The attitude of the night was set by an intoxicated Japanese
gentleman on the Yamanote line train. At first he sat swaying back and forth in
a drunken slumber, then he decided to pull himself up, pirouette, then slump
solidly against the doors and lastly slide down gradually to assume an
incapacitated fetal position on the floor. His mum would be proud. I did fear
for head as it was precariously close to the opening and closing doors. However
it was also amusing to see the reactions of the awaiting passengers to step on
the train having responding to the odd hurdle they have to overcome once the
doors opened. As I arrived at the epicentre of debauchery; Shibuya, I thought
my night was heading straight to hell. I crossed Shibuya crossing amongst the thousands
of New Year revelers to find Inkashira Dori (a main string in the Shibuya web)
filled with bodies and debris. I made my way through the mayhem towards Bar
IssHee to meet some friends from uni. As I made my way up the twirling stairs,
enthusiastic voices and layers of music bounced off the walls signaling healthy
activity. I found B waiting for me out the front of the bar and we greeted each
other like long lost warriors; big bro hugs all round. He was full of beans and
ready to party. We headed in to find the tiny bar comfortably full and mostly
with familiar faces. Until around 3:30 or so, we all screamed at each other,
danced to soulful classics like lunatics and drank consistently. My Macedonain compatriot
N was as liberated as I have ever seen represented by his decision to bash on the
establishments drum kit. After a few minutes his band of monkeys deciding to
bash on them as well, the owner swooped in and shooed them all away. B and I
decided to head up to our new favorite watering hole the Beat Café. We found it
packed as usual with a mix of counter culture Gaijins and Japanese. We quickly
came into meaningless discussion with a couple of people for the next hour or
so. I was required to get back to the hotel for a 7:30am departure to Mt.Fuji
and Hakone day trip so I suggested we head off. B agreed and we ducked back
down stairs to say goodbye however most people had left as it was around 6am by
this stage. B and I headed to Shibuya station and boarded the Yamanonte to
Tokyo. B parted with me at some station I can’t remember, and I did the fatal
thing by sitting down. I fell into a slumber and woke up realizing I had done
the full loop on Yamonote (which takes 50 minutes or so) and 7:30am was now
fast approaching. I finally managed to get off at Shimbashi and head up to the
hotel room by 7:29 to receive my wakeup call from mum at 7:30am…Mum was not
proud.
After I showered and reset my body, Mum Dad & I headed
to Hamamtsucho bus terminal to join our booked tour. We headed off towards
Mt.Fuji and I quickly fell asleep for the first 2 hour bus leg of the
journey. I woke up at the optimal
viewing time and was simply stunned by the Mt.Fuji. With dense suburbs in the
foreground, I immediately thought about the destruction it will cause when it
next erupts. Our destination was the 5th station of Mt Fuji and
after a quick viewing stop, an hour more on the bus and we arrived at the icey
fifth station. At 2,300 metres the 5th station provided wonderful
overs the Ft.Fuji area and towards the Japan alps in the North West. After a quick whiz around the souvenir shop we
where back onto the bus descending to the lunch location. After a delicious
mixed bento of traditional Japanese favourites like sashimi and udon where
again on our way to Lake Ashi. Unfortunately this time of the year is at time
colorless with the deciduous trees completely bare. The Lake Ashi cuise was
worthwhile nonetheless; I was quite amused by the creepy remnants of a 80’s
lake side theme park holiday destination. The pedal operated lake swans,
decomposed mr whippy van and creepy animal farm with a chained up Labrador was
odd to say the least. After the cruise was the enjoyable ropeway ride to the
top of mount Komagatake. The peak ropeway station looked like a concrete folly
from WWII that had fallen under disrepair. The views over the Hakone area where
stunning despite the freezing temperatures. The journey home consisted of me
sleeping more and then a quick dash for everyone from the bus to catch the
Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
We made it back to the hotel and despite my slumber I was
due at Kengo Kuma’s house for a New Year celebration. I managed to link up the Ginza line and the
Tozai line to reach Kagurazaka station. From there it was a quick dash through
the streets (because I was making 2 hour late cameo appearance) to find Kuma Sensei’s house. He emerged in the front glazed staircase and pointed in an
upwards direction to the house. This implied to scale the three flights of
external stairs to reach the top kitchen, dining and living areas. It was quite
the entrance as the staircases linked 3 open terraces for the various floors
all open to the night sky. Furthermore, the elevated site lent to sweeping
views of the blazing Tokyo skyline. I was greeted by Kuma who was clearly fuzzy
around the edges and he immediately introduced me to his wife and a full glass
of red. Brilliant! For next hour I floated around grazing on the delicious
food, chatted with Toudai colleagues and ended up watching a Korean pop group
live DVD; the lads where quite attentive. By this time I had been awake for
quite some time and was looking forward to hitting the sack and after stringing
together the two metro lines again I passed out in my room 1518.
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