I told the girls as they went to bed yesterday that they had to hurry up and sleep, because we were going to do something fun today. It worked for last night, as Maylin did not reappear after having been put to bed, and slept through the night.
We did, however, first have to do school work, and that was all levels of hard this morning. We’ll try again tomorrow, with renewed patience and a memory of today. (Why on Earth did they have to go and change MATH??)
Ok, school work finally done, lunch was ramen noodles with dumplings, and off we went. The girls at this point still did not know what was happening, just happily along for the ride. We spied a bear right inside the doors of one mall, and had to stop for a photo op.
We took the escalator all the way up and down this mall, looking for The Perfect Snack, and ended up in the basement at a very delicious bakery. We split a heavenly shortbread, glazed almonds and chocolate dipped pastry, a chocolate salt bread, and a butter filled salt bread. The salt bread, as from a previous bakery post, looks like a croissant, but is a softer and fluffier dough, no layers or crunch, just delicious. No pictures, too excited to cut into and taste!
We still had a bit of time for our dinner reservations, so we revisited the floors that had looked interesting on our first run through. The girls, of course, got stuck on the entertainment floor…
It was finally time to make our way to dinner, and we legged it through a severely crowded Dotonbori. There were so many people today! Last time we walked these blocks was on a Friday evening, which we understood was busy, but today seemed even more busy, on a Tuesday afternoon, not even 4pm!
We found the right building and went up to the 9th floor. Maylin asked if we were going there “just because it has a Pokémon centre”, and the answer was no. There was a line for Pokémon Café for those without a reservation, and no line for reservations. We stood in the no-line-line, and told them we were having dinner at the Pokémon Café!
This place is another smoooooooth operation, with food, beverages, people and entertainment in one well oiled and continuous machine. We were seated at our table amidst decorations and other excited patrons, and there was so much to look at. Joe and Maylin took a quick detour to the corner, so Maylin could share a pretend meal with some friends.
When I say everything in Japan is cute, I mean everything in Japan is SO VERY CUTE! We placed our orders and waited exitedly for our food to arrive. Joe suddenly got a fake grass placemat arranged in front of him, but nobody else did. Téa and Maylin both had the kids set, a Pikachu burger, a chicken nugget, some pasta and vegetables, fried potato wedges, a smidge of omelette, and a jello dessert, and a cup of juice.
Joe’s dinner was a Snorlax, I guess he was supposed to be snoozing on the grass? His belly was filled with a shrimp fried rice, there was grilled chicken, potato wedges, some salad and vegetables, and a sauce for the meat. The carrot was carved into ZZZs to show us exactly how much Snorlax was snoring.
My meal was one of three Pikachu variations. Pikachu was made from rice, on a bed of curry sauce. His ears and tail was scorched tortilla chips, the colour stripes on his back were made from wafer thin pancakes, cheeks of carrot, and all black decorations like on the pokeball and Pikachu’s mouth were seaweed. Under Bulbasaur, there was a creamy seafood pasta, very tasty. I also had a delicous pumpkin mash and a coleslaw. The pokeball was hiding a hamburger patty.
At one point, all the servers came around to their sections to tell us the show was starting, not to take flash photography, and to stay seated at all times. Pikachu himself came to do a little dance, sing a little song, and in general make the whole restaurant very happy. Unfortunately, anyone who tried to stand, no matter where they were sitting, were soon reminded to stay seated, so it made for a rough experience for short kidlets.
After the show and licking our plates, we lined up to pay and leave, along with all the rest of the customers. No wonder there’s a no reservations line, each reservation is for 90 minutes, and we spent less than 60. These two Pikachus were having a permanent date in the middle of the restaurant, eating two of their famous meal options, along with fancy drinks.
Because the Pokemon Café was on the 9th floor, we had plenty to look at while taking the escalator back down. Joe and Maylin went to Daiso (Japanese dollar store) while Téa and I took our time to browse the floors. We found cool and functional art at the MoMA store, and of course this adorable stuffed puppy somewhere along the way.
By the time we got back out into the real world, it was dark. The entire Namba area has so much to look at when all the lights come on, so it was no less busy after dark. I’m happy to report, the Glico man is still running.
And along the main boulevard, I spotted this fun building. Thought it was worth a photo, and of course realized it is yet another Mega Donki store. Fun to look at, though!
We made our way back home, played, made video calls, worked and called it a day. Tomorrow is going to seem so dull after the last few exciting days!