Last office day/Gaijin boozing
It was my last day in the office — I fly tomorrow — and after a wrap-up meeting, where I was surprised to find that every stated goal of my visit had been met, I was given the choice of where to go for lunch. I chose donburi. It was tasty.
I received a phone call from family friend Zak, who was keen to make up for being ill at the weekend, by showing me some of the drinking holes of Tokyo. I made my farewells to my colleagues, got changed in the hotel, and made my way to the Marunouchi Building near Tokyo station. The hotel is right next to the entrance to Tamieke-Sanno station, which is supposedly on the Marunouchi line, but in fact it’s at least a kilometer walk from entrance to Marunouchi platform, by which time the signs on the platform no longer say Tamieke-Sanno!
Zak works for Bloomberg, and I had arranged to meet him at his office. I blustered my way past some security guards. Despite signs announcing “enhanced security”, when I was unable to show either company ID or a passport, they shrugged and let me through anyway. After some adventures with lifts, I was being greeted warmly by Bloomberg’s receptionist. The office is something of a showpiece, and Zak showed me round their many departments, each desk sporting a busy multi-screen Bloomberg terminal.
From the 27th floor, there is a stunning view of the Imperial Palace. Zak told me that they used to be able to see Mount Fuji, but a new tower now obscured it. A clause in the building’s deeds guaranteed the Fuji view until a certain date. The new building obscured that view the very day that date was passed.
We repaired to a bar in the lower part of the building, and had some drinks with two of Zak’s colleagues. Then we took the train to Ebisu. Zak had a hankering for English food, and I was curious about the Japanese take on a British pub, so he led me to “What the Dickens”, where we had a very authentic steak pie with chips and veg, ketchup and HP sauce. The beer was off and the floor was grubby: fantastic attention to detail, recreating a typical English pub!
We took a taxi to Shibuya, and stumbled on another English pub that was new to Zak, so we had to try it. The Aldgate was small, pleasant, served a good stout, and had The White Stripes playing on their sound system. However, in a fantastic Japanese touch, there was a sign outside the toilets asking you to remove your shoes before entering.
We moved on, stopped in an arcade to play a rhythm action game. I won by a mile. The experience was marred by the fact that the music we were meant to be drumming to was completely drowned out by the arcade’s background music.
We had cocktails somewhere rather fancy, then looked around trying to find a specific bar Zak couldn’t quite locate. With the last train looming, we decided that I had to experience Shibuya’s famous Gas Panic. It’s most famous for ejecting any punter who doesn’t have a drink in their hand. If they can keep attracting customers while treating them that way, it must be a fun place, right? Actually it’s like the worst small-town English nightclub you’ve ever been to. Zak assures me it can be fun if you go on the right night.
We got on the Ginza metro line, and at my stop, I only had time for a very quick farewell and thankyou before the doors closed and the train took Zak away.
Thanks Zak!