The Railpass gave us access not to the Tokyo metro/subway, but to the JR rail lines. One makes a circle around Tokyo and so that’s what we took. We just decided to wing it. I like winging it. Really. I swear. Our first stop was Ueno park.
We went to the Ueno park zoo.
But not before seeing a set of really nice legs in the park.
Japanese zoo = Japanese warning signs about zoo = Excellence.
And I learned about Spider Monkeys. OMG. They are my spirit animal. Long arms, very goofy, totally gawky and strange and misaligned, and the one I was captured by was a total ham who tried to impress everyone in and out of the cage, and kept falling down. It. Was. Me.
We saw animals we might normally not see, like Capybara. And of course the tapir, not to be confused with Taper, which is a different kind of animal, unique to runners.
We saw animals we might normally not see, like Capybara. And of course the tapir, not to be confused with Taper, which is a different kind of animal, unique to runners.
We were talking about the capybara at the office a few months ago (I’m not sure why, how does this relate to marketing?) and so I was quite pleased to encounter one.
As well as an enormous goddamn pelican.
And jackass penguins!
Then it was off to Ikebukuro and the Sunshine 60 complex. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Meg for the suggestion. This was so, so well worth it.)
Namja town is…well,I’d have to say it’s in the top 5 things that I’ve seen and couldn’t understand from whence or why it came. There is Stonehenge. The Grand Canyon. Las Vegas. And now…Namja town.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say:
“Namco Namja Town is an indoor theme park in the Sunshine City shopping complex in east Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. The park was opened in 1996 by Namco, a Japanese company best known for producing video games, although the park itself does not focus on those games. Instead, it features themed dining, carnival-style games, a haunted house, and a line of character mascots exclusive to the park.”
But it doesn’t even come close to what it is. I don’t know what it is. I don't know if I want to know what it is. It’s sort of like if Chuck-E-Cheese and Sesame Place (for those of you Delaware Valley residents or ex-residents like Justin and I) and Farrell’s and the Boardwalk and a whole lot of crazy crack fairy dust got whirled together in some kind of absurdist food processor. It’s all in Japanese and we don’t speak any so maybe it would make more sense if we understood. But you know what? Probably not.
You have to buy a ticket (about $3 each). The place is kind of meandering, it's like a dollhouse you're kind of scared of, it's like weird Guilliver Narnia and it doubles and triples and quadruples back on itself, it’s like a labyrinth of games and lights and colors and noise. There are places you are kind of…directed toward but if we diverged off it, we found ourselves getting redirected until we had no clue where we’d ended up. It was like a mystical forest of weird.
When you first come in, you are directed to a lot of…well, I’ll call them stations, where you can get a massage (all for additional fees –$3 can only get you a massage in Thailand, I guess). That’s what we didn’t understand at first – it’s a kid’s play area, and massages? Huh?
After walking around this some, my bet is that this particular section is for the mothers, who probably drop their kids off at the various games or for birthday parties (there seemed to be a few going on while we were there) and then take some time for themselves. Can’t say I blame them. More places should have massage breaks when you don’t want to do what the establishment offers. I could sure use one when I have to go to any kind of hardware store with Justin.
In addition to all kinds of games and rides, Namja Town also has a “Goyoza Stadium” (Goyoza are Japanese dumplings, usually stuffed with pork and fried). Unfortunately we weren’t able to partake because we had just eaten lunch. (And I don’t like pork anyway.)
But there was certainly time for dessert. At Ice Cream City. It’s billed as a museum. It’s sort of like a “Please Touch,” or maybe like a “Please Lick” museum. They get the museum part because in one area there are a bunch of exhibits which I assume detail the history of ice cream and there is a display to show how ice cream cones have evolved through the ages.
“Namco Namja Town is an indoor theme park in the Sunshine City shopping complex in east Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. The park was opened in 1996 by Namco, a Japanese company best known for producing video games, although the park itself does not focus on those games. Instead, it features themed dining, carnival-style games, a haunted house, and a line of character mascots exclusive to the park.”
But it doesn’t even come close to what it is. I don’t know what it is. I don't know if I want to know what it is. It’s sort of like if Chuck-E-Cheese and Sesame Place (for those of you Delaware Valley residents or ex-residents like Justin and I) and Farrell’s and the Boardwalk and a whole lot of crazy crack fairy dust got whirled together in some kind of absurdist food processor. It’s all in Japanese and we don’t speak any so maybe it would make more sense if we understood. But you know what? Probably not.
You have to buy a ticket (about $3 each). The place is kind of meandering, it's like a dollhouse you're kind of scared of, it's like weird Guilliver Narnia and it doubles and triples and quadruples back on itself, it’s like a labyrinth of games and lights and colors and noise. There are places you are kind of…directed toward but if we diverged off it, we found ourselves getting redirected until we had no clue where we’d ended up. It was like a mystical forest of weird.
When you first come in, you are directed to a lot of…well, I’ll call them stations, where you can get a massage (all for additional fees –$3 can only get you a massage in Thailand, I guess). That’s what we didn’t understand at first – it’s a kid’s play area, and massages? Huh?
After walking around this some, my bet is that this particular section is for the mothers, who probably drop their kids off at the various games or for birthday parties (there seemed to be a few going on while we were there) and then take some time for themselves. Can’t say I blame them. More places should have massage breaks when you don’t want to do what the establishment offers. I could sure use one when I have to go to any kind of hardware store with Justin.
In addition to all kinds of games and rides, Namja Town also has a “Goyoza Stadium” (Goyoza are Japanese dumplings, usually stuffed with pork and fried). Unfortunately we weren’t able to partake because we had just eaten lunch. (And I don’t like pork anyway.)
But there was certainly time for dessert. At Ice Cream City. It’s billed as a museum. It’s sort of like a “Please Touch,” or maybe like a “Please Lick” museum. They get the museum part because in one area there are a bunch of exhibits which I assume detail the history of ice cream and there is a display to show how ice cream cones have evolved through the ages.
Really, it's all about the dessert, as aptly put on this poster:
But you’re there for the city part of ice cream city, ya know. And like a city, there are many options to choose from. You could have a crepe with ice cream and bananas and chocolate. You could have a blend-in type ice cream from another store. Or soft serve. Or gelato. Or enter a huge store with every kind of Japanese ice cream flavor, all of course written in Japanese (and why wouldn’t it be?) Here it’s unlike a department store basement in that it’s totally fine to eat what you buy right then and there at the little seating area.
Justin was thrilled.
But you’re there for the city part of ice cream city, ya know. And like a city, there are many options to choose from. You could have a crepe with ice cream and bananas and chocolate. You could have a blend-in type ice cream from another store. Or soft serve. Or gelato. Or enter a huge store with every kind of Japanese ice cream flavor, all of course written in Japanese (and why wouldn’t it be?) Here it’s unlike a department store basement in that it’s totally fine to eat what you buy right then and there at the little seating area.
Justin was thrilled.
Eventually we disentangled ourselves from all that is Namja and made our way out of the town and over to the Tokyu Hands department store.
We were there to see kitties.
We had heard about the Japanese cat cafes for a while now, which had gained popularity since many Japanese can’t have pets due to apartment size restrictions, other rules, etc. Well we didn’t make it to a café per se, but on the 8th floor of this department store, next to the pet department is a “cat house.” (Their words, not mine.) A cat house where you can pay a token fee and go in and hang with the cats as long as you want.
We were there to see kitties.
We had heard about the Japanese cat cafes for a while now, which had gained popularity since many Japanese can’t have pets due to apartment size restrictions, other rules, etc. Well we didn’t make it to a café per se, but on the 8th floor of this department store, next to the pet department is a “cat house.” (Their words, not mine.) A cat house where you can pay a token fee and go in and hang with the cats as long as you want.
As long as you follow these simple rules:
The cats were really cool, but entirely mellow. Very few were playful. They are pretty much just there to sit and chill with you. They’re not all out at the same time; some of them are in their own pods.
The cats were really cool, but entirely mellow. Very few were playful. They are pretty much just there to sit and chill with you. They’re not all out at the same time; some of them are in their own pods.
And then we just wandered around though a bunch of different neighborhoods, back to our hotel. It was awesome.
For dinner we stopped at an izakaya not far from our hotel. I just liked the way it looked from the outside, and once again! Carin’s restaurant karma prevails! It was awesome. We had little bits of a lot of food and it was all delicious. Have I mentioned how much I love Japanese food? Especially now that I can’t eat real bread, I am all about all things rice.
Bah blah blah this is too long already, let’s hit the next day.
Next day it was off to Hakone, a hot springs area about 30 min from Tokyo.
For dinner we stopped at an izakaya not far from our hotel. I just liked the way it looked from the outside, and once again! Carin’s restaurant karma prevails! It was awesome. We had little bits of a lot of food and it was all delicious. Have I mentioned how much I love Japanese food? Especially now that I can’t eat real bread, I am all about all things rice.
Bah blah blah this is too long already, let’s hit the next day.
Next day it was off to Hakone, a hot springs area about 30 min from Tokyo.
I spend an absurb amt of time in Tokyo Hands and totally missed this cat visiting business. How did that happen?
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