Day 4 Tokyo Japan - Japanese Hamburgers suck, Exploring Shibuya, Harajuku again, Pre-TGS industry party

*Late posting on Thursday morning.

Tuesday - I can continue to live after meeting infamous game developer Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

I spent the day exploring Shibuya, and trying to get to more of the stores I had listed on my iPhone. For breakfast/lunch we decided to try some familiar food after getting a craving for Hamburgers, so we checked out 'Freshness Burger'. The pictures in the window looked appealing enough, but soon we were disappointed. Japanese Hamburgers are tiny pieces of sh*t. Tasteless too. I'm sorry but a Hamburger should be loaded with a thick beef patty, and actually seasoned. Maybe I just had a bad experience at this fast food joint, but the hamburger was so bad, I seriously wanted my money back.

No wonder the young Japanese kids are so slim, when they smoke, walk everywhere, and eat tiny ass hamburgers... I think I'll still to Japanese food while I'm in Japan.

After the meal we went off to explore with no real planned agenda. Our adventures took us from Shibuya, to some place I can't remember, and then to Harajuku.

Lots of walking... we passed by some Love Hotels, saw some Google event, and passed by some cool looking stadiums.

Toy stores, Secret Base, and Plus 16 were kind of hard to find, but I'm so glad we did! Plus 16 had an incredible collection of pricey large scale figurines, while Secret Base had more traditional Japanese monster vinyl toys. I picked up a DIY toy, and shirt.

Also in the same building as Secret Base in Harajuku, was another cool designer of the brand 'Erostik'. I couldn't resist getting this shirt.

Later that night was the Pre-TGS industry party at Africa restaurant in Daikayama. It was raining like a bitch, and we showed up like wet dogs. The party featured many developers from Konami, and Sega, as well as game press people. The highlight of the night was the biggest fanboy experience of my life -- meeting and speaking with Tetsuya Mizuguchi. I introduced myself and told him about my appreciation for Rez, but I couldn't help but let my fanboy enthusiasm show. I'm sure he was used to hearing all the same praises over and over again from different people, but I didn't care, I was talking to Mr. Rez himself! Fucking fangasm nut busting, awesome. The downside of the party was that the drinks stopped flowing early, and I never really got my buzz on, which was kinda lame considering the price of getting in. On the plus side I got to meet a whole bunch of new contacts, and am planning a trip to check out one of Sega's studios in the coming days.. exciting!

Day 3 Tokyo Japan - Seedy Shinjuku, Placenta Drink, 8-Bit Cafe, 16Shots

*Delayed blog, posted on Tuesday night Japan time.

Monday - I had no idea what Shinjuku was all about until Keito mentioned that Shinjuku was the entertainment district (as if everything in Tokyo wasn't entertaining enough), specifically for the Salarymen, (and salarywomen), adults seeking company, and tourists looking to ahem, 'experience' what the locals are providing.

All I knew about Shinjuku was that the 8-Bit Cafe, and 16Shots Otaku spots, were somewhere in the area, as well as several Vinyl toy urban art shops I wanted to see.

I had written down the addresses on my iPhone, but we had no leads on where to start. So we stopped by a police mini-station outside of the Shinjuku east exit of the station to ask for directions.

Pointed in the right direction, we proceeded to make our way through the brightly lit streets of Shinjuku. Toys, and videogame themed bars, were the priority in Shinjuku. FewMany was on my list of places to hit up, so we headed on over after getting directions. This Toy store had a pretty varied selection of toys, that were more geared towards the cute stuff, Sanrio-esque toys, and not high-end anime figurines. We also needed directions to the 8-Bit Cafe, and 16 Shots, and other other toy stores too and thanks to the dude at FewMany, he helped us out and printed out some google maps for us.

Lots of walking called for some energy, so we stopped by a Pharmacy to get an energy drink I've been meaning to try. The Placenta drink... For all genders, not for the weak stomachs, this promises to give a healthy boost in energy with Pig Placenta. The Pharmasist (Salesmen) was very helpful in describing it's affects, which included better alertness, and overall better health. The small bottle retailed for 10bucks!

On a completely unrelated side note... We were kicked out of a sex shop. You see I have some friends back home who wanted me to bring them back some adult gifts, so I've been looking into possibly doing just that. In Shinjuku I had an opportunity to browse a store, which was owned by an elderly woman. She welcomed us in, and showed us some of the items, speaking no english. Luckily Keito was translating. The lady all of a sudden said that if we buy an item for a minimum of 3,00 Yen, she'd through in a special gift... we were curious. As we looked for a cheap item to buy, the lady suddenly became inpatient, and started pushing us towards the door all the while speaking gibberish Japanese, literally. We found ourselves on the doorstep, stunned by what just happened, we walked away trying to figure out what the fuck we did wrong. Wierd.

Sorry no pictures of the rest of the cafe. The best way to describe 8-Bit Cafe is that it feels like your dream bedroom growing up, packed with toys, and classic videogames. I have to go back here before I leave to buy a t-shirt.

We ordered up lots of drinks, and mixed in the Placenta drink, which alone tastes very salty, and kinda gross. I also did some sketching in sketchbook that guests typically doodle in during their visit, and played some NES and SNES games, like Mother 2, Mario Kart, Mario Paint, Street Fight II, Final Fight II, and more. I really wanted to test the knowledge of the people at 8-Bit Cafe, so I asked them if they had the Super Scope 6, since they seemed to have everything else, even the Virtual Boy... surprisingly he didn't know what the Super Scope 6 was... WTF? Another observation about this place is that many of the older games didn't work, or take a while to work. Blowing on cartridges is a must.

16Shots, friends of the folks at the 8-Bit Cafe is more like a bar, and not a bedroom. It's pretty tiny, and a bit of a walk from 8-Bit. There was an arcade machine that guests use as a table, and a TV setup with a mess of game consoles, and controller wires. I popped in Mario Kart. The 'button press' hit-counter was also being passed around, and we all tested our skills to see if we could compete with Takahashi Meijin - Master Higgins' 16Shots a second.

The biggest surprise at the 16Shots was the owner, and his excellent library of videogame music, at his finger tips. From Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, to REZ, and even Portal, I was fucking stunned. We were all happily surprised. No other bar, would ever play those songs back to back, that alone is reason to go to 16shots just to see how extensive his music collection is. Even a specific stage in Virtua Fighter 2 (Shun Di remix), the DJ knew and played. Awesome. Best DJ in Tokyo.

When I asked him what type of people come to 16Shots, he said mostly employees of game companies like SEGA, and KONAMI. I also asked him what the Japanese think of the XBOX 360, and he said that many are growing a liking to the XBLA, it's game distribution, and content, though of course, the PS3 remains most popular.

Also at 16Shots was an artist who has done work for Konami, and Bandai, check out his amazing stuff!

Sleepy, drunk, and tired, heading back to Shibuya was somewhat tough, when I kept falling in and out of sleep. Damn bright lights... solution... shades.

Day 2 Tokyo - Shibuya Sunday, Sneaks, UNIQLO Harajuku, Big Wheel Odaiba, Shabu Meguro.

Day 2, what the fuck am I going to do?

*Posted Monday Morning 8am.

Get ripped off for breakfast for one thing on a beautiful Sunday Morning in Shibuya. Well that, and get adapters for our 3-prong HP laptops from the electronic store so we could use our computers without losing power. We also got distracted by the arcade beside the store, so we played some games then headed back to the hotel.

After checking our email, and blogging, Marie and I were hungry so we went to a cafe by the Scramble Crossing, right around the corner from our Hotel called Scramble Bar and Cafe. The night before it was packed with the night crowd, with many foreigners getting drunk, so we decided to check it out for breakfast. Bad idea. I mean it was nicely presented, and the waitress was very nice, but it really wasn't worth the 15bucks. All this time, I've been comparing Tokyo's prices to that of Vancouver, or other cosmopolitan cities, but Eggs and sausage for 15bucks, is a joke. It's worth under 10bucks usually. Eating is one thing, but I'd rather spend the money on toys, games, and other stuff. Though I must say eating breakfast by the busiest area in Shibuya was totally on the plus side.

After eating I some how got a stomach ache, so I headed straight for the hotel to relieve myself, while Marie, and Keito went off to shop around Shibuya. Yes, I had to do #2, and I've finally over come my fear of the high-tech Japanese toilet. That thing is awesome!

Finished doing my business, I headed to the infamous Starbucks on the shibuya scramble for some Ocha. Being it's connected to a massive book store, I checked out some of the latest in Japanese Horror and anime DVD's, magazines, and bought 2 art/illustration magazines for a friend (They're so cool I think I might keep them to myself). I'll come back for Famistu another day.

I then met up with Keito and Marie, and headed over to a sweet Sneaker shop called 'Asbee'. Tempted by the selection, and the apparent sale going on, I bought a pair of MAD sneaks, and was thinking of getting a Nike pair aswell. I think I'll come back for those. Shoe sale prices were much cheaper than any sneaker store found in vancouver, it was definitely a welcome sight.

We then took a walk to Harajuku 5 or 10 minutes or so from Shibuya. It was great to get away from Shibuya, but Harajuku ended up being just as busy, if not more so. On a Sunday morning, people were all over the place shopping for all sorts of clothes, from used vintage stuff, to high end. I told myself I had to go to UNIQLO to see what all the fuss was about, since they don't have this store in Canada. All I gotta say is, AWESOME.

Harajuku Scramble, with no Harajuku girls in sight... I was hoping to see some, but I guess with all the construction going on on the streets, they all fled for shelter? I'll have to come back to this area again.

UNIQLO has many low priced stuff, but their main shtick is that they collaborate with famous artists to deliver unique T-shirts sold in capsules. The gimmick works. LOL. I picked up 6 or so Manga themed shirts, and a slick rain jacket for a total of little over 100bucks for everything. I could have easily spent much much more.

We headed back to the hotel in Shibuya after grabbing a quick drink at a cafe, so that we could make it in time for our road trip to Odaiba with Keito's family! Oh, and I'm getting sick of the fact that everyone's allowed to smoke in doors at cafes and stuff. Cough!

Daiba, is famous for the Giant Wheel, which looks amazing at night. Toyota also had a car show at the centre featuring the latest in Hybrids, as well as a race track around the mall and wheel. There was also a free concert. The view from the top of the wheel was fucking awesome! I could go on, but i'll let the pictures do the talking.

After this, we drove to Meguro for one of the best Shabu places in town. So good! Keito's family treated us, to full course Shabu experience, surprisingly with sushi too... Vancouver sux.

Around this time it was pretty late, so we drove back to shibuya to crash. Awesome day.