Tokyo 2

I'm back on my bullshit, like Jordan, no Pippen....If this is my life then I'm Tokyo drifting

I’m a huge car guy, I can’t tell you how many times I would read about an international car show and be kicking myself that I hadn’t gone and seen it firsthand...one side of car culture that I always see reported on through my favourite car blogs are the customising and tuning vendors of Japan. 

The absolute best place to take all of that in is the Tokyo auto saloon. This is just another example of divine timing and my amazing luck with everything in the world, but it just so happened that the Tokyo auto saloon was going on during my unplanned trip to Japan.

I’m sitting in in my mates house reading a car blog talking about the auto show and then it dawned on me, oh my gosh I can just fly up to Tokyo and go see that myself. So that’s what I did! 

It's a quick flight from Osaka to Tokyo so I didn’t plan on doing anything here that was gonna require an overnight stay. I just arrived early in the morning and made sure that I had a really late flight out. I chucked my day full of three things... Team labs museums, Tokyo auto saloon, and sittin' by the dock in the bay.

Tokyo bay that is ...mission 1 complete

TeamLabs had come up from all of my other mates who talk about Japan, and I had never fucking heard of it but here we are ...TeamLabs - of which there are two flavours: Borderless and Planets to choose from in Tokyo. Of course, I had to go because I had the time to live someone else's dream. 

One of them (Planets) was a bit more physical and the other one (Borderless) was more interactive art, of the two I connected more with the art side of things - it felt the more physical one was geared towards children and families. Nonetheless, I was able to squeeze both of them into the itinerary. I won't spoil it with a huge photo dump and even still, you can't grasp the movement and dynamic from a still photo but go see it for yourself!

Me in my natural habitat ....surrounded by balls

I am the art, the art is me

At times it felt like I'd taken a heroes dose of mushrooms and forgot about it

TL Planets was more interactive in terms of having to climb shit, slide down shit, or feel like you had to throw a child out of your way... so I didn't get a chance to take heaps of photos....imagine holding a phone and balancing on a bunch of broken rainbow steps. I digress, the wait time was worth it - but if I had to only do one, it would have been Borderless.

The main event tho was of course the Tokyo Auto Saloon. 

I cannot say enough. I fucking love minivans and supercars. Specifically adventure mini vans ....speaking directly to the Mitsubishi Delica here which was a very popular van to have customised in the show because it comes out the factory already kind of prepared for an off-road camping adventure. Was it weird for a grown man to run around a car venue sporting an 8" boner for all to see cause he can't hide his adventure-van love? No...not here anyway., if anything it'd be weird not to. Sport that van boner mate, this is a safe space!

UGHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

YEUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

OH MY GAUUUUUDDDDDDDDD

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

*cums*

Bro, I am feeling so AlphaHard rn 

Btw that is my favourite car name of all time....Alphahard. followed by StepWagon (Honda). ...Stepwagon, what are you doing???

And of course you had all of your showstoppers ...the latest Lexus supercar and latest Lexus minivan....

Slammed, how I'm tryin to be

....Project V...for Vandetta..

.. the coolest component of this show were obviously all of the tuner vehicles. Everything from Nissan to Rolls were here ....

I liked this far more in person than I had in magazines 

M'urica

I'm gonna give you my Initial-D 😏

There’s a really cool vibe to the whole event that makes you feel very connected to what each tuner is delivering.

For scale...you have like 5 rooms of this size just full of goodness

...and I picked up my first Daruma for my mate and I!

Special mention to this ramen spot btw!! If you wrap up your TeamLabs Borderless and want something tasty...

I am always happy eating. 

OHHHHH Buddy.  Of course, I had to  squeeze in my lyrical nonsense on my way out of here....do I now own a pair of lacy underwear from Tokyo? You bet your Billie Eilish I do. 

Don't have to guess the color of your underwear
Already know what you've got goin' on down there
It's that lacy black pair with the little bows
The ones I picked out for you in Tokyo

Tokyo

Tokyo

Memoir of a Gay-sha!

Perhaps the only one country I had any kind of preparation to see is Japan.
Took Japanese language courses in college with the plan on visiting and being able to navigate without an issue... and to my credit, I did v well... with my iPhone. LOL

I landed in Tokyo coming from my trip to Bangkok....requiring a much needed rest.

The excitement cannot be overstated!

side note: JAL Airlines hands down has the best food ever..; you enjoy the menu from their "restaurant" called BEDD which you can order on a tablet at your seat. I ordered so many bento boxes LOL

Now, when I would dream of Tokyo, I imagined a blend of high fashion, goofy outfits, talking robots, classic temples, cherry blossoms, and anime themed everything. Tokyo didn't disappoint on any one of those dreams! o(≧∇≦o)

TOKYO A GO-GO BABY!!

Seriously,  I am so in love with this culture, I'm convinced there is a Japanese school girl in my soul that loves kawaii everything; she was finally home!! 

ﾍ(=^･ω･^= )ﾉ 

 Yes. Yes. Yes  

The Harijuku Ghillie Suit

                                 

       I stayed in Shibuya in the Harajuku district to be in the heart of the Tokyo fashion scene...where the catwalk got its claws, Irasshaimase! (thanks Gwen Stefani). You will see a lot of Japans cute fashion being represented in this area, a plus for people watching.  I was able to see most of what I wanted just walking about, which is great because the super kick ass transit system is confusing af to me.  щ(゜ロ゜щ)

A school girl in a man in a robot woman. #OnlyInJapan

First stop, Yoyogi Park...

You can literally wander in this park for hours on end, which I was happy to do. You will eventually come across Meiji Jingu Temple, an incredible temple in the heart of Tokyo. Honestly, its easy to forget you're in a massive city when you're in this park... (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

 

 I loved all the photo ops here. Plus, I found my dream door. (thats gotta be a normal thing)

I. Love. This. Door ♥(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

The scope of this trip was for me to recover from the shit show that was Bangkok, which was easily accomplished. Tokyo's skyline is pretty and easy to get lost in thought staring into...I highly recommend finding a place with a tub on the roof, it was a flawless way to enjoy the view and relax for long periods.  (๑꒪▿꒪)*

Taittinger and views.

In the morning its off to do some shopping! Holy shit, they have a store chain called SoftBank which are like our Sharper Image on steroids...actual robots in there. She talked and twerked! Tech-boner! 

but actually, tho.. she said no. :: ˓(ᑊᘩᑊ⁎) ::

Ha. I almost married that robot. Surely it's legal here.

These were the guests I invited to the wedding

Would have had our honeymoon at the Robot Restaurant that night (duh).  Robot Restaurant puts on an hour long dinner show with battling robots, dancers, crazy costumes, and some wild techno music. This is a must see for a weird Japan enthusiast.

Alas, I settled into a bitter truth: A gay man cannot marry a heterobot. On to the next...

 I explored every corner I could and still felt like I hadn't seen enough! Not to be a size queen but Tokyo Tower is goddamngigantic! 

o(〃＾▽＾〃)o    Daddies~!

I freakin love this city, the food was incredible, a niche for anything you could imagine existed here, and yet still I could not find a place to rest my heart. Perhaps next time I will find love...

Probs not, got a cool umbrella tho...

I mean, like, a super cool umbrella!

Oh! The classic car scene was unexpected:

Till next time Tokyo! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩

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