Tokyo Night Life

Hello again from Tokyo!

Last night, we decided to check out the night life in Tokyo. Setting
off for the train station, we were greeted by throngs of young
Japanese girls. Our best guess was that a boy band concert had just
ended at Tokyo Dome, and the streets were ridiculously packed with
teenage girls gushing over pictures of the band. Honestly, we almost
got trampled trying to get through the crowds.

We rode the train to Shibuya, a neighborhood known for its clubs. We
met up with one of Nick`s (our friend who lives here) friends named
Erin. It turns out she is also from Port Washington, but then again,
who isn`t really :) We all set off to a traditional Japanese bar.
Here you generally drink sake and order a bunch of small plates of
food, sort of like tapas. Ordering the food was a serious adventure.
The menu was written mostly in obscure Kanji, which are characters
that represent a whole word. Even with two Japanese speakers, we had
a difficult time decyphering the menu. Most menus we have seen are
written out phonetically using what is sort of like an alphabet.
Anyways, we got a chance to sample some wild food, including Tuna
Sashimi (slices of raw tuna with wasabi), Octopus Kimchee (korean
pickled cabbage with octopus), Yakitori (grilled chicken kebabs), Soba
(fried noodles), and finally Horse Sashimi (slices of raw horse flesh
with garlic). We had a couple bottles of sake and decided to hit the
club.

The club we went to was called Club Pure and cost around 25 dollars
for men and 15 for women, which includes all you can drink until 5 am.
Here, the trains stop running from 1 am to 5 am, so if you are out
after 1, you can`t get home until 5 anyways, so you just stay out.
There were about half foreigners inside, and we played pool and darts,
chatted up the patrons, and had a great time. Now I have one of the
worlds worst gin headaches as a result. around 4:30 we left for a
snack, and I ate a bunch of sushi while waiting for the train. We
made it home around 5:45 or 6 and slept in really late.

Today we might try to get over to chinatown, after recovering. We
will keep you posted on our adventures! :)

-Scott and Christie