Monday, December 29, 2014

Akihabara Maidreamin Cafe

Going to a maid cafe was one of the things on my to do list in Tokyo and there is no other place to go to for that than Akihabara! There are so many different maid cafes in Akihabara that you would often see maids on the street handing out flyers to attract customers to come to their cafe due to the high competition of other maid cafes in the area. Before going to Tokyo, I did some research on which maid cafes were the most popular ones to go to in Akihabara and came across the maidreamin cafe which is actually the No.1 cafe in Akihabara. There are actually 15 locations in Japan and even one in Thailand! And there is 7 different branches in Akihabara alone. I went to the one that is closest to Akihabara station. It is literally about a 2 minute walk from the station from the electric town exit. 




The outside of the cafe when you walk out from the electric town exit from Akihabara. You can spot their ads so easily that it would not be hard to find the cafe and plus there is always a maid in front of the cafe handing out flyers. She was soooo happy when I approached her to get a flyer and she walked me to the elevator to go upstairs to the cafe on the 3rd floor. 








Their menu set. Everything looks so KAWAII that I just want to eat EVERYTHING!!! Just take all my money, lol. After I was greeted and got a table to sit down at, the maid explained to me about the different promos and combo sets that I can order. There was a minimum order of at least one order of anything like dessert if you are not too hungry or you can just get a drink. She also told me about the special set menu where you get a drink and a meal + a photo with a maid but I didn't go with that option because I wanted to eat ice cream and the special set menu did not come with ice cream, lol. So in the end I ordered a bear hamburg steak meal and a strawberry animal parfait with a cafe mocha drink because it was the first official day I went out after I landed in Japan and I was sooooo jet lagged that I needed to drink some coffee to keep me awake so I can go on a crazy shopping spree. XD 





Is this not the cutest meal? So cute I almost didn't want to eat it! lol.




And my strawberry animal parfait which looked like a bunny and actually tasted pretty yummy! 



This was one part of the cafe with the stage in which the maids do stage performance and sing. One maid was actually singing on the stage and playing games with the guests at the cafe. They even gave each of us a free glow stick to play with while she was singing and there was even a draw for free prizes in which I won a free maid clear file folder. You are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of a maid cafe but taking pictures of the food is okay. I actually sneakily took this picture when the maids were not looking at the cafe otherwise if they saw me taking pictures, they would have approached me to stop me, lol. 



Some maid art drawings that customers left behind that I sneakily took a picture of as well. XD



The clear file folder that I won with cute maids on it, lol.




The flyer I got from the maid who was handing it out to customers outside of the cafe. Yes, I kept the flyer. I keep everything I received while I was in Japan and took them home with me to Canada, lol. =P


Overall my first maid cafe experience in Japan was pretty interesting and fun. They do charge a seating fee of 500 yen per hour because you are basically paying to be treated like a king/queen. The food price is relatively more expensive too than other normal cafes you may encounter in Japan because they are providing you with a special service like as if you are an owner of a maid. So it's kind of like you are hiring someone to be your own personal maid for the day or for the number of hours you plan to stay at the cafe. I'd totally work as a maid if I was living in Japan! XD So easy to make money, lol. 

I spent about $30 in CAD at the cafe and I was there alone. It was quite expensive but definitely worth it for the experience of once in a lifetime kind of thing where you would not be able to experience it anywhere else but other than in Japan. So I would suggest you to try it if you want to know what it feels like to be in a maid cafe. It's really more of the atmosphere rather than eating cute and yummy looking food and plus being served by cute maids. What guy would not love that, right? lol. But it's not only guys that would visit maid cafes, it is very common for girls to visit maid cafes too in Japan. 

In fact during my time when I was there, most of the customers at the cafe were actually girls. There was also only one maid at the cafe that speaks English and the rest of them didn't really speak English that well so they didn't interact or talk to me as much because they knew I was an English speaking guest and was probably too shy to approach me. However, I did enjoy the service provided by the one maid who speaks English. She asked me where I was from and I told her I'm from Canada and she immediately replied back with...Canada, Vancouver? And I said no, I'm not from Vancouver, I'm from Toronto! She repeated after me and said Toronto? with a confused look on her face. I asked her if she knew where Toronto is and she said no. I told her Toronto is really close to New York, like about less than 2 hour plane ride there and she said sugoii (that's sooo amazing!) XD She also asked me if it is cold in Toronto and I said yes, it can get very cold in the winter. She asked if I can speak Japanese too and I said I know how to speak a little bit of Japanese and she was like, oh that's sooo cool! She also called me a "princess" in English the whole time I was there which is what they would call their female customers in Japanese (hime-sama) and asked me to say "nyan-nyan" (the imitation of a cat voice in Japanese) with a cat hand gesture like as if I'm a cat when I need to get her attention and ask for help, LOL! It was kind of funny but cute in a way. XD 

If you would like to know more information about the cafe I went to and how to get there, you can visit their official website


I also took some random street snaps in Akihabara as well.



View of Akihabara station from the electric town exit.





Right when you exit from the electric town exit, you'd immediately notice the AKB48 shop and cafe toward the right side of the street. AKB48 is a super famous and popular girls group in Japan. They are actually the most popular Japanese girls group in Japan with 48 members in the group split into 3 different teams. Team A, Team B, and Team K which is why they are named AKB48. There is also a show theatre right above the Don Qujiote department store on the 8th floor in Akihabara where the girls from the group do performances and dance and sing. You would often see otakus line up in front of the shop and cafe outside waiting to get inside. 



And right behind the AKB48 shop is the Gundam Cafe. This would be dream heaven for any Gundam fans.




SEGA games club and everything anime related! Akihabara is actually a very interesting place to visit if you love anime, games and electronics. In Akihabara, you can find almost anything including old school classic games such as pacman, old and almost extinct rare nintendo games systems and anything you can think of from the 80's and even 70's and 60's can be found here. I wish I had stayed and explored Akihabara more but I had to leave to go shop in Shibuya in which I will do another separate post on later. On my next trip to Tokyo, I will definitely come back to Akihabara again to indulge myself in the world of anime and games! Just thinking about it makes me feel so excited and want to go back already! XD

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Shinjuku Station & Shinjuku West

So I haven't properly showed any pictures of what I actually took in Japan! It's because I've been too lazy to go through the 2000+ pictures on my phone and camera. And to be honest I'm not quite satisfied with some of the pictures I took. While going through all my pictures, I realized I hardly took any "street snap" photos when I was in Tokyo which I had planned in mind to do. 

But sometimes I just get so mesmerized in the moment that I'm in Japan, a place that I have been dreaming and wanting to go for half my lifetime that I kind of forget about everything else. My eyes and mind is so focused on looking at the smallest details on the street, the people, the sky and all the surrounding environment that I don't even remember to take out my camera/phone to snap pictures. And also because Tokyo is quite a fast pace city that there are people everywhere you go and time is gold. It was hard to stop and take pictures in a busy area such as inside a train station or even on the street as a tourist because there are sooooooo many people walking and moving from all directions and you don't want to be in the way. 

But as a person who was visiting the city for the first time in her life, I just want to capture every moment possible and I failed to do so. =( Good thing I don't plan on visiting Tokyo just once in a lifetime so whatever I didn't get to do or take pictures of, I'll definitely keep it in mind to do so on my next trip! =)

So in this post, I'd like to share with you some street snaps (that I remember to take) of the outside of Shinjuku station and the Shinjuku west area which was where I stayed at for the most part of my trip in Tokyo.




This is the famous Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower モード学園コクーンタワ near the Shinjuku station. I don't know exactly what it is but I suppose the structure and architectural design is pretty cool. It really does look like a cocoon and I guess that's why it is named the cocoon tower, lol. I basically used this tower as a landmark to guide me back to the hotel at night when I come out from the Shinjuku station. If I see this tower then I know I took the right exit because there are over 200+ exits located inside the Shinjuku station you can easily get lost if you took the wrong exit. XD If you would like to know more about this tower, you can find out more here



And the famous LOVE sign structure located in west Shinjuku. I pass by this love sign every morning in my commute walk from the hotel to the Shinjuku station. There are ALWAYS people taking pictures in front of it day and night. I waited forever to take a clear shot of this sign without all the people in it, lol. Apparently this love sign was featured in some Japanese dramas and movies including the famous GTO drama has filmed a scene here too. 





This is what surrounds the outside of Shinjuku station. So many department stores! 



And the LUMINE EST mall located on the east side of Shinjuku. There are actually 3 malls located near Shinjuku station. Lumine 1, Lumine 2 and Lumine EST. I love this mall better than the Shibuya 109 mall. I only wish I had spend more time shopping at this mall. I wish I could show you the inside of the mall too but well taking pictures inside a mall isn't really acceptable in Japan. -___- Japan, why are you so strict on photo rules?! We tourists only want to help promote your country even more! 

Overall I really like the Shinjuku area. I am glad I have made the decision to choose a hotel in this area because there is soooooo much to see in Shinjuku. I wished I had explore the area more but I was tight on time and had too many other places to go to. There are 3 malls conveniently located right outside of the Shinjuku station and so many other department stores nearby including HALC, Odakyu, UNIQLO, Don Quijote, Yodobashi Camera, Kinokuniya Bookstore and so much more. I definitely want to stay in the Shinjuku area again in my next future trips to Tokyo. 

I also recorded a mini short video of the Shinjuku area that I have posted on my instagram account that you can WATCH HERE

Monday, December 8, 2014

Japanese Snacks From Tokyo

It's been another long while since I last blogged after I got back from Japan. I wanted to write more blog posts but didn't get around to doing them because there are still so many pictures and videos that I have to transfer from my camera and I don't have time to do them yet. I'm slowly working on them as I want to blog more about my trip as soon as possible before I forget all the little details. I wonder if by the time I'm done blogging my first trip to Japan on my blog, I'll be on my 2nd trip there already? XD We'll see, lol.

Also I FINALLY got a new domain set up and running. Took me FOREVER to get one up because I was having sooooo much troubling setting it up on godaddy.com to get it to direct my blogger to the new domain address. Keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to go through the trouble again when this one expires. >__< There are still a few things that I need to fix on my blog such as my linkwithin thumbnails for my other past blog entries not working properly because they still direct it to my old domain address and as well as some other things that I need to get fixed.

Anyway, in this post I'll be showing some of the food I bought when I was in Tokyo. I wish I had bought more food back to Canada. I seriously LOVE Japanese snack food and can spend a whole day at the convenience stores and super markets in their snacks aisle. 








Chocobo mascot sable cookies that I got from the Final Fantasy cafe at Artnia Square Enix. The cookies are not only cute but taste delicious too!






Calbee fries from Hokkaido. Omg these fries are the BEST fries ever. I wish I had bought more boxes of these home because they were soooo good! 






Dorayaki. Doraemon's favourite food! I bought this from the Doraemon museum because my brother had requested me to buy these for him. 






Also got a box of these super cute Doraemon character cakes from one of the stands in Asakusa.




Chocolates that I bought from the Kit Kat store in Ikebukuro.




These cans are pan bread that I bought from the Evangelion store inside the P'Parco mall in Ikebukuro. I bought the Asuka for my brother and the Rei one is for me.

I didn't realize all the food I bought turned out to be all anime themed, lol. Maybe next time I'll aim to buy some more "normal" Japanese snacks. XD 
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