Last post was mostly about the two trips we did outside of Tokyo, so this one will be about what we did in Tokyo city.
Overall we spent most time in Akihabara. Generally we went somewhere else during the day and in the evening we went to Akihabara where, at least Akke and I, played a lot of Ultra Street Fighter IV and tons of UFO catching (versions of claw cranes). When I write “tons of”, I mean it. From not giving a care in the world about it I became totally addicted. It all started when I wanted to win a figurine for Akke that he had tried to get for a while. When I finally got it we started to understand all the quirky strategies needed to succeed in “Japanese” UFO catching. It became like a game for us, because you really need to think outside-the-box sometimes, finding the object’s centre of gravity and such. Anyway, it was super fun when you got a hang of it! Though I don’t recommend people spending too much time on it, because it quickly becomes costly.
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Akke playing Pop’n Music
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Dave playing Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
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Akke playing Sound Voltex II
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Most of my and Akke’s UFO catching prizes
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More UFO catching prizes
Regarding shopping we spent most time in Shibuya and Harajuku. Harajuku Street is really cozy, love the petit boutiques there. The famous Takeshita Street is usually a bit too crowded for me, but fun in its own way. Other places we visited were Ginza, Ikebukuro, Ueno, Shinjuku and Komagome.
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Akke and me posing with Totoro in Sunshine City (Ikebukuro)
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Me at a cat café in Ueno
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Akke stilling his cat abstinence
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Akke in front of the Ameya Yokocho market sign in Ueno
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Festival happenings on Takeshita Street
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Harajuku Street
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One of the boutiques on Harajuku Street
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The famous Shibuya Crossing
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Dave and Ekken recharging with some dessert
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Shibuya Crossing by night
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We found a One Piece store in Shibuya
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Akke bought me a Cactuar necklace when we visited the Square Enix Artnia store
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Beautiful Rikugien Garden in Komagome
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More Rikugien Garden
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Me beside a huge tree in Rikugien Garden
We also checked out different pubs and bars. Like a cocktail bar in Shibuya which made movie themed drinks. Some better than others, that’s for sure. There were a few really cool ones but most ones we tried were quite disappointing. But a nice experience overall.
Other bars we went to was the british bar The Hub, the small Game Bar A Button in Akihabara and Capcom Bar in Shinjuku, where the staff performed some short acts with scenes from games related to the things people ordered. While not a bar we also visited a maid café in Akihabara, which was weird but in a very fun way.
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The cutest cocktail I’ve seen. Guess which movie? :D
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My Pacific Rim cocktail in the front. Dave’s Alien drink to the left and Akke’s LotR: The Two Towers to the right
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The very pretty Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cocktail
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Me enjoying my pretty drink
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Starting our great party night in Shibuya with happy hour in The Hub
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In front of Game Bar A Button (Akihabara)
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Kampai! (Game Bar A Button)
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Capcom Bar in Shinjuku
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Akke enjoying a Cammy drink (I forgot what I chose)
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Ekken getting some delicious Resident Evil “brains” for dessert
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Me with one of the maids in the maid café
We actually timed our trip with Tokyo Game Show too. We went during a business day so there wasn’t much cosplay, which was one of the things I really enjoyed when I went last time (2008). It was sweet not having to walk like penguins though, so with that said I think I prefer business days. But I wasn’t really interested in any of the upcoming game releases in Japan, so what I definitely enjoyed the most was the school area’s indie games. One of the games there was an easy-to-understand puzzle game, Trace Puzzle, which I found quite addictive. I really hope it gets released on Xbox Live or Steam!
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Tokyo Game Show 2014!
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Akke playing Trace Puzzle
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A funny sneak ’em up-ish game in office environment
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The very blue PlayStation area
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Shenlong/Shenron from Dragon Ball!
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Akke in front of the indie game area