Konnichi wa, Tokyo!
Went up to Tokyo last Saturday with Jo and Tonya, for lots of Tokyo-fun, Tokyo-food, and Tokyo-shopping. T and J have a conference this week for returning JETs, in Shinjuku, and so were going to have to go to Tokyo for that anyway. But, going on Saturday meant more fun, conference free Tokyo-time for them, and I just went because, hey, it’s TOKYO! You’ve gotta go to Tokyo.
We were staying in Ueno, which turned out to be a really good choice. Jo booked us a room in a business hotel ahead of time, via the magic of the Interweb, so all we had to do was get off the bus, get on the train to Ueno, and walk three-minutes to our hotel. The only way it might have been easier is if there had been a private car waiting at Shinjuku to take us to our hotel. I say might, because Shinjuku is possibly the most confusing station in Japan, and even if a private car had been waiting, we would have had to find out exactly where it was waiting, and I can’t confidently say I would have been up to it. However, all speculations about private cars aside, we found our hotel remarkably efficiently. It was a little too early for us to check in, but they let us leave our bags there so we could go and get a bite to eat and scope out the area a little better. When I spied a Freshness Burger from one of the station exits (we had to pass through the station again to get to the busier side), it was decided very quickly that Freshness Burger was the only possible place we would even consider having lunch. Freshness Burger is, hands down, the best place to get a hamburger in Japan. Considering the competition, this isn’t a difficult title to win, although Mos Burger isn’t bad. Freshness Burger, though, is exquisite. Rapturous. Epic. God, I’ve been here too long.
Anyway, after Fr-shness B-rger, we hit The Gap, and a few other little random shops around the corner. I did make a few purchases, including some earblings, which is unusual because I can’t really wear dangly earrings, on account of the hole in my right lobe being a little too low. Dangly things pull down on it, which is both unattractive and uncomfortable. Luckily, these earblings dangle from a stud instead of a hook, which seems to make a difference. I regret nothing!
That night we fulfilled a long time dream of mine: Going to a crazily themed restaurant in Tokyo. Now, you’ll remember on an earlier trip to Tokyo, I had wanted to go to a gothic cathedral-esque themed restaurant, but my pals had just flown in from the NoVA and wanted some more authentic Japanese food, which makes perfect sense and I probably would have wanted the same thing in their shoes. (Well, maybe not. I do love themed restaurants. This I cannot deny.) Still, my little heart yearned to find a space filled with odd décor and some kind of menu. Anyway, when Jo and Tonya and I checked into our room, we discussed what to do for dinner. Jo told us about a cool, Arabian Nights themed restaurant she had been to with her friend Miho, who was coming out with us that night. I think I exclaimed how cool that sounded, and then forgot about it. We got all gussied up and headed out to meet Miho at the station, where we decided to just wander down the busiest street and pick somewhere that looked good to us.
As we headed down an avenue lined with bars and restaurants, and packed with fashionable, young Tokyo-ites, I glanced to my right and said to Jo,
“Hey, isn’t that that restaurant you were telling us about?”
It was, oddly enough, and we asked about getting a table, which turned out to be a mere fifteen-minute wait away. It was all happening so fast; I was finally living the dream.
The Arabian Rock turned out to be even more fantastic than I could have imagined. We actually had to rub a magic lamp to get into the restaurant---seriously. Then, there was this giant pyramid in the center of the room that kept changing colors:
and the wait staff looked like this:
All the tables were in these tiny, private alcoves, with a curtain across the entrance and cushions to sit on.
Everybody do the Arabian Rock!
Check this rad lamp!
Everyone ordered a beer except for me, because I don’t drink beer. As all my friends know, I won’t touch alcohol unless it comes to me dolled up in a fancy cloud of fruit juices and precious stirrers. What can I say? I’m a fancy girl, and I need a fancy drink. So when this:
arrived at the table for me, all I could think of was, “Sara, this time you’ve really out-fancied yourself.” That is gold leaf stuck to the top of that ice cube, freakin’ gold leaf!
Freakin’ gold leaf!
Also this guy
came around to cook one of the dishes we ordered, and made us shout “Fire” at it, which he said went into the food and made it more delicious. All the food at this restaurant was delicious, which makes it the very best kind of themed restaurant. Not only was the theme perfectly executed, since the décor was both cheesy and charming, but the food was good--great, actually. If you need more convincing, scroll up and look at that drink again; freakin’ gold leaf!
Also, the bathroom was pretty nice. Here’s Tonya, looking quite fetching.
And me, doing some kind of Arabian dance, apparently. Note the earblings.
After leaving the restaurant, we decided on karaoke and went to a place Miho knew of, which turned out to be a good move, since we got to pay a flat rate for unlimited time.
Dude at the karaoke place took this one…
…right before Jo found Pooh.
Somehow, we ended up karaoke-ing until four in the morning, at which time we were all heartily glad we had beds to go home to. Since Jo and Tony were staying another night, we didn’t even have to check out, but got to sleep-in until noon. After everyone had showered, and I packed up all my stuff in my backpack, we went out to get lunch. We ended up in Shibuya, at a charming little Italian place, which we chose for its outdoor seating since it was such a nice day.
View from our table
The menu was really simple, but the food was delicious and filling.
Also, two out of the three of us were wearing big black sunglasses, which shows how cool and worldly we were.
Having eaten, I decided to head back home, and said good-bye to Jo and Tonya. Jo had helped me book a seat on the 3:30 train, but by the time I had made my way out of Shinjuku station to the bus terminal, it was too late and I had to take the 4:30 instead. This is the insidiousness that is Shinjuku station; If I could imagine my own personal hell, it would probably resemble something like Shinjuku station, except with minotaurs. In honor of it being June 6, 2006, I invite you all to leave a comment detailing your own personal hell. Happy 6/6/06 everybody!
We were staying in Ueno, which turned out to be a really good choice. Jo booked us a room in a business hotel ahead of time, via the magic of the Interweb, so all we had to do was get off the bus, get on the train to Ueno, and walk three-minutes to our hotel. The only way it might have been easier is if there had been a private car waiting at Shinjuku to take us to our hotel. I say might, because Shinjuku is possibly the most confusing station in Japan, and even if a private car had been waiting, we would have had to find out exactly where it was waiting, and I can’t confidently say I would have been up to it. However, all speculations about private cars aside, we found our hotel remarkably efficiently. It was a little too early for us to check in, but they let us leave our bags there so we could go and get a bite to eat and scope out the area a little better. When I spied a Freshness Burger from one of the station exits (we had to pass through the station again to get to the busier side), it was decided very quickly that Freshness Burger was the only possible place we would even consider having lunch. Freshness Burger is, hands down, the best place to get a hamburger in Japan. Considering the competition, this isn’t a difficult title to win, although Mos Burger isn’t bad. Freshness Burger, though, is exquisite. Rapturous. Epic. God, I’ve been here too long.
Anyway, after Fr-shness B-rger, we hit The Gap, and a few other little random shops around the corner. I did make a few purchases, including some earblings, which is unusual because I can’t really wear dangly earrings, on account of the hole in my right lobe being a little too low. Dangly things pull down on it, which is both unattractive and uncomfortable. Luckily, these earblings dangle from a stud instead of a hook, which seems to make a difference. I regret nothing!
That night we fulfilled a long time dream of mine: Going to a crazily themed restaurant in Tokyo. Now, you’ll remember on an earlier trip to Tokyo, I had wanted to go to a gothic cathedral-esque themed restaurant, but my pals had just flown in from the NoVA and wanted some more authentic Japanese food, which makes perfect sense and I probably would have wanted the same thing in their shoes. (Well, maybe not. I do love themed restaurants. This I cannot deny.) Still, my little heart yearned to find a space filled with odd décor and some kind of menu. Anyway, when Jo and Tonya and I checked into our room, we discussed what to do for dinner. Jo told us about a cool, Arabian Nights themed restaurant she had been to with her friend Miho, who was coming out with us that night. I think I exclaimed how cool that sounded, and then forgot about it. We got all gussied up and headed out to meet Miho at the station, where we decided to just wander down the busiest street and pick somewhere that looked good to us.
As we headed down an avenue lined with bars and restaurants, and packed with fashionable, young Tokyo-ites, I glanced to my right and said to Jo,
“Hey, isn’t that that restaurant you were telling us about?”
It was, oddly enough, and we asked about getting a table, which turned out to be a mere fifteen-minute wait away. It was all happening so fast; I was finally living the dream.
The Arabian Rock turned out to be even more fantastic than I could have imagined. We actually had to rub a magic lamp to get into the restaurant---seriously. Then, there was this giant pyramid in the center of the room that kept changing colors:
and the wait staff looked like this:
All the tables were in these tiny, private alcoves, with a curtain across the entrance and cushions to sit on.
Everybody do the Arabian Rock!
Check this rad lamp!
Everyone ordered a beer except for me, because I don’t drink beer. As all my friends know, I won’t touch alcohol unless it comes to me dolled up in a fancy cloud of fruit juices and precious stirrers. What can I say? I’m a fancy girl, and I need a fancy drink. So when this:
arrived at the table for me, all I could think of was, “Sara, this time you’ve really out-fancied yourself.” That is gold leaf stuck to the top of that ice cube, freakin’ gold leaf!
Freakin’ gold leaf!
Also this guy
came around to cook one of the dishes we ordered, and made us shout “Fire” at it, which he said went into the food and made it more delicious. All the food at this restaurant was delicious, which makes it the very best kind of themed restaurant. Not only was the theme perfectly executed, since the décor was both cheesy and charming, but the food was good--great, actually. If you need more convincing, scroll up and look at that drink again; freakin’ gold leaf!
Also, the bathroom was pretty nice. Here’s Tonya, looking quite fetching.
And me, doing some kind of Arabian dance, apparently. Note the earblings.
After leaving the restaurant, we decided on karaoke and went to a place Miho knew of, which turned out to be a good move, since we got to pay a flat rate for unlimited time.
Dude at the karaoke place took this one…
…right before Jo found Pooh.
Somehow, we ended up karaoke-ing until four in the morning, at which time we were all heartily glad we had beds to go home to. Since Jo and Tony were staying another night, we didn’t even have to check out, but got to sleep-in until noon. After everyone had showered, and I packed up all my stuff in my backpack, we went out to get lunch. We ended up in Shibuya, at a charming little Italian place, which we chose for its outdoor seating since it was such a nice day.
View from our table
The menu was really simple, but the food was delicious and filling.
Also, two out of the three of us were wearing big black sunglasses, which shows how cool and worldly we were.
Having eaten, I decided to head back home, and said good-bye to Jo and Tonya. Jo had helped me book a seat on the 3:30 train, but by the time I had made my way out of Shinjuku station to the bus terminal, it was too late and I had to take the 4:30 instead. This is the insidiousness that is Shinjuku station; If I could imagine my own personal hell, it would probably resemble something like Shinjuku station, except with minotaurs. In honor of it being June 6, 2006, I invite you all to leave a comment detailing your own personal hell. Happy 6/6/06 everybody!