Sunday, June 14, 2009
Birthday Bash Weekend
Birthday time! Last year I had a quiet curry dinner with some friends but this year I wanted a bit more excitement. So, I went to Tokyo to celebrate!
On my actual b-day I met up with some friends at L-River, a local bar, to celebrate both my b-day and the 100,000th post on a forum I frequent. The next day was the start of the a crazy Tokyo weekend. Took the train into Tokyo alone and got off in Shibuya. I had to stop here to check into my hotel for the evening and to pick up and pay for my tickets to China this summer. When I walked out of the train station, this woman with a clipboard asked if I had some time and if I knew any Japanese. I wasn't in a rush and she seemed fine with the fact that I only spoke a little Japanese. So, I figured we'd stand there and she would ask me a few questions, but NO! She took me around a corner and bam! There was a huge camera with lights and sound equipment setup in the corner and some girl in a frilly dress and sparkly makeup. Apparently what I thought would be a quick survey of some type ended up being a filmed TV interview! Haha! Made me wish I had time to up on my makeup that morning. No idea what show if was for, but look for me on J-TV talking about music and stress (....they were asking really random questions!). And while I was bumbling my way through the interview (god, my Japanese is horrible) a bunch of people made a circle around the TV crew to watch me.
After that rather fun fiasco, I had to hunt down the No. 1 Travel company in Shibuya. The map they sent was a bit old and I kept trying to find a Family Mart convenience store that didn't exist anymore. Luckily I had their phone number and the lady was able to direct me to their office. I left $500 lighter and headed over to the Shibuya City Hotel to check in. At the hotel I changed clothes, put on make up, and got ready for my night on the town.
From the restaurant I went to Harajuku and picked up some tickets for the KAT-TUN concert on Sunday and from there headed over to Ginza. Ginza is home to the Princess Heart restaurant. It's a theme restaurant that I have been wanting to check out and they do a special birthday thing where you get to wear a crown and have your picture taken. I was running a bit behind schedule, but managed to arrive on time. On the train over, I ran into a group of UK rugby players who were making a ruckus on the train. I was trying to ignore their drunken shenanigans but they called me over. I went only to get them to stop screaming at me from across the train. They seemed to be decent guys, if not a bit perverted. One of them tried to look up my skirt but discovered I had on what are essentially shorts underneath. Looking back, it was a really jerky thing to do but I didn't mind so much at the time as they were being really flirty. They tried to convince me to head out to Roppongi with them, but I obviously refused.
Once in Ginza, I met up with Heidi and Janet who have been checking out the H&M across the street and then we waited for everyone else to show. Problem was that everyone else was already at the restaurant. Ha. Oh well. Dinner was.....not that great. The restaurant was really sub par in both atmosphere and the deliciousness of the food. The tables looked cheap and beat up and didn't even have table clothes. The food, while very pretty to look at, wasn't very tasty. Especially not for the price. It wasn't all bad though. The special birthday desert and picture were really nice and I had a great time hanging out with everyone.
After dinner we headed to Tokyo's largest dance club, Ageha. When we first arrive we grabbed some drinks and wandered around. The place was SO empty! It was almost creepy how empty it was, but after about a hour it started to fill in and then it was suddenly packed! We all danced till about 3am at which point we headed back to Shibuya. I had booked a hotel along with 2 other friends, so we went to the hotel to crash while the rest of the group roughed it out at McDonald's and waited for the first train back home.
Normally I'd do the first train thing (way cheaper) but I actually needed some sleep because the next day I went to the KAT-TUN concert. Yes, again. That made it my fourth time. What can I say......I might be a little obsessed. On the way back home I had one last surprise. A friend who had not been able to go to dinner and dancing ended up being on the same train back home as me so we got to spend some time chatting. It was nice not to have to ride the train back home alone for once.
Definitely one of my better birthday weekends ^^
On my actual b-day I met up with some friends at L-River, a local bar, to celebrate both my b-day and the 100,000th post on a forum I frequent. The next day was the start of the a crazy Tokyo weekend. Took the train into Tokyo alone and got off in Shibuya. I had to stop here to check into my hotel for the evening and to pick up and pay for my tickets to China this summer. When I walked out of the train station, this woman with a clipboard asked if I had some time and if I knew any Japanese. I wasn't in a rush and she seemed fine with the fact that I only spoke a little Japanese. So, I figured we'd stand there and she would ask me a few questions, but NO! She took me around a corner and bam! There was a huge camera with lights and sound equipment setup in the corner and some girl in a frilly dress and sparkly makeup. Apparently what I thought would be a quick survey of some type ended up being a filmed TV interview! Haha! Made me wish I had time to up on my makeup that morning. No idea what show if was for, but look for me on J-TV talking about music and stress (....they were asking really random questions!). And while I was bumbling my way through the interview (god, my Japanese is horrible) a bunch of people made a circle around the TV crew to watch me.
After that rather fun fiasco, I had to hunt down the No. 1 Travel company in Shibuya. The map they sent was a bit old and I kept trying to find a Family Mart convenience store that didn't exist anymore. Luckily I had their phone number and the lady was able to direct me to their office. I left $500 lighter and headed over to the Shibuya City Hotel to check in. At the hotel I changed clothes, put on make up, and got ready for my night on the town.
From the restaurant I went to Harajuku and picked up some tickets for the KAT-TUN concert on Sunday and from there headed over to Ginza. Ginza is home to the Princess Heart restaurant. It's a theme restaurant that I have been wanting to check out and they do a special birthday thing where you get to wear a crown and have your picture taken. I was running a bit behind schedule, but managed to arrive on time. On the train over, I ran into a group of UK rugby players who were making a ruckus on the train. I was trying to ignore their drunken shenanigans but they called me over. I went only to get them to stop screaming at me from across the train. They seemed to be decent guys, if not a bit perverted. One of them tried to look up my skirt but discovered I had on what are essentially shorts underneath. Looking back, it was a really jerky thing to do but I didn't mind so much at the time as they were being really flirty. They tried to convince me to head out to Roppongi with them, but I obviously refused.
Once in Ginza, I met up with Heidi and Janet who have been checking out the H&M across the street and then we waited for everyone else to show. Problem was that everyone else was already at the restaurant. Ha. Oh well. Dinner was.....not that great. The restaurant was really sub par in both atmosphere and the deliciousness of the food. The tables looked cheap and beat up and didn't even have table clothes. The food, while very pretty to look at, wasn't very tasty. Especially not for the price. It wasn't all bad though. The special birthday desert and picture were really nice and I had a great time hanging out with everyone.
After dinner we headed to Tokyo's largest dance club, Ageha. When we first arrive we grabbed some drinks and wandered around. The place was SO empty! It was almost creepy how empty it was, but after about a hour it started to fill in and then it was suddenly packed! We all danced till about 3am at which point we headed back to Shibuya. I had booked a hotel along with 2 other friends, so we went to the hotel to crash while the rest of the group roughed it out at McDonald's and waited for the first train back home.
Normally I'd do the first train thing (way cheaper) but I actually needed some sleep because the next day I went to the KAT-TUN concert. Yes, again. That made it my fourth time. What can I say......I might be a little obsessed. On the way back home I had one last surprise. A friend who had not been able to go to dinner and dancing ended up being on the same train back home as me so we got to spend some time chatting. It was nice not to have to ride the train back home alone for once.
Definitely one of my better birthday weekends ^^
Labels: birthday, clubbing, friends, theme restaurant, Tokyo
