Tokyo

A deliberate visit to Tokyo with the purpose of syncing up with a friend who happened to be passing through Japan. Turns out another mate also was in Tokyo the same weekend, so it made the trip even more worth while. Still haven't figured out the best way to travel to Japan, again it was the red eye in Haneda, which given the proximity to the centre of Tokyo and Akasaka made traveling much less of a pain than a trip into Narita. That being said, disappointment would soon subside upon hearing the news that Tomita of Ramen Head fame had opened up a Narita Branch. I'll have to make the journey to Narita at some point.

Leisurely trip with a good mix of eating, sleeping and hanging out. Actually, I retract that, I ate way too much. The first day was the most productive: Managed to check out the new Fish Markets and caught the tail end of the tuna auctions, wandered Team Lab, sampled a colleague's favourite ramen joint, dinner with friends, dessert degustation, baseball batting cages, 1 Oak followed by some late night Ichiran. The second day, was mostly eating.

Currently reading: "When Breath Becomes Air"

Tokyo + Halloween + Stag

Passed the exam. There's a certain satisfaction in not having to read through the material and instead jump on a flight to Tokyo for 24 hours. Ended up talking the 1 am flight on Saturday morning arriving in Tokyo at 6 am local time. Mental note, try to avoid this flight time at all costs.

I arrived into Narita with just a backpack, toiletries and the clothes on my back. The direct bus to Roppongi shuttled me into Tokyo in a short amount of time and I was checking in at 8:30 am. The Whatsapp group was littered with activity up until 7:40 am. Either they had a quiet night in or they had a late night back. Given this assemble it was highly probable that they have only retired to their hotels within the last hour.

Turns out, one person was awake, not awake early, but rather, still awake. It was was a friend who had flown in from New York and with my freshness and his jet lag, we hit up Tsujiki fish markets for breakfast. Checked into the room and heading straight to lunch and kick started the buck's party. What would follow would be a romp around Shibuya dressed up as Street Fighter characters and the buck dressed as a lone Chun Li. The Halloween romp was followed by a group dinner before we retreated to the hotel to reassemble for the club.

Headed back to the hotel to drop off some water before heading to Agaha. Only to fall asleep. I wake up propped up against my bed with a million messages along the same line "Where are you?", "Wake up", "Get here now". It was 4 am, I had flown in for one night and managed to sleep through the entire evening. I pulled myself out of bed to meet up with more stragglers at 6 am for some morning sushi. What a whirlwind 24 hours in Tokyo.