I told you there were loads.
Parade-tastic Part I
So a trip to Disney it was. The following post is only suited to those of you who LOVE a parade. I took many many videos and photos of the parade, I loved it so. It was pretty strange going round an amusement park in the semi-darkness but it was good fun. I'm glad we went when we did, the parade was better than I hoped and getting to go on Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain and some of the other rides was a right good laugh. We came out absolutely knacked. And the rain just started. A sign that it is time to go home.
Digging our heels in
So we had planned to do little on the last day; visit a bakery and toyshop in Ginza to pick up a train for a young boy I know and then head up to the Akihabara - the electric district. A famous area in Tokyo where you can get all sorts of electrical equipment. All sorts. It was probably held in a bit more reverance before the advent of mobile phones, etc. There is less to be awestruck about these days. We had a nice wander round though, it is pretty crazy.
We had originally planned to do pretty much nothing else but laze around nursing our hangovers but it just didn't seem the proper way to end this magnificent odyssey. We needed something pizz-azzy, some sort of fanfare. Some sort of fireworks. I know, let's go to Disney. Yessir.
You can get a special night-time ticket to see the Parade and the Fireworks. Now that seemed like an appropriate send off.
By jove, it worked a treat.
Karaoke in Tokyo
After Studio Ghibli and a trip to Fabrictown, what better way to end the day than dinner, drinks and karaoke in Shibuya.
It was nice being back in Shibuya, we went there at the start of the trip and going back felt so different. We were so accustomed to everything. That is to say it's still totally breathtaking being there. It is a part of the world that doesn't get dark, the neon illuminates it so that it appears like daytime all the time. The picture of Jason looking a bit unsure was taken about midnight.
Nippori - Fabric Town, Tokyo
Over a kilometre of shops devoted to selling fabric. If I had any more money, I could have blown the lot in Nippori, a district of Tokyo devoted to material. As it was, I limited myself to a few sensible purchases. We skipped up to here on the way back from the Ghibli Museum.
I then spied this t-shirt - the mother of all Japenglish. Japenglish is that wonderful language that allows for things to be lost in the translation process. If you get a chance to read the front of this t-shirt, please do. It beggars belief. It now forms part of my wardrobe as I had to have it!
The Studio Ghibli Museum
We awoke to a bright sunny morning on Thursday. Good thing too as today was Ghibli day. The Studio Ghibli Museum (responsible for animated movies such as My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service - the list goes on) has a strict 'phone ahead' policy. You can't turn up and buy a ticket at the door, you have to book it in advance. We booked ours back in February to ensure that we got the date we wanted. Visitors are therefore limited to 2,400 a day so that there is space for everyone to enjoy their day out.
A strict no camera rule felt like a challenge had been set so Jason did his best to take the odd sneaky photograph and I caught this video of what was easily one of the highlights for me.
The museum was interesting, the building it was in was even more interesting. Narrow spiral staircases, low ceilinged doorways, the whole place felt like it was made with children in mind. Especially the Catbus Room which was a giant furry cushioned catbus that was for kids who were 3 and under. They were loving jumping about on the comfy cat.
The other highlight was that included in the ticket price was a trip to the Saturn Theatre in the museum to see a little mini film about Mai and the baby cat bus; a ten minute treat for all Totoro fans. It was super. We both loved it.
It was a thoroughly perfect way to spend a sunny Tokyo morning. A walk through the park on the way back to the station topped it off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)