Salsa Away From Home - Japan

Before leaving for Japan, I surfed on the web to find the best place to salsa in Japan. Found some info from www.salsapower.com.my ... boy, there's at least 40 of them in Tokyo alone.

"Which one to go leh?" Tony thought.

After further checking, I finally found Salsa Sudada and another one was Salsa Caribe. The best thing is they have direction maps to their location.

So with their maps in my organiser, I flew to Osaka with high hope. I know I will not be able to salsa in Osaka because of my tight schedules. By the end of first day, my head is already spinning with mixtures of sochu and oolong cha (tea), plums ... I just don't remember anymore.

Finally, my only chance to salsa came today. I flew from Osaka to Haneda airport and checked into Tokyo Dome hotel at about 8.30pm and by 9.00pm I am already at the hotel guest relation table asking for directions to Roppongi Station. Ok, I have to take the subway (Mita line) next to the hotel to Hibiya station. Then from there, switch to Hibiya line and proceed to Roppongi station.... easy.

My heart is pumping hard, very excited as I arrive Roppongi station. As I exited the station, I saw a huge Roppongi map just as I come up from the station. Walked a little bit and found Salsa Sudada.

It's on the 3rd floor ... as the lift door opens, I felt at home in japan for the first time ! I must admit, salsa really makes me feel good. Usually, I feel like I am in anime world whenever I visit Japan.

The waiter is a "gwailo" but spoke to me in fluent japanese. I asked for the menu .. was really hungry ! As I looked around, I noticed all seats were occupied with jackets and overcoats. Nobody is sitting down. Everyone is salsaing. They danced on every inch of the place that they can find. Salsa Sudada is as big as Salsa Havana.

I checked the menu again, gosh ... everything is either in spanish or japanese. Equipped with some italian, I managed to make out a word that I can understand. POLLO = chicken. I don't care how they cook it but I'm too hungry to care. I pointed towards it and ordered another kirin bierra.



A lady just got back from dancing and sat beside me. I began to wonder if she's attracted to me. Unfortunately, people just sits randomly there...sigh. I introduced myself to her. She told me her name is Melissa but speak english, she does not. Finally she mentioned a word which is universal .... Salsa? I said ' haik.....' and out we go. My first salsa in japan. Taken.


The place is small, very tight .. I wonder how do we dance? We have to dance very closely. Everyone is dancing with their shoulder rubbing each other. And I recalled sensei's advice to dance close. Anyway I still managed to execute some moves such as the "bkt", "perut Buncit", "london bridge", men changed of hand n "sakai". WhenI finally came to my senses, 4 songs has passed and it's Merengue. Boy was I tired....

Then I realized I hadn't eaten yet. I bowed and wished her arigato then returned to my table. She continue dancing with another friend. That's how passionate they are. I enjoy my Grilled Pollo and Kirin beer.

There was this short man. I mean really short, about 5 feet. but height does not seem to be his problem because he dances with any ladies, even very tall lady with very high heels. He can really spin them and the way he sway is also sexy. Which is why, I believe he has no problem getting any lady to dance. I think they enjoyed dancing with him too, from their expression.

After finishing my food, I looked at my watch .. gosh 10.45pm, have to get another shot at salsa before I leave. I asked a lady who just walked into the club. We just danced. No conversation. Danced for about 20 minutes. Then we stopped and chatted for a while. He name's Miho. She takes english classes every Friday after work and have been dancing salsa for 2 years.

I highly recommend this plc bcoz it is easy to find n the food n drinks are cheap. Also no problem to find any dancing partner. Everyone is very friendly too.

General Information
Salsa classes every Wednesday and Friday.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are for Merengue. 7.30-9pm.
Cost is abt ¥2,000 including first drink.
Open hours are daily 7pm-5am and 7pm-7am on Fridays and Saturdays

Location
3F Fusion Bldg., 7-13-8 Roppongi, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5474-8806



Pls check on their website for more details. http://www.salsasudada.org/

Editor : That's all for his trip to Tokyo, stay tuned for the next edition. A little MSN bug told me that Tony is currently in Korea. Hmm..... Kimchi and Salsa?