Looking through my Tokyo guidebooks, I had marked Ikebukuro out as a place I wanted to visit. Having ample free time on the weekends, a group of us from the Akasaka dorm decided to spend the afternoon. So this would probably be a good time to introduce some of my other friends that I've been living with the past 3 months.
Joining me for the adventure was Kevin, Eddie, John, and Ayane. Kevin as you might remember, is the same guy who climbed Mt. Fuji with me a few months back. Growing up in Japan, Kevin is fluent in English and Japanese and is studying to be a Finance major back at Temple University in the US. He also is working at Empire Entertainment, a marketing promo firm, as an intern during the semester. Although it takes up a lot of his time he was able to help out at some big parties at clubs as well as the grand opening of H&M in Omotesando. The resident expert when it comes to translations or cell phones, Kevin has been a big help to me during my time here.
Kevin
Eddie is a senior at Temple studying History and planning on going to law school in the near future. Roommates with Kevin, Eddie is also bilingual - speaking English and Korean. Right now he's working on making it 3 and Eddie was in the same Japanese language class as me during the semester. A serious student and avid tennis player, Eddie has been well focused throughout our time here, yet he wasn't afraid to get out and explore Tokyo.
Eddie
John Le, a Vietnamese American hailing from Philly, PA also goes to Temple and is working toward a Finance degree. John lives right next door to me in the dorm and is well known for his distinct fashion style. Always there to lend an ear me and John have come to know each other really well as we discussed plans our plans for the future. Also fluent in Vietnamese, John is the president of TUJ's tennis club and worked really hard to get the club up and running this semester. He's planning on continuing his work next semester in Japan as he is staying the entire year here.
John
The last member of our multi-national group was Ayane, a Japanese freshman at TUJ who was friends with Kevin Eddie. Having spent time in America her English proficiency was on par with her Japanese skill and she had a positive attitude the whole day.
The whole group minus John (taking the photo)
Near Ikebukuro station is one of Japan's nicest department stores - Seibu.
Seibu (on the right)
An interesting thing to note was that almost the day after Halloween was over, Christmas decorations started appearing all over the place. By now there are lights and ornaments on almost every major street and location in Tokyo.
The main attraction in Ikebukuro was the giant Sunshine City development. Outside the building a number of Arcades and Pachinko parlors lined the street, inviting anyone willing to waste some money for a little quick amusement. I've learned my lesson by now and rarely play video games anymore and no one else was that interested so we went straight for Sunshine City.
Near the entrance was a branch of Tokyu Hands - think ultimate Sears.
Going down below and under it though we entered the lower level of the mall and looked through a few clothing and shoe stores we found a creperie. One strawberry jam & cheese crepe down and I was feeling great.
As we wandered around the area, we eventually reached a multilevel plaza area where yet another TV was being filmed. This show initially seemed to be a talk show variety show but after watching for a few minutes the performers started singing and dancing some goofy tunes.
typical huge Japanese crowds gathered for the show
After coming back down and heading over the station I jumped on a train to Shinjuku to grab some dinner. Shinjuku also had some great decorations up for Christmas which is still puzzling to me since almost no one in Japan celebrates the holiday.
In addition, they also had a live jazz group playing on the street next to the station. I decided to stay awhile and listen.
I finished the night with some Japanese-style steak dinner in the "Golden Gai" district of Shinjuku, well known for its bars & Japanese pubs catering to the large salaryman population. Two very interesting parts of Tokyo definitely worth seeing!
Seibu (on the right)
The main attraction in Ikebukuro was the giant Sunshine City development. Outside the building a number of Arcades and Pachinko parlors lined the street, inviting anyone willing to waste some money for a little quick amusement. I've learned my lesson by now and rarely play video games anymore and no one else was that interested so we went straight for Sunshine City.
Near the entrance was a branch of Tokyu Hands - think ultimate Sears.
Going down below and under it though we entered the lower level of the mall and looked through a few clothing and shoe stores we found a creperie. One strawberry jam & cheese crepe down and I was feeling great.
As we wandered around the area, we eventually reached a multilevel plaza area where yet another TV was being filmed. This show initially seemed to be a talk show variety show but after watching for a few minutes the performers started singing and dancing some goofy tunes.
typical huge Japanese crowds gathered for the show
My favorite part of Sunshine City though was by far the Observatory up on the top. We made it up there at night and had a spectacular view of Tokyo's lit up skyline.
After coming back down and heading over the station I jumped on a train to Shinjuku to grab some dinner. Shinjuku also had some great decorations up for Christmas which is still puzzling to me since almost no one in Japan celebrates the holiday.
In addition, they also had a live jazz group playing on the street next to the station. I decided to stay awhile and listen.
I finished the night with some Japanese-style steak dinner in the "Golden Gai" district of Shinjuku, well known for its bars & Japanese pubs catering to the large salaryman population. Two very interesting parts of Tokyo definitely worth seeing!
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2 comments:
future dilfs: world edition???
Your friends seem really cool. And diverse. I like it.
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