On Saturday night after work we went into Koenji and had a very pleasant drink and snacks at a small izakaya where we could sit outside. The streets of Koenji are small and windy and full of small shops and interesting people so just hanging out and watching the world go by is an experience. Despite the fact that I haven't really had a relationship with Tim since primary school and I had only just met Fi they were very supportive and helped me to come to terms with my grief. At the same time we could talk about lots of positive things too and reflect on the experience of being in Japan. They have been here a lot longer than me but also in a very different way so we all had different aspects of the experience to bring together and reflect upon.
We headed to a small bar which is part of 'Amateur Riot' and had another drink before catching the last train back to Niiza. This small bar is really cool and has a really interesting feel. The guy behind the bar on Saturday night, Jeremy, lives in Koenji and speaks fluent Japanese. I have been wanting to get over there and hang out with him for ages but one thing or another kept coming up so I am glad I finally had the chance.
On Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast at home and then headed into the city. Finding lockers for their stuff in Shibuya station was not easy and all the large one's were taken so we just made musical instruments out of them instead. Then we headed over to Harajuku to find Yoyogi park and see all the interesting people who hang out there. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn, missed the entrance by about 50 metres and spent nearly 2 hours wandering through the garden of Meiji shrine, managing to do a complete circuit of Yoyogi park without encountering it.
Of course, the gardens are beautiful - a grand forest in the middle of Tokyo but the huge crowds of tourists weren't really the people we came to watch. At long last after a circuit which took me past the location of my orientation camp when I first came to Japan at the old Olympic village we found the park entrance.
First we passed the homeless people's tent village and found our first port of call - a cup of tea at the barter cafe. Two artists live in the tent village and have done for 5 years. They run a barter cafe on the weekends. I was able to swap some Australian animal key rings for my cup of tea and cake while Tim and Fi put on a performance involving juggling and playing some interesting hand-held percussion instruments they found at a hippie festival. We were entertained by a man from Shibuya who told us all kinds of anecdotes and gave us Japanese names.
True to form the park itself was awesome and full of people hanging out, playing musical instruments, practicing dance moves, juggling and getting up to all sorts of high jinks. Tim and Fi joined the jugglers and were able to borrow various pieces of equipment. I went and had a tai chi practice next to them as I can't juggle. We wandered around a bit in Harajuku and looked at some cool little clothes shops before meeting up with Matt (a teacher I met during my trainign) and heading over to Shibuya. The destination was a club called Module which was having a Drum 'n' Bass night. I'm not familiar with Drum 'n' Bass but Tim and Fi are into it and I am keen to expand my musical horizons.
It was awesome. I thought some of the music was pretty ordinary while parts of it were really good. More importantly though I was able to dance and dance and let go of some of the tension which has been building up inside me ever since C and I separated. Chikako from my work came along as well and brought a friend. She isn't a regular club goer but after a while she started dancing too. I love it when people start to enjoy dancing, we all need to dance! The club itself was small but just the right size really for the crowd although it did get very hot. After the music finished Tim and Fi and I headed out to experience the night in Shibuya. It finished at 11pm so there was plenty of time. We went shopping in a discount store called Don Quixote and then sat near the Hachiko entrance to Shibuya station and drank, chatted and watched the people moving all around us. There are so many people in Shibuya! Although by 4 am it was looking distinctly empty, noone crossing at the big crossing. 
After that we went to try and find a bar I have been to once but unfortunately it was closed so we just got some more beers at a convenience store and drank them on the street. We checked out love hotels for a cheap nights accommodation but they didn't seem so cheap, especially when you are comparing an internet cafe which costs next to nothing. We found a yaki-niku restaurant which had cheap beer and I promptly fell asleep (it was pretty late). Eventually Tim and Fi managed to wake me and we wandered around trying to find an internet cafe to have a rest in. Eventually we found one but all the men's seats were taken. After much wandering around deciding what to do we went back there, Fi took a place and Tim and I sat in the waiting area. You pay a basic hourly rate even to sit in the waiting area but it includes access to the drink bar and soft serve icecream. I knew that what I needed after being up all night, drinking, eating grilled meat and dancing was two soft serve icecreams so I ate them and felt horribly sick. A place came up pretty quickly but it was nearly time for the first train so I deferred to Tim and headed home to bed.
Thanks Tim and Fi and Matt and Chikako and Ayako!
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| Tim and Fi and Me in Tokyo |
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