Tokyo Midtown

2009.02.23

Tokyo MidTown is a new skyscraper area grand opened in 2007. Locating not too far from Roppongi Hills, MidTown also has the high-class atmosphere which is also rich in art.


lens ไวด์ไม่พอ-.-'











playing with Dinosaur

N'Bow and I took a short stroll around Tokyo Midtown before meeting Eriko's family at Ebisu Garden Place to go for a Yakiniku dinner together.
@ a Yakiniku place somewhere in Setagaya-ku

AYF8 Meet-Up

Over the past weeks, I met up with my AYF8 friends in 3 lots: Nagoya, Tokyo and Nagaoka.

NAGOYA: 2009.02.20

Of course, it had to be Vutha and Samol from Nagoya University. I squeezed my short time slot after meeting my boss @ Kamimaezu and before meeting the Thai-Nagoya pals @ Sakae and spared it for Vutha and Samol. I caught a subway to Nagoya University to have a few drinks with them. Samol has already completed his Ph.D. just one week before my arrival. And my gosh... he looked sooooooooooooooo happy!! I think throughout the whole 6 years I've known him for, I've never seen him this happy and relaxed before. For Vutha... keep going... you are coming VERY close to the finish line!! Hang in there!!

Samol & Vutha @ Engineering Building
@ Fronte Book Cafe
with the two of them

TOKYO: 2009.02.21

It was my first time to meet the whole family of Dwi's and Rizka's together. It was really nice to see their full family. My friends are really mamas! Dwi's daughter is Yuka-chan (2 yrs) and Rizka's daughter is Ai-chan (6 months?). P'Pum also came, as well as, Inomata Sensei. We chose to lunch out @ 2x2=8 Indian restaurant in Shimokitazawa - a very nice place for the Halal people. It really reminded me of our time in Malaysia.

Rizka and Ai-chan
Big Gang
Dwi's daughter: Yuka-chan
Rizka's family
Dwi's family
with Inomata sensei @ Shinjuku Station
Dwi & P'Pum, the two engineers

Later on, Neri came to join us @ Shinjuku
Time to leave: the baby started crying already! =)

Then Neri, Inomata Sensei and I went for a cafe break.

@ Shinjuku
our cake

NAGAOKA: 2009.03.02

Just a VERY brief met up with Iizuka Sensei at her office @ Nagaoka Institute of Technology. (I'll blog about my trip to Nagaoka later.) We have missed each other for so many times. So glad we finally had a moment at the very same location. I was dead tired by the time I met her, so didn't get to chat as much as I wished. Hopefully we'll get to meet again before I leave, k!

Iizuka Sensei
@ her office around midnight

Tokyo Tower

The Tokyo symbol
Just over the past week, I had a chance to go to Tokyo once again. This time, I tugged in at Tokyo Prince Hotel which was only a couple of minutes walk to Tokyo Tower. The scenery was magnificent at nightfall. It was a breathtaking scene from the hotel room!

the orange illumination
two towers at once
similar design to the Eiffel
333 meters in height

Facts about Tokyo Tower (credit: official website of Tokyo Tower)
333m
Height of the Tower. Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high.

4,000t
The Tokyo Tower weighs about 4,000 tons. It is much lighter than the Eiffel Tower, which weighs 7,000 tons, a result of remarkable advances in steel manufacturing and construction technology.

140 drums
Paint used for the Tower was 28,000 liters, equal to 140 drums. The Tower is painted orange and white according to the Civil Aeronautic Law.

24 broadcast waves
This is the number of broadcast waves that Tokyo Tower is transmitting. Among them, 14 are analog waves and 10 are digital waves, which show that most broadcast stations in Tokyo are transmitting their waves from the Tower.

176 lights
One hundred and seventy-six floodlights installed in various parts light up the Tower. The Tower is illuminated with an orange light in winter and white incandescent light in summer, delighting visitors and passers-by.

A Day at Tokyo Disney Sea

The last time I was in Tokyo for a conference, I went to Disneyland with Chi-Wei. This time, I was in Tokyo for a reunion, I still went to Disney's (except that it's Disney Sea this time), but still with Chi-Wei. We also had one of Chi-Wei's students, Sayaka, joined us today.


We arrived at Disney Sea!
It was a Sunday and the weather was just perfect. Lots and lots of people we saw on the train, but thank goodness, most of them headed for Disneyland. We managed to get on most of the rides with maximum of 20 minutes wait-time. The fast passes worked out so well. We actually were able to get 5-6 of them, plus one surprise one.

Raging Spirits - (FP: fast pass)
Arabian coast
in line for The Magic Lamp Theater (FP)
our luck with fast passes
Tower of Horror - one of the rides in which we three refuse to get on!! =P
Aquatopia
Erupting volcano - The journey to the center of the earth (FP)
Other rides and shows
- Indiana JonesAdventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull (FP) --> one of my favourites
- Mermaid Lagoon Theater
- Jumpin' Jellyfish
- Mermaid Lagoon's Scuttle's Scooters --> only Chi-Wei & Sayaka though. I refused to get on this circling ride cuz I can easily get dizzy!)
- Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster
- Sindbad's Storybook Voyage (surprise FP)
- 20,000 leagues under the sea (FP) --> I like how they make it look like we were really under the water!

We also ate a lot! We tried 3 flavors of Popcorn - Chocolate, Coconut & Cappuccino, Gyoza bun, spicy chicken leg and Sayaka also had Turkey leg!

Chocolate Popcorn
the two with their popcorn
Enjoying the spicy chicken leg
We left the park rather early and went to a Hawaiian Burger place called "Kua Aina". What a great way to end our journey for the day!! Yum!!!

yummy pineapple burger