Japan, Land of the Rising Sun (Tokyo Day Two - Part 1 of 2): Akihabara and Roppongi

Our second day in Japan is my son's birthday. We took time to sing for him and greet him the very moment he woke up. These moments are what I look forward to on our vacations. The opportunity to bond and create memories as a family. I look forward to the day that Casey would be old enough to read this blog and look back at these moments, then, he can realize how special and loved he is. The picture above is one of his favorites, the Casey sandwich! :)

view from our floor

Our birthday boy is very excited to start his day. Somehow, my son at a very young age, know the concept of traveling and discovering. This is our first hotel breakfast and writing about it made me miss the salad and meatballs. The hotel serve a very simple breakfast of salad, bread, soup and a few other breakfast food. The hotel we stayed is near the Marunouchi district. It is a neighborhood of business streets and central government buildings. We are practically in the center of Tokyo. I love our location because it is very convenient. I chose this because it is only a couple of stations away from Disneyland which is our main destination in Tokyo. I never realize it is quite accessible to other POI's as well. There is so much to see in Tokyo so we chose to experience abit of everything and because of our location we were able to do just that.    

The man in the bike is their postman! :) 

Our first stop for the day is Akihibara. Since this station is just a few stops away from the station near our hotel we chose to start with the place. Our travel book guide tells us that this is a place for electronics, Manga comics, video games and all nerds and geeks might want to see. I suppose you can call us one of them but i wanted to see what Japan is famous for, electronics. 

Every computer gamer should know SEGA! At some point in our student lives I can say we were gamers. I suppose that was all a phase. But I should say me and my husband know SEGA very well at some point in our adult lives! :)

We saw this cultural performers play their instruments in one of the stores. We didn't really understand what they were playing. 

Manga comics!

This shop is one of the many electronic stores in this district, and if you can see closely these are second hand digital cameras that are sold for 480 yen. That's even less than $10!  

We have been eyeing this type of bike there. 2 kids can comfortably ride and its electric too! 

One of the things we noticed is this vendo - toys dispenser. I do not know how they call this thing but it is everywhere! Its usually for 200 - 500 yen. They dispense all types of toys in an egg shaped container. They sell from robots to cars to dinosaurs from wierd to cute. We can't help but try to experience it by trying a few. We got cars for Casey and I got myself a Hello Kitty purse! :)  

As we were walking we noticed this one vacant space that looks like a 1 car garage until we saw cars coming out from it. Apparently it is an entrance and exit to a parking lot! Yes! Whatever we see in the movie is true! One parking space like this can accommodate 30 cars and there is only 1 person who looks after the whole system. Talk about productivity! :) It works like a huge vertical carousel that store cars in particular spot numbered accordingly.  You press the parking lot number, the carousel rotates, and your car will be brought to the base. The owner just wait practically almost by the curbside, steps in the car, and drives off! Impressive technology! :)  

For those fan boys and fan girls Akihibara is also home to resto's of famous Japanese girl group AKB48 as well as the Gundam Cafe. There was such a long queue to both even before they opened--locals wanted to be served by their favorite idols. For us, we were satisfied with pictures as we have other places to go.

Next stop, Roppongi Hills. We wanted to see Japan from above and so the husband chose the Tokyo City View. There are alot of choices but he chose this because he also wanted to see the Mori Art Museum. The guide book we bought described it as one of Japan's 'Don't Miss' Sights. 

It was quite a modern complex. A very classy mall with high-end brand names. This I should say is the modern side of Tokyo and a frequent for their youth and affluent. 

... asking directions again. :)

Yes that is a giant spider installation behind us. 

During our visit there were 2 shows that they feature-- one is Love and the other one is Harry Potter. There was no queue on Love yet too many in queue for Harry Potter! As much as I am a Potterhead we did not want to waste our time on the queue so we went for the City View and the LOVE feature of the Mori Art Museum.  

The city is impressive! We can see Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge of Odaiba bay from where we were. It was a very relaxing sight. Tokyo is huge and indeed the concrete jungle of Asia! 

I can't help but try this sandwich that a restaurant by the observatory serves. It's an interesting bread that looks like a popcorn. To feed our curious eyes and belly's we tried the salmon and cheese. It was crazy good! As usual, looking back, I love all the food even when they have leafy greens in Japan! 

It was a really delish meal with an outstanding view!

Unfortunately photography is not allowed in the museum. We saw impressive artworks, installations, videos, photos and research studies on Love. From weird to pretty, Tiny to gigantic. It was quite an experience. 

This and a few was the only exhibit where they allow photos. It's an installation of this multi-colored balloons that is shaped like octopus' tentacles in a room surrounded by mirrors. They are fixated on the floor others from the ceiling. Of course light effect has to play an important role in this installation.  Each tentacle changes hue from time to time-- reminded us of the Louis Vuitton shops in Singapore. I believe it is the same artist as it had the exact tentacle-like balloons. LV though only white with red colored dots. It got Casey quiet, curious, and fascinated for awhile there. One is not allowed to touch the art. 

Love is something you fall into.. Amen! :)

Pretty painters at work by the souvenir area. :)

After a morning of heights and art attack we are on our way to another POI. 

A clue to our next destination... Hachiko! :)

On our way to changing train lines we saw food trucks lined up in one of the inside streets of Ginza station. We cant help but drop by and eat again. We chose the Taiwan food truck! :)

As we were walking on our way to our next destination we saw a huge crowd with camera crews opening a set of installation. This is made of sand. :)

+ summary of POIs for this entry:

1) Akihibara Electric Town

2) Roppongi Hills

3) Tokyo City View

4) Mori Art Museum

.... Next stop. The world's most loyal dog, Hachiko! :)