It was nearing down to the last couple of days in Tokyo and there was still one attraction on my list to see. Aside from being a looming orange and white structure 333m tall, the 11th tallest tower in the world and almost an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower, this was also another must-see location in Japan – Tokyo Tower.

Coming off the trains, the tower was already visible in the distance. There were line ups when we got to the front a little after 10:00am. The wait was short to get tickets, but it took longer to take the elevators up to the Main Observatory. The Main Observatory is located about halfway up the tower, reaching 150m high. It was sunny out that day, so we had a great view from the top, although Mt. Fuji was obscured in the distance.

After making a round, we decided to pay extra to go up to the Special Observatory, which reaches 250m. I think it was a mistake from the start, because the lineup to even purchase the ticket took almost 30 minutes, then you have to wait to board the world’s slowest elevator.

Yes, elevator. As in singular. As in only ONE.

Granted, the view from the top was a lot nicer than the main floor, but the actual walking space was a lot less and it did get crowded very quickly. Not to mention, you had to get back in line to take the elevators back down. Totally not worth it!

We finished walking on the first floor of the Main Observatory, which had a little version of the glass floors like at CN Tower, although it seemed totally harmless in comparison. Then we took the elevators down to the ‘Foot Town’, which has four floors that houses different tourist attractions, as well as a food court and many souvenir shops.

We stopped and ate at the Tokyo Curry Lab, which was really really good. There were no individual tables inside the restaurant, so we sat on stools which wrapped around the counter. The interiors looked very futuristic, and built into the counter were little television screens. Each seat had a little screen in front, so you could watch the movie while eating at the same time. There were placemats laid out at each seat, which was really cool since they had little sayings written on it, like:

“How to wash curry stain: The yellow colour of curry is because of a yellow pigment in a turmeric called curcumin. Curcumin is not very soluble in water but weak under the sun. To remove the yellow stain on your clothes, wash it slightly with a soap and expose it to the sun. It’ll disappear naturally.”

It was soooo cool. I wanted to steal the placemat, but then I decided against it. Heehee. Another thing that was neat inside the Curry Lab was that a glass of water was called an ‘Oasis’. How cool is that?

Anyway, the curry itself was actually pretty good. They also served us this drink at the end which is suppose to help clear up spiciness in your mouth. It’s hard to describe what it is, but it tasted kind of like milk, mixed with melted icecream and yogurt, but it was a surprisingly good combination. =)

*****

After leaving Tokyo Tower, we headed over to Zojoji Temple. The walk towards the temple was nice and peaceful, as there were so many cherry blossoms along the way. The temple itself was a lot more colourful than the ones I had seen before. There was an area towards the side which had all these little statues that resembled children. The statues are suppose to represent a Japanese divinity that guards children, especially the souls of stillborn children. I was really surprised by how colourful they kept the area and by all the ornaments they placed on top the statues.

*****

Later on we made our way to Roppongi again to shop at Tokyo Midtown. The mall was beautiful, very similar in style to Roppongi Hills and equally as expensive. We then decided to hop back on the trains to Ginza, which was an area I had visited on my last trip to Japan.

I got disoriented coming out from the station at Ginza, cause I couldn’t remember how to get onto the main street. We ended up just picking a direction and started walking. We came across an Echo Karaoke and since we were already so tired, we went inside and ‘sang’ for an hour. It was so funny trying to figure out how to use their machines! We probably spent more time trying to work the machine than actually singing! Not to mention, I don’t even really know any Japanese songs. But it was fun!

Leaving Echo, we once again tried to find the main street where the Burberry Blue Label was. We somehow stumbled upon it and spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping. We strolled through Mitsukoshi and then grabbed dinner at a sushi restaurant. The ootoro tuna was soooo good. And at 350¥ a piece, it totally just melted in your mouth.

*****

It seemed like a long day by the end of it. I was almost exhausted after reaching our hotel later on, but then I went back out to meet Donna at her station. We ate ramen before walking back to her house. I wasn’t paying much attention to the time, but I came close to missing the last train at 12:09am! Yet it was so nice walking even late at night and the roads felt totally safe. Needless to say I fell asleep right after I got back to the hotel. =)