Showing posts with label Tokyo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tokyo. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Vampire Cafe

For Halloween, I thought it would be appropriate to post the pictures I took of the Vampire Cafe. I went with Jamie when I visited Tokyo last month, having wanted to check it out for a while, and I have to say it did not disappoint.

The restaurant is in Ginza, and when the elevator doors open on its floor, you immediately know you're in the right place, because it's all red and black. The waitresses and waiters all wear gothic maid and butler costumes, and the guy who waited our table had these awesome colored contact lenses in. They were playing the soundtrack to the Nightmare Before Christmas when we were there, and as you can probably tell from these pictures, the lighting is kept low. Atmosphere: this place has it.

Most of the tables are in booths separated by red or black curtains, but we were put at a table in the middle of the room. The better to enjoy the view!


And it was a glass table over what was either an authentic coffin or a very good imitation. The waiter told us to be careful not to wake its occupant up.


It was September, and the place was already decked out in extra Halloween decorations. Although it was sometimes hard to tell what there just for Halloween and what's there year-round.

The menu has a map. The restaurant isn't that big, really, but the dark, red-draped hallways made it seem like it would be easy to get lost in.

And this is the drink menu. It's shaped like a coffin. :D

We both ordered drinks. I got a "bloody rose." It was quite good.

Jamie got a "white virgin." Also very good.

We ordered the set menu, wanting to try a bit everything. It was a month ago, so I don't remember every dish perfectly. I think the appetizer was crackers and a cheese dip? Note the witch drawn on the plate out of powdered spice.


This was the salad, plus a jack o' lantern chip:


Some excellent gnocchi. The chip on top of this one is supposed to be a ghost, though it's not as obvious as the jack o' lantern.


Frankenstein!


The meat dish was decorated with a werewolf. Very appropriate, I think.


And finally dessert, wearing adorable little tophats.


Next time I'm in Tokyo, I would love to go back to this place. The food was great, and the spooky atmosphere was a ton of fun. I can't recommend it enough.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Some Shinjuku Pictures


Today was more of the orientation, and one of the sessions took me to the 43rd floor of the hotel, so I thought I'd post some pictures of the view. This is Shinjuku district of Tokyo. I actually took these pictures out the bathroom window. It was huge.


Tonight I'm going to an izakaya with some JETs working in my same prefecture. An izakaya is a restaurant with basically all you can eat and drink for two hours. I'm sure I'll get some nice pictures of both the izakaya and Shinjuku at night, but I'll probably be too tired to post them until tomorrow.

Tomorrow I fly out to my prefecture, meet my future coworkers, and get to my apartment--so lots of exciting stuff.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

I made it!


It took a long, long time, but I've finally made it to Japan!

The flight from JFK to Narita Airport seemed to take forever, but I entertained myself with the television screens they had on the back of every seat. I watched the new Star Trek movie, Push, and an episode of The Mentalist I'd never seen before. (This one where his former psychiatrist was suspected of murder. Have you seen that one, Kaitlyn?) I also slept on and off. When the plane started landing, the pressure killed my left ear. I think it's because my sinuses were acting up on that side? It still feels kind of funny.

I successfully made it through immigration and custums at the airport, and found the lines of helpful JET people leading me to my bus. By this time I was practically the walking dead, so after more helpful JET people got me checked in at the hotel, I took a shower and then a nap.

Then I woke up and wandered around Shinjuku district in Tokyo. My hotel roommate and I found the nice little noodle shop in my picture. Then we walked around some more, ran into some other JETs, and now....

I'm going to bed.