Tokyo heat wave in July

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After a leisurely morning, we decided to venture out to Odaiba Tokyo, a sprawled out complex constructed on a man-made island, with numerous shopping centres and attractions. It is a vast area, that was filled with Japanese people seeking refuge as the Mercury rose to 35 degrees.

We walked from the metro station, perhaps longer than we initially thought. The sun was scorching and we had managed to get burnt by the time we arrived. I am glad we did walk though as we learnt where the new Fish Market is going to be located, as well as a massive fruit and vegetable market, the Olympic Gymnastics centre and the rugby World Cup for next year. We would not have seen it had we caught transport. We absorbed some air-conditioning, did a little shopping and then checked out the giant Transformer and some street dancing. There was some outdoor music festival and Cirque de Soleil set up to perform too. The most ambient shopping centre for me was the VenusFort, it had a painted sky and low level lighting, so it was easy to wander and relax. It felt like it was twilight.

We caught the bus back to the metro station. It was good because it gave us a better perspective of the area. We then returned to our hotel, dropped off our shopping and got changed to something more covering to protect our skin from further sunburn. We went back out to the Tokyo Tower. I don’t believe I came here last time I was in Tokyo. It was very crowded for Japanese tourists. There was a lengthy wait and we had not eaten lunch, so we left. We went to buy an ice-cream and bought some drinks and snacks and returned to our hotel for a bath and some relaxation time before going out to dinner locally. We wanted to have an early night as we were heading south to Kamakura and the coast tomorrow morning on the train.

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