So rainy season has officially started – and I have the hellish mosquito bites and soaking shoes to prove it. As you would expect, the sun shone all week but once the weekend came it decided to severely piss down. Sod’s law.

Saying that, it was an eventful weekend crammed full of insanely good ramen, a punk festival in a building that probably should be condemned, random karaoke and a BMX jaunt to Sangenjaya. There really is so much to see and do in this city – and I feel like I’m only just beginning to scratch the surface. Rain or no rain, Tokyo’s a cool place to be.

On Saturday it basically rained for 12 hours straight. On my journey to Naka Meguro for lunch I think I must have counted 200 shades of grey…

Afuri Ramen would brighten up anyone’s day though. I went here on a tip-off from Tim and wasn’t disappointed. Definitely be back to try their signature Yuzo Shio bowl.

And so on to Yokohama. I’ve been down this direction quite a bit recently: but this weekend saw me wandering around the the docks looking for a punk festival I heard about during the week. Raining outside, raining sweat inside – the whole afternoon was pretty much carnage. Some of the bands were insane, notably AOW whose lead singer decided to stage dive with a bin on his head.

Back to Shibuya, and the umbrellas are out in force at Hachik??…

Then on to Shinjuku to meet Melinda and her mates for Karaoke. Cool fact: the guy singing there – his dad did the animation for the anime of Old Boy.

Rancid karaoke!

And of course, the now obligatory rendition of PonPonPon by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. If you haven’t already seen this video, get ready for a treat:

Melinda makes a new friend.

A jam-packed Saturday finally comes to an end at 2am in Route 25 – a new bar that’s opened above KFC in Shimokita. Run by KFC itself, it’s a whiskey bar that also allows you to order chicken from downstairs. It’s amazing.

And so…

Goodbye Saturday, hello Sunday.

Today I took the BMX up to Sangenjaya, another cool area not far from my house. If there was one other place I’d wanna live in Tokyo it would probably be here. On Sundays they close off the main street to cars and play cheesy 80s music through loud speakers on the street. Lots of nice vintage stores to lose yourself in, as well as a building with a huge Gorilla hanging off the side of it. Normal.

Buzzer!

Views from the 26th floor of the Carrot tower. I *love* this skyline, Shinjuku in the distance. 

Amazing cold Asahi makes the view even better.

And so my weekend ends by watching and laughing at a completely hammered old man unable to walk.

Wouldn’t have it any other way.