I arrived in Japan after a quick 4 hour flight that turned into a 3 hour flight and change. There were no flight attendants that I found particularly attractive, so I could just focus on watching "Yes Man" and sleeping. We touched down almost an hour earlier than expected which was a great surprise. Once we did I tried to figure out a way to get to the Courtyard in Ginza where I was staying; my friend Atsuko told me I could find a limo bus service (just a charter bus) that stopped at the courtyard. I found the counter, purchased the 30 dollar ticket (1.5 hour drive = not bad). I then found an airport luggage storage place; I could pay 8 dollars per day (24 total) to have my big ass piece of luggage stored at the airport, so I didn't have to lug it around (it was 32kg and the pullout handle broke). When I went up the elevator, i spoke to what I thought was a cute girl at the information desk; she kept smiling at me as she told me where the storage was (the direct opposite side of the airport). I grinned at her when she told me that and pretended to be (I actually was) devastated to hear that I'd have to walk across the entire terminal. She laughed and confirmed it in fact was on the other side of the airport.After I left, I looked back as I adjusted my broken luggage and noticed they both were looking at me and smiling. I was pressed for time as my shuttle was leaving in about 15 min, so I rushed over to the luggage storage booth. The problem I realized was that I didn't ask for the # or email of this young lady because I had not realized she was interested during the time we were talking; I don't know if I can attribute that to being extremely tired or just liking men, but I tell you I didn't really pick up on it until it was too late. I decided after I stored luggage, I'd quickly go back and ask for her info; obviously as everyone knows, this never works. She was gone, and I had missed the only opportunity I had. Horrible; it shows I need to be more observant in these situations.
I didn't get much sleep Friday morning, so I slept about an hour (to make it 4 total) on the ride to the hotel. I must tell you that I'm a platinum member at Marriott meaning I've stayed there 75 nights in the prior year and they must treat me like I'm the shit (obviosuly they get a lot of revenue from me). This hotel did not make me feel as such; I think I was put in a regular room, didn't get much benefit from being a platinum member except that when I showed up I got the platinum gift (points or food). I was very disappointed in this and am not sure I'd recommend the Courtyard Ginza. The only reason I'd recommend it is that there is a 30 dollar shuttle each way that stops there from the airport and that it's location is in Ginza which is a sick part of town.
I ended up walking around Ginza at night to check out the city and find some food. I found a street that looked like 5th avenue in NYC. THere were all the high end shops and let me tell you, a HIGH density of good looking women. It was crazy how many there were; everywhere I looked I'd see a bunch. I ended up walking aroudn for about an hour and found a small local ramen place that served delicious pork.
The next morning I woke up and hung out w/my old coworker from PwC Atsuko. She brought along her 1 yr old daughter Yuki who was unbelievably cute!!! I actually got to hold her for a bit which was scary (I think it was the first baby I've held and the closest thing I've held to a baby were Lulu's dogs). Yuki was fairly well behaved, but it was interesting, when she was bored, she would cry if Atsuko would hold her while sitting down; same position standing up? No crying. It was really interesting; anytime Atsuko would sit down, she'd scream; Atsuko gets up? silence.
Well we had some Japanese barbeque which was amazing!!! The beef was so tender. Atsuko had some fried noodles or rice (it escapes my mind). After lunch we walked around Ginza and she showed me the emperors's houses. Apparently these are people who used to rule the country, but after there became a prime minister, they no longer have any power; they just have cash money. I don't think people actually lived in the houses we looked at (only saw front doors). It actually was a large park type environment where the houses were, and most of the property was off limits. Also a tidbit, there is a law that states no buildings can be constructed high enough to be able to see into the emperors' property, so all the buildings on the side of Ginza closest to the houses are very short.
Later we ate some italian; I had a cheeseless pizza which was pretty good. Atsuko said the Italian in Japan is better than in the US; I found this laughable, but 5 seconds later I realized she was being serious. She said it was cheaper and better tasting. This I am not so sure about.
Finally, we checked out some cell phones at a popular electronics store there; they were decent, but I think the US has decent ones compared to asia. Asian cell phones are kinda big and wide. I saw there was a sale for an Acer mini laptop for $500 USD which seemed like a great deal, but I didn’t have 500 I could just drop right there, so we left.
On the way back Atsuko noted that the 5th avenue street basically was blocked off so people could walk on the streets (no cars were allowed on the street). I thought this was interesting; does this happen in NYC??
The last place we stopped before she left was a store that sold authentic Japanese items. This place was full of stationery, paper, pens, fans and bookmarks??? I thought it was a waste of time until I saw these paper origami earrings!!!! I quickly purchased 2 pairs cranes, an umbrella pair and one more pair the kind I forgot. They were about $15 each which is reasonable.
Later that evening I ventured out using the Japanese subway, which would rival NYC’s but it CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT?!?!?!??! So wack!!!! It has so many lines and seems pretty convenient; I believe all of them run every 20 minutes or so. When I got out of the subway, I walked around Roppongi Hills which is a hip area of bars/clubs/restaurants. I dined at a Hong Kong restaurant which was very nice looking. There were tons of ladies walking around all over the place which was nice, but I just couldn’t open any because I just have no game when it comes to random ass girls on the st. I set on my way to find Gas Panic (a club the hotel recommended). I walked all over Roppongi and in the last corner before I was gonna head back I found it. Before I go into what I did inside (not much), I must tell you that there was an absurd number of black people on the streets there. It was really weird. I saw basically NO black people while walking around Ginza, but black people were plentiful in Roppongi. I dunno why; lets move on. So I went in and walked around to find a nice post up spot. I started dancing by myself and this employee walks up to me and asks me what I want to drink; I tell him I’m ok, but he shows me a flier that says “Please put your drink down.” I said, “Oh ok, I don’t have a drink, I’m not tryin to drink.” He pointed to the card so I continued to read, “If you do not have a drink in your hand we will ask you to leave.” I immediately ordered a pineapple juice.
The rest of the time was really uneventful as I just stood around trying to find attractive girls (nowhere). I ended up staying for about 2 hours and leaving. Grabbed a cab home and retired for the night.
The next morning I awoke and dined at the hotel’s Japanese restaurant. I got 10% off their already cheap 10 dollar tempura lunch deal. It was amazing!!! Such fresh tempura over shrimp, fish and eggplant. It came with Miso Soup and Tuna sashimi, which I could not eat because of my intestinal infection.
The shuttle came around 12:15 and I arrived at the airport at around 130 for my 4PM flight. I had plenty of time to get my big luggage out of storage (I don’t think anything was stolen). I went to the United lounge, which was lovely. Spent some time there online and finally went to the gate.
My flight took off about a half hour late and I immediately noticed an attractive flight attendant. Unfortunately in the 12 hours we were on the flight, she gave me 0 opportunities to hit on her. She was in coach while I was in Business class. I guess I could’ve gone into the back cabin to holler but I just thought we weren’t really allowed to (i.e. I am a bitch). I tried to stand in the middle areas where the bathrooms were, but she would never walk by. She did walk by once but really swiftly before I realized. She didn’t stop or anything, gave me no opportunities, so I’ll just assume she was married and was faithful (good girl). I chatted up 3 other FA’s in business class and all were very nice. I actually picked up some good teaching information from one of them. She was originally from Japan, and moved to the US for her husband. She taught some Japanese for a while and gave me some tips on how to proceed. It was very nice of her!
Well after that my story gets a little dull. We arrived at Dulles airport; I had to go through security there as well which was extremely annoying. Then I learned my flight was delayed another hour, so I had 2 hours to burn. I wasted that online and then 30 min after we took off we landed in NJ. I got home and really just relaxed and went to bed.
What a anticlimactic ending to a wonderful trip.
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