El Viaje Blog

Tokyo Dome

If you are a baseball fan and you find yourself in Tokyo, you must visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.  The museum is right next to the Tokyo Dome and it's worth checking out.

 

 

 

 

There are so many pieces of important memorabilia inside the museum:

 

 

 

 

They also had a batting cage, videos, displays

 

 

and even souvenirs 

 

 

After perusing for what seemed like hours, we were starving.  We went to the Tokyo Dome Baseball Cafe for some lunch.   This American themed baseball restaurant is a great place to visit if you are an American tourist.  Although some might call this place a tourist trap, it's still worth checking out. 

 

 

 

The portions were tiny but this seemed to be a common theme in Tokyo

 

 

 

Capcom

Another themed restaurant we visited was the Capcom Bar and Restaurant:

 

 

But before we could go in we were told that we needed reservations because it had very limited seating.  So we made our reservations and walked around for a bit until it was time to go in.

 

 

We watched as this parking structure robotically brought down the cars, it was very entertaining.

 

Then we walked around some more, looked up and saw this:

 

 

It was finally time to go inside along with a group of about 12 other people (I wasn't kidding when I said it was very limited seating).  We were instructed that we couldn't record video but pictures were ok.  

 

 

I ordered the rice plate 

 

and as you can see it looks pretty much the same as it does in the menu:

 

 

The  food  and drinks were also Capcom themed:

 

 

They even lit this one on fire:

 

 

While we enjoyed our food and drinks, the waitstaff performed a very fun depiction of a video game:

 

 

Although it was very entertaining, I feel like we lost out on a lot of what they were talking about because of the language barrier.   If you come here not speaking a word of Japanese be prepared to feel a little left out. 

 

After dinner and drinks it was time for dessert.  A very yummy chocolately brain with raspberry sauce:

 

After we were done it was time to play video games (or at least watch someone else play).  

 

This is my little brother playing:

 

 

It took him a little convincing but I twisted his arm and he finally  gave in.

 

 

 

Alcatraz ER

One of the themed restaurants we visited in Tokyo was Alcatraz ER.

 This restaurant makes you feel like you are a prisoner in a scary Alcatraz ER.

 

The retaurant itself is in this nondescript building.  You are lead upstairs through narrow hallways and a tiny elevator.  This is the first thing you see:

 

then a "nurse" (waiter/waitress) greets you and takes you to your prison cell because after all you are an inmate in the Alcatraz ER

 

 

Once you are seated comfortably on the floor, you look through the menu and giggle over the funny names of the drinks.

 

When you are ready to order the nurse takes your order and poses for photos

 

 

While you are waiting for your drinks, the doctors and nurses stage a little show where they take an "inmate" and they do unspeakable things to him for a good laugh. 

Your drinks are also hospital themed:

Yes, it was a little strange drinking beer out of this thing so we quickly poured it into our cups and looked away.

 

 

This one is just creepy:

 

We didn't have any of the food but the drinks were great.  If you're into themed restaurants then you should definitely check this one out, it was so much fun.  

 

Even the bathrooms are themed:

 

 

 

Akihabara

One of the very first places we saw in Japan (besides Asakusa) was Akihabara, it is also known as Electric town.

 

It is truly magnificent and it makes you feel ecstatic just being there.  

We wandered around a bit and found a girl that was handing out flyers.  She persuaded us to go visit this place called Maiddreamin cafe. 

 

 

We rode up the colorful elevator:

 

 

and we were seated by the front of the stage.  They had the most delicious and adorable Melon soda ice cream sundae:

 

 

The place was a little strange.  It had a lot of Kawaii elements mixed in with alcohol and the girls that waited on you were dressed in maids outfits.  

 

Even the bathroom was adorable:

 

 

Overall, it was a fun experience.  Word on the street is that a Maiddreamin cafe is going to open up in Los Angeles this winter (2013).  I think I might check it out just to see how it compares. 

Free Highlighters

I've been slowly getting into couponing thanks to Melissa and that Extreme Couponing show on TLC so every time I get something for free I get really excited.  I am nowhere near  Melissa's level but it's fun getting free stuff.  Last week I found a coupon for a free pack of highlighters so I printed it out and headed to Office Max and got myself some highlighters.  They were originally $4.99 then they went down on sale to $2.99 and the coupon was for $2.99 so they ended up being completely free. 

Oakland A's

We saw the A's play on Cinco De Mayo.  I really liked that they played music in Spanish and they gave out shirts that said "Los Atleticos."  We had a lot to eat including nachos, brownies, ice cream, lobster rolls, sliders, fruits.  Everything was delicious!

Shutterfly project

I made our Holiday cards.  Here's one of the projects:

Paper Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

It has pictures from our wedding. 

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

I am so excited to tell you about this wonderful company called Shutterfly.com.  I have been a loyal customer for several years now and I absolutely love them.  I have ordered several of their products and thus far I have never been disappointed.  

My favorite product of theirs is the Photobooks.  The first time I ordered a photobook was about 4 years ago after I got back from my backpacking through Europe trip.  I wanted an easy and beautiful way to display pictures of my trip and I decided to try out Shutterfly.com and I'm glad I did.   The Photobook came  out absolutely beautiful and I have gotten several comments from  people asking me where I got it and commenting on what a cool idea it was.  

I have also ordered Greeting Cards from them and they are very high quality.  The card stock is thick (not at all flimsy) and the picture quality is amazing.  The best part about the products from Shutterfly is that you can customize your projects with your own pictures.  If you do want to use stock pictures you can use them as well but there's something really nice about giving someone a card with your own picture  on it.  

I also noticed that Shutterfly.com has this great option to order Thank You Cards.  I have never tried them before but I think I might have to order some just in case I need to send someone a thank you card. 

Bloggers: Shutterfly Offer

Shutterfly is offering bloggers this wonderful opportunity to earn 50 free holiday Cards.  You should definitely go over to Shutter fly here and sign up:

 

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

 

I love Shutterfly! I've used their products several times before and I have been satisfied every single time.  If I do get the 50 cards I plan on using our wedding pictures.  I'm looking forward to trying out their New Holiday collection Cards.  So far, my favorite one is the Oh Holy Night design.

My favorite product from Shutterfly has got to be the Photobooks.  Go check them out!

Travelogue Review: Grand Sierra Resort in Reno

On a recent trip to Reno we stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort and I have to say I was pretty impressed.  The room was clean and spacious and I loved the decor.  The resort itself is wonderful.  They have restaurants, mini shops, a candy store, a pool and even a movie theater that charges $3 per movie.  There is so much to do in the resort that you don't have to leave if you don't want to.  It's a great deal and you should consider staying there the next time you find yourself in Reno.