Okonomiyaki, Akihabara & Fruit Cocktails

A slower start today as we caught up on some much needed rest… and I attempted the delicate art of squeezing my tiny souvenir purchases into my already full backpack 😳

Eventually we caught a bus into the centre of town in search of lunch.

> Okonomiyaki Time

Another food tick for the trip… Okonomiyaki, one of our all time favourites.

This famous Japanese dish has almost as many variations as there are towns in Japan 😂

I ordered a garlic kimchi okonomiyaki with extra cheese, while Alex bravely went for the “mixed” version… which essentially meant everything 😳

Thankfully the chef cooked it for us right in the middle of the table… which was definitely for the best, as I would certainly have made a complete mess of it 😂

> Akihabara – Electronics Heaven

After refuelling it was time for some transport admin… topping up my travel card… before hopping on a train to Akihabara.

Our destination was the legendary Yodobashi Camera.

This place is enormous.

Open from 9:30am until 10pm every day, with eight floors packed with electronics, gadgets and more accessories than I knew existed.

Aisle after aisle of cameras, drones, headphones, laptops, gaming gear… and plenty of things I didn’t even recognise 😂

After about three floors I was completely overstimulated and couldn’t take any more.

Especially as I wasn’t actually allowed to buy anything 😜😂

> Anime Streets

Next we wandered into another famous part of Akihabara where the streets are closed to traffic on weekends so pedestrians can take over.

This area is famous for its anime culture… themed shops, pop-up stores and people dressed as characters from various shows and games.

And of course the stores aren’t just small shops…

They’re often entire skyscrapers filled with anime merchandise 😂

The atmosphere was lively and colourful, but eventually we decided we needed a break and a coffee.

> Coffee Break

We found a small café nearby and stopped for a latte and a cream caramel, which was exactly the pause we needed after the sensory overload of Akihabara.

At this point we had a choice.

Head back to our accommodation…

or visit a bar.

The bar won.

Purely for health reasons, obviously 🤔😂

> La France

Hidden away on the fifth floor of a building in Chou… we found La France, a tiny cocktail bar specialising in seasonal fruit drinks.

The concept is simple: choose a fruit, and the bartender creates a cocktail around it.

My first choice was kiwi.

He freshly juiced the fruit, added Japanese gin, shook it over ice and poured the most vibrant green drink imaginable.

Fresh, sharp and incredibly refreshing.

For the second round I chose banana, curious to see what he would do with it.

Somehow he transformed it into the smoothest banana milkshake-style cocktail… with Cuban rum 😂

It was dangerously good.

We could easily have stayed much longer.

But eventually my sensible side took over… we still had a few trains to catch back to our accommodation… and a flight tomorrow 🙄😂Read more