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Anthony Bourdain’s Tokyo

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Tokyo was Anthony Bourdain’s favorite city. He says “I’m endlessly fascinated” and “I’ve been many times and it’s still thrilling.” According to him, it was the one city in which he could have spent the rest of his life. There are 5 things he says you must do when you go:
1) Go to the Robot Show “it’s tourist as hell, but you must go”
2) Get takeout from Lawson’s/Have their egg sandwich
3) Hit up the Izakayas; pubs that serve shared dishes that pair well with alcohol
4) Eat at any department store, as Bourdain says, “The food centers in the department stores are pornographic,”
5) Splurge on a Ryokan.

The robot show is something I was still mulling over as I stepped off the plane into Tokyo. Arriving in Tokyo at  20:20 I was hungry. I bought a bus ticket and I asked the guy at the counter “where can I get food?” “downstairs, convenience store” he said. Next to the escalator were 7/11 ATM’s, so I figured I’d be heading toward one of those, but as I descended I saw the white and blue lettering spelling out L-A-W-S-O-N, I became excited. I went directly to the fridge section, knowing what I was going to get if they had it; Anthony Bourdain’s egg sandwich. They did. I did. I’d never been happier to see a convenience store. Also, completing the first of his five recommendations.
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On the plane to Tokyo I sat next to a Swiss guy, I was talking about the robot show and he was sold on it. When we got off the plane he told his friend and his friend was sold. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not. It wasn’t until I arrived at the hostel about 2.5 hours later that I realized I had made up my mind and that I was going to see the robot show. The following day the Swiss guy messaged me saying they were going to see the 9:05 pm that night, but I had plans so I couldn’t. The next day was the day I was going. On Monday morning, September 24th before I went out for the day, I bought a ticket to the 4pm show. They were cheaper than the other ones and I didn’t have much planned. The Robot show was as ridiculous and crazy as you can imagine, in a space wide enough for 10 people across they managed to fit more things than seemingly possibly. Outdated, funny, loud, ridiculous and  quintessential Japanese, it’s 100% worth going to as long as you buy the discounted ticket online beforehand and refrain from purchasing any of the insanely priced food and drinks before or during the show. I’m glad I went and I’m glad I had people telling me it was worth it to go.
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I don’t know what classifies an Izakaya and I didn’t realize I went to one until the day after. The reason why I couldn’t go to the robot show with the Swiss guys was because I had plans with a friend of my friend Kendall who lives in Tokyo. She agreed to meet up for dinner and show me around a bit. After finding the famous 10 cent sushi place, she took us (a girl I met at the hostel came out too) to a cheap place to eat and drink. At the time, she had said the name Izakaya, but it didn’t register until I was reading up on his list the following morning. I had gone to a Izakaya! It was cool; you sat down at a table. Each table had a touch screen and you order drinks and food and they bring it out rapidly. Simple, fast, easy and delicious. With that visit, I completed three out of his five must do things.
I had been in Tokyo for two days and hadn’t had a drop of rain. Before I left, it looked like it was going to rain all week, but on Tuesday it rained. I found myself looking for a toy store in the Shinkuku district, the major commercial and administrative district of Tokyo, also where the Robot Restaurant is located. Because of the rain, I ducked into a department store, knowing one of the things he recommended was eating in one. I went over to the elevator to look at the floor list to see if it listed food hall, all I saw were restaurants and a beauty center in the basement.
I connected to the WIFI to doublecheck, one of the stores he recommended was the department store I was in. So, I thought I may as well go and check. As I made my way downstairs and turned the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes and nose; as far as my eyes could see, there were counters upon counters of different food options. Imagine the perfume section of a mall, but instead of being choked by thousands of perfumes you are put in a state of euphoria by thousands of deliciously smelling food. I walked around in awe and bewilderment, wandering in no particular pattern and getting lost within. Eventually I was able to understand the layout, I settled on two different styles of curry baked into bread, a salmon triangle rice thing (I’ve only ever eaten the convenience store ones) and a chocolate muffin for dessert. I was so hungry and couldn’t wait to eat, but they had nowhere to eat! I couldn’t believe it, no tables, no sitting area, no nothing. I went up to the 7th floor because they had a rooftop area, an even though it was raining I thought to try it, but it was closed. I ended up eating on those kind of seat things by the taxi stand.
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With four out of his five recommendations completed, I was never planning on doing the last, stay at a Ryokan. I already had my hostels booked and it would have been too expensive. Maybe next time I’m in Japan.

7 thoughts on “Anthony Bourdain’s Tokyo”

  1. Inez Capobianco Palazzolo

    Loved your Tokyo adventure, you’re truly a foodie.I’m glad you’re enjoying such an interesting life, can’t wait for you to write a book about it & all your beautiful pictures in it !!!! Love you, Grammy.

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