Odaiba, 125, and Neighborhood Party

The long awaited "people sleeping on the train photo"

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Me, Su, the Waseda bear, and Okuma Shigenobu

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Me and the Ferris Wheel in the distance

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Su and I at a photo op at Fuji Tv. We have our own talk show.

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Statue of Liberty and Rainbow Bridge

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Race course at Toyota

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Su and I at Venus Fort

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Me at a slot Machine!!!!

Hello again! Sorry it took awhile to update, this site's picture loader-upper thing was down for awhile, so I couldn't post!

Saturday and Sunday were very busy!

First, Su and I went to Waseda's 125th anniversary festival! You may wonder, why 125? Well, the school's creator, Okuma Shigenobu, had a hypothesis that if a human being lived correctly throughout their life, they could potentially live to be 125 years old! Although he died at 83, he made a big impact on the school and the world! The clock tower I posted awhile back is exactly 125 shaku (an old Japanese measurement) high, so this is a huge occasion!

All of our Japanese buddies had a series of boothes that sold various country's food. I am pretty sure they were competing to sell the most...My buddy worked at the German booth, and coerced me into buying a cake. It was very delicious! Su, being Korean, tried the Korean food, but didn't like it...however, she bought all the different types of food (Russian, French, German, Korean, Chinese) and gave Germany the best grade.

After seeing our buddies, we visited the other boothes. Su and I got our portraits taken anime style, which was pretty fun! We also watched a string concert for awhile, and even met an Okuma Shigenobu man-statue walking around! We pestered him into taking a photo with us!

At around 3:00, we headed to the station to meet everyone who was going to Odaiba. We then took the train to Shinbashi, and then a monorail to Odaiba. For those of you who don't know, Odaiba is a man made coast thing created by the Tokugawa's as kind of a naval base in fear of all the foreign ships that kept coming. Now, it is an entertainment/shopping district, and houses many big Japanese companies!

When we arrived, our first destination was Fuji TV. Fuji TV is one of the biggest TV companies (on the level of CBS, FOX, ect). Inside, there was an extensive gift shop, and a photo op area where you could take your picture so it looked like you were on that show! We even saw this huge red monster thing, but it had to go on break and we couldn't get our picture with it!

Next, we went across the street to view the rainbow bridge and Japan's Statue of Liberty (yes, the have one too....French give them away like candy!). It was especially beautiful at night, as the rainbow bridge has cool lights on it. We then went inside Aqua City, basically a mall, and ate at the food court, where I had (big surprise) curry. The food court was very posh, and it felt like we were on a tropical island....

Next, we headed to Pallette Town, which is...kind of.....a place, I guess....Basically, it has attractions? I don't know how to describe it!!!! Well, first we went into the "Toyota Mega Web" showroom, which had all the up-and-coming cars for Toyota. Let me tell you, there certainly was some strange futuristic looking vehicles in there! We were even allowed to test drive Toyota hybrid cars, which looked at lot like a smart car. Although the test drive went automatically (we didn't have to steer) it was very fun!

After Toyota, we went just outside to the biggest Ferris wheel in the world! It was very exciting and we were very high about Tokyo, and could see everything! We could even see the fireworks from Disneyland in the distance. It was especially nice to see everything at night.

After the 20 minute ride, we went to Venus Fort, which is basically a Renaissance themed mall. It put me in the mind of a hotel in Las Vegas...For example if you have ever been at the Aladdin Hotel, they have a mall that has the sky painted on the ceiling so it feels like you are outside. This was the same thing! By this time it was pretty late (9:30....yes, it is late for us!) and all the shops were closed. However, to further my Vegas allusion, we found a random casino inside! And I am so allowed to gamble in Japan!

Japanese casino's are a bit different...For example, they had the poker tables and the slot machines, but they also have UFO catchers (aka claw machines) and other video games. There was even a game where you simulated being a bus driver....strange.....

After wasting a bit of money, we had to head home, or we would miss our final trains! (and if you miss your last train, you have to use a taxi. However, taxis are very expensive, especially since they raise their prices at night! Most people sleep in the station rather than take a taxi home!) I got home around midnight, which is pretty late for here. (usually we are all in bed by 10:00....very different!)

The next day, all the neighbors on our short street had a going away party for our neighbor, who is moving to Myrammar (Burma) for work. Since everyone on the street is roughly the same age (30s and 40s) they all have kindergarten to 2nd grade aged children. I am telling you, there were more kids than adults! It was funny to see everyone drink and have a good time! The children kept telling me "Hello, my name is _______. Hello. See you. Apple. Banana!" and then run away. It was very cute!

On another note, I seem to be visiting all these locations every weekend at exactly the right time! Odaiba was practically empty (my guidebook said it was supposed to be super crowded). It is weird to see these huge spaces, but nobody in them. We really have lucked out so far!!