Odaiba - the artificial island

Part 1 here

The 1st stop after arriving Tokyo is Odaiba, as requested by mum. She was very much interested in the monorail after reading an article on some Japan travel mag (which is quite good - can be picked up in most info desk). So we took a JR train to Shinbashi from Ueno on the Yamanote line (there's another line too but cant remember the name). anyway, side note: transportation in Tokyo is cheap on JR, only 130yen for quite a few stations!

Arriving Shinbashi station, we looked for Yurikamome (which is pretty much straightforward but somehow we got a bit lost) - the monorail that connects the mainland to the artificial island. we got a day pass that cost us around 800yen as we are coming back at night for night scene =p


at the monorail train station

the train departs every 5 min, and the fengshui seats are the most front ones - only three front seats so if u cant get it, wait for another 5 min. This is because there's no driver for the monorail and you will get a good view by sitting in the front most. overall, i still think sunway's monorail beats it - as i felt that was more similar to a slow motioned roller coaster than this one. anyway, the scene was quite good - having seeing lots of unique architecture (not forgetting to mention, most buildings in nagoya, except the pachinko, look boring) and going thru rainbow bridge (one of the most beautiful modern bridges), i would give it a 7 out of 10.


at the front seat =p


under the rainbow bridge


ship musuem


Fuji TV Building


2nd world largest ferris wheel - i love the color of the sky, great weather for photo taking (but too sunny for the skin =p)


Decks Tokyo Beach i believe...


Uumm Tokyo Big Sight?? i start to get confused of the buildings


in *some* building in Odaiba


outside of *some* building


walking towards Venus Fort

okay there's a short story on this Venus Fort, it was recommended in wikitravel and suggested to get off at Odaiba Kaihinkoen to reach there. but... with that, u will need to cross a long bridge, which, actually getting off at Aomi is much much nearer (double check on the station name though..)


Venus Fort is, like the aritificial island, an artificial Venice village shopping mall, with casino (without anyone looking at yr id at the entrance - which i suppose they should be stricter in these matters).


but it was a very lovely spot to visit, and i love the color changing fountain, the echo floor - look out for it! and a special stage for picture taking.




love this honey dew cake - do u know that a slice of honey dew could cost u like 2000 yen?? look at the pattern on the skin, the more distinc it is, the sweeter it is and hence more expensive!


the photo taking stage


Toyota antique car musuem - free entrance!






all in Venus Fort, Odaiba

We then proceeded to Ginza before it's too dark!