takoyaki in harajuku and finally, the robots in shinjuku

Day 5 - Omote-Sando and back to Shinjuku

Our last day in this city and we want to do only two more things. Buy New Balances. Go to the Robot Cabaret. What about the Sky Tree, you shout? The Tsukuji Fish Market to see the tuna auction? TOKYO DISNEY SEA? No. Only shoes and robots will do for us now.

We find it hard to get out of the hotel. It's just too comfortable. We love our little neighbourhood in Nezu. The supermarket is five minutes away and it has badass ebi furai and other fried goodies. There's kids running chasing each other, older women in kimonos going about their daily business, and young couples wandering. I've been admiring the house down the road that's growing bitter melon from their second storey balcony down to ground level. I pat my first dog since I dropped my dog, Chester, off at his auntie Melinda's. The dog is a teeny-weeny dachshund with big brown eyes and he waits calmly but alertly outside the supermarket for his owner. 

We get back to Meiji-jingumae station and buy our New Balances at the ABC Supermart. ABC makes me think of Hawaii and when I think of Hawaii, it's only good memories. It's nice to see it in Tokyo. Lunch is takoyaki at Gindaco and we beat the line. There's one set that has a cheese and mayonnaise add-on and it's so delicious I have to stop before I smash it all over my face. 

Then back to Shinjuku for a date with the Robot Cabaret that we just cannot miss. The Robot Cabaret stuns from the first go. We're ushered into a waiting lounge for drinks. The entire thing is mirrored and paired with floor to ceiling tvs. We sit on cushioned swivelling seats in the shape of golden shells. There's a tiny robot dinosaur on each table. It knows when it's being tickled, it does tricks, and it knows when things are in its way. It hates being picked up. It kicks its legs wildly in the air. I squee and squee till I cannot squee anymore. 

Two girls in sparkly silver robot bikini get ups sing "Open Arms" by The Elusive Chanteuse, Mariah Carey. An archangel robot comes out to do the saxophone solo. I just... I just can't, guys. It's too good.

sumo at the ryogoku & night time senso-ji in asakusa

Day 5 - Ryogoku to Asakusa

Caught metro to tour group meeting point at a bus terminal. Our tour guide's name is Amy, she is tiny, wearing an Annie-Hall inspired grey oversized suit, and she speaks rapid fire English. So rapid fire that no one really understands what she's saying. We all just nod like we do. There's a couple from Scotland in our group (what about Scotland saying no, hey?). He's been in Tokyo for six times, she's been two. She loves Disney. Which makes sense 'cause she's wearing all pink and a sparkly Tinkerbell singlet. She is the sweetest.

Barely five minutes into the sumo, Rob and I shock the entire tour group by flagging down the lady with the backpack full of beer and ordering Asahi like a thirsty Burke and Wills in the Australian outback. The Scots are right behind us. The young couple to our right are aghast and look away.

gin and tonics with justin at harajuku

Day 4 - Nezu Station to Omote-Sando to Shinjuku

Today is shopping day. I've beaten the jetlag. I eat a really big breakfast, and for the first time, I feel a hundred percent. At Omote-Sando, we start at H&M. We're from New Zealand. H&M is as foreign exciting to us as the Warehouse is to, for example, my Auntie Carol who's a sworn Manhattanite but when in New Zealand, claps her hands when a trip to The Warehouse is on the horizon.  Rob says, "I'll got to the men's floor. Meet me back here in thirty minutes." I reply, "Now you're not really being fair. Because I've got three floors to go to but you've only got one." I think that's a stunning argument, sure to win him over. But no. Thirty minutes it is.

It occurs to me that, mere metres away from Takeshita Street and Harajuku Girls, I am buying the blandest things possible, in the blandest shop possible. Rob takes one home for the team too by going next door to TopMan inside Laforet and coming out with a plain white t-shirt.

otaku times in akihabara and through to shibuya

Day 3

Jet lag hits hard this morning. The prospect of getting out of bed is about as welcome as a trip to the dentist. Somehow, I drag my carcass out and to Akafudada, the local supermarket in Nezu. My stomach is revolting against me and the only thing that quells rebellion is bland food and fresh fruit. Back at the hotel's shared kitchen, we eat toast, eggs, nectarines, and bananas. Then fall asleep till 2 pm. No joke. We're lucky that Tokyo is all about the night time. 

We spend the rest of the afternoon till just after dusk in Akihabara. The tiny little shops by the railway appeal to the hoarder in me; shops just for wires and cables, others for fluorescent lights, one for security cameras. First stop is Gamers in Akihabara. Seven floors of what I can basically call "stuff with lots of cartoon ladies on them ranging from PG to very rude". There's 7 floors of this pastel otaku stuff; one is just for "card duelling". I imagine clashing swords but when we get there, there are no card duellers in store. When is prime card duelling time, I wonder? 

Another floor is dedicated to "adult books" but most everything is shrinkwrapped so don't really get a good chance to peruse. However, there is a large cutout of a big-eyed young lady and there is a beige towel draped over her moneymakers. I taunt Rob to lift the towel and he's intrigued for a second, then shrugs and says "It's just breasts." I know, right? Am tempted to buy coin purse with animated figures of three ladies looking like they're having a great old time in one bed.

heat rash in shinjuku

Day 2 - Ueno Park to Shinjuku and back to Ueno Park again

Rob recommended experimenting with the inbuilt bidet function in the toilet. "But remember, you have to press stop," he said. And so the morning started with a startling bathroom experience. 

Pleasant early morning walk through Ueno Park, hanging with the dogs and their sprightly elderly owners doing morning laps around the pond. We watched enormous catfish swim gormlessly amongst giant lotuses. Was frightened by a turtle that poked its head above the water to look at me.

lanterns in nezu

Day 1 - Novotel Auckland Airport, Auckland, New Zealand to Hotel Graphy Nezu, somewhere near Ueno

This morning at 5 am I woke up with deep, deep regret over the hotel club sandwich I ate at 8.30 pm the night before. I creaked my way through Yoga TV, huffing and puffing and swearing through downward dog, sun salutes, and warrior pose. 

Ten hour flight was slow torture in that special, special way us Antipodeans have to get used to in order to get anywhere in the world. Rob looked like he won the lottery when he found out there was no one sitting in the seat next to him. Flight gold. Watched Edge of Tomorrow on tiny screen. Cursed the recliner in front of me. Ate both mine and Rob's breakfast fruit bun. Traded Rob chicken for his  lemon pannacotta. The bartering system is well and truly alive.

Narita Airport "super 90s" in Rob's words. We went to the post shop in the airport to pick up a special package, namely portable wifi the size of a small wallet. NZD$60 for 7 days gets you unlimited bandwidth. Rob and my brother made impressed grunting sounds when discussing this deal earlier at the airport so I guess that's good. You walk around with it and turn yourself into a portable wifi spot. Again, my brother was delighted by this description and shouted about the years being taken from your life with radiation or some such thing. We charged it on the 36 minute train ride from Narita to Nippori station, by plugging it into the powerpoint in front of our seats. Oh Japan.