On my own in Tokyo

Unfortunately on day 3 of our trip, Steve came down with a nasty cold. We had pre booked tickets to go to Team Lab Borderless but he just wasn’t up to going. So, I left him in the hotel to recover and ventured out on my own. No point in wasting both tickets, right?

The Team Lab exhibition is in Odaiba. To get to Odaiba you have to catch the monorail from Shiodome station. By the time I got to Shiodome it was almost lunch time and I was getting hungry. I noticed there was a Kitakata ramen place located there and decided on that for lunch. Kitakata ramen, at this point in time, is my favourite ramen. The broth is a little bit lighter, plus if you are feeling extra hungry they also do these AMAZING side bowls of grilled Chashuu pork on rice. Alas, I wasn’t hungry enough for that today, but my bowl of ramen was delicious.

After devouring that bowl of ramen, it was on the Team Lab. I had a fun time there. Lots of cool interactive things and swirly lights and patterns. The best thing I thought, was being able to colour in a sea creature, have it scanned and then see it swimming on the wall with everyone else’s. Very clever.

I spent about 3 hours in there. Good fun. Would recommend a visit. After that I had a bit of a wander around Odaiba and looked at some shops, had a matcha latte and saw the new giant Gundam statue.

I also went to the very awesome retro arcade and shopping street. So cool. Love it.

I wandered along the boardwalk just as it was getting dark and all the lights were coming on. I started to feel quite nostalgic thinking about the first time we visited Japan way back in 2005. Some things have changed a lot. Others not so much.

Then I headed back to Shiodome where I briefly saw some disappointing illuminations before heading back to Ueno station.

In Ueno I went to OiOi department store where I had dinner in one of the Basement restaurants. I had Uni and Ikura on rice and it was very, very good.