Saturday, September 23, 2006

Odaiba

September 6 2006 1:30pm

Today we went to Odaiba a man made island in Tokyo.
This place is full of shopping, entertainment centers and home to the Fuji TV building.
SV102572 SV102573 SV102575 SV102577 SV102579 SV102581 SV102585 SV102586 SV102587 SV102589 SV102633
Odaiba has one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world.
It costs 900yen to ride... 900yen too rich for our blood.
It also has a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty for some reason :D
It also has a nice view of the Rainbow Bridge.

TTC!

SV102595
They also seem to have stolen a pylon from the Toronto Transit Commission. XD

SV102608 SV102611 SV102616 SV102618
On the dock we got a really nice view of Rainbow Bridge and met many of these bugs. Some of them were fairly big and they moved around pretty fast.
We were trying to figure out which part of them was the head since both ends have antannae.
There's also a cafe called DOGCAFE SUNFISH. You can bring your dogs there and chill out. We weren't sure what sunfish were... We didn't really see any fish.
I later find out what sunfish look like and they definitely weren't there. They look made hilarious.

Aqua City

SV102619 SV102621 SV102622 SV102623
Aqua City's a shopping center but doesn't really have an Aqua motif other than being close to a body of water.
Here's where I got acquainted with Rilakkuma: A laid back bear that makes up his own sound effects like "Bo~~" and "Waho~~". One of the many japanese made up cute things.
I love Rilakkuma.
SV102635 SV102636 SV102639 SV102640
There was a small temple on the roof of Aqua City which was cool.
Notice the unopened beer can next to the shrine. It remains a mystery.
SV102630 SV102632
We ate at a restaurant called Ootoya.
650yen (about $6.50cdn) for katsudon and soba. I couldn't finish. I love Ootoya.
SV102643 SV102644 SV102645
I also had my second experience with a 100en shop.
These places are AWESOME! Puts our canadian dollar stores to shame.
This place had miniature cans of various beverages. This is the beginning of Vivian's miniature can collection :D
SV102646 SV102647 SV102648 SV102650
We checked out a bunch of small shops that sold random cool things.
Like these eye massage goggles that make you look like you're from the future and this funny pig lighter.
There was also a Gorilla figurine that you wound up and then it would practice onanism. (video will be up later ;D)

Mega Web

SV102657 SV102658 SV102660 SV102661 SV102671 SV102672 SV102673 SV102684 SV102688 SV102690 SV102710 SV102711 SV102712
SV102698 SV102701 SV102705 SV102706 SV102707 SV102708 SV102709
Mega Web is a Toyota showroom that showcases various models. I did not see one car that I recognized.
You can also test drive one of the cars on the Ride One track for 300yen.
Mike chose a Crown to drive. It was really fancy with gps/tv and the back seats had massagers built in. It also had a console with many buttons. Many of which we had no clue what they did.

Venus Fort

SV102691 SV102692 SV102693 SV102714 SV102716 SV102718 SV102721 SV102727 SV102728 SV102723 SV102730 SV102731 SV102732
Inside Venus Fort are various shops.
There was a game center that had UFO catchers with totally weird prizes.
Hand bags, tape, exercise machine?
Venus Fort's ceiling has a faux sky that apparently changes throughout the day. We only experienced the sky you see in the pic though.
All shopping malls should have faux sky ceilings. It had a really nice atmosphere.

Sexism

SV102719
Apparently every wednesday it's "Lady's Day" in Tokyo as far as I know.
And in Odaiba that meant various discounts and free drinks at select restaurants if you were female.
At Ootoya, Fumi and Vivian got free unlimited access to their soft drink bar.
In other places in Tokyo you'll get discounted prices and whatnot on special days if you're female.

RUBBISH!

At certain busy times of the day they also have women only cars for the trains as well. This is in part due to Japan's groping problem or what is also known as "wandering hand syndrome."
However men get groped as well (although just a tiny fraction in comparison) but you don't see any men only cars.
There's also no "Men's Day" in Japan.

RADISH RUBBISH!

0 comments: