August 21st - Home time

8 cities
10 days
27 blog posts (we sure experienced a lot in 10 days)
1 super fun adventure through Japan

After getting on the wrong train and almost missing our flight back to Winnipeg (I've never been so relieved that a flight was delayed), we're heading home.

Till the next adventure!

August 20th - Tokyo: Robot Restaurant

Robot Restaurant is more of a show than a restaurant.  And it's more of an up-close animated float parade than a show.  But it was definitely worthwhile, and DEFINITELY one of the more strange things that we did in Japan.  There is no plot to the "show" really - just different musical acts, costumes, and robotic contraptions parading by while you enjoy a drink or snacks and wave glowsticks around.

Hard to describe really.  This video might help...

So many fun photos!

More than just pretty faces, these girls were also surprisingly talented musicians.

Panda riding a cow!  And it seemed less random than it should have.

This is the part of the plot where they played the Jurassic Park soundtrack and a giant anaconda ate one of the performers.

This picture pretty much captured the essence of our evening.

August 20th - Tokyo: Tempura

I tried so hard to remember all of the rules.  I didn't mix my wasabi with my soy sauce, I mixed the daikon with the tempura sauce, I picked up the chopsticks at the right time, and didn't rub them together, I brought smaller bowls to my mouth, I looked around to see what others were doing with clam shells, I even remembered the Japanese word for beer etc etc.  But then I screwed up everything by pouring soy sauce into my bowl instead of tempura sauce (I got confused!  There were so many little things of sauces, powders and palette cleansers!).  Chefs at these types of restaurants keep a close eye on all of their costumers.  Within seconds he'd signaled to someone to take my bowl away, and someone else brought me a new one.  How embarrassing.  :P

We didn't take any pictures inside, but I stole these pictures of the menu and the same meal that we had ordered (chef's recommendation - Tempura Zen) from Trip Advisor.  The meal came in courses and all of the pieces of tempura were cooked individually and served to us one at a time.

Besides the one little sauce blunder, Tempura at Tsunahachi (one of the most highly rated tempura restaurants in Tokyo) was a great experience and the food was absolutely DELICIOUS.  :)

August 19th - Tokyo: Cat Café

Silly as I feel to admit this, I'd been looking forward to visiting a cat café more than most other things on our trip to Japan.  During our second last day in Tokyo, we were able to check one out.  We paid our fee for one hour of cat time.

The café had a booklet with cat "profiles" - listing their breed, birthday, likes and some other occasional details about likes/dislikes, etc. as well as a multitude of photos.  There were over 40 cats in this cat café!

And I did my own "kitty photoshoot" with many of the cats here.  They were all just so cute!

Garrett and I both fell in love with this little guy.  That face!!

August 19th - Tokyo: Shibuya Crossing

This could be Portage and Main one day... :P

I love the few that trail at the end, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming traffic.  :P

August 18th - Himeji: Himeji Castle

"The finest surviving example of Japanese castle architecture".  It's the largest castle in Japan, and we got to see it from the outside as well as go on a tour through the inside!

 These beautifully carved ceramic fish adorned many of the peaks of the castle (you can see them in the above photos... Kind of...along the corners of the roofs).  We watched a video on the making of these fish.  They were cast, but then the details were carved by hand.  And because they were so large, they had to be fired in multiple sections. So many giant tiger-headed fish!

August 17th - Kyoto: Capsule Hotel

For our last night in Kyoto, we booked a night in the "9h" (Nine Hours) capsule hotel - mostly for the experience (but also to save on cost, it was our cheapest night in Japan!).  

After checking in, we were immediately forced to part ways as women and men had their own elevators with only access to certain floors.

After putting my bags in my locker, showering, and slipping into the provided robe and slippers, I made my way to my capsule.

It was actually quite comfortable inside, and I slept very well.  In the morning, I was awakened by the lights getting brighter in my capsule (you set your own wake up time).  

My only "selfie" from this trip.

Check out additional photos from their website:

http://ninehours.co.jp/en/