おはよう ohayo andy

The night before, I tried planning a last minute early morning excursion outside of Tokyo for today but ultimately decided there just wasn't enough time to go somewhere and then be back before checkout time which was 10 or 11AM (I can't remember). I planned to visit the Fish Market early this morning but the one day I planned for it was the one day in the month it closed. I woke up like at 5AM for it too. I ended up having loads of time and packed slowly. My flight was at 7PM so I had a lot of time to kill between now and then. I decided to explore Ginza a little more and then revisit Shibuya and Meiji-Jingu because they were a couple of my favourite spots. I decided to checkout of my hotel completely and they were nice enough to hold my bag for me at the lobby until I was ready to come back and get it later in the afternoon. Right in the heart of Ginza, Nissan has a showroom that is only big enough to display one car. They had the Skyline which I believe is the new G3...

If there was any day I wish I could have back, it was this day. Instead of spending the day visiting a couple of places remaining, I wish I had taken a day excursion to somewhere outside of Tokyo because what I saw on this day sucked and the only saving grace was dinner. I love aquariums and planetariums and Sunshine City had both of them but I was truly underwhelmed. There's really not much to write about other than to say that if you are expecting to see huge tanks or cool underwater glass tunnels or anything like that, you won't find them here. After Sunshine City, I headed for Roppongi Hills which was a bit of a letdown also. While Roppongi might be a happening place for "gaijins" at night, there's nothing too exciting going on during the day. They did have this spider which had nasty little eggs in it. Ewwww! Inside the Mori Building, I visited the Mori Art Museum which I did not like at all. Like I had mentioned previously, modern art is quit...

Today I planned to spend the entire day exploring Odaiba, the futuristic manmade island. I took the Ginza line to Shimbashi Station and it took a little bit to find the transfer to the Yurikamone Line. It is actually located above ground so if you follow the signs and still can't find it, just know you probably have to head upwards up a flight of stairs. The subway on the Yurikamone Line is completely automated so there are no operators driving it. The line is well-elevated above ground so it's nice and scenic and gives you a good view of Tokyo, the river and the Rainbow Bridge. As most of the island's attractions are at the front of the island, you get to see many of them on approach. My first stop on the island was going to be the Miraikan which is towards the back of the island so I passed many of the sights I planned to visit on the way in. There is a subtle amusement park like vibe at the entertainment part of the island (towards the front) as there is a larg...

I took my time getting up this morning as I didn't need to leave as early as the other days. Today I was going to Harajuku. I had wondered before my trip whether I was going to be able to catch any cosplay at Harajuku due to the season and temps in which I was going. Harajuku on a Sunday is basically a place where teens come to gather and dress up in the craziest costumes. It allows them to hang out and express themselves in ways they can't during the other days of the week in school. I think it has to do with going against the rigidity and traditions of growing up in Japan. Some of the costumes are anime inspired, cute or goth-themed, and some are just strange. Anyways, on the off chance that there would be some cosplay, I decided to visit the Harajuku area on a Sunday. Many of the various subway lines run through Tokyo Station so I found myself many times throughout the week heading to Tokyo Station first before taking a connecting subway to my eventual destination. ...

When I woke up this morning, it was the first time since I got to Tokyo where I actually got a good night's rest! So it took about 5 days for me to get over the time difference (compare that with the 2 weeks it took to readjust when I got back!) I was pretty excited because I had two things planned today that perhaps I had been looking forward to the most. That is going to the Ghibli Museum and having dinner at the New York Bar and Grill (the restaurant where they shot Lost in Translation ). For those who don't know, the Ghibli is a museum dedicated to the work of Hayao Miyazaki , famed animator/film maker whose movies include My Neighbour Totoro , Princess Mononoke and the Oscar winning Spirited Away . I like anime but have more of a passing interest than being an Otaku Comic-con costume wearing geek. Knowing that I was going to be visiting the Ghibli is what actually inspired me to finally watch some of Miyazaki's movies as I have to admit I hadn't seen any before...