I’ve been here only a little over 36 hours, yet I’ve done more than I ever possibly could have dreamed of. Let me run you through it with plenty of pictures and videos, otherwise it won’t really make sense.
We arrived mid afternoon yesterday. After having a drink at our hotel bar, we decided to find a traditional Japanese steakhouse for dinner. My dad asked Concierge for suggestions, and then she somehow worked her magic to get us reservations as Ukai-Tei, a traditional teppan restaurant with a [well deserved] Michelin Star.
I’m just going to say this right now before going any further: that dinner was probably the best meal of my entire life. I’m not exaggerating, either…there’s a reason that restaurants receive Michelin Stars, and that reason was clearly obvious at Ukai-Tei: it was exceptional.
We ate at least 7 courses (if I’m remembering them all), including abalone genitalia (cue laughter about eating penis), sea urchin, and foie gras. I also chowed down on a lobster soup with tomato bisque, raw ahi tuna with a basil mustard, Wagyu beef with garlic fried rice, and then a Mango sundae. Honestly, I’m shocked that I didn’t need to be rolled out to the taxi cab.
It was phenomenal. Afterwards, it was late and I took my fat ass to bed where I could revel in my food coma privately.
And then today happened. Today was…well…intense. And I mean that in the best way possible. Because I only had one full day in Tokyo (my dad and stepmom are staying here four more days), I was given free reign over our plans for the day. Over breakfast I told them that my goals for the day were simple: I wanted to visit a temple/shrine, go to one of Tokyo’s famed Cat Cafes, and lastly, I wanted to see a Robot War show.
I’m happy to say that I got to do and see everything I wanted to and then some.
The day started off calm and traditional enough with a visit to the Meiji Shrine. This particular shrine is dedicated to an Emperor and Empress who honestly seem cool as fuck – the plaques around the place really emphasize how loving and compassionate they were. It was beautiful.
We were surprised to see that there were a couple of traditional wedding ceremonies taking place during our visit. Guards would part the bustling sea of tourists and essentially escort the parade through the shrine grounds and into the Cathedral. We only got to see them pass by, but just a glimpse was more than enough…in fact, we were all really touched by how beautiful and detailed it all was. Sometimes the oldest of traditions hold the most meaning, ya know?
Next we took a taxi to Nyafe Melange, one of Tokyo’s many Cat Cafes. I don’t know what I expected, but I think I got what I was looking for.
I’m much more of a dog person than cat (like I’ve been a crazy dog lady for I-don’t-even-know-how-long), but I can definitely appreciate some kitty cuteness. There were cats EVERYWHERE and at least seven other people in the room with us. I honestly think they were sedated since all of them just kind of lazed about, but hey, what do I know? Everything is different in Tokyo.
We bought a full 30 minutes, but after 20 we decided to head out because there’s really not much else to do once you’ve played with all of the cats. We headed out to grab some authentic sushi and wandered into a random place with a lot of locals coming in and out. It was excellent.
At this point, we decided to ramp up the adventure and try out the subway/metro station to get to our next stop. Walking in was almost comical; it was so busy and hectic and we had absolutely NO idea what we were doing (which I guess I should get used to, considering there’s a lot more where that came from in my future). After some help from a nice man who spoke good English, we made our way to our next stop: the crazy, organized chaos that is Shinjuku Crossing.
This street crossing is insane – instead of lights for one direction of traffic turning red and allowing traffic to flow in the opposite direction, all of the stoplights for every direction turn red at once and the crossing literally FLOODS with people. It’s incredible to watch but kind of scary to be in…I was just waiting to be decapitated or lose my eye via someone’s umbrella. We bought Starbucks at the corner of the crossing and made our way up to the second story in order to really grasp just how crazy busy this crossing really was. We were not disappointed.
From there we got back on the subway and headed to our final destination of the day: the Robot Restaurant. I’d read online about robot wars and was instantly curious, and my interest was intensified when I found out that this was a place that celebrities visit because it is so fucking weird and awesome. From the street you can see this huge robots that look like porn star women, with someone dressed like a power ranger sitting on them and directing them. Once inside, the weirdness/awesomeness continues.
You wait in a lounge that can only be described as a doped-up hippie’s wet dream. I mean this place is WEIRD, like everything is crazy lights and crystals and patterns and colors, with these weird automated dinosaur toys that react to your touch on every table and videos on the walls playing clips featuring little Japanese go-go dancers in scenes like marching into war.
There was an opening show featuring some music, but the real treat was the main show (duh). Thankfully I took an ass load of pictures and videos, because no matter how hard I try to explain it, words can’t and won’t do it any justice…I’m not even sure that the pictures and videos will, but at least it’s better than nothing. I would try to describe every scene and give you all a blow-by-blow by a) I don’t want to ruin it for any future Robot Restaurant goers and b) that would be way too daunting of a task, mostly because I have no idea how to describe what the fuck we watched. All I know is that it was an hour and a half of awesomeness that one will only find in Tokyo.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwqaReUZ6I4&w=420&h=315]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouN2tYGoFJA&w=420&h=315] [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcX5p9PEQ5Y&w=420&h=315]
Okay, well that’s it from me for now. I know it was long-winded, but I’m a verbose person so it’s just gonna have to do for now. I’m off to Vietnam in about 10 hours – please say a prayer/send good vibes my way!
