As I mentioned in the family group text (aka 90% of this garbage fire’s readership), I was thinking today was going to be a bit light on content but surprisingly wasn’t on steps (19k and 240 working minutes). While there is indeed a bullet train that connects Hokkaido to the Honshu island, it’s only at the very southwestern tip and relatively difficult (and expensive, even with the JR unlimited rail pass) to get to. Luckily, one way flights from New Chitose to Haneda sound like baby chicks (cheep cheep!) so I hopped on another puddle-jumper and took off to the next AirBnB location referred to as a “cabin hotel.” These dorm rooms are a step up from the coffin-esque capsule hotels and come with much more privacy and their own bathroom suite.
As seen above, the design motif takes after manga and Ben Day dot comics which are quite striking (there’s free manga for lending as well). Sufficiently settled, I decided to head to Odaiba Bay, one of the areas I had foregone on my previous journey to Japan. Trekking across the Rainbow Bridge (not the sad pet one), I felt the gales and sea foam which evoked the port city Tokyo’s roots stem from. Across the bay lie recognizable landmarks such as the Tokyo TV Tower, the Fuji TV “sphere”, and most of all the life-size Gundam statue which was light up in bright red through the “joints” of the mobile suit.
I didn’t get any lit-up shots of the Rainbow Bridge like I planned, but the staircase next to the Gundam was on a pattern of shifting colors which was cool. I’m headed to Nikko tomorrow for an all-day hiking/shrine/hot spring excursion and hopefully some Tokyo nightlife; after all, I need to compare 2015’s rager of a Halloween to a baseline.
Ice's Travels 