On Friday, the 21st of February, we headed off from the hotel to Akihabara. I was very nervous that I was going to get us lost accidentally, but it turned out to be incredibly simple to get there. We didn't even need to transfer trains! Arriving in Akihabara, we began to explore. The first shop we went into was a book store called the Book Tower. It was about nine floors of books I think. I bought a Lucky Star light novel, and a Once Upon a Time light novel (which I had never seen in English before). I was quite surprised by the prices, as they were so much cheaper than books in Australia! We continued to wander, but it turned out that we were actually on the wrong side of the train station, so we walked back up toward it, and wow... Akihabara is very busy. There are many figurine stores, and gachapon machines, manga stores (Animate and Gamers being two of the most well known in the West), and game arcades. There were also a lot of maids advertising their maid cafes, so I imagine that there must have been a lot of those too. Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to go to one. Maybe next time. When we began to get hungry, we decided on okonomiyaki. I got the five cheese okonomiyaki, as I am a vegetarian, and Luke got the special soba. It was really good. I think I did well at ordering the food, as there were no mistakes or anything. After some more exploring and shopping, Luke and I decided to find a cafe for coffee, before hopping on the train back to the hotel. And, strangely enough, we managed to find a cafe called Beck's Cafe (Rebecka is my name, though many people call me Beck, including Luke). So, Luke decided that we had to have coffee there. Man, there is just something about a Japanese mocha that is very different to ours. They aren't as full on as an Australian mocha, and they are a bit smoother. Luke thinks that it is the way that they make it, but it could also have something to do with the ingredients. I am not sure. But, if you ever get the opportunity, please try a Japanese mocha. We did run into a little bit of trouble trying to get the train back. We needed a Tokyo Metro Line train, but we accidentally bought JR Line tickets. So, we had to figure out the way to get to the other side of the station to the Tokyo Metro Line track, and buy the right tickets... I got a little bit frazzled and accidentally dropped a bunch of change on the ground. To my surprise, at least four young girls rushed to help me pick it all up. And, they returned it all! Back at the hotel, we were both pretty tired, as we were still jet lagged, and we had a big day. We ate some dinner from the convenience store, and played our 3DS's for a bit, and then went to sleep. Oh, you are wondering what I bought? Well, I shall tell you. I bought a Japanese 3DS LL. It is the Disney design, and came in a bundle with Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life. I also bought Super Pokemon Scramble. I bought a little Slime (Dragon Quest) figure from a figurine shop, and I won the Wobaffet plushie! It was the first arcade we went into. My first 100 yen coin, and I won! It was strange. One of the women who was working there actually came over and cheered with us, congratulated me, and asked me if I wanted a bag. I was very happy : ) |