Vampire in Japan: Day 8 - Through the Looking Glass

19th May 2007

Tsukiji Fish Market: Better Off Dead

Bob's idea of catching the first train to the fish market went awry for the China-man and I, as we (I) struggled to crawl out of bed at around 6.30 a.m. Poor as the sleeping facilities were, think my level of mortal fatigue had accumulated enough over the last 7 days to disregard the circumstance. Arriving at a fashionably late 8.a.m., we were greeted by a spooky Bob who just "happened " to be hovering at the train station when we exited the gantry... coincidence?

While the chaotic auctions were supposedly over; the chaos itself, not so much, as we were navigated through busy cross-junctions filled with odd 3-wheeled transport vehicles. While initially not very keen on the whole idea of coming to Japan to visit a damn fish market, a walk around the market area left me semi-convinced as I caught glimpses of some of the more interesting catches: fresh crabs, scallops, squids with fresh black ink, live octopi, and even raw wasabi, were on display in the shops lining the walkways.

While the stench of the sea quickly negated the effects of my cologne first thing in the morning, the same aroma sent enough mental images (of the potential seafood served on platters) to stir my morning appetite. Budget issues landed us in the nearby Mac to satisfy the drive with a very odd cross between an Egg McMuffin and Hot Cakes as the muffin, conveniently seeking shelter from the early morning drizzle as well.

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Akihabara: Otaku Paradise

A short train ride in the Women-Only-Cabin took us to the gates of paradise. Apparently, such cabins exist for the sake of the protection of the office women from random groping and molestation during the peak hours of the morning commute. It was reportedly started due to the increasing number of molest cases on the trains. I guess I can't really blame them (the Hentais), as Jap chics are HOT, yes, even the office ladies, and some people are just a little more retarded in the self-restraint department.

The legendary street for all things Games and Anime (read: geek-dom) started off slow with an exploration of Yodobashi-Akiba, an electronic megaplex. Things only got interesting when we approached the upper floors of toys and games, with enough things to satisfy the Otaku (left pic) and the Hentai (right pic, oh... Kasumi-Chan).

The real action began when we took to the streets proper, lined with buildings upon buildings of game or anime shops, decorated with HUGE posters advertising for the latest games; it was an Otaku's paradise, or at least until you realised that you were climbing 6 / 7 floors of each building only to see the same few things over and over again. Either way, it was very heartwarming to see a culture built so strongly on the escapism, fantasy, and imagination found in games, manga and anime.

Despite an entire street of Otaku-fantasies, in the end, the China-man and I still succumbed to our mortal lustful desires as the thing that caught our attention the most were the chics dressed in funky cosplay costumes distributing flyers. We tried to ask them to take a photo with us, but policy didn't allow them to do so, so we tried to sneak in some shots instead. Bad timing or bad luck somehow always got in the way of the China-man's photos. So, always willing to lend a helping hand in nabbing voyeuristic shots of chics-in-cute-pink-cosplay-attires, I pulled off a fast-draw, without turning off the flash.

OBVIOUSLY the chic saw it and came over and said "Hey Dude, I know you think I'm hot, and I think you are too, but I'm sorry that its company policy that you can't grab a photo of me while I am working. alright?" Insult to injury came in the form of a not-quite-half-as-cute Uncle Bob repeating the same stern warning to me, in English.

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Harujuku Street: Vampire Vs. Zombie on Goth Street

The mortal bodies of the Tripartite beckoned for lunch the first thing on Harajuku, so we decided to settle for a little fast-food at Lotteria. The fries were well done and the burger was satisfyingly juicy, but our attention was on two group of cos-playing gals chatting each other up and photo-whoring together. Guess photo-whoring is a universal language for gals in most parts of the globe. But the discussion soon led to how to go about grabbing photos of the cos-players later, and eventually, friction ensued between the fork-tongued Vampire and the emotionless Zombie.....

Zombie Bob: "No matter what, when you take photos on the street you shouldn't use flash."

The Count: "I know, but like I said, I was trying to grab a fast shot, since Zhenfeng kept missing, I was carrying stuff with one hand and I didn't have time to turn off the flash. Besides, you're the one with the bloody professional camera, shouldn't you be putting it to better use?"

Zombie Bob: "All the more cos its a professional camera so it would be even more obvious if I were to take, right?"

The Count: "As obvious as a damn flash?"

(Zombie Bob goes silent)

The Count sadistically drills in his point: "Besides, you don't have to repeat the same point THREE times, right? I already heard you the first time round."

(Eyes shift towards dirt on the floor. Disgruntle munching of fries.)

By SHEER coincidence (I'm SURE), the Tripartite was broken up after lunch, as Bob got drowned out in the Saturday teenage crowd, while the China-man and I continued down the street. Harajuku is a street famous for cos-players to parade their elaborate attires, possibly make a statement and hopefully some common-minded crazy friends during the weekends. Many of them were dragging trolley bags along, which (according to the China-man) is what they use to bring their attires down to change, lest people on the train give them inappropriate stares of insanity.

Depression is part of the Costume too it seems

The REAL Deal

The China-man's fetish for cos-play continued to roll out more interesting trivia, as he told me that the cosplayers can be broadly divided into two kinds, the White Goth (cutesy-strawberry-short-cake kind) and Black Goth (Dark-bondage-leather-with-chains kind). Either way, their costumes were extremely elaborate, not to mention ridiculously expensive, and surely put my oh-so-Gothic-romantic-violet-eyes to shame.

Feeling Under-dressed / Looking Depressed

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Odaiba: Love is in the Air

After taking a day's walk through the looking glass of the modern Japanese City culture, the Tripartite decided to explore the romantic side of Tokyo, as we headed down to Odaiba. A leisure monorail ride took us up and across Rainbow Bridge, running side-by-side to the vehicular roads. Love was definitely in the air as the we exited the monorail station, warmly greeted by a romantic pinkish sunset.

Odaiba very much captured the essence of a bay side paradise, from the chilly bay side breeze to the city skyline across the bridge, it was no wonder that the setting was perfect for romance, a observation firmly validated by the number of couples that were scattered over the bay side pavement and in the dining areas. While missing the chrome-durian-domes of the local Esplanade, the bay side view of Rainbow Bridge and brightly-lit boats was more than enough to outclass the Esplanade a few fold. I wished they didn't add the cheesy Statue of Liberty replica though.

I must Point at something at least Once a Day

Esplanade on Steroids

Walking along the pavement, bypassing dining places and a cool, open-concept radio studio (which was on air with deejays smiling at the kids waving at them through the glass), we came to a little semi-circular platform that we decided to take a seat and absorb the essence of the beauty. The romance in the air must have gotten to me as I told the China-man that the atmosphere and the scene made me feel like wanting to be in a sappy relationship all over again. Reminiscing started as we had an open-hearted talk about relationships. Pouring my heart out must have left a void in my stomach as well, as dinner beckoned, and was more than appropriately answered by a delicious bowl of Cha-Shu Ramen. Seemed that the 2-budget meals-and-1-good-meal-a-day plan was working out excellently.

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Odaiba Ferris Wheel: Entering Shin-Mitsu Zone

The original plan to end the night was to look for the observatory at Odaiba to get another breathtaking view of the Tokyo night scene (since The Count is such a fan), and this time ironically get Tokyo Tower as part of the night scene as well. However, the plan was quickly thwarted as we were drawn to the flashing lights of the gigantic Ferris wheel, like moths to the flame. After mindlessly following the lights (and disregarding the ACTUAL walking distance), the Tripartite started to join the queue for the huge Ferris wheel. Not too sure if it was supposed to be the largest Ferris wheel in the world, but it sure looked like it could serve its purpose of giving us a wonderful night view.

Given the choice to wait 10 mins for the normal cabin or 35 mins for a fully transparent cabin, the Tripartite obviously chose efficiency over romance, since we were not very suited to be a romantic combination in the first place. However, what awaited us in the queue was AMUSING to say the least. For starters, we were greeted by this odd sign. Our noggin' - scratching continued regarding this whole Shinmitsu Zone thing as we queued. An ad informed us that the intimate distance between 2 ppl was 45cm, measured from centre of the head of 1 person to the next. And then it went on to educate Chics on how to initiate entering this intimate distance (Shinmistsu Zone) with a guy in the Ferris Wheel Cabin.

Holy Shit! Jap chics are hot AND they take initiative, really makes me wanna migrate away from the not-half-as-hot-and-yet-expect-to-be-wooed-like-goddesses local chics we have here. SEVERELY disappointing.

Anyway, the punchline of the ad was this extreme warning sign, to tell the females to be cautious of..... body odour, their OWN body odour (man, I LOVE Japan). Yes, contrary to what the rest of the globe believes, its seemed that the highly intelligent Japanese have come to realise that not all gals smell like flowers, and yes, gals can stink too. Thus they prompt the chics to use a specially designed female deodorant (incidentally the sponsor of the Ferris Wheel), lest the scare off the pretty boys with their, *ahem* personal aroma. Very, VERY innovative I must say, to use a Ferris Wheel as a marketing tool. Oh, and a very insightful observation too.

The marketing genius continued as we entered the cabin to realise that the cabins were very tactically marked with 45cm distances, to give an indication of the rough distance a couple should sit to achieve the intimate distance. The chuckles of laughter over how amusingly innovative this entire concept was slowly died down as the Ferris wheel escalated and the sense of vertigo thickened, with the view of the night scene stretching accordingly. The Tokyo Night Scene surprisingly managed to take my breath away for the 2nd night in a row. It's funny how essentially the same thing can actually amaze me all over again; perhaps this is the essence of true beauty, or just my personal love for the night.