Tokyo Trip - Part 1

Last weekend, I had a day off due to Dragon Boat Festival.  I was at a loss of what to do so I started looking up places to go.  The end result was I ended up buying a ticket to Tokyo 24 hours before I got on the plane.

Before flying out, I spoke to some of my coworkers in the Tokyo office and let them know I was coming.  I also talked to Matt, one of my high school friends who lives in Tokyo:

Me: let's say i flew to japan this weekend
friday-monday
can i stay at your place?
^_______________^
Matt: lol really? sure

I mean, with this amount of charisma, I don't even know why I need to go to business school.

Day 1 - Friday

I landed in Narita at about 3 o'clock, changed some money, rented a cell phone, then got on the train heading to Tokyo.  I think everyone expected I spoke Japanese, which might have been disconcerting a year ago, but frankly after living in Beijing it was par for the course.  I first went to Roppongi, apparently a foreigner heavy district.  Here's a shot of Tokyo Midlands, one of the luxury compounds.

I don't want to know how much it costs to live here

After that, I went to Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills, which is where Google is (and where Matt works).  Matt showed me around Google, which boasted a pretty impressive view.  In fact, an art museum famous for its views is in the same building.

Matt at Google's break room.  Note to self: I owe this man ~$200

After that, I headed over to Shinjuku to meet up with the Japan team.  We ate at a restaurant which was decorated like a giant wooden boat.

But wait, what's with all the water surrounding this "boat"?  Well, it turns out there are live fish swimming in this area.  Not only are there fish, you can catch the fish and get it turned into sashimi.  Whoa!

They claimed it was dead - but it was still quivering

My murderous coworkers show no mercy

Our next stop was the bar at the Park Hyatt.  This place was on the 52nd floor of the hotel, and was apparently one place where Lost in Translation was filmed.  It was a classy place with live jazz, great views, and tasty drinks.  I snapped a picture of the group here.

Matt and I then went to Shibuya to meet up with a couple of his friends, where we had a few more drinks.  By this time, it was already pretty late, and we were faced with the decision of whether or not to try to make the last train.  Matt tells me this decision is a part of the Tokyo nightlife experience.  The last train leaves somewhere between 12:30 - 1 AM.  You can either make it and cut your night out early, or stay out all day and catch the first train back home at around ~5-6 AM.  Since there was a lot of tourist stuff I wanted to do the next day, we decided to call it an early night.  But we didn't make the decision until 10 minutes before the train left, so Matt and I had to make a mad dash (my backpack was with me the whole time) to the station.  Fortunately we made it, took the train to Matt's place, and crashed.