2016年 12月 28日 (水)
Opening the lodge door, I checked to see if our taxis arrived. The sight before me was nothing but thick beds of snow. Biiiiiii- For the past few days, snowfall was on the lighter side with it being a smidge better yesterday. But of course, on the day that we leave, it decided to pour down heavily with snow. Just your typical Luan luck.
You used to call me on my payphone
After settling into our bnb (thankfully clean), we jetted off for lunch at Muten Kura Sushi, a relatively cheap gachapon sushi restaurant. When I say gachapon sushi, I don’t mean that it's served in one or you buy them to order. It's the chance to win one for every ten plates slipped into the slot. A cheap ploy to get people to order more. A gimmick that had me by the leash.
With a sliver of hope, I wanted there to be no waits but you know I didn't get my way. Only on a second attempt no thanks to me, did we secure a ticket for a meal at 14:30 (late lunches, as always). In the meantime, we walked over to Sunshine City, home to the Mega Pokémon Center where I was met with dissatisfaction. Nothing appealed to me: no dumb cards, posters, art assets or collectables. The only thing mega about it was: being mega packed and a mega disappointment. Coming in, I had high hopes to leave with hands full of goods, but instead, I left empty handed.
Heading back to Muten Kura, we had ample time before our number was called. With a quick tutorial on the plate mechanics, we were shown to our booth. Having just seated myself, my eyes lit up at the sight of the domed treasure chests, where I hastily snatched them up and started stacking plates. As the others were flicking through the menu, I was picking plates off the belt. Some great, some okay and some terrible.
Once I got my fat stack of ten, I was the first to give it a gamble. On the tablet menu, an animation of slots started to play. As the “suspense” built up, it was revealed that… I WON! On my first go, no less. Making it even more special, it was a cute One Piece x Sushi Plate gacha.
⏩ more plates and Wilson was able to thrillingly take the win for his gacha. Initially, the animation showed a defeat and as we let out a sigh of displeasure, there was a sudden reversal! Just yanking our chain, they flipped the switch and we wound up with a win.
With more plates stacked to our table, we surmised that it took about one in five plates to be on the receiving end of success. With that in mind, as we were about to hit our next ten, Alex motioned to do his set but in swooped Viv with her’s. As sneaky as that snipe was, the gacha gods weren’t all too pleased and thus rained down fury upon her (a loss). Alex then took his belated shot and what do you know, he won.
After some more delicious soosh, Carolyn obtained her gacha and Vivian remained to be the only gacha-less individual har har! At this point, our plate count was an uneven amount that desired to be a nice rounded number. With another ten plate milestone we were provided with a resounding nope. Okay, we were still good to eat some more. What’s another ten?
Hey, so it’s been a while since we’ve had a LUANtics moment... As I was about to slot one of the plates, I came to a skidding halt as cautioned by my friends. Here, I noticed that even though I retained the plate, it still counted towards the total. 💡! I could cheat the system 😏.
Brilliant! Genius! The epitome... of idiocy. With many plates sent to the machine using my devious plan, Alex voiced concerns about the validity of it all. Stopping to think about what he said rationally, I concluded that I’m a dumbass.
Slapped senseless with that reality check, we were back to ordering plates but we were reaching full capacity. You might ask why we were still trying. Why not go to an actual machine and be done with it all. Well, we were too far gone and invested too much to give up now.
To reach our goal, we ended up downing about 10 plates of pineapple; they were the easiest to power through with its sweet taste and small size. There was so much pineapple that the adjacent table were in disbelief and who knows what the guys at the back thought.
Eventually, the last gacha was ours. It only came at the cost of some hurt pride and battered egos but the satisfying meal, cheap prices and cute little gacha made up for that...ish.
Leaving well fed, we wandered Shinjuku’s shops before night fell, where I experienced a little déjà vu. In my first trip to Japan, I made the long trek out to Artnia, the official Square Enix café and merch store. In that trip, I was unable to visit due to the New Year closures. This time round, I was still disappointed but not due to its closure. Like the Pokémon Center, I found the range of products lacking and the exorbitant prices plenty. Underwhelming to say the least.
Continuing the shop, we crossed into a not-as-eccentric Harajuku. Home to our respective visits to: Alice on Wednesday, Kiddy Land and Kawaii Monster Café. Alice was all right, nothing special. Its novel small entrance and thematic décor would definitely appeal to fans. The product range was unique and spanned across many levels but had pricey tags attached.
Kiddy Land~ One of my favourite stores, amplifying my juvenile needs and desires. Again, bringing it back to my first trip out, I visited Kiddy Land and found my dear Perry the platypus plush. It required no thinking and I brought him into my arms instantly. Coming back, I didn’t find anything matching that level of amazement. But… a few notches down from that, we found… Beyblades! Alex and I were hit with a wave of nostalgia, and decided to take a trip down memory lane. Pacing back and forth, we debated long and hard about the tough decision ahead of us. Not that it mattered, not with us two in the mix… this purchase was inevitable.
~
Walking around the corner, we were presented with a long escalator to Kawaii Monster Café. As we walked through the entrance doors, we left normal and stepped into the world of a bygone eccentric Harajuku era. The décor was incredible - it’s so in your face and full of character. Keeping up the whacky theme, the food served was equally as novel. Obviously, you’re not here getting Michelin quality grub but it’s not the worst in the world (unless you order the salad. “sodium personified”, according to Carolyn).
Once home, I immediately tore through my spoils of the day. Quickly assembling our Beyblades, we were cooped by the bathroom sink letting it riiiip! all night.
Thanks for reading and join me next time as we burn some rubber on the streets of Tokyo while fishing for attention.