11 Mar 2017
Yesterday, we landed at Tokyo's Haneda at 10 something PM (Tokyo Time) after an 8-hour long flight from Singapore. After landing and check-in at Royal Park Haneda, I had Japanese Curry Rice for supper at the cafeteria downstairs at Haneda Airport International Terminal.
Today, after checking out and having our baggage stored at Royal Park Haneda with the JR Pass activated at the Tokyo Monorail station, we went to Odaiba for sightseeing and window shopping. At Odaiba, we went to Fuji TV and Aqua City. To get to Odaiba, we took the Tokyo Monorail (which is covered by JR Pass) to Tennozu Isle Station, where we transfer to the Rinkai Line (not covered by JR Pass) to Odaiba's Tokyo Teleport Station.
View outside Haneda Airport International Terminal
A Tokyo Monorail train can be spotted as part of the view.
The departure hall international terminal of Haneda Airport, with shops and restaurants at the top floors.
Haneda Airport International Terminal Monorail Station platform
Tokyo Monorail Service Patterns.
There are three distinct service patterns:
Red - Haneda Express - Non-stop service between Haneda Airport stations and Hamamatsucho
Yellow - Rapid - Bypasses some stations
Green - Local - Stops at all stations
Inside the Tokyo Monorail.
As the line serves Haneda Airport, it is expected that there will be multiple passengers with baggage. Therefore, the train is equipped with luggage storage racks. The rolling stock which I took today is the 1000 Series, a monorail EMU operating on this line since 1989 built by Hitachi.
Transferring to the Rinkai Line Tennozu Isle Station. At Tennozu Isle, the monorail station are located elevated while the Rinkai Line station are located underground.
The JR East's E233 Series Saikyo Line through service stopping at Tokyo Teleport Station. Through services from the JR Saikyo and Kawagoe Lines are operated on the Rinkai Line so that passengers do not need to go through the hassle of changing trains at Osaki Station. It is possible for passengers to go to Odaiba from as far as Kawagoe without the need to change trains.
Route Map of Rinkai Line and the JR Saikyo Line. Note that the JR Pass does not cover the Rinkai Line as it is not a JR Line.
Service patterns of Rinkai Line. The Commuter Express and Rapid trains stops at fewer stations while the Local train stops at all stations within Saikyo Line.
Ticketing machines with a large map of the Rinkai Line with fares stated for their respective destinations from Tennozu Isle station. Note that children below 12 enjoys half-fare.
Outside the ticket gates at Tokyo Teleport station, which is the station for the Odaiba area. It is close to numerous sites like the Fuji TV building.
Open space after exiting from Tokyo Teleport Station while on the way to Fuji TV Building.
Road sign and map of the Odaiba, with an indication of my current location. This can be quite useful to use as reference to wherever I am heading to.
Fuji TV Broadcasting Center
The 125m tall building is well known for its Neo-Metabolist design by Kenzo Tange. Kenzo Tange is a world-renown architect that designs the reconstruction of post-WW2 Japanese cities. It consists of 2 blocks, which are connected by a web of enclosed corridors with a 32m wide titanium-faced sphere suspended between the topmost corridors.
25F - Hachitama Special Observation Deck
24F - Mezama Sky
7F - Rooftop Garden
5F - Fuji TV Wander Street
1F - Theater Mall.
There is an escalator outside the building, which is enclosed in glass and steel.
Looking up to the titanium-faced sphere from the Rooftop Garden at 7F.
Inside the Mezama Sky at 24F, which is a studio that was used for recording for the morning show called Mezamashi TV. It offers visitors a glimpse on how recording and airing is being done.
The name "Mezama" is taken from Mt. Mezama, a volcano that erupted and spreads ash across North America thousands of years ago, impacting vast amount of skies and landscapes.
Views of the Rainbow Bridge from the Hachitama Sphere at 25F. The Rainbow Bridge connects the Odaiba/Tokyo Bay area with central Tokyo. The Yurikamome line light rail APM service also travels below this bridge and connects Odaiba with the JR Yamanote Line at the Shimbashi.
View of the surrounding Odaiba area from the Hachitama Sphere.
Below is the guidebook that I obtained, where visitors can collect stamps of the different points they visited. I have collected all stamps and uploaded the scanned copy of the entire brochure as shown below.
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A Yurikamome train travels along the elevated guideway. Yurikamome is an Automated Guideway Transit line that operates between Shimbashi and Toyosu with several stops in Odaiba. Its vehicles are different from conventional subway trains because
1) it runs on a light guideway instead of conventional rails,
2) it is driverless unlike the Tokyo Metro/Toei Subway network,
3) it uses rubber tires instead of traditional steel bogies, and
4) it is meant for lower capacity unlike traditional subway cars.
Odaiba - Aqua City
After finishing with Fuji TV, we proceeded to the nearby Aqua City to do shopping and have our lunch.
At Aqua City Odaiba, we had Thai Cuisine at Thai Cuisine Prince & Princess. After exploring the mall, we saw some street karts racing along the main road while on the way back to Tokyo Teleport Station, which can be rented for a fee.
View of the Statue of Liberty and Rainbow bridge
Street Karts at Odaiba
Limousine Bus to Shinjuku
From Tokyo Teleport Station, we went back to Haneda Airport's Royal Park hotel to pick up our baggage stored since check-out. After picking up our baggage, we proceeded to take the Limousine Bus to Shinjuku.
View of Tokyo Tower from the Limousine Bus from Haneda AP to Shinjuku
Neon sign of the nearby Yodobashi Camera. Yodobashi Camera is a Japanese major retail chain that specializes in selling household electronics, PCs, photographic equipment, TVs and video games.
Station signage of Keio Railway Shinjuku Station taken after alighting the limousine bus.
Shinjuku scenes at Night, just like seen in the movie Lost in Translation.
After arriving at Shinjuku, we checked in at the Ibis before going to explore the area and buy dinner at the nearby Isetan Department store back to our hotel.
Getting from the Airports to central Tokyo.
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