Monday, March 15, 2010
Inaugural Asian Tour Pt.1
I have had a fascination with the Orient, particularly with Japan, since I was a child, but the distance and cost of getting there had always been a major roadblock in my plans. Added to that, were the stories of how expensive it is, not to mention finding someone with my same interests to travel with, so it is easy to see why it took fifty years to come to fruition.
Being a lover of Formula One racing since the early sixties, my friend Steven Whittle and I had been going to every race at The Indianapolis Speedway since they had brought racing back to the USA in 1999. After our successful mileage trip to Australia in 2002 to watch the World Cup, to which, Steve had flown via Japan, we decided it would be a great idea to go to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. At the time I was writing the Formula One column for a small sports orientated local newspaper, which I co-owned, called Home & Away, so I could write the trip off as a business expense.
Each year our group to Indianapolis got larger and by 2004 we were up to about ten guys, one of the newest members to our troupe, was a young Irishman, Dave Murray, who had only been in New York for a few years and not travelled much. When he heard of our plans, he asked if he could tag along, why not. We explained that we were doing this on our frequent flyer mileage and he said he had enough Delta miles to go in coach, I was using Delta miles for business class and Steve was using American Airlines miles for first class.
I volunteered to take care of the tickets and hotels once everyone confirmed they had secured flights, but when I looked at the race schedule for 2005, I discovered an anomaly in the calendar, usually races are staged 2 weeks apart to allow for travel, but the Chinese race was scheduled for the following Sunday. We could go to both on the same tickets; we would just use Tokyo as a stop-over to Shanghai. I proposed this to the guys and Dave was delighted but Steve could not get the extra time off work.
Tuesday Oct.4th 2005 dawned and it was a beautiful day, temperature in the sixties with nary a cloud in the sky, a great day to fly. I met up with Dave at La Guardia (LGA) airport to embark on the first leg of our trip, to Tokyo (Narita airport), Japan via Detroit.
Dave’s coach ticket and had originally been scheduled to fly direct from JFK to Narita but due to high fuel costs and low seat demand Northwest Airlines (Delta’s partner) had cancelled the flight just a few weeks prior to our departure and he been rebooked on my schedule. I was in Northwest Airlines First/Business and had always been scheduled to travel from LaGuardia via Detroit, for some reason they never gave me the choice of the direct flight.
As per usual for LGA the flight was delayed taking off and it would be touch and go if we would make the connection in Detroit. There were several passengers on board who had originally been scheduled for the direct flight out of JFK and we all made the staff aware of our plight. The Captain had originally informed us that we would be arriving at gate 28 and that the Narita flight was leaving from gate 70, a long hike. As we taxied along the terminal I spied gate 68 open and holy cow he pulled into it, the Captain had informed the tower of the large number of passengers connecting to the Japan flight, hence the new gate. Being in row A, I was first off the plane and ran to the next gate to inform them there were a lot of passengers making the connection. I waited to make sure Dave made it as he had been seated all the way in the back. He made it and with enough time for me to grab a quick glass of champers while he was questioned by Homeland Security, they somehow thought he was taking large sums of money out of the country!!
My seat-mate during the flight worked for XM radio and was being sent to Seoul, Korea, to investigate the possibilities of opening a station there. This was an incredible chalk and cheese situation, I would love if someone paid my freight, especially in First/Business class to go explore The Orient, whereas it was a massive inconvenience for him, he would not like the food, was not sure if he would be able to find a McDonalds and he was missing several important college football games. Needless to say he only ordered American cuisine on the flight, whereas I ordered everything I could not pronounce.
Upon our arrival in Narita, it was now Wednesday approx 5:30pm local time (4:30am NY), Steve was waiting outside customs, he had arrived an hour before us and promised to locate an ATM machine and the train to Tokyo, obviously he had been very bored for an hour as the Citibank ATM was approximately thirty feet away and the train was at the bottom of the escalator next to the ATM, we got some yen and caught the next Narita Express to Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo, which has a reputation as a red light district, is a warren of small streets and alleys with no names, but I had an idea where our hotel was, so long as we came out the northeast corner of the station. This said naturally we got on at the rear of the train and ended up at the southwest corner of the station. I should point out here that Shinjuku railway station is one of the largest and busiest in the world, not just Japan, handling over 2 million people a day.
Exiting Shinjuku station is a complete assault on all of your senses, your eyes try to comprehend all the huge video screens and endless rows of multi coloured neon lights, your ears are deafened by the cacophony of music coming from every direction, the enormous crowds stampede you and the smells are intoxicating, WOW Tokyo.
Although quite disorientated we eventually found the right end of the station and preceded in the direction of the hotel, which was supposed to be a 5 minutes walk, but we found it in 10 and only had to cut through a small section of the red light district. Thankfully The Vintage Hotel was set a few blocks away from all the chaos, across the street from a hospital and a baseball batting cage, a strange combination. The Vintage had the smallest rooms I have ever been in, they make Manhattan studio apartments look like mansions, but what do you expect for $75 a night in Tokyo. What really caught my eye was in the bathroom, there were all sorts of buttons and dials on the side of the toilet, this I had to try, when you sat down it flushed and when you are finished, it washes you with a stream of warm water and of course there is the option of front or back! No wonder they think western hygiene habits are barbaric.
It was now around 9pm and we quickly threw our bags in and headed out for a well deserved beer. Within a few minutes we came across a small Irish pub, The Angel, in the basement of a trendy boutique shopping plaza, gasping for repast we entered an sure enough it was a little bit of Ireland in Japan, people playing darts and watching football (soccer) on the television, they even had Guinness on draught, but we opted for the local brew and ordered 3 Asahi draughts.
After a few beers we set out to see what the neighborhood was like. We were right on the edge of the Red light district and there was neon everywhere, lots of massage parlours, clubs of every persuasion, shot bars (liquor only) and sake bars, but not much in the way of regular pubs. We eventually opted for another Irish pub, Dubliners, a theme chain which was terrible, one drink and we were out the door.
After wandering around for a little while longer and being badgered by African guys trying to persuade us to go into their clubs, we came across a Scottish bar called, Hazelburn, and so in we went. It was very dark and there were no westerners, which was a plus. Nobody spoke any English, but they made us very welcome at the bar and we ordered 3 Speckled Hens (English beer), they had no local beer. Upon looking at the menu we found everything was western, but what really caught our eye was the Haggis Brushetta! Well curiosity and hunger deemed we order some, with a couple of portions of fish n’ chips, it was all very good.
Being a Scottish bar they naturally had a great assortment of Scotch whiskies and it was brilliant to watch the bartender take about 10 minutes to mix a scotch and water. The whiskey was placed in the bottom of a large but narrow based glass, a large orb of ice was then placed above it but not actually touching the whiskey and the water was drizzled very slowly over the ice while it was constantly stirred. The whiskey never touches the ice until you take a sip, incredible attention to detail for such a basic drink.
We sampled a few single malts and the prices were very reasonable, I had heard that single malts cost a fortune in Japan but these were cheaper than New York and a few even cheaper than Edinburgh. It was now around midnight and I was feeling exhausted, so I left the boys there and headed back to the hotel fighting my way through the African pimps.
Wednesday morning I was up bright and early and decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood, it was incredibly, there were 10 McDonalds within a 6 block radius and about half a dozen Starbucks. I thought about my seat-mate from the flight and hoped he had found such a bounty in Seoul.
The lads arose at nine and we went to the station to activate our Japan Rail passes and book seats from Nagoya to the track in Suzuka. Unfortunately there were only a few remaining and we had to settle for the 7:16am which would make for a very long day at the track. The office to activate the passes did not open until 11am so we took a ride to Shibuya in search of an ex-pat bar that advertised they show English football. We could not find it so returned to Shinjuku station and got our rail passes. We had a listing for another footy bar one subway stop away at the other end of Shinjuku so we went looking for that and actually found it, but they did not open until 5pm. This was a very local area devoid of tourists so we decided to find someplace for lunch. We found a small place which had the New York Yankees vs California Angels, American League baseball play-off game on TV, but it was packed, so we settled for a little place around the corner. Three sushi lunch specials and two large beers was only 2400 yen which is about $23, who said Tokyo is expensive.
For the afternoon we decided to explore the JR over ground train system and see how to get to Tokyo station as we had early reservations on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya. on Saturday morning. From the station it was a twenty minute walk to the Imperial Palace, but upon arrival we found it was closed, but the grounds open, we walked around for a while but totally missed the Japanese Gardens.
From the palace it was another twenty minute walk south to the Ginza area and a visit to Bic camera store, supposedly the largest in the world. They had some amazing stuff but I think J&R in New York, actually beat their prices. It was now well past beer time so we headed back to the footy pub which was open.
The place was owned by an Aussie from Melbourne and was an electrical firetrap, literally hundreds of wires all over the place plugged into extension cords. Anyway he had Asahi on draft and gave us directions to the other footy pub, Footniks, as the place was empty we stayed for a few.
Now the reason we were so emphatic about finding a footy bar was the following Wednesday night England were playing Poland in their final World Cup qualifier and it could be a crucial game depending on the result against Austria on Saturday.
On Saturday we were scheduled to be in Nagoya, I had found a pub through the internet and already e-mailed the manager, Tommo, to confirm the England vs Austria game was being shown, although now with a 7am train to the track we might have to forgo the match, which kicks off at 12:45am local time.
After a rest and shower we decided to go find Footniks which was actually in Ebisu one stop further than Shibuya. We had rough directions, out of the station 2 blocks and make a right except of course we came out the wrong station exit, again, anyway after wandering around without any luck for 20 minutes we decided upon a hip looking Japanese restaurant to eat. A selection of appetizers, 3 excellent main courses and 2 bottles of good sake a grand total of 8950 Yen which is about $78, fantastic.
After dinner we went in search of and found Footnik, it was actually a Liverpool supporters pub, but after chatting with the manager he assured us the England vs Poland game would be shown, on the 12th @ 3:45am.
By now it was getting rather late and we realized that the last train back to Shinjuku would be leaving soon so we hightailed it to the station and just made it. These are the trains you have seen on the television and in movies, with people getting packed in, I almost could not breath.
Anyway we made it back and went looking for the Scottish bar, Hazelburn, for a nightcap but none of us could remember exactly where it was and now the African boys were really setting their sights on us, which really annoyed me. Two of them were having a go at Steve & Dave when I spotted a sign for a rock n roll basement bar called “Mothers”, I signaled the lads to follow me and down the stairs we went, incredible! Heavy metal being played at full volume and only about 4 people sitting at the 8 stools with a salary man at the end of the bar with his date shouting “s*ck my c*ck” in time with the music.
After a couple of beers I was feeling knackered but Steve and Dave were loving the place, so I left them there. It is now one of Steve’s all-time world favorite bars.
We had agreed to meet up at 9am to take a trip to the mountain region of Hakone but Steve was looking a little worse for wear and cried off, (he had closed Mother’s at 4:30am.). So Dave and I headed off into the unknown.
Trying to enter Shinjuku station against the out pouring hoards during rush hour is a daunting task but we managed to battle our way in and grab some breakfast sandwiches and coffee before the 10am train to Odawara. The first class cars on these regional trains are excellent, it was a double decker with panoramic windows and reclining seats.
Upon our arrival in Odawara we could see it was very misty up in the mountains and we would probably not see Mount Fuji so we just bought a couple of bus passes and jumped on, not knowing where we were going, hey we were on an adventure. We sat in the back row to get the best possible views and an elderly couple who had been sitting across from us on the train sat down next to us again. The woman was eager to start a conversation as she was taking English lessons; she asked where we were from and why we were in Japan. She was fascinated when I told her we lived in Manhattan and asked if I had been to Greenwich Village. When I told her I lived there she was in awe, she had heard of all the jazz clubs, the Blue Note, the Vangaurd etc. They were going to visit their son who was a hotel manager up in the mountains and attend their grand children’s kindergarten sports day.
The bus trip took an hour up through spectacular scenery ending at Lake Ashi which has 2 replica junks for tours which we declined, as it was rather misty, likewise with the Ariel tramway from which you can glimpse Mt.Fuji.
Back in Odawara we decided to take the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) back to Tokyo as the local from Shinjuku had taken 90 minutes and this would only take 25 plus it was our chance to get one up on Steve. The first class seats on the Shinkansen are like airline first class and defiantly well worth the extra few bucks, kudo’s to Steve on this one. From Tokyo station we decided to take the JR Chuo line back to Shinjuku and it was much quicker than either the subway or the Narita Express.
Back at the hotel we met up with Steve who had spent a leisurely afternoon at the Meiji shrine in Yoyogi Park and even had a prayer said for somebody to please beat Chelsea!
At this point we had no set plans for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next week following the race but now decided we all definitely wanted to return to Tokyo for our last night, so we inquired about an extra night only to find the hotel was fully booked, but they did recommend The Kent, which was half way to the station, we got 3 rooms for $80 a piece. A beer was now definitely in order and there was a Hub around the corner. These are a chain of English style pubs but without the ex-pats. Happy hour was in progress and the clientele seemed to consist mostly of shop girls, very easy on the eyes. When happy hour ended a lot of them drifted off and the remaining ones were joined by their boyfriends so it was time to start thinking about dinner.
We took a train one express stop up to Ikebukuro, It was a bit of a damp drizzly evening and after wandering around for a bit we found a small Irish bar in a cellar that had a band advertised out front. The band did not look like much so after a couple of beers we went in search of food. We spotted this place a few minutes away that looked interesting so in we went. In side the door there was a menu with pictures of the food and a machine that you ordered from, you punched in the numbers, it gave you a total, you paid and it spat out some tickets which you gave to a waitress. Japan’s answer to fast food, except it was really good. Dinner including a beer was about 1200 Yen, approx $11, yeah Japan is really expensive!
We walked back to our hotel down some very dark allies but we never felt threatened, there were lots of little restaurants and bars with just a few seats in each and fantastic odors wafting out the doors. At the hotel we decided to have a nightcap at a little local place rather than run the gauntlet of the African lads. A couple of salary men at the bar got a great kick out of me trying to order sake and the barmaid was beside herself in laughter, One of the men spoke a little English and explained it was not a sake bar, I knew that but it didn’t hurt to ask, oh well it gave them a chuckle.
Saturday morning and we check out of the hotel at 8am in order to catch the 9:05am Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Nagoya. The plan was to get to Nagoya at 11:05 pop the bags into a locker and catch the 11:30 train to the track for qualifying. Well you know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men, correct; we could not find any empty lockers! So we were forced to abandon qualifying and go looking for our hotel, another little adventure. This time when we exited the subway I had no clue which way it was even though I had a crude map which Japan Travel had faxed me. Dave took matters in hand and marched into a nearby 711 with the map and came back with directions, it was about 7 blocks away, sorted.
Before I left New York I had inquired on various websites looking for football bars and in Nagoya I had found Shooters, whom I had contacted and received a reply from the manager Tommo with directions from our hotel.
Upon our arrival at Shooters the place was packed as several World Cup qualifiers were already on the telly so we squeezed into a corner and ordered some beers. I inquired of the Aussie at the door where Tommo was and told him who I was, well a couple of minutes later a round of shooters (Kamikaze’s in Japan!) arrived and then mysteriously a great table with views of all the screens was offered to us. Naturally we had to accept and then Tommo made his appearance and thanked me profusely for coming all the way from New York. Now we were stuck, I should never have said a word. We would at least have to stay and eat something and all they had was traditional English/Australian pub fare, yuck! I had an auzzie meat pie and if I remember right Steve and Dave had fish n chips but there was no way we were staying for the England game at midnight with a 6am alarm for a seven o’clock train. I made my apologies to Tommo and we walked back to the hotel hoping to see at least another bar on the way for a nightcap but no such luck, a couple of beers from the 711 and an early night.
Being a lover of Formula One racing since the early sixties, my friend Steven Whittle and I had been going to every race at The Indianapolis Speedway since they had brought racing back to the USA in 1999. After our successful mileage trip to Australia in 2002 to watch the World Cup, to which, Steve had flown via Japan, we decided it would be a great idea to go to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. At the time I was writing the Formula One column for a small sports orientated local newspaper, which I co-owned, called Home & Away, so I could write the trip off as a business expense.
Each year our group to Indianapolis got larger and by 2004 we were up to about ten guys, one of the newest members to our troupe, was a young Irishman, Dave Murray, who had only been in New York for a few years and not travelled much. When he heard of our plans, he asked if he could tag along, why not. We explained that we were doing this on our frequent flyer mileage and he said he had enough Delta miles to go in coach, I was using Delta miles for business class and Steve was using American Airlines miles for first class.
I volunteered to take care of the tickets and hotels once everyone confirmed they had secured flights, but when I looked at the race schedule for 2005, I discovered an anomaly in the calendar, usually races are staged 2 weeks apart to allow for travel, but the Chinese race was scheduled for the following Sunday. We could go to both on the same tickets; we would just use Tokyo as a stop-over to Shanghai. I proposed this to the guys and Dave was delighted but Steve could not get the extra time off work.
Tuesday Oct.4th 2005 dawned and it was a beautiful day, temperature in the sixties with nary a cloud in the sky, a great day to fly. I met up with Dave at La Guardia (LGA) airport to embark on the first leg of our trip, to Tokyo (Narita airport), Japan via Detroit.
Dave’s coach ticket and had originally been scheduled to fly direct from JFK to Narita but due to high fuel costs and low seat demand Northwest Airlines (Delta’s partner) had cancelled the flight just a few weeks prior to our departure and he been rebooked on my schedule. I was in Northwest Airlines First/Business and had always been scheduled to travel from LaGuardia via Detroit, for some reason they never gave me the choice of the direct flight.
As per usual for LGA the flight was delayed taking off and it would be touch and go if we would make the connection in Detroit. There were several passengers on board who had originally been scheduled for the direct flight out of JFK and we all made the staff aware of our plight. The Captain had originally informed us that we would be arriving at gate 28 and that the Narita flight was leaving from gate 70, a long hike. As we taxied along the terminal I spied gate 68 open and holy cow he pulled into it, the Captain had informed the tower of the large number of passengers connecting to the Japan flight, hence the new gate. Being in row A, I was first off the plane and ran to the next gate to inform them there were a lot of passengers making the connection. I waited to make sure Dave made it as he had been seated all the way in the back. He made it and with enough time for me to grab a quick glass of champers while he was questioned by Homeland Security, they somehow thought he was taking large sums of money out of the country!!
My seat-mate during the flight worked for XM radio and was being sent to Seoul, Korea, to investigate the possibilities of opening a station there. This was an incredible chalk and cheese situation, I would love if someone paid my freight, especially in First/Business class to go explore The Orient, whereas it was a massive inconvenience for him, he would not like the food, was not sure if he would be able to find a McDonalds and he was missing several important college football games. Needless to say he only ordered American cuisine on the flight, whereas I ordered everything I could not pronounce.
Upon our arrival in Narita, it was now Wednesday approx 5:30pm local time (4:30am NY), Steve was waiting outside customs, he had arrived an hour before us and promised to locate an ATM machine and the train to Tokyo, obviously he had been very bored for an hour as the Citibank ATM was approximately thirty feet away and the train was at the bottom of the escalator next to the ATM, we got some yen and caught the next Narita Express to Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo, which has a reputation as a red light district, is a warren of small streets and alleys with no names, but I had an idea where our hotel was, so long as we came out the northeast corner of the station. This said naturally we got on at the rear of the train and ended up at the southwest corner of the station. I should point out here that Shinjuku railway station is one of the largest and busiest in the world, not just Japan, handling over 2 million people a day.
Exiting Shinjuku station is a complete assault on all of your senses, your eyes try to comprehend all the huge video screens and endless rows of multi coloured neon lights, your ears are deafened by the cacophony of music coming from every direction, the enormous crowds stampede you and the smells are intoxicating, WOW Tokyo.
Although quite disorientated we eventually found the right end of the station and preceded in the direction of the hotel, which was supposed to be a 5 minutes walk, but we found it in 10 and only had to cut through a small section of the red light district. Thankfully The Vintage Hotel was set a few blocks away from all the chaos, across the street from a hospital and a baseball batting cage, a strange combination. The Vintage had the smallest rooms I have ever been in, they make Manhattan studio apartments look like mansions, but what do you expect for $75 a night in Tokyo. What really caught my eye was in the bathroom, there were all sorts of buttons and dials on the side of the toilet, this I had to try, when you sat down it flushed and when you are finished, it washes you with a stream of warm water and of course there is the option of front or back! No wonder they think western hygiene habits are barbaric.
It was now around 9pm and we quickly threw our bags in and headed out for a well deserved beer. Within a few minutes we came across a small Irish pub, The Angel, in the basement of a trendy boutique shopping plaza, gasping for repast we entered an sure enough it was a little bit of Ireland in Japan, people playing darts and watching football (soccer) on the television, they even had Guinness on draught, but we opted for the local brew and ordered 3 Asahi draughts.
After a few beers we set out to see what the neighborhood was like. We were right on the edge of the Red light district and there was neon everywhere, lots of massage parlours, clubs of every persuasion, shot bars (liquor only) and sake bars, but not much in the way of regular pubs. We eventually opted for another Irish pub, Dubliners, a theme chain which was terrible, one drink and we were out the door.
After wandering around for a little while longer and being badgered by African guys trying to persuade us to go into their clubs, we came across a Scottish bar called, Hazelburn, and so in we went. It was very dark and there were no westerners, which was a plus. Nobody spoke any English, but they made us very welcome at the bar and we ordered 3 Speckled Hens (English beer), they had no local beer. Upon looking at the menu we found everything was western, but what really caught our eye was the Haggis Brushetta! Well curiosity and hunger deemed we order some, with a couple of portions of fish n’ chips, it was all very good.
Being a Scottish bar they naturally had a great assortment of Scotch whiskies and it was brilliant to watch the bartender take about 10 minutes to mix a scotch and water. The whiskey was placed in the bottom of a large but narrow based glass, a large orb of ice was then placed above it but not actually touching the whiskey and the water was drizzled very slowly over the ice while it was constantly stirred. The whiskey never touches the ice until you take a sip, incredible attention to detail for such a basic drink.
We sampled a few single malts and the prices were very reasonable, I had heard that single malts cost a fortune in Japan but these were cheaper than New York and a few even cheaper than Edinburgh. It was now around midnight and I was feeling exhausted, so I left the boys there and headed back to the hotel fighting my way through the African pimps.
Wednesday morning I was up bright and early and decided to take a walk around the neighbourhood, it was incredibly, there were 10 McDonalds within a 6 block radius and about half a dozen Starbucks. I thought about my seat-mate from the flight and hoped he had found such a bounty in Seoul.
The lads arose at nine and we went to the station to activate our Japan Rail passes and book seats from Nagoya to the track in Suzuka. Unfortunately there were only a few remaining and we had to settle for the 7:16am which would make for a very long day at the track. The office to activate the passes did not open until 11am so we took a ride to Shibuya in search of an ex-pat bar that advertised they show English football. We could not find it so returned to Shinjuku station and got our rail passes. We had a listing for another footy bar one subway stop away at the other end of Shinjuku so we went looking for that and actually found it, but they did not open until 5pm. This was a very local area devoid of tourists so we decided to find someplace for lunch. We found a small place which had the New York Yankees vs California Angels, American League baseball play-off game on TV, but it was packed, so we settled for a little place around the corner. Three sushi lunch specials and two large beers was only 2400 yen which is about $23, who said Tokyo is expensive.
For the afternoon we decided to explore the JR over ground train system and see how to get to Tokyo station as we had early reservations on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya. on Saturday morning. From the station it was a twenty minute walk to the Imperial Palace, but upon arrival we found it was closed, but the grounds open, we walked around for a while but totally missed the Japanese Gardens.
From the palace it was another twenty minute walk south to the Ginza area and a visit to Bic camera store, supposedly the largest in the world. They had some amazing stuff but I think J&R in New York, actually beat their prices. It was now well past beer time so we headed back to the footy pub which was open.
The place was owned by an Aussie from Melbourne and was an electrical firetrap, literally hundreds of wires all over the place plugged into extension cords. Anyway he had Asahi on draft and gave us directions to the other footy pub, Footniks, as the place was empty we stayed for a few.
Now the reason we were so emphatic about finding a footy bar was the following Wednesday night England were playing Poland in their final World Cup qualifier and it could be a crucial game depending on the result against Austria on Saturday.
On Saturday we were scheduled to be in Nagoya, I had found a pub through the internet and already e-mailed the manager, Tommo, to confirm the England vs Austria game was being shown, although now with a 7am train to the track we might have to forgo the match, which kicks off at 12:45am local time.
After a rest and shower we decided to go find Footniks which was actually in Ebisu one stop further than Shibuya. We had rough directions, out of the station 2 blocks and make a right except of course we came out the wrong station exit, again, anyway after wandering around without any luck for 20 minutes we decided upon a hip looking Japanese restaurant to eat. A selection of appetizers, 3 excellent main courses and 2 bottles of good sake a grand total of 8950 Yen which is about $78, fantastic.
After dinner we went in search of and found Footnik, it was actually a Liverpool supporters pub, but after chatting with the manager he assured us the England vs Poland game would be shown, on the 12th @ 3:45am.
By now it was getting rather late and we realized that the last train back to Shinjuku would be leaving soon so we hightailed it to the station and just made it. These are the trains you have seen on the television and in movies, with people getting packed in, I almost could not breath.
Anyway we made it back and went looking for the Scottish bar, Hazelburn, for a nightcap but none of us could remember exactly where it was and now the African boys were really setting their sights on us, which really annoyed me. Two of them were having a go at Steve & Dave when I spotted a sign for a rock n roll basement bar called “Mothers”, I signaled the lads to follow me and down the stairs we went, incredible! Heavy metal being played at full volume and only about 4 people sitting at the 8 stools with a salary man at the end of the bar with his date shouting “s*ck my c*ck” in time with the music.
After a couple of beers I was feeling knackered but Steve and Dave were loving the place, so I left them there. It is now one of Steve’s all-time world favorite bars.
We had agreed to meet up at 9am to take a trip to the mountain region of Hakone but Steve was looking a little worse for wear and cried off, (he had closed Mother’s at 4:30am.). So Dave and I headed off into the unknown.
Trying to enter Shinjuku station against the out pouring hoards during rush hour is a daunting task but we managed to battle our way in and grab some breakfast sandwiches and coffee before the 10am train to Odawara. The first class cars on these regional trains are excellent, it was a double decker with panoramic windows and reclining seats.
Upon our arrival in Odawara we could see it was very misty up in the mountains and we would probably not see Mount Fuji so we just bought a couple of bus passes and jumped on, not knowing where we were going, hey we were on an adventure. We sat in the back row to get the best possible views and an elderly couple who had been sitting across from us on the train sat down next to us again. The woman was eager to start a conversation as she was taking English lessons; she asked where we were from and why we were in Japan. She was fascinated when I told her we lived in Manhattan and asked if I had been to Greenwich Village. When I told her I lived there she was in awe, she had heard of all the jazz clubs, the Blue Note, the Vangaurd etc. They were going to visit their son who was a hotel manager up in the mountains and attend their grand children’s kindergarten sports day.
The bus trip took an hour up through spectacular scenery ending at Lake Ashi which has 2 replica junks for tours which we declined, as it was rather misty, likewise with the Ariel tramway from which you can glimpse Mt.Fuji.
Back in Odawara we decided to take the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) back to Tokyo as the local from Shinjuku had taken 90 minutes and this would only take 25 plus it was our chance to get one up on Steve. The first class seats on the Shinkansen are like airline first class and defiantly well worth the extra few bucks, kudo’s to Steve on this one. From Tokyo station we decided to take the JR Chuo line back to Shinjuku and it was much quicker than either the subway or the Narita Express.
Back at the hotel we met up with Steve who had spent a leisurely afternoon at the Meiji shrine in Yoyogi Park and even had a prayer said for somebody to please beat Chelsea!
At this point we had no set plans for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next week following the race but now decided we all definitely wanted to return to Tokyo for our last night, so we inquired about an extra night only to find the hotel was fully booked, but they did recommend The Kent, which was half way to the station, we got 3 rooms for $80 a piece. A beer was now definitely in order and there was a Hub around the corner. These are a chain of English style pubs but without the ex-pats. Happy hour was in progress and the clientele seemed to consist mostly of shop girls, very easy on the eyes. When happy hour ended a lot of them drifted off and the remaining ones were joined by their boyfriends so it was time to start thinking about dinner.
We took a train one express stop up to Ikebukuro, It was a bit of a damp drizzly evening and after wandering around for a bit we found a small Irish bar in a cellar that had a band advertised out front. The band did not look like much so after a couple of beers we went in search of food. We spotted this place a few minutes away that looked interesting so in we went. In side the door there was a menu with pictures of the food and a machine that you ordered from, you punched in the numbers, it gave you a total, you paid and it spat out some tickets which you gave to a waitress. Japan’s answer to fast food, except it was really good. Dinner including a beer was about 1200 Yen, approx $11, yeah Japan is really expensive!
We walked back to our hotel down some very dark allies but we never felt threatened, there were lots of little restaurants and bars with just a few seats in each and fantastic odors wafting out the doors. At the hotel we decided to have a nightcap at a little local place rather than run the gauntlet of the African lads. A couple of salary men at the bar got a great kick out of me trying to order sake and the barmaid was beside herself in laughter, One of the men spoke a little English and explained it was not a sake bar, I knew that but it didn’t hurt to ask, oh well it gave them a chuckle.
Saturday morning and we check out of the hotel at 8am in order to catch the 9:05am Shinkansen from Tokyo station to Nagoya. The plan was to get to Nagoya at 11:05 pop the bags into a locker and catch the 11:30 train to the track for qualifying. Well you know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men, correct; we could not find any empty lockers! So we were forced to abandon qualifying and go looking for our hotel, another little adventure. This time when we exited the subway I had no clue which way it was even though I had a crude map which Japan Travel had faxed me. Dave took matters in hand and marched into a nearby 711 with the map and came back with directions, it was about 7 blocks away, sorted.
Before I left New York I had inquired on various websites looking for football bars and in Nagoya I had found Shooters, whom I had contacted and received a reply from the manager Tommo with directions from our hotel.
Upon our arrival at Shooters the place was packed as several World Cup qualifiers were already on the telly so we squeezed into a corner and ordered some beers. I inquired of the Aussie at the door where Tommo was and told him who I was, well a couple of minutes later a round of shooters (Kamikaze’s in Japan!) arrived and then mysteriously a great table with views of all the screens was offered to us. Naturally we had to accept and then Tommo made his appearance and thanked me profusely for coming all the way from New York. Now we were stuck, I should never have said a word. We would at least have to stay and eat something and all they had was traditional English/Australian pub fare, yuck! I had an auzzie meat pie and if I remember right Steve and Dave had fish n chips but there was no way we were staying for the England game at midnight with a 6am alarm for a seven o’clock train. I made my apologies to Tommo and we walked back to the hotel hoping to see at least another bar on the way for a nightcap but no such luck, a couple of beers from the 711 and an early night.
Labels: Asia
