I've just given into the fact that I'll be going to bed every night shortly after 9:00 pm and waking up around 1:00 am. I tried to fight it, but it just makes me miserable and cranky, so I'll embrace the 8 extra hours of productivity that I get from being up all night. Maybe I'll switch to this sleep schedule when we get back home!
Lunch in Asakusa
First up on the itinerary for today was to have lunch with our friend Sara. We met her this year through Jeffrey's aunt Rieko, and she's super fantastic!
Sara recommended that we go to Imahan Honten, a sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot) restaurant outside of the Senso-ji Buddhist temple in Asakusa.
The restaurant was very cozy. Each group sat around their table on a pillow on the floor. In my first (known) major faux pas of the trip, I rushed across the floor in my tennis shoes. The uproarious giggling from all of the patrons and wait staff in the restaurant reminded me that I should remove my shoes before stepping on the tatami mat flooring. I was absolutely mortified (every traveler's checklist screamed that you should NEVER walk on tatami mats in your shoes), but was relieved that we could all laugh it off together.
Before I forget to mention it, a side note about how quick the service is in the restaurants. In the dining experience I'm used to in the US, you wait for a host to seat you, then wait for a server to visit your table and take your drink order, then wait for the server to come back for your food order, then wait for your food (usually between 10-30 minutes, I think?), then eat your food, then wait for your check, then pay the bill and wait for your receipt/change.
In Japan (our experiences so far at least), you are greeted as soon as you enter the restaurant, and shown to your seat. The menus are already at the table, and the host / server explains the choices, and then waits for you to choose one (very anxiety inducing for me! I'm so used to having a few minutes to browse the menu on my own!). As you order, the server is creating your bill, which gets tucked neatly under the tabletop. Then, a few minutes later, they bring your food (it takes even less time if the food doesn't need to be cooked!). For a nice meal, the entire process is only about 30 minutes. Very different, especially when we struggle to stick to a one-hour lunchtime at our local hamburger and wings joint!
Anyways, back to the sukiyaki restaurant! Sukiyaki, or Japanese hot pot, is a style of dining where your food is delivered to your table raw, along with a bowl of soup and some rice, and you have a small pot to cook it yourself in a sugary soy sauce (so good!). Once it is cooked to your liking, you take a piece out and dip it into a raw scrambled egg before devouring it. It was incredibly delicious!
Before I forget to mention it, a side note about how quick the service is in the restaurants. In the dining experience I'm used to in the US, you wait for a host to seat you, then wait for a server to visit your table and take your drink order, then wait for the server to come back for your food order, then wait for your food (usually between 10-30 minutes, I think?), then eat your food, then wait for your check, then pay the bill and wait for your receipt/change.
In Japan (our experiences so far at least), you are greeted as soon as you enter the restaurant, and shown to your seat. The menus are already at the table, and the host / server explains the choices, and then waits for you to choose one (very anxiety inducing for me! I'm so used to having a few minutes to browse the menu on my own!). As you order, the server is creating your bill, which gets tucked neatly under the tabletop. Then, a few minutes later, they bring your food (it takes even less time if the food doesn't need to be cooked!). For a nice meal, the entire process is only about 30 minutes. Very different, especially when we struggle to stick to a one-hour lunchtime at our local hamburger and wings joint!
Anyways, back to the sukiyaki restaurant! Sukiyaki, or Japanese hot pot, is a style of dining where your food is delivered to your table raw, along with a bowl of soup and some rice, and you have a small pot to cook it yourself in a sugary soy sauce (so good!). Once it is cooked to your liking, you take a piece out and dip it into a raw scrambled egg before devouring it. It was incredibly delicious!
After lunch, we walked through the Senso-ji temple area of Asakusa. The stores surrounding the temple reminded me of a giant outdoor flea market, with dozens (hundreds?) of booths filled with trinkets, food and other goods for purchase.
The Senso-ji temple was a neat experience. There were small stations (I don't know what else to call them!) surrounding the temple: a purification fountain where you washed your hands and mouth out with a hishaku (which looked like a large ladle), a large incense burner where you waved the smoke into your face, and a collection of small drawers, each containing a fortune paper. To get a fortune, I placed a coin into a collection box, then shook a large can to get a numbered stick, which corresponded to one of the drawers containing fortunes. I got a good fortune, hooray! For those who were not so lucky and got a bad fortune, there was a nearby string fence for them to tie on their bad fortunes, in order to rid themselves of it.
The temple itself was beautiful. It had menacing demons guarding it on the outside, and was filled with beautiful paintings on the inside.
Shinjuku and Robot Restaurant!
The hectic nightlife of Shinjuku certainly contrasted with the peaceful serenity of Senso-ji temple. It was our introduction to just how many people can cram into one place. Obviously, we knew it was going to be crowded because Tokyo is known for being crowded, but apparently we don't know the meaning of the word "crowded," because this was something beyond.
Here's a collection of images from around the city. Notice how many different establishments there are in one building, they just go up and up and up! I guess when you're running out of space on the ground, you just keep building things higher and higher. Now I know why all the addresses have "8F" etc in the title - so you know what floor they are on!
Now it was time for the ROBOT RESTAURANT! Woohoo!!! This was the number one thing on our to-do list for Japan, and it did not disappoint! I don't even know how to describe it, other than to say it was ridiculous and fantastical and mesmerizing and LOUD! Just getting to the show's floor was an epic event.
Once seated, we braced ourselves for the awesomeness. And, oh, was it awesome. The pictures simply cannot do it justice, so enjoy a few videos of the performances!