Ice-creamwa dokko?

So I've landed in this strange and distant land. There's nothing much interesting to say about the travel except that for some reason I have not (yet?) experienced jet lag. Maybe it's because I didn't sleep on the plane and stayed up until 12 the first night. I'm not complaining, but until it hits me, I'm assuming I lucked out and it missed me. Let's hope the swine flu does the same.

I have the fortune of actually knowing someone in Tokyo, so after unceremoniously inviting myself over, I have a place to stay in Roppongi. My wonderful hosts Melissa and Hayato have been immensely helpful, and I think their warm hospitality is a large factor in my lack of culture shock/jet lag.

My first day here, Sunday, was World Hoop Day, and since Melissa is a hooper extraordinaire we headed out to the park. Melissa ensured me that hula hooping would help me overcome the jet lag- I think it has something to do with the swaying of the hips and movement of the humors in the lower intestinal tract. Like I said, I think it worked and with this empirical evidence, I believe the theory to be sound. Yoyogi is best known for it's Sunday scene, i.e. rock n roll guys and girls dressed up like dolls. But on this particular day we were actually part of the spectacle as Mellissa's friends were hula hooping in full force and certainly attracted a crowd. I bet I'm in the background of some tourist's photo, ha! Next we went to Chibuya where I was struck not just by the mass of humanity but by the fact that on this particular Sunday afternoon, everyone was under 30. It's strange enough to see so many people, but to see so many people of one demographic was odd indeed.

I wandered about yesterday, with the highlight being going to the Tsukiji fish market. I got up in time (5) to see some of the live auction, but just wandering the stalls in the early morning was quite the experience. This was faster paced, larger, crazier than any market I had seen. Mounds of odd sea life, fish butchers doin there thing, little motorized carts which threatened my safety. It was great to see. I loved the vibe, and surprisingly enough, I didn't stink like fish. I walked around the rest of the day through Tokyo and saw about four different neighborhoods, which were all very different. From my limited experience, I'm becoming a big fan of the city. Very intense, lots to offer, what other city's should aspire to.

About the food...I have had mixed results so far. My first night here we went to a tofu restaurant where they had many different ways of preparing the tofu and it was great. I went to a sushi place right outside the fish market and the fish was unbelievably fresh (I think i could feel in still writhing). But the costs are so high here, I'm a bit reluctant to try to find fine eats at every meal. For example my dinner last night consisted of a prepared salad from the local grocery (three bucks), my sushi breakfast yesterday where I had just enough to fill me up was about 35 dollars. So I'm trying to balance. There is one thing that I've fallen head of heals in love with and that's the apple pears. They're not cheap ~1-2 dollars but so refreshing that I can't help but buy myself one everyday.

My Japanese vocabulary is exploding, unfortunately this is a relative statement and I'm still totally clueless. Thanks to my hosts I've learned some very important phrases, not the least of which is 'ice-creamwa dokko?' I'll let you guess what exactly that means. (here's a hint it has to do with ice-cream and where it is). For some reason as I've asked locals girls to join me at the nearest love hotel, I don't seem to be getting a response. I think it has something to do with my pronunciation. Hopefully, I'll be able to fix that by the time I leave town.

I've started posting pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/avinagel/Japan# I hope you enjoy