Odaiba - December 3rd

The weather couldn't be better for an outing to Odaiba. I was set to meet with Hans, Kaoru and Hilary at Shinagawa station to jump on the monorail, but I arrived to find that Hilary couldn't make it for some reason. Unfazed, we took the monorail to Odaiba, and got off near the man-made island's theme park. We moved towards the ferris wheel, and checked out the Toyota showroom/museum, which oddly enough had a gallery of John Lennon's artwork and photographs. I figured Janis would get a kick out of that. Next to the gallery was a free theatre designed to let patrons experience flying around a racetrack in a formula one racer. It was pretty cool for a free ride, but that didn't stop me and Hans from criticizing the graphics quality.

Outside of the Toyota store, we watched some kids on trampolines before moving towards the Fuji Terebi building, past some kind of motorcycle race. We stopped at the statue of liberty facing the bay, and took some photos around the small beach before moving back indoors. We slowly moved through the Sony Style store, and into the next building to check out the indoor Chinatown. There was a monkey performer, but it was taking a break, sitting in the corner drinking a bottle of water (no kidding).

Inside the Chinatown area, we played a crazy game of air hockey, where multiple pucks shot out onto the table, turning the game into a mad dash for points. It was still fun though. I would later see people on TV playing at that same table; I recognized the horse-racing game next to it.

Lastly, we went to the Fuji station briefly, to check things out. It hadn't changed much since I was here last year, but we still had a good time. Afterwards, we went back toward the Statue of Liberty (so as to get some good Odaiba night shots) before taking the last ferry back. We met up with Hilary for some good 'ol karaoke before calling it a night.