Odaiba....

Our hotel in Tokyo was located in Odaiba, a new development on an island ( ?reclaimed) at Tokyo Bay. Upon arriving at the Tokyo Station by the bullet (Shinkansen) train from Kyoto, we walked about a kilometre away to the bus which then shuttled us to Odaiba.

the Rainbow Bridge viewed from monorail on mainland Tokyo..

The island of Odaiba is connected to the mainland by the famed Rainbow Bridge. From the rooftop restaurant on the 41st floor where we had our breakfast we could enjoy a panoramic view of the Rainbow Bridge linking Odaiba to downtown Tokyo. It was quite a sight both in the morning and at night. On one of the nights we dined at the Hamayu Teppanyaki Restaurant on the 41st floor but unfortunately it was a foggy night due to rain thus depriving us of the view that we had hoped for...

Monday was a free and easy day for us so everyone took the opportunity to either tour some parts of Tokyo as well as do some shopping. Odaiba itself has 3 blocks of shopping malls that can occupy you the whole day. Other attractions at Odaiba include the "Toyota Showroom" where you can view and get a feel of the latest models of Toyotas or the ones in development. The Fuji TV Station is also located in Odaiba. This is where many of the popular Japanese TV dramas were made.

the Rainbow Bridge and the Japanese Statue of Liberty in the foreground..

another view of the Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba...

Other attractions in Odaibo include an Oedo-Onzen, a Japanese bath where steaming sulphur-rich water is pumped up from 1400 feet from the surface.

the Hotel Grand Pacific le Daiba where we stayed..

the Fuji TV Station....

the monorail to Tokyo....

Our hotel was conveniently located to the monorail station that took only about 15 minutes to Shimbashi, one of the main stations of Tokyo where you can just walk down to the famed Ginza district. The monorail ride costs 390 yen each way.

Pakdokter and partner took Ibu Suliana to Shinjuku for shopping using the Teleport train. We spent the whole day there and while the ladies browsed around the shop pakdokter took a quick check at the Victoria Golf Store located next to the Takashimaya in Shinjuku. We had lunch at a Japanese Italian Restaurant at the food court of the Shinjuku Lumine Est Mall.

That night pakdokter, pakZaid and pakAli Dewal with our respective partners and Rastam, pakdokter's son, had our dinner at the Italian Restaurant at the Grand Pacific Hotel itself. The food and drinks were great but the company was better....

the shadow of pakdokter on the pavements of Odaiba...