Tak Sakaguchi and Flipadelphia

Tunnel

I stayed a night about an hour outside of Philadelphia and was able to get up early in the morning and head into the city. From there, I took a look around at all the tall buildings and art around the city. Here is what I saw:

 

It rained really heavily that day and I saw a man, who apparently had slipped riding his bike and fell on his head, bleeding like crazy and screaming in front of the visitor center. It was madness. The paramedics came out and everything.

After walking around and all the craziness, I got a beer and headed back to my hotel. Unfortunately, I forgot where I parked my park and had to walk around for about an hour trying to figure out where I put it!

After getting ready, I headed to the Prince Music Theatre. There were a whole lot of video games and activities to do. There was a chip concerts with four or five musicians and two movies to premiere. Here are a few examples:

After these, I went outside to smoke a cigarette and ran into none other than Tak Sakaguchi himself. I about died of fright, anxiety and happiness all at the same time. I don't think I've ever had that reaction before. It was probably pretty hilarious. I'm sure he thought I was "special" because I DID NOT play it cool AT ALL. Hahaha. Such is life.

The movie first movie premiere was pretty good. It was all about the underground music scene in Tokyo and was really interesting. I think the whole thing is on YouTube now. It's called LIVE FROM TOKYO. After that, the guys who came with the movie director (I'm guessing friends) gave me all their tickets for the prize contests and I ended up winning three times I think! I got a t-shirt and a movie and a pin. Awesome. Thanks guys! (Y'all were really cute too!)

Then Yakuza Weapon premiered. It was absolutely hilarious and about as ridiculous as I expected. Afterward, Tak and the crew all came out on stage. I was surprised by how little English he knew, but I did gain another crush on his co-actor Arata Yamanaka. HELLO!

 

After the show was over, I got a few things autographed. I'll have to scan them in and add them later. The best thing I had autographed though was the photoshopped picture I made of me and Tak together (below). I handed it to him and he started laughing and said "very nice picture". So cute. I about died. I'm sure my face turned three shades of red.

After the show I walked back to my tiny but awesome hotel room. It was about 3AM and there was a group of 3/4 guys headed right towards me on the street. Luckily I got into the hotel lobby, where the door locked behind me, right in time. They were even trying to get in after me. That was the only time on my trip that I got a little scared of being in an unfamiliar place.

The next morning I got up and wandered around Philadelphia a little more. Went up the famous "Rocky stairs" and then headed out of town towards NYC for another day of Tak stalking.

 
 

Got to NYC and checked into my hotel, where my friend Kim Stahl met up with me to hang out for the afternoon. We went to Central Park and had a late lunch and then headed to a few cool museums around the city. I hadn't hung out with Kim in a really long time and it was really fun getting to see her and to catch up for a while.

After that I went to Japan Cuts for my second viewing of the movie (Yakuza Weapon) and more stalking of Tak Sakaguchi. This time I got some pictures with him and with Arata Yamanaka. I think he recognized me and was a little worried I was going to duct tape and take him with me. The thought DID cross my mind!

 

 

Just to prove I was in NYC:

On my way out of NYC, my jeep decided to break down right outside of the Lincoln Tunnel. At least it made it out! That would have been so horrible. I can't even imagine. I had to pull over in this little circle area (backwards). This guy helped me push it over and then a NYC police officer came and waited with me until the tow truck guy came. When the tow truck guy showed up, he was a sketchy guy with a hot pink rattail and his own homemade v-neck t-shirt. The police officer was nice enough to follow us over to the hotel and I felt a lot safer! After that I had to figure out what to do. It was a Sunday and nobody was open. I finally got someone to take my car over to the Jeep dealership nearby. My second tow truck driver was a midget. I kid you not. New Jersey tow truck drivers are an interesting crowd of people. Luckily, the hotel I stayed at was pretty nice as I had a whole day to hang out there. The best thing was that they sold beer in the lobby. YES!

I ended up walking over to the local Red Lobster and watching the Women's World Cup game. I made a lot of friends at the bar and we had a lot of fun yelling at the TV and shouting USA! USA! It was really fun.

I ate really well too. Had a lot of margharitas and seafood. They ended up clearing my plate when I went to smoke a cigarette, so my waitress basically got me a whole other order of crab legs to go. It was freaking awesome!

 

For the rest of the night, I had the pool and hot tub in the hotel all to myself. So I hung out there and then went back to my room and fell asleep. For getting stuck in New Jersey, it was a pretty great day.

The next day, I had my Jeep fixed at the dealership and was able to take off for Indiana. Made it back in good time and safely. I took this vacation on my own and it was honestly the best vacation I have ever had. For anyone who is questioning whether or not they should take a vacation alone, my advice is to do it. You will not regret it if you go with an open mind and just do what you feel when you feel it.