Don's blog annex

Tea time: Akiba Winter Illumination 2009

don777-ax — 2009-11-23T15:14:53+09:00

From early Nov, Akiba UDX has started the seasonly winter light-up. This time, Akiba UDX is illuminated with lots of LEDs.

As you know, many shops and cafes in Akihabara are usually closed by 8pm. The sunset time in Tokyo now is 4:30pm. If you enjoy Christmas lightings while shopping or dining, I recommend visiting Akiba from 5p.m. to 8p.m. .

(Please see photos as show below).

1: a path from Akihabara station to UDX

2: 2F/UDX

3: 1F/UDX

4: 1F/UDX

(Please refer to this link for the photos of the last year)

P.S.
Yodobashi-Akiba building has also transformed into its Winter/Christmas version.

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Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: 2009-10 Omake report from HK

don777-ax — 2009-10-26T23:19:16+09:00

This article is continued from HK report part-1: Doujin event "Tsuki no Matsuri", and HK report part-2: maid cafe "Maiderland" .

In this trip, I had very limited time. However, I could ramble around HK towns.
Here's my impression.

(日本語版は、こちらへ。The Japanese version is available here.)

[Mongkok]
It's still bustling, and the busiest town. The human traffic flow is not broken even in the midnight.

[Photo caption: Yes, Ms. Shibasaki Kou comes to HK.]

[Tsim Sha Tsui/TST]
Long time ago, I made my first step from here as first-time visitor. I walked around TST after a long interval. My overall impression is still the same as before. But TST has been changed in detail.

1st, HMV had been moved to a nearby location. Once, HMV in Peking road is the biggest music store in Asia regions (outside Japan). HMV had lots of J-POP, and Japanese anime CDs. But the original HMV site is now occupied with a sport shop.

The current HMV is much smaller than the original shop. The current HMV has hardly Japanese CDs, sigh...

2nd, the notorious vice-den: Chungking Mansion[CM] is renovated. CM has posh shopping floors besides original dirty floors. In the basement floor, it has nice collections of upmarket shops/cafes.

Japanese coffee shop: the first overseas branch of Okada Coffee is in it. I have a set menu of coffee, and Japanese roll cake. Both are really good, and have authentic Japanese tastes.

[Ngong Ping 360 in Tung Chung town]
Finally, I take a ride to Ngong Ping 360(a gondola in Lantau Island). Although I visit here in a weekday, it has long queue. As many stated, the gondola is stopped several times during my ride because of sudden gusts.
My purpose is not seeing the signature Budda statue, but seeing HKG(HK international airport).

In Tung Chung town, there is the first and the only outlet mall in front of MTR station. Tung Chung town seems to be a typical suburban heartland. The quality of air is far better than those of CBD area in HK.

[Night view from Kowloon Peak]
This is another highlight during my trip. I've ever been to famous Victoria Peak in HK island. But I have never been to Kowloon Peak because the accessibility is very bad(i.e. taxi only, no public transport). Several months ago, I heard that Mr. Marumaru Motoo(the nightview critique) stated that "Kowloon Peak is the best place to see a magnificent night view in HK. I recommend it rather than those of Victoria Peak." This is why I pay (not so small) taxi charge to go to an unknown peak. There are some houses/mansions halfway up the peak. But there's no residence around the top of the peak.

When I arrive a the top, some local forks are already enjoying the night view. Here's my photo from the top.

Oh, it's a great view. You can find the Bank of China Tower in (upper) center of this photo.

(The end.)

Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: Maid cafe Maiderland @Hong Kong

don777-ax — 2009-10-24T21:54:33+09:00

This article is continued from HK Report Part-1:Doujin event "Tsuki no Matsuri".

Last year, I visited Hong Kong's maid cafe:"Maid Date". The experience was not so good. Would I have a better experience at Maiderland?

Here's my report.
(Note: full marks is *****)

(日本語版は、こちらへ。The Japanese version is available here.)

[Location: ****]
Excellent. Maiderland is located within Mongkok（旺角）, a shopping district.
When you alight at MTR: Mongkok station, it takes only about 5 minutes to walk from the station to the cafe. The cafe faces the otaku building: Sino Centre（信和中心） (please see a photo).

But you may not be able to find the cafe easily because the entrance of this building was hidden behind a mobile phone shop(please see a photo).

Once you find the entrance, you use the staircase to get to the 3rd floor. (*1)

[Atmosphere/Interior: **+]
Quite average. The space of the cafe is large by HK standard. The lighting is dim. The room is rather old but well-decorated.

The impression is much like the interior of "an otaku's room (away home) where things are kept in neat and tidy.

There were some large bookshelves with lots of manga(*2). One of the pigeonholes had lots of otaku goods.

[Foods: **+]
The menu had a long list of beverages just like Japanese maid cafes. But food selection was very limited (please see photos). I ordered a cold beverage, and an omu-rice.

The food is not bad, but just so-so.

[Maids' attitude/Service: **+]
Very polite and helpful. Compared to "Maid Date"(of my last visit), Maiderland had much better service. However, the manner of the services was not as professional nor sophisticated. It's just like one of those "amateur cafes" at a school festival. The staff could do with more training. (I think that this is not a matter of the maid-san but that of the manager.)

(Sorry for the lack maid-sans photos because they have no-photo policy for the 1st timers. Maiderland has a point-style loyalty card. The customer can take a photos if he chalked up some credit.)

[Overall: **+]
Average. If you have a chance to visit Mongkok for casual shopping, it's also good opportunity to experience the HK maid cafe.

(To be continued to Part-3)

[Note]
1) HK is well-known for its expensive property prices. It's has one of the highest in Asia. To start a business in CBD area, most entrepreneurs except the cash-rich ones could only afford a unit in a run-down building.

2) Maiderland opens only during the weekends. Weekdays (M-F) the cafe operates as a manga cafe.

[Cafe/Restaurant DATA]
Name       : Maiderland
Address    : 3F, 583 Nathan Rd, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Phone       : +852-6232-7304
Business time: 13:00 to 22:00
Official HP : http://maiderland.jc-lab.org/

[Related articles]
Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: [2009.07] Torashabu @Singapore review
Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: [2009.01] Cafe Royal/T @Los Angels review
Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: [2008.10] Maid Date @Hong Kong review
Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: [2008.05] Cosafe @Singapore review
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Otaku Ippiki goes abroad: 2009-10 Doujin event Tsuki no Matsuri @Hong Kong

don777-ax — 2009-10-23T23:49:00+09:00

Hello all. I just gone on a short holiday to Hong Kong.

Where did Otaku Ippiki go to? I went to a HK doujin event and a maid cafe.
This is the report for doujin event "Tsuki no Matsuri"（月の祭 / Festival of the Moon(*1) ） as part-1 of my report.

Here's my impression.

(日本語版は、こちらへ。The Japanese version is available here.)

[Location: Hong Kong City University]
The venue was right in front of MTR Kowloon Tong Station. Kowloon Tong is famous for the sprawling shopping mall: Festival Walk (please see photos).

The event: "Tsuki no Matsuri" was held on the university campus. Unlike similar Japanese events, the admission was very reasonable (only 20HKD or around).

[Overall impressions]
The size of the event was not big. Although this was a rather minor event, the overall experience was excellent. Needless to say, HK folks are ardent supporters of Japanese pop-culture. Japanese magazines have been sold at many newsstands in Hong Kong for the past two or three decades. Hong Kong had been airing contemporary Japanese TV drama/anime since 70's. That is why Hong Kong could hold a quality events of such quality.

[Cosplayers, and photos]
The cosplay photography area was outside of the sales area. Any photographer could take photos without charge. (i.e. no admission, and no camera surcharge). Cosplayers can use the courtyard or the Chinese-style garden(please see photo).

Yes, HK has lots of Kamera-Kozou (shutterbugs). To my surprise, all the Kamera-Kozou were using the latest and rather pricey cameras (This is the same phenomenon as in Japan(^^;).

Here's my photo of HK cosplayers.

*Hatsune Miku

*Shana

*Unknown character（Perfect posing, but sorry for blur focus）

*Unknown character

*Waitress from Pia-Carrot? (She seems to be a very popular cosplayer. I
couldn't get an eyesight for shooting since she had lots of Kamera-Kozou.)

*Chii-chan from Chobits (Please pay attention to a picture book)

*"Houkago tea time" from K-ON (It's a humorous mistake. Yui-chan has an acoustic guitar(^^;)

*Original maid-sans(maid-san on the right can speak good Japanese.)

[Doujinshi]
The number of booths were very limited. However, the quality of art was very good. Unfortunately, I can't judge the story because I can't understand Chinese. There happened to have a booth that sold a Japanese-language doujin.(Please see a photo. Right: Catalogue of the event. Left: the Doujinshi.)

The doujinshi was dedicated to Japanese trains. The author is "Sakura-Zuki-Tei"（桜月亭）. I don't know the real name. But "Sakura-Zuki-Tei" had ever won a prize from a Japanese contest (Please see a link for the prize, and follow this link for the contents of this Doujinshi.). To my 1st surprise, "Sakura-Zuki-Tei" wrote perfect Japanese. To my 2nd surprise, "Sakura-Zuki-Tei" is a female train otaku. Yes, Japan has tonnes of train otaku[tetsu-ota]. But near 100% of tetsu-ota is male otaku. Female train otaku[tetsu-ko] is very hard to find, even in Japan.

To be continued to a HK maid cafe report as part-2 of my report.

[Note]
1) October fell on the 8th month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar during which the Chinese celebrates the Mid-Autumn festival.
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(Short) Report: Saizeriya: Italian cafe/restaurant in Akiba

don777-ax — 2009-09-19T16:33:41+09:00

Hi, Sorry for the month-long interval. I haven't forgetten about blogging.

Recently, the Italian F&B chain Saizeriya opened an outlet near JR Akihabara station. Do you know of Saizeriya? It's very popular in Japan and is expanding rapidly. Now, Saizeriya has several overseas outlets in Asia (e.g. China, Hong Kong, Singapore...).

Here's my short review.

<Location>
The location is excellent. It's very close to Yodobashi Akiba (please see a photo).

JR Akihabara station has its own built-in retail space "Atrevie Akihabara". Saizeriya is located in the Atrevie.

<Interior/Atmosphere>
Simple. I'm a regular Saizeriya client. But this interior of Akiba-Saizeriya does not resemble any one of the usual Saizeriya outlets. The color scheme is green whereas Saizeriya's regular color scheme is warm red.

<Customer Service>
Very good. The strongest point of Saizeriya is the short time taken to serve food upon ordering. It's ultra fast - ten times faster than any ordinary Italian restaurants. If you go to the restroom, the order will be served by the time you come back to your seat.(This is not exaggeration. I had really this kind of experience in Saizeriya.)

<Menu/foods>
The menu is typical of Japanese family restaurants. There is Pasta, Pizza, Doria, Gratin, and Italian (tiny) steak. As many would know, it's incredibly affordable. Most of the main dishes cost less than JPY500. Saizeriya's dishes are not gourmet, but they are good for the price. As for me, I enjoy Saizeriya's foods several times a month.

<Overall>
I'm very glad that Saizeriya came to Akihabara at last. It's a cheap but good dining option for all Otakus.

[Restaurant info]
Name： Saizeriya / Atrevie Akihabara branch
Address： 6-floor, 1-9 Kanda Hanaoka-cho, Chiyodaku, Tokyo,
Business hours： 10:00 to 23:00 (7DW)
Info-Atrevie: http://www.atre.co.jp/vie/floor/index.htm
Info-Saizeriya: http://www.saizeriya.co.jp

P.S. "Omake" Akiba stn fixed point observation.
Pachinko Island says "We have the array of Moe Pachinko!"