a good idea.

like i said, tokyo has some weird shit going on.

also weird is that the best looking women in this city walk pigeon-toed. in fact, they overdo it. that's how we picked that up. it's really overtly obvious. i don't know why they do it or how, but it happened too often to be a coincidence. of course, everyone will probably be walking pigeon-toed by 2011.

this is in contrast to guangzhou, where the best looking women just ate pigeon toes.

thank you. i'll be here all night.

other weird shit: there's porn on the first two channels on the tv set when you turn it on. meaning, if the tv resets to channel #1, you can find porn on channels #2 and #3.

and they sell porn in everyday convenience stores, like 7-11 (which are all over the place here). and they're not hidden. they're there to be seen.

weird enough for you?

it was plenty weird for me.

japan's into weird shit.

getting off that, i did some shopping this morning in a place called tokyu hands, which is like walmart if walmart were cool, edgy and creative. it's got eight floors, each with three different sections, with the 24 total areas selling different stuff, like housewares, travel equipment, design supplies and the like. but i'm talking the coolest japanese versions of each. explaining it doesn't do it justice.

also what i can't do justice is the sushi i had tonight at a restaurant called gonpachi. remember how i said tokyo was into weird shit? well, the best roll i had in a night full of world class rolls was the foie gras. yeah, you read that right. completely blew me away once i learned that was it.

we had our pre-pro today at nike (a 20 minute cab ride that took 45 minutes thanks to a lost cabbie and the ungridded tokyo city), and everything's gonna go great the next couple of days. we then hit the nike employee store, and they had my lebron "my game is made outside" videos playing on the tvs. nice.

also, i had something called a cold chocolate drink, which is like liquid chocolate pudding in glass. it's the best beverage ever. if you're ever in tokyo, check it out.

anyways, here's how i'll end this post: someone said tonight that tokyo reminded him of the best parts of new york city, minus the best parts of new york city. and it's true. there's no homeless, litter, crime or sewage smells. everything is in its proper place. it's a wonderful way of putting this place.

this weird, weird place that has its own weird shit going on.

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