I can't remember now what it was, but for two consecutive nights, I had flashes of that era. Maybe by trying to recite these memories, those two that stood out will come to me.
***
It was one of those weekends when I was still exploring Tokyo, far from being homesick, I was still on a honeymoon stage with the city and I would take the JR line from Meguro to a destination of my choice. That weekend, my choice stop was Akihabara, the electronic town of Tokyo.
Instantly, the Akiba (its nickname) station greets you with blasting J-Pop music and promo girls wearing the ubiquitous crazy high heels and short skirts. They were promoting the new model of the NTT Docomo phone.
Across the station huge LCD screens greeted me like an old friend, while along the streets there are boxes of computer and phone accesories, batteries and anything electronic under the sun. I bought a G-shock military-inspired watch for L in 2000, and I remember small portable DVD players cost Y69,000 (about P35K in our money)and the Japanese were already using internet on their phone and were also already chatting, using their camphone with friends.
I had time to kill and so I scoured the block, which can be quite daunting because the entire street had thousands of electronic gadgets, gears; obscure or not, they have what you are looking for. I was fascinated, and even went to a basement which to my surprise, was not the place I was expected to be in. It was a manga place, and this manga is inhabited by geeks who escape in a fantasy world of sex and adventure. I was with my friend Cie who was in Tokyo for a business trip, and we were both stared at when we reached the basement of this particular shop. I browsed the pages of the books in front of me, and we ended up scurrying up, reaching for air before we laughed our ass of. We were stared at like we were invading their privacy, like walking in on someone who was mast_rb_ting.
****
I was in jeans and started wearing sneakers in Tokyo (I'm an open toe, sandals girl usually) because of the long walks within the city using the railway system, and I would often remark how fashionable the Japanese women were, wearing CK fitted trench coat that hung just a little below the knees and leather boots. I was supposed to hook up with an English magazine in Tokyo, I was interested to write articles as a gaijin (foreigner). I met this girl, your typical Japanese girl, fashionable in hair, clothes and shoes. She was clad in short shorts, had huge breasts that cling to her thin blouse and wedge sandals that are a mile high. I walked with her to the magazine's office, which turned out to be an apartment she shared with other young editors of the magazine. She spoke good English, and again typical to Japanese, was very polite. I wanted to write for them.
***
I also started looking for another job there and directions were quite confusing especially when my reading is limited to Hiragana. I asked a policeman for directions and yes, one of the reasons I love Japan is their people who work for the government are so darned polite and honest. The policeman spoke to me in Nippongo (of course they don't speak English), and when he realized I could not understand, he spoke slowly, and repeated the instruction until I finally said, "Wakarimashita. I understand. Domo Arigatoo Gozaimasu." I think he even went and saw me make my first turn.
***
I was in my favorite place in Tokyo, within the Omotesando area, which means it's the shopping district. At the Gap shop, I noticed a lot of photographers, and the young people would get photographed for what they were wearing. Street wear, if you may, and these would turn up in fashion magazines. I have one at home, it's title? CUTIE. Grabbed one beside the dirty manga in a local convenience store.
***
I make my monthly deposit at the Tokyo PNB bank, it's located within the financial district, and I do this on a Sunday, after I go to church. The church is memorable because I see a lot of Filipinos, and there would be kiosks set up outside the church where there were Purefoods TJ hotdogs, Chocolait and other well-loved Filipino foods. They would also sell pancit, dinuguan, lumpia and other traditional food.
After this, I remember walking somewhere, we were trying to look for a local Pizza hut that offered eat all you can when I saw an old man wearing a sign, it was in wood and painted with words filled up to the back. It was a menu of some sort. I asked Edsel what the menu was. Eddie told me it was a menu of girls. A sex menu.
***
I love steak. Eddie brought me to this steak place near our work place, and I went with Kenji. This is their favorite secret place, and I can see why. People line up for this steak because it is cheap but so good. I ate with the guys and ate like a guy. It ranks as among my top steak experiences. The steak is so huge I think I gained 2 kilos in that one sitting, with my tenderloin, huge serving of mashed potatoes and terrific fries.
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