Since I'm up, I figure that I might as well post pictures again! It's been a busy weekend. Went to Odaiba, a man made island made by the Tokugawa government. Then today, a couple of us from TMEFC went to Okutama to meet up with the rest of the English department that had a retreat this weekend! We couldn't join them for the whole weekend (it was too much monies) but we were able to be with them today! (Okutama, as beautiful and rural as it seems, is still part of Tokyo. :D)
On the Yurikamome Line. In other words, the monorail to Odaiba! That's the Rainbow Bridge. :D The monorail goes on that!
We passed by the replica of the Statue of Liberty. It's really tiny.
This was actually before we saw the Statue of Liberty. Sorry, the pictures are a tad bit out of order. This is the famed Fuji TV building. We were supposed to stop by and see it but we were really hungry. D: This was taken on the bridge.
On our way to the Miraikan (I will explain what this is later), we happened upon this sculpture outside. There were no signs that said do not touch or do not climb so we figured that we'd climb it! It was really sturdy, so no worries!
The 未来官(Miraikan)! Mirai means "future," as in the distant future. (As opposed to shorai, which means the short future, e.g. the next few years or so. If you ever take Japanese, keep this in mind! It confused me for a while.) The Miraikan is short for "National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation." Hhahaha. It's a very hands-on museum so a lot of parents bring their kids there. There are exhibits on life sciences, space, robotics (there was this cool robot named Asimo! I'll post videos later.), and a whole bunch of other stuff. There was a dome theater too! :D
This really cool globe thing was hanging in the Miraikan. The clouds move! And the earth "rotates!" It was so cool. :D
This was obviously in the life sciences department. Yeah, DNA replication! This is tRNA doin' it's thing.
We left the Miraikan and started to make our way towards food. There was a field of flowers and the girls couldn't resist it. I decided to take my obligatory flower face picture.
This is where we ate. It's a shopping center called Venus Fort. We ate and wandered around a bit, but not for too long. This is how the inside looks like. There are no windows in this shopping center so that the lighting can be controlled. It's very faux European but it's really pretty. :)
Then we went to the Toyota City Showcase. Basically a lot of cars by Toyota. And games like this for free. :D You only get to do one lap, though. And if you can't finish a lap, then you only have three minutes or so? I finished a lap. :D
There was this precious oldman in a suit and sneakers. It looks like he's doing well. Hahah.
We went on the giant ferris wheel. This is us at the top! You can see the Yokohama ferris wheel in the distance (the little white orb on the horizon to the right).
This is us, making our way down. It was a quick ride-- 16 minutes!
This was early this morning at the Ogikubo station. We were very excited about waiting half an hour for the train. (This is a horrible picture. I tried taking it but my face got cut off and we're totally off center. But because it's so epic fail, I think it's hilarious.)
Ah, we arrived in Okutama safely! We thought that this was the bridge that we had to cross. We were very, very wrong. Needless to say, we got very lost getting to the retreat site.
But somehow, we still made it. :D
This is after the service. We were making our way back to the station. That's Amy that you see there. And the Trail of Death. The trail that you need to go up in order to get to the road that leads you to the retreat site is seriously one of the steepest inclines that I've ever walked on. It would make for good skiing/snowboarding. It's a really short trail but it was so, so painful.
Well, that's the end of that. It's now 2 AM and I haven't washed up or showered yet. :D So I need to get crackin' on that and then it's bed time again! :D Bye bye!
4 comments:
hey pretty lady! you look so feminine (now)! i like the wuwu scarf and your peeptoe shoes.
and why is there a statue of liberty?
You're supposed to dress up when you go out. I haven't been adhering to this non-spoken rule. I figured that I'd follow it for a day. My feet hurt pretty badly at the end of the day.
I have no idea why there's a Statue of Liberty replica. Maybe because it's American? Hahahaha.
As for your question about the slums, I do think that there are slums. The Tokyo Study Center assistant told us that we were walking through a slummish area but I don't really trust anything he says. Hahaha. So I'm not sure what they're like, really. And I guess that I'll have you define "slums," since in Tokyo, you can find janky, old houses and just really ghetto areas that kind of all have the slum feel? Everywhere I've been is pretty nice, though. o_o
Hahah I honestly just looked and scrolled through the pictures to see how GOOD LOOKING THAT SCARF IS ON YOU! :)))))))) GMW SCARVES :D
GMW gear:
1. Vest
2. Heisman squirrel t-shirt
3. Scarf.
Awww.... can we wear all those together at once?
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