Yesterday started out pretty badly, as I awoke with a headache, a serious case of homesickness, and the temporary inability to find anything resembling breakfast food. I walked around and found a 7-11 where I got some yogurt and coffee, which I then took to a small shrine and ate overlooking a giant buddha statue with tears streaming down my face. When I got back to the ryokan (guesthouse), I met Rick, an American from Atlanta who's been traveling for 6 months all over SE Asia, basically doing my trip in reverse. I was elated to meet someone I could talk to, and we spent the day at the Tokyo National Museum. We had some cheap ramen in Shinjuku for dinner and then he went to the Lou Reed concert down the street, allowing me to explore one of Tokyo's most hustley bustley neighborhoods alone on a Friday night.

Wandering around Shinjuku, I found a gay bar called Advocates where there were 400 yen drink specials, the requisite cheesy house music, and best of all, dozens of expats. One of them, a Texan named Aurelio who'd defied his Jehovah's Witness upbringing, came out of the closet and moved to Japan to escape his family, was appalled by the thought of my leaving Tokyo so quickly and offered me his couch to sleep on to save some money. Yay!

Ky, a friend of danah's from her Amsterdam days, came to meet me at the bar and we spent a few hours chatting. (Thanks for the connection danah, he's great.) We caught the last subway home with all the very drunk businessmen, which was an experience unto itself. I seem to recall taking it upon myself to help two guys still in suits take their ties off, advising them to relax a little. This was received with many giggles from girls in the vicinity. I got home and rolled very drunkenly into bed around 12:30.

I am on my way over to Aurelio's place now, and will be able to stick around Tokyo for a few more days. Ky and his boyfriend Takeshi are taking me out tonight for a little more exposure to Japanese nightlife. Dancing perhaps?