Japan - Day 7 - August 25th

I was up early the next day.

Did I mention that our condo had a balcony?

Here's the view looking out to the right from our balcony.

If you looked straight across, you would look into other peoples condos/apartments.

I didn't take a picture of that as it would be weird.

Here's the view to the left.

Oh.

And a view of our laundry hanging out to dry.

There was a washing machine in the condo, but no dryer.

I think this is the case for most places in Tokyo. 

It seemed that everyone had laundry hanging to dry.

Wake up, Mikey!

After breakfast, we headed over to the train station.

We were going to Odaiba.

Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay that houses a lot of shopping and entertainment options.

Lots of people go there on dates too. Or so I read.

The train to Odaiba was packed.

It was a weekend, so that made sense.

Our first stop was to visit an arcade/indoor amusement center.

We caught a peek of a Pikachu bus on the walk to the arcade.

For some strange reason, this place was named JOYPOLIS.

Not JoyOpolis. Just Joypolis.

Typo or not? You decide.

We got there right when they opened, so there was a long line to get in.

They had a special summer event going with a J-Pop boy band called A.B.C-Z.

The band was linked to all sorts of rides and they even had their own show that was projected every once in a while on a big screen in the middle of the arcade.

Here's a little taste of A.B.C-Z.

The first ride/game we did was called "Pirates Plunder".

Each rider sat on a swaying barrel and had to shoot skeletons and other baddies on a screen at the front of the room using a gun.

We realized, while participating in this ride/game, that Joypolis was big on "scores".

There were always winners and losers for every attraction.

The scores were then analyzed for a top score for the specific ride that just happened, top score for the ride that day and top score for the ride that WEEK.

Scores are big in Japan.

We headed upstairs to ride a Transformers themed ride.

We waited almost 40 minutes to ride what was about a 3 minute ride.

We had lots of time to check out stuff going on around us.

Here was our view from the line.....

There was an indoor roller coaster type thingie.

Here was a ride called "Tokyo Halfpipe".

We guessed while watching it that once it got going, you and your partner could do tricks to earn points.

Music for the ride was courtesy of A.B.C-Z.

Finally, here is a look at the Transformers ride.

You had to shoot at Decepticons while in a machine that twisted and turned every which way - even turning you upside down. 

There were also regular arcade games that you could play...although, we couldn't figure out how to make them work. Maybe it was an additional cost?

There were also spots where you could interact with screens.
Here's Mikey posing with some anime characters.

Vacationing with kids, we know that to keep them happy you have to keep them fed.

Mikey was getting grumpy.

And, if Mikey is grumpy when surrounded by a bunch of cool video games, you know it's time for lunch.

We found a counter service place in the building that sold hot dogs.

BUT, like all things in Japan, it's never what you THINK it will be.

The hot dogs all had toppings.

Not a problem for Huzbend and I, but definitely a problem for Mikey.

And, in Japan, there really is no asking for a restaurant to "hold" something or put something on the side.

So, we ordered the plainest hot dog they had.

A "creamy potato dog".

Mikey actually liked it.

Or maybe he just ate it because he was starving.

Our hot dogs came with sides of roasted potatoes.

We tested them for gluten and they came up okay.

So, Katie ended up eating our side dishes for lunch.

The "D-Lounge", as it was called, had an interactive wall.

You could have a picture of your face taken and then it would be put on a manatee to swim around on the wall.

Mikey couldn't resist.

After lunch, Katie expressed interest in riding the roller coaster. 

Mikey didn’t want to do it. He didn’t trust a roller coaster in an arcade. So practical. 

We decided to split up. 

The line for the roller coaster was 50 minutes, but I don’t think it took them that long. 

The "roller coaster" actually ended up being a music game. They had to hit buttons in conjunction with the beat of the song – provided by A.B.C-Z, of course. 

When they had finished two rounds of button pushing and received their scores, the roller coaster took them up a track, turned upside down while spinning 360 degrees and then it was over. 

They were not impressed.

Mikey and I went downstairs to try "Spicy Taxi".

We were actually here earlier in the day, but teenager-in-residence deemed the ride "lame" and so we skipped it.

While we were waiting in line, we watched this guy rock a rhythm game.

"Spicy Taxi" was a driving simulator that spun all around. 

While one person was driving, the others had to:

 - beep horns at monkeys and animals to get them out of the way

AND

 - pay attention to surroundings in the game so they could answer trivia questions 
(handily translated into English)

All of this stuff got you points.

 It was weird fun. We didn’t win. We were last. Oh well.

This is a picture of our competition so you can see what the taxis looked like.

Huzbend and Katie still weren't back, so Mikey and I decided to try "Sonic Athletics" - a game powered by treadmill.

The game consisted of a series of races - a sprint, two long jumps and a hurdle course - against 6 other people.

Katie and Huzbend found us and took some pictures.

I got to be "Silver".

Mikey was "Metal Sonic".

This game was crazy fun.

Mikey came in first and I got second, overall.

We split up once again.

This time Huzbend and Mikey played a zombie shoot-em-up game.

Katie and I wandered.

She tried to win a whale shark in a claw game, but was unsuccessful.

Remember how I said that Odaiba was a popular spot to take a date? 

Well, Katie and I decided to try a game called "Fortune Forest".

 I tried to ask the lady out front what the game was about. She gave us a hand-out in English. It seemed like you went in with a partner, answered some questions and then were given a fortune to see if you were compatible.

We went in.

 It was a "romance" game. You were supposed to go in with your "significant other".

The first question we were asked, via computer, was what subject we wanted our fortune to explore.

 Katie looked for advice on her career. 

To mortify her, I looked for advice on sex and love. 

At one point in the process, we had to join hands and then hold onto these ball things to see if we could enter the "Crystal Cave".

I don't know what was in the "Crystal Cave", and we'll never find out, because it told us to, 

"Get lost. No Crystal Cave for you."

In more polite terms, of course.

As we left, we got print-outs of our fortune. 

It was super weird, but gave us lots of laughs. 

We gathered up the guys to leave.

Mikey had to play with one last interactive bubble making screen.

We stopped at a convenience store for a snack (fruit and chocolate covered ice cream bars) as we figured out how to get across the island to our next stop.

We decided to walk it.

On the way, we stopped in a mall that was nearby, called Aquacity.

They had a Tokyo Olympics 2020 store.

We purchased some t-shirts.

We decided to walk through the mall to the other side.

Because, air conditioning.

We stopped at a manga/anime store.

Huzbend wanted a shirt, but they didn't have anything in his size.

They did have some other interesting DragonBall branded things in the store.

Frieza garbage can, anyone?

And nothing says Dragonball like a naked Goku.

Really. He's always naked.

Oh. Yes. He has a monkey tail. In case you were wondering.

Speaking of Goku......I had to sneak in this picture quickly as there was a line of people waiting to get their picture taken with the statue.

We made our way out of the mall.

On the way out, we passed a store that was playing SUPER loud English language rap music that just happened to be SUPER inappropriate.

F* word every other word.

The kids were amused.

We continued our walk to the other side of the island.

On the way we spotted a giant Gundam statue.....

....and a Maritime Museum that looked like a giant ship.

We ended up at the Oedo Onsen Monogatari.

Onsen are very popular in Japan.

Onsen means "a hot spring", but it also means a bathing resort situated around a hot spring.

Sento are public bath houses.

This place was more of a public bath theme park.

You can learn more about onsen/sento etiquette here.

Huzbend has always wanted to try an onsen/sento. I was, uh, on the fence.

Mikey was all in. Katie was unsure.

First step, upon entering the building, was to take our shoes off.

Next, we "checked in".

There were many guides in English to help us through the process.

Below is a map of the facility.

We each got a wrist band that allowed us to charge things (we didn't have to carry wallet/money).

We got a list of do's and don'ts.

Then, we picked out our yukata (robes) and obi (belts).

We separated into the changing areas - male and female - to change into our yukata.

There was a brochure to help us with how to wear our yukata correctly.

All clothes off - except undies.

After changing, we entered the main hall.

The main hall was decorated to look like an Edo-period town at night during a summer festival.

There was plenty of food booths, an arcade, games, and performances.

Everyone is in yukata.

Families, old grannies and granpas, teenagers on dates....everyone.

It's very photogenic.

This is a fish tank.

So pretty.

The kids first stop was at the arcade where they played a taiko drum game.

We decided to hit up the actual bath part of the sento.

No pictures allowed, for obvious reasons.

There are separate baths for men and for women. 

So, as you would guess, there are separate changing rooms. 

Upon entering the changing rooms, we each picked up two towels – one big one and one small washcloth sized one. 

And, then, we got naked. 

Stark naked. No undies. No bathing suits. 

Everyone else was naked, so when it comes down to it, it really didn’t matter. 

The big towel is left in the locker to dry off with later and you take the little towel with you. 

Before you enter the actual baths, you have to clean yourself. 

You sit on a stool and use the hand held shower head to wash your hair and body. 

Then, you’re free to choose whatever bath you want - indoor or outdoor. 

Here is a list of the baths that were available.

Indoors: cold bath, luke warm bath, warm bath, jet pools, hot saline bath, a sauna, and a super hot 140+degree bath. 

(Borrowed the picture below from the internet (GaijinPot) to show the inside baths)

Outdoors: a warm bath and some warm barrel baths. 

(Borrowed this picture (www.tohokuandtokyo.org) to show the outside baths)

Huzbend verified later that the same offerings were on the boys side too – except he didn’t see the outdoor barrel baths.

We had our little washcloth sized towels with us.

You're not supposed to let your little towel touch the water, because it's considered yucky. 

So, you either put it on the side of the bath or keep it folded on top of your head.

You don't look weird, because everyone else is naked with a towel folded on their heads.

Katie managed to only drop hers in the baths twice. 

Katie and I started with the outdoor options.

We started in the larger bath that the ladies are in in the picture above. 

After a good soak, we moved into one of the barrel baths (in the far back of the picture above).
We hopped over the side. Naked. We must've looked pretty dumb. We didn't realize that there was a stool built into the side to use as a step to get in.

After that, we headed inside to the hot saline bath and, finally, Katie dipped in the super hot bath. 

The boys tried every one of the different baths and even tried the sauna.

Mikey took one step into the sauna, proclaimed he couldn’t breath and got right back out. 

Time to get out of the baths.

We showered, one more time, and then changed back into our yukata. 

We were late meeting the boys. Oops.

Back into the festival!
So handsome.

Mikey decided to try out a ninja star throwing carnival game.

He had to hit a target to get a glow stick.

The lady was nice and gave him the glow stick anyways.

After an exhaustive search, we found some cotton candy for Katie.

"Oooooooooo, fiiiiiiissssssssh."

It was time to try to find some dinner.

Katie was pretty hungry.

She was surviving off of roasted potatoes, chocolate ice cream bar and cotton candy at this point.

Huzbend and I placed our orders and waited.

Katie to Mikey, "Did Mom say that you could use her camera?"

I ordered some tempura.

Huzbend got udon (noodles) and fried pork cutlet.

Mikey was not a fan of the noodles, but loved the pork cutlet.

So much so that I think we bought him his own.

There was really nothing for Katie to eat.

The place we ordered our food at had grilled corn on the cob.

We ordered it, but right before the cashier put it on our tray, they drowned it in soy sauce.

Soy sauce has gluten in it.

I think Mikey ended up eating the corn.

As Mikey and Huzbend finished up eating, Katie and I wandered to find something for her.

We ended up taking a chance on "shio" yakitori.

Salt seasoned chicken on skewers. 

The NIMA said that is was safe, so she ate it.

After everyone was fed (or at least had some food in their belly), we left.

As Huzbend paid, Mikey took himself to the bathroom and took FOREVER to come back out. When he did come out, he ended up leaving his backpack in the stall or something and then had to go back in.

It was dark out!

Wow. We spent a lot of time in the onsen.

We had one more place to hit.

We'd spent so much time in the onsen that we had to rush to get there before they shut down to visitors.

We were visiting teamLab*Borderless, a digital art museum.

Here's the official description:

"teamLab Borderless is a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map created by art collective teamLab.

teamLab Borderless is a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of rooms, communicate with other works, influence, and sometimes intermingle with each other with no boundaries. 

Immerse your body in borderless art in this vast, complex, three-dimensional 10,000 square meter world. Wander, explore with intention, discover, and create a new world with others."

And, that's exactly what it was.

Except, I will say that it wasn't exactly "borderless"...as you'll see later.

As you wander through the larger art spaces, covered in digital creations, you find new, sometimes hidden in plain sight, doors that lead to rooms that hold different wonders. 

It's quite fascinating.

And beautiful.

It was a good thing that Mikey had won that glow bracelet for ninja star throwing.

It was very dark (and crowded) in the spaces, but it made him easy to pick out.

Look for the green glow.

Here's an example of some of the smaller rooms.

If you stood still, butterflies would appear on the trunk of your body. Then, they would move down your legs and out of your feet onto the floor and fly away.

These butterflies flew all over the walls of the exhibit.

In another room, we found spotlights and a mirrored floor.

Huzbend and Katie moved on to explore someplace else while Mikey played with the lights.

And then this happened.......

Meanwhile, Katie had found a waterfall in one of the large rooms full of flying flowers.

These larger rooms also had large flower animals that wandered the walls.

I didn't capture a picture of one, but I think we saw a lion and an elephant.

.

Another smaller room was full of thousands of LED light strands that reacted to an app you could download on your phone.

You could ask for a rainstorm and receive one.

Or turn all the lights different colors.

We got reprimanded for standing still too long to take this picture.

We found our way upstairs to a room full of hills and a column with a waterfall.

If you put your hand on the waterfall column, the water would rush around it.

Crawling and swimming on the walls and floors were giant whales, small frogs, lizards and the butterflies I mentioned earlier.

In this room, there was a trampoline.

As you jumped, stars were created until they exploded creating black holes that would eat all the other stars.

Also in this room was a slide.

The kids went down this slide a thousand times.

The slide had fruit, flowers and bees on it.

As a person slid down, they would push the objects out of the way.

The bees would careen into each other and the fruit would split apart and cause fireworks.

Back to those butterflies and lizards and frogs.

They were all created by people at the museum.

You could grab a coloring sheet of whichever animal.

Color it any way you'd like and then a museum employee would scan it in.

In a minute or two, you could find it had appeared near the scanner and it would begin crawling around the room.

(the butterflies appeared downstairs)

This is Katie's super green snake.

This is Mikey's lizard.

If you stepped on the animals, they "splatted" and created a paint splotch.

I think Mikey also created this snake in the time it took Katie to color her super green snake.

A room full of giant lighted balloons.

Weird.

We also visited an aquarium where all the fish were created by the museum patrons, a climbing course, a rope/platform course (hard to see below) and a room where you could use house and train track props to create an digital town with cars and trains racing around on the track and roads that you laid down (that one is hard to explain).

The kids wanted to go back downstairs to explore some more.

We found some stairs and headed down.

We accidentally EXITED the attraction and then we couldn't turn around and go back in.

Sigh. Borderless? Hmmmm. Not with bad signage.

There were some seriously pouty faces as we left.

The kids probably could've spent about 3 more hours in there, easily.

I was disappointed as well.

There were some really cool things that I had seen in my research that we never found.

But, it was just about 9pm and, I think, they were getting ready to close soon anyways.

It was time to head back to the condo.

The kids were super tired and the train was blessedly not crowded which allowed us to sit on the way back.

I'm pretty sure Mikey fell asleep as we rode.