Helicopter Cruises in Tokyo! A Fantastic Experience! Romantic, Exciting and VERY Reasonably Priced!

I have found one of the the most fun and exciting things to do in Tokyo and that is going on a breath-taking helicopter cruise around the city at day or night. There is a company named Excel Air Service Inc. that now offers helicopter cruises around Tokyo that are fantastically fun and the memory of a lifetime.

I took my wife and son to Disneyland on Thursday and then we stayed in a hotel overnight. The next day we went to Excel Air Service at Urayasu Heliport to ride on their wonderful helicopter cruising service. Urayasu Heliport is just a few minutes from Disneyland. Excel Air Service the service that caters to big Hollywood stars and executives when they visit Japan. People like Tom Cruise "cruise" over Tokyo using Excel Air Service so you know they are the best and the safest! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the "cruise" joke!)

This one seats eight. There are several helicopters available.

Incredibly, the prices for the helicopter cruises are unbelievably reasonable. My son and I went on a 20-minute flight during the day (all together we spent nearly two hours having fun at the heliport and lounge) and we had a blast. I expected prices to be in the neighborhood of ¥40,000 to ¥50,000 for each person, but no! The price was about ¥22,000, including everything, for the two of us! 

When you enter the Excel Air Service lounge, you will be greeted by the check-in clerk just like you would at any airport... Of course, it's a helicopter heliport! 

The heliport has a lounge that is comparable to a VIP lounge at Narita for a big airlines like JAL or ANA. Top quality service and a free drink menu!

There is an outdoor patio area that over looks the beautiful Pacific Ocean and a nice view of Disneyland and Disney-Sea. I imagine that this is the place that guys would want to bring out the ring and propose (maybe after the flight?)

Our helicopter (this really is the helicopter that we rode on) coming back for a landing.

I took this photo of Tokyo Sky Tree. Click on image for larger view. Wow! It was a breath-taking view and Tokyo for as far as the eye could see!

Leave Urayasu Heliport, go around Ginza, circle Tokyo Sky Tree, and back. 

Wow! What a fantastic helicopter tour over Tokyo!

I can imagine that, as word gets out about this wonderful helicopter cruising service over Tokyo and the world's tallest structure, Tokyo Sky Tree, that this cruising in a helicopter service over Tokyo is going to become one of the hottest romance spots in town. I can see this as being the ultimate place to propose marriage and, heck, just to hold hands! What excitement! What fun! 

To get to Excel Air Service Inc. Go to Maihama station (the station you go to get get to Disneyland) and take the free bus shuttle (about 5 minutes by bus). By car? Free parking too!

〒279-0032

千葉県

浦安市千鳥14番地

浦安ヘリポート

Tel: 047-380-5555

Chidori 14 Banchi

Urayasu City

Chiba Prefecture

279-0032

Tel: 047-380-5555

Map: 

If you go by car, look for this sign by the side of the road... 

Tokyo's Top Morning FM Radio Show Returns For One Day: Jan. 3, 2012

Win a state-of-the art Dyson dc36 vacuum cleaner! Or an Antelope Zodiac DAC converter that converts MP3 to mighty digital audio! How about romantic helicopter tours for two around Tokyo! 2 people will win iPod iTouch! Over 40 pairs of ski lift tickets to Japan's top ski resorts and much more! All for free! All you have to do is listen! InterFM Special: 

Tuesday January 3, 2012 from 7:00 am ~ 11:00 am on 76.1 InterFM. 

"InterFM New Year's Holiday Special 2012 - Bam!" 


新春初笑い 2012年1月3日奴等が朝に帰って来る！76.1mhzインターＦＭ朝7時～　GMTの3人が沢山のお年玉をプレゼント！！日本においでの方、関東においでの方は是非お聞きくださいませ。

From April of 2006 to October of 2009, the highest rated and most popular radio show at the time was "Good Morning Garage." "GMG" as it was called was the flagship morning show of 76.1 InterFM and was the first time in that station's history to be #1 in ratings in the extremely competitive Tokyo Morning FM radio drive time competitive slot.

L to R: George, Taro, Mike

GMG was the first time that 76.1 InterFM beat the dominant Tokyo FM radio station, J-Wave, in ratings. It was the last time also.


On Tuesday January 3, 2012 the GMG gang with Wakana san will be back for a four hour special that will also feature Feng Shui trainer Shiuma san. It's going to be a blast.


Not only that, there's tons of presents too!


One lucky winner will get a chance to win an Antelope Zodiac DAC converter. This fantastic device converts your crappy sounding MP3 sound files into awesome sounding digital music the way it's supposed to sound.

Another lucky winner will also win the world's best vacuum cleaner, a Dyson DC36!

A lucky pair will win a romantic helicopter tour around Tokyo (just like Tom Cruise had) courtesy of Excel Airport!

Two lucky people will win an iPod Touch!

Three people will win ¥5000 coupons for flower arrangements from "Hana Boukujyo"

And five people will win "Boardsmart face masks" and forty lucky couples will win free ski-lift tickets for Japan's top ski and snow board resorts courtesy of Boardsmart.

And there's much more!


The show is entitled "InterFM New Year's Holiday Special 2012 - Bam!" (featuring George Williams, Taro Furukawa, Wakana san, Feng shui trainer  Shiuma san and finally, me, Mike Rogers)

Left: Wakana san Right: Shiuma san

That's Tuesday January 3, 2012 from 7:00 am ~ 11:00 am on 76.1 InterFM.


Click here to see all the great prizes lined up.


*some images above are not exact 

Robot Living and Lethal Toys: Every Healthy (Sick?) Boy's Dream Come True!

It's still the middle of the Obon summer holdiays and I'm at my folks in law's house. They don't drink, smoke nor gamble so I am having a merry Christian time (they aren't Christians and neither am I!)


This sitting around and doing nothing besides eating and napping all day gives me the chance to catch up on the back log of cool websites that I've wanted to introduce over the last year but just didn't have the time.

Well, today my geeky friends, you're in luck! Today I want to introduce a site called "Robot Living." Good blogs are supposed to be focused on one topic and this blog certainly fits the bill. My blog is, unfortunately, all over the place. If you are interested in robots and stuff like that, then at Robot Living you've died and gone to Robot Heaven!


At Robot Heaven they have updates on all sorts of robot stuff... Things you'd never even dream about. It's sort of like the Jetson's come true.


In a recent posting, they introduced a drone helicopter that you can buy. This, my friends, is a very disturbing toy. 

The Vanguard helicopter. Is that a mean looking

toy or what?

Now, every boy wants a helicopter that they can fly by remote control. Every kid dreams of flying in the skies. Every kid dreams of having a drone helicopter that has a 37mm grenade launcher and a 12 gauge shotgun on it that you can use to kill other kids or your neighbor's cat... Wait!.... What!? 


From Robot Living:

A new robot helicopter by Vanguard Defense called Shadowhawk has been released.  Shadowhawk has a range of 35 miles and can fly up to 70 miles an hour.  It can come equipped with a turbine or piston engine.  All models come with a Sony FCB EX-980 CCDTV camera as well as a FLIR Photon UTAM-32 Thermal Camera.

If you are in the military, then you have the option of adding a Taser XREP,  40mm, 37mm grenade launcher or 12 gauge shotgun with laser designator.  Yes, you can now get a robotic helicopter with a grenade launcher!  Now hold on a minute, get those ideas of launching hand grenades at your neighbor out of your head.

We are not quite sure how this will play out in regards to licensing if you as an individual want to use one.  Considering the News Corp’s The Daily has a drone and may or may not need licensing. Kashmir Hill from Forbes states:

Hobbyists are basically free to use drones as long as they keep them under 400 feet. At this point, civil and commercial use of drones is only allowed for research and development purposes. “Not for compensation or hire” says one FAA notice. To get government permission to use a drone (for non-hobby purposes), a private entity has to jump through hoops including getting an airworthiness certificate — meaning the thing is safe to fly — and an experimental certificate, approving the planned use of the unmanned system (uses are currently limited to research and development, marketing surveys, or crew training).

See? I told you that this was a disturbing toy... Not only is this a lethal toy (no problem there - I loved dangerous toys when I was a kid) but the idiots in the government have to make these toys have licenses too. Talk about being anal retentive!... I have to fly my toy helicopter so that it can "jump through hoops" in order to get a certificate!? Who needs a certificate to fly a stinking toy helicopter? What a bunch of jerks!


Hell, it's probably more fun to build your own dangerous toys by yourself than buying this piece of crap and then having to get a license for it. These morons in our government have to tax us for everything! I just hate it!

Vanguard Defense has already won a bid to supply Mongomery County in Texas with the Shadowhawk for it’s Homeland Security efforts.

Oh, now the story gets even more disturbing! Think about this: Why in the hell does Homeland Security need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on toys that can fire hand grenades and shoot shotguns at the domestic populace?

Now that I read this sh*t about this idiocy, I'm pissed off. Judging from a different model that doesn't have lethal abilities and sells for $50,000 each, I'd guess that this toy sells for over $70 ~ $80,000 each.

Go to the manufacturers homepage to see more about this insane toy.

Lethal toy helicopters for domestic police work!? Seriously, the United States has gone completely stark raving mad. I'm glad I left that nuthouse decades ago...

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Robot Living is cool. There's stuff there everyday that will either blow your mind or make you think "WTF!?" I suppose either one is more interesting than 97% of all the other stuff on the Internet you see nowadays.

If you go there don't tell them Mike sent you. I'm trying to hide my identity! ;)