29
Dec

Mata Ne Nippon

By: muttler
tokyo

 

22-23/12/2022

A catchup post to finish off our Japan trip.

 

 

 

 

 

The last couple of days were relatively chill. The Thursday was just about getting out and doing a little more wandering and shopping in Tokyo. We mostly spent time in Akihabara, exploring the toys and pop culture.

 

 

 

 

As the sun went down we went to visit some more Christmas lights, this time in Roppongi. The view was great looking toward Tokyo Tower, and the number of TikTok’ers was testament to that too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We capped off the night in another Ginza cocktail bar, this time the Music Bar, home to 3000+ records and a dedicated DJ. Nice strong, unique cocktails too 🙂

The Friday was one of those awkward days where we had until about 1pm before needing to head to the airport. We had a lazy morning and a Ginza brunch, and then made our way out. A final airport (not too bad) okonmyaki and it was on the plane home.

 

 

 

 

Mata ne Japan. See you soon.

Read More Mata Ne Nippon
22
Dec

Tokyo Disneyland

By: muttler
tokyo disneyland

 

21/12/2022

What trip to Tokyo is complete without Disneyland? We decided to just put one sneaky day in at Tokyo Disneyland. We had all been before so just wanted a bit of another taste for a day.

Tokyo Disneyland is one of (if not the) most fun as the crowds are in general quite relaxed and really get in the spirit of things. There were some new parts for us to see (although I wasn’t prepared to wait 2+ hours for the Beauty and the Beast ride!), but mostly it was getting on the rides and wandering.

Weather was pleasant, crowds were not too bad, got on some rides quickly. All in all more Disney fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read More Tokyo Disneyland
22
Dec

Sensory Overload

By: muttler
cocktails
teamlab
tokyo
vinyl

 

20/12/2022

Three things on the agenda today.

First of all it was off to see TeamLab Planets! I had been wanting to see a full TeamLab exhibition for a while and this presented the perfect opportunity. I tried to not know too much about it beforehand, but I did know that we would need to walk barefoot and possibly up to our knees in water. Yasss!

We got there for the first session which was good planning as we were ahead of a LOT of people.

After ditching our shoes it was off. The whole experience is multi-sensory and with changing feelings under your feet. You make your way through a series of experiences that are just stunning. I won’t say too much as I would encourage people to really experience it for themselves, but maybe the pictures will give you an idea…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple of hours there, we parted ways. I spent the next 6 hours or so wandering and record shopping. Tokyo has the BEST second hand record stores, so I spent hours trawling through things. I didn’t get much… some Boris and Tricot, Japanese bands I love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there it was back to Ginza where I wanted to head out to one of the local bars I had heard a bit about. Bar Orchard is a bit quirky in that there is no drinks menu per se… just a big stacked plate of fruit. Choose a fruit, let the owner/bartender how strong you like them, and then the drink arrives in a weird and wonderful presentation! Some also had ways in which they were meant to be drunk or experience. In the end we had to try A LOT of the fruits 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favourites were the Yuzu cocktail and surprise was the Kumquat. SOOO much fun. What a day of amazing sensory overload.

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19
Dec

Wandering Tokyo

By: muttler
tokyo

 

19/12/2022

A light on day. Given the amount of “sightseeing” we had done, today was mostly about wandering Tokyo and doing some shopping.

So not really many photos today. My day was a morning walk to see Godzilla, visits to Pokemon Centres and Record Stores, finding Moet in a Ginza convenience store (of course there was), soaking in Ikebureko, Harajuku and Shibuya, and then winding down with a beer in the oldest beer hall in Japan. Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read More Wandering Tokyo
19
Dec

Murakami! BORIS!!

By: muttler
boris
murakami
tokyo

 

 

18/12/2022

Today we said goodbye to Hakone and made our way on the short journey back to Tokyo. We were incredibly lucky… or had amazing foresight… to book accomodation when Japan was still not letting visitors in, so got INCREDIBLY cheap accomodation at a great hotel in Ginza. Classing it up for our last 5 days here in Japan.

I had plans on arrival. I had another gig to go to, but before that wanted to try and get into Takashi Murakami’s store to see what was on offer and pick up some goodies. So off we headed to Nakano Broadway (kind of like a mini Akihabara). We were fortunate not to have much of a line and so fairly quickly were in the small store choosing flowers and things to take home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there I said goodbye to the girls and headed to my second gig of the trip. I could believe when one of my most beloved bands Boris announced a show in Tokyo for the night we arrived! I had had the good fortune to see them here in Tokyo back in 2011, and also twice already this year. But this would be special… in Tokyo, in a small venue, and with a new drone album released.

Before hand we were told ear plugs were the “dress code” and indeed we had to show we had them. We were then warned formally about the noise and to take a break if we needed to. Yasssss.

The venue was TINY. Like 250 people. It felt like a rehearsal space. I could not believe my luck, given the size but also this ended up being an album release show for a surprise new album released just a few weeks ago.

The gig was all Boris, no supports. They played an epic loud drone set that was 2.5 hours. And to cap it off they played my favourite piece “Flood” to close it all off. Wow. What a privilege to be at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read More Murakami! BORIS!!