Tokyo Tower...invaded by students

After going to the tower many times for some shopping, I finally got to go up. First, there was some delay in waiting for my friend. She ended up being delayed and I was afraid we missed each other. (She didn't have a phone, but she did have my number...only couldn't find a payphone. ^^; There aren't that many around. I guess Japan thinks everyone has cellphones.) But I digress.... I waited for a while before deciding to buy my ticket and just go up. While on the line, I turn to look at the entrance one more time...and saw her. o.O Of course, I got out of line and ran to her. *hugs* After our greeting, we headed to the nearby crepe stand to buy some crepe since she didn't have any breakfast and I wanted a snack.

We needed to wait for her friend to arrive so we hung around outside...watching lines of buses come and go, dropping off elementary and junior high students from various schools. Weekdays, the Tower is filled with students. Weekend, they're filled with tourists. Still, there are no lines on the weekdays which is why I'm extremely happy to be able to go today. ^.^ Her friend arrived and we went up the elevator to the main observatory.

where is Mt. Fuji again?

The main observatory consists of two floors and we were dropped on the one higher one and can walk down to the floor below. We walked all around taking pics of the surrounding scenes. Inside, there was a small shrine.

I was able to catch a few landmarks in the distance...mainly of Odaiba with Fuji TV, Rainbow Bridge and the ferris wheel.

I also got a nice shot of Zojoji Temple. Before, I got many pics of the tower from the temple. Now it's the other way around. ^-^

There were these panels with touch screens that allow us to fastforward or back the time in order to display the view from the tower during those times. Sugoi!

There were signs above pointing out the various landmarks...and we stayed at the one pointing to Mt. Fuji...only we couldn't find it. ^^; So here is a pic of where Mt. Fuji is suppose to be. ^^;

In that mist, is the mountain. *stares hard* We headed down to the second floor of the observatory and found it reasonably empty. Well, not empty, but enough for me to catch this shot without any people.

This is where Kamui had the showdown with Fuma in X...after Fuma kills Kotori.... *cries* ^^; Of course, this is also be the location of the first episode of CLAMP School Detectives, Magic Knight Rayearth and Sailor Moon. Why so many CLAMP stories? lol They (and everyone else) loves Tokyo Tower. ^-^

There were some places with glass floors so you can look down.

We lost track of my friend's friend so we separated and walk all around the observatory. The observatory goes in a circle so we'll be sure to not miss her. We both found her at the same time...at the photobooth.

Of course, we ended up taking pics. ^.^ In order to cut it up, there was a pair of scissors nearby. Before I read the sign, I immediately noted, '400 yen for 1 use'. lol But it's connected to the sign, what else could it possibly mean?

We took the elevators back down which dropped us on the 3rd floor where the museums were. We stopped by the Guinness World Records museum giftshop so we could see the weird things in there.

We went down to the 2nd floor where my friends bought some Tokyo souvenirs and we ate at a place nearby. I chose curry udon. ^.^

Oishigata! Satisfied, we left Tokyo Tower.

disappointed and recovery

My friend wanted to go to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation aka. Miraikan in Odaiba so we headed there. However, due to the delays, we ended up not making it before the stop selling tickets. I got some pics of the outside though.

My friend was disappointed so instead of just heading out, we decided to walk a bit. We headed towards Fuji TV.

Of course, Fuji TV led us to the area beside Aquacity so I was finally able to take pics of the area in the daytime.

A pigeon was walking along the rail so I grabbed a nice action shot of it spreading it's wings. ^.^

There was a commercial for an herbal water drink which included a person squeezing the bottle and squishing it. It's suppose to help the environment but I haven't figured out how besides the fact that it's more malleable so it can recycle better...I think. ^^; Anyway, my friend had a bottle and wanted to do the same thing as the commercial. So she did.

Before...

...and after. ^.^

Johnny's and BL...Nakano Broadway

We traveled to Nakano to hit Mandarake and the unofficial Johnny's store there. My friend (who is also a BL fan) bought the Yamane Ayano-sensei artbooks as well as a few JE posters. My friend's friend bought the Junjou Romantica anime artbook that I found. (I told her that I will buy it later on...anyway there was only one. ^.^) We headed to the doujin store but we couldn't find any DBSK doujins. We'll be going to Ikebekuro together next Friday so I'll introduce her to the Mandarake there where there is sure to be DBSK djs. ^.^

We decided to eat at a hamburger place and we all ended up choosing one with cheese inside. They presented it to us like so...

...so the sizzling heat some what contained. When we unveiled it...

...it was like that. Of course, it was delicious. On another note, the toilet had a seat warmer which was a plus, but there were some people smoking besides us so that was a negative.

We said our goodbyes at the station but I'll be seeing them next friday for our tour of Ikebekuro. (Milky Way is definitely in our plans. ^.^)