Yup, Tokyo is pretty sweet

Yesterday I went on my epic adventure to Tokyo in order to see The Mars Volta, or as I'm going to call them, The Greatest Band There Is, Was, Or Ever Will Be (TGBTIWOEWB for short). Everything was meticulously planned in advance. I had found directions to the train station nearest the venue. All directions in Japan are, in fact, done in relation to train stations, since there are no street names, and addresses are done in three numbers, for example 1-2-3, the first being Ward, then some foggy small-area-related term, then which building it is in the area, in chronological order of construction. In other words, a useless address system. I also had directions to the apartment of the Rakocy's, a Winnetka family that generously extended their hospitality to me. The school day was all review, so I decided to take the whole day off, leaving room to either make mistakes or do some additional exploring of the city. Ultimately, it would be an incredible outing.

I took pictures and a couple of videos throughout the trip, in order to more fully immerse readers in my experiences.

The day started well when I arose at 9.

What you cannot see in the above picture is that I am also nude. By 10 o clock, I had cleaned up and eaten a delicious bowl of Cocoa Crispies, and was ready to go.

Or so I thought. Things I would not remember until it was too late:

-iPod (traveling without it is a horrible punishment no human should have to endure)
-Rakocy's phone number (rendering my borrowed cell phone useless and leading to problems down the road)
-Box of Chocolates that was going to be a present for the Rakocy's (forgot about this until I was nearly at their apartment, and I felt TERRIBLE about it)

So that aside, I set off with tickets in hand and a keen sense for adventure. I bought my Shinkansen tickets ahead of time, so I just needed to get to Nagoya by 11:47 and things would be OK. They were, although I accidentally got on the Local train from Okazaki, which stops everywhere, so I got off at one of the major stops in order to wait for a faster line. This would turn out to be one of my many Great Ideas, as the Local stopped for a long time after I got off, so I saved myself a lot of time. Eventually, I would make it to Nagoya with time to spare, a problem since I was reeeeeeeeally excited to get to Tokyo. Soon the Nozomi Shinkansen, one of the fastest trains in the world, arrived. Here is the nose of it as it pulls up:



And a view of the lengthy behemoth:



I found my seat and was all settled to go, when my iPod's absence made itself clear. No matter, the countryside is fairly interesting to observe, and I always have my textbooks to study (yay!!). I noted earlier that the Nozomi is one of the fastest trains in the world. This is a fact, and I thought I might give you a taste. The train goes about 200 k/h, which is really freaking fast, although it's not light speed, so don't expect everything to be a blur. Just think about how fast terrain goes past when you're on the highway. Then compare it to this. It is faaaaast.



So at one 1:30 I arrived in Tokyo Station, an incredibly busy and gigantic place which I took a picture of, but I tried to do so in a discreet and non-touristy way, and it came out really poorly, so you all get nothing. With plenty of time to spare, I decided to do a bit of exploring. My first destination could only be Akihibara, the electronics center of the world. I had been told that my Shinkansen ticket would be good for 3 days in the Tokyo area. However, the machine ate it, never to be returned, at Akihibara, so that was smelly. In any case, I got to Akihibara, and it ended up being the only side-destination I explored, because it is so awesome. I took a couple of pictures, but they aren't that great, and in truth no pictures or words good truly do this place justice. You must experience it for yourself.




I think you could spend 365 days in a row exploring this place and not seeing everything it has to offer. I wandered through endless alleys with stores that seemed to be bigger than the buildings containing them. Every electronic known to man--save the elusive PlayStation 3--could be found in this wonderland. Many of the stores I entered had upwards of 7 floors, each dedicated to a different "facet" of electronics, such as TV, Speakers, Movies, Music, etc. There were also massive game arcades on every block. Seriously, I had to tear myself away from this place. Surprisingly, my spending was relatively restrained, mostly due to the fact that I only had one backpack in which to carry things. I found a store selling a 10 megapixel digital camera for under ¥40000, or about $350, and I stared long and hard at it, but stopped myself. I did find a movie store however, that had a whole section devoted to Miyazaki Hayao, with all of his movies and their soundtracks, plus toys etc, and I just had to complete my Japanese collection. Since I know the kanji for english, I could see that they had english language support too, which is wonderful. For those of you who have no idea who I'm talking, go to a movie store, ask someone or search their computer for "Miyazaki" and buy, don't rent, every movie that comes up. I don't even like anime (japanenese animation), but every last one of his films, all anime, are beautiful, heart-warming masterpieces that put Disney's best to shame, and will all be on your favorites last after you watch them. I guarantee it.

So, I managed to somehow leave behind this wonderland sometime after 3, where I followed directions to Odaiba, the district where the concert would take place. This meant taking an extremely crowded train


and a monorail

(picture of monorail station)
over a river, on a bridge that is modeled directly after the Brooklyn Bridge, with a spectacular view of the city.








Right in the middle of that last picture is a mini-model of the Statue of Liberty. In other news, I love the Japanese.

I had been told that my stop in Odaiba was right near the venue of the concert, the Zepp Tokyo. Conveniently, it wasn't just near, it was the first thing I saw, making my life really easy.







Worth noting is that the awesome ferris wheel seen in these pictures is right behind the Zepp, literally 50 feet away. Add in a lot of cool shops, entertainment and an apparently famous mall, and you've got the winning combination for a pretty awesome area.

At 5, I found my way to the main entrance, where I met a Mars Volta fan from New Zealand, Lauren, who has lived and worked in Japan for 6 years, and we went to the previously noted mall for a drink before the show, and had an interesting chat about New Zealand, America, Japan, Gaijins, and life in general. We were forced to part ways, likely never to see eaach other again, when it was discovered that our tickets were numbered, and they were grouping people by numbers in order to make for non-chaotic access to the venue. Good thing I didn't show up hours in advance to wait in line. Here, however, I met a Malaysian guy and a french girl, fellow students in Japan who were lucky enough to be in the country when a great band came through.

The concert itself was suitably amazing, with the band playing a setlist of only 4 songs, but non of them were less than 10 minutes long, and one which was completely improvised for well over an hour, and featured some pretty incredible moments, ranging to beautiful interaction between the guitarist and vocalist



to the vocalist singing through a fan, imitating Tommy Boy imitating Darth Vader, to 2 wicked bass solos to a bongo solo, to the vocalist standing on a platform behind the drummer, singing like he would never be allowed to again.



It was a fabulous night, and the whole day had been well worth the trip. Then the hunt for the Rakocy Apartment began. Following directions that I copied from an email from Diane Rakocy, I got to their district via the excellent train system just fine, and in turn managed to get to the general block where they lived while only taking one wrong turn. But, it seems, I had written down the word "left" too many times, as I first went totally in a circle, then down many different streets to dead ends and other areas that generally did not fit the description I had been given. I was soon convinced that a direction had been flipped somewhere, right instead of left, and soon just was going down every street possible, without straying far from the area I knew I needed to be in. After a frustrating length of time lasting who knows how long, I finally found it, the "Classy House," home to the Rakocy Apartment.




Though her husband was still out and her kids were either asleep or also away, Diane was extremely welcoming, doubling my guilt in forgetting their gift. We talked about Japan and the North Shore and other various topics for an hour or so, until her husband showed up. My conversation with him that night was brief, mostly an introduction, but I really enjoyed their company. One horribly awkward moment for me: I have been working hard since July at trying to be as straightforward and nonchalant as possible when telling people that I will be attending Harvard (starting with only telling when asked), because I feel like showing any emotion whatsoever while uttering that one single name will make it sound like I am gloating and full of myself. Yes, I am very proud and excited to be going to one of the most highly regarded schools in the world, but I really want being given the "Harvard Boy" stereotype (I'll let you decide what that is). For the most part, I've gotten really good at this skill. However, things did not go so well here. My delivery of the word was satisfyingly stoic, but Mr. Rakocy's immediate reaction afterwards was hysterical, one of the funniest looks of shock I have ever seen in my life, and an expasperated "really!?" I could not, despite my best efforts, stoop myself from laughing, at his reaction, not at my maniacal, egotistical joy, but laughing after such a bold statement makes me immediately feel like it was for the latter reason. So after trying to surpress my laughter and giving a sheepish yeah, I felt thoroughly embarrased and excused myself to bed. Their son Robert was out, so I was given his bed, which was quite comfy, and if all goes according to Mr. Rakocy's plan, the magic scholar pixie-dust that I am supposed to give off should have sprinkled onto Robert's bed and granted him access to Harvard in 2 years.

The next morning, I arose refreshed, and stepped on the first scale I have seen since arriving in Japan, and it was in pounds, thank god. I've said before that I know I am thinner, but even this surprised me. Thursday before I left for Japan, I weighed in during my physical with Dr. Weinstein at 184 pounds in my boxers. This morning, nearly 9 weeks later (8 and a half after a massive Chuckwagon-Sarkis-Buff Joe's going-away triple-feast) I weighed in at 166.5 pounds in my boxers. That is a lot of weight to say "sayounara" to in a short period of time. It's official: if you want a diet that truly works, just come and live in Japan.

My plan was to get an early start and make my last few classes, but I was enjoying the company of the Rakocy's so much that I stayed until past 11, at which point they needed to prepare for their vacation to Hong Kong, which they left for this afternoon. Hilariously, I have got Mr. Rakocy hardcore psyched to try and convince his kids to dive when they return to New Trier because it will be instant access to great schools. Even more hilariously, I was 100% telling the truth. As some of my friends and family could attest, as long as you train off-season, diving = college admissions magic. It's science.

So at last, we said our goodbyes, Diane gave me cookies, making me feel-triple guilty for forgetting the chocolates (I had at this point apologized profusely many times), we took a nice picture,

and Diane gave me a ride to the station, at which point my trip home was completely smoothe. Altogether it was an absolutely amazing trip, and I am eager to return to Tokyo soon.

One final picture upon return to my apartment, for comparison's sake:



I was tired.