The Travel Blog by TravelPod

The U.S. government is warning travelers to steer clear of the Roppongi area of Tokyo. A place filled with nightclubs and popular with young people.

This is because of a recent spate of drink-spiking.

Here’s what some of our travelers had to say about that area of town.

Segacs noticed the overrepresentation of foreigners in this neon-filled region.

Roppongi at night

For my last night in Japan, I headed to Roppongi, Tokyo’s ultimate nightlife neighbourhood, with a few of my hostel dormmates. Roppongi appears to be the gathering point of choice for travelers and expats; we saw English, Irish, Aussie and Kiwi spots as well as lots of American chains. Not too authentic, perhaps, but there were plenty of hip and trendy Japanese people out enjoying themselves there. I think if I lived here, I’d have to invest in a whole new wardrobe.

-from “Last day in Tokyo” – Tokyo, Japan

Str8jism ventured into the Roppongi district in the middle of the day:

Roppongi night clubs

Our next stop was a district called Roppongi.  For the young people out there, this is definitely the place to go to. Aside from shops in the area, this is where all the bars, clubs, and yes gentlemen, even some nudie bars! The clubs and bars are located differently than what I’m used to that they are all in the same high rise building and each floor is a different club.  I believe the higher the floor, the more upscale it is. Too bad we visited the area during the middle of the week in thee daytime.

-from “Walk-a-thon” – Tokyo, Japan

Codownsean was intrigued by this area of the city:

Roppongi district in Tokyo

Roppongi was the first glimpse of Tokyo as I thought it would be – heaving with people and the neon signs starting to appear. The Irish pub was bizarre – you get out of a lift and straight into a corridor of some high rise block and there in the corner is an apartment converted into a bar.

-from “Arrive in Tokyo – Even the Toilets Are Hi Tec” – Tokyo, Japan

If you’ve got your eyes on Paris, but only have a budget for a trip to New York City, don’t worry. You can still experience that Euro feeling.

Visit the Arc de Triomphe

Well…. not really. But the arch in Washington Square Park was modelled after it.

Washington Square Park

It’s one of Jamieshaffer’s favourite places.

There were (as always) some interesting characters there, including a guy dressed up with a cape and sword who was making a big production out of how he was refusing to perform that day out of protest for something or other.

-from “Test Entry” – New York City, New York, United States

See some European art

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can see all kinds of precious artwork from Europe. You can also stop by the Museum of Modern art to check out the waterlilies by Claude Monet, or as Gary_cailin found out, one of the traveling shows.

Picasso on display at MoMA

As I walked up through Central Park it started to snow. It was honestly one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen, and of course I was on my own at the time. Thanks irony, you cold hearted bitch. Next museum on my stop was the MoMA, or Museum of Modern Art to all you non-artistic plebs. Another excellent museum, but alas, once again I only got to see about half of it before closing time. There was an excellent Van Gogh exhibition on which was very impressive, even though every time I heard an American say “Van Go” I wanted to punch them.

-from “Snowing in Central Park” – New York City, New York, United States

Slurp some spaghetti

For dinner, you can spend some time in Little Italy, like Malteaser did.

Little Italy

Really amazing you cross one road and you feel like you are in another country. Little Italy is just like Lygon street but the streets and the buildings have more of a history. Saying that when it comes to prices of good Italian food we win by a mile. Size is important here, although its good to eat.

-from “New York City Day 2” – New York City, New York, United States

Last weekend’s “Hawaiian Hotel” skit on Saturday Night Live has brought harsh criticism from the Hawaiian lieutenant governor and others. Hawaiian luau dancers are depicted as angry and condescending to tourists.

Well, I can say the feeling’s probably mutual. The derision towards tourists expressed in the skit matches the attitudes our bloggers had. Here’s just a sample of the negative reviews from the other side of the table:

Luau in Kauai, Hawaii

In the evening, we joined most of the 2000 passengers from the ship on one of the many coaches to Luau Kalamaku … The whole experience was garish, shallow and completely fake. I really thought Jill was going to punch the photographer when he insisted we stand next to a half naked dancer to have our picture taken. We were back on the ship by 8:30pm so went to watch a variety show put on by the ship’s crew which was a very refreshing change from the staged Luau.

-from “The Green Island of Kauai” – Kauai, United States

Fiona_justin stopped at a luau after checking out Pearl Harbour:

Luau in Lahaina, Hawaii

We ended our week in Maui with an evening at the Old Lahaina Luau.  Foe was impressed with the skill of the dancers.  I was impressed with the unlimited open bar.

-from “Hanging loose in Hawaii” – Lahaina, United States

Luau dancers in Oahu, Hawaii

Trippinwithleis was not so impressed with her luau experience in Oahu.

Well this evening Meg and I went out, intentionally this time, to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a supposedly authentic luau. I guess I had all of those images from the movies ingrained in my brain because I was very disappointed when we were sitting at long tables eating a buffet style meal.

-from “Weird…” – Oahu, United States