Sensory overload

A day filled with wonder and fun. So it was grey and teeming with rain this morning - we didn’t care at all. I bought new umbrellas and we set out with the lovely feeling of slightly owning this town.

‘Are we going to stop and get iced cocoa at our usual place?’ Alex asked. And the answer was ‘yes’ because breakfasts are a non event here and we’ve given up. The current strategy is a drink and a pastry - and the hot and cold cocoa is exceptional.

We headed to the MORI digital art museum at Odaiba - quite out of Tokyo central and an area we had been told was interesting to explore. Unfortunately the weather was going to make that impossible but nothing could dampen our spirits.

There was no queue when we got to the museum and we were so excited after hearing how wonderful it was. The reports were not overstated. The next few hours felt like a wonderful adventure into a world of magic and creative suspension. We walked through rooms where the installations on the walls shifted and changed; fields of flowers bloomed, crystals glittered and sea life swam under our feet. There were opportunities to interact with the artwork at every stage - a highlight of which was a tea break in a darkened room which allowed you to watch your cup of tea burst into bloom as you drank it.

The whole experience was spiritually fulfilling - and with Mitch’s colourblindness taking away from his experience, he was more than happy to disappear into the local fast food outlet and watch the AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and West Coast - a nail biter the Eagles narrowly won.

An unfortunate timing issue meant he had to watch about 19 minutes whilst we travelled on the subway back into town, but a mobile wifi device meant he didn’t miss a kick.

The aim was afternoon tea at the Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku - but they weren’t accepting more patrons until the 6pm dinner sitting, so we browsed the local shops and bought new (very well priced) runners for Mitch and Alex,

By 6pm we were starving - having eaten very little all day, and very much looking forward to a big dinner.

The Monster Cafe was an over the top experience which felt a little try-hard to us. Andy he Night seemed to go from bad to worse with no one taking our order, then not bringing food, then bringing the wrong food which was also inadequate and ordinary. The whole meal was expensive with terrible service and bad quality. But somehow these mistakes and problems made the night funny and we all laughed and enjoyed ourselves. (I wasn’t laughing at the $A23 inedible parfait on the bill, but the kids found the whole thing hilarious.)

We left the cafe at around 8.30 and headed to the Shibuya outlet of the Village Vanguard to show Mitch the crazy, cute, weird and wonderful products. I’ve given up trying to find Cam a ‘serious’ gift and had fun choosing the wackiest selection of things I think will make him laugh.

By the time we got back and I washed a load of laundry (waiting to put it in the dryer), it was after 1pm and way past time to sleep.Read more