So on our first unaccompanied day in Japan, my brother Ryan and I had headed off to Bunkyo, Tokyo, making our way straight to Big Egg City, aka Tokyo Dome City.

DSC07302 ryan lotter looking at thunder dolphin at laqua in tokyo dome city

Having now ogled more than enough baseball related things to satisfy our need, we next turned our gaze to LaQua, the adjacent spa resort (complete with shops, restaurant, and thrill attractions) that is technically still part of the bigger Tokyo Dome City complex.

(The reason for having grabbed our attention, is of course the giant, hubless Ferris wheel – Big O – and noisy roller-coaster – Thunder Dolphin – that passes right through both the building and Ferris wheel as part of its route! How can you not want to go and take a closer look at that!)

DSC07305 view of thunder dolphin rollercoaster at laqua in tokyo dome city

Although neither Ryan nor I was interested in visiting a spa at that time of day, it’s worth noting that if you did pay a visit to Spa LaQua, you would be treated to a particularly luxurious onsen experience, with the spa hosting natural hot spring pools, an outdoor bath, massage bubble bath, saunas and of course serene relaxation areas.

(And if I think back now to how all the walking seriously killed my feet, in hindsight perhaps we should have made a pit stop there!) 

IMG_20141004_102748 japanese restaurant plastic replica food dishes on display in laqua, tokyo dome city

After watching people enjoy some of the thrill rides (note, LaQua also has a water slide on the premises!), we played around with the idea of grabbing a bite to eat (which by the way is quite easy in Japan thanks to their obsession with picture menus and of course their world famous plastic replica food displays to help you along), did a spot of shopping (technically browsing through a supermarket to see how it looks), and then settled for some delicious Halloween-themed ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, better known as 31 in Japan.

IMG_20141004_105126 ryan lotter eating baskin-robbins halloween ice cream at laqua in tokyo dome city

(Seriously, their selection of flavours are incredible!)

And what were we doing while we were wolfing down our refreshing treats?

Why taking in the immensely entertaining Water Symphony musical fountain display of course!

Related Link: Tokyo Dome City | LaQua Spa Resort