Monday, August 14, 2006
Day 2 (June 19, 2006)
Part 2
I stumbled out of bed to the sounds of a wake-up call. 6pm already? I took a hot shower while wondering about where we were going to be brought for our dinner. Another bus brought us back into Roppongi, where we were told our restaurant would be. Stepping out of the bus, we were greeted by the sight of what looked like a very traditional Japanese inn. A very LARGE Japanese inn. The restaurant was called Gonpachi, and it was housed in a recreated kura, which was basically a traditional Japanese warehouse. We were told that it had served the likes of people like Bill Clinton and Quentin Tarantino. Walking in, I heard someone mention that this restaurant is where Quentin Tarantino got his inspiration for the design of the restaurant in Kill Bill Vol. 1! We had an 8-course meal, which was peppered with sake tasting, and the freshest, crispest beer I've had in a long time: Heartland Beer (and yes, the jokes about it coming "fresh from the fields of Hougang" have been done to death already).
Damn was I buzzed. But wait, the evening wasn't over yet? What else was in store for us? KARAOKE? Well, it is a Japanese institution, so I wasn't entirely surprised. We were being brought to this place called Lovenet, which was apparently one of the more upscale Karaoke clubs in Tokyo. It has 34 uniquely designed private suites, each different and designed with a famous world resort in mind. We were going to be in the "Monaco Suite". Don't you just love the sound of that? :)
This suite was big. I'm telling you that it housed all 30 of us quite comfortably, with quite a lot of room left to spare. And what's this? More food? Ugh, I couldn't. But wait, there on the side in pitchers big enough to put my head into? Asahi Beer baby! Yet another trustworthy Japanese institution :) So, we're in a Karaoke room, with a free flow of beer. You guys can pretty much guess what kind of stuff would happen with a combination like that :)
This was wrapped up at around 11-ish pm, with abundant embarrassment, and plenty of photo evidence :) I heard one of the other groups shouting about a party in one of their rooms, but Denise and I were interested in hanging out with Kiran, and meeting her Japanese boyfriend Kosuke. We had another beer in a quaint (albeit cramped) bar in... Jesus, I had no idea where we were at that point of time. After a couple of beers there though, we decided to head back to the hotel to drink some more. We made a stop at a 7-11 near our hotel to pick up some alcohol and snacks. That's when I realised that I had to pee badly. Almost as if someone had heard me in my time of need, I saw in the corner of the 7-11 a door. A door to a TOILET! That's right boys and girls; they have toilets in 7-11s there! And just as immaculately clean and high-tech as the other ones we had seen everywhere else in Tokyo. I couldn't have been any happier :) It would have made for a good story to have peed in my pants in Tokyo though...
The rest of the night was simple. A few more drinks, some more chatter, and Denise and I dragged ourselves back to our room, where the afternoon's nap routine was followed. Stumble, bed, and unconsciousness...
Coming soon, Day 3! Be patient my lovelies! :)
Part 2
I stumbled out of bed to the sounds of a wake-up call. 6pm already? I took a hot shower while wondering about where we were going to be brought for our dinner. Another bus brought us back into Roppongi, where we were told our restaurant would be. Stepping out of the bus, we were greeted by the sight of what looked like a very traditional Japanese inn. A very LARGE Japanese inn. The restaurant was called Gonpachi, and it was housed in a recreated kura, which was basically a traditional Japanese warehouse. We were told that it had served the likes of people like Bill Clinton and Quentin Tarantino. Walking in, I heard someone mention that this restaurant is where Quentin Tarantino got his inspiration for the design of the restaurant in Kill Bill Vol. 1! We had an 8-course meal, which was peppered with sake tasting, and the freshest, crispest beer I've had in a long time: Heartland Beer (and yes, the jokes about it coming "fresh from the fields of Hougang" have been done to death already).
Damn was I buzzed. But wait, the evening wasn't over yet? What else was in store for us? KARAOKE? Well, it is a Japanese institution, so I wasn't entirely surprised. We were being brought to this place called Lovenet, which was apparently one of the more upscale Karaoke clubs in Tokyo. It has 34 uniquely designed private suites, each different and designed with a famous world resort in mind. We were going to be in the "Monaco Suite". Don't you just love the sound of that? :)
This suite was big. I'm telling you that it housed all 30 of us quite comfortably, with quite a lot of room left to spare. And what's this? More food? Ugh, I couldn't. But wait, there on the side in pitchers big enough to put my head into? Asahi Beer baby! Yet another trustworthy Japanese institution :) So, we're in a Karaoke room, with a free flow of beer. You guys can pretty much guess what kind of stuff would happen with a combination like that :)
This was wrapped up at around 11-ish pm, with abundant embarrassment, and plenty of photo evidence :) I heard one of the other groups shouting about a party in one of their rooms, but Denise and I were interested in hanging out with Kiran, and meeting her Japanese boyfriend Kosuke. We had another beer in a quaint (albeit cramped) bar in... Jesus, I had no idea where we were at that point of time. After a couple of beers there though, we decided to head back to the hotel to drink some more. We made a stop at a 7-11 near our hotel to pick up some alcohol and snacks. That's when I realised that I had to pee badly. Almost as if someone had heard me in my time of need, I saw in the corner of the 7-11 a door. A door to a TOILET! That's right boys and girls; they have toilets in 7-11s there! And just as immaculately clean and high-tech as the other ones we had seen everywhere else in Tokyo. I couldn't have been any happier :) It would have made for a good story to have peed in my pants in Tokyo though...
The rest of the night was simple. A few more drinks, some more chatter, and Denise and I dragged ourselves back to our room, where the afternoon's nap routine was followed. Stumble, bed, and unconsciousness...
Coming soon, Day 3! Be patient my lovelies! :)
Okay, continuing from my last post, without further adieu :)
Day 2 (June 19, 2006)
Part 1
This had to be one of the few times where waking up wasn't a chore, even at 7.30am. I flung open the curtains to a great bright view, and a variety of cursing from Denise, who isn't very fond of bright light that early in the morning :)
After the glorious morning rituals (a warm toilet seat in a hotel room is highly underrated), we made our way down to the Drawing Room for breakfast, and our briefing. Apparently, there was going to be some sorta MTV Mission Day. All signs pointed to a scavenger hunt though. Call it a hunch :)
We grabbed our seats and attacked the food. It was a modest spread, but of a fine quality. What really took me by surprise was how good the coffee was. I was never a big fan of coffee, but after my third cup, I was a believer. My hands didn't stop trembling till after lunch though...
After it looked like everyone had had their fill, introductions were made all around, and the briefing began. In the midst of this, we met our MTV Asia liaison Kiran, who happened to be the same woman who selected me as the winner for this trip! Needless to say, I would be buying her copious amounts of alcoholic beverages. We were going to go on a scavenger hunt (told you), which would end at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Roppongi. We were divided up into our groups, given a Calpak backpack with a Polaroid camera inside, and the mad dash began. Most of it was spent in Shinjuku-ku, obtaining various information, posing for silly pictures, and looking for specific items. We had a chance to take the train line (which on a map looks like a computer circuit board) down to Roppongi, which is just like, bursting with life and colour. And it was only 1pm! The array of shops and restaurants that lined the streets, and filled the floors of the buildings was astounding, and it looked like the roads would never end! Click on the link above to find out more about what it's like :)
By this time, the caffeine was wearing out, and I hadn't had a chance to have a cigarette yet. There's a law forbidding you from smoking on the streets (which isn't so bad, since they make up for it by letting you smoke in most restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, etc). We finally arrived at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, handed in our items, and proceeded to zone out on our chairs. Don't you love that tingly, numbing sensation you get in your feet after walking around town for the better part of the day? :) Though I wasn't hungry, I proceeded to tuck into a variety of semi-Italian dishes, which honestly, weren't that great, considering the reputation Japan and Wolfgang Puck are supposed to have in terms of the quality of food. And anyhow, why on earth would anyone be interested in having Italian food in Japan?! Still, I needed the carbohydrates badly. I had a cigarette and made small talk with everyone, as the judges tabulated our points based on the items we had.
An hour later, the scores were in, and my group came in... LAST? That's when we find out that we had missed out the last page, where it would have informed us that we could've tripled our points if we answered a simple question based on the items we had found. The other teams didn't forget though. What was painful was finding out that we could've come in 2nd. You mean I had slipped on Denise's underwear for one of the pictures just to come in last?! *sighs* Well, at least I looked pretty in them...
Still, it wasn't all bad. Apparently, everyone got the same prizes. We each got a pair of nicely embroidered toe-socks, display coasters, an origami book with the coolest looking paper, a spy pen, which writes with invisible ink, and comes with an UV torch on the other side, which lights up your words, a Hello Kitty handphone dangly-thingy (which I quickly gave my cousin when I came back), and an Adidas World Cup (2006) Japanese football jersey. The only thing that differed us from the winners were our Tower Records gift vouchers. We all received them, but the winners obviously had a higher value. I wasn't complaining. I didn't get to keep the camera, but I got to keep the backpack as well. Christmas came early, and it sure as hell hadn't stopped yet during this trip! :)
After the prizes were given out, we all tumbled into the bus which brought us back to the hotel. Denise and I decided that a nap was best, as we still had a night of events ahead of us. All I remember after entering our room was stumbling, bed, and unconsciousness...
Day 2 (June 19, 2006)
Part 1
This had to be one of the few times where waking up wasn't a chore, even at 7.30am. I flung open the curtains to a great bright view, and a variety of cursing from Denise, who isn't very fond of bright light that early in the morning :)
After the glorious morning rituals (a warm toilet seat in a hotel room is highly underrated), we made our way down to the Drawing Room for breakfast, and our briefing. Apparently, there was going to be some sorta MTV Mission Day. All signs pointed to a scavenger hunt though. Call it a hunch :)
We grabbed our seats and attacked the food. It was a modest spread, but of a fine quality. What really took me by surprise was how good the coffee was. I was never a big fan of coffee, but after my third cup, I was a believer. My hands didn't stop trembling till after lunch though...
After it looked like everyone had had their fill, introductions were made all around, and the briefing began. In the midst of this, we met our MTV Asia liaison Kiran, who happened to be the same woman who selected me as the winner for this trip! Needless to say, I would be buying her copious amounts of alcoholic beverages. We were going to go on a scavenger hunt (told you), which would end at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Roppongi. We were divided up into our groups, given a Calpak backpack with a Polaroid camera inside, and the mad dash began. Most of it was spent in Shinjuku-ku, obtaining various information, posing for silly pictures, and looking for specific items. We had a chance to take the train line (which on a map looks like a computer circuit board) down to Roppongi, which is just like, bursting with life and colour. And it was only 1pm! The array of shops and restaurants that lined the streets, and filled the floors of the buildings was astounding, and it looked like the roads would never end! Click on the link above to find out more about what it's like :)
By this time, the caffeine was wearing out, and I hadn't had a chance to have a cigarette yet. There's a law forbidding you from smoking on the streets (which isn't so bad, since they make up for it by letting you smoke in most restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, etc). We finally arrived at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, handed in our items, and proceeded to zone out on our chairs. Don't you love that tingly, numbing sensation you get in your feet after walking around town for the better part of the day? :) Though I wasn't hungry, I proceeded to tuck into a variety of semi-Italian dishes, which honestly, weren't that great, considering the reputation Japan and Wolfgang Puck are supposed to have in terms of the quality of food. And anyhow, why on earth would anyone be interested in having Italian food in Japan?! Still, I needed the carbohydrates badly. I had a cigarette and made small talk with everyone, as the judges tabulated our points based on the items we had.
An hour later, the scores were in, and my group came in... LAST? That's when we find out that we had missed out the last page, where it would have informed us that we could've tripled our points if we answered a simple question based on the items we had found. The other teams didn't forget though. What was painful was finding out that we could've come in 2nd. You mean I had slipped on Denise's underwear for one of the pictures just to come in last?! *sighs* Well, at least I looked pretty in them...
Still, it wasn't all bad. Apparently, everyone got the same prizes. We each got a pair of nicely embroidered toe-socks, display coasters, an origami book with the coolest looking paper, a spy pen, which writes with invisible ink, and comes with an UV torch on the other side, which lights up your words, a Hello Kitty handphone dangly-thingy (which I quickly gave my cousin when I came back), and an Adidas World Cup (2006) Japanese football jersey. The only thing that differed us from the winners were our Tower Records gift vouchers. We all received them, but the winners obviously had a higher value. I wasn't complaining. I didn't get to keep the camera, but I got to keep the backpack as well. Christmas came early, and it sure as hell hadn't stopped yet during this trip! :)
After the prizes were given out, we all tumbled into the bus which brought us back to the hotel. Denise and I decided that a nap was best, as we still had a night of events ahead of us. All I remember after entering our room was stumbling, bed, and unconsciousness...
