Since
we stayed up so late rockin' out, we were able to sleep in pretty late
this morning. By the time we were all showered and in search of
breakfast, it was 11:30am. However, this is our vacation and we can eat
breakfast whenever the hell we want to. Fortunately, IB feels the same
way. He took us down a very cute shopping street near his aparto in Hiroo
and we had breakfast at an adorable bakery called Sawa Mura.
After breakfast we took the train to Akihabara, "Electric Town." Akihabara (or Akiba for short if you are a super nerd) is the part of Tokyo famous for having electronics and collectable toys and porn. It used to be the only place where you could get the latest in electronics, however now that you can get the latest just about anywhere thanks to the internet, the otaku (nerd) influence has really taken over Akihabara. IB had an audio tour of Akihabara that we decided to follow called Tokyo Realtime (really good, you should pick it up if you can find it, they also made one for Kabukicho) that walks you through some really interesting spots you might otherwise miss just wandering, like Super Potato (a small, dark, smoky floor of a building full of retro arcade games). We also went to lots of shops selling toys and figurines from popular manga/cartoons/video games, a 5 story sex shop, a huge electronics store, and got tissues from a girl dressed in a French maid's outfit advertising a Maid Cafe (a cafe where you can pay a lot of money to have girls dressed up in cute maid costumes chat with you). At around 4pm we stopped for lunch at a small curry shop called Mammoth Curry where you could buy a variety of curries in small, regular, large or mammoth size (which was 1,000 grams/2.2 lbs). It was quite tasty and I recommend it, particularly if you find yourself lamenting the fact that you never seem to be able find curry by the pound.
After breakfast we took the train to Akihabara, "Electric Town." Akihabara (or Akiba for short if you are a super nerd) is the part of Tokyo famous for having electronics and collectable toys and porn. It used to be the only place where you could get the latest in electronics, however now that you can get the latest just about anywhere thanks to the internet, the otaku (nerd) influence has really taken over Akihabara. IB had an audio tour of Akihabara that we decided to follow called Tokyo Realtime (really good, you should pick it up if you can find it, they also made one for Kabukicho) that walks you through some really interesting spots you might otherwise miss just wandering, like Super Potato (a small, dark, smoky floor of a building full of retro arcade games). We also went to lots of shops selling toys and figurines from popular manga/cartoons/video games, a 5 story sex shop, a huge electronics store, and got tissues from a girl dressed in a French maid's outfit advertising a Maid Cafe (a cafe where you can pay a lot of money to have girls dressed up in cute maid costumes chat with you). At around 4pm we stopped for lunch at a small curry shop called Mammoth Curry where you could buy a variety of curries in small, regular, large or mammoth size (which was 1,000 grams/2.2 lbs). It was quite tasty and I recommend it, particularly if you find yourself lamenting the fact that you never seem to be able find curry by the pound.
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| Maid Cafe in Akihabara |
Akihabara is generally a favorite part of Tokyo for guys,
and while I definitely wanted Mc to see it I didn't think we would be
there for very long since neither of us are much into gadgets. However,
with the tour and all the fun toy shops
selling character goods, we spent essentially the whole day there. My
favorite new character is Nyanko-sensei (he is a character from the
manga Natsume's Book of Friends/Natsume Yuujincho, but the back story is not important.
He's a cat teacher, I like cats and am a teacher, and
he's adorable, so I love him).
My favorite part of Akihabara was Gachapon Kaikan which was a huge shop full of gacha gacha machines, floor to ceiling. Gacha gacha machines are like egg machines at home - the ones where you put in a quarter and get a plastic egg with a random toy inside (or a sticker of Michael Jackson if you're me in the 80's) - except in Japan they cost anywhere from 200-500¥ and the much higher quality toy is inside a little plastic ball instead of an egg. Each machine has a theme, most with popular characters like Nameko (an ugly mushroom character from the most boring game I've ever played where you literally wait for mushrooms to grow on a log) or Hello Kitty or Rilakkuma on a keitai strap (cell phone charm) or pin or puzzle, etc. Of course there was a Nyanko Sensei machine, so I spent way too much money there.
*SuperNova Travel Tip - In Japan, they have coins for 50¥, 100¥, and 500¥. The first paper bill you will encounter is 1,000¥ (about $10). This can be dangerous because a lot of things cost about 100¥ and as an American you don't really even think about spending it because it's a coin and our coins are worth so little. Our brain often decides to think of them as quarters, and they are used a lot like quarters here (like in toy machines). But it's important to remember that they are dollars and they add up quickly.
IB had looked up onsens in Tokyo and found one that we should try. An onsen is a Japanese hot spring where you go to relax. Naked, with all your friends and family. But most are separated by gender. Anyway, it's a very Japanese thing to do and Mc needed the full experience, so off we went. Unfortunately, Mc was wearing shorts and his tattoo was in full view. IB said that the lady at the desk was giving us ick-face from the moment we walked in. You see, tattoos are not seen as rebellious but cool expressions of art or self in Japan. In Japan, tattoos are seen as marks of the criminal underworld and are not allowed in onsens. IB has a small tattoo under his arm and has never had any trouble, likely because they don't see it till he's already inside. They saw Mc's from the door and even though IB tried to explain that it was just a birthmark, they denied us access. So we had no choice but to head out and Mc got to feel wildly indignant about discrimination.
After Akihabara, we headed back to IB's aparto and decided to order pizza. Apparently, you can order pizza online from Pizza-la here now, and since IB is fluent in Japanese, it was here in under an hour. Since pizza is expensive here (3,600¥ for a large) we didn't get a weird one for Mc (like one with potato or seafood or egg and mayonaise), instead we got the Get's pizza which was pretty normal except the corn and cheddar cheese (they will put anything on a pizza here).
Tomorrow is a visit to Harajuku and then another onsen, if Mc doesn't get rejected again . . .
My favorite part of Akihabara was Gachapon Kaikan which was a huge shop full of gacha gacha machines, floor to ceiling. Gacha gacha machines are like egg machines at home - the ones where you put in a quarter and get a plastic egg with a random toy inside (or a sticker of Michael Jackson if you're me in the 80's) - except in Japan they cost anywhere from 200-500¥ and the much higher quality toy is inside a little plastic ball instead of an egg. Each machine has a theme, most with popular characters like Nameko (an ugly mushroom character from the most boring game I've ever played where you literally wait for mushrooms to grow on a log) or Hello Kitty or Rilakkuma on a keitai strap (cell phone charm) or pin or puzzle, etc. Of course there was a Nyanko Sensei machine, so I spent way too much money there.
*SuperNova Travel Tip - In Japan, they have coins for 50¥, 100¥, and 500¥. The first paper bill you will encounter is 1,000¥ (about $10). This can be dangerous because a lot of things cost about 100¥ and as an American you don't really even think about spending it because it's a coin and our coins are worth so little. Our brain often decides to think of them as quarters, and they are used a lot like quarters here (like in toy machines). But it's important to remember that they are dollars and they add up quickly.
IB had looked up onsens in Tokyo and found one that we should try. An onsen is a Japanese hot spring where you go to relax. Naked, with all your friends and family. But most are separated by gender. Anyway, it's a very Japanese thing to do and Mc needed the full experience, so off we went. Unfortunately, Mc was wearing shorts and his tattoo was in full view. IB said that the lady at the desk was giving us ick-face from the moment we walked in. You see, tattoos are not seen as rebellious but cool expressions of art or self in Japan. In Japan, tattoos are seen as marks of the criminal underworld and are not allowed in onsens. IB has a small tattoo under his arm and has never had any trouble, likely because they don't see it till he's already inside. They saw Mc's from the door and even though IB tried to explain that it was just a birthmark, they denied us access. So we had no choice but to head out and Mc got to feel wildly indignant about discrimination.
After Akihabara, we headed back to IB's aparto and decided to order pizza. Apparently, you can order pizza online from Pizza-la here now, and since IB is fluent in Japanese, it was here in under an hour. Since pizza is expensive here (3,600¥ for a large) we didn't get a weird one for Mc (like one with potato or seafood or egg and mayonaise), instead we got the Get's pizza which was pretty normal except the corn and cheddar cheese (they will put anything on a pizza here).
Tomorrow is a visit to Harajuku and then another onsen, if Mc doesn't get rejected again . . .
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