Odaiba

As promised, I am sharing you my photo collection of Odaiba. As mentioned in my earlier post, students who get admitted to the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) can have opportunity to be housed at the Tokyo International Exchange Center (TIEC) located in Odaiba. Odaiba is a neat place that many of our fellow Filipino students who were also then studying in Japan but were living in different areas were envious of us. My experience of this nice corner of Tokyo is worth telling.

These are all amateur shots from the Nikon D40 I bought when I was studying in Japan. I must say it is a great residential place for international students. Odaiba showcases a nice and quiet space for students because it is separate from the busy areas of downtown Tokyo. It has lots of parks and other areas where one could just sit and enjoy the beauty of nature. Odaiba is a reclaimed area and so it has wide green spaces that is not easy to find in other parts of Tokyo. At the same time, it also provides many venues for recreation and a fantastic view of great infrastructures.

The TIEC, my residence while in Tokyo, is located just beside the National Museum of Emerging Science (Miraikan), where Asimo and Astroboy can be seen. Also from TIEC, one can also jog to the Tokyo bay area to visit the Museum of Maritime Science and to take a glimpse of the Rainbow Bridge, a suspension bridge that holds three transportation lines in its two decks including the automated train Yurikamome. The FujiTV building can be seen also a few blocks away from TIEC (The FujiTV is the one with a huge ball-like structure on top). Near FujiTV, you can find the Aqua City Mall and a replica of the Statue of Liberty, sent to Tokyo in 1998 from France during the "French Year in Japan" according to WikiAnswers.com. In Odaiba, there is also a European-style shopping mall called VenusFort whose ceiling is just like that in The Venetian Macau which shows the clear blue sky. All these make Odaiba a great tourist destination even for locals. Living there itself is already an experience!