Today,
Nicky and I decided that we were tired of going into the intensely
industrial areas of Tokyo (which are too expensive anyway), so we made a
small trip to Shinjuku, where one of the prettiest parks in Tokyo is
supposed to be.
Shinjuku Gyoen boasts itself as having
three large gardens and a greenhouse (which is currently under
reconstruction and couldn’t be viewed), as well as two traditional
teahouses and a summer house that was built for the Showa Emperor. In
all honesty, the park wasn’t all that interesting. Admission costs were
the same as San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden, and the San Francisco
version is far more aesthetically pleasing. Of course, I understand that
it isn’t spring, so the sakura (which make the park famous) aren’t in
bloom, but frankly, the layout was just boring. The French garden was a
small promenade of rose bushes and palm trees (French?) with a gravel
walkway. I couldn’t help but feel that Berkeley’s Rose Garden was much
more beautiful, even in its off-season.
At the very least, Shinjuku Gyoen is a
place where you can sit down and rest in Tokyo. Despite the stagnant
water (which made for a very unpleasant smell) and all of the
interesting areas being blocked off from pedestrian traffic, we did
relax under some shady trees for thirty minutes or so. In the end, we
decided we’d rather go back to Odaiba, as the last time we went the
ferris wheel was closed (it’s only open on the weekends).
We called up Erin and met her in
Shinbashi before making our way back to Odaiba. It was another gorgeous
train ride, as the sun was just starting to set behind the buildings and
the clouds were lighting up in spans of light peach and pink. It wasn’t
dark enough outside yet, so we decided to go into Venus Fort, a
shopping mall designed exclusively for women. It was really fun, even if
all of the boutiques were super expensive. The best find in the place
was a Lego store, where I wanted pretty much everything. There was a
lego man ice cube tray, a pink lego block backpack, Lego t-shirts and a
build your own lego person bar. We each built our own lego people as it
was the cheapest thing, then headed out to take our ride on the ferris
wheel.
The ferris wheel is a fairly romantic
excursion, except that the speaker in the cart tends to break the mood.
It’s a great place to see the Tokyo skyline at night, and with the ride
being a full sixteen minutes, it’s worth the price of admission.
Afterwards, we headed over to the
arcade, where Nicky discovered the first place she had ever eaten
takoyaki (fried octopus balls) in Japan six years ago, so we ate there,
and then jumped into a crazy photo booth to get some picture mementos.
We also decided to go to the Hell House, which is a haunted house made
for middle schoolers... well, really, Erin and I kind of forced Nicky
in, which I feel bad about, since she hates haunted houses. We got some
coupons for crane games from the house though, so afterwards, I used
mine to win Nicky a Rirakkuma Bear. I think she forgives me now, haha.
Our last
stop at the arcade before home was the taiko game, though Nicky and I
were made of fail since Erin has prior experience.... unfair advantage!
It was a good day, though I’m pretty sure all three of us can’t wait to
be in Kyoto. We’ve been in Tokyo two weeks, and we’re pretty much done. I
have a small list of things I still want to do, like visit Asakusa and
the Imperial Palace, but overall, there’s nothing else I really need to
see here. I can’t wait to be out of the big city!