Tag Archives: Final Fantasy

Cat Cafe, Cats and Dogs, Square Enix

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I wake up at 9 a.m. to the sound of rain. It is very loud. I head downstairs, I drink two cans of Boss Coffee Sweetened Rainbow Blend and write for a few hours, until I am finally ready to venture out into the monsoon that is the streets of Japan. I buy an umbrella, pleasantly, before taking the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line to Shibuya.

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In Shibuya, vans drive around all day advertising new albums from random Japanese artists. There are three AKB48 vans that circle around, blazing out pop classic, Labrador Retriever. I wander the Dogenzaka district in the pouring rain until at last I find the sign I am looking for; it reads Neko, the Japanese word for cat.

Hapineko is a cat cafe. For ¥1180, I order peppermint tea with sweets and spend 30 minutes with the cats. Inside, there are literally tens of cats. Most of them are hiding or sleeping. I spend some time taking photographs until eventually I find a cat that sits with me and allows me to stroke her. It’s an odd concept, really, and how it came about, I really don’t know. As I leave, I playfully change the Japanese word for ‘thank you’ by one letter, “Aricatou gozaimasu!” The staff member gives me a puzzled look.

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I hop on the Yamanote Line and 4 minutes later I hop off in Shinjuku. If Tokyo is the capital of Japan, I would say Shinjuku is the capital of Tokyo. It is massive and boasts the worlds largest train station. An average of 3.64 million passengers per day pass through the station, which has over 200 different exits. After an hour of searching, and a trip to a Metro Station to ‘borrow’ some free Internet, I manage to get directions and find that I am only eleven minutes away from where I need to be.

Eleven minutes later I arrive at Artnia, the official restaurant of Square Enix. I order two desserts from a Final Fantasy themed menu; the first I order is the Strawberry Pancakes, served with ice cream, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a Cactuar. After finishing my huge portion of pancakes, I instantly regret ordering two desserts.

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The second dessert is a parfait. It is in the shape of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII and contains an edible chocolate Buster Sword. It also features chocolate panna cotta, with coffee jelly and vanilla ice cream, all topped with a layer of whipped cream, bananas, and chocolate sauce. The total cost for both is a pricey ¥1910.

The restaurant also sells a selection of Square Enix official goods. They include games, stuffed toys, trading cards, necklaces, perfumes, and models of popular characters. Here are Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X:

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After the restaurant I head back to the hostel where I meet up with Andy, an Australian I had first met at the karaoke night, and Matt, the guy I went to the izakaya with a few nights ago. We decide to go to the English speaking bar across the road. Because of the rain, the bar is quiet and there are only two other customers. A Japanese man here says I look like a famous person, and after five minutes of searching on his phone he reveals that I look like a young Barry Manilow, I strongly disagree.

After last orders are called, Andy, Matt and I head to another bar with the owner of the English bar and the Japanese man. Here we drink more and more beer and snack on Japanese omelette and smoked salmon served with Daikon. The Japanese man eventually leaves, but not before paying the whole bill. It turns out the three of us haven’t paid for a thing all evening. Thank you very much, Saito-san.

In a City of the Future it is Difficult to Concentrate

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Breakfast from a Seven Eleven. The quality and selection of food in Japanese convenience stores is amazing. The Cheese Mushi Cake was actually quite pleasant; soft with a very light texture, softer than a sponge cake with a subtle hint of cheese. I wash it down with a blueberry yogurt drink. It is a wonderful time.

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Today is laundry day; I grab some of the ‘free’ detergent from the reception and head up to the 4th floor of the hostel. The laundry room here is amazing. It costs me ¥200 to wash my clothes. Also in the laundry room random plugs litter the floor, there is a stone water fountain, and a bathtub full of colourful plastic balls.

I see Daisuke here, he is on his break and just chilling out in the laundry area. I ask him to take my photograph. Afterwards, he starts to pick up some of the balls and begins to throw them at me. We have a ‘fight’ for a short while before tidying up our multicoloured mess.

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After laundry, I take a six minute train ride to Akihabara Electric Town. I go into a few of the shops looking specifically for models of Final Fantasy characters for a friend back home. In one shop I see Magic the Gathering cards next to the pornography. In another shop the lift is playing House of Cards by Radiohead. Elsewhere in Akihabara the girl idol band AKB48 are doing a meet and greet, the queue of adult males is insane.

Inside the Club Sega arcade, elderly individuals sit alone whilst playing computer games, while men in suits attempt to win stuffed Pikachus from crane claw machines. Elsewhere, a woman dressed in a maid costume hands out flyers for a maid cafe.

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Akihabara is a little too much and the humidity is high today. I begin to feel a little dizzy so I head back to Asakusa. On my way back I see a sign saying, ‘In the stations, please refrain from putting a thing on the floor.’ At the hostel it’s 5 p.m. and Daisuke has just finished his shift. I join him in the lounge for a beer and he once again emphasises that I should go to the Robot Restaurant. Soon, I tell him.

I am invited out for a trip to Shibuya for some sightseeing and food. A group of six of us is randomly formed, including Conor, Grant, and Edwina from previous evenings; and we head out to Shibuya. This time I get the chance to see if people crossing the road looks any better during a busy evening surrounded in neon lights. I admit, it is a little better than the day time, but it is still just people crossing a road.

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There are some quality English signs here in Shibuya. The highlights for me are a restaurant called the Raj Mahal, a dress shop called 1000% Wedding, and a drinking establishment called Gaspanic.

We search a while in Shibuya until we find a restaurant that we all agree on. We buy our meal tickets from the vending machine outside; I order the ‘no pork’ vegetarian ramen and a beer for ¥1380. After ordering we go inside, sit down and hand over our ticket. Eventually our food comes out. It looks pretty good and tastes pretty good. My ramen contains cabbage, spring onions, beansprouts, and noodles in an unidentifiable broth.

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After lunch, the group splits. Conor and the others head off to check out a love hotel. Edwina, Grant and I head back to the hostel. On the train there is a sign advertising Suntory Strong Zero. The sign, for no apparent reason says, ‘Suntory Strong Zero 9% Wash You!’ On the way back to the hostel we stop off at the five-storey convenience store. At the store I buy a 135ml can of Asahi for ¥95. It is the smallest can of beer I have ever seen. I also buy a bottle of my favourite Japanese whisky.

At the hostel we do some drinking. Eventually the others return and we regroup for a few games of cards and some bad magic tricks. The night ends at around 2 a.m. We make plans for the following morning then go our separate ways to sleep.