Day 49 - Apr 9 2010 - Old friends from NTTA and I meet for dinner
My iPhone, dinged and I thought it was my nephew, Maxwell, as he likes to see what's going on during my day and his night or vice versa. But it wasn't Max, it was Bryan McCleery. Bryan McCleery from Cleveland, Ohio. And his message read, I'm in Japan. Cool beans... Actually Mark Hathaway, Bryan and Mark's wife, Beth were in Japan. Mark and Beth were going to stay longer and do some much needed vacationing, Bryan and Mark flew in for a quick round of meetings and Bryan was headed back Sunday morning.
They were staying at the hotel I stayed at when I first arrived, near Shimbashi station, so I headed out to see them for a 7:30pm dinner/drinks. They know Tokyo way better than I, when it comes to places to eat and drink, as they have traveled here over a dozen times over the last 5 years, many of those trips lasting weeks at a time. They wanted to show off a great Korean BBQ place but we needed to wait 45 min - 1 hour, so I gave the hostess my phone number and we headed down the street to a Budweiser bar. This place is decorated in nothing but Budweiser banners and logos and the waitresses wear skintight beer girl dresses and the theme is all about Americana beer. The Japanese salary men love it. I found it a bit overpriced for American beer, but then again it was imported. A few older salarymen sat down beside us and struck up a conversation with the 4 Americans in the Americana bar. Come to find out, this guy I'm talking to, Sakai san, in his early 50s, used to work for our company, and used to office out of the same place I'm working but 4 floors above me. Considering we're 5km from there, and he no longer works there, it confirms the world is small, once again.
I got a phone call that our table was ready and we settled up the bill, 3 pitchers for $75 USD. It was great catching up with them over dinner. I felt like I had not seen them in years. Mark's wife was a trooper for letting us talk shop most of the night. We all left around 10pm for Mark and Beth had lots of sightseeing to do on Saturday. Bryan and I were just getting started. Bryan and I have worked together for 10 years and even though he's only a few years younger, he typically has always looked after me as though I'm his younger brother. So stop three was a Filipino conversation/karaoke bar. Well what does that mean? This is a bar underneath Shimbashi station that is an oldschool pub run and own by Filipino family that's been there for years and when you walk in they are all about service. They pour your drink, help you pick out your karaoke songs, converse in Japanese or English, basically cater to you as the customer. This concept of a bar is very popular with the Japanese businessman.
Bryan walks in and they all know him, he's been there over a dozen times and if you know Bryan you won't forget him. We each order a big beer and saddle up to the bar and heck, he even recognizes some of the old Japanese businessmen regulars. We each picked out a handful of songs while others in the bar sang. When it came time to sing, the microphone was passed to us, and we sang without even having to get up. There was only 20 people in the place, if that. 200 Yen per song to sing, about $2.20... He first sang a Ricky Nelson song as the older Japanese businessman he recognized likes Ricky Nelson. I chose an obscure song from Keane I could barely sing because my voice is too low and my voice isn't low by low standards. We followed that up with John Denver, Country boy which is a really fast song to sing, especially late in the night after many a beer. I chose a hard Queen song, Somebody to Love, and while difficult we made it through. Of course Bryan follows that up with Journey, Don't Stop Believin' and luckily it was a version that was keyed in a lower octave that we could somewhat approach and make it sound like the song. He claims he can sing that song without that adjustment, and I want to hear him do that one day, I call bs, but we'll see...
We cut out of there around 1am and, at that point, everyone started running for the last train out of Shimbashi. Really funny to see a bunch of people in nice suits scrambling to a train that late at night. It had the feeling like they all committed a prank, like they all TP'd the shimbashi oldschool train, late at night, and were now running away before authorities or parents woke up and realized this. Now Bryan's hotel is literally two blocks from where we were, and I need to make a choice, scramble myself up the stairs and make the last train or head over to the "Walk-In Bar" under the train tracks for some more beer and conversations. I wasn't in the mood to run and wasn't finished hanging out with Bryan. So this bar is a packed always crowded sliver of a thin place that I've actually been to before with other colleagues. We ordered up some Carlsberg (on tap) beer and stood outside on the front porch in the fresh cool air and drank and talked. Many Japanese people talked with us in their best English, which after beer or twelve is much easier than they realize.
I always know its late if I have a cigarette in my hand. I don't smoke. But I smoke cigars from time to time in Colorado, so smoking a cig barely feels like tobacco to me. My parents can't be around smoking. Growing up, I remember instances of them complaining to people smoking in the grocery store line. I always thought that was gutsy, but then again it's gutsy to smoke in a grocery store. I always think of my Nassar grandparents when I smell cigs, so I guess because it brings back memories, I don't mind it so much. Bryan smokes Kool, mentols, always has. One of my grandparents smoked Salem menthols. I know this because I loved to light them for them when I was a kid. I think I only had one and I was ambivalent about it.
Around 2am we called it a night and I believe I made Bryan believe I was catching a cab home. I knew I was only a few train stops from home and it really was a night of nights. Perfect 58F temp, dry, quiet, and what I was rushing home for? I love a good late night walk around a big city. And if there is one big city that's clean, quiet and comfortable to walk around in, it's Tokyo.
So I knew I could get home if I just followed the train tracks or kept them in sight. I had a 50% chance of starting off in the correct direction. I reasoned based on certain buildings relation to the train that I was in the right direction and I headed off. I figured I was in for a 35-45 minute walk based on distance. I guessed it was about 2-3km, it was actually 3.5km, which isn't that far and a 45 min walk after a night of drinking is sometimes a beautiful thing, a time to reflect, a time to let the alcohol spinning diffuse.
After about 15 min, I walk up on Yurakucho (your-rock cho) station and I couldn't remember if that was between Shimbashi and Tokyo station. But I figured it probably was, worse case I need about $20 for a taxi. So I keep on and realize now I'm headed in the right direction. Every now and again I see a Japanese salaryman sleeping on the stairs or on a bench, waiting to sober up. Other than that, the only people out at 2:30 am are the construction guys fixing the city, the occasional policeman on a bicycle or taxi drivers waiting for fares. I could almost sense the taxi drivers were circling me like Sharks hoping I'd hop in and they'd make a big fare. At one point near Tokyo station, I'm about to cross a street with no traffic, but it is Hibiya Dori, a really large avenue in central Tokyo and a guy with a lighted baton, is holding me up because construction is going on and I could be in danger. I just needed to cross the street, there was no cars around, but he made me wait for the light, out of harms way, and then I was allowed to proceed. This isn't necessary at noon on a Friday with big lunch crowd, let alone almost 3am with no one driving or anyone else around. It was surreal and it would have been great to have this on video, or at least a picture. I laughed all the way across the street. I was so excited to share this, I couldn't wait to type and tell you all about such a thing.
On my way home I thought about all the times in Colorado when Jen, Cameron and I would go out and we'd be a mile or two from home and Jen and I would take a cab home and Cameron would walk, no matter the weather, sometimes in blizzards. I remember Jen asking me about that the first time, I replied he always gets home and always comes home with a great story. It's an adventure, he'll be alright. I knew he'd be proud of me, Jen would have curled up next to one of the warm salarymen on the stairs of the train station, she gets tired and she is done.
So long story short, I got in just before 3am, but not before stopping at the AM/PM convenience store at the base of our residence. I knew I needed some breakfast for the morning and laying in bed and reaching clear cross the apartment for some juice, a waffle and some cold coffee would be way more enticing that having to go downstairs. It really was a perfect night and I had a thought to walk over to the tiny park a half block away and sleep on a bench and enjoy the night air. I am really trying to soak up as much springtime air before the summer heat sets in. But I didn't want to tempt fate, I just went upstairs, opened the window, turned off the heat and crashed knowing tomorrow would be full of more walking and exploring.
I forgot to change my battery in the camera so even though I had it with me, I had no power to take a pic. I think Bryan and Mark took some so if they share, I'll edit this post with a pic later.
I'll walk over to Akihabara tomorrow and get a secondary battery.
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