Today's trip around Tokyo was a bit less grueling (either we're walking
less or we're actually getting into shape!). We did a few things that
we've never done before in Tokyo -- went on a Sumida River cruise into
Tokyo Bay and to Odaiba Island, a new development on reclaimed land in
the bay. Needless to say, we saw some very impressive things.
The
Sumida River cruise starts out in a part of Tokyo called Asakusa where
there is a very famous temple. We've been to the temple several times
in the past so we skipped this. Instead we went to a temple of another
kind -- the head office of the Asahi Brewing Company. The building that
houses the head office is very unique. It is meant to basically look
like a glass of beer with a large head on top. Take a look at this
picture and see if you can spot the bubbles. Right near this building
is where we boarded the river boat.
The highlight of the day had to be the river cruise that we took. The views were spectacular -- buildings, river front, ships, bridges -- this was well worth the wait (it is a long weekend in Japan and the crowds for the river cruise were very large). This is a really great way to spend an afternoon in Tokyo. In addition it was an incredibly beautiful day at 25C. I understand that back home it is barely breaking 0C! It is certainly nice to be in Tokyo right now!
Half way down the river we made a stop at Hamarikyu Park which, like most other parks in Tokyo is a sea of green tranquility in an ocean of concrete and skyscrapers. As I've noted in other entries in this travelogue, it never ceases to amaze me how parks in Tokyo can be so peaceful and quiet even though they are smack dab in the middle of a metropolis. Hamarikyu Park used to be an oasis of the Tokugawa Shoguns -- a place where they came to hunt ducks and drink tea. There are still a few ducks left but most of the original structures (primarily wooden tea houses) were destroyed during bombing raids in World War II. I found a sense of poetic justice though in the fact that where many of the tea houses used to be there are now public sitting areas. 200 years ago the public would not have been allowed into these areas -- to enter them would probably have cost one your head!
We re-boarded the boat and headed back out onto the river towards our final destination -- Odaiba Island. On our way there we passed several landmarks including the enormous Rainbow Bridge (a suspension bridge that definitely rivals the Golden Gate Bridge) and a man-made island built in the bay during the 1800's to house cannons that the Shogunate planned on using against American and European invaders.
Odaiba is quite an interesting place but much of it struck me as very commercialized -- it is especially filled with global companies like The Gap, Starbucks, etc... To me this is incredibly boring. If I want to go to these types of places to pay way too much for a cup of coffee or look at cheap clothing sold at inflated prices, I'll do that at home! I don't need to travel 5000kms to do that. On the other hand, there were other things at Odaiba that were well worth the trip. For one, there were lots of live performances by traditional artists such as taiko drummers. Also, Toyota had another very large showcase of their cars along with explanations on how cars are designed. They also had an exhibit in which we rode in a car that had the ability to drive itself. This was very interesting.
Unfortunately, we did not make it to Odaiba in time to visit the telecommunications history and science centre. This would have been very interesting.
To end the day off, we went to a dreaded karaoke place. Karaoke -- something that normally sends chills of fear down my spine. Amazingly though, this was actually quite a lot of fun. For sure, we are pretty crappy singers but the karaoke machine can help to make almost anyone sound okay. I really hate to admit it but I really enjoyed this (and it didn't require a lot of drinking!).
There was one last interesting experience that rounded out the day. I actually had my first encounter with a Japanese a**hole. As we were leaving the karaoke place, a bloke saw me talking to Hana and approached telling me to stop trying to pick up Japanese girls! Hana turned to him and was about to say that we're married but I think that he got the picture and he moved away. It actually wasn't that big of a deal. First of all, this dude was drunk and secondly he was no doubt threatened by highly sophisticated and handsome foreigners -- just kidding. It's amazing that this guy would feel threatened by a skinny guy like me!
Nevertheless, it became clear that Ikebukuro at night can be a bit rough ("rough" is definitely a relative term -- there are really no places in Tokyo that I would be seriously afraid of walking around in after dark -- unlike at home where there are entire neighbourhoods that I would not be caught dead in even during the day) -- especially after people have been drinking. What was I saying in an earlier entry about not liking Roppongi Hills? Last night I began thinking that Roppongi Hills actually is pretty nice (at least when it's dark)!
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