The Tokyo Party Scene

Naturally it was only a matter of time before I would discover the Tokyo nightlife. After three consecutive nights on the town I think I am able to fill you guys in. My very first night out was with two new friends Ron and Sarah. We hit up a well known party area called Roppongi. This is typically where most foreigners/tourists go out to party. The club was called Jumanji (as in that really horrible movie starring Robin Williams). One way to recognize this club is by the massive statue outside, which I am assuming is some sort of creature that appears in the movie at some point. Although it looks more like a version of JarJar Binx from Starwars...Either way, it is an eye catching work of...uhm...art? Inside, the Jumanji theme is carried out with decorations such as a massive T-rex head on the wall, and monkeys for the legs of the bar stools...interesting to say the least. Getting straight to the point...ladies nights (Tuesdays and Thursdays) are GOOD nights at this bar; No cover, and...FREE champagne...all night long. Yes. I kid you not my friends. Free. Delicious. Drinks. Need I say more? The peach champagne spritzers were delightful! - and if you ask me, free drinks always taste better.
After a long night of dancing and drinking, we grabbed a bite ('Ramen' as a matter of fact). - Ramen is a noodle/soup dish with a chunk of pork in it. People that enjoy it...seem to LOVE it. but it's not my thing. Not my favourite dish for a couple of reasons 1. I find it a bit on the salty side. and 2. It comes in a bowl so massive that it always seems to leave me uncomfortably full afterwards. I hate that feeling. (and no, you cannot ask to take a 'doggy bag' and finish it later. That would be a serious breach of Japanese cultural etiquette).
Oh ! one more important thing about partying in Japan...when you go out to party, you need to really commit - this is because you will be out until at least 6am (when the trains start running again). The last train leaves is at midnight, and the first train to get home in the morning is around 5:30am or 6am I believe. I must say getting on the train after leaving the club and sitting across from/beside men in suits on their way to work is pretty funny - That was definitely a first.

After a long night out, the plan becomes to recuperate during the day...and do it all over again. So Friday night we tried out a couple of different clubs. First we tried out a club called Camelot in Shibuya. This club was nice, fairly big. Like most clubs you pay cover and then get two free drinks upon entrance (don't mind if I do!). It has three rooms, one with house/electro music playing, one with hip hop and then a room downstairs that plays (an odd mix of) pop hits. It didn't seem to be very busy so we decided to try out a different bar in Roppongi. On the way out I noticed a key feature of this club which sets it apart from the rest...this feature being a little hair salon of some sort. Ladies if you're ever pressed for time and feel as though you can't get your hair done before the bar, now you can get it done at the bar! wow. That's a relief. hahaha

We head over to a club called New Lex which we were at just briefly before leaving once we couldn't get a table in the V.I.P lounge. However, we didn't leave before accepting our free drink. The music was good, top 40's type stuff...The verdict: it's a fun place that seems popular - it fills up fast on weekends, so we knew we'd be back.

The last stop of the night was Fbar which I believe is short for 'Fashion bar' where we were able to get the V.I.P lounge and bottle service. True to its name there were models all over the place, mostly tall, slim (emaciated), but gorgeous, caucasian females, and a few males as well. Some of these people could not be mistaken for anything other than runway models. That being said, it's a little shot to the old ego, but a fun place to be nonetheless. The bar itself is somewhat small, and no real dancefloor either, which I found a bit odd but the chandeliers are a nice touch. Overall this bar gets a 3 star rating in my books. It seems popular among our group of friends though, so I'm sure I will be back there a few more times...and when I am...I've decided I may pack a bag of bread rolls to handout to the girls (models?) that look like they're starving themselves.

One thing I would like to inform people of (in case any readers are planning to visit Japan) is the risk of receiving a spiked drink in a bar/club...in particular in the area of Roppongi. While Japan is one of the world's safest countries, it is not excluded from incidents of this sort. Recently warnings have been issued by the U.S Embassy. See this link for details - http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/us-embassy-warns-americans-to-avoid-roppongi-bars-due-to-drink-spiking-increase

On that note...come to Tokyo, party hard...but remember to party safely :)

Now apart from all of the partying, believe it or not, I actually made it to Hanami (a Japanese tradition & celebration of the Cherry Blossoms). I was in rough shape, but managed to enjoy a leisurely stroll through a park to view the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom, and the thousands of people gathered to celebrate at this festival. The celebration is a very big deal in Japan. People bring large blankets to sit on, food to eat for the day, and plenty of alcoholic beverages to drink and enjoy under the Cherry Blossoms; they will even sleep in the park to reserve a spot! While my friends and I didn't set up for a picnic or spend the entire day, we didn't miss out on how spectacular the Cherry Blossoms are, or how the celebration goes down. Observing Hanabi was a real testament to the fact that the Japanese definitely know how to party. Every park filled with Cherry Blossom trees was equally filled with people! This is one party that nobody would even dream of missing out on. The good news is that the Setagaya Park is just minutes away from my residence; it is massive, with a gorgeous fountain - a great place to enjoy a walk or read on a nice sunny day in Tokyo. Now I'm just waiting on the warm sunny weather...

Classes don't start until April 8th, when students are required to partake in the auditing week. This is when students sit in on the first class of the courses that appeal to them to see if it's suitable (brilliant, no?). Then students are required to receive a signature from the professors of the classes they wish to take (one reason to suck up to your prof...) haha. I don't quite understand this part of the process, but I'm going to go with it. The courses I plan to take at this point include:
Development and Social Change
International Human Rights Law
Discovering Culture Through Observation (yay! field trips)
Culture and the Unconcious
Language Beyond Grammar (a fancy name for studying Japanese; I will be taking 2-3 Japanese language courses)
Japanese Buddhism and Social Suffering
Japan in the Foreign Imagination
Introduction to Japanese Politics

The minimum is 7 courses, but thankfully classes are only an 1.5 hrs/week (which is only half of what I am used to) - So if all goes as planned I will be taking 10 courses. However, I must admit that a part of me is hoping that a couple of them don't work out to be as interesting as they sound. Another confession: I am really looking forward to starting class. I know, I'm a nerd.

Speaking of courses, I better get to studying some Hiragana!

Much love from Tokyo, miss you all!