Tokyo, Japan

I expected all sorts of wackiness and seediness with Tokyo, but it seems just like any other big city I have been too. Well, other then the large amount of Japanese. I spent yesteday wandering around just asorbing it all in. Highlights include octopus balls before taking a walk through a park, having a beer in the DJ dive bar under an overpass to take a little time to figure out where I was, and trying to understand the charm the slot and plinko parlors.

What I noticed about Tokyo is how fashion and money are tied to the everyday kid. Wandering around Harjuku all these teenagers with �15000 baseball caps and willowy dresses looking good and looking smart. Being a sucessful designer here has got to be lucrative. The artist community in Tokyo has to be an interesting scene and too bad I dont have the time and coonnections to expore it more on this stopover.

But even if I dont blow my entire budget on a Bathing Ape hoodie, this place is mad expensive. The Salarimen coming home passed out on the train at midnight is testament to how much this place costs. Or the rampant consumerism... I thought people hustled hard in Silicon Valley, the pace here is breathtaking. Still, my 2 days of tasting Japan makes me want to come back here again sometime and give myself some more time to breathe it in.