a morning in Ghibli Museo D'arte

I woke up early to get to Mitaka before 10am. The busride to the Ghibli Museum took only 5 min. I didn't take many pics since as you may recall, they have a no pic policy. (Anyway, I was trigger happy both times I was there so I had alot of pics of the outside. ^.^) Some thing new I discovered was this thing in a plant outside of the front entrance...the castle from Howl's Moving Castle. o.O More pics of it to come next time I'm there. ^.^

I headed in to see the movie immediately since I wanted to meet up with Fighter quickly. The movie was Kujiratori aka. Whale Hunt and although there was alot more Japanese dialogue, I got the gist of what was going on. Simply put, it's about a little boy going to school and his classmates are building a ship.... Such fun. ^.^ After the movie, I gave fighter a called and she told me that she will meet me at the station at 11:45...which gave me time to explore the museum.

Today seemed to be Taiwanese Tourist day at Ghibli...since I heard sooo much Chinese when I was there. ^^; I went through the exhibits in what I consider backwards (since from last two times I was there, I already established some sort of 'path' to explore the place.) I worked my way outside to the Laputa roof and had my pic taken next to the robot as usual. ^.^ Chancing upon a conversation between a mother and child who was discussing the origins of the stone on the roof (like 'I think this stone was from the movie') I naturally agreed (in Chinese of course) that this was the stone from Castle in the Sky. lol I need to stop precipitating myself into convos like that. ^^;

Even though I saw everything before, it's nice to look into the details of the museum. Even with 1.5 hours there, I enjoyed myself immensely. Of course, I'm returning in August. ^.^ I headed to the station and met up with fighter.

Gundam...it moves!

We took several trains that brought us to Shiokaze koen...the home of the full scaled gundam. We noticed a line first...and was happy to confirm it was not to see the gundam but to visit the Gundam store that opened. They had books, figures and more (from what I see people holding) but nothing that I wished to buy (even if I had the money ^^;) at the moment. Our main target was the Gundam itself...and reaching it, we discovered another line (though much, much shorter) to go up on the platform...and walk between the legs of the Gundam. *submit BL joke here* ^.^ Of course, we immediately stepped onto the line and proceeded to snap away, preserving the image to our memorysticks. At close range, we were able to see the words on the feet of the Gundam 'Only qualified personnel are authorized to service'. lol

When we are on the platform, we're able to actually touch the Gundam...albiet only it's feet since we can't reach any higher. ^^; Sugoi! I took fighter's pic as she took mine quickly...since there was a huge sign that commanded, 'Do not stop!' When we were beneath it snapping away at our cameras, Gundam sound effects came out. The Gundam was moving...but of course we couldn't see anything.

Taking note that it was half past the hour, fighter deduced that it probably moves every half hour. We looked around at the various stores which also included one that sold the bugs (that Japanese kids usually catch in the summer) as well as the Olympic booths that basically stated that Gundam is sponsering the Olympics in Japan. ^^V

After looking around, we bought yakisoba with egg. *points to above pic* After we ate, the Gundam prepared to move again. The music that was blasting in the speakers (which were NOT Gundam music...very disappointed ^^;) stopped and the sound effects appeared. For a full 4 min., the head of the Gundam would move, eyes would light up and close, and steam would come from the chest. All to the sounds of original anime complete with cockpit opening sound effects and my favorite...taking off sound effects. The crowds awwwed and clapped at the end. The Gundam moves alot on the hour and only a bit half past the hour. Since we were both taking videos, we decided to wait another hour so we could take pics. ^.^ During the half hour Gundam motions, the head moves and steam comes out to sound effects, but only for less then a minute.

We both had a mango and vanilla soft served ice cream cone as we waited. Before the full hour, fighter and I took positions at different sides of the Gundam to get the most varied of pics. ^.^

My favorite moment is the very end...when the head tilted up to the sky with the sound of it taking off in the background....

shopping and more shopping

Aquacity was our next stop after getting our fill of Gundam. We looked around at the various stores while I mulled over possible souvenirs. We then went to Shinjuku to Tokyu Hands for more browsing. We met up with fighter's friend (the same one we went with to see the Gundam the first time) and headed to Starbucks to drink. I ordered a mango passion fruit drink and we talked for awhile. Our next browsing stop was 0101...a major department store. It's actually made up of two buildings (as many of the major stores in Shinjuku are) and the second one has to be my favorite of the two. They had Lolita-styled shoes, Lolita-styled clothes and even visual kei, dark clothes. The Harajuku style sold in Shinjuku. ^.^ Some of the stores remind me of Kuroshitsuji artwork...which I totally loved. I found some things I would wear (if I could fit into them) but the prices made me O.O so I gave up on them. ^^; Another reason why this became my favorite building is due to an Eva store on one of the floors. They even had a statue of Rei there.

We went our separate ways afterwards via different trainlines with the promise to meet again soon. ^.^