New years eve

I had to jump in the shuttle to a bus to a train to the subway this time to get to Shinjuku from kusatsu. When I got there, I was walking to the hotel and the passageways were just empty. It was actually a little scary as there were these long corridors of travelators with no-one there.
I checked in, had a quick shower and unwound with some tv for a little bit. When I left the hotel there were some people drinking out the front so I started chatting to them, turns out they were all LGBT and off to a gay bar. They invited me along and I was tempted but figured I should keep searching .
I jumped into a restaurant that had ramen on the menu and smashed down a bowl quickly then started walking for a place to drink. There were a number of buskers around the train station which were entertaining to watch for a bit. Some people were just getting drinks from 7/11s and drinking that with the entertainment.
The place still felt quiet but the closer I got to golden gai the more I ran into people. It was mostly foreigners out which makes sense as all the Japanese people were home or at temples with their families.
I wandered around until I found a place which didn't have a cover charge and spoke English, popped my head in for a quick drink and ended up spending the night there. Met Martin, Enrico and Xavi from Scotland, Italy and Spain. A couple of others popped in and out but hung out with them the most. The owner of Aces was amazing 51 and kept hassling my taste in music but was a great guy to talk to. I brought a round, pretty much every drink was $8 which was highish but not that bad.
We wandered for a bit through kabuki-cho but then I left the guys as they were off to the strip clubs.
On the way home I grabbed a little bite from Wendy's (mostly so I could use the toilet) and then went home to call it a night. It was a rock hard bed but that didn't matter at that point.Read more