Tokyo: Harajuku, Robot Restaurant

Holy moly, it's been a while since I've blogged! Between the cold weather, the routine work schedule, and the fact that I'd seen most of the touristy things close to me, I honestly haven't had much to blog about these days, and I've settled into quite a routine. But this past weekend I was determined to change that, so I took a quick solo trip to Tokyo.

Hopped on a bullet train from Osaka at around 9:30 AM, made it to Tokyo in about three hours. Public transit in Japan is the best, y'all.

From Tokyo Station I took another 25 minute subway ride to the Harajuku area, and this is literally the first store I saw when I left the subway station

Not sure why you'd need a condom to masturbate but like okay whatever

I didn't actually go to this store so I can't personally attest to its awesomeness

Got lunch at a place recommended by my Lonely Planet guidebook

It had one lunch set, the only choice being between meat and fish. I chose meat since I was already getting fresh fish sashimi

The restaurant was super cute

And the food was delicious!

After lunch I found Cat Street and decided to check it out

Found a hoodie for the track team of a high school like ten minutes from my hometown. In TOKYO. Such a small world!

This was when Harajuku started to get craAaAaaaAZzzYy

After checking out the Harajuku area for a few hours I decided to head to Shinjuku and book a capsule at a capsule hotel for the night.

Before you even get to the lobby to book a room you have to put your shoes in a locker

Then when you book a capsule you have access to a bigger locker to store baggage/etc.

Then you make your way to the appropriate floor to find your capsule

Here's where I'm staying for the night

My little capsule neighborhood for the night

The view from inside my capsule

The control panel, where I could adjust the light, the alarm clock and the TV channel

The TV went immediately to channel 13, which was porn. Every time I clicked "channel" it would just reload the porn channel 13, so apparently porn was my only option. Needless to say I did not watch much TV in my capsule.

After checking in and charging my phone for a bit I headed out to explore the Shinjuku area

I had made a reservation the night before for one at the Robot Restaurant for this evening

I knew from entering the pre-show lounge area that this night was gonna be crazy as fuck

A robot jazz band was the pre-show entertainment

Then we filed into the theatre for the main show

It started out with a bang. Literally, a crazy drumming routine.

Then there was a rock performance with dancing

And then this chick sang Lady Gaga's "Telephone" while robots danced on the sides

After a brief intermission there was a robot boxing match

Then some videos played, and then another dance piece happened

Some sort of battle between robots and animals began

At this point my camera ran out of battery, but the show was totally nuts throughout.

I spent the night in the capsule hotel and checked out before 10am, after which I grabbed a light breakfast out of a convenience store before heading to Shinjuku Gyoen, a beautiful park in the area

I'm pretty sure it's "Don't run while holding a net" and "Don't drop fish"

It's a bit early for cherry blossom season but a couple trees didn't give a shit and decided to blossom early

After enjoying some time in the park I decided to head back towards Tokyo station to head back to Osaka, but not before getting lunch in the area

I'd heard the Tokyo had a few locations of a place called Frijoles, which was apparently similar to Chipotle. I didn't have my hopes too high, so when I arrived I was delightfully surprised to learn that it wasn't just similar to Chipotle, it WAS Chipotle. Everything was the same, right down to the unnecessary reminder the guac was extra. I couldn't have been happier.

The Burrito Bowl portion is a bit smaller than in the USA, but I think that's a good thing.

MAN, that hit the spot. I'd been missing Chipotle like WHOA.

On the bullet train back I did have a little snack, some Ritz Bits sandwiches, these ones Peach and Mozzerella flavored. Sounds gross as FUCK, but it wasn't too bad, mostly because the "mozzerella" part was not very accurate. It was basically peach flavored cream, and it wasn't bad.

Alright y'all, I've got exactly six weeks left of my contract, and then I'm heading back to Chicago! I'm a bit sad for this experience to end but I can't wait to get back home. Look out for another post in a couple of weeks, as I'll be going to a legit Sumo Wrestling tournament in Osaka in early March. Until then, see you later, y'all!