8 May 2009

I had class as usual this morning, and nothing exciting happened. After class, the rest of the day was free for us to do as we pleased. Norio, Derrick, Seth, and I had a short group meeting to discuss the next step for our project. It is really nice having four people in a group since we are able to develop elements in our project in much more depth than we would usually be able to do in pairs. Following our group meeting, Norio, Derrick, Seth, John, and I went to Tokyo Midtown, which is located in the Roppongi District. The Roppongi District has been known as the tourist area, but they recently developed Tokyo Midtown as a mixed-use mall and high-rise residential. It is a really rich area, so everything was really nice and extremely unaffordable. The space itself was amazing, and we all took a lot of photos. We are using this project as a precedent study for our final project, so we examined it very closely. Norio left early to hang out with a friend, so the remaining four of us also visited Tadao Ando’s gallery on-site called Design Intent.
After finishing up at Tokyo Midtown, we went to lunch at an affordable restaurant a little ways down the street from Tokyo Midtown. Seth wanted to go visit Yoyogi National Stadium before it got too late, so he headed off on his own. I was really hungry, so I ordered a bowl of miso ramen and a dish of gyoza (5 pieces) for a total of 600 yen. It was a great deal, and the food was really good. If I am ever in that area again, I will definitely go back for a second time. The gyoza was by far the best gyoza I have had since arriving in Japan! After lunch, John, Derrick, and I decided to check out Roppongi Hills, another fairly new mixed-use development just a few blocks away from Tokyo Midtown. This project was even larger than Tokyo Midtown, and it had multiple residential towers piercing the skyline. There was additionally a really neat staircase, museum, and outdoor auditorium which were all very photogenic. The rain was off and on, so we photographed when weather permitted us to do so.
We debated whether or not we should head back to the NOMYC after visiting Roppongi Hills, but it was still fairly early. We could see Tokyo Tower seemingly within walking distance, so we headed off on foot to find it. None of the Tokyo’s streets are truly laid out on a grid, so navigating our way based solely on our view of the tower was a bit cumbersome. After walking for about 30 minutes, we surprisingly hit the base of the tower. Tokyo Tower was designed and built mimicking the Eiffel Tower, and it is slightly taller in height. We wandered inside, and it cost 820 yen to ride the elevator to the top. We paid the steep fee, and it was totally worth it once we got to the top. It was practically sunset, so we got some awesome shots of the city during that time. We stayed up in the tower until it got completely dark outside and shot more photos of the city lights. It was still consistently raining outside, but we additionally took exterior photographs of the tower illuminated at night. It was definitely a wonderful sight.
I asked for directions on how to find the nearest subway line, and we headed back to Yoyogi-koen via two subway lines. It took a total of 27 minutes, but it never feels that long while we are in-transit. Once back at the NOMYC, Derrick, Seth, and I went and grabbed a late dinner at Matsuya. I wasn’t too hungry so I just got a salad for 200 yen. I always have to remind myself to eat vegetables since almost all of the dishes here are starch only. We were all very exhausted from another day of walking, so we went to bed fairly early. Tomorrow we will be visiting Asakusa and Ueno Park with Don. Ueno Park is supposed to have some pretty cool museums, so I am really excited to see those. The weather is also supposed to clear up, so I will hope for the best.