Day 20: Tokyo - College Style

Our final weekend is being managed by the Mitsui Prospective Employees. Between the 9 of them they have come up with an amazing itinerary to show up the college/young adult side of Japan and more specifically Tokyo.

Our first stop was to make a Wind Bell. These are glass objects that are hand blown, traditional from the Edo Period of Japan. They are hand painted and the trick is that they are painted on the inside of the bell. Tragically, I am not particularly artistically talented, although I did my best and was quite proud of my results. Thankfully there was a lot of instruction and inspiration to copy off.

Mount Fuji on one side

Maple trees on the other

We then went downstairs to watch some of the wind chimes being made. It was incredible to watch a man who had trained for three years and worked for a few decades demonstrate his craft. He also allowed a couple of us to attempt to blow a wind chime, but with no success. Thus, he demonstrated that not only is it harder than it looks, but that this skill takes a lot of time to learn.

Blowing a wind chime

For lunch we headed to Odaiba, near where the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology is. To get there, we took the Monorail again and enjoyed a spectacular view of Tokyo - the weather was much nicer today, as expected given we weren't going up Sky Tree today. We got off a few stops earlier and went to a really cute shopping area dedicated to America and Hawaii. Japan loves Hawaii because when international travel to exotic locations started, Hawaii was the closest and naturally became the most popular. For lunch we had Ramen, although I had fried rice due to the inability to get Ramen Noodles without food I can't eat.

Gardens that flew by on the train

More gardens

Look at that view

Across the Harbour

Rainbow Bridge 

Sun on the water

Some Christmas Light Setup

Statue of Liberty

After lunch we had a little bit of free time to explore the shops. Aside from finding some vintage arcades, I also found a Coca Cola store, with shirts, jumpers, polar bears, glasses, bottles - everything. You name it, Coke has merchandised a version of it. We also went to see Legoland (although it was way too expensive to go in) and finished up in Palette Town near the Ferris Wheel (there were no starting Pokemon to be found.) We played a quick game of Uno before heading to the Onsen.

Everything is better with Cola

Lego was also feeling Festive

Palette Town was quite colourful

Ferris Wheel - at this stage it was still quite cold

Long time blog readers will remember that I first undertook an Onsen in Hakone. They will also remember that these Hot Springs are done completely nude. This one was a little different to Hakone. Firstly, the building itself was like a mini city, full of food and services, as well as the hot springs. Upon arrival you were given a Yukatta of your choice to wear inside. Secondly, the room was much bigger, with multiple baths of different temperatures and styles, including a spa bath, microbubbles, outdoor and a 20 degree cold bath. This meant we could cool down if we overheated and also gave us a few new experiences. There was also a sauna available, which was actually more comfortable than I expected. All in all, I had a great time at the Onsen.

Finally, we had dinner with the MPE's and experienced Monjayaki, which is like Okonomiyaki except instead of layers and a pancake, it's more blended together and looks a little like vomit - but it tastes amazing. We also had chocolate crepes for desert which was so good.  After a short train ride home, I've spent the rest of my night packing my bag for the trip home. Only two days to go.