Mappy Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hi everyone, Ok, I got over here at last and now I'm working my knackers off in Shinjuku to earn enough money to buy all the anime stuff I have my eyes on! Anyway, this place: http://www.ro-bo-ta.com/ I went there with an English friend I was with 2 weeks ago as my mate Karin: http://www.ro-bo-ta.com/page002.html (on the left) http://drabbit.fem.jp told me she was working there. She is a fanboi in disguise and I am not going to mention the doujin she draws. No, she didn't warn me that she was working in a bikini and I don't like to be distracted from my food so it was uncomfortable eating. HOWEVER, I would like to ask "What happened to the old Church of Mecha conservatism?" The cafe was fekking heaving with mecha fans (and they were the sterotypical Japanese mecha fans, just looking at them could tell you they knew every staff member of every mecha anime ever made.) It was like the Cure Maid Cafe (http://www.curemaid.jp) only the blokes didn't bother bringing their girlfriends and they were playing some sort of anime projected on the wall (which was a nice touch.) Oh, and there was a shead load of mecha models everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean all up the walls, in the corners, everywhere! The owner of the shop looked like he actually bought them all! Mata na, Mappy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikiryou Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Wait... 'fanboi in disguise'? Lol! That'd be scary. You must mean fangirl right?? Anyhow, very nice looking friend you have there. Good thing she's exploiting her looks for the right purposes. Heheh. Putting that aside: the shop itself is an interesting concept (although whacky). It's not an atmosphere suitable for dining is it, what with all those toys everywhere. How was the food by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 (edited) Oh my God, they let him into the country. There goes Tokyo... You didn't tell me about this place before, did you? And, as I've argued before, mecha fans get on very well with members of the opposite gender - its just we have a bit of trouble trying to stop them gunning us down with their ace mecha piloting skills to start with! Edit: "Didn't know she was working in a bikini?" I bet...! Edited September 24, 2004 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robokochan Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 hey mappy! I am in Osaka, there are a few of us here. If you get down this way drop me a line... Rob MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabbit Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Mmmm, legs... Have fun there, Mappy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EXO Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hey Mappy... you know where the cosplay thread is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 27, 2004 Author Share Posted September 27, 2004 hey mappy!I am in Osaka, there are a few of us here. If you get down this way drop me a line... Rob MN Hi there, Not got net at home yet so sorry for the late reply everyone. rikiryou: She has a lovely personality as well, ask F Zero One. The food there is ok but you don't get much as it's a cafe and not a restaurant. FZeroOne: I did tell you but only after you got back. When you say "Getting along with" does that include gratuous amounts of slobbering? As there was plenty of that. And she didn't tell me she was in a bikini as I have another male friend to testify, she only sent me a message on my phone asking me to go there as she had a bag of Hello Kitty stuff waiting for me Monkey-N: Likewise if and when you come up to Tokyo. Send me a PM and I'll give you my telephone number. Wabbit: They're everywhere over here and it's rather hot weather so the skirts are disrespectfully short. EXO: I'll get on the case. Went to Harajuku a week yesterday in my bounty hunter costume and got photoed but also swcoped out the talent. A lot of gothic lolita costumes but some "Normal" ones that would apply to the thread. I had 4 hours sleep last night and now I've got another 7 hours of work to do so I'll sod off for a bit. Mappy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 27, 2004 Author Share Posted September 27, 2004 Also want to point you to this message: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...ST&f=26&t=11062 mata na, Mappy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kin Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Very nice! Nice website. nice gal! I wish I could live in Japan... but it's too expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 27, 2004 Author Share Posted September 27, 2004 Very nice! Nice website. nice gal!I wish I could live in Japan... but it's too expensive. It's is expensive (400 quid a month) but I've finally got a job that will pay enough to cover that and my anime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the white drew carey Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 You lucky bastard. I'm trying to convince my wife that there must be some reason why she would have to do her post-grad work in genetics in Japan, but I don't think it's going to happen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 (edited) hey mappy!rikiryou: She has a lovely personality as well, ask F Zero One. The food there is ok but you don't get much as it's a cafe and not a restaurant. FZeroOne: I did tell you but only after you got back. When you say "Getting along with" does that include gratuous amounts of slobbering? As there was plenty of that. And she didn't tell me she was in a bikini as I have another male friend to testify, she only sent me a message on my phone asking me to go there as she had a bag of Hello Kitty stuff waiting for me I've only met her once, but yes, she does seem to be a very nice girl. Your opinion may or may not be affected by what she wears to work... Mecha pilots don't slobber, we suffer weeks of angst and indeciveness before being shot down, getting captured, being interrogated, having to explain about this whole "where-human-babies-come-from" thing, and then blasting our way out in the enemys hot prototype with their equally hot ace-pilot-turned-defector. The slobbering is reserved for those unfortunates in the Roy Fokker Memorial Mecha Pilots Hospital... Ah, Hello Kitty... I should have known... Edit: white drew carey: you don't know the half of it. Mappy has an extraordinary ability to get to know nice girls like this... Edited September 27, 2004 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EXO Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Edit: white drew carey: you don't know the half of it. Mappy has an extraordinary ability to get to know nice girls like this... it's like his superpower... All I have is stupid ability to turn back time for 60 seconds, and it takes me 2 minutes to do it... so really I'm just losing one minute of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightbat Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 400 Quid? as in pounds sterling? Man that's alot So much for my ventures towards the land of unlimited anime the Rising Sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 400 Quid? as in pounds sterling?Man that's alot So much for my ventures towards the land of unlimited anime the Rising Sun Although Japans reputation for being expensive is slightly exagerrated (you don't have to sprinkle gold on your coffee, after all... ), I think it is safe to say that if you're worried about economy measures, you should perhaps be thinking of going somewhere else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightbat Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 (edited) Although Japans reputation for being expensive is slightly exagerrated (you don't have to sprinkle gold on your coffee, after all... ), I think it is safe to say that if you're worried about economy measures, you should perhaps be thinking of going somewhere else... So it is UK pounds? hmm Heh, well looking at how my own government is handling our economy, it seems I'll be sleeping in a cardboard box within 10 years B'sides, I heard tokyo, kobe *the big cities* are way more expensive then the ones outside, ofcourse: they don't need another foreigner in the smaller cities Edited September 27, 2004 by Nightbat® Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kin Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 OMg that's about 800 euro's ... too much!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 Ok, now that F-Zero one has everyone panicing, let me point out, I'm living here. If you want to come to visit then it's a damn site cheaper! I worked out that you can come here for 10 days on a budget of 1000 pounds sterling (including flights, accommodation and food but not anime spending.) This is if your flying out of England through my mate's travel agent and staying at the recommended ryokan. The president of this company (and an aquaintance) owns a travel agency. Being a piking job master, I've suggested I help with the travel agency since I've been all over Japan and I've got contacts all over the shop in the travel industry. He sounded quite interested and told me to get a presentation together that I can pitch to the staff and the head of the travel agency. I can hear F-Zero One laughing like a maniac right now as he knows how bad I am at presentations, but if I can get this then I'm going to set up anime tours for anime fans. Will have to make specialised "Mecha fan" and "Fanboi" tours. Edit: white drew carey: you don't know the half of it. Mappy has an extraordinary ability to get to know nice girls like this... F-Zero One: You know it took me several (very shameless) years to acquire that skill! It's the only one I have which is of any vague use and I'm bloody well going to use it! If you can speak basic Japanese you can get out of the big cities, away from the high prices and go to some village in the mountains and chill out with the locals. I'm planning to do that for a weekend in a couple of months. When I have the money and the time off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpacePirateNeko Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Having come back from Japan a little more then a month ago i feel i should comment on price. Japan is not nearly as expensive as people say it is. Yes to live in any big city it is going to cost you a penny and i can only speak as a visitor but before i went people warned me that was going to come back with a wallet 3000 dollars lighter. Ridiculous, maybe its just my ability to manage money but i spent all told 600 or so dollars in the ten days i was in japan. Now keep in mind 450 of these dollars was on models and gifts ( the amount of stuff i purchased across seas was ridiculous, i had 2 check in bags that were enourmous, i brought them to japan completely empty. When i left they were full and i had barely enough room to fit anything even on my carryons. Of course this is still visitation and i do know its very expensive to live in the major areas of tokyo...but thats kind of to be expected. I you look out upon the fringe areas of the city you will pay no more then you would were i live now ( los angeles). As for japan itself, yet another place people "warn" you about and how you have to understand the way things are going to work or your going "to hate this or that". Never take advice when you go on a trip, experience it your self. When i go onvacation i never plan more then hotel and plane tickets. The same applied to Japan. I went to Japan with very high expectations, afterall i had been fascinated with the cutlture, music and art since i was about twelve. Where this fascination came from i have no clue ( macross?? wahcthing anime when i was little maybe ?) at any rate i had very high expectations having wanted to go somewhere for almost 15 years. Well all i can say was i ignored peopel and just went and experienced it myself. Im happy to say that it was one of those rare occasions where your expectations were exceeded. I love japan. Never before had i been in a place where i felt more liek i was supposed to be there. Never did i go somewhere i felt happy just to walk through teh streets. I stayed in ikebukuro and loved walking around in the lights at night, visiting teh arcades, watching young couples dressed in kimonos go to summer dances together and win prizes from the ufo catchers. I loved the small fishing house in the middle of the lake under the bridge in akasaka. I fell completely in love with the place. The only place in tokyo i didnt like were the areas like ginza and akihabara which were aimed at selling and appearing more westernized. Nor did i enjoy whatching sleezy middle aged balding white businessmen picking up hookers at night. I cant see myself living in central tokyo , but i could see myself living in Japan. I am a realist however as much as i am a romantacist and i know things simply do not work like that. I am currently trying to get into cal state long beach, however i plan on returning to japan possibly during spring break. Japan is a very odd world for me, my japanese is very limited because i do not study it as i once did and i am not nearly as good at it as i once was. I am also very shy and this is just a very strange thing for a foreigner in japan to be. Most japanese simply will not start a conversation with you and expect westerners to be forward. The one time i was appoached was from a photographer who had gone to college in california and spoke english. It burned me that i didnt bring my guitar as many japanese have a great love of music. I have to say it is unusual if you walk without seeing at least one person with a musical instrument within the span of 5 minutes.Bringing a guitar would have been a great barrier breaking device as i often stayed up until the early morning hours watching young street musicians play in the subway tunnels and street corners. Well i can only say i missed a great chance to meet people, i did at least try. I could go on for hours talking about how i felt and what i felt for the country but to say everything is to be a bore. I need to scan some of my pictures but for now i can post some of the less then wonderful digital pics i took. Heres Ikebukuro at night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpacePirateNeko Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 and heres some street musicians i met Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Hey Mappy, you're in Shinjuku? I'm in Japan ever month, just got back last week. I'll be hanging around Shijuku mid October (probably 14Oct - 18 Oct), want to meet up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 Hey Mappy, you're in Shinjuku? I'm in Japan ever month, just got back last week. I'll be hanging around Shijuku mid October (probably 14Oct - 18 Oct), want to meet up? First to reply to Space Priate Neko, couldn't have put it better myself. Get over here and then worry because you'll soon realise people who've never been here talk a lot of bollocks. To Peter, sure thing, just give me a shout next time you're here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 (edited) Ok, now that F-Zero one has everyone panicing, let me point out, I'm living here. If you want to come to visit then it's a damn site cheaper! I worked out that you can come here for 10 days on a budget of 1000 pounds sterling (including flights, accommodation and food but not anime spending.) This is if your flying out of England through my mate's travel agent and staying at the recommended ryokan.The president of this company (and an aquaintance) owns a travel agency. Being a piking job master, I've suggested I help with the travel agency since I've been all over Japan and I've got contacts all over the shop in the travel industry. He sounded quite interested and told me to get a presentation together that I can pitch to the staff and the head of the travel agency. I can hear F-Zero One laughing like a maniac right now as he knows how bad I am at presentations, but if I can get this then I'm going to set up anime tours for anime fans. Will have to make specialised "Mecha fan" and "Fanboi" tours. Edit: white drew carey: you don't know the half of it. Mappy has an extraordinary ability to get to know nice girls like this... F-Zero One: You know it took me several (very shameless) years to acquire that skill! It's the only one I have which is of any vague use and I'm bloody well going to use it! If you can speak basic Japanese you can get out of the big cities, away from the high prices and go to some village in the mountains and chill out with the locals. I'm planning to do that for a weekend in a couple of months. When I have the money and the time off... My apologies if I panicked anyone - Japans reputation for being expensive is probably a result of thes 80s boom years. I was trying to imply that its not exactly "cheap" as people usually define the word, but it doesn't have to be very expensive either - especially if you cultivate contacts over there, as Mappy has done, and who very generously allowed me to take advantage of the hospitality they gave him. Mappy - sorry to disappoint you, but there already are specialised tours. Of course, if you need some advice on how to get into the back offices of the Studio Ghibli Museum, I'm your man (you'll need a limited edition Kiki portrait and a dodgy credit card, though...!). Still, a specialist mecha fan tour... hmm... ("...and this is Tokyo Tower, destroyed in Mecha Death Gun Machines I, II, II + and Zeta... ") As for presentations, all I can say is... "CHEERI-O!" (sorry, everyone - very private joke shared between me, Mappy, a nice American exchange student and a class of Japanese schoolgirls... ) Knowing some Japanese can be a great help - its not strictly speaking necessary, I've done Japan twice without being able to speak a word - but having certain people around who can is a big help, even if they insist on involving you in the great Hello! Kitty conspiracy... Edited September 28, 2004 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Ok, now that F-Zero one has everyone panicing, let me point out, I'm living here. If you want to come to visit then it's a damn site cheaper! I worked out that you can come here for 10 days on a budget of 1000 pounds sterling (including flights, accommodation and food but not anime spending.) This is if your flying out of England through my mate's travel agent and staying at the recommended ryokan.The president of this company (and an aquaintance) owns a travel agency. Being a piking job master, I've suggested I help with the travel agency since I've been all over Japan and I've got contacts all over the shop in the travel industry. He sounded quite interested and told me to get a presentation together that I can pitch to the staff and the head of the travel agency. I can hear F-Zero One laughing like a maniac right now as he knows how bad I am at presentations, but if I can get this then I'm going to set up anime tours for anime fans. Will have to make specialised "Mecha fan" and "Fanboi" tours. Edit: white drew carey: you don't know the half of it. Mappy has an extraordinary ability to get to know nice girls like this... F-Zero One: You know it took me several (very shameless) years to acquire that skill! It's the only one I have which is of any vague use and I'm bloody well going to use it! If you can speak basic Japanese you can get out of the big cities, away from the high prices and go to some village in the mountains and chill out with the locals. I'm planning to do that for a weekend in a couple of months. When I have the money and the time off... My apologies if I panicked anyone - Japans reputation for being expensive is probably a result of thes 80s boom years. I was trying to imply that its not exactly "cheap" as people usually define the word, but it doesn't have to be very expensive either - especially if you cultivate contacts over there, as Mappy has done, and who very generously allowed me to take advantage of the hospitality they gave him. Mappy - sorry to disappoint you, but there already are specialised tours. Of course, if you need some advice on how to get into the back offices of the Studio Ghibli Museum, I'm your man (you'll need a limited edition Kiki portrait and a dodgy credit card, though...!). Still, a specialist mecha fan tour... hmm... ("...and this is Tokyo Tower, destroyed in Mecha Death Gun Machines I, II, II + and Zeta... ") As for presentations, all I can say is... "CHEERI-O!" (sorry, everyone - very private joke shared between me, Mappy, a nice American exchange student and a class of Japanese schoolgirls... ) Knowing some Japanese can be a great help - its not strictly speaking necessary, I've done Japan twice without being able to speak a word - but having certain people around who can is a big help, even if they insist on involving you in the great Hello! Kitty conspiracy... Fair enough on the specialised tours, I'm happy with my Panda Z Gacha Gacha pon set so ner to you F Zero One! Speaking of Tokyo tower tho, I went there the other week and found that they were selling swords there (blunt but look very good O_o;) Now that my bounty hunter costume is finished, I need one of these swords. And as for the presentation thing, I'm pleased to say that I'm spreading the "English" style already. The Sawanoya Ryokan has 2 kids and I've taught them to give the thumbs up like the kraggies! My former Japanese teacher is also going to try to arrange for me to visit her old private high school (all girls) to talk native English to them. I plan to go to several schools to do this but I hope there won't be another "Cheerio" incident. During the question and answer part of FZO and I's visit to a high school in Miyagi ken, we got grilled on our love life by a total of 80 cheeky school girls and a few boys (English is apparently not a boy's subject.) We were asked "What do you think of Japanese girls?" and FZO just said "This is your question I believe" and I made the mistake of saying "They're (in my humble opinion) the most beautiful in the world" not noticing this American exchange student sitting at the back. How was I supposed to know she was there! I go to a Japanese high school, I don't expect to find any foreigners actually studying in a Japanese high school but I was caught out. Going back to Miyagi ken later this year to visit another school. mata na, Mappy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lo-pan Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Is that the Sawanoya in Nezu? I spent two weeks there back in 97 during Xmas. That was my first trip to Japan. Nice place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Thats the one - very nice place indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 Is that the Sawanoya in Nezu? I spent two weeks there back in 97 during Xmas. That was my first trip to Japan. Nice place. It's now become a regular haunt of mine. And there's an izakaya down a back street litterally around the corner that I found where I am now famous for my rendition of Hotel California! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 Is that the Sawanoya in Nezu? I spent two weeks there back in 97 during Xmas. That was my first trip to Japan. Nice place. It's now become a regular haunt of mine. And there's an izakaya down a back street litterally around the corner that I found where I am now famous for my rendition of Hotel California! Mappy - thats it, you've finally fried my brain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mappy Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 Is that the Sawanoya in Nezu? I spent two weeks there back in 97 during Xmas. That was my first trip to Japan. Nice place. It's now become a regular haunt of mine. And there's an izakaya down a back street litterally around the corner that I found where I am now famous for my rendition of Hotel California! Mappy - thats it, you've finally fried my brain! What do you mean finally?! all that fanboi stuff I subjected to you in 2003 should have been more than enough! (Note: CoM have stronger will power than previously expected. Send for more catgirls.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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