STORY 1) MARCH 2008
So, Joshuella and I went to Japan Land for a wee holiday in March 2008. We realised after we booked that we would be there at the time of our 3 year anniversary. How convenient! So we flew Melbourne - Nagoya and stayed overnight then headed up into the Japanese Alps to stay in Nagano for a few days. (BEST PLACE EVERRRR!) Then it was on to good ole Tokyo for a bit of fun! The plan was to go out in Roppongi on the Eve of our Anniversary, then the next day travel from Tokyo - Kyoto on the bullet train and check in to out lovely romantic accommodation at : Yachio Ryokan.
So we were staying in the next "suburb" to Roppongi called Akasaka, and we set off to find some delicious dinner. Only 2 blocks away we found this cool restaurant called "Uoshin Restaurant" in Roppongi. It's part of a chain I think, but we were immediately drawn to it, as it was a really unique looking place - different to many of the places we had eaten already. It had a cool al fresco part to it which was undercover and people were laughing and drinking and loud punk music was playing. How could we resist, right? So we go in and the place is PACKED and there is fish hanging from the roof, and on ice and on grills and EVERYWHEREEEEEEE!! So they sit us at the bench so the chefs are right infront of us, then hand me this menu which is entirely in KANJI (like chinese characters) and i was like "uh... sorry babe, I'm not really sure what this says...". They noticed the horrified and slightly starving look in my eye and asked if i wanted an English menu. YES PLEASE! So everything was cheap and the drinks list was long and also cheap! We ordered what seemed like one of everything, and chowed down while watching the chefs at work. We noticed after a while that this punk music was playing that we had been hearing everywhere so far. We had heard it in a shoe shop in Nagano and I asked the guy what it was, so he wrote it down for me in Katakana alphabet: Makishimamu za horumon - yeah i had no idea what that meant, i just knew it was meant to be English. Turns out it's MAXIMUM THE HORMONE! and they are awesome. So we said to the chef we liked the music and she was like "yeah we love it too, we are in a tribute band..." i thought she was joking. No sir. The manager of that amazing establishment (pictured below with the headband) promptly came out from behind the grill and started playing videos of them rocking out in live venues. Incredible! The whole staff were in a tribute punk band.
The Manager recommended we drink this spirit called Shochu, and that we should have it on the rocks. I asked what it was, like if it was similar to Vodka or Sake or something, and he explained that it is similar to Sake and that apparently they used it in the War to disinfect wounds. Josh was hooked so we ordered 2 of those, and 2 more steins of Kirin Beer. That's about where things started to go downhill for me as we had already has a few steins each. The more i drank, the better my Japanese flowed, but they of course were trying to speak English so i didn't have to translate for Josh. We didn't have a camera on us, so Josh ran back to the hotel to get one so we could take some pictures.
While he was gone I got talking to the manager who was telling me his life story and said that it is his dream to go to Australia and go surfing. He then said he was a model, and got this magazine catalogue thing out which was all about chef supplies and uniforms, and he flicked through it showing me all the pictures of himself and his wife and baby daughter modelling clothes. Very cute!
Josh comes back with the camera and suddenly everyone wants to pose for us! It was sick. I really wish i stopped drinking but i had taught Josh how to say "2 more of the same please" in Japanese so he just kept ordering 2 more when we hadn't even finished our current drinks. We were having so much fun i guess i didn't realise how much i was drinking and didn't care that i was mixing beer with shochu and some lychee concoction that Josh kept ordering.
That is a picture of 2 of the chefs. They were sickkkk! The girl's name was Midori but Ican't remember the guys name as it was so long ago (oops). Holy shit i just realised she is holding a big 'thing' of OKONAMI sauce, my favourite. I don't think i had discovered okonamiyaki at that point. omg primate. Anyway, below is the Manager showing us how to play the traditional Japanese game Kendama. Basically Japanese Ball in a Cup.
He was fucking unbeleivable. Probably some sort of Kendama champion. So you let the ball dangle then you have to flick it up onto the cup it's on in the picture, then around onto the other side, then onto the cup on the base - near his wrist, then onto the spike! He did it deftly as a kendama ninja! I don't have access to youtube but if you look up kendama champion you will be shocked. Or maybe i was just drunk and easily impressed...? most likely...
Anyway Josh was going nuts with obsession for it, and got the hang of it straight away. Everyone was cheering him on, it was great! So at some point we realised that the whole place was empty except for us and that they wanted to close up for the night! Awkwarddddd! So i went to the toilet and when i came back Josh had paid (I found out later he had used my money though haha) and we left promising to send them pictures and stuff. I don't really remember much of the rest of the night except that we stopped at a CONBINII (Convenience store) and got some Japanese Pringles and fried chicken - i only know this because i found it the next morning in our room :s
Fun fact about me: when I am drunk i cant sleep because i feel too ill. i toss and turn holding my stomach and cant "sleep it off" like many lucky chumps out there. So i had a broken sleep and got up at 7am to vomit. When i came back to bed i saw josh cuddling a bottle of water and the USB cord for the camera... haha, oh Josh! Yes so i spent pretty much the rest of the morning vomitting and not letting Josh in the bathroom. Actually i think i let him in once but i nervously paced outside the door as I was going to vomit AGAIN. probably the most after-grog bodily expulsion i have ever experienced. It was disgusting. So Josh was trying to hurry me up as we had to check out. Working in Hotels i know you dont have to check out RIGHT on time. There is a bit of leeway, especially if you are going to vomit all over the reception desk if you arent ready to come out of the bathroom. But he gave me a plastic bag to hold JUST IN CASE and we set off for the day. It was possibly the worst day of my life. Did i mention it was our anniversary? Yep.
We checked out and stumbled through CRAZY CROWDS to the local station and got a local train to the big Station, then had to try and organise tickets for the Bullet Train, and find what platform it was on etc. For anyone who has been hungover - Japan is the worst place to spend your hangover day. People and noise everywhere, and as your brain also got vomitted out, it's pretty hard to remember how to speak Japanese. My patience was so low for everything and everyone that I wanted to either kill myself or kill Josh each time he spoke. Poor Josh. Eventually we got to Kyoto and got another train to our accommodation and walked there and checked in, and just lay on the floor. We went out at 4pm to get some breakfast. haha. Josh wanted spaghetti bolognaise (i am not even joking) so we went to look for some and eventually found it and devoured it and felt slightly better. happy anniversaryyyyy........! oh well, it was at least memorable to stand the test of time and remain in my limited memory bank!
STORY 2) NOVEMBER 2008
So I went back to Japan again later that year - crazy now that I think about it. I think there were some mega cheap flights so I jumped on it. Yeah i got a flight $189 from Melbourne to Osaka! why wouldn't you...? So anyway, this time i went with 5 boys who are friends of josh and mine: Evan, Stevens, Trav, Nash & Corey. So pretty much everyone just wanted to drink heaps and party in Tokyo which is fair enough. So we went out to Shibuya to look for a good place, and atfer a few tries, eventually came across CLUB PURE! Basically guys and girls pay a different flat rate and you get a wristband and a cup. You can fill that cup with anything you want from the bar all night. I think entrance was like $50...? or a bit less. BUT as you can imagine, everyone just goes crazy! All the guys were trying to talk to Japanese girls but because of the language barrier, I was called in to translate. I think they were more interested in me to be honest, and they were telling me i was SUPER CUTE! Everyone likes to hear that :D
So after a few too many apple drinks Evan started to lose his shirt - quite literally....
And pretty soon he passed out at the table....
BUT Japan being the interesting place that it is, you are actually allowed to sleep in clubs and the security guards don't hassle you at all. So he was fine. We were just sitting around chatting to some Swedish people, and his head was drooping in the direction of my lap. I kept pushing him away as i didn't want him to vomit on my lap. I got up to go to the toilet eventually and on my way back i passed my friends dragging Evan to the toilets with vomit still dribbling from his mouth. PERFECT TIMING! I got back to the table and everyone was freaking out about having vomit on their clothes, it was hilarious - as i wasn't involved of course! When Ev came back he was sober again and started to drink again and party the night away. Meanwhile, here is a great photo of Myself, Corey and this Swedish guy who likes blue chewing gum...
Oh it was pretty funy, the next day we were confused because we could smell vomit everywhere we went then eventually we found the stain on someone's pants. I think it was Nash's pants. Dried up vom, yuckkk!
Story 3 ) ALSO NOVEMBER 2008
So after Evan, Stevens and Nash went home it was just me, Corey and Trav knockin about in Japan. When we were in Hiroshima, we decided to get a ferry across to Miyajima Island and go for a hike up Misen (the big mountain on the island) one afternoon. So we got a tram for almost an hour, then a ferry to the island, then went to look for the cable car to the summit...
So after Evan, Stevens and Nash went home it was just me, Corey and Trav knockin about in Japan. When we were in Hiroshima, we decided to get a ferry across to Miyajima Island and go for a hike up Misen (the big mountain on the island) one afternoon. So we got a tram for almost an hour, then a ferry to the island, then went to look for the cable car to the summit...
great views from the cable car, great views!
once on the summit, we were surrounded by monkeys. The signs said to put your belongings in lockers otherwise the monkeys will maul you for food. Hmmm, no thanks! So yes, it was raining and I suddenly regretted my eagerness to climb or descend a mountain. Corey led us to this path swearing it was to the summit, but we were going downhill. So yeah after about 10 mins he agreed that we were probably going the wrong way so we went back uphill and started towards the summit. I started to lose it, like i am convinced i was having an asthma attack but i have never been tested for asthma so don't know if it was, or even what it was. I took off my jacket and jumper and was just in a t-shirt in the rain and wintery weather. I was wheezing and kept asking the guys to stop. my face was like beetroot red and i couldn't catch my breath at all. I was so embarrassed as only Josh had seen me lose it like this before, and they didnt seem to even have broken a sweat. The thought of taking one more step made me want to cry so i took the room key and went allllllll the way back alone in the rain and impending darkness. In the cable car the only other people were this lesbian couple who were making out and feeling each other up, while i was shaking and coughing in the corner. I got back to the room frozen to the bone and had a hot shower and snuggled up on the futon mattress with the blankets and turned on Japanese TV for some company. I started to get really worried cos the guys were now running down a mountain in the darkness and the time was ticking by... but eventually they came back drenched and we had a nice little futon picnic of snacks and drinks and of course Corey's weird Korean concoction of Yakult and Soju shots. That was another memorable day.
Now that i think about it, I have so many more stories I would love to write about! Like Yoyogi Park in Harajuku! I'll save it for another day my friends!
i love these stories! except for the bad/sick parts...
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