06/22 - "This is the only natural inclination of men."

Just walking around

to just kinda check stuff out. 

Just looking around. 


Today I spent the day with Cathal again, after crashing at his hotel last night. It was the first time I had slept in a bed since April 30th when I stayed at my dad's house in Calgary the night before flying to Japan. It was nice to sleep in a bed and even though I had to share it with Cathal it was king size, so it was like having a bed to myself. In the morning it was also nice to be in a hotel, as I took advantage of the luxuries offered, AKA I took as much free shit as I could.

For the day Cathal and I traipsed around Tokyo, first visiting Ometesandō. It's a lovely, slightly ritzy area, with the district of Shibuya. Sometimes it's called Tokyo's Champs-Élysées. Unfortunately, our plans to walk around a whole lot were kiboshed by the fact that when we got to the station exit to the street it was pouring rain. Using an umbrella but still getting wet, we managed to walk for a little bit, to check out a fantastic store called Winged Wheel. It's a paper that specializes in "fine paper and custom printing". They have many amazing cards, invitations and envelopes. It's sounds like an odd choice of store for a couple of dudes to go to, but Cathal and I love stationery. The staff probably didn't even need to know that we had shared a bed the night before to think we were gay, since we rolled up sharing an umbrella and then discussed the colour combinations of cards and envelopes. We both bought a few things, for shockingly low prices, which they then beautifully wrapped. Nothing like buying a nice envelope which is immediately wrapped in another, free, nice envelope.

Next we headed to Shibuya for some lunch, where we waited a bit but got into another location of the sushi restaurant we ate in the last time Cathal was in Tokyo. The sushi was again very good and we didn't make any mistakes with the green tea powder this time. (Read about the last trip here.)

After a trip back to Cathal's hotel to collect his bags, since he was leaving for Australia that evening, which allowed us to have a cup of tea and me to take advantage of some free fruit and snacks in the executive lounge, we headed to Tokyo Station. Tokyo Station is very cool and has a nice old look to it from the outside. We went to the neighbouring Kitte building, which is formerly the Tokyo Central Post Office. Kitte means stamp in Japanese. The building has the original, preserved facade of the 1930s Post Office which is made up of very cool white tiles. It also has the original postmaster's room inside, restored, and the headquarters for the Japan Post Bank, which is my bank here. The sliding automatic doors to enter the building are incredibly tall and inside there is a huge open foyer with a super tall ceiling, stretching up above all seven floors. There are chains that hang down from the ceiling to mark where tall columns used to be. There are tons of nice stores and cafes inside and an Onitsuka Tiger shop. Lots of the stores specialize in items that are very skillfully designed or have to do with design, a favourite of Cathal's. It was a great place to spend the last little bit of Cathal's visit with him, since we're unsure when the next time we'll see each other will be, and where.

Today's poem and title were written using lines from Jerry Seinfeld's famous stand-up comedy set "I'm Telling You For the Last Time". Since Cathal and I just spent the day checking stuff out, I thought it was fitting. Jerry says:

You wanna know what men are really thinking? 'Cause I could tell you. Would you like to know?
Alright, I'll tell you. Nothing. We're not thinking anything. We're just walking around, looking around.
This is the only natural inclination of men. To just kinda check stuff out.

While I can't say I think Cathal and I don't do much thinking, it's an absolutely hilarious bit that fits well with a good lazy Sunday.