Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Mr. Roboto

Wednesday was mostly a travel day. We checked out of the Okura in Kyoto and took a taxi to the train station. We bought tickets for the Nozomi Shinkansen which covers the 318 miles to Tokyo in 2 hours 20 minutes averaging 136 mph with top speeds of 178 mph. The ride is very smooth and the seats are comfortable. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.
On arrival we took a taxi to our hotel next to the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium. It's a modern 50 story hotel whose ambiance is a stark contrast to the classic elegance of the Okura. The rooms are  spacious but the wifi is poor. There is a Sizzler Steakhouse in the hotel with an unlimited salad bar. Elliott and I had lunch there and found it to be pretty good.

This evening we took the subway to the Shinjuku entertainment district to attend a performance at the Robot Restaurant. Walking from the train to the restaurant we were surprised by a life size Godzilla head and claw peering over the top of one of the skyscrapers complete with smoke shooting from his mouth and his classic roar. Robot Restaurant is more theater than restaurant although you can get food and drinks there. We started in the Robot lounge where we were entertained by a live band dressed as robots. Soon we were led down several fights of stairs to a cramped 2 sided theater with a runway type stage in the middle.

'robot' band
The show is like nothing I've seen before. It is loud music and drums, go go dancers, and r/c operated mechanical floats with neon and lasers. Oh yes, and robots. I'd absolutely recommend the show to anyone with an evening free in Tokyo.

No comments: