Statue of Liberty and Aqua City

Third stop, the Statue of Liberty and Aqua City.

Some great pictures of Odaiba (not taken by me) can be seen here.

I've been searching on the Internet as well as my three Japan tour books and no one can tell me why there is a Statue of Liberty on the island of Odaiba. *shrug* Oh, well. Took a pretty picture, nonetheless.



Pass through Aqua City (through a VERY cool passageway between Aqua City and Mediage showcase by Sony) into the Mediage area and you've entered another world. There is a huge cineplex, more shopping, a really cool Sony Showcase area (showing the latest and greatest Sony products to play with), and even a World of Coca-Cola.

An employee in the Sony area brought Andrew a Wallace & Grommit coloring page and some crayons. She then took a picture of him with a one of the showcase Sony digital cameras and printed it out on a Sony photo printer for us. Marketing, ya think?



Andrew and "Kenta" in a playhouse inside Aqua City (what we've named the Hilton dog mascot of Andrew's)


A lovely advertisement outside of a store. I *think* they are advertising their bluejeans.


$40 for a child's haircut???


On the way home...

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And at the hotel in the "executive lounge" for drinks and appetizers before heading up to our room...

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Tokyo Big Sight and other sights along the way...

What the heck is this??? Is that thing rentable? *smile*

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On the train ride to the Big Sight, Andrew sat in the "driver's" seat (as there is no driver on this monorail; completely computer generated).

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Second stop, the Tokyo International Exhibition Centre, better known as the Tokyo Big Sight.



"The Tokyo International Exhibition Center, commonly referred to as "Tokyo Big Sight", is Japan's largest exhibition and convention center." As my guidebook says, "The Big Sights main hall looks like an Egyptian pyramid which fell to the earth upside-down -- and is certainly one of Tokyo's architectual wonders."

Fuji Television Building & Observatory on Odaiba

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Forecast for today, highs of 70 degrees and windy. So we set off on a walking tour of Odaiba. While we've been there several times in the past, we've not really made it past the "mall area". We took along our guidebook (looking like obvious tourists with my guidebook in one hand and my camera in the other).

First stop, Fuji Television Building.



Taka couldn't figure out the Japanese word of observatory (which is where we wanted to go in the Fuji Television Building, so I had to step in with my big-bad-gajin(foreigner)-self. I walked right up, pointed at the observatory sign (I was going on an assumption because the guide book told me the observatory costs 500yen, so I pointed to the 500yen sign and held up two fingers). I handed over the money and Voila! I had two observatory tickets in my hand!



The elevator from floor 7 to floor 24 was PACKED! Check out Andrew, in the middle.



Views from the observatory (inside the big round sphere)...




A pretend game-show environment inside the Fuji Building.

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A big clock outside of the Fuji building. *shrug* I assume it "means" or "stands for" something.



Andrew signing a banner to be taken to the World Cup by the Japanese Soccer Team.


A TV show being recorded right outside the Fuji Building. They are showing on the screen actual video conferencing from a listener's cell phone!

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Taka's Hometown

Taka was born in Yokohama and he and his family moved near New York City shortly after he was born. He moved back to Japan around his preschool years. He lived in Naruse until they returned to the US to live in New Jersey (where he lived until college).

We visited Naruse and got to see his old house, the nursery school he attended, and the elementary school he went to.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


NURSERY SCHOOL


HOUSE IN NARUSE (& the "field" across the street where Taka says he caught preying mantis buggies for pets)



We spent the rest of the afternoon going to Yokohama, where we had dinner in a department store near the bustling train station.



EXPENSIVE STRAWBERRIES (FOR A GIFT, MAYBE????)

WAX FOOD ON DISPLAY, SHOWING A RESTAURANT'S MENU


THOMAS IS EVERYWHERE!!


BUSTLING AREA OF YOKOHAMA TRAIN STATION ON A SATURDAY NIGHT

Blue Parrot Bookstore, a Playgroup and More

Bingo! Keno! I hit the jackpot. (okay in my life as a dork, I've hit the dorkish jackpot). A Japanese friend mentioned an English used bookstore only a couple of train stops from our hotel. So of course I looked it up as soon as I could and set off to find the place.

Sure enough, you can buy, sell and trade English books which is wonderful considering the Nicholas Sparks book I purchased brand new last week was 1,209 yen (over $11). Although still a bit on the expensive side (I like my bargain books at Goodwill), I got a great deal by Japanese standards. I spent 2700 yen and got a book on Japan, a book on Tokyo and four paperpacks for me (including Memoirs of a Geisha which I've picked up to read again, after seeing the movie).


Speaking of Memoirs of a Geisha, have you seen the movie? I'm trying to talk Taka into going to Kyoto, and then to the Gion district, at some point while we are here. I know the area is nothing like it used to be, or how it is portrayed in the book/movie, but what fun to actually see the place Sayuri speaks of!

On the way out of the JR area of Shinjuku Station, we always smell the most delicious aromas. Then, you round the corner and see this great little bakery/pastry shop as you walk by. Andrew and I snuck a peek in there and my did it look yummy!



Lastly, we attended a third playgroup yesterday evening, one stop away from Shinjuku, in Yoyogi. We met up with our new friend from Tuesday's playgroup and her Andrew-look-alike daughter! I snapped a cute picture of them playing in the tatami room (the flooring is made out of what's called tatami mats). We had a snack, sang songs (in Japanese and English) and even heard a Curious George story (at which point Andrew curled up in my lap and fell asleep, so these are the only shots of playgroup I got)!

What Can You Get for 2,565 Yen?

(That's approximately US$22.34)

At the department store you could get...

One pack of 36 diapers (980yen), two boxes of 10 tampons each (294yen each) and a can opener (997yen). The cashier even wrapped my tampons in colored paper before placing it into the see-through bag!



What Can You Get for 1,388 Yen?
(That's approximately US$12.09)

Well, at the grocery store you could get...

Four VERY small cans of green peas, three smaller than "US normal" cans of corn, a can of apples, a can of white grapes, a can of vienna sausages, a can of red beans, and a box of one melon pudding mix!



Tokyo is supposed to be one of the most expensive places in the world to live. And, while prices of things may be a little higher than at home, I haven't found it to be completely overwhelming. I think I was expecting worse. *shrug*