One last Adventure in Tokyo...!

Hi Everyone!

You know I had one more adventure in me today in Tokyo since I won't leave for the train and airpot until 2pm (and my flight is at 7:30pm).

I decided to head to the Rainbow Bridge which I caught a monorail over to Odaiba a few days ago with a friend. The bridge is actually a walkable bridge and so I got to see some wonderful views of the ocean, city skyline, Odabia area, ports and more. On a clear day, Mt. Fuji is also visible too but today is a little overcast....

There were many people running the bridge and the apartment I am at is in such a great location so close to that the water. The walk also made me appreciate even more the engineering of such giant transportation sights..Wow!

Thank you to many of you for your emails back welcoming me back to the islands...Many of you were kind to write about your thinking I had a future in travel writing (dream job!) but I don't know if my writing is that good! :)

I am excited to see you all, especially with HPA graduation and Summer right around the corner....

Alright, time to head to the airport....I hope the rain holds off until I get to the station....

Until my next adventure....

Aloha,

Caroline

xo

Tsugi Wa = The next station is....

Here I am ..... my very last day of traveling on this Australiasian Adventure!

It's hard to believe that I'll be back in an English speaking non-Asian country tomorrow (But I guess Hawaii is more or less Asian right!)

My last day in Tokyo and this trip was packed full again and I retire tonight with some blisters and sore but happy feet from all the walking around. My day began with a subway ride to the area of Asakusa. This is a very traditional Japanese area and a famous temple that is popular to visit. There was massive amounts of people enjoying the warm weather and holiday occasions. Asakusa reminded me a bit of Kyoto with its quaint shops and Japanese rickshaw drivers too.

On my way to Asakusa, I stopped at McDonald's for the famous ebi (shrimp) burger. Now many of you know that I used to work at McDonald's when I was 16 for a short job stint and have not set foot in the place since....BUT, Tamiyo in Nagoya insisted that I try this tasy burger that is a specialty in Japan. McDonald's in general here is quite deluxe and on opening the wrapper of the burger, the freshness of the bun and packaging itself was already better looking than the US or Australia. It was tasty indeed with lettuce, sauces and a fried patty that was filled with small shrimp pieces....interesting!!!!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I also was recommended by another friend to try a special burger chain from Japan called MOS BURGER. The burgers are cooked fresh on the spot and the special kind of burger here is the RICE burger...hmmmm I had no idea what that meant but found out that the creator of the chain thought he would try and adapt the Asian liking of rice by making the burger buns actually two round sticky rice patties that sandwich the filling (chicken, grilled veges, shrimp, beef etc--I went with the popular shrimp). Delicious, fresh and as always, incredible service!

Anyway, back to my day.....I walked around enjoying the sunshine. From Asakusa you could see the newest construction happening in Tokyo...the Tokyo Sky Tree....meant to open in 2012 with the tallest observatory of the city...already there are about 3 other towers I know you can visit too! I headed to Ueno Park which is another giant green park in the city and home of the zoo, some museums and more....

I am so grateful for the endless opportunities that I continue to have for traveling, learning and appreciating this amazing world of ours...I am humbled by the kindness of people and fascinated by the stories I have come across. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my adventure with you all and I hope to get some of the photos up online for you to view soon.

Sayonara for now and I hear the Big Island Calling....

Obadi Odaiba!

I'll begin today's post with my first Japanese aftershock earthquake experience last night at about 2:15am. The bed started swaying and I quickly checked online for an update..it was a 5.0 quite far away...But, things here in Tokyo are pretty much getting back to normal with trains pretty much all back on schedule.my friend even got the shinkansen 3 hours north of Tokyo to visit her family for the golden week holiday....This train goes past Fukushima to the east too....To save electricity though, many escalators at train stations are not working and big billboards and such that light up at night are not doing so (including the Tokyo Tower)---but apart from that..its normal Tokyo big city shennanigans:)

I headed out walking towards the Tokyo Tower this morning from the apartment...I didn't know if I was headed in the right direction on my map but then turned the corner and BANG! there it was right in front of me...on closer inspection and news from a friend too (see photo) the top of the tower is bent a little from the recent earthquake. I didn't go to the top of the tower but explored the shops in the bottom floors. It was a busy day with many kids and families there for golden week.

Before making it to the Tower, I wandered over to Zozo ji Temple right by the tower....another popular place to visit and there were hundreds of adorable worshipping dolls lined up too:) I kept walking after the temple and tower and was ready to meet another friend (brother of the apartment I am staying at and HPA grad!). We headed to Tsuyoshi's work building which happens to be home to the sky view deck, an art museum and small planetarium...great views!!! After, we got to explore Roppongi-an area very multi cultural and quite affluent. We had a little gourmet tour of Tokyo after that since he too likes to eat good food!

Rain didn't dampen our spirits as we headed to the ODAIBO area for our late afternoon/evening adventures. Its kind of an island area with many more shops and an amusement park too....great restaurants that we ate at including cheese fondue, sashimi, and takoyaki. There is a copy of the shopping store in the Bellagio in Odaibo with the roof looking like clouds and the sky. The funny thing was there was a hugeee Hawaiian exhibition on with foods, hula dancing, music, stores and more....you could even buy slices of Ted's Bakery chocolate haupia pie!

Another amazing day in Tokyo city....one more full day tomorrow but for now, I'm putting the feet up and heading to bed!