When the 4 of us left the capsule hotel we had breakfast nearby at Mister Donut. American-ing it up! They had a bran doughnut. It was delicious! Sweet but with some substance.
bran doughnut
yum
maple doughnut
double yum
Nick's coffee looked pretty cool when he put creamer in
breakfast gang
Soon we arrived in Akihabara. It is such a weird place. Here are some examples.
ninja vending machine instructions
恐竜パペット (kyouryuu puppet, dinosaur puppet)
初音ミク (Hatsune Miku), she's a vocaloid
she's saying "please turn it gently"
Really, Japan?
Finally got to see these guys again! Ryuta was a bit tired so he taught me the expression くまがある (kuma ga aru, having dark circles under your eyes).
left to right: me, Ikuko, Ryuta
We all decided to go to a マイドカフェ (maido kafe, maid cafe) because it is a super weird thing in Japan and we thought we might as well give it a shot. I think Ikuko may have been a bit embarrassed so I feel bad, but it was a funny experience. Basically, the waitresses at a maid cafe act super cute and call you "master" and such. Our maid spoke English to us but in Japanese she would call the men 旦那様 (danna-sama, husband/master). There are multiple words for husband and this tends to be the most formal but also most sexist one.
our gang at the maid cafe
the mads gave us ears
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
ピカピカ (pika pika, -shining or sparking mimetic word-)
the maid did talk him into making the pikachu noise
she talked us into making noises, too
ニャー (nyaa, meow) for Ikuko
but there was nothing specifically for a bunny to say
so I had to say ピョンピョン
(pyon pyon, -jumping mimetic word-)
animal ears
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
Pika-Nick
(photo courtesy of Kitty)
The price of the cafe was a bit high, because we had to choose a "course" of just drinks or desserts, each at about $16, or 2000 yen. When our maid/waitress brought our drinks and then our desserts out, she had us do a "delicious ceremony." We had to do cute movements, following her example, with mimetic sounds, and make our food delicious with delicious magic. It was pretty funny, I enjoyed it. Our food was also too cute.
Ryuta's cheesecake cat
Nick's strawberry sundae bunny
Lane's chocolate sundae bear
Kitty's maccha sundae turtle
(photo courtesy of Kitty)
The maids took some photos with us but I do not have access to those photos right now. I will post them when I get hold of them!
our maid gave us each a folder to commemorate the occasion
After the cafe we all chipped in for the bill, but even though we all paid equally there was some money left over. Ikuko and Ryuta taught me that this was called 余り (amari, remainder) and when this happened hanging out with friends, instead of splitting it, the group would use the money jointly to do another activity or other activities together.
We all wandered around Akihabara a little more and then went to Odaiba to play in the mall with a big arcade and a festival taking place out front. Ryuta was nice enough to get some pictures of the gang.
oh hi
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
escalator camera ninja
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
mirror outside the elevator
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
There is a 自由の女神 (jiyuu no megami, Statue of Liberty - literal translation "goddess of liberty) at Odaiba. I was pretty surprised. Inside our gang played a lot of arcade and took purikura (photobooth) together. We used the amari from before, mostly.
Odaiba!
自由の女神
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| Welcome to TKO : Odaiba |
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| Team Maid Cafe |
Purikura is a little scary. The machine registers where your eyes and facial features are, so it often enlarges your eyes and -in this case- adds makeup to the photo. So we look a bit scary.
We played arcade a lot with our amari, and we won some stuff. The staff recognized most of the games are impossible or close to it, and if you seem set on getting a thing they will actually come by, replace it to make it easier, and allow you to get the prize. It's maybe a cultural thing, I think, because I have never seen any staff at an arcade in the US do this. One lady did this three or four times for our group - she seemed to have taken a liking to us.
Ikuko's winnings O.o
Ryuta and Ikuko were trying to get the minion for some time, but I managed to come in with one shot and get it... so I think they got it in position for me. Ikuko tried to get me to take it but there's no way that would fit in my luggage! So she got stuck with a minion.
We dinner at the mall and then Nick got interested in going on a nearby 観覧車 (kanransha, ferris wheel). There was a 6-person limit per car and a group discount, so we got real lucky!
Gundam outside the mall
sunset
aaaa beautful
観覧車
nice path to the ferris wheel
wow, it's tall
according to the recording inside the car, almost the tallest in the world
as big as the London Eye
but one in Osaka beat it out
is it the one near the aquarium?
ferris wheel
Kitty and Ryuta
me and Ikuko
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
Dark Nick and Dark Lane
lovely view
wow
almost the top
another ferris wheel in the distance
amazing
there was an LED heart changing colors
on the top of one building
They offered us a group photo after the ride, and Kitty bought a copy.
team ferris wheel
Outside the ferris wheel there was a structure to put locks on and even a vending machine selling locks. Kind of like the bridges where couples put locks to seal their love. First Ryuta teased me by asking which of the boys I would couple with, then we joked that the 3 boys were a couple. Unfortunately I only got a bad photo of the structure, but a good one of the vending machine.
lock structure
(Was I having an attack?)
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| lock vending machine |
We decided that Ikuko and Ryuta would go their separate ways and that the boys and I would return to Shinjuku. Before we split up we had some train fun together.
unfortunately Kitty woke up right after this
wish the picture could have been a surprise
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
parting ways across the tracks
(photo courtesy of Ryuta)
When the 4 of us returned to Shinjuku we had some shaved ice together from a street vendor and then the boys told me about tiger's blood being the best shaved ice flavor. I have never heard of it before, but now I must try it I suppose... although I hear it contains coconut flavor, gross.
We also found these beauties on a public street.
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| street art |
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| street art |
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| Hello... Kitty? |
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| genuinely confused |
かわいい (kawaii)
cute
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| 犯罪を見逃さない |
(hanzai o minogasanai, don't overlook crime)
This device impressed us. We still don't know where he got this automatic front-movie skateboard thing. What even?
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| what |
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| even |
Even though it was a bit late the 4 of us wanted to keep adventuring. We found another arcade where the staff helped me as I explained earlier this post, and I won an alpaca with a hat. It's so cute.
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| my winnings |
Somehow we wandered into the sort of strip-club / men-oriented part of town. We tried to go into an adult video store but the front desk person told us no women are allowed. Sigh, culturally ingrained sexism. We also found a "robot bar" where I guess women dress as sexy robots and dance around? The signs informed us of the exorbitant price, but we weren't entirely clear on the concept.
ロボットレストラン
(robotto resutoran, robot restaurant)
7000 yen
no thanks
On the brighter side, we saw some amazing window displays. Japanese restaurants always have the coolest fake food displays.
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| too cute to eat |
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| those big bread dessert things appear to be popular, but they confuse and overwhelm me |
At the very end of the day, we all dropped by a コンビニ (konbini, convenience store) for some late night snacks. Kitty and I decided to try a couple unusual beers.
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| it wasn't bad |
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| it was pretty good, would drink again |
