Building Bridges
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2006
1
12
374
Trip End
Mar 15, 2007
Tokyo,
Japan
Sunday, March 26, 2006
From looking at the subway map it was only a short-ish walk from one of the stops to the Tokyo Bay area (Note to self: never use a subway map to judge distances). From the metro station I had to make my way across a few bridges to Odaiba and on reaching one such bridge had to wait a few minutes as a bunch of dignitaries under escort crossed over. On joining the crowd of people crossing on foot I noticed there had been no other vehicle crossing and soon realized that the bridge had only just been opened practically in front of me and we were among the first to cross
Ferris Wheel
. To top of my luck at not only being one of the first (good job as the next bridge was about another mile down river) I was handed a souvenir bag on reaching the far side with some sweet buns in it filled with azuki, and they say getting off the bus/train a couple of stops early is meant to be good for your health.Odaiba is kind of a large theme park like area which would be a great place to take kids for the day but that did not stop the average age of those on the rides and in the arcade being above 20. Toyota had a showroom here beneath the huge Ferris wheel where they showed off some of their latest cars and technology including a bunch of driverless smart-cars which navigated there way around a track without the need for the person in the driving seat to do anything - perfect for the ride home after a couple to many.
Sitting oddly beside a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Tokyo Bay I watched the Rainbow Bridge light up at night before taking the train all the way back this time. Despite being hungry enough to even try those squid pieces in a bag I had seen around I met up with Guy and Val, a French student staying there, and headed off to Shibuya.
Being my second Saturday night in Shibuya I was used to the crowds by now but still was wowed by stepping out into Shibuya crossing at night. After a bit of people watching we only just made it back before the hotel's odd curfew after running and skateboarding through the streets.
