It's been 16 years since Steve and I were in Kyoto for our honeymoon. 17 years since I was in Nagoya on Mission Megumi with Power to Change (then called Student Life or Campus Crusade). 18 since Steve and I visited Tokyo together. 20 years since I was at high school in Chiba, and 21 years since I first visited this beautiful and unique place called Japan.
I'm not sure how the years have racked up so quickly but Japan has such a strong hold on my heart and I was so excited to be finally planning a trip back. There was lots of research and planning. The somewhat devastating news that the Japan Rail Pass most commonly used by tourists to travel the length and breadth of Japan was increasing in price (nearly double!) definitely changed some things.
We talked to the girls all the time about our plans, the places we were going to stay and let them see the accomodation on booking.com when we had it locked in so they knew what things were going to look like. It was a tricky balance of managing expectations though and we did have some talks around how not to get lost in a busy train station and what to do if that did happen.
I had a hugely busy term one at work, so very suddenly, Japan was here! We were packed with our suitcases and ready to head out the door on Easter Sunday morning. Two weeks in Japan here we come! My excitement was almost uncontainable. Rachel was quickly sick of me randomly exclaiming "Going to Japan!"
When we got there, actually morning we left, I chose to turn Facebook off on my phone and actively be present with my family for the trip. We didn't take too many photos (well, I mean we did, but not the "insta-worthy" ones that people line up for), we didn't spend time checking emails or messages. It was so fabulous to have the screen break and I wish I were better at doing it more often.
The first day of getting there seemed to go for ages, We left home just after 8am, and arrived at our first accomodation in Osaka at 10 Japan time, which is 11pm here in Australia. I have to say, I do love a check in process that is type in the code they gave you to directly access your room and don't talk to anyone. We just had a small single room with tatami floors and futon since it was only two nights. Just the smell of the tatami and lying on the futon was enough to fill me with joy after a long day of travel. Japan!
Day two started and it was my birthday. I was in Japan! Couldn't be happier. We had decided to beat the plane fatigue by facing the day head on and going to Universal Studios Japan. I had talked to a dad from school who said that it was totally worth it. To be honest, I'm not sure it was, but maybe it was timing. We were there right in the middle of school and uni holidays, as well as peak tourist season. There were so many people at the gates just getting in. It was only a half hour train ride, so the early morning wasn't too much of a problem and we were there at 8am, but with the tens of thousands of other people as well.
The first thing we did was get our time slot for Mario World. You can't push that button on the app until you are there in the park, so we pushed it with everyone else as we surged through the gates and got our time: 4pm. It was going to be a long day.
There was some stuff to do, but I'll be honest, it was all a bit overrated. The ride queues were easily two hours, so while Steve and Sophie suffered in the parking-lot line up for the Backdrop, Rachel and I wandered around the more "kids area". We waited 40 mins for a ride but mostly took photos with random things around the place and found our first beautiful sakura tree to appreciate.
The best thing about Universal was the random stunt show we went into at three in the afternoon. There was so many stunts with stuff on fire, people-zip lining across and falling into a "lake" from dramatic heights and being "shot at". It was all in Japanese, so our understanding of it was limited, but there was lots of hilariously dramatic hair flipping from the heroine and people doing all sorts of punch ups, escapes and jet skis making everyone in the front three rows wet. Fun!
Eventually it was time for Mario World, and I will say they have done a good job with it. The way everything moves really does make it feel like you are in the game. Stacks of stuff lights up too, just for fun. They were selling armbands at an additional cost of $50 for some extra experiences, but it was such a rip off we didn't get one. Girls are on the fence about whether or not we made the right choice there, but I stand by it.
Coming home, we stopped at the convince store for some cup ramen and karaage to eat back at our place along with a slice of cake and red bean mochi to celebrate my birthday. Everyone was happy to be in bed that night.
We left pretty early with all our stuff and took the train down, before leaving our big bags in the coin lockers at the station to pick up on our way back through. Steve got to share his love of Grape Fanta with the girls as they found a vending machine with the special drink. The way that the girls got so good at finding Grape Fanta in a vending machine at a glance was hilarious.
Himeji is as picturesque as ever. The walk up the main street to the castle had lots of shops to look at and lunch options to consider and we were at the gates right after they opened. I was glad we were there early, because when we left the lines were much longer. We missed most of them and really enjoyed exploring all the levels of the castle.
The girls had their cameras and were having fun finding the "sharingann" symbols on the roof tiles. The day was clear, if a bit bright in the sun and the sakura blooms were getting underway in the trees around the castle. People were picnicking down under them, and we saw a number of people taking family portraits with their small dogs dressed in various outfits. Strange new trend maybe? We also took some funny photos out the front of the castle.
Walk back there were a stack of market stalls set up, so we had lots of street food snacks and then lunch before making it onto our shinkansen.
These trains are so amazing - super fast and so frequently running. There is no other way to travel long distances in Japan. More space on a shinkansen than in an airplane. We did see Mt Fuji through the windows as we sped past, though the day was pretty grey.
We managed to navigate our way through a train change at Tokyo station about 5:30 in the evening and then a long-ish (15 min) walk through the streets to our new home for the week. Our place to stay in Tokyo had a toilet from the future that opened automatically when you opened the door to the room, and emitted a strange glowing blue light. It was cool, but also strangely noisy when you are trying to go discreetly in the night and not wake up anyone else. Otherwise the place was small, but had what we needed. More tatami and futon to sleep on, a small kitchen and even a couch to lounge on too.
We had another convince store dinner that first day since carting all the big suitcases around didn't make anyone feel amazing, and the girls were still catching up on sleep. I'm going to leave you here and continue on with Tokyo next time I post. Let the Japan recaps continue for as long as possible!
No comments:
Post a Comment