6 January 2010

5th Day: The Motivation Day

Today was the day I actually motivated myself to going out somewhere. It helped that I had my little note book with interesting places to visit. Today I decided to visit Akihabara. Akihabara is a place where you can find many electrical items as well as Otaku, Anime, Games and Maid Cafe.

While on the train to Ikebukuro there was a guy next to me just looking at porn like it was nothing. I found that pretty funny because he did it as if there was nothing to be embarrassed about. When I arrived in Akihabara I was overwhelmed by all the lights and shops filled with electronics. I took a quick stroll down the road until I saw a Maid handing out flyers on the street. I thought to myself I might as well check out one of these Maid Cafe so that I can say that I have at least been to one.


The little maid outside was pretty cute but she must have been about 4ft or something because she was very small. Once I got inside I was greeted by all these girls dressed in french Maid outfits shouting "irashaimase, okyaku sama" which means welcome honoured guest or something along those lines. I was overwhelmed once again by all the pink and hearts all over the place. The little maid told me outside (in Japanese) that it would cost 500yen service charge and I would have to buy at least 1 drink which costs 550yen.


Inside the Cafe I saw posters stating that I can not take any pictures whilst in here. As I was sitting a Maid came up to me as I sat at the table and explained what happens in here. She told me that I am the master and she is the Maid. She used a candle to symbolise this bond we would share for this meeting. She also told me I can get her to do stuff for me if I pay, for example she could play a game with me (and let me win I think) like Jenga or we could take a picture together. But each of these things were extra at the cost of 500yen each. I told her the one drink would be fine for now.


As I sat I looked around to see what kind of people attend this type of place. I saw some teenagers, a middle aged guy and then a business man. I was surprised when I saw the business man because I thought he must have a daughter that is around the age of one of these maid kids.

After about 20 minutes the little maid who got me to come in from the street got up on stage and then started singing some song. It was pretty cute but again I thought what am I doing here this place is not for me. If I wanted to pay for women to hang out with me I might as well got to the Hostess club at least there the women are adults and not dressed like Anime characters or maids.

When I left I saw the little maid on the street again and asked her for a picture but she said no you can not have a picture, you have to pay if you want a picture. I guess I was out of luck. As I walked up the road I saw the other Maid that was supposed to be mine whilst I was in there but she left to go do some touting early in to my visit.

Because the day was still early I decided to go to Shibuya to have a look around. I decided to leave Shibuya train station via the Hachiko exit because I was curious to see what type of memorial they have created for this dog. As I came out the station I saw so many people on the streets, the most amount of people I have seen since being in Japan.


Hachiko: A Dogs Story (American Version)


I walked around briefly and crossed the Shibuya crossing which was insane because there were so many people crossing the road. I later ended up in HMV because I was curious to find some J-Reggae CDs which I could possibly buy and take back to London. I was looking for a specific CD but unluckily I was unable to find it whilst in there however I did enjoy listening to the music they had on offer using the headphones.


I didn't spend long in Shibuya because I didn't want to do any shopping and I didn't know what else was good to see in the area. When I was going back to Hibarigaoka from Ikebukuro station there was a mad rush to get on to the train. So many people rushed on the train to find a seat. This was the first time I had ever been in a train as packed as this but I guess it had probably something to do with it being rush hour or something.

When I got home everyone was getting ready to go out. No one was quite sure where it was we were going to go but just decided to go out. The first place we decided to visit was Masters bar but it seemed like he had already closed for the night. We started to walk around and eventually found one bar. Bren was the actual person who found it, but the funny thing about this bar was that it was a Jamaican bar. I was surprised to see such a place in Hibarigaoka. The owner was happy to see us all because we were a large group and deicded to give every the option to drink as much as they like in one hour for 1000yen each. Unfortunately I didn't get a discount for drinking soft drink but what can you do.


It was quite interesting inside the bar because it had been decorated to appear Jamaican. I also asked the owner if they had Reggae music and he said "sure, I do", so he put some music on for us as well all just had a laugh while relaxing in this bar.

1 comment:

hiMe said...

Looks like you're more of an adventurer than I thought Dorian :)