The New Apartment

So after two years of traveling and a year of living in my sister Gina's corporate apartment, I FINALLY live in an apartment that is mine. It's a really cute two bedroom and I have a really cool roommate.






I almost have everything unpacked, though I didn't have a lot. Once I get a bed and my bookshelf, I'll pretty much be set. I'm really lucky to have a roommate that wanted to buy the couch and other furniture, otherwise the place would still be very empty.

And I'm back...

It's been awhile. I'm not even sure if anyone still reads this. Actually, I'm not sure if anyone ever did. I kinda forgot this blog even existed but last night I revisited and read all of my previous posts from the beginning. It made me cry, I'm not really sure why. I guess it's a combination of the people I miss and the adventures I want to do all over again. It reminded me of things I've done that I wish I would have done differently, I guess that's what will happen when you document life events. But whatever, it's the past.

It's amazing how much my life has changed over the last year alone. I moved in with my sister in downtown Chicago and I'm getting ready to move out (tomorrow). I'm traveling a lot less, I'm actually home almost every weekend. I haven't made a ton of new friends in Chicago but the ones I have made are awesome.

So I'm not going to sit here and fill in a ton of details but I'm going to try, once again to post on here regularly.

My sisters...

I love my sisters ;)

Airport Bound

So that's it, I'm heading to the airport in about 40 minutes.

I didn't do too much yesterday. I did more shopping and won more money at pachinko. Actually, it was a pretty awesome day. I didn't take many pictures but I revisited a couple of my favorite places to further ingrain the pictures in my head.

I think I learned a lot from Tokyo. I know more now than ever that big unknown cities are not as intimidating as they may seem at first. I discovered that I actually prefer eating with chopsticks as opposed to silverware. I also learned that you can earn some respect from the locals just by attempting to speak in their language, even if there are only a couple phrases you know.

I'm going to miss Tokyo, but as with any place I have visited in the past, I do not leave with the attitude that this is a good-buy, but instead I'll be back. Chances are this is true.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

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Pachinko is Awesome!

Today was the first time I actually had somewhat of an agenda before heading out for the day. I was going to check out the famous fish market and then hit some temples before checking out one of the technology districts which I haven't seen yet.

By the time I made it to the Fish Market, I'd already missed all the action. Who knew it was over by 10 a.m.? So I took the subway to the closest stop to the Temples. To my surprise, between my stop and my destination was a HUGE shopping market. By this point I haven't purchased anything to bring home so I went crazy. Of course I was smart about it and did my bargain shopping. In the end I ended up with a sweet Kimono for myself and some smaller items for others.

After about two hours I finally made it to the Temples to take some pictures. I then ran around the market again and took more pictures. I haven't taken as many pictures as I thought I would through out my trip but I'm close. I think I'm up to something like 10 rolls.

After I finished there, I attempted to find the resale store I found the other day to buy some more stuff. I failed! It's so hard to find anything around here. Very few of the streets have names. They use a weird numbering system that I didn't even want to attempt to figure out.

I went back to my hotel for a few to drop off my stuff and to re-energize before heading out to test my new camera lens just after dusk. It sucks that I have to wait to get my pictures developed to see how well my low-light lens works. I'm actually thinking about converting to digital, once I can actually afford the camera that is.

I got bored taking night pictures after about half a roll; all the streets are starting to look the same anyway. So I decided to check out this pachinko craze that I've seen everywhere. I was happy to find out they had an instruction card in English so I could figure out what was going on much more quickly.

For those of you that don't know what pachinko is, it is sorta like pinball, but is completely vertical. The balls bounce around pins and you just watch them fall. (think of plinko from the Price is Right)

Anyway, a ball lands in a certain catcher, it triggers a slot machine spin wheel and there are all kinds of bonuses. Anyway, I played for like two hours and ended up winning about 1,000 JPY, or about $80. It was awesome. I guess it is pretty rare to win that much in one sitting.

The whole pachinko operation is actually kind of shady. When you are finished, they put the balls through a counter and you take the slip to the front counter. Instead of them actually handing you the money, they give you these golden squares that look like giant memory cards and you go outside and give them to what is considered a third-party operation who then switches them out for cash. A nice little loop-hole to make it legal.

I probably could have played all night but I had to catch my train so I wouldn't have to attempt to get a cab again.

So tomorrow is my last full day in Tokyo and I feel like there is so much I haven't had a chance to see. I'm not sure exactly what I'll get into but it's supposed to rain all day so picture-taking may be difficult. Either way I'm sure I'll make the most of it.

Food and Sleep

It's about quarter-till 7 a.m. and I just got back to my hotel no more than 20 minutes ago. I knew it would take a lot to top my Friday night at the Chemical Brothers show but lasts night's show far surpassed it.

I ended up taking a nap late yesterday afternoon to rest up so I would be ready to hang with the Japanese. I woke up right at 10 p.m. and attempted to rush as to not miss my train. As soon as I walked out of the train station near the venue, I was stopped my two Canadian girls looking for the same place I was. We teamed up since it's near impossible to find any specific location in Tokyo and ended up getting directions from a couple Aussies.

I didn't really eat much before the show, so the red bull hit me extra hard. Luckily I didn't drink much vodka otherwise there's no way I would have made it. Most of the people there were 'crazy' and even though it was packed wall to wall earlier in the show, many of them couldn't handle it and were passed out along the side walls during the latter part.

The show was slated to wrap up around five but continued until almost six. I thought that the walk to the train station and to my hotel would be a little weird since it was so early and I obviously just spent the night on a dance floor, but the streets were filled with the post-partying crowd in search of their 'late-night' munchies. This is my kind of town!

I almost joined in and picked up a doner kabab, since I probably haven't had one since I was in Europe, but i decided to head back and hit my free hotel breakfast which begins any minute. I regret my decision. Either way, all on my agenda for the time being is food and sleep, lots of sleep.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

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Richie Hawtin

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

Laforet Museum Roppingi on 4/29/07

Damn Storms

After I finally recovered from last night and ventured to to the Roppongi district, the day actually turned into the best photo session I've had thus far. I got some nice urban shots and I found and awesome marble building that I probably used half a roll of film on (see picture below). When I started heading back to the subway station to head to another area of town, it started storming. And I mean full blown thunderstorm.

I made it about half-way to the Roppongi Station so I decided to slip into a restaurant to grab some food and wait it out. After the grub and a couple beers it didn't seem to be slowing down so I made a run for the station. I didn't even have a jacket let alone an umbrella. And any of you that know me well know that at the mature age of 25, I'm still semi-terrified of thunder. The lightning is cool, it's just the aftermath that sends my nerves into a craze.

I made it to the station and back to my hotel without getting too wet but now I don't know what to do with myself. As long as I refrain from doing any work during my vacation, it'll be OK.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

This is not a good representation of the building, but my 35mm shots should give it justice.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

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Originally uploaded by andiemae.

Just a cab ride away.

So I was lucky enough to catch a Chemical Brothers show last night. Apparently it was the place to be in Tokyo, if you knew about it. They posted the show just a day before. The club was three floors, the main dance floor with two floors of lounges over looking the 1st level.

I finally found the club about ten minutes after the doors opened and luckily got in line before it wrapped around the block. Apparently I was lucky to even get in. As soon as I walked in the door it was body to body through out most of the club, similar to the sardine feeling I've grown accustomed to on the Tokyo Subways.

About 30 minutes after I got there, it was like being in a mosh pit everywhere I walked, even while in line to get to the restrooms, the bar and in the spiral stairways connecting the three levels. It was almost too much, but it was the Chemical Brothers.

I made it about five hours in the club before I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm actually amazed I made it that long, I credit the red bull for this.

After I made it back to the train station, I realized that I missed the last train and would have to take a cab. No big deal, really. I didn't have much cash but the hotel previously offered to pay for my cabs and add the cost to my hotel bill without any additional surcharge. The problem was that I couldn't get a cab to pick me up.

I was standing at a taxi stand and cabs would almost pull over for me until they realized I was a Go Jin (anyone not Japanese). A couple that arrived at the taxi stand after me got a cab to pull over and offered it to me, but the driver immediately drove off when he realized what was going on.

About 10 minutes later, I struck up a conversation with a Japanese guy with good English skills also in search for a cab. I asked him if what was happening is commonplace, it is. So I put up my hood and pulled the strings as to cover up my blond hair and lowered my head while he flagged a cab for me. He told me to try to get in the cab before the driver noticed I was a Go Jin. It was very unlikely he would throw me out especially once he realized he could get a reasonably high fare out of me.

The driver didn't speak a word in English and yelled at me in Japanese once we arrived at the because he didn't understand I had to get the door guy to come outside to pay the fare. Luckily the door guy heard him from inside the sliding doors and took care of the situation. The door guy wouldn't tell me what the cabbie said but left it at, basically, that he was completely out of line.

The hotel told me to call them for a car if I get into this situation again and apologized for the ignorant Japanese people I've had to deal with. I pretty much expected something like this would happen at some point or another, I just didn't know when.