tokyo tower

is the biggest letdown ever, and i didnt even have any expectations!

to begin with, it doesnt even look that nice at all. it's taller than the eiffel tower - which it was built to rival, and this will be but the first of many comparisons i will make between the two - but skinnier, and for some reason someone thought that lighting it up with blue lights for special events will make it look better, despite the fact that the blue lights completely clash with its colour scheme.

the eiffel tower also has a special light-up scheme, at least when i was there close to 3 years ago. believe me, sparkly white lights that twinkle every hour is a far better lighting effect than blue lights that are just.. there.

the tower from its base:

getting up to the tower was pleasant enough. we went up to the 2nd highest viewing gallery in the tower, and didnt have to wait too long to do so. it was a bit corny though, that the lifts had lighting effects that were meant to evoke the sense of being in space or in some futuristic setting.

i knew before going up that the tower is just a tourist trap, and that it's no big deal to be up there. hence, it was rather amazing that i could still be rather greatly underwhelmed despite having been mentally prepared.

for starters, i've been up the eiffel tower, and if you're going to build a tower to rival the eiffel, comparisons are only to be expected. and the eiffel tower gives a very good experience because it's open-air. standing at the viewing gallery, you can feel the wind in your hair and the cool on your face (i was there in autumn), which is a fantastic feeling when you're high up overlooking a beautiful city. with the wind, you really get the sense that the view before you is real; you're there in the flesh, and the elements are proof of that.

the tokyo tower, in contrast, offers a somewhat sterile experience. you're enclosed by glass in an mildly air-conditioned gallery, hence can only detachedly gaze upon the vista present. if you, in your excitement, want to see more of the view, you're stopped in by the glass, whereas you can reach out your hand, camera or head (if it's small enough) for the thrill of doing so on the eiffel.

besides, despite being over-romanticised, paris is undeniably a beautiful city because it was planned to be as such. Haussman's design of the city comprises long, wide avenues that create a vista - just think of the Champs-Élysées that leads straight up to the Arc of Triumph - making it great to view from above. the major monuments are lit up at night and often have long roads leading up to it, making it easy to identify them and admire their architecture. by contrast, tokyo's characteristic are its tall buildings, but, being taller than the tower itself, sometimes end up obscuring the view. there are not that many buildings with distinct architecture either, so there's little chance for feeling excited upon spotting a famous building. the distinctive sights to be seen from the tower are perhaps just roppongi hills and the ferris wheel near disneyland.

as can be surmised, i didnt spend long atop the tower, even though i was up on the eiffel for a looong time despite the cold winds. the overall experience wasnt helped by having the security guard try to chase us out of the tower before i could finish eating my dinner of pizza and fries. it wasnt even done politely, with him coming up to our table and nicely informing us that the tower is about to close; instead, what he did was go around the perimeter of the eating area shouting that it's 10pm (or perhaps 10.3pm) and they're closing. urgh.

thankfully, the tower is nicer from its base:

(i think this is a really nice pic, barring my face)

i like this last picture cos of the effect from the car going past :)

anyway, dont bother going up the tokyo tower, unless you want to be able to say that you've been up and then proceed to tell everyone how much you didnt like it. haha!

 

*: it has been brought to my attention that the tokyo tower wasnt built to rival the eiffel, but was instead its design was inspired by it.. i suppose this makes it slightly unfair to be comparing the tokyo tower to the eiffel…perhaps? but i think it’s really nice if these tall structures can have open-air viewing areas though.. like the umeda sky building, it has an open air top deck which makes it really really awesome..