Japan - Day 5: DisneySea

I only made it until 4am today -- two steps forward, one step back? It was a pretty comfy sleep though. I should have taken a photo of us all in our matching Miracosta Mickey pajamas. Good thing we have one more night!

Today we head to DisneySea -- generally known as the more unique/special of the two Tokyo Disneyland parks. I think I read somewhere that DisneySea was originally intended as the second park for California's Disneyland, but kept running into issues with the local permits, so they decided to ship the park from Los Angeles over to Tokyo instead. 

One of the perks of staying in Miracosta is the ability to enter the parks during "Happy Entry" -- but honestly the bigger benefit is being able to use the Happy Entry line itself. All the reports online will tell you if you don't have Happy Entry, you have to get here at ungodly hours (like 6am!). So instead, here we are nearly at the very front of the line at the much more reasonable 8am. Yes, some of us are still a bit half asleep. 

Because we were willing to skip some of the US-duplicate rides (like Soaring) and pay to skip the line on others (like Frozen), we got to be first in line waiting for Tower of Terror to open! Excited family selfie. 

Can you find us in the photo? High marks from everyone. The ride felt shorter than California's version, but just as thrilling!

We followed this up with Indiana Jones. Not sure why L looked more terrified on this one...

Disneysea food was much more impressive to me -- that ice cream churro sundae thing had mango pudding, rice crispies, fresh mango chunks, and jellies. Every bite was a new surprise!

These meat naans were also quite tasty. And only $3 each!

L and R hamming it up at the entrance to the new Fantasy Springs land. 

I don't think I caught photos of the actual frozen ride, but it was very impressive! Really long too, I kept thinking they would skip ahead in the story, but then another room would open. 

After Frozen, L and Baba were fading a bit so we decided to split up. They headed back for a quick nap while R and I stayed in the park longer -- we met back together in time for the Big Band Jamboree. Surprisingly, the show was entirely in English! It was fine dancing and costumes, but I don't understand why the Japanese visitors would like that show -- none of the singing is even live? But it was a refreshing bit of rest for us after not understanding much of any other show.

After the show and a couple little rides, L and Baba went back for more napping/rest time while R and I braved on. 

Side note on the Japanese Disney fans. They took it to another level. You think this is a keychain or plushie vendor? Nope, just a dressed up Disney fan!

The Rapunzel line was definitely the longest wait of the day -- I think it was a good 100 minutes. R really enjoyed the sets and scenery though! I've always loved the lantern scene. Might be one of my favorites from all the Disney movies. 

We skipped most of Mermaid Lagoon because it was mostly kiddie rides, but it was very impressive to look at. 

Around dinner, Baba and L rejoined us. We think K might have started coming down with a little bug unfortunately. But hopefully the nap helped! We paid for another skip-the-line pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth - the drop at the end was a fun surprise. After that, it was time to stake out a spot for the nighttime waterfront show. I'd say Believe was nice...but not as amazing as Fantasmic. That could easily have been due to our lack of Japanese comprehension though. 

Last ride of the night -- Raging Rapids roller coaster! L thought it was scary, R thought it was great. Do we have a thrill seeker of the family?

Ok I lied, as we were walking back, we passed RIGHT by Sinbad, so I made everyone ride it with me again. This is like the Small World of DisneySea. I'd never heard of Sinbad as part of the Disney lore before, but it must be? Like Frozen, the scenes just went ON and ON, Baba was not so impressed. 

And with that, our Tokyo Disney adventure was complete. Here's the shot I missed of us in our matching PJs! Yes, L got another Stitch. Early birthday present. 

I'm very glad we were able to snag the Miracosta rooms -- I think L would have been pretty miserable without the two naps today. And it would have been impossible to do that staying anywhere else. Though...probably not something I would repeat -- stay at the cheaper hotel and save the $ for more skip-the-line passes next time!

Tomorrow, we head to Hakone for relaxation time!

Japan - Day 4: Ninjas & Disneyland!

Today was a bit of a sleep-in day for us -- I made it all the way to 5am! We've got breakfast down pat now -- here's the spread for the four of us! Baba with his pork buns, twins with their berry smoothies and donuts. I figured I'd make up for my fried chicken with a green smoothie 😆. 

We packed up our stuff (kind of hard thanks to our various shopping trips...definitely need to get a suitcase if we want to buy anything else), and then headed down to our lunch adventure: Ninja Tokyo. I won't add all the photos and videos here of the magic and illusions and such, but suffice it to say that I thought the whole thing was really well done. Yes, maybe a little overpriced, but the food was quite good (I think it was 5-6 courses in all), the magic was legitimately impressive, and the overall experience was a hit for the whole family. 

The twins thought it was funny how we were taken to a jail cell basically for the meal. 

This was R's favorite magic trick -- the "invisible" appetizer cracker: 

I think this was the second course -- even the ninja star was edible!

This was Baba's cheesecake (frog) and sorbet (rock) dessert course. 

100% gimmicky. But what can I say, we are all suckers for this sort of thing. 

After lunch, it was time to check-out and head to Disneyland!

We didn't enter the park until 2:30, but today was the Tokyo Disneyland day (as opposed to tomorrow, the DisneySea day), and we had heard that most of Disneyland was actually pretty identical to Disneyland California, Magic Kingdom, and Shanghai...so we figured a half day would be enough for us.  

One of my biggest takeaways is how much better "maintained" the park is. Like even on things like Jungle Cruise or Pirates, where all of the figurines are identical to their US park counterparts, the Tokyo versions just look more pristine, all parts working perfectly, etc. Twins enjoying the humor from our Jungle Cruise Skipper...apparently certain humor transcends language barriers.

Obligatory family shot with the castle. 

Twins' favorite ride of the day: Pooh's Hunny Hunt. 

Lao Lao will be happy to know we caught the Tokyo version of Its a Small World -- here they did a version adding in Groot and friends from Guardians from the Galaxy. Maybe they do this in the other versions now too, but I don't remember seeing so many Disney characters interspersed amongst the dolls before. Even Stitch made it in!

Sadly we didn't get to try the Monsters ride. It broke down RIGHT when we got there. Sigh. Note for future: ride your must-dos early!

I think that disappointment also sapped us all of our momentum/staying power...or maybe it was getting cold? Regardless, against my somewhat weak protests, we decided to head to the hotel after that -- didn't even make it to the parade or nighttime show. I know - Jiu Jiu and Lao Ye would be aghast! Parting shot appropriately captures the mood:

I suppose it was only the third full day and we were able to catch the fireworks show from the Miracosta hotel room. 

Showers and all in bed by 9 again. Early entry tomorrow to DisneySea!

Japan - Day 3: Takao, Ghibli & Capybaras

I did slightly better. 3am this time. Let's hope it helps me stay more alert throughout the day!

Today is yet another day of adventure - I'm getting a little lazy though, so we are going to go backwards for the recap (because the pictures auto-loaded from most current to earliest). 

We were all in bed by 10pm - yet another 7-11 dinner (Ian protested at first but I still haven't fully adjusted and the idea of sitting down for food at 7pm felt more nauseating than enjoyable for me...he was appeased by the quality of the beef udon he picked up though. Convenience store meals are LEGIT here). 

 This was our last adventure of the day - capybara cafe! Notice that even with a capybara distracting him, Baba continued to play in his weekly poker game! 😆 He reported that it felt kind of like a hedgehog.

There was only one capybara, but dozens of cats, who were very very interested in the fish paste treats they gave out. It is astonishing the cats aren't all ginormous. 

During the walk to the capybara/cat cafe, we got a little tired, so...crepe and mochi treat breaks seemed appropriate. (It's so much easier to agree to buy treats when they are only $1-2). 

I have to say, Japan does slightly sweet but not over sweet desserts REALLY well. 

Where did we walk from you might wonder? We spent a little over an hour that afternoon at the famous Ghibli museum! 

Getting these tickets was QUITE the process. A month in advance, at a specific time, we had to do an electronic queue for hours to grab a slot. Ian's take afterwards: don't understand what all the fuss is about. Kid's take: enjoyable! But they wish they could have watched more movies. Mama's take: nice...but don't think we would come back unless we happened to need to pass by Mitaka to something else. The exhibits were pretty cool (especially this one with strobe lighting that showed how clay figurines could be made to look animated), but so limited in number that it was questionably worth the reservation fuss. Maybe that's kind of the whole feel of a Ghibli studio movie though? But it was super cheap...and there's a certain coolness in "got to see something because it's rare and everyone wants to see it" value. So all in all glad we got the tickets! (Plus it was so conveniently located by the capybara cafe -- the ones in Tokyo would have been way harder to get reservations for). 

The walk from the subway to the Ghibli museum was a long this river walkway with was lined with some very pretty cherry blossoms trees. This might be our best shot of the trip so far!

Before the Ghibli museum, we had lunch all the way out in Mt. Takao. A friend had recommended this place - Ukai Toriyama. It was very very unique, definitely an experience to remember. Each dining party sat in a private little room set within their gardens, with some amazing views. 

The restaurant even had a wedding going on! So we manage to catch the drums and join in celebrating the bridal procession. Pretty cool to experience! 

This was our little dining room behind the twins, if it had been another week or so these cherry blossoms probably would have been in bloom -- alas, but the water wheel was still cool to watch during the meal!

The meal actually had a number of things we weren't so keen on. But I definitely had some highlights too: exhibit A - amazing sashimi with this miso paste. 

Exhibit B: really good beef skewers that they grilled for us at the table. 

Even with some misses (I didn't care for the "deep friend young river fish" or the "onion salad" for example), looking at the amount of food they gave...you can see no one left the meal hungry. 

Interior shot of the private room. 

And the whole thing was only $250. Quite the deal from Bay Area pricing standards!

To work up our appetite for the meal, we actually started the day with a quick trip up Mt. Takao. My legs were oddly SUPER tired though, so I suggested the cable way up and back instead of walking, which, surprise surprise, no one protested. 

View of Tokyo in the far distance. 

The cableway is what Baba would say was actually a funicular. Pretty amazing how steep the path was. 

And to circle back to the morning before all of this adventure...of course it was another convenience store visit for breakfast. We tried out the automatic smoothie maker this time. Very tasty! Twins also showing off their new fashion outfits - very on-trend, no?

And there, in reverse, was our day 3! So sad with each day that goes by that means there is one day less to go.  Tomorrow we move on Disneyland!

Japan - Day 2: Shrines & Baseball

I sadly woke up around 1:30. Everyone else slept until 5 (or in Baba's case, 7)...so...maybe my power nap on the flight wasn't such a good idea after all? 

Oh well! It is what it is! 

Today was a pretty packed day - the plan was to head to Meiji shrine early since it would be open, then wander around Harajuku/Shibuya until lunchtime, and then off to a Japanese baseball game with our friends V and A and their kids -- the twins used to go to preschool with their son, though it turns out none of them remember each other 😆. 

So we started with some conbini breakfast: strawberries (HIGHLY praised by everyone, I admit, they were quite good. But at nearly $1 a strawberry, yeesh!) and onigiri. 

Meiji shrine was very peaceful at this hour of the day. Fit the mood well. The twins got into the entire shrine experience:

Hand washing, getting some couplets, posing for photos. 

On the walk to the sushi restaurant where we were meeting our friends, we passed through Yoyogi Park, allegedly a prime cherry blossom picnic spot. We felt very lucky to have caught the blooms and yes, the cherry blossoms were pretty...but couldn't help but feel the bright blue picnic tarps detracted from the ambiance!

In Shibuya, we visited the iconic crossing (it was much more impressive later on in the day when there were more people).

And squeezed our way through Takeshita Street. I would have stopped for some crepes or curly fries...but the twins did not like the idea of standing in line for anything. This...does not bode well for us hitting up any "hot" spots. Oh well! I'm not an Instagram-er anyhow!

After lunch (conveyor belt sushi, the fatty tuna was VERY good - the twins enjoyed the mochi desserts more though), we headed over to the baseball game. Meiji stadium is home to the Yakkult Swallows (I may have referred to the mascot as a penguin by mistake a couple times -- doesn't it look kind of penguin like?!).

The game was pretty entertaining, not because of the actual ballplay (that was actually a little boring, only 2 runs the entire game!), but the nonstop chanting, singing, and coordinated cheering was definitely an experience. The Swallows also have this thing where everyone pulls out tiny shiny umbrellas after every home run and during the bottom of the 7th inning. Pretty cool to see!

I have to say I was kind of dying of sleepiness though. Good thing we were forced to be out -- if I had been given the opportunity, I absolutely would have gone home for a nap. 

After the game, we decided to appease the twins and hit up a "cheap clothing store" -- Uniqlo. It was a surprising hit for everyone. I think we all came out of the shop with several new wardrobe pieces (Baba included). I kept being afraid our paper bag would burst open during the subway ride home. 

By this point, I was beyond done for the evening. So I skipped out on dinner (I heard they had curry and more conbini snacks) and took a nice hot bath instead. My feet were tired! 

Everyone was lights out and asleep by 9. Here's hoping I make it beyond 1:30 this time...

Japan - Day 1: Planes & Trains!

We are headed to Japan for spring break! Baba and I have been before but this is the twins first experience to the country. Most of the excitement was over the anticipated shopping and eating. 

L planned to travel vlog the trip so I ended up not taking as many photos as I would have otherwise...so I've got nothing from the 11 hour plane ride, the first train ride, or the first day (yes, there was eating and shopping). 

But for those wanting a quick recap: we thought Zipair was perfectly fine -- I think we paid a bit more for the extra leg room seats and they were decently comfortable. I brought along one of those blow up inflatable leg rests and it was such a hit once we tried it out that the twins and I fought over it for the rest of the trip. The ramen for purchase was tasty enough and the free wifi was actually decent too (not streaming videos, but I did internet browsing and some last minute work emailing/chatting). I think I might have even caught an hour or so of sleep.

Once we got into Narita, we stood in line for a LONG time for customs/immigration entry. I would say it was almost an hour. But then once we got through, we were very fast in getting our welcome suica cards, exchanging our Klook tickets for the Skyliner passes, and getting ourselves on the train to Ueno. In total, I think it took us less than 15 minutes to do all three -- might have cut it a little close though, we did have to run down the escalator to the departing train...no delays in Tokyo!  Proud travel planning moment: after clearing customs and being deposited into Narita, I said "ok! Let me check the spreadsheet for what floor the suicas are on!" and L said "only you Mama would have this level of detailed planned on your spreadsheet!" I felt so seen! 😆 

Our first hotel, Section L, is actually really nice! It isn't a big room certainly, but the clever use of space throughout made it feel not too crowded. And they even had a full kitchen if we wanted to make ramen or microwave some leftovers. Very convenient to Chiyoda line also! Barely a two minute walk to the subway. 

We unpacked a little and decided to go in search of dinner. Well...blame the jet lag, but let's just say we ended up in a restaurant thinking the display curry looked good...and it turns out it is a beef tongue specialty shop. Like literally it serves nothing but beef tongue. I thought it tasted great! But the twins may have ended up with a dinner of edamame and rice...but it was tasty rice!

Then we tried to shop for some Onitsuka sneakers...but honestly the lines were SO long and the shoes also didn't look THAT great...so we ended up hitting up a Seria and a Loft instead. Walking through the Ameyoko alleys was a bit crazy! I guess it was a Friday night...

And with that, we called it a night. We lasted until about 9pm or so (well, Baba had skipped the shopping so he probably got an extra hour or two on us). 

Successful first day!

 

DC - Day 3: Art Day

This was our last day in DC before heading over to WV for Thanksgiving celebrations so it would be a bit abbreviated. 

That doesn't mean we won't sleep in again though! In fact, this time we didn't even make it down to the restaurant for breakfast. I went down and brought back some takeout orders for the sleepy crew to chow down around noon. 

After stuffing ourselves with pancakes and croissants again, we headed off for more culture.

Here's an entrant from the Sculpture Garden on the National Mall. 

There was this other one of a house that was kind of trippy -- you couldn't really tell if it was flat or concave or convex at first but then once you figured it out, you couldn't see the other perspectives anymore. Pretty cool!

Appreciating the Peacock Room:

This suspended Bi from ancient China is estimated to be almost 5000 years old! Amazingly well preserved. The edges were SO precise. 

Panorama of the Buddha room. 

We saw alot of other cool artifacts from Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, and China -- good supplement to the Social Studies units.

Parting shot!

Final thoughts:

- Staying within walking distance of the museums was crucial. If we come again, I probably would have optimized for that even more. 

- Two museums is probably our maximum for any given day -- but things like sculpture gardens or monuments were nice for diversity. 

- The Conrad was a really nice property -- beds were comfy, service was good, the twins loved the panda gifts, and between the $60 breakfast credit each day and the $100 food/beverage credit, we basically paid nothing for our three brunch meals (menu variety was very standard American but quality was pretty good).

- Dry shoes and layers are crucial to keep complaining about outdoors walking to a minimum. 

- The DC Circulator is amazing for monument transportation. 

- Pre-Thanksgiving timing is actually pretty ideal, not too cold when it's not raining, crowds didn't seem bad except at the Lincoln Memorial, were able to get same day or walk-in visits to everything we wanted to see (except White House).

- We will now bring the portable hot pot cooker on every family trip. 😋

DC trip over - next on the list: Japan for spring break!