Sweat & Shabu-Shabu

Segawa-san and her Shabu-Shabu meat.
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Today, I woke up to the sunlight, thinking it was around 9 am or so. Looking at the clock, however, I realized it was more like 4 am. Not able to get back to sleep, I ddecided to go walk around outside at about 5 to go try and find my coveted coffee. Even at that early in the morning, it was really humid andd I knew it was gonna be a hot day.

Finally, around 7am, the rest of the family got up and we ate a breakfast of breads and milk tea that we found at this bakery down the street. We then walked down to the metro and rode to our first visit to Kyle's apartment in Shinjuku. After a short tour, we left to walk around his university's campus. We came back to Kyle's apartment and layed out in his small tatami bedroom, pumping up the AC and trying to recover from the intense heat. Around 11:30 we walked over to Kyle's friend's (Segawa-San) house for a home cooked lunch with her and her father.

"Surrounded by police shouting at us to "move-along" in Japanese while food stall chefs hawked their squid-balls in 95 degree (at night) heat, we let ourselves be carried along by the flowing current of people..."

Kyle's Neighborhood (Shinjuku)
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To get right to the point, the lunch was ridiculous-fantastic! We ate Shabu-Shabu (a sort of Japanese, rice-wine based fondue for beef, veggies, etc) while Segawa-san's father toasted us with his favorite sake. The house was neat and the food delicious, but the most interesting part of the visit was at the beginning, when Segawa-san's photographer friend set up an elaborate system of flash-lamps, reflectors, etc and sat us down for an suprise/impromptu family portrait session on the 80's-style Herculon couch. We, of course, felt bad for not bringing a gift for him and were unprepared as we were really sweaty and poorly dressed. We also later found out that he is some famed photographer who is well-known in Japan for his portraits of Kabuki stars...The meal ended with the elderly father's discussion of why he loves Nat King Cole's music.

Waseda University
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After leaving the lunch, we took the metro to Asakusa/Kappabashi (the kitchen-wares district) where we perused the offerings. Later on, around 6pm, we met Kyle's girlfriend Kaori and his old high school friend Yuta to go see Tokyo's biggest fireworks show, a show that brings 2 million people into 12 square blocks and celebrates the end of an 18th century plague, hmmm...

Whether it was the sleep deprivation (I was still getting over the jet-lag) or the heat, combined with the seething mass of humanity there, the fireworks show was a somewhat surreal experience. Surrounded by police shouting at us to "move-along" in Japanese while food stall chefs hawked their squid-balls in 95 degree (at night) heat, we let ourselves be carried along by the flowing current of people. Still, despite all the sweat and the smells of yakitori/squid ball grease, the fireworks were fantastic. They were probably the best I'd ever seen. We finally grabbed a bento box at Ueno station on the way home, ending one long, fun day in an always fascinating city.