Japan 0709 - Day 4
We decided to wake up slightly later on Sunday as the concert was, albeit fun, extremely exhausting. Our plans for that day was also pretty simple: Akihabara in the noon, and Daiba in the evening.
Akiba was simply bursting with activity, and everywhere we went we saw stores selling electronic and manga/anime stuff. There was also abit of a sale going on and people were shouting from every corner of the streets. My brother was so intrigued by how they display hentai manga freely that he pulled me into a couple of stores selling them, and had enjoyed seeing me squirm in discomfort as I was always the only girl in those stores. Akiba is really an otaku haven - manga and anime everywhere, girls in maid costumes giving out flyers, maid cafes, and I even saw a long queue of people (mostly high school boys) queuing to watch that silly girl group AKB48 perform at their theatre.
As we walked further down, I heard a familiar tune and faced the direction where the music was coming from. That was when I saw it, on a big-screen TV - Tohoshinki's Mirotic PV! I immediately let out a tiny squeal and snapped pictures. My brother felt so embarrassed that he wanted to abandon me there and walk away. Ha. What a jerk. But hey, we don't get to see Tohoshinki on TV or anywhere except their CDs in CD stores over here, so while I was there I decided to milk it for all it's worth and take in their overwhelming popularity in Japan. Who cares if I seemed like an idiot! I'm on holiday in a foreign country! I'm allowed to squeal whenever I want.
Before we went on this holiday, my little cousin Jonathan asked us to get 2 gundam models for him. But no matter how hard we searched for the models that he wanted, we couldn't find them anywhere! I felt dejected because I didn't want to go back to Singapore without anything for Jon. I'd hate to disappoint the kid.
Spotted Rilakkuma! My brother wanted to take a picture with it because it's so cute and cuddly, but he felt shy. Hahaha. We also saw a big-ass black limo like the one that Hamasaki Ayumi rode (not sure if she still rides a limo), and my bro insisted that I take a picture of it. Wonder if there were any famous people in it.
We set off to take the Yurikamome Line to Daiba in the early evening.
The journey to Daiba wasn't very long, but my brother fell asleep and commented that he seemed to have slept for quite a well. He was so tired from all the walking at Akiba, but immediately perked up when we exited the Daiba station and saw a guy performing at an open space.
The performance was hilarious and kept me well entertained for a good 15 minutes or so. When it was over and the guy took out a bag for people to put money in, everybody ignored him and began snapping pictures of him instead. He then shouted, "OKANE~!!!!" in a dramatic fashion to catch our attention, and all of us erupted in loud laughter at his silliness and went forward to deposit money into his bag.
There's a mini replica of the Statue of Liberty at Daiba! Since I wouldn't be able to see the real one in New York anytime soon, this replica will suffice for the time being. Ha. The scenery at Daiba is breathtakingly gorgeous; we were lucky to be there during sunset.
It's just impossible not to spot anything related to Tohoshinki in Japan - I saw these 2 Korean girls wearing a tee with Yunho in front and Jae at the back; they were taking pictures with the Statue of Liberty too. I went up to ask if I could take a picture with them and they readily agreed. Then the girl with short hair started speaking in Japanese and I was confused for a moment because I was so sure that they are Korean, and asked if they are Korean or Japanese. They are Korean. The short-haired girl is very friendly, after taking the first picture, she immediately turned around and said, "Take the back too! The back is Jaejoong!". We chatted for abit after taking the pictures and found out that we were all at the concert the night before! What a coincidence! Such nice girls.
This is what we were there for! The life-sized Gundam! My brother and I were in awe of it's magnificent outlook - it's so huge! Although the construction of the Gundam is finished, they're still in the midst of working on the whole area, so there's a fence around it. Alot of people went there to take pictures of it too.
If Daiba is breathtakingly gorgeous in the evening, then it would be an understatement to say the same for its night scenery. Daiba in the night is so beautiful that you just want to sit on the bench at Decks Tokyo Beach overlooking the waters, taking in the spectacular view of the Rainbow Bridge and tiny boats lit up by colourful lights floating on the surface of the river. We had dinner at a restaurant and was lucky to be seated at the deck where we could eat and admire the night view at the same time. It also felt damn good to have the cold wind blowing gently across our faces.
Although we'd have liked to stay longer at Daiba, most of the shops close at about 8PM, so we went back shortly after. I'd definitely want to go back there again, it's such a great place to chill and relax. Next time, I'm going to sit the Odaiba ferris wheel!