robot restaurant – akaemi.com

Ok, so maybe you want to go to Japan and don’t care about all my hilarious anecdotes? Here’s a collection of random tips:

If you have an unlocked phone, order a sim card and swap it out! You’ll have internet everywhere.

If you are going to use the local trains, get a Suica card. (You may be able to order a card online before you get there, if you really want to hit the ground running.) We used ours on different lines in Tokyo, and in Osaka. If we had taken the train anywhere in Kyoto, it would have worked there, too. We found the trains fairly easy to navigate. You can trade in your Suica card at the end of the trip to get any remaining money back. They can also be used at some vending machines? We did not try that.

Google translate is a lifesaver! Not sure what the menu says or what you are buying in a conbini? Aim your phone at it (internet required, see the tip above), and it will translate enough bits of things that you can sort of tell what it is you’re considering.

Need cash? Conbinis have ATMs.

Oh, you’ll need cash. Weirdly, not all places take credit cards.

Hungry? Conbinis have surprisingly good food!

What’s a conbini? A convenience store. Family Mart, Lawson, 7-Eleven. Yes. 7-Eleven. I have no idea why they all have ‘L’s in the name, but … they do.

Wendy’s First Kitchens have machines to order at, so you don’t have to interact with other humans (for ordering at least) if you don’t want to.

McDonald’s has handy laminated menus at the counter so you can point at what you want.

No eating and walking on the street. It’s rude, I guess? No one will stop you, but if you pay attention, anyone eating on the street has stopped walking and is standing off to the side.

There are drink vending machines everywhere, but food vending machines are few and far between.

The Japanese are all about the seasons! Including in their snack foods. We managed to get Apple Coke and White Peach Fanta because we were there in the fall. If you are a junk foodie, keep an eye open and you’ll get to try all kinds of weird stuff. (But Apple Coke and White Peach Fanta? So good.)

Japan (and Malaysia, too, so maybe it’s in all of Asia? Unsure) is all about random flavored Kit Kats. We tried all kinds of flavors. All kinds of flavors – many of them probably seasonal.

Stop in at a Don Quijote store. You’re welcome.

Also, check out the Robot Restaurant if you are in Tokyo. No locals attend the show, so it’s not really an authentic Japanese experience in that regard. But it is something unlike anything you’ve ever done, I can almost guarantee that.

So another stop on the husband’s list: Harajuku! I really wanted to pick up some new duds, but they seemed to only have size medium out on display.

(In America that would work pretty well for me … but I am no Japanese medium. I’m a large or more? Unsure.)

I did find some “pants” that looked like they may have been long enough for me! If I extended the buckles fully. Though, maybe shorts plus … leg tubes? Don’t quite qualify as pants? Again: unsure.

There were plenty of crepe and sweet shops to be found, but the husband knew there was something even better to be had: freshly made potato chips with ice cream. So good.

We got there pretty early in the day, before crowds got too insane, but it was already pretty crowded. Fun shopping – mostly window shopping, really. There are some odd finds, to be sure. But, I did come out ahead with a giant hair claw for my giant hair! Really, I should have picked up a few more. I guess I’ll just have to go back.

One thing of note: there don’t seem to be public bathrooms on that main shopping street. So we headed to the Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku mall nearby: where I waited in a really. long. line. And the husband was in and out quickly. We did a little more window shopping (this place had … regular stuff) and enjoyed some time on the rooftop.

That evening we had “tickets” for the Robot Restaurant, so we made sure to make it back to the hotel for a break before our wild night out.

So: Robot Restaurant. We had seen an Anthony Bourdain where he was in Tokyo and he made a stop at the Robot Restaurant. He … had trouble finding words, for what, exactly, this place was. And so, of course, we put it on the list.

Before we left for Japan, the husband found their website. The … apparently geocities website. And filled out a form. And got an email, with confirmation of our tickets! That we would pick up and pay for before the show. Because, ya know, Japan and e-commerce? Not quite a thing. (Except for the Hip Hop Bus! Those guys figured it out!)

We read everything we could about the show from their website, and found a cryptic note about a dress code … but not what the dress code actually was. So I asked b2 to take a look at the Japanese version of the site, and he also found nothing about the dress code. So I asked him what the typical Japanese dress code for restaurants was. He thought long and hard and came back with: “Don’t be naked?”

So we decided to not go naked! Which is what everyone else also went with! So we made the right call. Disaster averted.

Night of the show, we found the ticket place and picked up our tickets, then headed down the street for the show. Right in Shinjuku! We were able to walk from our hotel.

One thing to know: this isn’t really a restaurant, per se. It’s a show. You are paying to see a show. You can reserve a sushi dinner box when you order your tickets, if you so desire. And they do have a cash-only snack stand before you enter the show. (We got sodas and fried chicken … bites? Actually pretty good.) And during the show, they roll snack stands in during intermissions. We got more drinks and popcorn during the show itself.

But the show! I don’t know if I have the words.

What I do know: It’s a really, really good time. We all walked out smiling. It is bright and loud and above all cheerful and fun. My FB post after walking out of it: “Pretty sure I was just some molly away from a rave.”

I’ll just let these pictures speak for themselves.