Continued from Tokyo Day 3 Part 2.

More changes since last time I was in Japan. Ordering off of a tablet here now too. But look, English menu, and also there’s a whole chart for allergens. I believe the normal sauce has possible nut contamination or has nuts in it, so I ordered a special allergen free curry for PL. I found out later that RL hadn’t found the english menu and just tried to guess off the pictures.

The allergen free curry sauce comes in its special own heated pouch that I would open myself. I guess that’s one way to really not mix with possible allergens..

There you go PL, now eat. She liked it.

My dish. Yum. I’ve missed Coco curry house. I know it’s just a chain, but still really yummy.

And now, with their sauce.

More deliciously by using this sauce. It was delicious.

After dinner, we are still waiting for JM to arrive. We went to walk the little alley of bars and restaurants behind the curry house to pass some time.

Now, let’s head towards Kabukicho main entrance. JM is almost here, I told him to wait for us there.

PL, is this the Tokyo that you had in your mind? Bright lights and lots of people?

The kids in front of the red light district. Somehow…this seems ok in Japan.

Look at this gaijin over here. Spotted him while we were crossing the street.

What a special moment. Friends since 4th grade, now about to embark on a night out of drinking in Tokyo by pure chance.

JM hasn’t had dinner yet, so we are going to go through Kabukicho looking for some food to eat and show the kids around all the lights and stuff.

Not everything here is kid appropriate…RL thought she remembered this sign from our honeymoon so we looked it up later to see if she was right (and if we’d taken a picture of it), she was.

Somehow, we decided upon this restaurant in the basement that serves okonomiyaki.

Pretty awesome, all made up of circular stickers.

So weird to be here in Tokyo with JM. Especially when the plan just came together out of no where this morning. Wild.

Again, things about Japan that would never pass US safety standards…but yet, Japan is so safe, perhaps even more so than US.

Yup, that’s just an exposed soft gas line right under my feet. Just gets kicked around by the people sitting here, no big deal.

Cheers!!!! Wild.

Kids get water in these Suntory whisky mugs. I want one.

We already ate, so it’s mostly just food for JM. We ordered one okonomiyaki.

And also one monja, which is a little like okonomiyaki, but with a runnier consistency. One of the Japanese staff at our hotel told us about monja saying it was what she liked to eat so we really wanted to try it.

There you go, that’s monja. And you eat it with a tiny fork sized metal spatula. Good but I still prefer okonomiyaki.

After a quick second dinner, we walk the kids and RL around kabukicho and then they’ll head back to the hotel via Uber.

We looked a little bit for the robot restaurant but it either moved or closed.

It’s hard getting a family photo.

This one is the keeper.

RL and the kids heading back to hotel. No Uber needed actually, since there’s only 4 of them, they fit in a regular cab.

Now, let’s go fuck some things up…namely our livers…and only a little bit. JM has work tomorrow morning and I’ve got a long travel day.

We are going to walk a short way to Golden Gai to visit the tiny bars. The moment RL and the kids left us, we immediately started getting approached by touts for sex. Everyone who approached us all seemed to be from African and also spoke English. How did they end up here in Japan doing pimpin work for sex in Kabukicho? I’m just curious how this became a thing.

Oh, I think that’s the hotel we stayed at last time in Tokyo 11 years ago.

Golden Gai, looks pretty much the same. It’s not very busy right now though.

Still here. I remember there was a washing machine outdoors as well last time I was here.

Too many bars, some require cover, hard to decide which to visit.

OK, no cover, let’s give it a go.

What I remember of Golden Gai, tiny tiny bars.

Our bartender. He spoke some English, like most younger Japanese. Apparently according to our one Japanese hotel staff, they learn English in school now.

Apparently, they’ve got odd drinks/mixers here.

Nope.

Someone else before us wrote Austin Texas already, so we added a coaster of our own.

Cheers!

Yellow Fever.

Time to hit up another bar.

Here we go.

We had asked our previous bartender where we should go next and he had suggested this place. It turns out to be a sister bar to the previous place, probably same owner.

That’s a lot of Yamazaki 12s in one place.

After a beer, we opted…half drunkly, for a drink made with this cheap pump action bottle of shochu. Already making bad decisions.

Mixed with green tea, tastes mostly like green tea.

This Japanese guy was hanging around the bar. He spoke decent English, he seems like he also works at the bar but he was drinking. He says he’s been in Austin and lived there for a bit. Eager to talk, but gave JM the weird vibes.

This figurine was right above my head and someone pointed it out to me.

Typical tiny restrooms in Golden Gai.

JM wasn’t feeling the vibe of that bar, so we went out looking for something else. We are trying to find the bar that I went to 11 years ago. I showed the picture of the inside to the bartenders of the two bars we were at, but no one recognizes it at all. I mean…11 years later, and also covid happened. I bet a lot of these bars closed and changed hands. But maybe I can still find the actual physical space that the bar is in?

I want to say this is it. It’s got that two pane vertical window like in the picture from 11 years ago. No way to confirm, as the bar that currently occupies it isn’t open right now. Japan, you’ve changed 🙁 Or maybe the other way that look at it is we’ve all changed.

Decided to go back to Kabukicho looking for another bar to drink. With so many choices, choosing a place to drink becomes difficult. Plus..we’ve had probably 5 drinks already.

Top Dandy, that’s us.

Let’s try this bar in the basement.

Not open right now. What’s up with all these bars not being open.

Oh look, Jazz club, let’s go….wait…I think I’ve been here before. I think this is the jazz bar I visited 11 years ago on my honeymoon.

Yes, this is it!!! It hasn’t changed! I showed the barkeep/owner a photo of RL dancing with his friend in this bar from 11 years ago. I’m glad something from 11 years ago survived unscathed.

More Japanese whiskey time.

11 years later, back in the same spot and it’s looking almost exactly the same.

I asked him to pick out a LP for us to listen to.

How cool is this. Drinking in a jazz bar I visited 11 years ago in Tokyo with JM.

I think those are bottles kept here by the regulars.

Some free chocolate covered rice puffs.

We were the first patrons tonight, and halfway during our session here, 3 old school salarymen type older gentlemen join us. This is my first trip to Japan where I’ve seen very few salarymen walking around town half drunk. I guess that culture is dying away and they’ve all aged out. This place really is like a time capsule, but now everyone is 11 years older. Still, made me feel better about all the major changes that I see this trip in Japan, at least little tiny slices are still the same.

I want that. A little model of a bathroom inside the bathroom.

Time to leave the jazz bar and find another bar closer to the train station. There’s this random couch just here in the stairs in the building of the jazz bar.

Another bar in the same building, also not open. I guess it’s Monday night, so that could expensive why many bars are closed.

While we were out drinking, I get this text from RL with this picture. She says the guy at the convenience store by our hotel has a crush on her and gave her these things as she checked out her food items. She has no idea what any of this is.

Yeah, definitely drunk.

Wow, a Maybach van.

Leaving Kabukicho and heading to that little bar street behind Coco curry house by the station.

Taito Station. That’s the one me and RL visited back in the day, still there.

I remember seeing homeless people under this overpass 11 years ago. They are still here, but only one person here this time. In fact, this is the only homeless person I’ve seen in Japan this entire time. I wonder where they are all hiding, or if there are other social services?

Alright, let’s find a spot and get one last drink.

Drunk, but not wildly so. Probably a mild hangover tomorrow.

While we are figuring out how to get back to our respective homes tonight, JM’s train line has a delay. Person jumping on track? Pure accident? Who knows, but seemed to have happened a lot this trip. Or maybe I just notice it more now that Google Maps notified us.

Alright, let’s call it a night. Been a treat to drink in Tokyo with JM out of the blue this trip.

I was making my way to the train station, then saw this taxi just waiting by the curb….what the hell. I’m tired of walking, taxi please take me home.

To be continued at Home, Sweet Home.