A Journey of Art and Lights

Today was the only day we actually had firm plans for.  We had tickets for teamLab: Borderless.  We bought breakfast at the local Family Mart and ate together in the girl's room and talked about the day ahead.  I had the fried chicken patty Family Mart is famous for.  It was a thigh that was very moist and tender and had been friend fairly recently as it was still crunchy.

We convened together downstairs at the appointed time and walked to the Metro.  After a train change we found ourselves eagerly anticipating the experience!  If you attended the Van Gogh exhibit in Los Angeles, or any of the other cities it visited, you remember the projected images of his works on the walls as they moved, ebbed and flowed through the different rooms.  That's sort of what this was like.  Each room was a different projection and sometimes we came back into a room we'd been in and the projection was different.

There were also rooms with "exhibits" that we were asked not to touch.  One room was filled with LED lights hanging from the ceiling that had coordinated patterns to create a light show.  Many rooms had mirrors on the floor and ceiling, and in this room the mirrors created the illusion of thousands more strands of light than were actually in the room.  One room reminded me of the "core memories" from the movie "Inside Out", with spheres moving along tracks.

My favorite room was the one I called the "lily pad" room.  There were circles of a spandex-like material on a stick at about knee-height that gave way as I walked around the room on a pre-determined path.  The projections gave the appearance that I felt was lily pad-like.  I felt so serene in this room.  The music was very spa-like and I wanted to spend more time here, but there were no seats or benches to sit and stay and absorb the atmosphere.  

We spent 2 hours at teamLab and got lost easily, passing through many rooms several times trying to find places and projections we hadn't seen yet.  We lost each other many times and crossed paths with each other a few times.  It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad Kenji & Leo found it as something to do while we were in Tokyo.  It will stay with me the rest of my life.

Mom and I headed back to the room as my ankle was bothering me and I wanted to get off of it.  We picked up a veritable feast of a lunch at a little grocery store in the building over the Metro.  We went back to the room, pleased with our choices and eager to try our choices.  As we unpacked the bag we realized we had no silverware other than demitasse spoons in the room meant for the coffee/tea.  We laughed and made the best of, taking very small bites and stretching lunch out quite a while.  

Full and not eager to get back on my feet, I decided to take a nap and Mom did, too.  After we woke up and reconnected with the boys, we decided we really didn't want to eat anything more at the moment, but instead headed out in time to get over to the Shinjuku Government Building for their nightly Fun & Light show.  On Saturdays & Sundays the 15 minute shows are Pac-Man and Godzilla.  We joined the good sized crowd gathered in a courtyard across the street from a very tall building and we managed to find seats on the edges of flower beds and a couple of minutes later the Pac-Man show started.  I smiled as I saw the classic images of Pac-Man and the ghosts chasing him.  Images of Tokyo made appearances.

After a short break, the main event, Godzilla, appeared and began terrorizing Tokyo.  It was a uniquely Tokyo experience and a lot of fun!  It started to sprinkle near the end, but brought with it a cool breeze that was most welcome and a good trade off for the coming rain.

We found a close Metro entrance and ducked inside.  Mom and I shared a Pocari Sweat (a lightly flavored Gatorade-type electrolyte drink) while we waited for the subway.  When we got back to our station we all went into a Daily store and picked up items to have in our rooms for breakfast at our leisure tomorrow AM. The rain was more than sprinkles as we came out of Daily and the parts of my shirt that weren't yet stuck to me from the humidity were now pressed onto my skin with the rain as I had left my umbrella in the room.  *eye roll*

Mom and I have decided to go to St Alban's Anglican Church tomorrow AM for the only Anglican service in English in Tokyo.  Yet to be seen is if we'll make it to the 7:30 or 10:30 am service.  We've been waking up early enough we could make the 7:30, but might take our time and go to the 10:30.  We shall see.

We now only have 2 hours left in July 5 and no earthquake yet.