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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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19
Dec

Fuji Hiding in the Clouds

By: muttler
hakone

 

17/12/2022

A day exploring the Hakone area today.

We awoke to some nice views from our room, but knew that the day was meant to turn later. So we made a reasonably early start by heading downhill to the train station to begin our “5 modes of transport” journey.

 

 

 

We started with an old train that wound its way up into the mountains. It was even complete with switchbacks every now and then for the drive to deal with.

We jumped off at the Hakone Open Air Museum, which was a gorgeous outdoor gallery nestled in the mountains. The weather was still playing nice, so it was lovely to wander around for a couple of hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was on a funicular to head uphill a few stops before reaching the cable car that would take us up and over the mountains toward the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midway we stopped at Owakudani, high up. It was super windy and cold, but we had to stop for their one famous thing… sulphur boiled eggs. What makes them special? Well, they come out black! And that’s kind of it really. It is said that eating one extends your life by 7 years, but really I was just keen to try one. And how were they? Just like a regular hard boiled egg!

After that, it was down the other side of the mountain to the lake. By this time the weather had settled in and was cold, and grey and drizzly. Oh well. Regardless, it was time to jump on transport mode number 4… a pirate ship! Yep, you read right. A pirate ship across the lake.

 

 

 

I imagine in summer it would be glorious, but for us it was just a bit cold. And so alas Fuji was just nestled away hiding in the clouds as we thought may have happened. You win some you lose some.

We got to the other side of the lake where transport five awaited… a boring old bus 😛

 

 

We got back to the room and rested for a bit. I enjoyed some more onsen before heading out for more Izakaya. Yummmmm.

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17
Dec

Into the Mountains

By: muttler
fuji
hakone

 

16/12/2022

A quick post since this was a travel day. We jumped on the train to leave Kyoto and head for Hakone, in the mountains near Mt Fuji.

We had glorious weather so on the train were greeted with amazing views of Fuji-san (luckily, as the weather was threatening for tomorrow). We arrived in Hakone and in the train station I turned my back for 30 seconds and the girls were suddenly being interviewed by Japanese TV. Ha!

 

 

 

 

After their 15 seconds of fame, we made the trek uphill to our digs, K’s House Hakone. I had stayed at a few K’s House hostels before and always found them exceptional and this was no exception.

 

 

 

It was a quiet evening of Izakaya and some outdoor onsen before bed.

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