Winter Break Part 8: Night Helicopter Tour Over Tokyo
Thursday, January 8, 2015
This is the second part of my posts about getting engaged. Here is the first part: Winter Break Part 7: I Got Engaged!
When we arrived at Maihama Station we went out the north exit (not towards Disney), went to a clock tower, and waited there. I realized we were waiting for a bus or something, but I had no idea where it would take us.
Other people started gathering in the same area, but then they got onto a hotel shuttle bus. Jonathan was very worried and thought whatever we were going to might be canceled. He kept checking a website and tried calling some number, but something wasn't updating and he couldn't find out anything. A couple other buses came, but they weren't what we were waiting for. I said I was happy enough and didn't care if we did anything else. I couldn't imagine the day getting any better so I really meant it. Jonathan was still very worried though. Whatever we were waiting for was late.
There was a group of three people who seemed to be waiting for the same thing. They spoke Chinese, but one guy spoke English and asked Jonathan if he was waiting for the same thing. I didn't catch the name of the place though. So then that guy called the place and told us the shuttle would be there around 7. Jonathan was very relieved!
When the shuttle van arrived I was very excited to see what it said on the side. Helicopter tours! I have wanted to do that for a looong time. I saw people fly over Tokyo in a helicopter when I watched some silly show called "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" back in college. Then I looked into it when I moved to Japan but it was expensive.
The driver didn't acknowledge us and seemed in a bad mood or something, but oh well. We were on our way!
Luckily the late shuttle and driver were the only bad experience. Once we arrived at Urayasu Heliport, the staff was extremely professional and it felt classy. The lounge was nice and I had a free orange juice while we waited for our flight.
We had to put our stuff in lockers, go through a metal detector, and watch a safety video before boarding. Then it was time to go! Boarding was exciting because the propellers really created a lot of wind. They spun super fast and were a bit scary, but cool!
We got in the helicopter with six other people. There were four seats facing forward and four facing back. They all faced each other. I was on the right side, by the window, facing forward.
After buckling in we soon took off. It was sooooooooo beautiful. It was a super clear night and the city sparkled. I've been up in towers at night, but they don't even come close. As the helicopter flew, the view constantly changed. It was awesome every time the helicopter tilted as it turned. We flew over many famous places such as Tokyo Tower, Skytree, Tokyo Dome, and Rainbow Bridge. So perfect!
It was pretty much impossible to get good photos, but Jonathan did take a few short videos. These pictures are some stills from that video. They don't do the view justice at all though.
Here is a short video showing a bit of the flight:
It was a fifteen minute flight so it went by very quickly, but it was enough time to see the major sights of Tokyo. It was the perfect thing to do after getting engaged. It made the day even more memorable and exciting!
After our flight they took a picture of us with another helicopter that wasn't the same helicopter we took, but it as similar.
Then we waited in the lounge for the shuttle bus back to Maihama Station. Jonathan had booked the flight through Japanican and received coupons for free drinks after the flight. So we got some white wine.
The heliport is right behind Disney Sea so the views are cool. We even saw the volcano erupt from there!
Soon the shuttle arrived. We had a different driver then who was much more friendly. On our way back to the station, we saw fireworks from Disney!
When we got back to Odaiba I just had to have a picture of me with Tokyo Teleport Station. I'm always amused by that station, but that day was the first time I actually took a train from there.
We ate dinner at Khazana, the Indian restaurant in Decks that we've been to several time before. I got a set with various curries and it was delicious as usual.
Wow! It's a picture of Jonathan at a restaurant and he's just being normal and smiling! He usually does something goofy.
Then we took the monorail to Takeshiba Station and walked towards Tokyo Tower. I was confused again. I couldn't think of anything around there besides Tokyo Tower, but that seemed unlikely. We had already seen more impressive views that day, so I really didn't know.
It turned out that we were going to a place called Sky Lounge Stellar Garden up on the 33rd floor of The Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel.
That picture is from their website.
The view was cool because Tokyo Tower stand out so brightly. The atmosphere was classy and relaxing, but not stuffy. We both got a drink (they're pricey, as we expected) and they also gave us some rice crackers and raisins to snack on. It was really nice but we had to rush a bit at the end because Jonathan wasn't feeling that well. He was getting over a cold, but he only felt bad at night. It was very similar to the cold I had when we went to Kyoto. It's good that he felt fine during the day! It's too bad that we had to leave then because a man working there offered to let us move to a different seat because our view of Tokyo Tower was partially blocked. I think we might go back before we leave in March though.
What an amazing, wonderful day! Best day ever! The weather had been perfect and neither one of us was sick (well, most of the day). I had been worried about getting sick because I have gotten sick during Christmas vacation both of the other two years I have been in Japan.
Jonathan proposed at the best time that day. I had been a bit suspicious, but I thought it would be at the end of the day if he did. If we had done the helicopter tour before the proposal I would have known it was coming because of doing something so fancy. So when he proposed on the Ferris wheel I was surprised!
He planned such an amazing day!!!!! :)
I definitely recommend taking a helicopter over Tokyo. It's pricey, but exciting! Here's the website: Excel Air Service
