Soundtrack: "We Can Fly" - The Cowsills

Hi! I got to go to Tokyo, exciting! I only went for 3 days though. I had to really pack it all in. It was

sort of for business (thanks aNYthing!), but it was allllll pleasure. (ew, sorry.) Anyway, the flight was

14 hours, which is no sweat when you can watch Talladega Nights seven times in a row. (And I'm

still not sick of it.)

I went straight to the gallery where Tim was setting up his Tiny Vices group show to meet the boys,

but Ryan and Jerry were nowhere to be found. Where could they be?

Oops! Found 'em!

Nightcap

Because Glen couldn't come with me last minute, there was a room mix-up so I ended up crashing

on the teeny couch in the boys' room. Cozy!

G'night roomies!

The next morning. Mmm, hotel breakfast buffet!

The view from the top of the Cerulean Towers...

Great thing number-bazillion about Tokyo: Smoking everywhere! Here's Yukio, he runs Vice Japan.

He and his dad are the awesome guys who invited me to Japan for top secret business I cannot yet

divulge. Thanks you guys!!

Then it was time to go shopping! The boys (actually, just Ryan) only wanted to go to fancy places like

Comme des Boring.

and A Boring Ape.

But then I found my own personal heaven at Kiddy Land!

Six floors of brain-melting cuteness! I basically bought one of everything.

I also enjoyed nearby Snoopy Town.

I bought snoopy toothpaste and snoopy chopsticks.

Maki was our official shower-arounder. She's from Westchester! Small world.

I dunno how I would've gotten around without her. Thanks Maki!

Fun fact! The subway trains have women-only cars because during rush hour it gets so crowded that

men grab girls' butts all the time and it got too out of control.

Weird subway station ad. I asked Maki what it meant and she said it doesn't really translate well but

it has something to do with making fun of this guy's name. Ooookay.

Everything in Tokyo has cartoon characters on it. Everything! Man, I wish there were subway penguins

in New York.

I think these guys are asking me not to smoke or litter or something. How could I say no to these

little fellas?

Yes sir, Mr. cute officer!

And cigarette machines everywhere! I love this city. Oh, you can

also buy beer and saki in street vending machines. You use your cell

phone as ID and also as a credit card. You just hold it up to the vending

machine and it's like, ok cool, here's a beer, thanks.

My eyes were on fire.

What are these cute little critters? Oh nothing, just Pokemon shaped CONDOMS is all. Almost

makes me wish I had a weiner.

Chelsea Hotel?

This is like the Japanese equivalent of Kmart except everything is insane and/or cute as fuck. I spent

like four hours in there. Best purchase: A stuffed teddy bear cigarette holder where the arms come

around the front to hug your lighter. I can't explain it, but it is entirely unnecessary and entirely RAD.

And finally, Shibuya at night. Kinda like Times Square but a million times more crowded. Everyone's

shouting in foreign languages and they'll trample you if you walk too slow. I felt right at home. Ooh,

but instead of handing out boring flyers, people hand out little tissue packets with funny cartoon ads

on them. So handy!

So that's basically all I did in the daytime: Shop. Next stop: Nightlife!