First time visiting Tokyo

[floridaorange]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo

It's like visiting the future ... and then returning to Shanghai

That's how I felt after moving to Central Florida from San Diego... about 10 - 20 years behind here. Tokyo is probably 10 years ahead of SoCal.

Did you manage to bring your camera?

[energizerbunny]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo

That last one, some people I know saw Hernan there and said it was an incredible club.

Bit of cheat about Yellow. !! Still at least we got that amazing Hernan 10 hr mix

I was at that party, Hernan played from midnight til noon the next day, so 12 hours, EPIC! One of the best parties I have ever been to!

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo

That's how I felt after moving to Central Florida from San Diego... about 10 - 20 years behind here. Tokyo is probably 10 years ahead of SoCal.

Did you manage to bring your camera?

Yeah brought my camera of course, took about a hundred pictures

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo


The first thing we saw on our first day ... there were all these old trinkets outside a gallery, for sale presumably.








Techno!



The subway is bloody complex because different lines are owned by different companies and charge differently.





There wasn't a piece of advertising in Tokyo that looked alike. It's like they have no brand guidlines over there, anything goes.



And people generally don't smoke on the streets. I'm not sure if it's outright illegal as I did see some people who did. But most people gather around these smoking stations.













Trying to figure out the menu. Those black stuff are exhausts, we're at a Japanese grill place.



Screens separate tables for some semblance of privacy.



Beautiful beef.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo



Shibuya ... is chaotic, bright, and mad.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo







Subway stuff.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo



In Japan, you can upgrade your body ... (I took this picture because I'd mistakenly read the copy to say Jesus Body )



... and also get a face upgrade

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo


















Food is naturally amazing. But ordering can be a problem because when they do speak English, it sounds very different due to the way Japanese inflect. Eg. 'left' is said as 'left-o.'



My colleauges who're Chinese, manage to order by writing down the dish's name in Mandarin since traditional Japanese shares the same characters.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo



View from my room. That's Tokyo Tower.





Cabs are exhorbitent in Tokyo, we saw a lot of idling drivers.



Again ... Tokyo is a visual fest for design-oriented people.









Bonjour Records.





My colleague ... this wasn't even half the shopping that day ... and I had to carry most of them.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo





This looks like such a zen-traditional setting but it's just off the sidewalk in a city. Tokyo has these amazing pockets of greens and history.










These are all in a subway.



Cycling is big in Tokyo like Shanghai.



The entrance to a vintage clothes shop.



Lockers are everywhere in Japanese train stations. People would store their shit, walk around, shop, and then pick up their bags on the way home.



Everything in Tokyo from the lines on the roads to the sign boards to its people are a visual assault.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo





Bestest ramen we had in Tokyo with incredible service. Everyone's looking out the window because a Pide Parade started on the street while we were eating.



Probably also the most unhealthy ramen ... the pinkish red stuff is spicy fish roe, the brown stuff is pork belly, green stuff is spring onion, black stuff is some pickle, and there's also roast pork and noodles submerged in a really thick, rich soup. You can probably drink up all the soup and that's a meal in itself. And a ticket to a heart attack.



This exemplifies service in Japan. I deal with brand missions and manifestos all the time, and to come across this in a tiny ramen shop, that's just crazy.



Yes Tokyo really really loves Underworld. And that makes me think this is really a place I can live in. I didn't hear a single English pop song in Tokyo.

Every shop was playing some cool EDM. Lad Musician (Japanese label) had on some deep deep IDM stuff that they unfortunately didn't know the name of. Another Lad Musician outlet was playing Villabolos.

And APC Underground had Ripperton's album. Amazing.





This is a simple traditional Japanese snack, some sorta sandwich with red bean paste inside. I've had this in Singapore and Australia but clearly nothing beats the real thing. Even the mold to make the fish is exquisite. I have not seen such detail in all the snacks I've had.



Another little manifesto. You can really feel the passion and enthusiasm these people have in the smallest things.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo













This is a new subway station in Shibuya. I can't describe the feeling when you unsuspectingly step out of a subway into this. The attention to detail. The layout on the signage. The architecture. This is the future.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo









I don't even know where to look.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo



I think this was Cartier and opposite it is the Prada flagship store. Tokyo is filled with these amazing architecture amidst normality. What's great is the way everything exists together, nobody's jostling to be seen; they're just there and it feels completely natural and up to the pedestrian if he stops to appreciate them.

In Shanghai, when they build buildings like this, they put flashing lights all over the facade for attention.



Retail experience is out of this world. This was the ceiling of Undercover. Unfortunately they don't allow photography, only sneaked this before a sales person walked over to tell me no. Every store is burning an incense or aromatic candle or something, every store is playing some music and everything comes together to make every store interesting and unique, even if it's the same chain.

[feather]

Re: First time visiting Tokyo





The back of Harujuku is filled with these pedestrian and cyclist paths, very comfortable to walk around.