The Claska Hotel in Meguro Offers Tokyo's Cheapest Party!
In April this year I wrote about attending a party where I had to make a business card in order to enter. Well, they got my email address from my card and occasionally invite me to other events that they hold.The Lobby & Lounge
Dog Grooming
Free Heineken, wine, and soft drinks
The vending floor
I think what makes these parties free is the price paid by vendors to sell at the party. A big room on one of the hotel's floors gets filled with products for sale. Most of the items are artistic, unique and eclectic.Shirts with protruding designs
A trendy, wall mounted tissue case
Let's hear it again for free beer and wine!!
Last night's Halloween at Claska!
Last night Miho, my German roommate Alex, his girlfriend, Asako, his friend, Tim, and I, went to a party at Claska together. It wasn't a costume party at all, but I really felt weird going to a party on October 31st without doing something out of the ordinary so I stole Ryan's western shirt, and wore it with an old had that an elderly man gave him when he was sunburned in a small, coastal town. I then bought the mask for one-hundred yen at the party! Unfortunately, there were probably less than ten people dressed up at the whole party. Oh well, more attention for me!!
At gakugei daigaku station
I was the closest to having a costume on in our group. Alex attempted to dress like a "pimp" by putting on some of Ryan's regular clothes. Asako was dressed in a nice dress, and Miho was business-casual as she went to the party straight from work. Tim ended up in some devil horns, but I'm not sure how he got them.Alex and Asako at dinner
Miho and I at dinner
Tim on the roof, looking at Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower from the roof
The roof was the last place we hung out before deciding to leave. As we passed by the reception desk I remembered that I forgot my jacket at the first party I ever went to at Claska and asked if they still had it. Luckily for me continued hanging on to it since April!
Miho and I made our way to the train and got a reminder of how crazy Saturday night trains are in Tokyo. The cars were full of drunk people, one of which had vomit all over its floor. Miho unexpectedly ended up with Alex's hat on at the end of the night, but as expected she fell asleep in her seat!
OyasuMiho
Humboldt County: Cali's Finest!
Some people say that there is "nothing to do" in Southern Humboldt County. I totally disagree. This is an area full of events, festivals, and too many outdoor activity opportunities to count. So to those of you who say that Southern Humboldt is boring, I say, "You are boring!"
Snoop Dogg in Eureka
One of the first things I did during my month long stay in Southern Humboldt was use my sister's unused Stephen Marley & Snoop Dogg concert ticket. The venue was Eureka's Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, which, in my opinion, was very lacking in atmosphere. The show didn't sell out, and they weren't selling alcohol so I wonder if they were able to profit off of the show.
Stephen Marley was first and put on a quality set. A fun surprise was that he brought out famous Jamaican performer Spragga Benz to perform with him for three or four songs. Snoop Dogg also had some surprise guests as he performed alongside DPG (Daz and Kurupt). Kurupt even performed a few songs, but Daz didn't rap at all and seemed like he might be too out of shape to rock the mic. Snoop kept it "old school" with a full band backing him, and sticking with mostly old songs. One of the coolest things was when he covered House of Pain's "Jump Around."
Humboldters have somewhat of a tendency throw marijuana buds up to performers, but the way that Snoop interpreted this was interesting. He took matters into his own hands and passed a bucket around the crowd for pot donations not once, not twice, but THREE different times during his show! C'mon Snoop, you're already getting 50K to perform for 1.5 hours, do you really need all the freebies?
A week or so later I went to my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary which was attended by around one-hundred people. The party was great, and with so many family members there, it was like a second family reunion! I was shocked to see that my kindergarten, first, second, and third grade teachers were there. All but one of them remembered my name and it was cool to catch up with them. It was a serious flash to the past!
Later that day I attended my friend from high school's wedding party which was held in the same community of Salmon Creek. In fact, people were pulling into the driveway of my Aunt and Uncle's party thinking it was the other party! Anyway, my buddy did an incredible job organizing what ended up being one of the coolest parties I have ever been to. It was held far out in the Salmon Creek hills where people own multiple, and sometimes hundreds of acres of property. Dozens of people were camping on site, there was a stage with five bands, open bar, pig roast, and more! Probably the highlight of the party was seeing my friend Jessie's band "Fear Mia" for the first time. Their performance was some of the most fun I have seen in a while!
Another very notable house party in Southern Humboldt took place in the Elk Ridge community near Briceland. This party was unique in that it featured electronic-club music DJs, and a fun, rave atmosphere. There were all sorts of colorful visuals hanging from branches, decorating the dance-floor which was surrounded by trees, sitting under an extremely clear summer night sky. This was the first time I had seen a party in Humboldt with such a theme and it was great running into more old friends, and seeing them enjoying themselves too.
Heat wave drove us to the coast
Extremely hot weather drove me to spend a few days out at Shelter Cove with Bullet (the family dog). Shelter Cove is still one of my favorite places in the world.
Up on the old stretch of Beach Road
We went to Black Sands beach, and explored the old Beach Road, which once stretched north from the Black Sands parking lot. It goes without saying that Bullet had a good time, but after running around all day he was limping all night. Poor old guy!
More Shelter Cove beauty
Coming soon, my experience filming at Reggae Rising 2009, including HD footage of some of the shows I shot! It's going to be a fun one!
Big City, Big Weekend
I have been learning lately how busy Japanese really are during the workweek, and how they truly pack a lot into their weekends. It is very difficult to hang out with most adults here on weekdays, because work hours often keep people busy quite until late at night. That is the case with Miho who is now working full-time in Tokyo.
This past weekend I had a lot of options on my plate, and all of them seemed so fun that I had to give them all a chance. Since I hadn't seen Miho since before her work week started, her and I met up near my place around eight on Friday night and had cheap Italian food, which tasted pretty good considering the low prices. She didn't have time to come see my new place, but she was back in my neighborhood the following afternoon to visit for the day. We made curry and went on a walk along the riverside where the last of the cherry blossoms were still holding on for their lives. The wind has been strong so the weak blossoms are all floating away.She went home around seven so she would have time to go shopping before dinner with her parents. I, on the other hand, got ready to go to the city and meet my friend, Duffy, to join him at a party at condo in a complex that is known for being Japan's second-highest residential tower, and having condos worth over a million dollars. 
Duffy was less aware of what the party was going to be like than I thought he would be, so we were a little nervous about what to expect. We made our way through three layers of video intercoms to get to the forty-fifth floor shindig, talking to random partygoers who graciously answered our calls and unlocked the doors.The living room had a blue theme, while the other rooms were red
When the lights accidentally got turned on
We finally made it in to the party which contained a fun mix of foreigners, locals, and took place primarily in the living room with two different wrap-around seating areas, and another room with more seating. A woman collected a steep $30 from us each, which gave us admission, and an open bar. There were a couple ladies taking drink orders all night.
On the balcony with Duffy the football player
I made a friend there who is a Japanese guy who had heard of Humboldt County and Reggae on the River. He couldn't believe that I listened to reggae, and said that judging by my clothes I was probably listened to U2! He told me oh his stories of going to Jamaica and being called a "chink" while being robbed at gunpoint.
With the comic book girl
I almost forgot to mention the comic book artist who was actually one of the first people I talked to at the party. She was kind of awkward to converse with, and often wouldn't even answer, she just would nod her head to respond. Later in the party I looked across the room and realized she had her sketch book out and was drawing me! I didn't have much of an urge to look at what she had drawn, but at one point when I randomly walked by her as she continued to draw something, she abruptly, and dramatically shielded her work, like Batman might do with his cape to block killer bees. Finally, to top it off, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before in the midst of all her crazy fashion. She was wearing a mask, backwards, on her head. I told Duffy and had her go have her put on the mask for a picture, because I knew I would need visual evidence to assure myself this girl really exists.A very drunk Swedish guy and some locals
Duffy sleeping while being shown pictures
Fashion of designer wallets sticking out of mens' pockets
Hanging out at that party extremely late was quite tolerable because there was no smoking inside, only on the balcony. I arrived there around nine knowing what time my last train home was, as well as the first morning train because I wasn't sure I was going to want to be there all night or not. Well, I ended up having a better time there than I ever could have imagined to I gladly hung out until dawn.
Outside the building as dawn broke
The first train got me home around 6:45AM on Sunday, and I had to leave the house by 8:30 to meet up with Miho and her family to go to a Tulip festival in their town.
Since their town is a sister city to a place in Holland, the festival had a Dutch feel to it, and I think lots of the flowers there were from Holland. There were also Dutch snacks for sale, though we went out for Chinese food later that afternoon. I did my best to be alert though I was drowsy all day.
A good accordion band
You could pick flowers, and buy them
"Not for sale" (right Miho?)
