Did I mention that they called us all 'hime-sama'?

Ahhh~ All done work, so on to part deux of our Tokyo adventure. <3

So, when we last left off, our heroes were sleeping in their ninja hostel. :D

We work up and decided to head off to Akihabara. I love Akihabara. I really do. I've only seen a bit of it, but it's amazing. There's always adorable maids out and about, there's lots of anime/game/manga/geek stuff about and it's just a fun loving place.

So, Angel and I went for dinner at a really nice Indian place in an electronics store. I know. Kinda weird, eh? But, the food was great! I got butter chicken with naan bread. And the bread was MASSIVE! It was huge! Like, bigger than my head! But, man, was it ever goood! I looove naan bread!

So, we ate and then just floated around a bit. We were throwing around the idea of going to a maid cafe, but Angel vetoed it, because she thought it's be creepy for us to go in that late. Fair enough. It was about 8:30 when we finished. So, we walked over to a Sega World and spent a lot of money on claw machines. I spent about ¥2,500 on one claw game trying to win a Lucky Star figure. But, I got it in the end. Yay. Go me. I collect figures of this character, so I think it was worth it. She's sitting with her brethren on my shelf right now.

We walked over to Animate, but it had already closed for the night. Oh well. There's always next time. We also did some cosplay purikura. It's amazing. We both at this point decided we wanted a parfait. Maid cafe's always have amazing parfaits on the menu, and since we had originally wanted to go to one we decided that we needed one. Just not a from a maid cafe. So, we spent about 30minutes walking about trying to find somewhere that would serve a parfait! And everywhere that would was already closed. Even Baskin Robbin's was closed. But, we found a Denny's that was open, so we popped in there. And what did we get? French Toast.

Yes~~ Delicious french toast! We quite enjoyed it. After our dessert we hobbled back to our hostel and promptly attempted to pass out. I use the term 'attempted' because our neighbours made it VERY difficult. We were right next door to a group of really rowdy and loud Italians. Italians that sounded strangely like Talia, actually. It was weird. But, it really just made us feel like we were back at BH. Yep. So, it took us a while to get to sleep.


The next day dawned rainy and cold, sadly. We both got all dolled up and set out to meetup with Hiroko. Hiroko was a guest at BH in January and she and Angel stayed in touch by email. I think it was her idea to take us to the butler cafe. So, we met up at Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro. (It's a big department store.) We had a little time before our reservation, so we went and did some purikura. As an aside, I just cleaned my room and made a new corkboard for my purikura. It's hanging above my desk and my old corkboard is on my end table, now.

So anywho~ Purikura avec Hiroko was fun. And then it was time for BUTLER CAFE! OMG. They are the most amazing thing EVER! Canada needs them. Just sayin'. If I EVER win the lottery that will be what I do with my vast fortune. Open a butler cafe. It's soooo amazing.


Alright, we ended up at Swallowtail, which is one of the best butler cafe's out there. Hiroko had made our reservation and we arrived about 5 minutes early, just in case. The butler at the door greeted us by saying 'Okaeri!' which means 'Welcome home!' And then he took our names and invited us to take a seat while we waited. Well, we waited about 15 minutes. It was fully booked that day! And then they came and asked us in. So, we walk into the entryway and there's an older gentleman serving as 'head butler'. He took our umbrella's and then introduced us to our butler, Aragaki. He was cute. With gravity defying, perfectly styled hair and glasses. He was pretty cute, just sayin'~ Sadly, I have NO photo's! There's a strict no photo policy at Swallowtail! It made me sad. But, oh well.


So, Aragaki greets us, takes our purses and leads us inside. Now, it's in an underground cafe, so no windows. But, they had 3 really lovely chandeliers on the ceiling for lighting and lots of little antique lamps all over. It kinda made me think of like an rich old lady's tea room. It had like a Rococo/Victorian mix vibe to it. It was amazing. I could just live there. So, we got to our table and he pulled out the chair for each of us, then placed our bags in a basket beside our table. He even put a cloth over it, just in case there was a spill! And then he put our napkins in our laps for us. Eeeeeeeee. 

Now, Aragaki didn't speak ANY English, but Hiroko was able to translate for us. And they must have an English clientele, because they had English menus. He explained the menu and then instructed us to ring the little bell on our table when we were ready to order. We dithered for a few minutes about our order, then I rang the bell and he came over. I ended up getting the 'Janus' lunch set. It was a salad (with Caesar dressing! OMG I've missed that!), a tomato and shrimp soup, homemade quiche and a strawberry mousse pastry dessert. I also got Catherine Rose tea to go with it, since it reminded me of mum. It was all reeeeally good tasting! And the portions were bigger than I thought! I actually couldn't finish! I felt bad, though. I must've dropped my napkin about 2 times. I bounce my leg, as everyone knows. And I kept forgetting I had a napkin on my lap until it wasn't there anymore. I would retrieve it almost as soon as it fell, but then a butler would instantly be beside me and replace it with a new one.


Did I mention that they called us all 'hime-sama'? That means princess. Eeeeeeeee. ＼(*^∀^*)/ 


So, anywho, I feel like I've written too much about this place. Ahahahaha. But yeah. It was amazing! And it only cost me about ¥2,800! CHEAP! I'm totally going back next time I'm in Tokyo! It was amazing! <3

After that, we wandered about Otome Road for a bit. Otome Road is in Ikebukuro and it means 'Maiden Road'. Basically, it's called that because that's where all the butler cafe's and yaoi (boylove) centric manga shops are. It was rainy, though, so there wasn't really anyone out and about. We DID see a few amazing lolitas, though! One was going to Swallowtail and she looked fabulous! We hopped the train after a bit and headed next to Odaiba.


Odaiba was what I was excited about. I really wanted to go to the FujiTV building. It's a really cool looking building with a viewing platform on the top floor. On a nice day we'd have had a really nice view. Also, it's where they film VS Arashi, and I wanted to take a peek at the exhibit for it upstairs. It was pretty cool, actually! I'm so glad we went. It was cold, though! Odaiba is on Tokyo Bay, so it was right against the water and really cold for a girl in just a flimsy little dress. But, fun none the less!

 

After FujiTV we walked over to PALETTE TOWN. Yes. It really does exist! We even too photographic evidence!

I'm sure you're all duly jealous~ But we walked over to the Venus Mall. It was the most amazing mall EVER. We went in so that I could buy myself something to keep warm. I settled in a little shawl hoodie thing. It did help a lot! But the mall was amazing! It's styled to look like a Roman city complex thing! And every hour they have a 'sunset' and the lights dim and whatnot. And they had a cute light show going on for the winter. At the end of the show they made it snow! (Little soapsuds floated down from the ceiling and it looked like snow!) It was sooo cool! There was a really pretty fountain in the middle of the mall. 

There was also a roadshow with props from Liar Game: Final Stage on exhibit, so we went and took a quick peek. I watched the Liar game drama and fuck. It was the most intense thing I've ever watched! Keira watched it with me and at one point, we watched a certain clip about 5 times and still didn't get what was going on. We had to get a piece of paper and a pencil and write it out in order to get it! Anywho, I got a picture with the chair prop. Angel and I posed like the main characters in the poster.

We went for dinner at this point. I got Katsu curry! Yummmmmm~ And I might add, it seems like everyone in this mall had a really good level of English! Everyone spoke to us in English without us having to look dumb and they were all really nice! There was also an advertising campaign for Yellow Tail wine going on. There was a Christmas tree type light display and all the tables in the food court had table cloths with it printed on them.

It was getting late around then, so we decided to head home. On the way out of the mall we found Kawaii Paradise. Oh my stars. I should live there! It was amazingly cute! I just wish I had found it earlier in the day! Oh well. Next time Gadget, next time! *shakes fist*

 

 

After taking a few photos we all went home. And then we had another night of the neighbours being rowdy. Oh well. Our last stop before we went home the next day was the Square Enix store. Angel had never been there! I was shocked, really. Geek paradise! So, we woke up early, checked out and hopped the Toei Shinjuku line. When we got there it had literally JUST opened. Sweet! And there was another customer in there taking photos of everything! You're not usually allowed to take photos. But, the girl uostairs didn't seem to mind, so I asked if it was allowed and she said yes! So, I have photos of us with the Sephiroth embedded in the floor!

It was fabulous~~~ And then, all too soon, it was time to go home. We spent too much time at the Squeenix store, so we had to catch a later shinkansen. And because we ran late, we missed the bus. So, poor Yuta came and picked us up. He said that the office was going to make us pay for a cab, but he offered to come get us. He's so sweet! While we waited for our shinkansen we grabbed lunch. We both got chicken cutlet and a potato croquette. It was shaped like a heart! And the stall we bought from had amazing bags.

So, that brings us to the end of our story. However, I have a few more pictures!

Recently, George has gone on a random spree of putting up Keanu Reeves pictures in the house and around BH. There's one in the common room, in the girls bathroom,on Tatsu's monitor in the office, on a shelf in the pub, etc. And Lucy decided that the picture in the common room needed a friend.

And recently the girls have been drinking a bit more, since Talia's leaving soon and Zoe just got back. One night they all got smashed and went into the common room. David likes to hang out there and he always keeps a big container full of candy on the table for people to munch on. He's so sweet. But, the girls in their drunken state, decided it would be fun to throw the candy around the room. And the dripped beer on his computer and his leather coat. (His computer is fine.) He was NOT amused, but forgave them when they apologized. So, as an even better apology, the girls made an apology bucket of Coke for him and they also erected a shrine to him in the common room.