I woke up quite early… i could have easily gotten up at 730 (which is really 830 body clock time) but thought i should sleep a bit more as it was a late,  long day yesterday and today was going to be a long one.

So i got up around 9, had a shower and went for breakfast. For the true nostalgic experience i went to segafredo for breakfast. There was somebody already having a beer! As tempting as it was to join him i decided against starting this early.

After doing my teeth i came up with a basic plan. Is hard to know what to do when you’ve already done so much! I started by trying to buy a Suica. After waiting in line for 20 minutes and only moving halfway i gave up on that idea and just bought a ticket to Harajuku. There they had the black ticket machines which all Suica cards so that job was complete in about 90 second.

A slow walk down takeshita street to take in the sites, and also see if i could buy a cheap hat as i had left mine back in Melbourne. A south African tried to tell me his hats were cheap so i told him “takai desune” and walked off. After a couple of deep fried cheese sticks i went to togu shrine and saw people getting married in the room we were married in. So that was a bit of a treat.

After praying there i made the customary trip to meiji shrine. There was still a lot of work going on but i prayed there as well. I then thought it would be fun to look at Shibuya and decided to walk there. I had to go through yogi stadium grounds where there were food stalls (i had some takoyaki) and lots of other tents with various things. They seemed to be green energy related. Eventually i reached an area that looked familiar but i was quite warm. ..beer oclock!

It took a while to find somewhere to drink because i was looking for something a little different. And finally i found a craft brewery with 20 taps! And to make things even better they had a tasting paddle so i didn’t have to pick just one. The ocha pale ale was my favorite. I called Kaoru and had a chat for a bit. I was close to leaving when a girl came in and i overheard her ask the girl behind the bar what she recommends (osusume). so i told her juuichi ban wa oishi desu – which she then ordered so I must have said the right thing! I’m enjoying being able to communicate, even if it is just a little.

Just after i left Mikiko called. She had just arrived and wanted to say thank you for the flowers we put in her room. We arranged to meet up at 4. So i made my way back to Shinagawa. I arrived about 3 and was a little hungry so i went to a stand up sushi restaurant in the station. After a few various eats i went back to the room.

Mikiko came about 4 and we went downstairs for a drink and a catch up. She had to leave about 5 to meet her friend and i wanted to leave about then too so we walked to the station and went opposite directions on the yamanote line. I made my way to omote-sando and looked for a good spot to stop for a drink. I managed to find a place called Commune 246 which was a selection of beer stands. I thought it looked a good place to meet up so i sent Gary an email letting him know where i was. I ordered a beer and found a seat next to a couple of Americans who live here so enjoyed hearing their stories (and a couple more drinks) until Gary and his girlfriend Rikuko arrived.

I had never met Gary before in person. He attends Igarashi sensei’s class and i thought he seemed like a fun guy. So i managed to get in touch with him and here we were. I finished my beer and they took me to the first place-a bar called 2 Rooms. It had a beautiful view of Tokyo,  especially with the sun setting, and a nice breeze blowing.

After a nice beer we made our way to a restaurant Gary had booked. It is one they go to regularly and there were some great dishes. I also learnt (but have since forgotten the phrase-just the concept remains) about asking for the sake the venue recommends. So we enjoyed beer, sake and food, and got to know each other.

Rikuko was doing a hike in the mountains tomorrow so she had to go home and get some sleep. Gary and i stayed a bit longer for another drink and then hit town. We caught a train and then taxi to Roppongi Hills, where Gary took me to a bar he regularly drinks at. There was a friend of his there so we said g’day and then proceeded to drink and chat.

We went to a few bars. The black people were constantly trying to take us to their places but we weren’t up for that. The interesting one was Coyote Ugly which was actually quite dead but a good laugh. Something to tick off the bucket list. I lost count of places we visited, as well as time, and by the time i got a taxi home and in bed it was 4.00. Tomorrow was going to be a hard morning. …..

Footnote: for fun, post things like this on Facebook!  Great responses from Aunty Lynette and Andrea who look and immediately think strip club / pole dancing venue, as opposed to what it really is :).  Kaoru just laughed when I told her about it!