Golden Week Adventures - Part 2

Okay, now where was I… oh right, we were exploring Akiba. Well more, Kris was exploring, and I was running out the clock until I had to hop on a train to go pick up my first visitor, my buddy Scott.

Like I said earlier, our hostel was in Asakusa, which, according to the Tokyo transit map, is the last stop in Metro Tokyo before Narita Airport. What they don’t tell you is just how much things have been scaled down to fit everything onto this map. Therefore, what looked like only a 15 min subway ride was actually an hour long trip outside of Tokyo and into the Japanese countryside. So much for being early and looking at souvenirs…

And to make matters worse, I was held back at the train gate over some misinformation about the cost to the airport. Then I got totally lost. This left Scott lost and alone in the airport for about an hour. But we found each other, and we made our way back to the hostel.　　

Our travel group now complete, we headed to Roppongi to have dinner at The Hard Rock Café (I know, so Japanese, right?) and to see Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower is very pretty at night, all lit up with lights that really just makes the skyline of Roppongi breathtaking, but, up close, it’s not as impressive. Or, maybe it’s just not as impressive to a group that has been inside The CN Tower which is almost twice the height of Tokyo Tower. I guess in a couple of years we'll have to go visit Tokyo Sky Tree, which is already taller than Tokyo Tower and it still has 18 months worth of building to be completed.

Roppongi is a pretty interesting area of Tokyo. It’s another area of Tokyo that is very popular with “the young folks” and it’s easy to see why. The streets are lined with clubs, pubs, and numerous American restaurants. If you’re looking for the Tokyo nightlife, Roppongi is the place to go.

A warning: if you’re a blond boy, like my buddy Scott, you’re going to get harassed by Samoan club owners looking to fill their clubs with blondes in order to attract Japanese women. It was pretty bad. Within the span of a block, Scott was approached by four different men all trying to convenience him to go to their club. As soon as one man left, another one swooped in to take his place. Even if you’re not blonde, you could be approached by club owners just trying to fill their clubs. Only these ones won’t follow you as you walk away.

Hey, look at that, I finished day one! Next time… day two!