The bus trip to the Shinagawa area was pretty cool because we got to see a lot of the Tokyo area. We have Google Maps on our phones are were able to follow along using the GPS feature so we could see exactly where we were in relation to the city. It was pretty cool! Traffic was light and we made it to the Aquarium in just a little over an hour. Once we got our tickets into the Aquarium the first thing we did was see the dolphin show. Of course it was all in Japanese so we couldn't understand anything, but you didn't have to understand to have fun watching the dolphins do tricks. Dereck and I have been to Sea World a few times (both in FL and TX) as well as the aquarium in Corpus Christi, so we have a lot of compare this to. It was small but very fun. There were two dolphins and the tricks were simple but great. The best part was the Japanese audience. The dolphins just needed to swim by the glass and everybody yelled with "oooooohs" and "aaaaahs". They were amazed! It was so funny. We even ended up getting splashed even though we were not in the "splash zone". Here are some pictures of the show.
After the dolphin show we had about an hour before the sea lion show so we went to walk around the aquarium. They had rockhopper and chinstrap penguins so Dereck was happy about that.
After the seals we went to see the other tanks of fish. They had a really need tunnel that was like what they have in Underwater World in the Mall of America. The fish were swimming all around you and they had these huge rays and a really big sea turtle cool. We ended up going through it twice that day because it was just so cool. It was also fun to watch the other Japanese exhibits, like eel and octopus.
The sea lion show was really fun. Again, we couldn't understand anything but we had a good time. We could tell that the show was supposed to be funny, and one sea lion came up and splashed everybody and they all laughed and happily freaked out. The Japanese audiences definitely enjoyed the show.
We eventually saw everything in the Aquarium and went outside to get some lunch. The Aquarium is in this really big and pretty park so we had lots of places to walk around. After Dereck had some Ramen and I had some kind of fried meat balls (I think it was chicken) we had about an hour to walk around the park until the bus left. The sun was out and it turned out to be really nice so we were glad to do this. There was a pretty river and the cherry blossoms were out and looking beautiful.
We walked over and saw a little league baseball game being played so we sat to watch for a while. The boys looked about 12-13 years old and they were really into it! Then we noticed that one of the teams were wearing Twins jerseys so we really got a kick out of that!
The park also had some fountains and other biking/walking trails, as well as a picnic area. We walked through the picnic area and saw a bunch of people grilling... but they were grilling stir fry, and seafood, and pretty much anything that you would NEVER see on an American's grill at the park. It was fantastic! We also walked by a swimming pool complex that had greenish water in it and had people fishing. Yes, they stocked the swimming pool with fish! It was so strange.
Eventually we went back to the bus and headed to Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower is like the Eiffel Tower but newer and bigger. The line to get in was very long and the smushed us into the elevator to the point where nobody had any personal space. Not good for those who get claustrophobic! But after a quick ride to the viewing platform, we got a 360 degree view of Tokyo. We want to go back at night someday, but the day view was really cool too. It was surreal because as far as your eyes could see was just buildings. Tons and tons of buildings. Buildings until they faded into the distance. Tokyo harbor was pretty but then beyond that, more buildings. It was just insane.
They had a spot where you could look straight down so that was pretty cool.
We took the stairs back down to the bottom so it was fun to get some fresh air and get out of the crowded observation tower. At the bottom we saw a lady doing some sort of show with a monkey dressed like a child. We had no clue what she was saying but the monkey didn't look very happy. It was funny though, since we just randomly were like- hey, look! a monkey!
We couldn't watch long though because we had to find our way back to the bus. We stopped quick at a gift-shop to pick up some souvenirs, and we had to get one of the very strange looking pink mascots that the Tower had all over. They look like bright pink Bananas wearing overalls and we don't really understand it, but now it is hanging in the back window of The Red Rocket to great those to drive behind us.
