2018 Japan Vacation, Day 7 - Sunshine City, Rainy Night

One of the best parts of staying in Japanese hotels are the buffet breakfasts. The one we had this morning at the Tokyo Dome Hotel had a mix of western and Japanese items to choose from. I had spaghetti, scrambled eggs, ham, as well as miso soup, white rice, and assorted Japanese pickles.

Kai had the miso soup, fries, and lychee.

My wife had mackerel, rice, and eggs, among other things.

After breakfast my wife departed to meet her old friends from high school. So, Kai, his grandfather, and I had a day together.

We went to Sunshine City, a commercial/shopping complex in the Ikebukoro section of Tokyo. This is where the original Pokemon Center is located, and as such, a place where Kai was very much looking forward to visiting.

Inside the store, Kai inspected the selection of plush toys.

He used the calculator on my phone to figure out how many plushes he could get with the remaining gift money he got from his grandparents.

He made his choices and filled up another basket.

Next we went to Sky Circus located on the top floor of the same complex.

Sky Circus is an observatory, though with a typhoon heading this way, it was a cloudy day and the views were limited. Though on the following photo, you can make out Tokyo Sky Tree toward the center and Tokyo Dome toward the right.

In addition to the observatory, they have aerial virtual reality experiences.

We did the Swing Coaster where you sit on a "swing" that is attached to a roller coaster.

The effects were good. So good that I felt a bit nauseous afterward.

Next we did the Tokyo Bullet Flight which simulates what a ride on a bullet might be like in the Tokyo of 50 years from now.

Kai said he enjoyed both VR experiences.

Next we went to Namjatown, a small theme park. We started out by walking through a "village" of gyoza shops, and we picked one for lunch.

The gyoza was good but the whole place was very loud and crowded.

We walked around some more but as everything was in Japanese it was hard to figure out what was what, and with the environment so noisy, I didn't particularly want to try too hard to figure it out. So, after awhile we decided to head back to my in-laws apartment.

We made it back to the apartment before it started to rain heavily. (My wife came home later after the rain had started). We had been planning to attend a summer festival in the evening but with the impending typhoon, the event was cancelled.

So, we stayed in and relaxed. The tv news was all about the typhoon.

It looks like it will pass south of Tokyo so we will be safe. It is really windy now but we're hoping it will be calmer tomorrow and we'll be able to get out again. The good news is that the spell of oppressive heat has been broken. Let's see what tomorrow brings.