Well, this experience was sufficiently bizarre that I felt it should have its own blog entry. And though perhaps it wasn’t exactly a "culinary" adventure, yet, @home does present itself as a "café."
After some searching (we had heard about it in California) we found the entry to the @home "maid" café in Akihabara, and then, after some debate—some of us were a little dubious, but Maz was game—went inside and took the elevator to the 7th floor.
Maybe you’ve read about them: all the waitresses are youngish women dressed as maids. Very odd, since there’s nothing risque about the outfits, alas. Male customers are addressed as "shujinsama"—master.
We were required to order something from the café: I had a melon soda, others had iced tea. Our waitress brought us these items, then played a little game with us involving . . . involving . . . um, you know, describing this is going to be a little tedious. Others have been there and have already described it. Why reinvent the wheel?
Luckily, the best was reserved for last: we were each given our own personal "License of Your Majesty," personally inscribed by our waitress on the back. Please see my copy below. The Japanese characters read, "Maikuru goshujinsama 20/10/22." That is to say: "Mike, Honorable Master, Oct 22, 20 [20th year of the current Japanese emperor]."
As if that wasn’t enough, then she added that cute little Hello Kitty emoticon.
Leaving @home, we realized that we were starting to get hungry for some actual lunch.
We decided to head for Gyoza Stadium.
Photo: @Home Café, Akihabara—Tokyo, 2008
Scan: License of Your Majesty from @Home Café
No comments:
Post a Comment