Audette Adventures: The Maid Cafe: Tokyo Trip Part 2

Tokyo is made up of many distinct districts connected by the massive subway system. Every time I emerged from underground I felt like I had entered a new city; the sights and sounds were so different! Our first morning in Tokyo we hopped on the subway to visit Akihabara, the Tokyo neighborhood known for its obsession with anime, manga, video games, and electronics. Immediately I was overwhelmed with anime (Japanese animation) on giant screens and manga (Japanese comics) advertisements several stories high.

Creepy, realistic screen people customized the ads based on your language selection!

I was distracted by all of the screens, but I had to hurry and keep up with Matt who had found every piece of equipment needed to make robots. While in school he had to order online and look through Radio Shack bins for all of the necessary parts, but in open air stalls in Akihabara there was everything electronic. Blinking LED lights, ropes of electrical wire, and boxes of servos kept Matt's attention while I just tried not to lose him in the maze of vendors. I know he has plans to use his degree in robotics while we are living so close to the motherload of robot parts!

I was ready to stop shopping for electronics and move onto our next destination: lunch at a maid cafe. Maid cafes are generally only found in this neighborhood of Tokyo since they relate to the fantasy culture prevalent throughout Akihabara. The waitresses are all dressed as adorable French maids. I had heard they refer to you as master or mistress, but I didn't notice at ours if they did or not because I was so overwhelmed. So much kawaii (cute, adorable, pretty)!

We ate at Maidreamin, and as soon as the elevator door opened we were blasted by pop music, pink everything, and a chorus of greetings by all of the waitresses. We were shown our table and given a menu with different lunch or dessert sets. The food was shaped into different animals, and when brought by the waitress she drew additional details in soy sauce for Matt's and ketchup for mine. Throughout the meal the maids kept the energy high by dancing along to the music and bringing everyone different props. I was given a crown and a plush cat named Pudin (like the dessert pudding as they mimed to me through the language barrier). They stopped by our table to chit chat (in English since we are incapable of responding to any questions in Japanese), and they were surprised when we mentioned that we lived in Okinawa. We were asked to participate in a ritual of hand motions and exclamations of "cute!" and "delicious!" when certain items were brought to the table, and to call over a waitress we had to meow! Pictures of the maids were not allowed unless they took them with their own polaroid, and we were each given a souvenir picture hand decorated by the girls. I left the cafe to all of the maids waving until the elevator doors closed, and I felt exhausted. So much smiling and trying to figure out what was happening in this alternate, adorable world. I feel as though I'm not explaining the experience properly, but honestly its all a kawaii blur.