Nya~!

Last week, I went to a maid cafe for the first time.

To those of you who do not know what a maid cafe is...It is a cafe where the waitresses dress up as maids and treat the customers as their master or mistress.
For further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maid_cafe

So, last week one of my friends from Waseda invited me and some other exchange students to meet up with some of his Japanese friends. Apparently they wanted to throw him a welcome party to introduce him to Japan. We met up with his friends at Akihabara, the area of Japan famous for electronics and otakus.

Outside of Akihabara Station/ 秋葉原

After we met up, we headed to the maid cafe. The cafe was in a tall building. We had to take the elevator, so we all crowded in.

When the elevator doors opened we were met by a dimly lit room. A few coloured lights flashed around the room, and in the corner there was a girl wearing a maid costume singing into a microphone. Her skirt was very short and puffed up with layers upon layers of petticoats. A girl (also dressed as a maid) greeted us and talked briefly in Japanese with our guides. Then we were lead down a narrow hallway, outside, and down a metal staircase that seemed like a fire escape. Then we were led into a room that's layout was nearly identical to the one we had just been in. We sat down at the tables nervously.

A girl wearing a maid outfit, a headband with ears, and a tail greeted us. Judging from the stripes on her tail, she was probably supposed to be a tanuki, an animal in Japan similar to a raccoon.

We looked over the menus. Because we had just come from lunch at a Thai restaurant close to campus (a bowl of Thai ramen for 390 yen!) most of use weren't that hungry. However, each of us was required to order two items. I chose something I think was called the Nya Nya Kitty Parfait (a vanilla parfait in the shape of a cat) and an iced tea. Our table needed a leader, so we quickly nominated our mutual friend to act as leader. He goes by Wish, but when the maid talked to him it sounded like Oishu-sama. (Sama is an honorific suffix that can be added to one's name. Sometimes it is translated into English as "lord", but really there isn't a good English equivalent.)

When it was time to order, my friends and I were at a loss. The name had so many "\(^_^)/" faces and stars that it was difficult to read the names. In the end we got a Japanese friend to order for us.

Awkwardly we made conversation in English and Japanese while we waited.

Finally our food arrived.

As each dish was called out we had to answer "nya~!" while making a cat paw with one hand. When the boys had to claim their dishes they meekly raised their hands, blushing with embarrassment. SO FUNNY! I wonder if photos weren't allowed to be taken in the maid cafe in order to save their customers dignity.

Before we were allowed to start eating we had to "perform a spell to make the food delicious". While calling out "Delicious!" we made one side of a heart with our left hand. "Delicious!" We completed the heart with our right hand. "Yummy!" we tilted the heart to the left. "Yummy!" now to the right. Then, pointing the heart at our food "PYOON!"

We all performed this "spell" in unison.

I do not understand maid cafes.

I ate my cat parfait (which was adorable, but unfortunately photos are not allowed). The parfait was huge! There was vanilla ice cream, whipped cream. Then lower down: fruit, cornflakes, and strawberry syrup. I was only able to finish the parfait with help from a friend.

We had decided to order a special package which included: one alcoholic drink, one photo, and a concert by the maids. Several people had to be chosen to dance along with the maid's song. Although we urged our leader to participate, only one of our friends (the only one who had been to a maid cafe before) was willing to face the embarrassment.

While the maid sang, our friend sat in the center of the room, diligently dancing out "the otaku dance" while holding a light stick.  I didn't understand the dance... but part of it appeared to be him passionately punching downwards. Several other maids appeared and danced along with him.

The dance was so funny!!

After the performance, we took a photo with the maid that was the server. It was difficult to fit the ten of us into the photo, but we managed!

We hung around talking for a bit, and then decided to go explore Akihabara some more. Thus ends my maid cafe experience. I wish I could have accompanied this account with photos!

After we left I took a photo of the building