On Saturday, Jamie and I headed over to Odaiba, which is made completely out of reclaimed land. It's a mecca of shopping and entertainment, and attracts both tourists and locals alike. To get there, you take an unmanned train that runs on rubber tires, and not a regular track.
Some scenes from Odaiba...
(Beach volleyball anyone? As you can probably tell, it was a super hot day)
Being a super hot day, we decided that we needed some refuge from the sun and humidity. Good thing we weren't too far from Decks and Aqua City (two really big malls).
As you can see from the photo, the Sega Joypolis was just waiting for us to visit, so who were we to say no? After all, what trip to Japan is complete without a plethora of video games?
Joypolis actually had a lot more than just video games; it also had some really great simulator rides which I enjoyed a lot.
Odaiba is also the home of Fuji TV, a really big ferris wheel, and something called The Big Sight.
Today, we took a 3.5 hour Shinkansen (aka Bullet Train) ride to Himeji so we could see the Himeji Castle, which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Originally built in the 1300's, it was demolished then rebuilt in 1580 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It remained in use until 1868, then restored in 1956 to its current condition. With its white walls and unique architecture, the castle is supposed to give one the impression of a white heron in flight. Visitors are allowed to walk around the grounds, as well as in the main tower, and a few other satellite buildings, though be prepared to remove your shoes upon entering.
Guess they weren't that tall back then.
Some of the various family crests adorning the castle.
Jamie and the Main Tower.
A small door leading to a hidden room where soliders could lie in wait for any invaders who might have made it that far, or where supplies could be stored.
A view from the top.
The entranceway to the castle complex.
Tomorrow and Tuesday - Disneyland and Disney Sea!!
About Me
I'm not sure if the past two days have much to blog about, but here goes anyway.
On Thursday (July 10), we went shopping. Not too many photos there, but we took a few that might be somewhat interesting.
A kitty playhouse where you can pay to play with some cats.
Sunshine City is a really huge mall/entertainment complex. It even has an aquarium with sea otters and live shows up on the roof of one of the buildings, and a planetarium too.
Yebisu Garden Place - where we had dinner up on the 38th floor.
A driving school that we saw from our window seat at the restaurant.
Our waiter showering our okonomiyaki with mayonnaise. You can't tell from the photo, but he's holding the bottle from quite a ways away.
Shibuya at night
On Friday (July 11), we head out for a walk around the Imperial Palace.
That's Tokyo Station, getting a face-lift.
Some neat things we saw in the castle moat.
Outside the castle grounds. The public isn't actually allowed onto the palace grounds.
After walking out in the heat, we decided that we needed some time in an air conditioned building. We headed over to Ginza to visit the Sony Building, and drool over all the high tech toys they have.
We aren't sure what the heck that is. According to the text, it moves and lights up, and 'dances' to music.
Cellphones in Japan are bigger than in North America, and I like them better.
We had dinner with my friend Saori at a Japanese style bar. We had some really nice sashimi, yakitori (BBQ chicken on skewers), tempura, and beer.
Tomorrow, we're heading to Odaiba and then to Himeji Castle on Sunday.
So, we left Vancouver for Japan on Monday (July 8). The Vancouver Airport is really nice - they even have an aquarium for you to look at while waiting to board.
Forgive the bad picture!
After a nice long flight, we arrived in Tokyo. Our first night, I was too tired to take many pictures. I did take a picture of our hotel/apartment though.
It's smaller than we thought - we misunderstood what 'Standard Double' meant, but it has all the things that we need: kitchen, very nice bathroom, comfy bed, TV, and internet!
After a good night's sleep, we set out to explore some areas of Tokyo that we hadn't seen yet.
Here's a link to all the photos in my Flickr (click here); but here's a few that I thought would be nice to share.
This sandal is actually huge, and covers about half the height of the gate.
And just what am I pointing at?
It seems like there was some sort of Festival going on at Shinsoji Temple (which is where that big gate is, so there was lots of festival food around.
All that left us kinda craving veggies, so we bought some food t the grocery store nearby our place, and had a nice simple dinner (salad with egg, and fruit). I'm really enjoying the idea of being able to cook sometimes instead of having to go out all the time. I also went and got a massage today, and the lady who did it told me that my shoulders were really hard. She did a great job though, and got a lot of the knots out.
Tomorrow, we're planning to do some shopping for CDs, books, and stuff like that that we can only get here. I think I'm gonna relax in the tub now!
I'm already a little behind with this updating! Just going to summarize our last two days in Vancouver.
July 5, 2008
Joyce's Wedding! Went early with Joe and Patty to go and help Joyce set up.
That's us grabbing breakfast at the White Spot before heading over to Granville Island.
We set up really fast, so Jamie and I had some time to walk arond the island a bit.
Jamie took a lot of wedding pictures, but we haven't had time to sort them yet so I'll put them up later. Suffice it to say that we all had a good time.
July 6, 2008
Joyce and Dave hosted a BBQ a Kitsilano Beach, and we had great weather for it.
After that, head out for dinner with the whole family, then to Grace's for cake for Auntie Jolie's birthday.
And that concludes our quick stop in Vancouver! Next post, the start of Japan!
Jamie and I arrived in Vancouver early on Friday morning, and were picked up by my cousin Joe and his wife Patty. Next stop was for some food and coffee. Patty had gone to work at 4am before coming to get us! We went to Moxie's for brunch, and were served served portions that felt like way too much.
I think Mr. Pancake was upset that I couldn't finish my plate.
After that, we went back to their place to drop off our luggage, played a few rounds of Rock Band, and then head out to meet my other cousin Grace (Joe's younger sister) so that us girls could go and get our nails and toes done. Joyce (cousin getting married, youngest sister to Joe and Grace) met us there and we had our nails soaked, filed, shaped, and painted. The boys joked that they were sad that we hadn't asked them to see if they wanted their nails done.
Went to the mall to walk around a bit and pick up some last minute things (batteries, make-up, etc). I saw this fun little ride, and it was a nice little flash from the past.
Baby Kermit is so cute!!
Went out for dinner with Joe, Patty, Grace, Greg, and Sophia, and were joined by Joyce and Dave afterward. It was a great time!
Today is the wedding, so I'll update again soon!
And yesterday, PushPULL's fourth season came to a close as we played to a packed matinee audience. Doing 5 shows in 4 days is pretty demanding, and I have a whole new respect for those who perform night after night, and have to give the best performance ever each and every night.
Our show this year was more technically demanding than our previous shows, and everyone seriously brought their level up. On Saturday night, after doing a matinee show earlier that day, I thought I was out of gas and wasn't going to make it, but with everyone around me all excited, and then hearing the buzz of the audience; we were all somehow able to dance our hearts out.
My body is seriously tired now though. The theatre isn't designed for dance shows, so the changerooms are about 3 flights of stairs up from the stage. I've probably run up and down more stairs this past week than I usually do in a month. My legs hurt. A lot. But it was all totally worth it! Thanks to all the dancers - I had an amazing time and I can't wait until next season!
It's show week! 'After Hours' is now supposed to be ready to go. Or rather, we have two more tries before it has to be truly ready to go. Tomorrow is going to be dress/tech, and then Wednesday will be our full dress rehearsal, and Thursday is opening night! Exciting times, huh? This year, I have to admit to feeling a little un-ready. The degree of difficulty of the pieces has gone up from last year, but the amount of time for us to get things right hasn't, so I feel like I'm missing a lot of nuances to certain pieces. I'm not forgetting any steps anymore, but there are little tiny details that I wish I could get just right every time.
And after the show is over, I'll have about a week and a half before Jamie and I are off to Japan! I'm going to try and blog here while I'm traveling and show you all the places that we visit. Yes, I know this is going to be my third trip to Japan, but I just really like going there. Besides, there were still places that Jamie and I wanted to go to, or other foods that we wanted to try. Plus I get to practice my Japanese, which is something that I hardly ever get to do.
Tick, tick, tick....Can anyone else hear the countdown to showtime?!