Memoirs of an American Samurai

Yahoo.... I finally made it over to Tokyo Japan and so far the experience has been amazing! I find the people, the country, the streets just to be so intriguing and fun.

Let me start off with the things I love

I love the Japanese toilets!!! I can not believe that we dont have these all over the US or anywhere else in the world for that matter. After letting go of your dark nuggets you can have this little squirter shoot water on your bum. I felt alot cleaner then when I just use toilet paper. You can adjust the pressure too! I ended up going to the Toto showroom which is the creator of most of the worlds advance toilets.

Tokyo has 25 million people living in this city that is more then all of Australia. Shinkjuku Station alone has 3 million people passing through it each day! And the best part is that its SPOTLESS!

Building here are so unique and so interesting. My favorite building so far is the cocoon building and I found out that its actually holds 3 universities. The only thing that I am not crazy about are all the advertising they have on some of the building’s. I am very impressed by the creativity of it all.

I love Japanese women style. Its not just there clothing but the way they style there hair, make-up, and accessories. Its just off the hook!!! Very feminine and unique.

So far I have walked all around Shinjuku, I have gone to like 6 shrines both Shinto and Buddha Shrines. I have gone to the Fire museum which was really interesting. I walked around the different shops and tried some of the different food. I got to smell smells I have never smelled before. I met a fellow American who has lived in Tokyo for 11 years. He took me around the bars and did a little bar hopping where I met other Americans. I have also gone to the Shinjuku gardens.

In the early morning I have gone jogging and I have amazed by how the elderly still manage to wake up and get a quick workout in the near by parks. They seem to keep themselves physically active as often as possible.

The other day I had gone to Kamakuru which is a small town about an hour away from Tokyo. I got to see the Buddha statue of Amida Nyorai. I also went on a hiking tour where i got lost all by myself for about 30 minutes. Very excited but a little scary. I finally found a couple who guided me back on the right path. The town was small and cute with little shops and boutiques.

Food here has been a very hit or miss. I am very particular with food and some of the things here have made me gag while other things haven been surprisingly good. I love the different types of steam breads and desserts. I had a very unique blend of nuts here too which were delicious.

I also went out to party one night. Since it was a long weekend here in Tokyo I got to go to the biggest gay party of all of Asia. The club is called Ageha and the party is called Shangri-la. The space was enormous and the music was insane. I brought my camera but they didnt allow them inside the club so I had to put it in a locker they have outside the club. I met a few Australians and Canadians while I was there and danced for a few hours. They had gogo dancers on boxes painted in a cool design which could only been seen when under a black light. They also had a small area just for food which was a great idea. I left at 5am since I was wiped out and luckly they had shuttle buses back to Shinjuku.

My favorite area of Tokyo has to be Harajuku. The place puts all of Soho New York to shame. The neighborhood is beautiful with all the shops and tall building’s. The main street is filled with all the high-end shops and on the side streets is where you find the boutique shops mixed in with bargain shops. I found myself getting frustrated because I thought there was no way I can see it all and I so wanted too.

On the last night I met up with New, who I met via Theo. New took me to this neat underground theme restaurant. It was a jail theme and would have been really exciting, but we missed the show time and decided to hit a roof top burger joint instead. The Burger place was delicious and the Milk shake was to die for. Then we walked around Shibuya while New filled me in with interesting Tokyo facts. Did you know that Japan has had 30,000 suicides last year alone!!! Thats about 82 a day! I also find out why the Japanese never cross the street during a green light...... You get a ticket!!! Here I thought they were just really patient. I am lucky I wasn't caught.

I have had a wonderful time in Japan and I cant possibly remember it all but here are a few pics

Enjoy

Jonathan Vargas