City Lights

We spent this past weekend in Odaiba.  Odaiba is a man-made island in Tokyo Bay with incredible views of the Tokyo skyline.  We had some pretty big plans for the weekend, and while some of them worked out, others didn't.  We first tried to take the local (cheap & hard) trains into the city but realized midway there that Chad had forgotten his glasses (he was wearing his prescription sunglasses) so we had to turn around (which means hopping off the train and onto the one going the other way) and go back for them.  Easier said than done.  We ended up going around and around in circles on the trains between Ota and Tokyo for awhile.  Eventually we regrouped, switched to the express train (expensive & easy) and made it into the city.  After a quick trip to Ginza to visit the Apple store (yes, again...don't ask), we caught the express train out to Odaiba.

 We got to go over the famous Rainbow Bridge on the train.  Once there it was easy to see why Odaiba is referred to as "futuristic".  There are a lot of space-agey buildings, unique shopping malls, a giant ferris wheel and museums.  By the time we got there on Friday it was pretty dark so we just ate dinner (at Hooters, no less, but I was lured by American-style wings and the entertainment of watching drunk Japanese guys doing the YMCA with the waitresses) and then crashed.

On Saturday I stayed in Odaiba and shopped all the malls saw the sights.  Chad went elsewhere---more on that later.  That night we ate dinner (a Hawaiian burger joint in Aqua City) with a jaw-dropping view....

the Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo Tower and the Yakatabune dinner cruise boats

Daikanransha, which was the tallest
Ferris Wheel in the world in 1999

our hotel, the Grand Pacific Le Daiba

the Rainbow Bridge right
before we crossed

the Tokyo Teleport, a crazy space-age
train station

Aqua City, a giant shopping mall

buildings and monuments

the famous Fuji building

inside the Venus Fort, which is this wild shopping mall
 designed to look like an Italian piazza...complete
with a fake color-changing sky and "moving" clouds

it was like being in Hogwarts

Huh?

I know there are a lot of photos on the Internet of crazy English signs in foreign countries.....well, here's one more.  I will say that most of the English signs here aren't too bad.  Sometimes the grammer is a little off but you can get the gist of it....

....with the exception of the sign below that is at the drive-through of a local McDonalds.   I have theory that instruction is needed because there just aren't that many drive-throughs here....but I'm not sure this instruction helps much.  I hope it's better in Japanese.

Also, I've been a little slack about blogging the last few days (I've had an unusual number of social engagements!) but we have an exciting adventure planned for this weekend so check back next week for lots of photos!

I think #4 indicates that a lot of people show coupons
from their cellphone?  Is that a thing now?

Milky White Skin

A comment that was posted a few days ago reminded me that I meant to post about tanning here, or the lack thereof.    First off, I have yet to see any sunscreen with a lower SPF than 28, and most of it is SPF 50.  There is no bronzer, no tanning lotions, no strip mall tanning beds.  Instead you find lots of "whitening" lotions and creams to lighten your skin tone.  Most younger girls are really pale, and  female celebrities and models all have porcelain skin.  I feel kinda tan here, for someone in my age range, and trust me, that is not usually the case. I think the culture here promotes whiter skin because it indicates that you are a higher class of worker i.e. not a farmer in the paddy fields. (I do not quite understand this, but I think I'm blinded by my long-standing dream of raising goats and growing squash like they do on those hippie green TLC shows.)

Anyway, as I shopped this summer, I noticed that the bikinis for sale here are a little bit (just a little bit) more modest than what you see in the US.  And when we were vacationing with all the Japanese people in Guam there were a lot more women on the beach in the type of bodysuit that you surf in (they were not surfing).  Of course there were plenty of bikinis too....I think the tendency to cover up more is half modesty, half skin protection.

And don't forget my parasol (eventually I'll get a photo of it on here)....as you can see in some of my photos, they are everywhere in Tokyo on a sunny day.  Because you just can't have your face out in the sun, ladies.

sunscreen here also comes in really small expensive bottles

bright face milk, perfect milk and mild care milk, SPF 28+

You'll notice in the photo above (click to enlarge any of these photos) something else that is different here.  Along with creams, lotions, gels, etc. you see a lot of "milks".  I assume this indicates that they are the consistency of milk.  You may also be amazed that these are all in English....well....that is because those are the ones that I can easily read as I tote my camera around and get funny looks from the other shoppers.  There are many, many more that are all in Japanese. 

the variety of skin potions here is mind-boggling

you see many that say they have collagen in them,
whatever that means

medicated finger whitening

 

the ultimate: whitening milky lotion