TOKYO

After Lake Ashi we took the train into Tokyo for our last weekend in Japan. I didn't take many pictures, Tokyo was a bit of sensory overload, and they just wouldn't have done justice. Our first night we stayed in a capsule hotel in the part of Tokyo known as Shibuya. It was nuts. It's a very young part of the city and since it was a Friday night, the streets were especially crowded with people going out. We went to a few different bars, but mostly did a lot of people watching. Even just watching everyone wore me out...

The next day we walked around Tokyo, checking out different neighborhoods. Timothy was a good tour guide, he has a pretty good handle on Tokyo, and let me tell you, the train system is like a maze. The highlight of the weekend, and one of my favorite parts of the trip, was meeting up with Timothy's inlaws. Timothy's wife Miki is Japanese, and her parents, Akira and Chiyoko, took us out to dinner to eat shabu shabu, it was amazing. "Numbah waaan shabu shabu in Japaan!" said Akira, as he ordered me plate after plate. And drink after drink. Holy shit was I full and drunk. Then we went out for karaoke. I sang Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company, I think people liked it, or at least they pretended to? We stayed at their house that night, and they got up and took us to the airport in the morning, bringing a close to our adventure in Japan. I'm not really sure it's possible to see as much of Japan as I saw in ten days. On to Thailand! Oh yeah, that picture is of me in Japan, I'm drinking sake and thinking about life.