Team Labs - Tokyo

Team Labs was a highlight of our trip before we'd even set foot in the place. If you've read the rest of the day's blog, please read on to see how the day went...

When we eventually met up with our travellers, we were almost ready to line up, they'd made it with 4 minutes to spare! That 75 minutes we'd given ourselves really did pay off! I lined up for our Team Labs experience, not really knowing what to expect as I don't have Tiktok. All I knew was that I'd have to take my socks and shoes off and there was mirrors on the floor so I should wear appropriate bottoms. Estelle didn't get that memo so we had to seek out some rental pants before we got moving. 

As we entered we could hear the sound of running water, however before us stood a loooooooong dark corridor with a hint of blue lighting dotted intermittently along the footwell. Something took over me, my mind raced at the idea of being able to run in the darkness, nobody seeing my reddened face. Without any further thought, I sprinted at the open space ahead of me. At this point I will say, if you can't see the floor: don't run. In fact, I think that should have been on their information cards. Anyway, I did run. I ran as fast as my now-little legs would carry me towards the sound of running water. I readied myself for the slight incline but what my mind didn't get the chance to process, was the delicate decline before the rise. 

THWACK!

My aching, tired legs could no longer support my frame and I hurtled towards the ground at great speed. I jolted my head back to preserve it from damage. My body took the impact and I slid like a baby penguin up the incline. I have been told that the sound of the air being forced out of my body was akin to the theme tune of Eastenders. I peeled myself off the floor in fits of laughter and off we went to find the running water. 

Each new area came with a different set of rules and, after reading the second set of rules, we walked through the door and landed in a bean bag pit which was exactly as fun as it sounds. Within minutes of getting myself off the floor, I was face first in the second art installation.

We headed to the pièce de résistance. A 3D, interactive LED display in a room of mirrors. The effect was sublime. The lights seemed to travel into forever and the patterns it created caused shocks of awe all around. This was definitely a big highlight of the day and we spent a long time taking in the majesticness of it all. 

Next we moved into a room of giant colourful balls. If you searched hard enough, you could find the balls that changed the lights and created a tune. Sam and Paul found the powerful balls and created some light tunes for us, we were the only people in the room who knew how to change the lights! Zak ncouraged a game of hide and seek and Colin and I rushed off to find our hiding places - making the most of the enviornment around us. 

A short walk to the next exhibition caused a lot of excitement: another water exhibition. This time we were warned that the water would reach knee height. We made sure Anya tucked her rent shorts up and off we went. Glowing in the darkness were Koi darting between the legs of visitors before us. We splashed around with the joy of Theresa May in a field of wheat, chasing the Koi and watching them disappear into a blur when suddenly, we realised that when a Koi collides with a human, they explode into a bloom of flowers and petals. I don't think I need to explain what ensued after this discovery...

The final area of note, which Colin claimed was his favourite area, was the flower dome - a dome shaped room with a 4D display of fallen flowers. As we lay on the floor, the flowers decended from every direction as the smell of fresh flowers filled the air. As I have suffered from vertigo the majority of this holiday, I found this experience quite nauseating. 

The final area of Team Labs was distinctly average after the experience we'd had thus far. We walked through a garden with shiny blobs and a room with flowers growing from a ceiling fan. 

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our Team Labs experience. As a group, we thought that it would have been a better experience if we'd saw the blobs and the flowers first: they wouldn't have felt so average if we'd had nothing to compare them too. We all enjoyed different areas more which I think has been a theme of our travels. 

If the UK ever gets a Team Labs, I think we'd be the first group of people to recommend the experience.