Robot Claw – Page 264 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Tokyo Two

January 15, 2019

Today was Operation Two Towers, where we visited not one but two observation towers in the same day!

We started with the old one:

Built way back in ’58, this now-iconic structure is the second tallest in Japan. It wasn’t busy and half the viewing platform was closed (for 2+ years so far!) but nonetheless we enjoyed the view from the main deck which is ~150 m from the ground. We sent postcards from a postbox that has a custom postmark, but later found out we hadn’t put enough postage on so who can say if they will arrive :<

We then crossed the city – pausing briefly in Asakusa for a little tourist gawking in light rain – and then head to the now famous – and much newer – Skytree:

This is by far the highest structure in japan and the second highest on earth. It towers over the surrounding area and as we approached from the street we were dazzled by the height.

We ascended to the principle observatory at 350 m, then further still to the higher (and more expensive) one at a staggering 450 m. We were very literally above the clouds, as we were looking at the rain on parts of Tokyo from above.

And then… this happened:

It didn’t take long for word to spread and very quickly the entire gallery was on the same side snapping photos of the rainbow 🙂

Skytree is great. It’s almost certainly the premiere observation tower in the world and the views are extraordinary. If you visit Tokyo, be sure to go up and see for yourself!

Tomorrow it’s time to descend into mania once again and visit Akihabara…

Tokyo One

January 14, 2019

Yesterday was a travel day, and after long trips we both arrived safe and sound. Our hotel is well located and cozy with a great view of the station.

Today we went to Ikebukuro. We had plans to go to the planetarium but… plans change!

Shortly after we arrived we were ‘interviewed’ by four college students. It was the usual questions about foreigners in japan, slightly unusual because they were not high school kids and because they filmed it! They were impressed I was a Monster Hunter fan and astonished by my Puzzles and Dragons rank 🙂

We spent ages in game centers, and both won some interesting items. We also bought a load of stuff including countless amazing postcards. Now we need to get stamps!

Lunch was at the insane Macca’s in Sunshine 60. Today was a holiday (‘Coming of Age day’, and the reason post offices were closed) and I think half the global population was at Ikebukuro today! For the second time in my life I was actually sat by staff at Maccas!

We ended the day by going to Tokyo Dome after dark to see the lights. We also went on some rides and through the haunted house which was a lot of fun.

It was a very long and very full day, and just the start of what I expect will be a week of such days!

Sydney

January 12, 2019

I arrived in Sydney yesterday by train, and after checking in to an extraordinary hotel room wasted no time seeing the tourist sites.

I walked from Central to Darling Harbour to Circular Quay and back – some 30k steps – and by the time I crashed in my room after dark I was ruined ?

This morning I was up bright and early to pack, before heading to the Star Wars Identities exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum.

This is a remarkable exhibit of original props, costumes, models etc from the entire Star Wars saga (including Clone Wars). It is beautifully presented and it was magical to be so close to iconic items like the Millennium Falcon model actually used in Empire:

Or costumes worn by most of the major characters:

In addition, via interactive stations throughout the exhibit you create your very own Star Wars character!

I suppose the idea is to reproduce yourself in Star Wars firm, but I found myself compelled to spawn a uniquely original creation. Dear readers, I present my own Star Wars creation, Gab Frogger:

The name was my creation, and I’ll humbly suggest it’s much better than what others used (I saw an Ewok pilot named Brendan). Here’s Gab’s bio:

As with all Gungans, Gab is immediately endearing despite his dark side tendencies, and I’ve grown to love the froggy scamp already. I hope he turns up in Episode IX!

That’s Sydney Tower, which has stood since 1981 in the center of the city. I’ve been up several times but not in quite a few years and figured it was time once again.

Admission includes a surprisingly good (but short) 3D film which you watch before going up. I’m not quite sure why it even exists since it has almost nothing to do with the tower but I imagine the purpose was originally line-management which is redundant now since the tower doesn’t seem too popular.

But it was good! Today was sunny and clear and I could see forever. It wasn’t busy up top and I spent much longer than I’d expected up there. If you like observation towers, this is probably worth it at the slightly elevated price.

This will be my last post from Oz this trip, as early tomorrow I head to the airport for Tokyo where I’ll meet Bernard for the next 8 days! Stay tuned for our eastern adventures…