Japan – Shinjuku District in Tokyo

I woke up early only to find out that the guy next to my capsule is shirtless. And cute. LOL…

Handsome? Hmmmnnn… I said, he’s cute. 😀

I took a shower and packed my stuff so I can move to the dormitory type room. My wooden capsule was just temporary–for one night. There was a mixed up with my hostel booking. 

Anyway, when I went to the bathroom in the basement, I found out that I have to drop a 100-yen coin on the shower box. That’s 10 minutes of doing your private cleaning. 

When I went out, an Italian guy was shaving at the sink. He smiled and I smiled back. We chatted for a while and it turned out that we will be sleeping next to each other tonight. The bad news is: The other side–next to his bed, is his girlfriend. Hahahaha…

JAPAN IS THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

I was surprised that Tokyo ubway was not packed on a Sunday morning. Maybe, 8:15 a.m. is too early for commuters? Or nobody goes to Church on a Sunday!?

Japanese commuters don’t talk in the subway. They seem to be occupied with stuff in their minds. They look tired and many are fingering on their mobile phones or gadget of some stuff. 

Tokyo’s subway is full of non-smiling people—and these are the same people who helped me when I got lost last night. They helped and showed me where exactly the way was in a crazy subway underground where it looks like an underworld city. Even the locals would get lost down there. It’s a maze!

SHINJUKU

Armed with a Lonely Planet guide book on the right hand and an address note in my left, I tried to walk and followed the sign boards / directions. I made it to the exit where I was supposed to meet Kaye, a couchsurfer from the Philippines who agreed to accompany me to Yodobashi, Tokyo’s largest camera store.

I waited for her until 11:00 a.m. until I gave up. We were supposed to meet at 9:00 a.m. I tried to call her many times through the pay phones but for strange reason, the pay phones are freakin’ complicated. There’s an English sign on it but to hell, the directions were so limited and very general. I was hoping for a more specific order of directions rather than just English words that appear to be phrases. And I didn’t know what to do.

Looking at my map, I tried hard to figure out where Yodobashi was. After stopping a couple of Japanese on my way, I finally found the shop.

The camera shop was not the kind that I expected. There was not much noise of people haggling prices and salesperson “abusing” their customers. Japanese shoppers, I reckon, just window shop first around the area and stop when they got something they like and call the salesperson to answer their questions.

Another thing that surprised me was the price. I thought Canon cameras in Japan are cheaper than Beijing. It’s so untrue. So, I cancelled the plan of buying a professional camera. Short of budget.

SHINJUKU is Tokyo’s district where the skyscrapers are competing to reach the sky.

COUCHSURFING MEET-UP