Christmas Day & the Robot Cafe

On Christmas Day, Mark and I did some sightseeing at the Tokyo Tower. Much like the Tokyo Sky Tree, the Tokyo Tower is a broadcasting tower.

It is the second tallest building in Tokyo and was built in 1958. Standing at 1,092 feet tall, it was built to look like the Eiffel Tower and is painted orange for safety reasons.

Out of the two towers, I liked the Sky Tree better. Since it is newer, it didn't shake as much and the elevators moved faster, which is good for someone afraid of heights. After looking at the view from both observation decks, we found a photo booth. 

Photo booths are huge in Japan. Typically, men are not allowed in them, unless they are taking pictures with their girlfriends. The booths are so much fun because they are huge and have studio quality lighting. Some of them have costumes that you can put on, or special filters they apply to your photo. It's like Instagram on steroids.

We got to choose two backgrounds for this one and then we added the little hearts during the editing process. That's right, you edit your photo booth pictures. It's the best 500 yen you can spend!

After the Tokyo Tower, we headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is the biggest wholesale fish market in the world and is where the infamous tuna auctions take place. Tourists once were able to see the auctions take place, but they have recently stopped allowing tourists in the inner market.

We worked up an appetite walking around so we popped into one of the restaurants located above the shops. The stairs were ridiculously steep and the sushi was simple and fresh. We had a few beers and then headed back to the hotel to prepare for the Robot Cafe.

The Robot Cafe fits every stereotype foreigners have of Japan. Laser lights. Girls in skimpy outfits. Frantic music. Pandas riding cows. And it is the best thing we did in Tokyo.

The cafe is more of a show than a dinner. They provided bento boxes, but we stuck to chu-his (flavored malt beverages). It is located in the flashy Shinjuku area of town, mostly known for its shopping and nightlife.

We all got glow sticks for this portion.

The show itself is a series of scenes of pandas, anime girls, and robots battling each other. Don't try to make sense of it, because it just doesn't. Words really can't do it justice, though all I can say is if you find yourself in Tokyo for the night, this is a requirement. You won't regret it. 

If you want to see a bit of the show, click the picture below to watch the Robot Cafe rendition of Santa Baby (yes, we went on Christmas):

The following day we went to the Meiji Jingu shrine, which was very pretty because it was surrounded by Yoyogi Park.

We wandered around, enjoying the more mild temperatures of Tokyo. We found a garden which would have been very pretty in the fall and summer, but pretty much everything was dead when we went.

Prayer cards from all over the world. It was so cool to see so many languages.

In the garden, we saw this older man picking up pebbles and holding them flat in his hand. After a few minutes, a small sparrow-looking bird landed right on this hand and sat perched there for a few seconds before flying away.

So Mark copied him.

And then he kept trying to get me to do the same, despite my fear of birds. After a little while, I finally worked up the courage.

In case you wondered what my fear face looked like.

But after the initial shock, we got a better picture of me once again conquering my fear.