It's no secret that I got owned by the city of Tokyo on my first trip there a couple of weeks ago. I was tired because we had to wait in the Immigration Bureau for 4.5 hours, I didn't want to carry around my papers all day, I wanted to spend at least a little bit of time sightseeing, and I was unprepared for the utter madness that is the Tokyo commute. However, when Matt and I went to Tokyo again last Friday I settled the score...
Once again, we had to make a trip to the Immigration Bureau to get our visas officially changed from short term to long term. As we were unable to convince anybody at AIST to hold our hands on our trip, we took more care in preparations to go. We double checked everything from the required documents to the opening time of the Immigration Bureau in hopes of beating the rush. The funny thing is that it only took us about 45 minutes at the bureau once we were there...awesome! Our bosses weren't expecting us back at work that day so Matt and I planned the rest of the day over some bagels and coffee at the Tokyo Station.
We each had several Tokyo guide books so we browsed around in them looking for some touristy things to do (wow, 'touristy' is a word?). Several attractions in the books stimulated a pleasure center in our brains so we mapped out the train lines we needed to take to get to these locations. The first stop was the Tokyo Electric Power Company or 'TEPCO' museum in Shibuya.
On our walk to TEPCO we stumbled into what is often called “the world's busiest intersection.“ It is estimated that over 1 million people pass through this intersection everyday. It just so happens that one of the world's busiest Starbucks is in this square also. So we decided to go up, grab some (more) coffee, and take to photos of the intersection.
Well, we had our fun so we continued on our way to TEPCO for a good nerd-out session with electricity. As soon as we got there we were handed a couple pamphlets in English and were told to start the exhibit from the 4th floor and work our way back down to the 1st floor. I took some pictures as we went through.
After leaving TEPCO we decided to walk back to the train station and make our way to the city of Ebisu. On our way we saw a celebrity and were completely starstruck. Feeling like a member of the paparazzi, I pulled out my camera and snapped a quick photo while he waved at his fans.
That's right, its MJ! Not to mention, the king of pop looks healthier now than he did right before he died.
Well, anyway we made our way to Ebisu to the Yebisu beer museum. Going to a beer museum was a no brainier. Yebisu is Japan's oldest and most well known beer company. They have a good reputation for taste because when they started they brought in a German brew master. Their beers follow German beer making traditions which is awesome because its honestly hard to find decent beer in Japan that won't break the bank.
-Seth
Once again, we had to make a trip to the Immigration Bureau to get our visas officially changed from short term to long term. As we were unable to convince anybody at AIST to hold our hands on our trip, we took more care in preparations to go. We double checked everything from the required documents to the opening time of the Immigration Bureau in hopes of beating the rush. The funny thing is that it only took us about 45 minutes at the bureau once we were there...awesome! Our bosses weren't expecting us back at work that day so Matt and I planned the rest of the day over some bagels and coffee at the Tokyo Station.
We each had several Tokyo guide books so we browsed around in them looking for some touristy things to do (wow, 'touristy' is a word?). Several attractions in the books stimulated a pleasure center in our brains so we mapped out the train lines we needed to take to get to these locations. The first stop was the Tokyo Electric Power Company or 'TEPCO' museum in Shibuya.
Indeed.
On our walk to TEPCO we stumbled into what is often called “the world's busiest intersection.“ It is estimated that over 1 million people pass through this intersection everyday. It just so happens that one of the world's busiest Starbucks is in this square also. So we decided to go up, grab some (more) coffee, and take to photos of the intersection.
Two things I want to say about this: 1) It is very difficult to capture all of the madness in a photo. You really have to be there to understand. 2) Since it was a rainy Friday afternoon, this still doesn't compare to how busy it gets on the weekends. Since Matt has a sweet camera we decided to take some cool pictures of people passing around us.
Well, we had our fun so we continued on our way to TEPCO for a good nerd-out session with electricity. As soon as we got there we were handed a couple pamphlets in English and were told to start the exhibit from the 4th floor and work our way back down to the 1st floor. I took some pictures as we went through.
Matt standing next to a full size water turbine.
Matt sitting next to "Mindball." You lean your head into some metal sensors and a small ball moves toward the other goal when you are more relaxed than your opponent. During the first game I started laughing so I lost pretty quick. During the second game I tapped into my chi and relaxed, so we tied.
Ahhhh yes...of course there would be a robotic dog. I'm not going to lie, this little guy was pretty cute.
After leaving TEPCO we decided to walk back to the train station and make our way to the city of Ebisu. On our way we saw a celebrity and were completely starstruck. Feeling like a member of the paparazzi, I pulled out my camera and snapped a quick photo while he waved at his fans.
Well, anyway we made our way to Ebisu to the Yebisu beer museum. Going to a beer museum was a no brainier. Yebisu is Japan's oldest and most well known beer company. They have a good reputation for taste because when they started they brought in a German brew master. Their beers follow German beer making traditions which is awesome because its honestly hard to find decent beer in Japan that won't break the bank.
View from the front entrance.
Matt is enjoying his Creamy Stout in the Tasting Lounge.
While we were in the neighborhood we decided to go to the Tokyo Museum of Photography. There were two exhibits on display at the same time. This meant you had to pay separately so you had to chose which one you wanted to see. One was a French guy who obviously only liked to take pictures of naked people and a Japanese guy who had an exhibit on historical figures. Since, we didn't have any interest in trying to find "artistic expression" in room after room of black and white nudes, we went with the Japanese guy. Here is one of his premier photos:
Morimura liked to take pivotal moments in recent history and add his own twist. This is obviously in Times Square, but with Japanese people. Also, there are signs with the dates of Peal Harbor, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and 9/11.
Finally, our last stop in Tokyo for the day was at an English bar called "What the Dickens." Which is what I kept saying to myself after we looked for the dang place for over an hour on the rainy streets. Well, we finally found it by chance and went up to have some dinner. The food was ok, they had good beer, and there was a live band setting up. The only problem we faced was that I was completely out of money and the last train to Tsukuba was leaving soon. We were unable to watch the band, but we still liked the place quite a bit.
The band was "setting up" for like an hour and still weren't playing when we left.
Luckily we didn't have to spend the night in Tokyo because we made it back to the train station in time. Matt paid for my ticket home and we were home in no time at all. After such a long day, I slept like a newborn baby that night.
-Seth
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