im in narita now and internet access doesnt seem to work so im not sure when this will post. probably not until i land back in hk. had a late one last nite with niiyama and his friends. he threw that party which was a hit. id say there were almost 60 people in the room, 4 of whom were white. i spoke to a british guy who lives in tokyo now for a little while but then the drinking began. there is a bar-like area in the gallery and one of niiyamas neighbors was thrilled with the fact that i brought him snacks. so he decided i should get drunk for helping him out. the party lasted until around 10 and the bars afterwards lasted until 4. im told i slept at this karaoke bar from 2-3. no surprise there. it would have been hilarious if they left me there. good thing they didnt. here are some photos from the party......




the night before niiyama took me to a photographers house for some wine. his name is david stetson and he has got some incredible stories. hes another briton but he lived in ny for 11 years and now has been in tokyo for 16. he told me how he got roped into the studio 54 opening party. he said he thought he was going to a photo studio. the other amazing story was about how he was in the building when john lennon was shot. he lived upstairs. he said he heard the gunshots very clearly. and then apparently people sang 'give peace a chance' outside 24 hours a day for the next 7 days. im convinced this wouldnt happen now and no one does any real rioting or acting. it didnt surprise me when there wasn't too much action after the sean bell shooting. if the equivalent had happened in the 70s it would have been a different story. not that im any kind of authority on that. or much of anything really. heres davids website.......


the past two days i spent the afternoons in harajuku looking around and trying to shop. while tokyo clothes are sweet as shit, they are made for japanese people. if you have big feet, this time around, youre fucked. i didnt see any sneakers that i hadnt seen before and the prices are absurd. sneakers i bought in hong kong in july for $65 were $160 in tokyo, now 4 months later. i did the see the donatellos......



these are virtually impossible to find in ny but they didnt have my size and they were 14700 yen (~$150). i did pick up some fucking sweet pants at this tiny shop and a sweater at this store that we call japans next top model. when we came in dec07, there were 20 girls all of whom must have been models. JNTM. wait on that, you'll see me in the background with a huge grin.

time to board. back to hk!