This is our belated and last blog of our vacation in Japan 2015. On our 13th day we went to Odaiba, a place where we both havn't been before. We went out pretty late today because we had a long day yesterday because of the preperations for going back home... We decided to go to Odaiba for our last activity in Japan. So to get there we took the JR Yamanote Line from Ueno station and headed for Shimbashi station to transfer to the Yurikomoma line to Odaiba...
But before we went there, we had a small lunch at Ueno Station.
It's a lil' bit of sushi time ^^
Odaiba is a large artificial island in the Bay of Tokyo, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s, dramatically expanded during the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed since the 1990s as a major commercial, residential and leisure area. Odaiba, along with Minato Mirai 21 in Yokohama, are two of the only places in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area where the seashore is accessible, and not blocked by industry and harbor areas.
Odaiba is now an island in the bay of Tokyo that has many purposes for recreational stuf to do there. They have expositions, shopping malls, parks and so much more to see...
We got of the Odaibakaihinkoen station with the Yurikamome line. Just out side of the exit we saw this vending machine of Disney with disney candies and snacks! First time we saw this machine ^^
We both saw a can with Stich on it filled with grape flavoured candy, and bought it from this machine... ^^
After that it was off to our first visit in Odaiba!!! XD The first thing we came across was a shopping mall which had a big Video Game Arcade called "SEGA Joypolis". This arcade has a unique collection on arcade machines. The reason we went there is that Kurisu wanted to play a special version of the Initial D arcade game which was only located in this SEGA arcade...
Walking towards SEGA Joypolis we came across some fun shops and expositions. We saw nice souvenirs shops and a LEGO Land which just haz opened here in Odaiba...
Finally we arrived at SEGA Joypolis. Because we only wanted to do the Initial D Limited Stage 4 arcade game, we only bought the admission ticket and charged it with credits to only play for Initial D. Or else we had to buy a full day pass which was pretty expensive only to use it for one game...
The Initial D - Stage 4 Limited Arcade game is very unique because you actually drive in real cars compared with the regular arcade game. You can't pick in which of the 3 cars you can drive. The cars you can drive in are the Subaru Impreza, Toyata AE86 Trueno & the Mazda RX-7(FD). In front of these cars are huge TV screens and the cars actually moves where you make turns to give you a realistic feeling what's like to drift in there racing cars...
Kurisu played this arcade 2 times because he wanted to drive in the main car (AE86) of Initial D. On the first try he drove in the Mazda RX-7(FD) and the second time it was heaven for him. That's because he got to drive in his dream car, the AE86 Panda Trueno...
After that we kinda walked around in SEGA Joypolis to do some exploring. There we found some other arcade machines and UFO Catchers. We tried one UFO Catcher because we saw a Rapunzel pluch figure from Disney's Tangled. Kurisu scored this one after 3 tries for Lilia, and happy that she was ^^
Then we played some games like Transformers - Human Alliance. After that we took a short break with some snacks. We had some crepes with nice filling to enjoy... ^^
Then it was off exploring the area of Odaiba some more. It was a pretty clouded day we had in Odaiba, but it was dry with no rain in sight so far...
We then headed for the Aqua City Mall next to SEGA Joypolis. During our walk we had a great view of the bay of Tokyo...
Arriving at the Aqua City mall we checked out some shops and did some window shopping there. They had a Disney Store, a Hello Kitty store, lotsa cafe's and restaurants where you can eat all the way... It was really fun to hang around here...
Lilia & the Tsum Tsum Line XD
Rounding up our visit there, we headed towards Diver City. This place is a special place in Odaiba why that is you'll see it in just a moment...
Walking towards the Diver City Mall we saw something in the distance. It seems that there was some kind of car racing event going on, or it was an outdoor expo for special racing cars. We took some pics and saw some pretty nice lookin race cars...
But no, those race cars aren't the special thing we meant... When we arrived at Diver City Mall we saw this Giant thing in front of it. It was the Gundam robot from hit anime/manga series of japan called Kidou Senshi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam). It was a 1/1 scale model that was build in Japan a few years ago, which stands proudley in front of the Diver City Mall...
This huge mechanical unit has been provided with sounds and lights, so it can give a light show in the evening giving a homage to all the Gundam Shows that has been released so far. Next to the RX-78-2 Gundam they has a Gundam Cafe like in Akihabara where wen went a few days ago, but with a lil bit more merchandising for sale...
This is the second time Kurisu has met his Mr. Gundam Friend. The last time it was holding his Beam Saber (A some what of a light saber) that would also light up. But it was still impressive to see him again, standing around 18m tall...
Selfie time with Mr. Gundam, Lilia & Kurisu-san...
And off to Diver City mall to do some exploring... We wanted to check out the Gundam Tokyo Front, but unfortunatly it was closed for the coming 2 months because of a renovation project... So we checked out the mall for other fun stuff to do there. There we came across this arcade called "Sports Entertainment Round 1" and we saw a "Tsum Tsum" arcade cabinet which Lilia wanted to try out ^^
After playing it for the first time she got hooked. There you can get a Tsum Tsum figure which you can use for the game to save up your statistics...
Lilia enjoying it more & more...
We also checked out some other arcade machines like this one. It was a Mario Kart - Arcade GP Deluxe Edition...
Kurisu also tried a Sniper shooting game from Konami which was called "Bone Eater".
We also came across a gambling arcade machine of Mario
based on the Mario Wii game.
After our visit to this Arcade we went strolling around the mall. We even found a lane full of Gashapons (Capsule) toys machines. They had a lot of different ones here.
Lilia in front of some gashapon's machines of One Piece...
Playing @ the arcade and walking around, we started to get really hungry for meat. So we've stopped at this dinning place called "Hiro: Hamburger & Steak"...
Here Lilia has ordered a dish of Hamburger,
made out of a mix of Beef and Pork...
Kurisu went for a Steak with Steaksauce...
With this meal, we had our last meal in Japan for 2015. It really was yummie
to the max and filled our tummies all the way ^^
But to complete our dinner, we had some desert at Baskin' Robbin's with some Ice Cream...
Finishing out our desert, it was time to check up some stores. After that it was goodbye to Odaiba for us, because we needed to get back to our hotel. Back at our hotel we needed to get ready for our trip back home, because we have to get up early the next day. We have to get up around 4 o'clock in the morning because we had to take the first train to Narita Airport to check in our luggages, and do some little shopping there. With this we end our final day in Japan, but also for this 3rd Mission Blog. We hoped you has enjoyed our run trough out Japan in 2015. For now it's Goodbye and See You with our Next Mission... ^^
