Japan Trip Day 3: Eorzea Café & Hiroshi’s Hometown
Oh boy, this was the second thing (cherry blossoms being first) I was looking forward to this trip: Final Fantasy Eorzea Café. Now I’m not a big fan of Akihabara with the overwhelming decorations of anime but unfortunately like more themed cafés, Eorzea Café is located at the heart of it. That’s okay since we won’t be there the whole day.
We checked out of the hotel and left the Disney Resort around 10AM in the morning. On the way we stopped at Tokyo Train Station and bought the rest of our tickets for our trip. By 11AM we made it to Akihabara and easily found the café thanks to the map our travel agency gave us. Our reservation was at 11:30 so we waited at the hall hallway along with two other patrons who got a raffle ticket for a chance to get in on the same day instead of making reservations.
Woohoo! Our first themed café: Eorzea Café!
Welcome to Akihabara
Upon arriving the main thing that stuck out was how the café was not foreign friendly. For a video game that is widely played internationally, why would they hire staff that barely spoke English? In fact, they seemed impatient with foreigners who asked questions. Fortunately, I did my research beforehand so I knew the general rules. Taking pictures are fine however videotaping is prohibited. We can order as much as we want and every dish or drink comes with a collectible coaster. We cannot exchange the coasters with the staff yet we can trade it with other guests. Patrons can only spend 2 hours in the cafe. And finally, there will be a raffle and the winner will get a special Gold Saucer dessert. At least those are the important rules that I could recall.
Multiple Themed Cafe
FFXIV Class Coasters & Menu
Around 11:15AM they made an announcement (in Japanese) saying we can line up at the door. Of course, most of the guests didn’t understand what was said so Hiroshi and I were first in line. The host handed out the menus and took our orders as we waited. Yep, the only thing written in English in the menu was the food names and everything else was in Japanese. Our early reservation comes with a complimentary drink of our choice to which I’ve ordered the Potion and Ex-Potion. As for our first dish, sadly nothing seemed appealing so I settled for the Big Hamburger of Titan while Hiroshi ordered Escalope of Gilgamesh. After the long 30-minute wait, they finally opened the door and I was excited to finally be stepping into Eorzea Café.
Oh, the anticipation!
And man, they sure delivered it!
The cafe might be small but it’s beautifully decorated. Every FFXIV fans (perhaps FF fans in general) should come here at least once because there is no place like this anywhere else. Each decor is detailed to perfection, from the weapons, to the Moogle statues, and wall designs. The soft lighting and music (although it replayed a couple of times) bring back fond memories of my FFXIV adventures. Everything is well planned and I am thoroughly impressed. Overall, I was experiencing the beauty of Eorzea in real life.
Party Moogles!
Gold Saucer Cactuar
Mounted Warrior’s Axe with White & Black Mage’s Staffs, Archer’s Bow, & Paladin’s Sword and Shield
Map of Eorzea
Inspired by Gridania’s Carline Canopy
The bar that has Dragoon’s (my character’s class) lance and a portrait of Hildibrand & partner, Nashu.
Once everyone was seated the host went through the introduction as we all admired the surrounding. We also did the raffle drawing and the couple next to us won the Grand Prize Gold Saucer Dessert. Also they had a basket filled with egg-shaped foams with markers where we can decorate our own Easter eggs and place it amongst the other decorated eggs. After the introduction I got out of my seat and took pictures like a good ol’ tourist. Of course I’ve made sure I didn’t get in anyone’s way. Others soon followed and our food came by the time we photographed every nook of the place. We then started to admire each other’s dish before digging in. Yep, we’re a bunch of nerds. The moogles, where we sat next to, were my favorite, especially one in particular that was having a great time.
View of Moogles from my seat.
The happiest one XD
Sadly the food was a different story…
Our Potion and Ex-Potion came and I was thrilled to finally try it. I admired the potion glass before finally mixing it. It’s said it would change color. It didn’t. Ah well, I might as well drink it…. The taste was even more disappointing. Both drinks were just water mixed with all the sweeteners in the world combined. Aside from the bad taste, we didn’t get any collectible coasters because it was a complimentary.
Sugar Potions
Hiroshi’s Escalope of Gilgamesh soon came. He wasn’t sure what Escalope of Gilgamesh was supposed to be. He thinks it’s fried rice with stew although it looked like curry. Ah well, I kept the swords as souvenirs. The best part was we finally got our first Primal Collectible Coaster: Ravana. No idea what he/she is since I haven’t played the new patch but it look so cool!
Looks good but what is it suppose to taste like?
My Big Hamburger of Titan shortly showed up and it didn’t look impressive. I only ordered it because of the history I have with the Primal Titan after winning the comic contest at the FFXIV Fan Festival two years ago. Surprisingly, this burger was really good. And of course, my Collectible Coaster was none other than Titan himself.
Boring-looking but pretty darn good burger! Titan must’ve made sure the chefs made the his dish right. Also got my Titan coaster to match :)
For the second round I wanted to something light so I got the Chocobo Salad with Drink of Leviathan. Poor Hiroshi ended up getting diarrhea from the Gilgamesh so he went easy with a Hot Stone Soup. The Chocobo Salad was bland and way too safe. The only thing I liked in it was the corn, which was plain. Getting the Odin coaster made up for it though. If I thought the Potion and Ex-Potion were the sweetest drink I ever had, I was dead wrong. The Drink of Leviathan took the sugarfest to another level and even had an unpleasant sour taste as a bonus. It became worst when I mixed it together hoping to tone it down. I wasn’t even sure if it was carbonated or it just had too much sugar in it. For this one I thought I deserved two coasters instead of one: Garuda.
Leviathan’s extra-sugared piss and perhaps an actual Chocobo food.
Hiroshi’s Hot Stone Soup looked lame. He said it tasted just as how it looks and for that he got the Shiva coaster (a good one). I think the worst dish you order, the better Primal coaster you get. Sadly he had to throw in the towel just after two dishes. I was hoping to order a lot so I can collect as much coasters as we can but eating crappy food wasn’t easy. However I’m not giving up without a fight.
Poor Hiroshi always getting the “wth” dish… This one tasted like boiled water with bad food coloring.
As we were sort of nibbling on our food, the Grand Prize Gold Saucer Dessert came to the couple next to us… Man that thing was huge and I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish it especially how the food we’ve had so far weren’t all that great.
The carbs is real on this one!
Looking through the menu again excluding the drinks, I settled for another safe one: Ratatouille. It didn’t look heavy to be honest. It also didn’t look like the one in the picture when it came… Worst ratatouille ever. It’s mostly tomato sauce, onions, and bell pepper. As for the Collectible Coaster: Ravana again.
It tasted as bad as it looks.
At this point I was starting to get a little full and not in a content way. My last dish will be dessert and I’m going to make it count. After that horrendous ratatouille, nothing seem safe anymore except for the Titan Burger. So for my last order, I got the Ice Creams of Triple Alliance. The first scoop represented Ul’dah with Mulled Tea flavor (decent), then Limsa Lominsa which is vanilla with salt and pepper (why?!), and finally chocolate mint for Gridania (the safest). And what was my final collectible coaster? Odin again. Yep, I was done.
Uldah, Limsa Lominsa, & Gridania Banners
To cleanse my setback in the food, I walked around again to soak in the cafe. Once I was in better spirits I began working on my Easter egg. I wasn’t planning on doing one but I might as well leave my mark. I drew my character’s head reversed and wrote her name along with my Free Company (LOD for Legion of Doom).
Alita Ido’s Easter Egg
Some people started leaving when our two-hour time was coming to a close. With one last look around, I finally went to the front to foot the bill. Honestly I’m glad I’ve experienced it yet I doubt I’ll be coming back. The cost was just not worth it especially when it was mostly junk food. Not that I was expecting a gourmet but I did pay good money for it. It put us off on going to other themed cafes including Gundam Café.
Akihabara was starting to get busy by the time we were leaving (talk about perfect timing). Our next destination was Hiroshi’s hometown: Sagamihara. It took about an hour and a half train ride from Akihabara and once we got off, Hiroshi put the GoPro camera on me so I can record our outing for his mom. His hometown was quite small compared to the places we’ve been to. It’s kind of homely and reminded me a bit of Philippines because of the small spaces. In fact, everything was very similar to a high school anime from the narrow streets, the small convenient stores, to the playground.
The first photo Hiroshi took was the train station. The buildings weren’t there before so it was a bit weird for him. I know the feeling because I got lost with all the skyscrapers when I visited Philippines back in 2013.
Train Station as Hiroshi remembered, except without the building.
As we walked along the streets we passed by the convenient store he used to go to. He said it still looks the same as he remembers.
Walking down the streets.
Looking at the convenient store he used to go to.
And then there was the bathhouse he used to go to with his family when he was a kid. I’m surprised he still recognizes it.
Hirohi’s Childhood Onsen
Yup, we were definitely walking through his memorial lane. He can still recall most of the streets and even knows his way around. Each area resuscitates his childhood memories. He was very much aware of the new things and remembers the old.
Heading to his old house.
Remembering how he got stung by a bee around here because his brother threw a rock at a beehive.
New apartments.
And finally, we arrived at his old house. Well his house is actually gone since his uncle demolished it and combined it with the lot next to it to build a new house.
Where his house used to be.
We passed by a couple of playgrounds where a couple of kids were playing. For a moment I imagined Hiroshi playing here as a kid. As a kid he was so cute and smiled a lot. Now he’s just a grouch, haha!
Playground nearby.
When there’s a playground there’s bound to be a school nearby. We actually saw the elementary school Hiroshi went to before he moved to America. Yep, it really looked the schools in anime although they students weren’t wearing uniforms. They’re so adorable when they play.
His old school.
Entrance of his school.
His school’s playground.
After walking for a while, we went to a busier shopping area. From there we took the train to Osaka.
Back to the busy life.
Heading towards the train station.
We had to switch trains at Shinyokohama and had time to buy bentos for dinner and some desserts before our train arrives. All of the desserts were so beautiful and looked so tasty that it took me a while to decide which one I wanted.
Droolfest (0o0)
Once in the train, we opted to eat our desserts first. Hiroshi got a banana cream pie while I got a kumquat cake.
Sweet Treats
Thirty minutes later we ate our bentos. We both got the same thing: crab meat with fish eggs on rice and shared on a special crab sushi. It was a lot heavier than anticipated.
Seafood Galore!
During one of our stops at Shizuoka Station, Hiroshi noticed a group taking pictures and much to his delight Dr. Yellow was there. Dr. Yellow is a nickname given to the high-speed test train that is rarely seen. Hiroshi asked me to take a picture of it and I videotaped it too, which Hiroshi used for our Japan trip video.
Dr. Yellow, the Rarely Seen Train
Two hours later we finally arrived at Osaka around 9:30PM. Our hotel was conveniently next to the station. It was late so there wasn’t a line at the check in. Our room looked a lot normal compared to our previous one.
Aaah, one step closer to bed!
Bed = Sleep = Happy
With the combination of exhaustion and allergy pill, I had no trouble sleeping at all. I still can’t believe I went to Eorzea Café even though the food was a bit of a let down. Honestly visiting Hiroshi’s hometown was the highlight of the day because I feel like I learned more about him. We were supposed to go to his hometown on our first trip but we opted for Tokyo Disneyland instead. At least now I had a chance.
Tomorrow will be our main trip event: Cherry Blossom Hunting.
We checked out of the hotel and left the Disney Resort around 10AM in the morning. On the way we stopped at Tokyo Train Station and bought the rest of our tickets for our trip. By 11AM we made it to Akihabara and easily found the café thanks to the map our travel agency gave us. Our reservation was at 11:30 so we waited at the hall hallway along with two other patrons who got a raffle ticket for a chance to get in on the same day instead of making reservations.
Woohoo! Our first themed café: Eorzea Café!
Welcome to Akihabara
Upon arriving the main thing that stuck out was how the café was not foreign friendly. For a video game that is widely played internationally, why would they hire staff that barely spoke English? In fact, they seemed impatient with foreigners who asked questions. Fortunately, I did my research beforehand so I knew the general rules. Taking pictures are fine however videotaping is prohibited. We can order as much as we want and every dish or drink comes with a collectible coaster. We cannot exchange the coasters with the staff yet we can trade it with other guests. Patrons can only spend 2 hours in the cafe. And finally, there will be a raffle and the winner will get a special Gold Saucer dessert. At least those are the important rules that I could recall.
Multiple Themed Cafe
FFXIV Class Coasters & Menu
Around 11:15AM they made an announcement (in Japanese) saying we can line up at the door. Of course, most of the guests didn’t understand what was said so Hiroshi and I were first in line. The host handed out the menus and took our orders as we waited. Yep, the only thing written in English in the menu was the food names and everything else was in Japanese. Our early reservation comes with a complimentary drink of our choice to which I’ve ordered the Potion and Ex-Potion. As for our first dish, sadly nothing seemed appealing so I settled for the Big Hamburger of Titan while Hiroshi ordered Escalope of Gilgamesh. After the long 30-minute wait, they finally opened the door and I was excited to finally be stepping into Eorzea Café.
Oh, the anticipation!
And man, they sure delivered it!
The cafe might be small but it’s beautifully decorated. Every FFXIV fans (perhaps FF fans in general) should come here at least once because there is no place like this anywhere else. Each decor is detailed to perfection, from the weapons, to the Moogle statues, and wall designs. The soft lighting and music (although it replayed a couple of times) bring back fond memories of my FFXIV adventures. Everything is well planned and I am thoroughly impressed. Overall, I was experiencing the beauty of Eorzea in real life.
Party Moogles!
Gold Saucer Cactuar
Mounted Warrior’s Axe with White & Black Mage’s Staffs, Archer’s Bow, & Paladin’s Sword and Shield
Map of Eorzea
Inspired by Gridania’s Carline Canopy
The bar that has Dragoon’s (my character’s class) lance and a portrait of Hildibrand & partner, Nashu.
Once everyone was seated the host went through the introduction as we all admired the surrounding. We also did the raffle drawing and the couple next to us won the Grand Prize Gold Saucer Dessert. Also they had a basket filled with egg-shaped foams with markers where we can decorate our own Easter eggs and place it amongst the other decorated eggs. After the introduction I got out of my seat and took pictures like a good ol’ tourist. Of course I’ve made sure I didn’t get in anyone’s way. Others soon followed and our food came by the time we photographed every nook of the place. We then started to admire each other’s dish before digging in. Yep, we’re a bunch of nerds. The moogles, where we sat next to, were my favorite, especially one in particular that was having a great time.
View of Moogles from my seat.
The happiest one XD
Sadly the food was a different story…
Our Potion and Ex-Potion came and I was thrilled to finally try it. I admired the potion glass before finally mixing it. It’s said it would change color. It didn’t. Ah well, I might as well drink it…. The taste was even more disappointing. Both drinks were just water mixed with all the sweeteners in the world combined. Aside from the bad taste, we didn’t get any collectible coasters because it was a complimentary.
Sugar Potions
Hiroshi’s Escalope of Gilgamesh soon came. He wasn’t sure what Escalope of Gilgamesh was supposed to be. He thinks it’s fried rice with stew although it looked like curry. Ah well, I kept the swords as souvenirs. The best part was we finally got our first Primal Collectible Coaster: Ravana. No idea what he/she is since I haven’t played the new patch but it look so cool!
Looks good but what is it suppose to taste like?
My Big Hamburger of Titan shortly showed up and it didn’t look impressive. I only ordered it because of the history I have with the Primal Titan after winning the comic contest at the FFXIV Fan Festival two years ago. Surprisingly, this burger was really good. And of course, my Collectible Coaster was none other than Titan himself.
Boring-looking but pretty darn good burger! Titan must’ve made sure the chefs made the his dish right. Also got my Titan coaster to match :)
For the second round I wanted to something light so I got the Chocobo Salad with Drink of Leviathan. Poor Hiroshi ended up getting diarrhea from the Gilgamesh so he went easy with a Hot Stone Soup. The Chocobo Salad was bland and way too safe. The only thing I liked in it was the corn, which was plain. Getting the Odin coaster made up for it though. If I thought the Potion and Ex-Potion were the sweetest drink I ever had, I was dead wrong. The Drink of Leviathan took the sugarfest to another level and even had an unpleasant sour taste as a bonus. It became worst when I mixed it together hoping to tone it down. I wasn’t even sure if it was carbonated or it just had too much sugar in it. For this one I thought I deserved two coasters instead of one: Garuda.
Leviathan’s extra-sugared piss and perhaps an actual Chocobo food.
Hiroshi’s Hot Stone Soup looked lame. He said it tasted just as how it looks and for that he got the Shiva coaster (a good one). I think the worst dish you order, the better Primal coaster you get. Sadly he had to throw in the towel just after two dishes. I was hoping to order a lot so I can collect as much coasters as we can but eating crappy food wasn’t easy. However I’m not giving up without a fight.
Poor Hiroshi always getting the “wth” dish… This one tasted like boiled water with bad food coloring.
As we were sort of nibbling on our food, the Grand Prize Gold Saucer Dessert came to the couple next to us… Man that thing was huge and I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish it especially how the food we’ve had so far weren’t all that great.
The carbs is real on this one!
Looking through the menu again excluding the drinks, I settled for another safe one: Ratatouille. It didn’t look heavy to be honest. It also didn’t look like the one in the picture when it came… Worst ratatouille ever. It’s mostly tomato sauce, onions, and bell pepper. As for the Collectible Coaster: Ravana again.
It tasted as bad as it looks.
At this point I was starting to get a little full and not in a content way. My last dish will be dessert and I’m going to make it count. After that horrendous ratatouille, nothing seem safe anymore except for the Titan Burger. So for my last order, I got the Ice Creams of Triple Alliance. The first scoop represented Ul’dah with Mulled Tea flavor (decent), then Limsa Lominsa which is vanilla with salt and pepper (why?!), and finally chocolate mint for Gridania (the safest). And what was my final collectible coaster? Odin again. Yep, I was done.
Uldah, Limsa Lominsa, & Gridania Banners
To cleanse my setback in the food, I walked around again to soak in the cafe. Once I was in better spirits I began working on my Easter egg. I wasn’t planning on doing one but I might as well leave my mark. I drew my character’s head reversed and wrote her name along with my Free Company (LOD for Legion of Doom).
Alita Ido’s Easter Egg
Some people started leaving when our two-hour time was coming to a close. With one last look around, I finally went to the front to foot the bill. Honestly I’m glad I’ve experienced it yet I doubt I’ll be coming back. The cost was just not worth it especially when it was mostly junk food. Not that I was expecting a gourmet but I did pay good money for it. It put us off on going to other themed cafes including Gundam Café.
Akihabara was starting to get busy by the time we were leaving (talk about perfect timing). Our next destination was Hiroshi’s hometown: Sagamihara. It took about an hour and a half train ride from Akihabara and once we got off, Hiroshi put the GoPro camera on me so I can record our outing for his mom. His hometown was quite small compared to the places we’ve been to. It’s kind of homely and reminded me a bit of Philippines because of the small spaces. In fact, everything was very similar to a high school anime from the narrow streets, the small convenient stores, to the playground.
The first photo Hiroshi took was the train station. The buildings weren’t there before so it was a bit weird for him. I know the feeling because I got lost with all the skyscrapers when I visited Philippines back in 2013.
Train Station as Hiroshi remembered, except without the building.
As we walked along the streets we passed by the convenient store he used to go to. He said it still looks the same as he remembers.
Walking down the streets.
Looking at the convenient store he used to go to.
And then there was the bathhouse he used to go to with his family when he was a kid. I’m surprised he still recognizes it.
Hirohi’s Childhood Onsen
Yup, we were definitely walking through his memorial lane. He can still recall most of the streets and even knows his way around. Each area resuscitates his childhood memories. He was very much aware of the new things and remembers the old.
Heading to his old house.
Remembering how he got stung by a bee around here because his brother threw a rock at a beehive.
New apartments.
And finally, we arrived at his old house. Well his house is actually gone since his uncle demolished it and combined it with the lot next to it to build a new house.
Where his house used to be.
We passed by a couple of playgrounds where a couple of kids were playing. For a moment I imagined Hiroshi playing here as a kid. As a kid he was so cute and smiled a lot. Now he’s just a grouch, haha!
Playground nearby.
When there’s a playground there’s bound to be a school nearby. We actually saw the elementary school Hiroshi went to before he moved to America. Yep, it really looked the schools in anime although they students weren’t wearing uniforms. They’re so adorable when they play.
His old school.
Entrance of his school.
His school’s playground.
After walking for a while, we went to a busier shopping area. From there we took the train to Osaka.
Back to the busy life.
Heading towards the train station.
We had to switch trains at Shinyokohama and had time to buy bentos for dinner and some desserts before our train arrives. All of the desserts were so beautiful and looked so tasty that it took me a while to decide which one I wanted.
Droolfest (0o0)
Once in the train, we opted to eat our desserts first. Hiroshi got a banana cream pie while I got a kumquat cake.
Sweet Treats
Thirty minutes later we ate our bentos. We both got the same thing: crab meat with fish eggs on rice and shared on a special crab sushi. It was a lot heavier than anticipated.
Seafood Galore!
During one of our stops at Shizuoka Station, Hiroshi noticed a group taking pictures and much to his delight Dr. Yellow was there. Dr. Yellow is a nickname given to the high-speed test train that is rarely seen. Hiroshi asked me to take a picture of it and I videotaped it too, which Hiroshi used for our Japan trip video.
Dr. Yellow, the Rarely Seen Train
Two hours later we finally arrived at Osaka around 9:30PM. Our hotel was conveniently next to the station. It was late so there wasn’t a line at the check in. Our room looked a lot normal compared to our previous one.
Aaah, one step closer to bed!
Bed = Sleep = Happy
With the combination of exhaustion and allergy pill, I had no trouble sleeping at all. I still can’t believe I went to Eorzea Café even though the food was a bit of a let down. Honestly visiting Hiroshi’s hometown was the highlight of the day because I feel like I learned more about him. We were supposed to go to his hometown on our first trip but we opted for Tokyo Disneyland instead. At least now I had a chance.
Tomorrow will be our main trip event: Cherry Blossom Hunting.