voice


~ back ~


'I'll be back.'

I met fighter at Telecom center platform and we met up with her friend. First major stop was Miraikana aka. the Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. There were two special exhibits going on, the Science of Fear via a haunted house theme and the Terminator exhibition. Since our main purpose was the Terminator exhibit, we bought tickets for that one. (I have no idea what went on in the 'Science of Fear' exhibit beyond the fact that I hear stuff moving in the area and there are occasional recorded screams. I don't hear anything from the crowds of people that went in so I don't know what is really going on in there....) Although we didn't go, the pic below is a shot of the entrance.

As soon as we entered the Terminator exhibit area, we were greeted with some skulls with red eyes. Of course they were machine heads but I started to wonder if we were in the fear exhibit instead ^^;

The Terminator exhibit had many fullsized models of the various Terminators including the female one from a previous movie.

In the 'theater' area, they were showing a short commentary by the director of the film (I think it was the director.) The trailers for the past movies were also shown at the sides of the room as well as information about the process in making the different machines and models for the movie.

There were also fullsized machines that were from the newest, 4th movie. We're talking about the tanks, bike-like enemies that humanites fought against. Flash lighting was prohibited so my pics didn't come out that good...but still got some nice shots. The one below is of the machine that attacked humans in the water. Based off of the stingray with a spike a the end.

Then we have the one based off the bike. The documentary mentioned Kawasaki among others being the models of these sports-type bikes. They can go in either direction like a skateboard.

It's a Zaku! *dies* lol I got Gundam on the brain. ^^;

Look! I even saw Arnold Schwarzenegger!

lol j/k ^^;

There were pictures that were the winners of some contest. The theme was different types of terminators. One of them wanted a Terminator that will cook food from all over the world. Nice idea!

Something un-Terminator like is a female android near the exit of the exhibit that moved it's head and upper body, blinked and spoke to us. o.O Of course, the words were a recording, but the entire thing was still pretty inteesting. The name of the android model was 'Kokoro' and she even said something like 'no sexual harrassment' during her introduction. ^^;

Either way...kinda scary. ^^;

O.O

After the special exhibit, we went to explore one of the floors before leaving. The exhibits are very interactive, for both adults and children. There was a giant globe on one side of the museum....

One of the inventions that I learned of is the idea of using people walking to be transferred to energy. They pick shows that they were installed at the ticket gates. Sugoi! If that is the case, then Shinjuku station and Tokyo station must be high in energy with the amount of people going through it.

The above is of people drawing on something like a whiteboard...the pen makes the lines appear on the screen. So many shiny colors....

In the restroom, there was sign of 'how to wash hands'. We didn't understand the significance since Japanese people usually wash their hands anyway. But more on that later.... ^.^

My friends already explored the entire place...I haven't so I plan to return on my own. ^.^

One last thing, remember the astronaut ice cream from these museums? What do Japanese astronauts eat? In the museum shop, we find out that they eat Japanese food....

BTW, yohkan is redbean hard jelly with chestnuts. ^^;

'It's a Gundam!'

Next stop was a park near Aquacity that was the location of the RX-78-2 Gundam. There were many people there taking pics. It wasn't moving, but I grabbed alot of shots. Fighter's friend lent me her awesome Nikon SLR camera (I don't remember the model number) which is of course WAY better then my own simple digicam. I don't take very good pics, but I was given permission to snap away (since there were 8GBs, not need to worry about space. ^.^) At least some of my pics have to be good. ^^; Fighter said, 'It's a Gundam!' *points* and my series of poses.

"Seig Gundam!" *gets shot by beam cannon*

It's a Gundam! *points*

*quotes Setsuna* "I am Gundam!"

After that, we headed to Aquacity to rest with the promise to return that evening for more pics.

Little Hong Kong...in Joyopolis

We were tired and needed a refresher so we headed to Starbucks in Odaiba. I ordered a cold matcha frap which was certainly refreshing. We talked for a bit about our various occupations and our love for all things BL and Gundam (at least for Fighter and I since her friend didn't share our sentiments although she respected us for our passion. ^.^) Aterwards, we decided to walk a bit and ended up at Joyopolis which is next to Aquacity. We chose a restaurant and ventured out to find it.

Joyopolis is known for it's huge Sega game center but it's top floors have alot of restaurants. The going theme of the top floor is Asian...heavily Chinese-centered with a Korean restaurant on one the side. The walls, signs...everything was decorated to make it look like a Chinese street...or like Hong Kong as a huge sign noted. (Didn't take a pic of the sign, but will do so later. ^.^)

Similar to the sign at Miraikan, the restrooms also had a sign. We found out that the concept of washing hands is a sanitary measure against the swineflu. ^^;

The restaurant we chose had a pic of some Iron Chef on the outside (but I doubt it's their restaurant so I have no idea why the pic is outside ^^;) and had a nice Chinese decor (as all the restaurants in this area had.) My choice of dinner was mabo tofu since it was distinctly Chinese. In actuality, it's my first time at a Chinese restaurant in Japan along with my first 'Chinese' meal. ^^; We all had a soup and dessert set with the soup being corn and egg soup and almond pudding for dessert. Oishi gata....

Dinner finished, we headed back to the Gundam for some night shots.

'Seig Zeon!'

Our trip back to the park was accompanied by me playing some Gundam-related music on my mp4. Included was 'Trust You' by Ito Yuna since it was appropriate. Alas, I took out my Two-Mix tracks (to make room for my Gundam 00 OPs and EDs vid clips) so no Gundam Wing music. (Fighter is also a big GW fan.) Again up on arrival, we walked around the Gundam with me snapping away with my new friend's awesome camera. Like the afternoon, we started from the back or as I like to refer to it, the 'butt' of the Gundam. I took many close up shots in hopes to capture the intricate detailing on it...including the many words that are everywhere on the Gundam from the legs, chest/cockpit area and I think on the 'butt'. Of course, I asked rhetorically, 'I wonder what the words are over there?' to which Fighter responded, 'Entry'. o.O roflol

You can't really see me besides my sillouette, but I'm doing Heero's signature pose with one hand covering the face.... ^.^

Since people may ask, I will answer first: I couldn't find any words of 'GUNDAM' on it. Of course, if there were any, it would be on the top or chest of the Gundam as is custom. Both areas are somewhere I can't take ics of. ^^; Fighter reminded me of it and we both did the famous Heero Yuy post from Gundam Wing...the one with his hand over his face. Sugoi desu ne! ^.^ We called out a couple more one-liners from the shows including my fav, 'I am Gundam!' as quoted from Setsuna in Gundam 00. As we walk back away, I mentioned a few awesome moments from the recent series including the GN particles making everyone naked during battles....

Before we left Odaiba, we decided to take some photo sticker pics. We had alot of fun decorating the pics with flowers, words and butterflies (my request of course. ^.^) I don't take much pelicula but fighter and her remarked about how dated the machine was. ^^;

On our way back to Shinjuku, I show Fighter some Gundam 00 OPs and EDs on my mp4 and we discussed a bit of the BL hints...Lockon's consideration for the other pilots as well as Tiera's crossdressing. ^.^ Thus ends our Gundam-full day. ^.^

Gundam pics to come so stay tuned! ^___^

~ back ~