Yesterday, I returned from a 3 day trip to Tokyo, together with my girlfriend. Admittedly we only did bare minimum planning, and as a result the trip was a little rushed, though still fun nonetheless.
We took the Shinkansen from Kyoto station to Tokyo, which took a little over two hours. We were able to get student discount by applying for it at the university, so we both saved a little bit of money for the trip. The other alternative was to take the midnight bus, which would take 6-7 hours, and we would probably get very little sleep on the trip, so we chose the Shinkansen as a result.
When we got to Tokyo, we headed over to Asakusa-bashi to check in to our hotel - except we made the booking for the same hotel over at Asakusa and not Asakusa-bashi. So after a little bit more navigating around through the Tokyo's train network, and a little bit of a walk, we finally checked in to our hotel just after lunch. For a hotel that cost just under $50, it was a nice room (though not as nice as the one we stayed at in Kobe, but I'll talk about that in another post). My only criticism would be that the bathroom was ridiculously small: so small in that the sink was located next to the entrance way of our room. Anyway, after little bit of a rest, we decided to go to Akihabara.
It had been two years since I had been to Akihabara. Compared to Osaka's DenDen Town, Akihabara is a beast in terms of finding your way around. I remember some of the places that I had been to previously, including some of the game centers, and a few of the anime goods stores. One thing I've found though, is that while there are plenty of stores and buildings around, it is for that very reason that you'll usually get a decent bargain for goods. While in Akihabara, I purchased the
Master Grade Exia Dark Matter gunpla for about $40, whereas the usual RRP would be around $50. I also picked up a Figma of Tekkman Evil (or Saber as he was called in the english-dub all those years ago) for about $30, and some MSG weapon accessories also - in order to make Conroy's custom Jegan ECOAS type gunpla once I return home. Interestingly, I also picked up an old Star Wars figure of
Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker for just over $10. I used to have a lot of Star Wars figures when I was younger, but eventually gave them to my nephews. I found the same figure in Osaka, but cost twice as much, and was fortunate enough to come across this in a Tokyo store. We spent a few hours there, having ramen for a late lunch in the process, before heading to Odaiba.
I have been to Odaiba previously, but never in the evening. As a result, it was a real treat to see the 1/1 scale of the RX-78-2 in the evening. I had a look at the small trailer shop inside, and was surprised to see some new Gundam Front Tokyo exclusive gunpla, such as a HG Gundam Unicorn Phenex, and a two pack of the Unicorn and Banshee Norn, each with exclusive weapons. Furthermore, the Unicorn was a glossy white kind of plastic, with green psyco-frame. The Banshee Norn also had green psyco-frame, though the weapon included is one that can be found in the Gunpla Builder's part accessories products. Furthermore, because it was more expensive than usual, I decided against buying it.
We also had a look at the Gundam Front museum. It was updated this time in that it also featured Gundam Unicorn and Gundam Build Fighters related things on display. Also, compared to my last trip, the exhibition area had changed in that it was now about celebrating the 35 years of Gundam, including showing all the series and related Gunpla that were released in line with each series - though it was only restricted to the main Gundams/mobile suits of the series (though I noted that there was no love for the second season of Gundam 00). Also, they were heavily promoting the soon to be released Gundam: The Origin OVA.
Finally, we went to the cinema area. Again, different from when I went previously. The main features that I enjoyed were the One of Seventy Two short film, and the Shambloo vs. Neo Zeong fight in Odaiba. One of Seventy Two was more or less a fight involving the Sleeves' upgraded Bawoo (resembling Full Frontal's Sinanju) against the Unicorn Unit 2 Banshee, and the Unicorn Unit 3 Phenex. Both the Banshee and the Phenex take on the Bawoo, before the Phenex goes completely out of control, attacking the Banshee and its mothership also. The Shambloo vs. Neo Zeong fight was very interesting - though frankly I think the Shambloo has nothing on Neo Zeong. After that, we had a quick snack before we caught up with one of my friends who I used to work with back in Australia.
The next day, we went to Disney Sea. It's actually the first time in 20 years that I've been to a Disney theme park, so it was quite an interesting experience. We decided to take advantage of the Fast Pass, and used it for the rides with the longer waiting times - which we were able to check regularly on their site via my phone, which meant we were able to make the most of our time. We ended up using the Fast Pass on the Tower of Terror, and one of Indiana Jones rides. My experiences of rides when I was a kid was certainly different to how I felt about them now. They really weren't that scary - it was more like driving a car; that I had no control of, and was going really fast. But it was very exciting nonetheless. The Tower of Terror, however, was a different story. I've never ridden on any drop-style kind of rides before, so I didn't know what to expect. Compared to what I've seen before, this ride is mostly done in the dark - so you rarely see anything - only the feeling of free fall, which was really scary. It was scary, but exciting as well - it's very hard to describe.
Aside from the rides, we also ate snacks as we walked along, trying various flavours of popcorn, including black pepper, orange marmalade, strawberry, and - my personal favourite - curry flavoured popcorn. We also tried Mickey Mouse shaped churros, and I had maple balls and icecream, along with some coffee to help keep me going. We ended up having dinner there also - it wasn't anything spectacular, but I did particularly enjoy the sauce and the rice that was served with the meal for some reason.
We stayed all day to watch the final show, along with the fireworks before leaving Disney Sea.
The final day, we went to Asakusa and Tokyo Sky Tree. Because it was the weekend, it was incredibly busy at Asakusa. It was a really different experience compared to Kyoto. As a result, I just did not enjoy it as much as when I came for the very first time. I also found that food shops have introduced new rules that whatever you buy from them, you need to eat it either in front of their stall, or around it. My girlfriend explained that this was something that was introduced a few years back, certainly after my first trip in 2008. I'm not entirely sure about the reason however. I also find that some of the shopkeepers to be a bit rude to me, maybe because I'm a foreigner and he had to deal with a lot of foreigners - but he just assumed that I didn't understand when he told me the price of the food (in Japanese). I was searching through my wallet for adequate change after he said the price the first time, before repeating in English and showing the price on his calculator. Ok, fair enough, that I'm foreign, but when I reply with "はい" after you've told me the price the first time, assume that I understand what you just said. It was a minor gripe, though my girlfriend told me that Tokyo station staff seem to be a little ruder compared to those in Kyoto when she asked them questions on which lines/platforms to take to get somewhere. Maybe they're just finding being polite in Tokyo to be too tiring?
Anyway, after Asakusa, we caught up with another one of my friends for pie and coffee at Tokyo station. All three of us certainly had a lot to talk about, including life in my hometown (as she had worked there for a year, and that was how we met), and my friend seemed to be really happy to meet my girlfriend. After about 2-3 hours of hanging out, my friend had to leave for another appointment, and we headed over to Tokyo Sky Tree.
Admittedly, we were pretty tired by the time we headed to Tokyo Sky Tree. We were planning to go up the tower, but because of the rather long line, and the cost of getting in, we decided to give it a miss. However, there was a small ice skating ring set up right next to the tower, and we both decided to do a little ice skating. It had been a little while since I last ice skated, so I was little rusty at first, but quickly got back in to the swing of things. My girlfriend on the other hand, had never ice skated at all, so I helped her out and showed her the basics of how to move around, and generally just making sure that she didn't fall over. For someone who had never ice skated before, she got the hang of it pretty quickly, and the fact that she did not fall over even once (without me holding her) is pretty impressive. After a little while, we decided to stop, and take a look around the shops some more, before we finally decided to head back to Tokyo station and head home by Shinkansen.
All in all, it was a fun trip, albeit a little poorly planned on our part. If we had the money, I would definitely like to stay for a week, but no more than that. I find that compared to Kyoto life, Tokyo life is just so damn busy. I also remembered that there was a time that I envied Tokyo for being covered completely in high-rise buildings, but when I went there on this trip, I found it really overwhelming. I commend anyone who is actually able to live in Tokyo and able to manage the busy life, as I don't think I could take it.
I have been meaning to post about my Kobe trip from a few weeks back, so expect my next post to be about that (hopefully).
