Tourist becomes the tour guide

After 2 weeks in Japan, learning how to navigate the train system and becoming familiar with the area, Linda left for the states. The next day my friend Brent came over for a week-long stay. On his first day here, we were off and running ... only 9 days to see everything Japan had to offer!

Brent's first day was a great way to start his adventure. We headed out on the train that Tuesday morning to Odiaba -- a popular shopping area. To get there, we took a boat across the bay and could kind of make out Rainbow Bridge through the cloudy sky. We then went to the sphere of the Fuji TV building where we got a sneak peek at a new Japanese movie coming to theaters and then we enjoyed the scenery from the sphere's windows.







In Odiaba they have a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Not exactly sure why, but apparently France gave them the smaller version as a gift 10 years ago.




We followed the visit with Ms. Liberty up with a quick lunch at McDonald's and then headed to Pallette town for some shopping. They have a very large Ferris Wheel at the shopping center, but because of the heat, we decided to pass on the ride. Instead we enjoyed browsing the shops that were extremely similar in design to the Caesar's Palace Forum shops -- cobblestone walkways, blue sky muraled ceilings, even Romanesque statues. Very familiar ... kept hoping for a Cheescake Factory, but no such luck.

We found a pet store that had some adorable puppies for sale. The prices on these pooches, however, was astronomical! They had an adorable little Yorkie, that I think was worth close to $2000! An adjoining store had an entire collection of designer clothing and accessories for puppies ... some sporting some serious bling. Very cute stuff, but so extravagant.

After shopping, we decided on a whim to check out Tokyo Disney. We found a bus that took us to the park and we enjoyed a discounted fare after 6 p.m. So Brent and I enjoyed the park which is just like Anaheim's Disneyland, but on a smaller scale.
Our trip through Pirates of the Caribbean, however, was marred when the ride malfunctioned. After waiting more than 20 minutes we had to exit the ride before the end. It was funny knowing that something was wrong, but not understanding the information that was announced.



The Light Parade was great with it's mix of English and Japanese being spoken and sung by the cast of familiar characters. And the fireworks display was just beautiful. It was a lot of fun, but we were completely worn out by the time we made it home late that night.