Odaiba – our trip to the seaside in Tokyo

Genevieve: Last Saturday, we got the hankering to get out of the city. Only problem is that it takes over an hour to get anywhere that could really be considered outside of Tokyo. So, we decided to check out Odaiba, a beach and entertainment area on Tokyo bay.

The train ride (see video below that I found on You Tube) was entertaining in itself, as you are literally soaring through the air over Tokyo bay in a wide loop allowing you too see 360 degrees of the scenery, including downtown Tokyo, amazing architecture (see Fuji TV building pic), a miniature version of the statue of liberty, and tons of boats—big and small. Someday we thought it would be fun to take a ride on one of the many dinner boats that float through Tokyo bay.

We decided to eat lunch before heading to the beach, as we’ve finally figured out that all three of us turn into the three (very grouchy) hungry bears if we haven’t eaten. We ate a delicious and satisfying lunch at a good looking ramen shop along the way.

 

 

  

    I had the Tan Tan ramen–a spicy broth with a white sesame base to even out the heat. Delicious! Or as they say in Nihongo “Oishii” おいしい！

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we made our way to the beach where the main excitement was (at least for Kenji). The beach is artificial, as in man-made, but it’s fairly big so there’s no shortage of running room (great for a stir-crazed city kid). Even though there were signs not to go in the water, the kids couldn’t resist. Plus there were windsurfers in the water, soI think people tend to ignore the rules. Kenji happily ended up soaking wet, but luckily we had a spare outfit.

***(On a sidenote, in general it seems like the Japanese tend to follow the rules in most situations, but I’ve noticed that this isn’t always the case. For example, on the train there are obvious signs to turn your cell phone off in the disabled/prego/unwell section of each car, but I always always see people madly texting away. However, no one dares to break the rule of actually talking on their phone.) The train is nearly silent most of the time, even when it’s packed full.*** 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we headed to the adjacent shopping mall, Decks Tokyo Beach, where I shopped and Kenji slept and felt bored out of his mind (see pic below).

 This place seems like it would be a great to visit in the winter too. A ton of stuff to do inside and lots of places to eat.