Amanita.net

I got to Tokyo yesterday afternoon, and after some accidental clueless wandering around^* I made my way to Hotel Kawase. By the time I got upstairs to my capsule, I was tired, so I figured I’d take a short nap – that was at about 5:00. I woke up about 8:00 and decided not to bother wandering around Asakusa, and just stayed in the hotel/hostel place. (I found it on hostels.com, and it’s cheaper than most capsule hotels, so it’s more like a capsule hostel. And the capsules look about 30 years old…hence the $20/nt price tag.)

Of course then I stayed up until about 2am on my phone, which I used by unplugging the TV and borrowing its power outlet – there isn’t a regular one in the capsule. So I woke up around 9:00, and changed quickly and headed out. I spotted a Starbucks, so I went there for breakfast; the guys in front of me were western but ordering in Japanese…I assume they were otaku?? Then I hopped on the Ginza Line and headed to Higashiikebukuro. I got there by changing at Ueno for the Yamanote Line to Ikebukuro, and then changing there to the Yurachuko Line for Higashi-Ikebukuro. (I mention all the changes so you can see how convoluted the whole system is.) Of course, as soon as I got off at Higashi-Ikebukuro, I promptly walked in the wrong direction. Ahem. I finally got turned back around, and after checking at a police box to make sure I was in the right area (had to hold up my phone to show the address in Japanese) I finally made it to Nekorobi Cat Cafe!

I stayed there an hour and had an absolutely marvelous time. The cats were more shy than I was expecting, only one let me hold her , but I loved just being around cats for the first time in over a week. I wrote in the guestbook and everything.

After my hour was up, I went to Sunshine City Mall for the Vivitix store, which was a huge disappointment. Vivitix is a branch of Hello Kitty merchandise, but there was practically nothing there I wanted. I did end up getting a washcloth for about $6 so I could mop my brow, which is always sweaty! I walked around the mall a little more – saw some Sweet Lolitas – and headed for the train station to go to Harajuku. I got sucked into another HK store along the way – this one was much better, with JR Line HK keitai straps and everything! Then I got on the train – no need to change this time – and went to Harajuku.

When I came out of the train station, I was immediately faced with Takeshita-dori the major fashion center of Harajuku. I guess that’s what Gwen Stefani was singing about. Maybe it would have been more impressive if I could have fit into any of the clothes they were selling. Whatever. I walked around the neighborhood some more, and just when I was going to meet a friend, I spotted Cat Room Chamamo! So I had to go in. Duh. It was 300 yen (about $3) for 15 minutes and that’s how long I stayed. I managed to get lots of pictures in that time though, including several of a Munchkin kitty. I don’t think I like it. He got around fine, but…it just looked wrong. His legs looked bowlegged or something. I don’t know.

I got back on the train and went to some other station to meet my friend and her daughters. They took me out to a lovely dinner that I really enjoyed, yum! I wish I knew what the place was called. After that I got back on the train and came back to Hotel Kawase, where I am sitting in the hallway on my laptop uploading pictures and writing this. Unfortunately the guys in the adjacent room, which closes with a curtain, are smoking. It’s disgusting, and I used Kotoba to read the kanji in my capsule that said “no smoking” so I know the Japanese guys should be able to read it. Ugh! Just one final set of pictures uploading now, and then I’ll close the laptop and switch to my phone in bed.

^{^} See, Japanese addresses are freaking complicated. Checking the map before leaving does you no good, because when you get out of the local train station, you don’t know where you are on the map. I have wandered off in the wrong direction at least four times now.