Today was by far my most anticipated day of the entire trip, and I can confidently say that it was 100% worth the hype.
After taking a quick pit stop in Asakusa to visit a retro game store we had managed to miss yesterday, me and Megan headed to Nihombashi to meet up with Fabian and Pavel for our Pokemon Cafe reservation. After spending an embarrassing amount of time (and money) at the Pokemon Center Tokyo DX, which was connected to the Cafe, we were able to check in for our reservation at 12:30 and get seated.
Honestly, the food in my opinion was REALLY good. I got the Pikachu themed meal, which featured an omurice shaped like Pikachu’s head, with an egg tail, a pokeball topped mac and cheese, and a hamburger patty on the side. There was also a salad (which I didn’t try) and a fried shrimp (which I did try and really like), but I think my most favorite part was the mac n cheese. The shells were shaped like Pikachu although it was hard to tell under all of the cheese, but it was super cute!!
Pavel ordered the Eevee themed dish, which I believe was a bread bun with clam chowder and something else with shrimp in it. Megan opted for the Pikachu soufflé pancake, which I ordered later in the meal and fell in love with. Fabian decided to order one of the special sets, which was a Pikachu themed ramen bowl that came with this cute Pancham steamed bun. We also all got our own themed drinks, which included a latte with a picture of Rayquaza drawn on it, Sprigatito and Fuecoco soda floats (melon and apple themed respectively), hot chocolate, and this cute drink set where you mix your own chocolate milk. But the best part about the entire experience was hands down the show.
Right after making their last call for orders, a large Pikachu comes out from behind the kitchen and puts on a show for all of the diners. Typically he’s wearing Pokemon Cafe attire, but because of the special event he was wearing a Chinese-themed outfit that was still super cute. Remember how I said that the seats we had been given were important? We ended up being right next to a majority of the show, which meant that the experience was AWESOME and felt super personal for me.
After a lot of speaking in Japanese that I didn’t understand, a lot of cute running and dancing around the cafe, and a performance of ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ (a true classic), he scurried back to the staff room so we could finish eating and make our way to the ever-looming merchandise wall.
I am not ashamed to say that this was, and likely will always be, the most expensive day of my trip in terms of merchandise. While it wasn’t outrageous, I did purchase quite a handful of small goodies and trinkets that I certainly don’t need, but definitely wanted. The picture shown is not just of the Pokemon Cafe merchandise (the Pikachu ditto plate, the small chef pikachu keychain, and the gengar silverware), but also of some things I got from the Pokemon Center next door (gachapon figurines, a very fluffy pastel Rowlet, and a hefty hoard of charms and stickers). Some other small wins from today were a Korok keychain that I won from an LoZ ichiban kuji (a lottery with a set number of prizes) and a Mega Lucario keychain that I found on the ground very far from any Pokemon Center or other merchandise store. There’s also some small things that are not pictured because I had forgotten to include them, which are a canvas tote bag and a pair of wooden chopsticks themed after grass types in Paldea.
In a daze from the heaven that I had experienced for the first half of the day, Megan and I worked our way back to our hostel to pick up our lugggage and then turn around and jump on another train to head to the first planned event of our trip by the school at the Grand Price Hotel Shinagawa. By this point, my brain was in a fog and my feet were killing me, so after heading to exchange our JR rail passes and grabbing dinner as a group I was ready to crash. My inner child has been fully satisfied by this experience, and I am so grateful that I was able to live it with my friends and fulfill it to its fullest potential.
Tomorrow we will head to Kyoto to meet up with the KCG students that we’ll be doing the game jam with. I’m very nervous, but also pretty excited to see how different the vibe is in Kyoto compared to Tokyo. I think we are also going to the aquarium attached to our hotel tomorrow (if my feet can handle it). I am quite literally fighting the urge to nod off as I write this, but as always, I’ll end with some extra photos.
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