Shibuya, Sex Shops, and Squid Guts!

So today I got to finally have a day free to wander around Tokyo and test my scope out my home turf for the next 5 months. I was able meet up with a good friend from Vermont, DJ Chan Chan, and who lives a bit south of Shibuya station where we met. After the reunion we promptly decided to go wandering around mid-day Shibuya. We first went to bar to celebrate Chandlers new-found ability to drink legally called Hub. (which in Japan is 20, although they don't card)

Chandler with her first "legal" drink.

Hub is a British bar apparently packed with Japanese people usually drinking Heineken. At least when the Japanese Rugby team had a game on tv. Hub is a chain and they each have a different feel to them. This one was the most similar to an American sports bar I have seen. We decided that the the day would be a day of firsts and Japanese culture. We started by ordering two drinks with the most vague names; Summer Vacation and Brides First Kiss. I had the bride one, and it was kinda meh as far as mixed drinks go, but I'm more of a beer guy. Anyway, we chilled and caught up in between the ruckus of drunk Japanese sports fans and salary-men cheering on the Japanese Rugby team. I never watched much rugby but the crazy Locals were entertaining enough. We enjoyed a few more drinks before heading out to explore the area. 

We just roamed were our feet led us, which eventually led us to a hippy/rasta style goods shop that was reminiscent of more than a few shops in my hometown in Vermont. They had some pretty cool tapestries and stuff and at a MUCH cheaper price than the stores in Burlington.(And less hipster trendy in my opinion.) Chandler bought a cool looking tapestry for her room that had empty bare walls to make it feel more homey. I though of buying a new coin purse for all the coinage that exists in Japan since my current one was about to bust at the seams but decided against it for the sake of saving some coin. Im pretty sure it's Chandlers new favorite store in Japan.

Now up to this point I havent really explored Shibuya due to chores and getting ready for class, so I just wanted to people watch and roam about. Next we went to this weird store (I cant remember the name for the life of me) That had everything from sliced bread to sex toys that looked like vacuum cleaners. Literally, this place had it all! Champagne to knock off Nikes, porn to family bordgames, and cheap electronics to pillows shaped like butts all speckled with a little dash of Japanglish.

The most awesome store in Tokyo!

We roamed around a bit more, peeked around here and there, (Stopped by a 3 story shop catering specifically to Lolita Fashion) then decided to grab some grub. Chandler told me about this restaurant where practically everything was 270 Yen ($3.40ish). That was music to my stomach and wallet. These shops I simply love! I wish we had some of these in America. In these 270 Yen shops you sit down and just start ordering from an electronic touch-pad menu. They have everything from sushi to fries and soda to sake. Its fast, efficient, and AND there are no annoying waitresses or waiters with more pep in their step than a gaggling group of pre-teen girls with front row tickets at a Justin Bieber concert. I think a meal should be eaten and time spent with people you want to eat and spend time with, and I sometimes got a little bothered by waitstaff try to up-sell my on the soup de jour. (I could write a whole post just on the Japanese dinning experience but for the sake of brevity i will save it for another time)

We ordered a few more beers and and then perused the menu for the strangest thing we could find. We past up the octopus sashimi for squid guts! I mean, how often in your life could you eat squid guts? And since we were riding a high of the enjoyment of being in a new country half-way across the world we went for it. (However, not completely warm-heartedly. )

I think she liked it. :)

There were some potatoes to provide relief from teh salty rubbery squid innards.

After that we did a little bar scouting for places to bring our other friend (MOLLY M-DAWG) who would arrive after us. All in all The day was well used and pretty funb. It was good seeing a familiar face and exploring our mutual dream city.....the squid guts?.....not so much.