Man-made goodness

Odaiba is an awesome man-made island featuring shopping malls, leisure complexes, museums, hotels and office buildings. One futuristic building here is Fuji TV HQ with its huge ball-shaped observation deck.

Other notable attractions in Odaiba are Tokyo Ferris Wheel and a replica of Statue of Liberty. The theme park style island is a popular hangout place among the Tokyo residents and dating paradise for couples.

We went straight to the mini Statue of Liberty after alighting at Daiba station. The scale down version stands proudly in front of a perfect backdrop – the Rainbow Bridge.

Very nice indeed! Like many others, we went photo crazy here for a while.

It gets even better as dusk falls. The statue, the bridge and Tokyo tower light up to form a stunning synergized scene fit for a picture perfect postcard shot. But sadly, most shots taken were infested with image noise no thanks to my lousy skill. Here is the better one among the rotten lot. Sigh.

We skipped the observation deck at the metallic Fuji TV building after seeing a snaking long queue. So instead we went to check out the 2 shopping malls side by side Aqua City and Tokyo Decks. There’s the usual mix of fashion and service shops in both malls but Tokyo Decks is slightly more interesting with a big gaming arcade in Sega Joypolis.

Palette town in Odaiba

Next, we board the Yurikamone transit to Aomi Station where the massive Palette town is located. The 3 main attractions are Toyota Mega Web, Venus Fort and the towering Ferris wheel. We only managed Toyota City Showcase in the huge Toyota Mega Web which displays the automaker’s latest models including Lexus.

Like any other Autocar showroom, the display cars are unlocked for people to fiddle with the controls or adjust the seats. It is possible to test drive the car in a 1.3km test track with a small fee of ¥300.

Moving on to Venus Fort, a large European styled shopping mall with an artificial sky.

I spotted a casino and decided to try my luck. But guess what? I was told that the casino is closed for the day. Huh? Wasn’t casino supposed to run 24/7? I rarely gamble and when I intend to, I meet a casino that ACTUALLY closes.

Had some nice ramen before we leave Oh-My-Daiba, in which also marks the end of our Tokyo Trip.

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Kimuraya in Ginza

We make our way to Kimuraya bakery (木村家總本店) main store in Ginza. Their building houses everything under one roof, from production on the upper floors to the café and bakery on lower floors. Its founder was the creator of Anpan and his bakery has been operating for more than 100 years since. This makes tasting the Anpan a brainless thing to do here, our favourite is the red bean flavour.

Dinner at Genkatsu in Ginza

Our dinner was at Genkatsu, a popular restaurant famous for its 25 layered tonkatsu. There are quite a few flavours to choose from. Ours were the plain and the cheese. There is one bowl of sliced cabbages to munch while waiting. About 20 minutes later, the sizzling and crispy tonkatsu were served. Unlike the usual tonkatsu which is a chunk of flour-coated pork, the version here is stuffed with thin layers of pork.

Not sure whether there are 25 layers but who will bother to count anyway? Definitely not us, we barely wasted any time before sinking our teeth into the meat haha.

Both the plain and cheese tonkatsu are absolutely delicious, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The tub of fragrant Japanese rice complimenting the tonkatsu was heavenly. I am sure other flavours are as good but we were way too full to find out.

We will definitely visit here again when we are back in Tokyo. (After this blog entry, I made my way to Tonkichi at Shaw House the next day to reminisce the taste lol)

Ginza, Ginza!

Ginza (銀座) is Tokyo glamorous shopping capital. A prestigious precinct is a place to see and to be seen, it is little wonder why every business wants a piece of the action here.

Some of the iconic luxurious brands here are Bvlgari, Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Harry Winston, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Some brands operate from their very own building. Yes, buildings not shops! Even Nissan Motors has a gallery here to showcase their latest cars…huh?

Ginza is also home to popular upscale departmental stores like Matsuya, Matsuzakaya, Mitsukoshi and Wako. And Wako Building with its symbolic clock is a landmark in Ginza, the crossroads where the building stands are one of the most photographed places.

The whole Ginza is a shopping paradise with plenty of flagship stores to attract the attention of your wallet. But the luxury goods are mostly pricier compared to Singapore. Still, Ginza is a great place to admire modern buildings of famous brands, see the beautiful window displays and soak in the extravagance atmosphere. We stay around until the neon lights and video displays come to life, lighting up the night with a whole new charm.

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