Near the end of Japan; excl. the end
woke up at 3pm, but I mean a lot of shit went down the night before. Woke up and it was raining, a lot. had spent enough time with Santiago and it was time for me to do me. googled cinemas and found one that looked interesting as Chong would say, interesting. popped headache pill because I drank a lot. headed to Takadanobaba station, it wasn't too easy getting there because of a transfer or whatever but I got there and I had the clear umbrella. Yelped a place and found the Polar Bear Cafe and I didn't want to go really because it's more of a novelty but it was a good choice. Had coffee and curry, and the curry was good actually, not super filling but good. Cute plate too. It's like, curry on a rainy afternoon just felt correct, warm and full of soul. i bought my ticket before eating and headed over few minutes before it was to start. Was so happy to find out it's a double feature, get to waste more time watching movies. In The Soup - fucking wow. Full of texture, black and white but the music was gorgeous the transitions kind of abrupt but it worked to deconstruct film and remind you that you are watching a film, and I love Steve Buscemi and the movies atmosphere was gorgeous and odd. Ran out quick after the movie, I sat next to a nice girl and it felt really special and comforting to be in a cinema like this. Ran out quick and looked for warm coffee, not vending machine coffee though I was tempted. Coffee, rain, movies. I got a cappuccino, it was regular, you know, a cappuccino. Sat in the same seat and digested the next movie like water, though it was called Smoke. I'm constantly reminded and I nearly cried in it and thinking of it now gives me shivers. It's a beauty. In the beginning, the tone is set when Paul and Auggie get together. Paul wants to buy cigarettes but the store is closing and Auggie let's him in. Paul sees the camera and then mentions it and they go to Auggie's place and he's gonna show Paul his hobby of his. He takes a picture from the corner in front of his shop every morning at 8 o'clock in the morning. Without fail. Over 4000 days straight, no absences. Paul flips through the pages and Auggie corrects him, tells him he's flipping too fast. He's not looking at them, he's looking at them but not really looking at them. Every picture is the same, yes. But they're also all unique. The sun slightly different in different places, changing the shadow, the clouds never the same, dark mornings, sunny mornings, rainy mornings, different people everyday and sometimes those people become the same people. Paul sees his wife walking to work in some, the more he sees of her, the more it hits him, she's gone. He breaks down and cries and every picture is not the same. I finished my cappuccino - went to walk around now. Saw a line. Didn't know what it was, so I lined up, imagined it was food, then googled it and it was for food. Waited for about an hour or so, probably more. But I wasn't gonna give up after waiting for so long so I waited and walked into the ground, supposedly the best tonkatsu in Tokyo. According to many sources online. It was pricey, about like $30 but the first bite I took I fell in love. Pork as pork should be. Fatty and delicious and fried to perfection, and you add the tonkatsu sauce and cry and the miso soup so rich so good. Took my time with my food and I ordered a big piece of food and I was not disappointed by any means. The chef bar with only four people running the whole place the two guys and one girl in the tiny kitchen and the waitress. Oeishi. Wanted to go to a jazz bar so why not now. Underground, tiny, smokey. I sat behind two men, in the most uncomfortable spot. People pushing by to go to the restroom. Then people left and I sat at the bar talked to girl from Singapore and Yoshihiro, 65 year old man that played drums and spoke bad English. Met Masha, I think that's his name, or God, the owner, God. He was funny and would leave the room while playing and we all cracked of laughter and I drank whiskey and they asked for my name and wrote it in Japanese. Also the guy from Austin who played bass really well. Incredible. I left before my last train and got a Highball at the FamilyMart nearby. Got home. Favorite day.
Near the end, I felt no conclusion, it hadn't hit me I was leaving. I had no money one day and I stressed in front of Santiago. I had my last bit and I promised myself to enjoy the last bit. I didn't do anything all day and it was the night the group of people went out to Jumanji, I said I was going to Shinjuku, so I went. I took a bus over that took a while as getting to Shinjuku always does. That was fine. I was wearing the shit clothes, the long sleeve plaid shirt and swimming shorts with my boots. I got there and I wanted to go see Aiko. I get there and I'm just walking around, circling around the labyrinth alleyways of Golden Gai. Peeking my head into tiny bars looking for an ambience that fit me, I wanted to return to the one I went to first, Mr. Lonely. I liked that place, it was very much like me, lonely, filled with loneliness. Lonely people. I couldn't go there, I had gone there, had to go to a new place - feel something new. Walked down one street and nothing, the next street, nothing. I got ramen. Nagi Ramen. My favorite fucking ramen. I want that ramen right now. It's probably the trashiest and smallest ramen place I've been to, you can barely even get to your seat, and it's in the weirdest area. It's sort of fitting, but god is it good. The noodles aren't straight, gay, they're gay noodles. Their kinda wobbly and fat and then you also get the lasagna-like noodles that slurp so loud. I scare myself with my own slurp, i don't even know if that counts as good manners slurping that loud. The fish broth is to die for. I love that fish broth with my life. Add tons of extra sardines if you remember to, I usually don't because I slurp down my extra large dish so fast and then I regret my entire meal for not having added the sardines. I finally left that place, I think that's the only good thing about that night. I left and kept circling around the few repetitive alleys. I would occasionally go in between the buildings to cross alleyways to change things up and it felt like a loop, my stomach in heaven blinding my eyes and making me dizzy, wanted to puke, but I was not about to puke up that ramen. I decided on this "movie bar" I walked in and asked what movie was playing, it was a music video. Ok. There was a holy man there. I sat next to this angry looking guy, well-combed and shiny hair, built, his muscles defining his white shirt which obviously was partly unbuttoned. I didn't want to think he was angry. I sat a seat away and he began talking to me. Like all my other encounters in Japan, with horrible English where you understand 1/10 words. So I "talked" to him, or better yet, he spoke to me. Every time I said something, he would change his point of conversation and every few points, he would say the holy man was evil, he never took his eyes off him. Sometimes he'd take a second to look at me, but he would stare down the holy man as he hit on some girls. Some kid came in and kind of forced me, morally, to sit next to the angry guy. I kept on drinking my beer and listened to the holy man's conversation, understanding nothing in Japanese, so I'd look up at the music videos that played, and I was just so uncomfortable that I could make no conversation. What made me get another round of beer, I don't know, I should've left earlier. I hoped for the angry guy to buy me one but one shouldn't expect anything, especially from an angry stranger spouting Japanese society and government conspiracies while shitting on an apparently perverted and sinful holy man. I left. Night was going fantastic. I looked for Aiko, walked into 5GALLONS but the wrong 5GALLONS, so I went to the right one after a bit. It was pretty big and pretty empty. Didn't know what to do or say. So I just asked for her and asked for whiskey on the rocks. She carved a giant piece of ice into a ball, that was neat. Probably the big highlight of my night, a round piece of ice. Spoke to the two dudes next to me, I think they were German, I don't know. They were off to another bar so that meant I was going to be isolated with Aiko and this other dude. I mean, the whole thing was awkwardish. As it was getting closer to midnightI decided to leave, I don't know how poor or drunk I would've been at 5am and I didn't want to find out. My liver directed me to FamilyMart to get a StrongZero, the 9% alcoholic beer-esque thing of random flavors, I don't know what alcohol they use. I got lemon though. It's like a soda. Got one and looked for the metro that was open and would take me home. It took me a while, most were closed and i remember running with my drink in hand. I looked like an idiot definitely, drinking my shitty drink alone. Fuck that night. Though the morning was okay, now that I remember; kind of. I just had that egg-chicken dish that was real nice. It was a good dish. Anyway, it's not that interesting to write about but I had a nice lunch.
It was the next day that I did absolutely nothing. Had no money.
Ate rice balls - planned my next move. I was scared. Asked for money. I was scared.
Japan needed some sort of conclusion, i couldn't just leave like that. It would be too sad, to cutoff.