Sorry for the absence; I've been working on papers for school as well as making a trip down to southern Japan to visit an old friend from Georgetown. The good news is I have plenty of material for some updates, so expect big things in the next week as I'm finishing classes on Monday and should have more time to write here!
Back where we left off, the next place I'm going to detail in the blog is Tokyo's amusement island - Odaiba. I'll be writing about two separate trips I made to Odaiba and all the fun things I did over there. Located in southeast Tokyo, Odaiba is an entirely man-made island originally constructed in the 1850s after Perry came to Japan and opened them up for trade. Originally a defensive outpost, Odaiba was transformed into an amusement park center in the late 90's and is now home to Fuji TV's HQ (Japan's NBC basically). Getting over to the area is also a fun ride, since the best way to do it is by riding a monorail which gives you some great views of the harbor.
Fuji TV HQ
The first time I made a venture out there was back in mid-October. I walked around near the water boardwalk for awhile before reaching the popular Museum of Emerging Sciences and Innovation.
Inside they had a bunch of different robots and various other exhibits. Two of my favorite items in the museum were a small model "Hover Car," which they plan to use in the future for transportation, and the giant video screen globe hanging in the central plaza.
Shortly after that, I walked over to the waterfront which provided some beautiful views of Tokyo and the Rainbow bridge. Inside one of the developments is Muscle Park, possibly the most fun place in Tokyo. Muscle Park is a floor full of simulation sports games and physical challenges similar to what you would find on a game show. For a small fee you can play some of the same games they use in those wacky Japanese game shows.
vacuum game
Also, I tried my hand at the pitching accuracy game. The concept was simple, hit the 9 square of the strikezone to knock out blocks and you win. 3 Misses and its over! I managed to hit the first 3 in a row and the small crowd watching was impressed. Unfortunately, I came back down to earth and ended up missing some and finishing with 5 blocks. Guess my pitching lessons 2 summers ago came in handy a little bit.
I my time there with dinner at a nice tonkatsu restaurant (breaded pork cutlets) which was delicious.
Rainbow Bridge at night
My next visit to Odaiba was even better, I went over right after my Econ midterm and planned to check out Palette Town and the Ooedo Onsen. Arriving near sunset, the bayside looked awesome.
Palette Town is comprised of primarily 3 parts: 1)Venus Fort, 2) Toyota Showcase Center, and 3) Amusement Center. I began at the Venus Fort, which is a large indoor full of various designer clothing stores, restaurants, etc designed to look like an Italian street.
Venus Fort
On the way to the amusement center I walked through the Toyota showcase where they were heavily advertising for the launch of their new IQ sedan. The IQ is a small fuel efficient car that boasts sharp turning and an advanced navigational system. The car is supposed to fit “3 +1” (+1 meaning a small animal or baby could fit in the back with the 3rd person). In reality, the car was very small and I doubt that I could fit comfortably in it.
Finally, upon reaching the amusement center I looked through the huge indoor arcade before taking a ride on the landmark Ferris wheel. I managed to snap some nice shots of the Tokyo Skyline near the top.
The last place I visited was the Ooedo Onsen, what I had been looking forward to all day. Similar to LaQua, the onsen I wrote about previously, Ooedo is Tokyo’s other top notch hot springs location.
Ooedo Onsen entrance
Instead of using a modern design like LaQua, this onsen took a traditional theme, in the Edo-period design. Before separating off to the hot spring baths, we walked around the communal foot bath area where there were a number of TV cameras and film crew. After asking around, I found out that they were filming the Greek version of the US TV show “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” which aired this past summer on ABC.
The hot springs felt great and afterwards I grabbed some dinner and walked around the Edo-style indoor plaza. They also had a bunch of carnival-style games and traditional souvenirs.
So concluded another great trip to Odaiba, I hope to go once more before leaving!
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4 comments:
it's times like these i wish you weren't such a benny.
^
hahahahahahaha! this is not real.
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