After a couple of misadventures and missed trains we made it back to Tokyo. Now, at this point, it had been a while since I had any real sleep or shower since I had been up all night and day with the exception of the nap I took in the train station. So we decide to check into a Capsule Hotel, which is pretty neat and something to be experienced. The only problem is that they don't allow tattoos. This is on account that they don't want any Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) staying there. This wasn't a problem for me staying there because all my tattoos are covered by a shirt and shorts but it was a problem for me to use their bath facilities. It was a public bath and I couldn't very well get naked because I would get kicked out because of my tattoos. So I had to endure another night of no shower, but at least it had been cold and I hadn't been sweating at all. Heck, I didn't stink to me, at least.
Being back in Tokyo that night after we checked into the hotel we did the only
thing we could do with our sleep-deprived selves, we made our way back to
Bogey's Bar. Of course they were happy to see us and even with our sleep
deprivation we could still drink them under the table. I'm not sure if that is
something to be proud of or not.
The next night, being our last night there, we decided to splurge a bit and get
an actual hotel room. This was, by far, one of the best decisions we made the
whole trip. Not only was I able to get a shower, I soaked in the bath for quite
some time and lounged around on the bed watching Japanese television. It was
nice to have all of my stuff in one place and it allowed me to re-pack
everything for the trip home.
We walked around for a bit more and found it amazing that there are whole
stores dedicated to the claw game. Here in the states, there's one at the
bowling alley and the lobby of the Denny's and that seems to suffice. In Tokyo,
not only is this store filled with them, but there are stores just like it all
over the place.
This is kind of a crappy picture but I didn't want to take pictures of the
homeless people too close up. The boxes you see along the wall are where some
homeless people are living in Tokyo. Interestingly enough, they don't beg for
any money. Instead, they sell stuff. Sure, it's crappy stuff and who knows
where they got it, but at least they make an effort! I bought a souvenir cup
here one drunken night.
After that we hit hotel room again for a bit of pre-drinking. After everything
we had been through we still had a bit of gin and vodka left so we had to get
rid of it. It was a moral imperative, as far as I was concerned.
I decided not to take the camera with me that night because I knew it would be
a doozy. It was nice to have the hotel room where everything would be safe.
This is the last picture we took the last night in Tokyo. Or, at least the last
picture I remember being taken. Afterwards we embarked and I remember the Hub
and I remember a club called 'Tokyo Loose.' I remember playing darts and
someone who dressed like Rocky Balboa in the first Rocky movie. I don't
remember the walk back to the hotel.
These are some pictures we took after we got back to the hotel room. Neither
Bill nor I have any recollection of taking these pictures but it sure looks
Amazingly, without setting the alarm in the room, or even remembering how we
got there, I popped awake at 10 AM. Checkout wasn't until 11 so I still
had time to shower and pack with at least a little care. Here is one last look
before we left to catch the trains necessary to get to Narita Airport and catch
our plane.
It was quite a trial navigating the Tokyo train system with massive hangovers
but somehow we managed to make it in time. Barely. Luckily I had plenty of
Ibuprofen that I took to bring the hangover down to a manageable level and
after being on the plane a few hours I was feeling fine.
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