i believe that if you have a spotty and unpredictable sleep cycle for enough years in a row, jet lag will cease to affect you. case in point: i woke up bright and early on a futon (布団) in a tokyo (東京) hostel after a 17 hour time-zone change feeling awake, refreshed, and ready to carpe the fucking diem.

showing off some awesome panda 'muffs in harajuku (原宿)

__harajuku (原宿)__
the first stop on my list was harajuku (原宿). this place is known for its interesting mix of fashion styles which can vary from punk, cosplay (anime characters), and hipster, to everything in between. it was so fun to walk through the crowded streets and absorb all the outlandish different styles young japanese people like to wear these days.

entering harajuku (原宿)

__mind-reading vending machines__
after meeting up with a friend from mie (三重), we decided to go to shinagawa (品川) to try to find the vending machines that read your mind. yeah, you read that right; in japan, drink chooses you! shinagawa station has a vending machine with cameras and software that try to determine the customers' gender and age. it then recommends drinks that it "thinks" youll enjoy. for as sexist, ageist, and imperfect as its algorithm undoubtedly was, i must admit that it recommend nothing but coffee drinks for me. which, truth be told, was pretty spot-on considering how much coffee ive been drinking lately.

waiting for the vending machine to tell her what she wants to drink, shinagawa (品川)

__tokyo tower (東京タワー)__
next we headed over to minato (港) to see tokyos beloved tokyo tower (東京タワー). much like the stratosphere in vegas, the space needle in seattle, and the cn tower in toronto, the tokyo tower is a super touristy building that offers breathtaking views of the city along with long lines and expensive elevators. that being said, however, it was very beautiful and im totally glad i did it at least once in my life.

a view of a star-shaped road system from tokyo tower (東京タワー)

on a disturbingly sad and ironic note, my friend pointed out a plaque written in braille describing the view from the top of the tower.

a plaque written in braille describing the view from the top of the tokyo tower (東京タワー)

__toshikoshi soba (年越しそば)__
after the tower, i got to partake in one of what seems like the hundreds of japanese new years traditions: toshikoshi soba (年越しそば). we found our way to a nearby soba shop and ordered two big bowls of hot toshikoshi soba, which is a delicious noodle soup whose name literally means "the end of the year soba." ive been told that long soba noodles represent a long life; thus eating them at the end of the year is a way to lengthen one's longevity. we'll never know if it really worked for me, but it was fun to participate in the tradition nonetheless.

__new years bar__
the last stop of the night was to ring in the new year at an irish pub in ueno (上野). our waitresses totally wore big fluffy pink bunny costumes. ha, leave it to japan to make the waitresses at a totally un-japanese place like an irish pub wear bunny outfits. anyways, i got to finish the old year drinking guinnesses and start the new one sipping glenlivet. not surprisingly, there were no new years kisses; but honestly i cant remember the last time i had one of those anyways.

note: the waitress on the table to the left is dressed like a bunny, ueno (上野)