Yes, my Princess!

This adventure goes down in the books as one of the weirdest experiences in Japan. For my friend Nicole's farewell party, 11 girls headed to downtown Tokyo (Shibuya) to go to dinner and experience the Butler Cafe. Here's a video on CNN of the cafe we went to:

We had reservations at 6:00 pm, we arrived after 2 hours on the train, bathroom stops, drink stops and general dilly dallying that 11 women take to get anywhere. We arrived and were greeted by our butlers with rounds and rounds of "My Princess." "Yes, my princess" "As you wish my princess" etc.

Oh and a list of 50 "House Rules". We weren't allowed to take pictures of the butlers (unless we paid 1000 yen/$12). We had to be escorted to the bathroom. We had to order at least 2 things for the table. And on and on.

So we are seated, given water to drink and then our butlers reviewed the menu for us. What to eat, what to drink, their recommendations. We ordered a round of drinks including several "Image Cocktails". I'll get to that.

We were allowed to take pictures of eachother and our food. So here is our lovely group.

After we were seated for a bit, they came by with information cards where we could fill out a series of questions.
     1. What is our name?
     2. Where are we from?
     3. Why did we come to the Butler Cafe? (to drink, to speak English, for fun)
     4. How did we hear about the cafe?
     5. What languages do you speak?

They asked our name so that when our food came, we could have our Princess name on it! Also, so they could make small talk and conversation with us throughout our dinner. "Oh, parlez-vous Francias, Princess Kelly? Ou est-ce que etudiez?" We all giggled and laughed, mostly because the "Bulters" were mid-20s Americans, Canadians or Europeans who were all a little creepy.

So 30 minutes after Amy ordered an Image Cocktail, they came by to "capture her image and put it in a cocktail" all with a hand flourish of pulling a mask off her face and throwing it into a glass if you can imagine. They asked her a series of questions such as "What two objects would she bring on a deserted island?" "What one word would your friends use to describe you?" "What are you hopes and dreams for the future?" And on and on. Finally they finished with 3 seconds of awkward eye staring eye contact so they could capture her image..."ah ha! I've got it!"

30 minutes after that, they finally brought out the drinks. Amy's drink was green because of her adventurous spirit and pink because of her wonderful smile and other cheesy things like that. It was a fruity drink that I'm pretty sure any girl would like (and $18).

When our meals were brought out, they also came with a "magical surprise". We all closed our eyes and we received tiaras to enjoy while eating our meal!

Princess Nicole got a fancy red one since it was her farewell party.

Throughout the night, the Princesses in our group would order more drinks which we would do so by ringing a small bell on the table and the entire group of butlers would respond with "Yes, my princess?" and come running to take our order. Not far though, the entire restaurant couldn't have been more than 600 square feet.

They did in fact escort you to the bathroom as well. And wait for you. And walk you back. So. Weird.

We laughed and ate and drank and felt generally awkward much of the evening.

We left 3 hours after we had gotten there and spent nearly 3.5 hours getting home this time. Stops for drinks, Forever 21 shopping breaks, impromptu dance parties with street performers, bathroom breaks, coffee breaks and an amazing cream puff experience.

A night I know none of us will ever forget with a lady that we all miss dearly! Fair winds and following seas, Nicole!