Friday, August 17, 2012

Roppongi

Ever since we arrived, we've heard talk of nights out in Roppongi.  Roppongi is one of the nightlife districts in Tokyo.  The trains stop running around midnight and don't start back up again until around 5:00 in the morning.  So, if you want to do a night out in Roppongi, you either have to go early and be on one of the last trains back to Atsugi or you take the last train to Roppongi (which gets you there around 1:00 a.m.) and then take the first train home in the morning.

Some of the guys in J.'s squadron did a night out in Roppongi before deployment but I've been scared to try it.  What if I get there and I want to go home at 3:00 a.m.?!  I knew I would try it once during our time here, I just didn't know when.  

We decided on a whim to go last Friday night.  We had dinner, took naps and met at the Ebina train station at 11:40 p.m. to get on the last train to Roppongi.  (I should also note that we did try to get a hotel room at the New Sanno but they were booked).  Once we were on the train, that was it!  There was no turning back.

Excited and scared

Mr. B. is pumped

We made it!

At Geronimo's Shot Bar

J. + Me

Bar #1

Bar #2

We successfully made it through a night in Roppongi!

Roppongi at sunrise!

We actually had a really good time!  We started a countdown on a our iPhones to help us stay motivated and I really didn't feel like I was ready to go home until around 4:00ish.  At that point, I knew I could make it one more hour!  We even tried to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market auction on our way home, but they had already let in the maximum amount of guests by the time we arrived.

My advice for a night out in Roppongi:

(1) Get a good nap in before you go.
(2) Take the last possible train there.
(3) Drink a lot of water!
(4) Do it on a night when you have nothing planned for the next day so you can go home and sleep!

I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

1 comment:

  1. Thought you may be interested in the novel I just published ... "Roppongi"
    I used to manage one of the bars you went to (Mogambo) back in the mid-nineties for about a year and a half.
    Roppongi is a very much tamer animal now, than it was back then!
    http://www.roppongithenovel.com/

    ReplyDelete