More dating in Japan, Sunshine City and the drinking club

Sunday 21/6:

Sunday we were supposed to play basketball with Kojiro’s drinking/basketball club friends (more about that later). But because of rain it was cancelled, and we ended up going to Ikebukuro on Yamanoto line (the one circling the city).

The date started out with some Korean food, which I love, and Kojiro not so much (it’s spicy!). Then we took some purikuras, very Japanese date thing to do. Here is the result.

After that we went to Sunshine City, a city within a city, or a huge mall if you like. Except that this mall had its own aquarium, museum, animal park, theatre, amusement park and planetarium!

It was yukata days at the mall, so with Kojiro to help me shop and translate I ended up buying my own yukata ^^ I couldn’t justify using to much money on it since I most likely won’t get that many chances to use it, so I had to choose from the cheapest ones.

Most of them where dark with flower pattern, and since I wanted something a little bit special I went for one with butterfly pattern instead. It was super kawaii! But you won’t see a picture of it before I have had the chance to wear it, so be patient : P Actually writing the post about dogs in Japan I noticed that the female dog manikin is wearing something almost like my yukata, weird!

Afterwards we went to the local amusement park, or theme park, the theme being weird Japanese stuff 0_o It was an inside park, and entering from the mall it felt like entering a whole other world. Basically it was an inside maze going over two stores. It had sections like gyoza land (a popular Chinese dish in Japan) and pudding land, with slogans like “No pudding, no life”! There were dancing shows, balloons, carousels, weird music/quiz games, rebuses with cat statues that triggered pling plong music now and then, prison cells and fortune tellers, both live one and automatic ones.

We enjoyed choosing between surly a hundred different gyoza versions, and surly just as many different puddings in pudding land. We also took a try at a fortune-teller machine, where we were advised to change the sides we hold hands. Also I should start holding him by his upper arm, just like old people would do back home in Norway. Apparently it is an ok thing to do in Japan, and doesn’t look weird here.

Gyoza land

 

Kawaii pudding from pudding land

After the amusement park we were off to meet the drinking/basketball club for a birthday party. It’s more a drinking club than a basketball club since they don’t do that much basketball at all. That day was supposed to be their first, or second time I think. Their slogan is “no alcohol, no life”! (so it is a pretty common used English phrase in Japan as you can see)

I had already drunken with a few of the guys from the club at some occasions, or the hard core, but this was the first time I would drink with the girls also. They actually have an “official” hard core called JATT, from all the first letters of the members. They have t-shirts and everything, really fun guys to drink with.

I have explained it before in Norwegian somewhere in my blog, but I’ll do it again. Making an official club for drinking only is kind of an interesting phenomenon here at Tokyo Tech. The campus festival was full of them, basketball clubs, volleyball clubs, all selling food and fronting as real clubs. But if you wanted to try and join them (as some of the YSEP guys tried since all the clubs were packed with cute girls), you will find out that they are closed for new members, or at least strangers. These clubs don’t really play basketball or volleyball. They are a group of friends that think making a club would be fun, and a good excuse to mix guys and girls.

So back to the birthday party. I don’t usually write about drinking in my blog but I’ll do an exception this time, for the cultural education.

When I first came to Japan, I was surprised over how week I felt Japanese people were against alcohol. They went way to fast “up” and way to fast “down” again in my opinion. I was also always complimented on how strong I was against alcohol. I might have been strong then, but now I have adapted to the Japanese drinking pattern, and I am not that strong anymore.

In Norway, when we drink, we drink all night. Drinking slow but steadily is seen as the most sensible way of drinking, and a good way to have a fun night. In Japan you have nomihodais where you drink as much as you can for a sett sum, for 2 to 3 hours. So if you want to get the most out of it you drink fast!

And the drinking club could drink fast, crazy fast! It all started out with the birthday girl shooting her mug of beer, and it just escalated from there. The JATT core was expected to drink more than anyone else, Aoki being one of them. I saw people shot two, three beer glasses strait and what not. There was a ton of rules and funny drinking games, including one that said if you say anything wrong you had to shot. I tried my best to not attract attention, as every time I did they made me shot to. All in all a very fun and crazy night. And I didn’t get as drunk as it might sound like I would.

Ps: the birthday girl got an aurora machine for her birthday. They do love the aurora here. I think I might have to travel north and see the aurora for real when I come back home. It is kind of embarrassing to have to tell everyone that I have only seen it a 2-3 times, and not any good ones to speak of.

Ps Ps: This was post number 100 of this blog! Hurray for me ^^