Weekend with Mai

As I mentioned in the last post, Mai came from up north to visit for the weekend. We planned to go on a nice little boat trip to Asakusa to Odaiba (more on that later), but on the way we got distracted by Akihabara. Also known as "electric town," this is the geek district of Tokyo. There are loads of cool electronics shops filled with gadgets and digital wizardry the likes of which we in the west won't see for 10 years. This is the only place in Japan where geeks can truly let their lank, greasy hair down and relish their nerdiness without fear of mockery. Consequently, it's a bit scary. There were loads of anime freaks wandering around in full costume, people were making jokes about computer hardware without a hint of irony, and Mai (being female) was often stared at with a queer mixture of disdain and longing.

Here I am towering over two lovely ladies who wanted me to come to their "maid bar". There are millions of these places in Tokyo. They're just like a normal bar, but the waitresses wear those costumes and pretend to flirt with every single male customer.

This guy is a cartoon character on TV, apparently.

After Akihabara, we continued our journey to Asakusa. This is old-skool Tokyo, with lots of old temples and a big market. It's got a bit of a Chinatown feel. If there were a Japtown in Soho, it would be a bit like Asakusa I think.

All of the cruise boats displayed these rather profound signs all over the place. Certainly cheered me up!


This is the Asahi beer headquarters in Asakusa. The left hand building is obviously the world's biggest beer glass. My Tokyo guide book describes the right hand building as "another huge golden object." Well, there's no denying that.

Many, many people in Japan have entirely pointless and deathly boring jobs. A general rule is that the more pointless and boring the job, the more swanky the uniform. This guy, the "admiral in charge of standing on the deck of the cruise boat and holding a bit of rope" is a perfect example. Also, if you click on the image, you can note the terrifying possessed-ventriloquist's-doll look on his face.

As soon as we got to Odaiba, which is a big fancy commercial complex in the docklands area, we had to get on a train to see Mai's friend's band play. Unfortunately, we didn't realise the train journey would take over 90 mins, and we arrived in some random west Tokyo suburb just as they finished. Disappointed, we headed over to Shinjuku for dinner. In terms of places to go out at night, I'm a big fan of Shinjuku. It's like Shibuya without the inflated drinks prices and excessive gaijin population.

I have no comment to make on this picture.


On Sunday we got up late, had some lunch, and headed over to Yoyogi park. That's where I went last Sunday, and this was pretty much the same fare. On the way, we passed through Shibuya station, and I took this picture of what I believe is the infamous busiest zebra crossing in Tokyo (but maybe that's in Shinjuku, I'm not sure). Pretty crazy, eh?


And finally, isn't this the cutest escalator you've ever seen?


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A fun-filled weekend:
We traversed the whole city
And took in the sights.