Tokyo Trip - Day Three

KODAK 2005 12 28 15 42 17
Originally uploaded by Yasashisa.

Our third day in Tokyo was somewhat disappointing. Our plan, first thing in the morning, was to go to an area called Ueno. This is where a lot of Tokyo's culture and history can be found. We got a little lost when we were trying to go the Zoo in Ueno. Nothing serious. We just couldn't find the entrance. We walked a good halfway around the park to find the entrance to the zoo. We could see the animals, for crying out loud, but we couldn't get in. Anyway, after a while, we found the entrance and took a look at the zoo. It was a very good zoo. I like visiting zoos. I have been to zoos in four countries on three continents. This one was unique, though, for the giant Panda they had. It was very cool, but kind of dull. I can imagine that living your life in a glass enclosure and looking at all manner of strange gawkers can get tedious. The panda seemed content to roll around on its makeshift bed for the entire time I saw it. I don't blame it, however. I'd probably do the same if I was in his situation. They had a wide variety of animals at this zoo: everything from lions to llamas, polar bears to pandas, and jaguars to jackass penguins (No, really, that's what they're called). The coolest, but scariest moment, however, was when we viewed the lions. I know that zoos take great precautions in protecting both the patrons and the animals themselves. Even though there was no danger, I found myself a little shaken when two of the lions started to roar and slap eachother around a little right in front of us. There is a lot of power in those paws. What's more is that I have recently been reading the Chronicles of Narnia; seeing those lions in action gives me a new respect for the way C.S. Lewis describes Aslan. They are truly impressive creatures.

After checking out the zoo, we went to our next destination, a museum of history in the same area. To our great disappointment, it was closed for the holidays. I knew it would be closing in anticipation of the New Year, but I figured that it would still be open on December 28th. I thought wrong, so we decided to head out to our next desintation: Odaiba.

Odaiba is like a futuristic techno-city. To get to this area of Tokyo, one must take a monorail that passes between shining skyscrapers and across Tokyo Bay to what I think is a man-made island. At Odaiba, we hoped to see a museum of science and technology one of my students recommended. Apparently, they have the most advanced robots in the world at this museum and you can even interact with them. Although, after the disappointment of the history museum (and western art museum, which I decided I would have liked to visit after I found it was closed) I wasn't particularly expecting it to be open. At Odaiba, the Fuji Television Company has its headquarters. The building itself is a bizarre, space-age building with a sphere in the middle of the whole thing. It's really interesting to look at until you realize its an eyesore. They also have a miniature facsimile of the Statue of Liberty and a bunch of other cool things. From the shore of the island, you can see the statue with the so-called Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower in the background. It was pretty cool.

To make up for the disappointments of the day, Charity and I took a ride on a giant Ferris wheel at Odaiba after the sun had set. During the sixteen minute ride, we had a stunning view of Tokyo at night. It was an incredible sight. The lights from the streets, the skyscrapers, and Tokyo Tower were all in view. It was a nice moment and we were sad that the ride had to end.

After leaving Odaiba, we went to the Shibuya ward where we found a magazine store that actually had a copy of Maximum PC! I hadn't been able to find one of those since I left Canada. Then, we went back to Shinjuku, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Seeing the lights of the city from the Ferris wheel gave me the idea to return to the observation deck we visited on our first day in Tokyo. It was beautiful to see the lights from there. I took some pictures, but they don't really do justice to the reality. By this time, it was almost 10:30 pm. It had been a loooong day, so we made our way back to the hotel. Our third day in Tokyo was great, but we had big plans for our fourth and final day in Tokyo.
-Joe