Japan Trip Day 7

3rd June 2008 - Tuesday

There was only one place listed on our itinerary and that was the reclaimed part of Tokyo called Odaiba. Perhaps the inital idea was to market it as a tourist destination because there are a bunch of malls and good sightseeing destinations like FujiTV and the rainbow bridge. But i wouldnt classify this place as a MUST-GO like the other previous places.

On one hand, you can find quirky malls like Decks. You can find cheap clothes, leather products, a hongkong town, a Joypolis and a vintage arcade shop all under one (very big) roof. This place is pretty cool.





Another worthy destination was FujiTV headquarters, which has a very cool architecture. I was trying very hard to snap a complete picture of the building but in a moving train, this is the best i could manage m(_ _)m


There is an observatory deck (the round ball) and you pay 500yen for a ticket. From the observatory deck you can see the rainbow bridge and THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. Nahh, not the real one in America, but a miniature replica nestled among some greenery.






We also managed to get a sneak peak at some of the sets of the hit FujiTV shows, plus some new upcoming j-doramas. Takuya Kimura has a new drama coming up! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!!!!!






Next up was VenusFort, a shopping centre situated in a middle of empty parking lots. I thought it was pretty ironic, that we'd see the ultimate symbol of capitalism sitting right smack in the middle of wild grasses. Despite the rainbow-coloured decorations, the whole place looked pretty sombre.



What's special about the shopping mall is that the ceiling has this simulated sky that changes from night to day within minutes. A little like the harry potter thingy just less magical and more technological. After walking around the whole of odaiba, we decided to settle down for some curry rice xD authentic japanese style~





And that about sums up our trip to Odaiba. Nothing special, right? That was until i spotted a familiar looking wall clock from the train back to the station that i was jolted by excitement. Remember on the first we walked to the TV Tokyo, which i said was a dud? Turns out that the place i wanted was NipponTV headquarters and i JUST happened to spot it while on the train. I literally ran there from the station, all the time exclaiming how bloody lucky we are.

So what made the trip to Odaiba really worth it? This:





Plus a two story gift shop selling merchandise from claymore, gokusen (the famous red tracksuit anybody?)and totoro. I even found death note dvds. xDDDDDDDD i was searching frantically for an "L: change the world" poster but gahh they only had the dvd on sale. And, i think theres going to be a life-action version of the anime Sky Crawlers, starring Rinko Kikuchi (the deaf-mute japanese girl from babel)

And now, i could happily go back to roppongi. Just to soak up some of the night life, we went to Roppongi Hills for Phoebs to spend up some of her leftover cash. I WENT TO ROPPONGI HILLS!!! xDDDD eeee but i dont like the scary spider.




Whoosh and this about sums up the whole of my japan trip (lol i took like one month plus plus to blog about it -.-) I shall sign off with a kawaiiii picture from Odaiba xD

Japan Trip Day 6

2nd June 2008 - Monday.

DISNEYLAND!!! This place needs no introduction, so i shall let the peektures do the talking =)


We chose to go to Disneyland on a monday, in the hopes that it would be less crowded than on a weekend. Fat chance! And this was at 8am in the morning!




Lucky Phoebe managed to grab a cat!!


LO AND BEHOLD~~ Tokyo Disneyland's 25th anniversary! Although the interior hasnt really changed much from what i remember eight years ago xD


But before we embarked on our disneyland exploration and shopping trip, we needed to fill our bellies first. I think we were so hungry that we just settled for the nearest breakfast cafe. The yummy breakfast set was going for just over a thousand yen (13++ sing), which is pretty worth the moolah if you also take into consideration the gorgeous setting.




Annnnnnndd just as we were finishing up our breakfast, i saw a group of big band musicians walk past the window and i practically ran out of the cafe xD phoebe was paying while i was like PHOEBEEEEE COME SEE THISSSSS!!!! I love big band!


Right from the start, we decided that our time would be better spent exploring the WHOLE of disneyland and all the gift shops than standing in line for rides. (some queue waiting times go up to 2.5hrs). Besides, if you wanted good seats for the parade, youd have to chope pavement seats early too.

Random photos from around Disneyland ^.^ We started at Spaceland, then moved on to ToonTown and finally to the Disney Castle











Check out this extremely taiko shot of phoebs.. Doesn't it look like the fish eye effect yet WITHOUT a fish eye lens xD


I LOVE POOH POOH BEAR BEAR. Kinda regretted not buying the damn big pooh bear but then again, id have no space to bring it home T.T




And we started goofing around in the gift shops hurhurhur noticed how mickey mouse has only four fingers... Meaning you cant twist the mickey mouse paw to point the middle finger like whoaa so family friendly xD





And the first highlight of the day!! The Disney Parade!!! The construction of the floats are just amazzzing.. I mean, look at the amount of detail they put into each float. I was just blown away..











The lucky thing about the 25th anniversary is that there's a special buffet dinner going for 2500yen. So our plan was to go camp in a spot outside the restaurant to watch the parade and immediately after the parade was over, we'd run over to enter the restaurant. THE PLAN WORKED!!! Hahahahahaha it was so funny, we were the first to enter and we didn't have to wait for a table. The spread was yummilicious i tell you.... There was japanese curry, fresh seafood salad, fried ebi, fresh smoked salmon and a selection of drinks. Entirely free flow =) Phoebe and i ate for two full hours before we went out to finish up our gift shopping.





Hohoho Phoebe's first plate of food!


And this is mine!! Everything artistically arranged and only a little of each dish to sample ^.^


Before long, after the eating and shopping, it was time for the night parade!!! Although this is my second visit to Tokyo Disneyland, this would have been my first seeing the night parade. The sad thing was, Phoebs camera batt died while mine was literally hanging by a thread. And coz the floats moved so quickly, pics would be blur if not for the decent shutter speed. Lol post the nice ones larh dont see the blurred photos hahaha..

Presenting... Tokyo Disneyland DreamLights =)








In my opinion, Dream Lights was a lot more exciting than the afternoon parade. The best word to describe it was magical. There is nothing to describe the feeling where your breath gets caught in your throat when the next brightly lit float comes round the corner. I think Tokyo Disneyland has really managed to achieve the atmosphere where you'll think its ok to be a kid again, no matter your age. Where you can throw your worries at the door and forget abt them for a day.

And finally, i bid Tokyo Disneyland goodbye and swear to return again. 50th anniversary? ;P