Park Hyatt Hotel
This will look much nicer when I add pictures (gimme a day or so).

Listen: I have stayed at Ultra Luxury 7-Star hotels around the world, and I have never in all my days found anything even remotely close to the elegance, comfort, and service offered to me (& my sick companion) by the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. From showers that would make Moen scrap their faucets and rewire their factories, to toilets that did all but compliment you, to the 40 or 50-something inch widescreen plasma TV, to the same sweeping views of Tokyo from Lost in Translation - this room had it all. Every cabinet opened up some kind of heaven: stocked fridge, fax machine, DVD player with complimentary DVD selection - just call the concierge! Lighting adjustable to every mood except a bad mood, and a gigantic bathtub facing yet another flat screen TV. Oh, and 4 - yup, FOUR - phones. Never had to get up. Room service was the best - we only got breakfast. Had to save a little dough for the presents (yes yes, you all got something. At least I hope...)

The hotel itself is beautiful, and I visited most of the restaurants and bars that night while Josh slumbered in his white downy dream of a bed (complete with hypoallergenic all-natural comforter!!!) Of course they named a couple of drinks after the movie, and I tried them both: a blue concoction called "LIT" (the movie title), and a rose-colored syrupy sweet one named "Sofia" after the director. I think they put something in the drinks here because I had only those plus two glasses of water and a diet coke with some pasta, and I still felt a bit sleepy though it was yet early. Therefore I headed back to bed and climbed into my own personal cloud for a much needed rest. We woke up and watched American TV (thank you FOX for all our favorite shows!) at 5 in the morning till about 10, and we checked out at noon.

I know it's not that exciting-sounding, but Josh was still pretty ill and I was exhausted from travelling and carrying a lot of weight and helping him around - plus I think I'm catching a cold - so I think we did OK for this trip. The pictures should add some pizazz to this journal, and I'll do that as soon as I can. Gotta sleep for now; there's a plane with my name on it leaving tomorrow.

O yasu minasai, and sayonara for now.

- posted by Unknown @ 7:31 PM |

 
My first few days in Japan
Welp, I got here in one piece, but found Josh in several pieces. He's pretty much been sick ever since, so Smith and I went out adventuring on our own Friday and Saturday. First, we went to Asakusa and started off with a bowl of tempura in a style they call "tandon," which is fried fish (or vegetables) over a bed of sticky rice; that doesn't even begin to describe how delicious the dish is.

After lunch, we took in a bit of the city. (Click on the photos on the right to see them all. I'll have more up in a few days - buzznet isn't working at the moment.) It's a little neat to see new buildings mixed with slightly older ones mixed with old world architecture. Shinto shrines, big and small, can often be found right next to each other, and in Asakusa's case, they can both be next to an Istanbul/Arabic motif theme park.

On Saturday, Smith took me to Shibuya, a very trendy, BUSY part of Tokyo. We went to the world's largest Tower Records (I heard)to meet a friend of his named Devon; I bought a Pillows CD for my cousin back home. After that we went to an elctronics/music store the size of a janitor's closet but brimming with DJ, recording & mixing, and software equipment, along with a variety of top-of-the line keyboards and Line 6 guitar amp modulators and effects pedals. Had to slap my hands a few times to keep from buying stuff since I still had a few days to go!

Matt, another friend of Smith's, popped into town and we three went to an Irish (?) pub for a pint and some chips. Matt's Australian, and he's as fun-loving an Aussie as they come (Aw, yeah! Good on ya, mate! I also called Gary down to Shibuya and he met us up for a while. We had dinner at a place called the Elephant Club, which had an Indian setting but no Indian food. (They took an image elephant god "Garnpatidi Dada" and splayed it in every nook and cranny of the place.) Some poor Japanese girl had a few too many I guess and fell down right in front of us; back home people would have giggled and someone would have just helped her up, but here she was "shamed" by her friends and carried off to the restroom. Quirkyness.

Sunday we just stayed at John's and ordered in a pizza - we wanted to know what the difference in taste would be. It tasted just like thin crust pizza, but there was enough grease on an 8 inch pie (that's a medium size here!) to turn an entire newspaper into paper mache. I got some painting done, and we called it an early night. Josh is still not well, so we had to get up today to take him to the international clinic in Rappongi. John's girlfriend, Ally, is nice enough to take us down there; she knows the area pretty well.

Tonight I'm hoping to get a room at the Tokyo Park Hyatt - the hotel from "Lost in Translation" - and get lost in the city for a bit. People here are generally polite and helpful if not pressed for time, and finding my way around should be fun. We shall see. For now, we're heading to the clinic; hopefully, the doctor can fix him up right as rain and he can enjoy what's left of his trip. Mine's almost over, so it's a shame we couldn't do more stuff together, but I just want him to get better now, poor guy.

I'll let you know more when I get a chance. Bye for now...
- posted by Unknown @ 10:18 PM |