So on Saturday I went up and met up with someone from Tokyo and we went kotatsu shopping. It's officially the season for kotatsu and it definitely showed at the store. We went to a DIY store called Nitori. And well, let's just say it was "slightly" crowded there! Haha, everyone was out to buy a new kotatsu to stay warm for the winter. So there may be some of you out there wondering what a kotatsu is. It's a table that's exclusively in Japan. The tabletop is separate from the rest of the structure. The reason is so that you can lay a blanket down over the structure, and then place the tabletop over the blanket that you lay out. The blanket is also supposed to be large enough to drape over the sides and create an insulated pocket beneath the table. That way it traps in the heat. "Heat?" Yes. There is a heater built in to the table which plugs in to an outlet. You turn on the heater and it heats up, then you sit under the table cuddled up with the blanket and keep warm.
Sound fantastic!?! Yeah...it pretty much is. I'm sitting under mine as we speak this instant! I think that I will be sitting under this table a lot this winter...staying warm and probably falling asleep there every night...so that's why my new kotatsu is good and bad!
After getting a kotatsu, we headed over toward Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower is a structure in Japan that looks very simi
lar to the Eiffel Tower. I've been wanting to see the Tokyo Tower ever since I knew what it looked like and what it was...(which I found out 2 years ago, haha). For those of you that have seen the show "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" hosted by Rome Kanda, I hope you'll appreciate this. Well, that show aired the summer of 2008 and it was about a group of 8 contestants that were selected to be on a new reality TV show. But little did they know that they would be on a crazy game show, let alone one that takes place in Japan! Haha, so if you know anything about game shows in Japan, you'd know that they are absolutely ridiculous! They have the contestants always dressed up in humiliating costumes and having to do or accomplish the most ridiculous task. Basically, the goal is to humiliate the contestant as much as possible and make sure they do not come out of the task clean or with a straight head, haha. Well, this became one of my new favorite TV shows. And I went on this rant because whenever they showed this on TV, they always panned over the skyline of Tokyo. And in Tokyo, you could prominently see the Tokyo Tower, glowing in the skyline. So thus began my obsession to go visit this landmark.
Well, we went to visit and check it out. I was interested in going up to the main observatory...but the line to go up was ridiculously long!! So we bought some Tokyo Bananas. Yeah, that's right. Tokyo Bananas. Haha, she pointed out this unique food to me and I really wanted to try it. It's a banana shaped fluff cake filled with a banana custard. It's really good! I'm glad I got this to try it!
And so we headed to sushi for dinner, where I had some good sushi and tried "Shirako" for the first time, I think...I can't remember if I had eaten it before, but I'm pretty sure it was my first time. I may have tried it before...but I forget. But basically it's the eggs of fish, but it was delicious! We also had some other sushi and then headed back. Well, Tokyo Tower was still there, but luckily the long lines to go up weren't! So we he
aded up the 150 Meters to the observatory to check out the view. Luckily it was a nice night! No rain, no typhoon, good view! The tower is 333 Meters tall, so we were just about 1/3 to almost 1/2 of the way up. It was really nice. Check out the view!We also got our picture taken with the Tokyo Tower official mascot, Noppon! And if you're wondering whether Noppon is petting our heads...that would be yes!
There was also a lookout window from the floor. From this window, you could look straight down and it's as if you're standing on clouds! Haha, not
really but it's a fun concept and pretty cool.I have a notebook where I have random things written down. Among the randomness is a list of things that I want to do while in Japan. Well, visiting Tokyo Tower was on that list, and now I can check it off! Yay! Although buying a kotatsu was not on that list, I can gladly say that I have one and will be staying warm this winter! Yay to that as well!
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