After getting up mid-morning and having some brunch, we headed to the last of the 3 big sights in Aizu- the Aizu Bukeya-shiki, a reconstruction of a samurai residence. As the "reconstructed" part implies, it was rebuilt and designed as a display and the main tour path leads around the house with outside walls of certain rooms taken down, essentially turning them into dioramas of different household scenes.The two places that really caught my interest were the rice cleaning mill and the archery stall. Admittedly the archery is quite a gimmick but I also admit everyone looks cooler when drawing an arrow. As for the rice cleaning mill, it was cool cuz it was water powered. A huge water wheel turns logs that lift other pieces of wood that pound the rice.
I've attached a video because that's just easier than explaining haha.......
And, of course, no self-respecting tourist attraction would find itself without souvenir shops every 10 steps. Even though I do find it ruins the experience a bit to peer into a room filled with period correct samurai armour only to find the next one is selling keychains.
Only REAL ninja are clever enough to question the efficacy of plush toy knives...... At 2:30, I hopped back on the bus for yet another traffic-stunted trip back to Tokyo. Arriving 1.5 hrs behind schedule, I rushed off to meet Andrew and Yu in Tokyo station.
Our first stop was Akihabara and one of the many oft-discussed maid cafes. If you haven't heard about one, it's essentially like any other cafe but everything is just a touch more expensive because the waitresses wear French-maid outfits. It's particularly intriguing because most people tend to think these places "sell companionship" and that's not entirely true. The waitresses aren't significantly different from any other (friendly) cafe/bar waitresses aside from attire; it's like going to Hooters. Oh, and there's an option to pay 500yen to have your polaroid taken with the maid of your choosing. And, in our mini-lounge area, 1000yen to play games on a personal Wii.........
After that, we wandered to Kanda, between Akihabara and Tokyo, where Andrew's hotel was. Having resigned ourselves to staying out all night, we went off in search of an izakaya which, despite the rather trendy image it seems to have in Vancouver, are really quite down to earth, usually run by one or two people in food stained aprons bringing the food out directly to you.
After eating, we somehow decided we needed to eat again and walked to a nearby Yoshinoya which sells, at it's most basic, beef on rice. Yoshinoya (or any of the other *-ya fast food chains) is known for selling ridiculously cheap food for the crowd on the move, particularly Japanese salary-men. But they are open 24hrs..........
Anyways, after eating (twice), we headed back to Andrew's hotel and crashed for the night......
Our first stop was Akihabara and one of the many oft-discussed maid cafes. If you haven't heard about one, it's essentially like any other cafe but everything is just a touch more expensive because the waitresses wear French-maid outfits. It's particularly intriguing because most people tend to think these places "sell companionship" and that's not entirely true. The waitresses aren't significantly different from any other (friendly) cafe/bar waitresses aside from attire; it's like going to Hooters. Oh, and there's an option to pay 500yen to have your polaroid taken with the maid of your choosing. And, in our mini-lounge area, 1000yen to play games on a personal Wii.........
After that, we wandered to Kanda, between Akihabara and Tokyo, where Andrew's hotel was. Having resigned ourselves to staying out all night, we went off in search of an izakaya which, despite the rather trendy image it seems to have in Vancouver, are really quite down to earth, usually run by one or two people in food stained aprons bringing the food out directly to you.
After eating, we somehow decided we needed to eat again and walked to a nearby Yoshinoya which sells, at it's most basic, beef on rice. Yoshinoya (or any of the other *-ya fast food chains) is known for selling ridiculously cheap food for the crowd on the move, particularly Japanese salary-men. But they are open 24hrs..........
Anyways, after eating (twice), we headed back to Andrew's hotel and crashed for the night......
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