Well it’s been forever since I updated the blog – a combo of being overwhelmed with work and overwhelmed with how much there was to write about in the trip. So to get things back on track , I’ll give a synopsis of the trip.
On Thursday, Dad showed up in Japan while I was still at work and navigated his way from Narita to the hotel with the help of my Japanese “Please return to his mommy at Peninsula Marunouchi” cheat sheet.
I had to stay back at work and then wait for the internet guy to install my fiber-optic line which ended up being a more elaborate process than expected. There was a cherry-picker, installation of myriad boxes, and two installers – a guy who connected everything and a woman who stood in the street, watched, and periodically shouted “daijoubu!”
Read MoreSomewhere over the past five years I've developed an obessesion: smoking shisha. I had resolved that this taste for the tibial resulted from the group of happy Muslims that I surround myself with with their Muslim music and Muslimness and such (that's for you, Neha). But then I realized that Ishan, Alex, Cory and I were having emotional lounge sessions around the hookah when some of us were still 17 in Heights 315.
FLASHBACK!
Read MoreThis was a pretty great weekend. I aimlessly went in to Tokyo assuming something would be going on and I could meet some friends, and, sure enough, Ian called around 10 Friday night and asked what I was up to. We met under the Spider at Roppongi Hills and, after 5mins at a Chinese restaurant, left for Shibuya with Mayumi, Kaziya, Kota, Shun, Nao, and Sarah. Mayumi is Ian's girlfriend, Sarah was a Parisian girl in Japan to learn Japanese, and all were unknown to me. But we took the train to Ebisu and roamed around getting to know each other before going to Womb.
I'm never surprised anymore at how nice Japanese people are in general. After a couple conbini (convenience store) beers and a short walk to hachiko, we were all getting along swimmingly, talking about girls, hip-hop, and everything in between in the sort of hybrid Japanese/English that seems to come out in these mixed groups. Nao and Kota had been to Madlib the week before in Tokyo, and I tried not to let my jealousy destroy the conversation. But we shuffled in to Womb by about 1AM and had a great time listening to the Minimal/Techno/House mix that echoed throughout the club, featuring Swedish House-duo, Minilogue. It was a better mix that last time at Womb with Jon, Michelle, Rosie and Dave.
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