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Tokyo - June 2008
June 15, 2008
Since the day our last trip ended, Mia has been asking to go back to Tokyo. When our trip to the States fell through due to the glacially slow pace of the US Passport office, we decided to go to Tokyo and continue Mia's birthday tradition at Disney there. We also thought we'd take a little risk and try to swing one of the free flights available through the Air Force base here. It's a bit of a gamble because it's similar to flying standby, and not being able to plan things is totally not my style, but this particular flight was reported to be easy to get on and scheduled weekly so we really could (almost) count on it as if we were taking a commercial flight. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. Turns out it was a Northwest Airlines flight complete with lunch, beverage service, and movies on-demand. And with 4 seats to ourselves and the miracle of two sleeping babies, I got to watch The Other Boleyn Girl which my book club just finished reading. Bonus!
Our first day was mostly taken up with traveling, so we just checked into the hotel and went down to dinner at Kikuya, the Japanese restaurant that we wanted to try last time but ran out of time to do. I think it was the last Japanese food we had. We turned the trip into quite the American affair between Outback, Hard Rock Cafe, a Banana Republic shopping spree and of course Disney. I think after a year of living in Okinawa, going to Tokyo isn't for experiencing Japanese culture as much as it is for finding the American things we haven't seen in ages!
This trip we took a lot of excursions outside of the city. On Thursday, we went to Kamakura, home of The Great Buddha.
On the way there, we had some Senbei, a little snack that the area is famous for.
We walked up a touristy shopping street on the way to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine. Lots of steps to climb with a couple of sleeping kids strapped on!
Friday was Mia's birthday. We started out the day with breakfast in bed.
Then we went on a 2 day tour of Mt. Fuji & Hakone. We are usually not prepackaged tour kind of people, but this one was really good. They picked us up from the hotel and drove us out to Mt. Fuji for a few different views of the mountain. I had no idea that you could leave the bustling city behind and be driving through the mountains in minutes.
At the hotel where we stopped for lunch, the girls attracted quite a crowd. At one point there were no less than 9 girls taking turns fawning over Mia or Ellerie, all cooing "Cawaii" over and over again which I think means something in the general ballpark of "Cute".
The afternoon consisted of a tour boat cruise around Lake Ashi and a ropeway ride up to Mt. Komagatake where we found another little shrine and some great views of Hakone.
That evening we stayed at the Prince Hakone "Lakeside Annex". There's always a catch isn't there? We had been circling this beautiful hotel all afternoon and the sign seemed to indicate that it was the Prince Hakone, the hotel that we were supposed to stay in overnight. Then they dropped us off at the Lakeside Annex... Oh well, it was nice, clean and I'm not complaining. It was a little smaller than expected in the bed department, so Mia was excited to get to make a tent bed that night.
One fun surprise was that there was an Onsen, an open air bath filled from hot springs which are said to have healing properties. The protocol to use them is to 1. get naked in front of anyone else who happened to be there at the same time, 2. scrub yourself in the shower like you've never bathed before, 3. once you're super clean, you may go sit in the special water for as long as you like, but for us was about 5 minutes before getting overheated and leaving. There are separate baths for men and women and I'm told that the men's bath had a great view overlooking the lake. Hrmph.
The second day we were on our own to tour around Hakone and get back to the train station to catch the shinkansen on our own. We found Kurotamago in Owadakuni which are eggs that are hard or soft-boiled in the hot springs. The sulfur in the water turns the shells black. Eating one gives you 7 years of extra life! We split one so maybe we'll each get to live 3.5 years longer.
The rest of the afternoon we spent at the Hakone Open Air Museum. The main point of this was to give Mia a big park to play in and run around but I think we had more fun than she did! We loved the place. Especially the dim sum restaurant with the great views. As luck would have it, this is the day my camera battery died. We might find some more photos when I download the other camera.
That night we stayed at a different hotel because our favorite one was full. I use that term hotel loosely. But that's not the point. We hadn't been there before and although we thought we had prepared ourselves by bringing a map, it was apparently not such a good map and we wandered around for an hour looking for the place. Lugging 2 kids, a carry-on suitcase and 2 backpacks. I finally went into an establishment labeled "hotel" on it's sign to ask for directions. The woman saw me with the baby and said "No! Couples only!". I glanced around the walls and I realized it was one of these Love Motels that I had heard about when we first moved to Okinawa! I guess it isn't an urban legend afterall!
Sunday morning we made our way back to The New Sanno, our little piece of heaven in Tokyo. I'm telling you, we make our vacation plans around the availability of this place. It's that good. After checking in, we went over to the Imperial Palace Gardens to look around.
On the way there, we had some tasty cheeseburgers with itty-bitty french fries. And on the way back we had Outback. A few minor changes to the menu, but overall pretty tasty! Oh, almost forgot. We tried to find square watermelons but to no avail. A friend who used to live in Tokyo gave us one lead but that wound up a dead end. The concierge who is wonderful and has never failed us before made a few calls and told us that we'd have to wait until August. Guess we'll have to go back!
Monday we went out to Yokohama for the biggest Chinatown outside of China. The vendors there sure do want to sell you chestnuts! We also discovered that the train goes right to the mall. Not near it, when you step off the train you step INTO THE MALL. Now we're talking!
You can also make it to Landmark Tower without ever going outside. It's got the highest observation deck around. It was a rainy day for us so we couldn't see too far, but we had a nice relaxing break at the little cafe up there. Two sleeping children, a couple of beers and a great view.... oh wait, one of them woke up.
When the rain cleared up, we went across the street to ride the ferris wheel. That thing is TALL!
Then we ended the evening with some more classic American food.
Tuesday morning: We're going to Disney!
As you can see, it's the happiest place on earth.
I think Ellerie enjoyed her first Disney trip.
As usual, Mia loved the teacups.
They sell every flavor of popcorn imaginable, and then some others. Chocolate, caramel, sure. Sea salt, yeah... Strawberry hmm well ok. But I have to draw the line somewhere:
Wednesday we went to Disney Sea. I had no idea what to expect, but I really enjoyed it! Mia was thrilled to find Minnie Mouse there. The previous day we asked her who she wanted to see. She said Minnie Mouse. We looked all over for her but didn't see her. We even went to her house but she wasn't home. Mia didn't want to talk to any other characters besides Minnie. So it's a lucky break that we found her!
Mia also got to ride her first roller coaster! She held on for dear life, her little knuckles turning white as a sheet, but said she loved it and rode it 3 times.
She barely made the requirements-- 3 years old and 90 cm. I'm not sure she actually fit the 2nd one, but the nice woman with the yardstick gave her her pass into the world of big girl rides on the benefit of the doubt. And wasn't she proud of it!
We ended the day with a splash in the fountain. It was actually pretty fun to watch since the water would spray to the music they had playing there.
To celebrate the end of a successful vacation, we had a tasty Italian dinner in the Venetian section of the park then closed the place down as the girls slept. It was a fine time.
On Thursday we had to head home. See you next time Mt. Fuji!
See all of our Tokyo Photos.
Posted by Kimberly at June 15, 2008 01:07 AM
Comments
Thank you for such great pictures of your trip. I will be going to Japan in my lifetime, but not sure when, and this way I got to see really cool stuff. Love your blog and you can still be on facebook and boycott it, Kim. Just don't put pictures of yourself. That is how I'm still boycotting it :) Take care.
Lourdes
Posted by: Lourdes at June 15, 2008 01:35 AM
Thanks for sharing your trip. It looks like you all had a great time!
Posted by: Erin at June 15, 2008 07:59 AM
Once again, it seems like Mia had a wonderful birthday! Joyeux Anniversaire Mia!
Posted by: Tatie Ninie at June 15, 2008 10:46 PM
Mmmm....curry popcorn. I think that sounds delicious!
Posted by: Julie at June 17, 2008 09:51 AM