Gudetama Cafe at Yokohama's Village Vanguard Diner

Have you heard about Gudetama, the new addition to the Sanrio team?  Gudetama's name is a combination of the Japanese words "gudegude" ("dead drunk" says my dictionary) and "tamago" (egg).   I think it's reflected pretty well in the illustrations.  Like most Sanrio characters, he is kind of adorable but I think he is a bit stranger than the rest.  Even so, he earned his own themed character cafe and my friend Natalie and I went to go check it out at Village Vanguard Diner in Yokohama.

The line wasn't terrible.  They said that the wait would be 2 hours but we were seated and served within closer to an hour and a half.  The cafe was really small too so I was a little surprised by how quickly it moved.  Like the ever changing Guest Cafe in Shibuya Parco, the staff allowed us to place orders while we waited in line so that food would be ready shortly after we were seated.

サンリオの新しいグデタマというキャラクター知ってますか？ ちょっと変なキャラクターだと思います。っぱりこのキャラクターのカフェがオープンしました。横浜ルミネにあるヴィレッジヴァンガードで 時間限定のカフェがオープンしました。私の友達のナタリちゃんといっしょに行きました。長い列で並んで待っていました。でも、待っていた時間が長くないでした！ 2時間だと言われたけど、実は1時間はでした！待ってるの時に注文をできましたよ。待っていた時に注文をしました。

The menu
メニュです。

The Gudetama merchandise is so cute!
グデタマのグッズはかわいいですね〜

plastic food samples
サンプル

I ordered the eggs benedict (no bacon) because I am vegetarian so I was limited in options.  I was sad that my food didn't have a face so I lived vicariously through Natalie whose taco rice did.

私はエッグズベネディクトを頼みました。でもこの食べ物にはグデタマの顔のシールがなかったです！シールがなかったので寂しいですね。ナタリはタコライスを頼みました。タコライスにグデタマの顔のシールがついてありました！

I also took these silly vine videos.

も、面白いのビデオを撮りました。

  

The walls were really cool! 

壁はすごい〜

I thought the food was pretty good and the price wasn't too much either.  I was happy I got to go to this cafe!  Natalie and I had a lot of fun.

このレストランの食べ物は美味しくてかわいかったです！そんなに高くなかったです。グデタマカフェで食べてよかった。私とナタリは楽しみました。

You probably noticed that I wrote this blog post in English and Japanese.  I want to do that for all of my posts going forward so that I can continue to improve my language skills.  I don't think I could have written this entry a few months ago so I am feeling pretty good.  That being said, I'm sure there will be some awkward or silly sentences in there because I am still learning.  If you notice anything that seems super off, please let me know and politely correct me so that I can continue to learn!  I will really appreciate it.

今日の記事をブロッグで英語と日本語で書きました。日本語でちゃんと書きたい！毎日頑張って、日本語上手に成りたい。もし間違えた日本語を見たらコメントを書いてください！それで、勉強になります。よろしく！

My Melody Cafe and Shibuya Shopping!

I am so happy that I finally made it to one of the kawaii themed cafes in Parco!  My friend Natalie and I got to the My Melody Cafe at around 11:15 am, 15 minutes after it opened and the wait was already about 2 hours long but we happily got on line and stayed there for the whole 2 hours.  We were the only non-Japanese people in line and I was kind of surprised.  The two hours passed very quickly and when we approached the entrance of the cafe, one of the staff members allowed us to place our orders in advance.

me and My Melo-chan

Is this a good look for us?

We decided to just order dessert food because it looked cuter.  We did not plan this in advance so lunch became dessert.  I never claimed to be a health blogger.  That being said, I would not recommend this route without eating something in advance.

We both ordered this iced latte.  It was really cute but also kind of strange.  The top layer was this thick, strawberry creme and the coffee was just the part with ice underneath.  The cream on top just kind of stayed there like it was floating in the cup as we drank the coffee part.  But we eventually mixed it in and it tasted pretty alright.  The stenciled My Melody character tasted like it was made of powdered dried strawberries.

I ordered this cute roll cake with strawberry creme that tasted like what was in the latte.  It also came with the fruit decorations and the themed cookie.  It wasn't outstanding but it looked really cute so I wasn't mad.

Natalie got this parfait that was really cute!  I tried some of the strawberry flavored popcorn and it was really good.  She said that there was some kind of jelly in the bottom of it.

We also got to keep the placemats and coasters that came with our food.  There was a souvenir shop and special limited gacha toys but we didn't get anything.  I think that it was worth the wait just to have the experience but it's not like the food was particularly outstanding beyond aesthetics.  I'll basically do anything for cute food, obviously.

Since we were already in Shibuya, we decided to go to 109.  If you don't know 109, it's one of the most famous malls in Japan and has many brand name stores.  Some of the stores there include Swankiss, Punyus, Kokokim and Fig and Viper.  We made a point to walk through the whole mall.  I don't have any photos because many stores in Japan are very strict about photographing their products.

I mostly did shopping for my friends' birthday gifts so I can't post photos of those because they're a surprise.  Today was kind of sad because there was a lot of clothing on sale but none of it was anything I liked all that much.  However, I did buy these amazing tights.  They were kind of a splurge at 2,000 JPY but they were the last pair and I would never see then again if I didn't buy them so...

I can't wait to wear these when it gets colder!!

At nearly every store we went into, someone who worked there saw my shirt and said "Sailor Moon, kawaii!!!" I had a nice conversation with the guy who was working at Swankiss and a girl working at Liz Lisa.  Even when I was outside, a guy who was advertising for an izakaya yelled "月に代わって、お仕置きよ！" (in the name of the moon, I will punish you) after me.  So embarrassing.

We made a point to find the Galaxxxy store too and I hadn't been there in 2 years since I was last in Japan.  I found that they had different things than what was listed in their online shop.  There was a jacket I really wanted but I couldn't justify the purchase even though it was on sale.  I was really into the video game themed clothing and things today.  I think that's my new aesthetic interest.  I aspire to be some kind of magical pixel space girl.

For dinner, since we needed to supplement our dessert for lunch, we went to Uobei sushi!  This is an amazing hidden gem of Shibuya.  It's one of those sushi places with plates that are 100 yen (~$1) but the difference between this restaurant and others is that the sushi comes directly to you after you order it instead of you picking it up off a conveyor belt.  It's really fun!  I actually learned about it from my friend Elleanor.  She shows clips of it in this video here!  It should have been super crowded given what time it was and the price of the food but we didn't even have to wait.  I think most tourists don't know it's there because it's on a side street.  Another cute thing about this place is that when you order a certain amount of sushi, a rock, paper, scissors game comes up on your screen and if you win you can get a coupon or a coin for a sushi keychain gacha machine.

We also went to LOFT which is this amazing store that sells all kinds of toys, stationery and electronics.  They didn't have the Rilakkuma toys we wanted but they had these.

These big Tara McPherson bunnies are the best and they reminded me of home because I miss working at her gallery/store.

Fuchiko toys are so funny and strange.  I'm kind of obsessed with them but I haven't even bought any yet.  This display was amazing.

Of course no day is complete without purikura.  I somehow managed to salvage this shot from my crappy flip phone, truly a miracle.  They're much easier to access from a smartphone.

Then of course, I had to get on a crowded train home and stand almost the whole 2 hours because my stop is last and no one knows that by looking at me so no one offers me a seat.  It's always the worst and I feel so tired from walking at the end of the day, but I always somehow manage to get a second wind when I get home which is why this post happened.

I'm sorry it was just iPhone photos today!  Carrying my DSLR around all day can hurt my back/shoulders so I don't want to do it all the time.  Thank you for reading and of course if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them here or in my ask.fm.

New Foods: April Edition

I feel like it's a little soon to write about my job because I've only been working a few short weeks  Though I will say it's going well and a lot more fun than I had anticipated.  Anyway,  this is a post about food!  I'm a pescataraian and although my diet is limited by it, I don't consider myself a picky eater.  I love Japanese food but I have been sticking to what I like until recently.  I have made a point to try and branch out and eat new things more often.  I intend to make this a reoccurring post type in a series.  So, I present you with new foods for April!  (eaten during April though published in May)

こんにゃく (konnyaku / konjac)

This vegetable is rather common in Japanese food, particularly in oden, a Japanese hotpot soup.  I recall last time I was in Japan, I asked what it was and a friend translated it to "devil's tongue" which meant absolutely nothing to me so I wasn't ever clear on what it was.   After some Googling, I learned that konjac happens to be a root vegetable.   Konjac is gelatinous by nature but less like your typical jello because it's rather dense.  I imagine many people are probably put off by that kind of texture.  In addition to being an ingredient in oden, it's also often made into noodles that are used in sukiyaki (yet another type of Japanese hotpot).  My favorite bar in my city serves konjac on skewers with miso sauce and it's really good!

わらび餅 (warabi mochi)

Next is another creepy jelly food so if you're not into those, you've come to the wrong place.  Mochi is the ever popular Japanese rice cake.  Many Americans only know it as served with ice cream filling but guess what... it's not as common here in Japan as you think.

This type of mochi is actually not made of rice, but instead of bracken starch.  I'm honestly not entirely sure what that is either but it tastes good to me so I don't really care.  It actually looks kind of creepy like frogs eggs but I promise it's really not gross tasting!

This is what the one I had looked like when I bought it from the grocery store.

The grocery store one came with kinako (soybean powder) and some kind of sweet sauce.  It's often sold looking like this one below though so you can't even tell that it's some clear jelly thing.

おかか (okaka)

I usually stick to the same convenience store onigiri (rice balls) because sometimes the labels are difficult for me to read.  However, my new dictionary app is helping me conquer that so I tried a new flavor- okaka!  The name of this probably sounds gross to most people but again, it really isn't a gross thing or else I wouldn't be eating it again and again.  Okaka is seasoned bonito (or tuna) flakes.  I'm not sure if that made it sound any less strange to you.  It tastes smokey and I think it's my favorite onigiri filling now!  I recommend trying it if you have the chance.

Maple Margarine Sandwich

If you ever wanted a sandwich that tasted like pancakes, Japan has granted your wish for you.  I ate it cold and the margerine was gross and too much but a friend suggested heating it first.  I believe that would help, but I'm not sure I'm ready to try this one again honestly.

Galbo Mini

Japanese candy is the best candy!  This is a new one I tried and I can't even properly describe what it is.  It has a chocolatey center with a flavored candy outside but it's not hard like a M&M is.  The strawberry one is my favorite.  I don't know why it's called Galbo Mini or if there is even a Galbo Large counterpart... If there is, I want to know about it because these are soooo small and I always want more than what comes in the package.

おじや (ojiya)

I had never even heard of ojiya until I tried it on Tuesday.  My friend Elleanor works at a socks store called Circus in Harajuku and I visited her at work.  My friend Megan and I went next door to an ojiya restaurant with her during her lunch break.  Ojiya is a Japanese rice porridge type food but the cafe referred to it as "risotto" which may be a more accurate translation.  Megan and I split a plain one (you can choose to add toppings though) and we liked it a lot.  This is what it looks like but I don't have a picture of the exact one I ate.  It came with seaweed, a sausage that looked kinda like an octopus and a fried piece of bread that had some sugar on it.

I stole this photo from a random person's blog

That's it for this post.  I have a few other post ideas in mind.  I think my next one might be about my favorite Japanese Harajuku fashion icons.  As always, any questions or blog post suggestions are welcome both in the comments and over here at my ask.fm!