Japan Trip 2008
Day Eleven

You know where this queue leads to? AKB48 Theatre! And it’s only 9am in the morning.

Wilson wanted to get some last minute stuff, so yes,
we’re back in Akihabara for the 3rd time. lol.

Suidobashi Station! So begins our search for the Thunder Dolphin.

It’s just beside Tokyo Dome, the big rounded square thing.

Tokyo Dome City is home to the world’s largest roofed baseball
stadium known as Tokyo Dome (nicknamed “Big Egg”).
Seems like baseball is really huge in Japan.

Still searching for the Dolphin. We were somewhere near, but couldn’t see it. Weird.

Walked further down the road, turned and there it was. Looks insane scary can?
At 262 feet (80 m) tall, it is currently the
5th tallest continuous circuit roller coaster in the world.

The track runs through a building, and snakes down the side of it.

Had a rather light breakfast before heading to 1x scary coaster.

The 3,500 foot (1066 m) long course passes through both a hole in a building, as well as through the Big-O, a centerless Ferris wheel.

Walking alongside it, it looked really, really tall. But it wasn’t operational at this point.
Maybe it wasn’t open yet.

Better view of the other side. Snakes up and in over the rooftops.

I remember feeling dreadful about riding the thing, but, we pushed on. lol.

On our way in. Tokyo Dome in the background.

Map of LaQua, the building that houses the ride.

Walked around inside while waiting for the ride to open.

We sat this, little splash thing. Made a whole lot of noise. LOL.
The ticket attendant had a really surprised look.
I guess we didn’t look like the screaming kind. xD

Our hearts sank when we saw that it was out of operation.
Like, NOOOO!!! all the way to Japan and it was out of operation!!!

Walked around looking at the tracks, wondering what to do.

Wilson suggestion going for the Spa in LaQua, but, nah.

Decided to pigeon watch while waiting for this musical
fountain show downstairs in the courtyard area.

Which happens to be another Hello Morning spot xD

We actually gave up and left, but just outside the entrance we heard screams.
Looked up and OMG! it’s OPEN!

So it wasn’t a wasted trip ya! According to Tom, we sit this sure ‘bezerk’ one.
He rode this the last time he was here. Partly because…

It was a Hello Morning spot! lol.

Check out the ferris wheel and the tiny cars behind her.

So we paid our 1000yen, emptied our pockets, strapped outselves in and…

Nearly died. LOL.

This was where we collected our ride photo.
Took a very long time because the sales lady didn’t understand english.
And the guy she went to call over also didn’t understand english. lol.

Anyways, it was THE scariest coaster i’ve ever ridden.
The first drop was so steep, you’ll just go mad i tells you.

Our trip to Suidobasi wasn’t wasted after all ^-^.
If you ever drop by Tokyo, take the metro to Suidobashi, and try this one!

Heading back to the train station. There were other smaller rides but we didn’t try them.
One Thunder Dolphin was enough for the day.

Tokyo Dome!

Under the shelter of the Dome.

Random subway moment. Majority of the business people here wear suites.

More quirky infographics. They really drive the message across that smoking is evil.

Ueno station!

Heading to Ueno park.

Pigeons here WALK TO YOU when you go near them.

At the station entrance. According to my mini H!P store map, it was this way!

This place was like our Chinatown. Lots of random side hawkers and tidbits.

This was really cute, but didn’t go in. H!P store comes first xD

We walked around twice, before i spotted the sign on the 3rd floor through a staircase
on the first. The entrance was behind a stall. Like, how to find la!

I actually bought something here, a keychain of sorts.
To buy things you have to get a form and mark the items you want,
then bring it to the counter. They’ll then put on these gloves and hand you the item, so they won’t get their fingerprints on the glossy photos. Felt like some sort of ritual can. haha.

Satisfied! We were off to Ueno park.

This was about 5pm. The lighting was beeautiful!!!

Backlight goodness.

Decided to rest here, people watch for a while.
I tried to buy ice-cream, but couldn’t understand the menu. argh.

Lots of people just milling about, tourists, elderly folks, us.

View across these, i think are lili ponds?

Wide pathways that stretch around the pond.

Shooting away. How often do you get lighting like that?
It’s Pocky and Royal milk tea in the bag Wilson is holding.
This winning combination has become our standard snack in Japan.

People sleeping. I remember Wilson saying, after seeing the guy, that if he sleeps under
direct sunlight he’ll wake up with a fever. xD

Works in the rain too i guess.

The table we were sitting at.

We did try a can of Asahi beer sometime during our trip… didn’t like. Not a beer fan. xD

I don’t recall the name of this tree, but they were all over the place.

One of the pigeons actually took a pocky stick from my hand.
It dared to come so close can! Cuteness.

Wilson, once again shooting cats.

What were they looking at?

Walked over and saw they were looking at the ducks chasing pigeons. lol.

Ducks 1 : Pigeons 0

Cute ya? Quite evenly distributed. I think they used the align tool.

More cute pigeons! I think you should know by now i like fat pigeons.

Explored the rest of the park, just enjoying the quietness and the awesome lighting.

Everything looked like it had a soft glow filter applied to it because of the golden light.

Especially these. So nice!

Ponds filled with fishes…

And turtles that talk to pigeons.

Then there were these row boats for rent.
I wanted to get one, but Wilson was giving me ‘for what!?’ look. lol.

Cute!

This is the Shinobazu Pond.
A temple for the goddess of Benten stands on the island in the middle of the pond.

I remember this was a Hello Morning spot, but i just can’t find the episode,
so no screenshots here :(

The guy on the left looks like he lives in the park, looking at his luggage and cardboards.

I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to come by here at this time
every couple days to reflect on things.

Is there such a place in Singapore?
With the same kind of settings, accessible at the same time.

The closest place i can think of is maybe Bishan park.

But they got no ducks.

More wooden wishes at the nearby shrine.

More people shooting the cat. He was tanning the other side when Wilson shot it. lol.

I loves the light. We walked around the entire pond at this point.
Going back up to see what else there is in Ueno park.

Beer fair! According to Wilson’s translation. I bought a pair of cute owl cups here.

Ever wonderd how the gates of hell looked like?

Scary can! this was on the other side of the park.

Check out the details.

Will look even creepier at night me thinks.

Ok enough creepy shots.

Tummy growling at this point. Must find food!

Above Ueno station.

Yes it was 22deg. Super cool. Perm aircon. I loves.

This pigeon was eating… salt.

Overhead walkway linking the station, park and shopping centre.

We walked a lot, and finally decided on this.
I told myself i had to eat this before leaving Japan. So, EAT!

Cold tofu and some Thai style spicy sauce.

At S$40 a plate, you better eat everything, including the spring onions. lol.

We ordered 1 set each, waited for the grill to heat up, and off we went~

The slices are from different parts of the cow.
You can actually tell the difference in terms of texture.

There were a few slices that curled up as soon as you put it on the grill.
Combined with their sauce, those were the best!

After the very shiok dinner, it was back to our hotel.
Made a huge dent in our remaining budget, but, no regrets. xD