Observations

1. Showers are awesome.

After about 20 hours of traveling, I finally get to the hotel. I'm hot and sticky, and my hair is beginning to smell like bacon grease. Well, fine, it wasn't that bad. But still, it was pretty gross. And I'd just spent 12 hours on a plane next to a Filipino woman whose favorite topic was how the Philippines are nicer, prettier, funner and more upscale than Tokyo and New York put together. So, after navigating my way to the hotel (like a pro, I might add) I was super psyched to wash the detritus of the day away.

2. I still can't really sleep on planes. I don't know why, but I just can't. I managed to grab about 60 minutes of actual sleep with another half-hour of exasperated semi-somnolence tacked on at the end. And even that was only with the help of booze. (By the way, Manya, I think these homeopathic New Zealand anti-hangover pills might be the real deal.)

3. Tokyo's public transit cartels have put an end to prepaid metro tickets. However, they have done so only to replace them with something even awesomer: chargeable plastic subway cards--for everyone! As far as I knew last year, you could buy such things, but only for specific routes. Now, you just put money on the card (which costs 500 yen to purchase) and it works like the prepaids did, except you don't throw it out. Also, you just wave it over a sensor to use it. 超便利！

4. For the first 6 nights, I'm staying in the Asia Center, which is the business hotel Yale put us interns in last summer. My room's a pillbox, but it has killer air conditioning, high-speed Internet, a TV I won't watch, an electric water heater and a teensy little fridge for all of my alcohols. Also, the lobby has all the free bottles of ice cold Masafi natural mineral water you can drink. Try Masafi today! Maybe they'll see this and pay me.

The location of the Asia Center is, of course, super great. It's a 10 minute walk from Roppongi. Also, my pillbox itself happens to be in a pretty good spot, right across from one of the two laundry rooms in the building.

5. Co-Co Ichibanya is still the shit. I, however, am decidedly not at the top of my game.

Co-Co Ichibanya, for those of you who don't know, is a chain of curry restaurants, serving up huge plates of delicious Japanese-style curry about which I have raved to anyone who would listen. The thing they're really known for, besides deliciousness, is their 10-level system of spiciness. You have your level 1, which I've never even tasted--actually, I've never had below level 6--then level 2, which is 2x level 1, then level 3, which is 3x level 1... and so on. Except, starting around level 6, the spice curve starts to ramp up. Level 9 is 18x level 1, and level 10 is 24x level 1 (making for the biggest jump in the series, because they really just want to kill you at that point).

Last summer, I was able to eat level 10s without touching my water glass until the end. However, they really fucked with my digestion and were kind of a chore to get through, so I generally stuck with level 9. First thing I did after my shower was head to the nearest Co-Co Ichibanya and order my standard level 9 pork curry. It was significantly spicier than I remembered. Finding it unlikely that the Co-Co Council decided to change its magic recipe, I can conclude only that my year of indolence in the U.S. allowed too many of my taste receptor neurons to regenerate. The curries of the Indian places in New Haven, while tasty, barely tickle the tongue, even when prepared "very spicy." The only time I really hurt myself was during Buffalo Wild Wings' Blazin' Challenge, for which you must consume 12 of their spiciest wings within 6 minutes to win a free T shirt. Now that was hot. But clearly I should have been doing it more often, because there I was this afternoon, sorely out of shape and sipping at ice water to work my way through a mere level 9. Trust me, I'll be training myself in this regard at least as diligently as I will be studying Japanese this summer.

6. Softbank changed its prepaid phone option from the stodgy old candybar model to a sleek, sexy black flip phone. I got one at the retailer by Harajuku Station. Just needed my passport and any random Japanese address and telephone number. I didn't have the info for the hotel on me, but the lady said it didn't matter, because they wouldn't look for me or call me, anyway. I found the business card of a guy who works at Temple University in my wallet, and we ended up just using that address and number. I really do hope no one calls him to check up on me.

The phone is pretty pricey--5880 for the handset, plus a charge card that can be either 3000 or 5000. I got the 5000, to start, and I can charge it more online later if I need to do so. She set up my e-mail address on the phone, subtracting 300 yen from the card. If I understood her correctly, I get free texting within Japan, but 100 yen per message for international texts. I don't know where messages from normal e-mail accounts (not cell phones) figure into this scheme. As for calls, they're 9 yen per 6 seconds, which is fine for my purposes. I expect the extent of most of my calls to be, "What's up? Want to meet me at Roppongi, exit 4, in 1 hour? Okay, see you there."

If anyone needs my phone number and/or text address, drop me an e-mail or Facebook message or something. I'd rather not put the info right up on the blog.

7. The pervasive young male Japanese hairstyle I liked to call the "upswept dry red mop" of yesteryear has been replaced, as far as I can tell, with just long, thick hair--dye optional. Combined with the short stature and petite physique of the average Japanese individual, this makes it easy to mistake a young Japanese man for a young Japanese woman from behind. And sometimes even from befront.

But I haven't been to Roppongi yet. Maybe the dry mop heads are waiting for me over there.

8. Sleep. Hm. I'm doing pretty well at the moment. I don't feel too exhausted. So, I'm going to try to tough it out at least until midnight. The best way to beat jet lag is to hit the ground running. And, as I mentioned, to stay up until dawn tomorrow night.

平和外