First Night on the Town

I arrived at Tokyo orientation along with 850 kids from around the world - US, UK, Canada, Aussies, Kiwis (New Zealanders), Jamaicans, Germans, French, Trinidad folks, and many more. I really only knew one other person, a buddy of mine named Mark:

Room assignments were random, and Mark and I got assigned to the same room (1 in 850 chance...). We were super excited, actually. Neither of us were shamed with turning our suitcases upside down, making a mess of the place, and turning our hotel room into a uniquely American joint by leaving our boxers sittin around. I even hung an American flag I brought on the wall, just to make sure.

After takin a much needed shower after a long flight, we hit up the town. Immediately I found a sign that reminded me just why I love Japan so much...

1,500 Yen ($15) All you can drink beer and liquor (Nomi-hodai). As fun as it sounded, we were quite exhausted and passed up the opportunity. Better to not get wasted before our first days of orientation, anyhow. Plenty a nomi-hodai left throughout our stay, thats for sure.

A few hundred feet later, I stumbled upon one of the things I missed most about Japan: Real ramen noodles. I forgot how quick and easy it was to get the most delicious soup in the world (not to be confused with American Ramen...it would be like comparing Spam to a real bacon..)

The characters read ra - me n.

We decided to go to the noodles shop next door. What happened? I ordered hot noodles (with spice and beef). But...no broth came in it? I payed for my meal, and looked around wondering whether or not I was missin the memo or somethin. Other people had broth.... and then I saw a spout near the water fountain. I ended up filling my bowl with green tea. Ever tried Spicy Beef Green Tea Udon Noodles? I imagine not many people have, but perhaps a few foreigners. Anyways, I thought it was quite delicious. I added some deep fried pumpkin, as well as eggplant on top. Whole meal cost about 6 bucks. Mmmm

To finish the night off, we walked around Shinjuku station, and from what I hear its one of the most heavily used train stations in all of Tokyo (and the world?). At night, its mainly the younger crowd. Perfect place to just chill. This was late Sunday night... on a Friday or Saturday night, there's hundred of kids kickin' it.

For the music lovers, there's entertainment everywhere...

Around the station Mark and I were the only foreigners. Ironically, a Japanese guy came up to us and asked us for directions. Mark and I looked at each other like "shouldnt WE be the ones asking for directions? You're Japanese, and this is our first day in Japan". We ended up giving him directions, and 50 meters later we realized we sent him in the opposite direction. *chuckle* What else would you expect from a gaijin?

Absolutely exhausted and jetlagged, we crashed immediately. Even if we had the energy, we still probably wouldn't have cleaned up our room...