Midnight Drive

Last night was a Friday so Rob and Rob's friend Kazuya invited me to go for a dinner at a nice 回転寿司 (kaitenzushi) place which is a restaurant where the sushi goes round the centre of the tables on a conveyor belt and customers just take what takes their fancy, or order it from one of the chefs if they want it fresher, and then add up the price of the different coloured plates at the end of the meal.

We went to an expensive one, where the food was really delicious, and then decided the price was getting too high, so then drove round the corner to a cheaper one! We're on a budget...

After dinner, we all felt like doing something, so Kaz drove us to his home. It was such a nice house! Despite his protests that it was very small, it was a very spacious new home. It had a very Western atmosphere, with a lack of tatami mat flooring and shoji sliding paper doors. It was a lovely place!

We had some tea there, and then drove to a nearby clothes shop because Rob wants to buy new things. We spent a few minutes there, but he didn't buy anything. Back in the car, we didn't have a clue what to do next. It was about 10pm by that time, but we didn't feel like going home.

And then Rob suggested Odaiba, the man-made island in Tokyo Bay. I'd been there three times before but I really like it so I agreed, and Kaz wanted to as well, so off we went singing "Woah, we're going to Odaiba..." (We're so cool.)

I'd never been driven through central Tokyo before, and it was absolutely incredible. You get a completely different view of everything from the roads, and you see how things connect physically, rather than just on a train or subway map.

We basically followed the Chuo line's route into the centre of Tokyo, and then into the centre of Shinjuku. There were so many lights!

After we left Shinjuku we followed the road into Roppongi, where we saw Tokyo Tower all lit up!

From there, it wasn't long until we were on Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay and parking on Odaiba. I'd been over the bridge on the road once, when I first arrived and I took the Limousine Bus from Narita Airport to Shinjuku. I'd been over it lots of other times on the Yurikamome monorail though.

Once we'd parked, we walked down to the beach and went to the end of the little pier they have. A very nice Japanese man offered to take our photo with Rainbow Bridge, although you can only see the lights!

Here's me with the bridge and Tokyo in the background. It was gone midnight but it looks really light in this photo!

We walked further inland and saw the Statue of Liberty, Japan version. I remembered taking a photo of my youngest brother with it when my family visited me last year. In fact, I associate a lot of Odaiba with my family, because I remember our visit there very clearly.

We wandered a bit more, and saw more of the island, but then started to get hungry. We stopped for a snack at Sizeria (サイゼリア), a cheap Italian restaurant. After that, we were all quite tired, so we walked back to the car.

We passed a couple of places I remembered from last year. You can rent a dog for a couple of hours and walk it up and down the beach, and then go to this restaurant and order something for you and something for the dog! This place is actually crazy!

Kind of an animal theme going on here.

We got home at about 3am, and I was really tired! But when else would I have the opportunity to be driven all the way across Tokyo to Odaiba? Tokyo is such a great city!

Family Visit: Odaiba & Ginza

On the second day, my family came round to my house (wow, that sounds strange) for breakfast (even weirder) before we set out for our first day of sight-seeing in Tokyo (okay, I need to make my peace with the fact that it was strange!).

They gave me the things they had brought for me from home, including decaff tea (impossible to find anything remotely decaff), lots of Cadbury's chocolate, some books and kanji cards that I had made for myself to learn some of those crazy Chinese characters.

Then I introduced some of my housemates to my family and it was nice that they could finally put faces to the names!

We walked up to Ningyocho and took the Toei Asakusa line down to Shinbashi (pronounced Shimbashi) station, where we changed to the Yurikamome monorail line which goes from Shinbashi to Toyosu in Odaiba, and back.

We bought a Pasmo card each (there's a Y500 deposit, which you get back when you give the card back, and then you charge it with money for subway journeys), which made all our journeys a lot easier and quicker. We charged each one with Y3,000 (£15) and that was perfect as they all had nothing left on them after our last journey!

We got on one monorail train but it got a bit crowded, and one going to the same place pulled in on the platform opposite, so I suggested we get that one. As we were getting off, the doors closed and my dad was trapped inside that one! He motioned that he'd go to Daiba station and meet us there. My mum, my brothers and I got the other one and followed him. Thankfully, we all got off at the same station and there was no harm done. The views were lovely over Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge, just like last time I visited Odaiba.

We went to places I hadn't seen last time, like this Statue. Recognise it from anywhere?


Near here, there were a group of salarymen taking photos of each other (it was Saturday) and my dad tried to get a shot of them, but they caught him and roped him into posing with them as they took photos of the gaijin. It was so funny to watch, I tried to take a photo but missed it.

We walked to the beach and had lunch in a restaurant there. We passed two hilarious shops geared to dogs. One of them was a dog restaurant where you order a meal for yourself and your pets, and the other was a pet grooming salon. You could even rent a dog for an hour at a time!

We walked to a place called Joypolis (I'm sure they meant Joyopolis), which is a SEGA-themed amusement park and my dad and brothers went in, while my mum and I (who were too tired) wandered round some shops and then had a coffee to catch up with news and things.

By the time we were ready to leave, twilight had been and gone and the light was fading fast. That gave great photos opportunities of Rainbow Bridge and the city, including Tokyo Tower, beyond.

We took the Yurikamome monorail back to Shinbashi station, changed to the Toei Asakusa subway line and went to Higashi Ginza. Somehow my sense of direction took us to the famous sight of Ginza Yon-choume (fourth block) crossing. I think this is the second busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.

It was an amazing sight at night with the neon glow making it seem like midday.

We walked all the way to Tokyo station, and ate dinner there. Then we walked through the maze that is Tokyo station to ground level to find Otemachi subway station. We then got on my line (Hanzoumon) and I recited everything the announcement says as the train approaches the station.

It goes something like this:

"三越前。三越前です。銀座線・ＪＲそうぶ快速線はおのりかえください。出口は右がわです。足もとにご注意下さい。"

"Mitsukoshimae. Mitsukoshimae desu. Ginza-sen, JR Sobu Kaisoku-sen wa onorikae kudasai. Deguchi wa migi gawa desu. Ashimoto ni go chuui kudasai."

Which means:

"Mitsukoshimae. It's Mitsukoshimae. Please change for the Ginza line and the JR Sobu Kaisoku line. The exit is on the right. Please watch your step."

You might think that it's very sad that I know that by heart but if you hear it twice a day then you do find it nestling in your memory.

My family were very tired as they didn't sleep well last night and had had a full day, so they went straight to bed. I chatted to one of my housemates for a bit and then followed suit.

The guiding was going well so far. I realised I knew more Japanese than I thought. I'm constantly comparing myself to my amazing housemates and native Japanese people, and I think that's not the way to go about it, as that way lies madness!

Daiba

After the demo lesson, I headed back on the Toei Asakusa Line to Shinbashi (Shimbashi) station and took the Yurikamome monorail to the man-made island of Daiba, or Odaiba.

Daiba is an example of land reclamation, similar to Osaka Bay's Kansai International Airport. When the West began forcing Japan to open up during the 1850s, the shogunate ordered the construction of blockages in Tokyo Bay to keep the foreginers at bay. These were called 'daiba', hence the island's name today.

It is linked to the rest of Tokyo with the monorail, bridges, ferry routes and several other train routes. It is part of Rainbow Bridge's imposing skyline over Tokyo Bay.

As you can see, it was a very misty day. It couldn't decide whether to rain or snow, so it did both simultaneously for a few hours.
A lot of these photos were taken from the monorail, and the flash reflected off the window, so I apologise for the poor quality, but that is the Tokyo skyline as seen from Rainbow Bridge. The monorail takes you from Shinbashi station, through parts of Tokyo, then out into Tokyo Bay, and over Rainbow Bridge, down to Daiba. What a great way to see the place!
Five storeys of arcades, shops and cafes here.
A weird piece of children's playground equipment. Looks like a big pretzel to me.

Rainbow Bridge looming out of the mist.
Funky coloured things! I can't resist that.
Daiba is home to Tokyo's only beach, which I could tell would be heaving in nice weather, but it was like I had the entire island to myself, which was a very weird feeling.

Major companies don't miss a chance do they! Daiba's seafront has Le Meridien Grand Pacific and several other big hotel chains.

The headquarters of Fuji TV is here too, with its futuristic ball on the front.

The traffic lights talk to you and count down the remaining time before you can cross.

They had a 'Don't do...' sign and one of the dangerous activities is golf! I don't know which Tiger Woods they've been watching...
The view over the bay.

I had the entire park to myself. It's quite a walk from the seafront, maybe it was just the unpleasant weather, but my legs ached at the end of the day!
But you get a much better view of the bridge from there.
The park was littered with the remains of the original 'daiba' blockages.

This area was fenced off, but the barrier was broken and I couldn't resist having a peek. I was very disappointed.

Tokyo Decks as seen from the park.


One of Japan's hundreds and hundreds of enormous ferris wheels.

This is just a funky building I saw.
Yes, that's a TV screen in the centre of a vending machine!
What?
How Pokemon is this? I actually saw a giant billboard with a Pikachu on it too.

This thing was weird! I couldn't figure it out, but the spire looked like it was leaning different ways depending on which way you looked at it. It drove me insane wandering round it thinking, is it actually moving?
On 'Dream Bridge', there's a map of the places in the world they ship to from this port.
Funky building again.
I could have been anywhere in the British countryside!
Except for this promenade next to me of course.

There's a Toyota showroom, so I stopped off there as it's free. Valentine's Day is coming up! In Japan, women give men the chocolates, so I don't have to worry!!
This takes me back to my Cadbury World days...
Sexy new cars on show...

This photo is really really bad quality but you can just about see Rainbow Bridge through the rain-streaked window there.

The following videos are taken from the monorail so the quality isn't great. The first is the view over Tokyo Bay and Daiba from Rainbow Bridge, and the second is a fleeting glimpse of the bridge.

The area near Shinbashi station was brightly lit up with neon by the time I got back there.

I got home about 6ish and got another job offer for a private student, with the 30-minute demo lesson tomorrow morning!! So I won't get the lie-in I was angling for.

I have started using Google Calendar, as my schedule is pretty confusing with several different jobs all happening at different times, and I've found it pretty useful already.

As it was Chinese New Year today, two of my Chinese housemates made gyoza (dumplings), despite the recent food poisoning scares, and they let me join in with the meal! I think I'll repay the favour by bringing them the food of my people on St. David's Day, and by "the food of my people" I mean spaghetti bolognese, as it's the best thing I can cook!