Saturday June 27th

Had to head up to Tokyo one last time before I head back to the US. Got on the 902 limited express to Shinagawa. My buddy Bryan was already on the train as his house sits further out on the peninsula. Like the train schedule it worked out perfectly, both on the same car. The train conductor was being overly cautious in the corners. But a little extra time is worth the safety gained by it.

From Shinagawa we rode the Yamamote Line to Shimbashi. This is where I got to use a train I didn't even know existed. After a quick walk we hopped onto the train. We rode it out to Diaba station, where we got off. The entire area where this station is around is built on fill. It is a complete man made island. Pretty neat. The reason for the excursion up to this park was that they had built a 1:1 scale Gundam. After taking many pictures of it, we headed to the mall just north of the park. One quick stop to see a replica of the Statue of Liberty and then to Toys R Us. Pretty much exactly the same selection as back home, except everything has Kana and Kanji on it.

We had lunch at a Hawaii Burger joint. I had an excellent Turkey Avocado Sandwich on wheat bread. After walking around the mall, it was back to the park to take one last look at the craziness of the size of the statue of the Gundam.

From there we headed to Akihabara in search of AirSoft Guns. After going to Yodabashi and looking in every floor I found something very special. We came out a different exit than we had entered in. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a Doughnut Plant sign. I have been looking for one of these for about a year. I had a Black Out doughnut to celebrate the discovery. Best Doughnut I have ever had, hands down.

The search for Airsoft Continued by the station, we did find a place that had a really large selection of them. It is still strange to me that these BB guns have the same weight and feel as a real gun. In Japan they are not required to put the orange tips onto toy guns. The main reason is that they do not allow private ownership of actual firearms.

Decide to take the easy way back, go back to Shimbashi switch to Asakusa Toei line. This subway line turns into the line that goes directly back to Yokosuka. If you start out at Shimbashi you can sit down during the entire trip. Well worth the few extra minutes it takes to wait for the limited express train.

The rest of the day was made up by playing Little Big Planet (PS3) and then dinner at Denny's. It also marks the latest train I have ever caught. I caught the 5th to last train for the evening. Not too many folks ride this particular train.

Pictures

Saturday June 27th

JSDC June 09 - 25