While everyone was busy preparing home cooked food for the New Year's Celebration, here we were, wandering in Odaiba. We initially made plans to go to Odaiba after new year but my partner got hired on the 1st, so going there on the 31st would be the only chance.
It's a race of time, as we planned to shop first before doing the stuff I wanted. The shop we're going to was closing early at 7 pm, not sure because it's the end of the year or it's always like this. I don't usually go to Odaiba because even when I'm living in Tokyo, it would take an hour to reach this place.
We arrived at the door of the mall 10 minutes before it closed. It's too late for shopping so we gave that up. We're about to argue, it's like a bad sign to end the year. We made up right away though. And now, we're doing the things I wanted to do.
I wanted to see the illumination on the beach of Odaiba. It's also been a while since I've been to the beach. We're now heading in the illumination direction, though I didn't tell my partner we're going there. He thought we're going to the restaurant. π
We saw the Gundam the last time we were in Odaiba so we didn't bother checking it at this time. Odaiba will make you walk so it's best to wear comfortable sneakers.
My partner teased me if this was it. Of course, this wasn't the illumination I had in mind! π
On the way to the illumination, we could see the famous Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower in the distance. It's so brightly lit, and they looked amazing, as if near. My phone's camera couldn't capture its beauty, best to go there and see it with your eyes.
As we continued walking, we're now transported to New York. Wait, is there New York in Tokyo? Well, there is. Only a portion of it.
This is the famous Odaiba Statue Of Liberty. While it looks huge, it's way smaller than the one in New York. This one in Odaiba is 12.25m tall, while the one in New York is 93m. See the difference?
Apparently, this Statue of Liberty is not the only one in Japan. There are others in Japan. When I find them, I'll let you know. π
Since my goal was to see the illumination, we're now walking by the bay. It's dark in here with a few lights, but I could tell this place is nice in daylight. Probably a lot of people come here and enjoy the scenery since it's really a wide walking area, not sure if you could cycle here though. I don't think you could enter the waters though. Only for your eyes, I think.
As we walked further, we reached the Marine Pier. I wanted to ride the sightseeing boat and go all the way to Asakusa but it's already done for the day.
We've been walking a lot already and were about to give up on seeing what I came here for, until I spotted a giant ball on the water! That's it! We're closer now to the illumination area.
On their website, it looks pretty cool that's why I wanted to visit. But in reality, it's a bit disappointing.. or maybe I just had big expectations and it wasn't up to par when I saw it.
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It was still nice though. This illumination is called Concordia and it's an interactive one. You can even see the illumination with AR but I wasn't able to find the QR code and well, tbh, I had forgotten about the QR code when I was there.
We still enjoyed the lights and the music that went well with it. The floating ball on the beach was actually the Moon of Concordia, and the projection on it also changed based on the music. Overall, we enjoyed the illumination especially since there were only a few people in the area. It's not enjoyable when it's crowded since the shore is where you'll enjoy the lights.
After playing with the lights, we're on the way to the nearby mall. But before that, my partner wanted to take a break and right there, we found empty benches where we sat and enjoyed the scenery for a bit. We've been walking nonstop since we arrived at Odaiba so I also badly needed this rest time.
On the way to the mall, we saw the Christmas tree illumination with its colors changing. It was near the main road, just across the street where there are stairs to go up to the mall.
We were planning to have dinner at the mall but nothing caught our attention. There weren't a lot of restaurants in Decks, the mall we went to so we moved to the Aqua City mall just beside it. We saw locks, probably a gimmick for lovers, but I wasn't so interested at that time because I just wanted to eat. π
Inside the Aqua City mall, we spotted a small aquarium so we stopped by for a bit. Not a lot of fish, just enough for its size.
Unfortunately, all the restaurants in this mall were already done for the day so we had no choice but to leave Odaiba feeling hungry. I still truly enjoyed Odaiba though! It's fun, especially with someone special~
Don't forget to checkout the #WednesdayWalk initiative by @tattoodjay.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! γγγγγΎγγοΌ
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.