oh,

shit – what time is it? did I fucking fall asleep? oh god it’s been like 3 hours, how the fuck did this happen?

…yeah, it’s slowly coming back to me. no biggie – I’ll probably have to pay a few extra bucks but I’m sure I needed that sleep. I do feel rejuvenated and that’s a good thing. I’ll have to do some walking around this afternoon.

I gather my shit and step out of my room, the place is still as quiet as when I came in. seems like time had not been passed at all. the only thing that was different was that the girl who checked me in was gone, and the one who checks me out is a LOT cuter and WAY less friendly. beautiful people are like that in general (and I know that this kind of generalization is about the stupidest thing a man can do) cuz they get different treatment all the time. people love you just because you look good. I read somewhere that being beautiful is being closer to god, and I kind of get what he is saying. people worship beauty everywhere. people make beautiful things so that they can worship them. beauty is power, is justice, and is absolute. but only to the eye of the beholder. what defines beauty varies, and that’s where it gets tricky.

I think I’m done with Ikebukuro – went inside PARCO to see if they had any cool shoes and they did, but I’m not ready to spend $90 on my day 3. besides if it’s not made in Japan, there’s a good chance I can find it cheaper online. (how do retails survive in this day and age?) so I get back on track and take the train to Shin Okubo to visit a place called Chuko Gakki Ya (Used Instrument Store) which I found online. luckily place was visible from the train. a lot of Korean restaurants on this little street – god I’m starting to get hungry. had a late brunch with Takeshi at a Chinese place by his pad and the fried rice was solid, and I’ve been drinking melon soda and Soken Bicha the whole day, so when the hunger hit it hit quick and hard – but I must be patient. cuz tonight I am having my first ramen of the trip.

ramen to me is an artform. as simple as it is, there’s so much that can go into this bowl of noodle soup. and the fact that it’s a comfort food makes it even more interesting. think of pizza or burgers. it’ll be extremely rare to find a japanese native that has NOT had a bowl of ramen in his/her life and/or who does NOT like it. and it’s bad for ya. but ya can’t stop. another aspect of ramen industry is that it’s an easy startup for younger entrepreneurs-alike; it pretty much mirrors the current food truck craze of Los Angeles. matter of fact, many ramen joints that are highly regarded now initially started out food truck style they call Yatai. and people, not even nerds like me but regular folks, young and old, flock to these places once they hear the hype. and Shinjuku where we meet tonight is the mecca of new and some of the best ramen places – well, at least one of them.

going back to my hunt for Japanese Vintage. I do have a few things that I’m looking for; baritone guitars, basses (preferably medium to short scale) and Fernandes Zo-3 aka Nomads. but at the same time my budget is kinda limited for this is only day 3 of my whole stay, so realistically I won’t be making a purchase. so I’ll be mainly just lookin’ – unless I see some major stand-outs. Chuko Gakki Ya had some nice thangs like Fender VI (whopping $9,000) and a 808 that had the “ASK” tag, which means, quoting wi_ngo, you can’t afford it. but the real find was an OG Ibanez Musician bass which Sting circa Reggata De Blanc used to play. Jerry Garcia played the guitar version of this. this shit looked like it just came out of the box, MINT in capitol letters. yea you see ‘em on ebay now and then but to actually touch it for the first time in about 15 years was a treat for me. I just think it’s a beautiful looking instrument, and it’s one of the first active bass guitars ever made if I remember correctly. it was going for about $900 and I say it’s fair, only if I was a few inches taller. even back when I was rocking Moon 5-string fretless trying to be like Marco Mendoza, the thing looked way too big for my frame. yes I’m that vain and Miles said a little bit of showbiz never hurt no one, and I’m running with it.

they also had an 8-string Tune; Tune used to be based in Osaka I believe but now they moved their manufacturing line to Korea. they make ultra-light basses and my good friend and the major badass Doug Ross plays one of them. this one they had is an 8-string; you get an extra string that’s tuned up an octave right next to every string, so you can kinda fake the intro to Jeremy on this one (that is done by 12-string bass). they also had a bunch of old Boogie combos, some old Marshalls, an AC30 that they didn’t wanna sell etc. I was so tempted to try out the Ibanez but there was a college kid who’s trying out some Rectifier playing half-ass Scofield licks. I knew I wasn’t gonna buy it so I left the joint. kept searching for something worthwhile for a few other shops but MAN are they overpriced. no wonder so many japanese guys come shopping in LA, especially now with stronger yen. if I were to live here I’d probably schedule a trip just for that purpose.

now I have little more time than I need to get to Shinjuku but not enough to make a trip to another town, so I decide to talk a walk along the railroad. Tokyo in general has so little space, thus the concentration of people and businesses that cater them in that limited space is just overwhelming (at Shinjuku station alone, over 3.4 million people come and go on a daily basis – and it is on the Guinness World Records) walking around this area is like scuba-diving around the coral reefs of human nature. you get your fix whatever your choice of drug might be; food, alcohol, sex, clothing, celebrities, fast cars, sports, gadgets and real drugs. I feel like a kid in Disneyland with a Mickey Mouse hat on. so excuse me while I take a dive – into the ocean of 3 million souls.
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