AUTHOR: SalsaCrazy TITLE: Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo - Really Salsa Crazy! DATE: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 ----- BODY:

What's not to love about the Japanese New York City? The night life is insane, and there's the crazy nightlife, and then there's just that nightlife that's totally crazy. This place is Salsa Crazy - as in many salsa clubs, all within blocks of each other, happening every night of the week, and all of them doing well. It's a salsa-goers paradise (but you better be prepared to take up heavy drinking and smoking), but more on that later . . .Tokyo was the last city on this Asia tour, and I wish I had spent more time there! In short, Tokyo deserves it's own stay, rather than the week I spent.

If you're gonna do nightlife, best to stay in an area known as Roppongi, even though it could be a bit pricy (~$100 a night). I finally understand why people kept telling me how expensive Japan is - it's all about Tokyo! Tokyo IS pricey. Very comparable to NYC (in many ways), in that's it's a little more expensive than pretty much any other city I visited. My stay there literally cost about twice as much as anywhere else. You'll be eating out, drinking out, etc . . . All clubs usually cost between 1000-1500 yen including a drink ticket (10-15 USD), and are DJ only (although there is live music in Tokyo, I did not get a chance to see it). Some clubs are better on some nights, while others cater to a specific type of music or salsa (Timba or On2 for example), and all of them have some very fun dancers in them. Then there's the big clubs, like Velfarre once every 2 weeks (think of a Tokyo Ruby Skye), or Salsa Caribe (a place that is happening on EVERY night you go there). Most clubs are crazy small, which, at first, I thought would drive me crazy - but it actually works (somehow). People are fairly space conscious, except on weekends, where it's a battleground.

Seems like a fair amount more people stay out ALL night here. The clubs stay open past 12, into the whee hours, and strangely enough - many people don't leave! I came into one club at 4:00 am, it was doing quite well, and you actually had people passed out (sleeping), waiting for the trains to re-start. Now that's crazy. ;) There are also many great sites to see in Toyko, and we'll go over all of them, with travel tips, and day-by-day salsa guides, in our big travel update.

I can't believe this trip is already over! What a whirwhind. I'll be heading back to San Francisco in a flash. It barely feels as if I left. I ran into so many travellers who were taking half a year to travel, and sightsee - what a life eh? I'm certainly happy I got this opportunity to see this part of the world, and I'll be educating others as to the sights, sounds, salsa, and pitfalls with a lenghty review. In a future trip I'd like to visit Thailand and Beijing to round out my travels, but perhaps it's too early to be talking about the next trip. ;)

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