Best souvenir yet

Akihabara.
I got a samurai sword.
My bad, make that three.

Today I went back to Akihabara, the electronics epicenter of Tokyo. To be honest, I was expecting more cool gadgets - tiny cell phones, awesome digital cameras, robots, flying cars. But it was more like a huge concentration of electronics stores selling normal stuff. The phones here are actually pretty big, significantly bigger than the ones in the US. Although they're jacked up. I saw a phone today that was the size of a small digital camera. It looked like one of those Sony digital cameras where you slide the shutter cover down. It was a 5.1 megapixel camera. PS it was also a phone. It had a sliding number pad. So the phones might be bigger, but they've got a lot going on.

So a friend and I were on a mission to find a specific sword shop that was suggested to us. Apparently it is difficult/impossible to export an authentic, sharp sword from Japan, unless you're a museum or a super rich guy. And I'm neither. Sharp, hand-made samurai swords are designated as cultural treasures by the Japanese government, and they have strict rules about their export. So I had to settle for a decorative kind.

My friend and I were walking around asking for directions to this particular store we heard was exceptional. We asked a girl in a maid costume where it was, and she pointed us in the right direction. So we're walking around a little more, and decided to ask a construction worker for directions. I asked him the name of the place, and to our surprise, it was literally right behind us. We went up and the place was decked out with swords and other weapons. They were all replicas, but it was still impressive. I picked out some stuff that I wanted, and tried to negotiate down the price, which was sort of hard since the shopkeeper spoke limited English. he kept saying 'if you win, if you win.' Initially I was confused, but my friend finally discovered that this guy was challenging me to a rocks paper scissors match. What a fool! I actually brought a RPS Champion t-shirt. Good thing I didn't wear it, or he might not have challenged me. I obviously crushed him under an avalanche of rocks, and got a nice discount.

After buying the swords we met up with another friend and went to something called a maid cafe. We had all heard about them before coming here, so we decided to see what they're all about. The place is basically designed for pervs. The girls all wear maid outfits. They're not all that revealing; the shirts are sort of short but not excessively so. The decor was all pink and cute, there were lots of hearts all over and the girls talked in high-pitched voices. We had to pay 500 yen each for an hour of hanging out there, plus pay for food/drink, which was overpriced. I don't exactly see the point of these kind of places. Then again I don't see the point of anime, so maybe the two are related. Anyway, it was fun, and good to have a seat and hang out for a bit. I was going to get my picture taken with one of the girls to post it here, but that would have been another 500 yen, so I scratched that idea. Anyway, I've got a test tomorrow, so I've got lots of procrastinating to do before bed.