The Magic Of Happiness Is Here! A Tokyo TR Update 8/19

[xoSamma]

YEAH! Sam has started her report. I am excited to follow along. I hope you had a great trip.

YAYYY!!! Welcome. I had the best time.

I can't even imagine being on a plane for 24 hours. Good news is you have a week of fun ahead of you.

If it makes it better the longest we were on a plane was 12 hours. But I would do it all over again too go back.

 

[xoSamma]

When In Japan We Walk And Eat Sushi

After unloading the plane at Narita we had to go through immigration, tip know the address where you are going too, I had no clue where Alicia’s apartment was so my paper work was a joke and the 2 workers I came across during this process just laughed with me at my “visiting my sister” But whatever I made it through. After immigration we had to get our luggage and go through customs. After that we exited into the airport where Alicia was waiting!
It’s been over a year since I last saw her but when I walked up to her and the first thing she said to me was “hey thats my nail polish” it felt like I just saw her the other day.
First thing first exchange our money. It is perfectly located right next to the customs exit. Grab a slip write out how much you are exchanging and go to the counter. In Japan you don’t hand your money to the worker, they have a tray by the cash register and you put it in there. After we got our yen, I converted $300 and got 33156.45 yen for the week. Also Japan is very money based most places don’t take credit card, except Tokyo Disney!
Second thing before we left the airport was find the post office on the fourth floor. I rented a pocket wifi from Global Advanced, thanks to Disney tourist blog, so I could iMessage and social media my way through Japan. Marisa and I shared 1 and got an extra battery and it worked perfectly for the week I definitely recommend them. It was also super easy they mail it to the airport and then you return it back to the airport post office at the end of your trip.

It was then time to figure out if we wanted to take the train or a bus back to Alicia’s apartment. We decided to go with the train but first we needed to get a suica card, if you aren’t planning on traveling large amounts of japan I would recommend this. It’s pretty much a pay as you go card that cost $5 but if you return the card you get your money back.

With suica cards in hand it was time for our first train ride. Alicia led us through the wrong entrance and to the wrong train line, so we had to go back and get a refund. Walked to the other entrance and then we noticed we had a nice long hour wait….

So we went back for a refund and got bus tickets. Alicia paid for the tickets and said “you can just buy me a shirt at Disney” We still had about 45 minutes until the bus left so we found a spot to sit and talk about our plans. We didn’t really have set plans for the night. Alicia warned us that she didn’t eat japanese food, they have wolfgang puck express, mcdonalds, taco bell, KFC. But tonight we planned on going to conveyer belt sushi. A few of Alicia’s friends were going after work and by the time we got to Alicia’s apartment we would have enough time to go to Disney’s train station and meet up with them.
Our bus came and we were on our way

Jet leg is real and I passed out cold on the ride. I was woken up by a crabby Alish, we were stuck in pretty much stand still traffic. She was hungry, she needed to cancel her phone contract before we went to dinner and by the looks of it we wouldn’t be making it in time to go with her friends.
The bus made it to a hotel 2 blocks down from the apartment, so we made the short walk to evillage, the home of all disney entertainment. Basically a Disney college program apartment building. (we arrived when it was dark…)

Alicia checked her mail to find out that the pocket wifi she ordered was not delivered so she had a nice angry phone call with the company while Marisa and I got check in. We received some really classy badges for the week.

We headed up to Alicia’s small 1 bedroom apartment, first thing I said when I walked in was “it’s like a cruise ship” She uses her key to turn on her lights and heat and you had to step up to get into her bathroom. Just like a cruise stateroom, plus the whole week it felt like I was on a boat but that was probably from the plane ride.
We pretty much dropped off our stuff, texted my other sister and husband who were also in Japan that we were getting sushi if they wanted to join, and went across the street to cancel Alicia’s phone.

This is when everything hit the fan very quickly. The lady told Alicia she couldn’t cancel her plan only start an account. She went from understanding english to not in a matter of minutes and kept walking back to her coworkers hoping we just left. Alicia is my mothers child and made sure to show everyone how mad she was as she stormed out of that place. So now she had to pay an extra month for a phone she wasn’t using as well as go to another store to cancel the phone first thing the next morning. After fast walking for a block or two, she apologized for how our first night was going. There was nothing we could really do and had to make the best of our night.
So we walked 20 minutes to sushi. On that walk we realized how peaceful and safe japan is and right away I fell in love with this place. When we arrived Danielle and Adam were walking in as well, perfect timing. We had to wait maybe 10 minutes, just enough time to retell the events that took place tonight. Marisa and Danielle got food girl keychains, marisa got a girl wrapped in spaghetti and Danielle got a girl hiding under an omelet. Keychains are huge in japan and I was so sad that the machine ate my money.
We were taken to our booth and it was time for the fun! A conveyer belt runs through the restaurant with sushi, sauce, and dessert. You can take one thats already there or you can order a freshly made one by putting in your order on a touch screen at your table. If you order one your screen will play a little melody, light up and tell you that your plate is on its way. If you sit by the conveyer belt be ready to grab all the plates.
We were seated 2 booths away from Alicia’s friends who were just finishing up their dinner and on their way out were kind enough to get a picture of us

This was my first time eating sushi, I don’t like fish but when in Japan you try new things. It was alright, nothing I would ever crave, and for 100 yen ($1) a plate I couldn't really complain.

First round of sushi, salmon

I was then the american and got the chicken nugget sushi…pretty good!
They also had cheeseburger and roast beef.
Everyone was going to town on their sushi and just kept stacking up their plates. Me on the other hand was not feeling well from that flight so after trying some I decided to make my way to dessert

The chocolate cake was amazing but my ice cream came out as soup so Alicia showed off her Japanese skills to get me a knew one.
By this time it was almost 10 and they were getting ready to close the conveyer belt done. (side note: this stays open a lot later then everything else. Pretty much everything closes at 8)

A worker came over counted up our plates and gave us a receipt that we took to the front and paid.
When leaving we said our goodbyes to Danielle and Adam because they were going to Disney the next 2 days and the traveling to Kyoto for the rest of the week so we wouldn’t see them anymore. Then we made the 25 minute trek back to Alicia’s, the temperate dropped and the wind picked up so it was a very brisk walk back. Alicia pointed out the train station that was down her street about 10 minutes away from her apartment. Once arriving back to Alicia’s we made a game plan of what we wanted to do and then stayed up till 1am just talking about life and catching up.





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[aras4007]

YAYYY!! So glad you started this! I've been waiting for it! I can't imagine that flight..but it looks like they keep you well fed and pretty occupied with all the movies. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[RandomlyrachelG]

Good to note that you need to have the address where you will be staying! Some countries require it, some countries don't. Because of your tip, I'll make sure I have the address easily available in my backpack to write down on the arrival slip.

I have a sneaky feeling that I won't eat sushi in Japan. Bad tourist. My whole family loves sushi and regularly go to the local conveyor belt sushi restaurants here...but I just don't like it, unfortunately....

 

[Lady Marie]

Thanks for the tip on knowing the address! I just printed out my confirmation to have on hand when I arrive. These types of tidbits of info are sooooo helpful!

 

[gemsluvwdw]

So good!!! Can't wait for the next post

 

[tortilla24]

I'm here! Very interested to read about your experience!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I love how you haven't seen Alicia in a year but it's like time hasn't passed at all. True meaning of a sister. I'm with you on the sushi. At least you tried it. I would have gone straight to dessert and skipped the meal.

 

[Txshadow]

So glad you were able to make the trip to Japan and I am looking forward to all the details yet to come. International flights are the worst but good movie and music selections make it a little more tolerable. Heading over to check out the trip video now.

 

[xoSamma]

YAYYY!! So glad you started this! I've been waiting for it! I can't imagine that flight..but it looks like they keep you well fed and pretty occupied with all the movies. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Thanks for joining in! I was very surprised by all the food they give you.

Good to note that you need to have the address where you will be staying! Some countries require it, some countries don't. Because of your tip, I'll make sure I have the address easily available in my backpack to write down on the arrival slip.

I have a sneaky feeling that I won't eat sushi in Japan. Bad tourist. My whole family loves sushi and regularly go to the local conveyor belt sushi restaurants here...but I just don't like it, unfortunately....

Yes! You need the address and if you have a phone number for the place as well that would come in handy.
I'm with you, I did it but it didn't do anything me.

Thanks for the tip on knowing the address! I just printed out my confirmation to have on hand when I arrive. These types of tidbits of info are sooooo helpful!

I'm glad I can help! And I hope you have a great time

So good!!! Can't wait for the next post

Thank You!

I'm here! Very interested to read about your experience!

Welcome along! Thanks for joining in

I love how you haven't seen Alicia in a year but it's like time hasn't passed at all. True meaning of a sister. I'm with you on the sushi. At least you tried it. I would have gone straight to dessert and skipped the meal.

At least I tried it, and at least they had chicken nugget sushi. But over the chocolate cake was the best

So glad you were able to make the trip to Japan and I am looking forward to all the details yet to come. International flights are the worst but good movie and music selections make it a little more tolerable. Heading over to check out the trip video now.

Welcome. And thanks for joining in on another one of my adventures!

 

[xoSamma]

Cherry Blossoms In The Palace

We had an 8:30 wake up call. And already we were changing our plans for the day. It technically wasn’t what we wanted but it also wasn’t life threatening to change them. We started off our morning by going to the cutest bakery right across the street, Pan Jewel. When you walk in you get your own tray and tongs (which the tongs was such a great idea because you didn't have to wait for them)

Since I don’t speak or can read japanese it was sort of a pick it up and hope you like it. Alicia however recommended a lot of what we chose. We ended up taking our food back to Alicia’s so she could run to the store to finally get her phone canceled. Marisa and I stayed back and waited for the mailman to drop off Alicia’s pocket wifi package. While we waited I tried the apple cinnamon pastry I got and it was pretty delicious.

Waiting around in a small apartment was not at all what we had in mind and Marisa was getting antsy. No package was ever dropped off and Alicia got back around 10. Her mood was the total opposite of what it was last night, she somehow managed to talk them out of charging her to pay the extra month for canceling late. And what she liked to say “I didn’t even need to pretend cry”
She let us go off and do our own thing and said she would meet up with us in Harajuku later on in the day.
We were off on our first adventure in Japan with our tour guide back at her apartment. So we started walking to the train station and raved about how smart japan is (this will be a big thing for the day, and the week) For example their sidewalks are huge, a lot of people walk/bike ride everywhere, there are so many bike parking lots its crazy. The right path is for bikes (although some people don’t follow this rule) and you will find the yellow stripe EVERYWHERE sidewalks and train stations, its for the blind. The stripe has ridges that the cane fits in and its just so smart.

We got to the train station but didn’t have a clue how to get in…we didn’t find the main entrance and this train station also doubled as a mall. We found stairs that led us to where we needed to go and then it was time to figure out what line we needed to be one to take us to Tokyo station.

The map for the rail line looks crazy

Google maps will be your best friend! Get a pocket wifi so you can use google maps. You plug in where you want to go, click the train directions and it tells you which line and what stop. Super easy to follow.

We found our train and had 7 stops to go till we got to Tokyo. While making our way to our first stop, I saw what was tower of terror in the distance. It was so bizarre to me just to see Disney plopped in the middle of everything. Plus once arriving at the stop they play Disney music and I was about ready to jump ship to go a couple days early.
I stayed on the train and we arrived to Tokyo station aka the craziest station. The amount of people trying to get to place to place, shopping, eating getting to trains. Its a high pace space. And to add to another reason japan is so smart is how they run their moving platforms and escalators, if you just want to stand move to the left, if you want to walk move to the right. It’s so simple but so smart. Getting out of the station was fun, just follow the people in front of you in hopes they lead you to an exit.
We made it out into the city, which was by far the most cleanest city I have ever been too, and Google mapped our way to the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. We walked down the street for about 15 minutes and made it to the garden entrance.
Note: Be prepared for a lot of walking when visiting Japan

It’s free to enter the gardens but you still need to get a ticket before you enter

if you don’t read japanese don’t worry english is on the other side

To get to the main gardens you had to walk up one of the most steepest hills ever

The most exciting thing about these gardens was the one cherry blossom tree that had bloomed. It was just the start of the sakura season so it was very rare too run into them. But we were very lucky to see one on our first stop of our trip.

The amount of people that flocked to that one tree after us was a joke. So we got out and made our way over what was like the overlook of the gardens.

We walked the rest of the gardens and made a big circle around the main center.

After we walked what was the east gardens we found a map of the whole palace grounds. There we met a nice older couple from England who was trying to figure out where too see more of the palace besides the gardens (side note: only the west gardens is open to the public) We helped them seek out the exit of the gardens and followed them out soon after.

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[HomeSweetDisney]

Sounds like you had a hectic beginning to your trip! But glad to see you were able to get out and do some exploring...Japan looks amazing! So much history there & I've heard how clean it is and how friendly the people are to tourists.
Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[katt789]

Oh my goodness, I am so not excited for that flight!! Crappy flight attendant too! Worst!!

But YAY you made it to japan!!! Thanks for the tips on where to get the pocket wifi! I've been so confused on that whole thing, and definitely know that we'll need it on our trip!

Yum! Sushi! Sorry that you weren't feeling too well, major props for still trying new things though!! Glad you got to catch up with everyone!

Ugh those cherry blossoms are BEAUTIFUL! I'm super sad we won't see them at all, but we'll have autumn foliage which i hear is pretty awesome too! Great pictures! (as always) I can't wait to read more!

 

[xoSamma]

Sounds like you had a hectic beginning to your trip! But glad to see you were able to get out and do some exploring...Japan looks amazing! So much history there & I've heard how clean it is and how friendly the people are to tourists.
Looking forward to hearing more!

Just a normal day when dealing with my family. Japan is so clean! and everyone is so nice! The crazy thing is how you can't find a trash can anywhere yet there is no trash on the ground.

Oh my goodness, I am so not excited for that flight!! Crappy flight attendant too! Worst!!

But YAY you made it to japan!!! Thanks for the tips on where to get the pocket wifi! I've been so confused on that whole thing, and definitely know that we'll need it on our trip!

Yum! Sushi! Sorry that you weren't feeling too well, major props for still trying new things though!! Glad you got to catch up with everyone!

Ugh those cherry blossoms are BEAUTIFUL! I'm super sad we won't see them at all, but we'll have autumn foliage which i hear is pretty awesome too! Great pictures! (as always) I can't wait to read more!

I was dreading the flight, but it was as horrible as I thought it would be. I would try to pull an all nighter so you could sleep on the plane.
Yes pocket wifi's are very popular and so many places in the airport will have them for pickup.

 

[xoSamma]

Getting Lost In Tokyo Station

After leaving the gardens we decided to walk the perimeter of the palace grounds.

One struggle we were facing was what side of the sidewalk to walk on. In the US we would like to think we follow like the rules of the road, stick to the right. So we automatically thought to stick to the left, which was a hard habit to break, but turns out everybody just walks and you just have to hope you don’t bump into someone.

After walking the longest open field of what was a stone path we came to the palace entrance which we weren’t surprised to see it closed since the only time it opens is for New Years and the emperors birthday. However everyone was trying to selfie with the bridge and thats when we realized Marisa left her selfie stick back at the apartment.

We decided to start heading back but before we did we decided to take a little break and figure out what the game plan was for the rest of the day. Before I could even sit down Alicia texted me saying she was done meeting a “fan” and was going to head to tokyo station to meet up with us. So we had 14 minutes to get to the train station because she decided to take a rapid train.

It took us way longer than 14 minutes to get back to the station because we stopped for too many pictures, sorry Alish

We started making our way back to tokyo station and this time Marisa thought it would be a good idea to enter through a closer entrance. I mean all the entrances lead you to the same thing, but when you are trying to find someone in tokyo station just be prepared for it to take a bit of time. The station is huge, there are so many people weaving in and out of eachother, and the joys of having a hangry sister looking for you can make the experience even that more exciting. It took some time but we finally found her and we grabbed some lunch at T’s tan tan

Alicia’s friend Sage recommended this place. I wanted some real japanese ramen and Sage said this was one of her favorite places to get it. Also T’s is a vegan ramen place.
We had too wait a bit in line because its just a small restaurant in the station.
Once we did get a table, they were kind enough to bring over a menu in english.
I ended up going with the special of the month, it was DELICIOUS! it had corn and a scoop of mash potato. Then because I didn’t realize how big the portion was I got a side of rice in curry, which was great even though I hardly made a dent in it.

Over our meal we discussed going to harajuku, we decided against it for the night because we had plans to go the next night for dinner. So instead we decided to hop on a train to Asakusa to go to a temple. However before we did that we stopped at a random stop on the way there to go to Don Quijote, a store that sells kigurumi, or what are over sized onesies. These are the best creation ever made, Alicia sent home the green alien from toy story one for me over the summer and this time I had my mind set on getting a stitch one to add to my collection.
Finding the store was harder then we thought and google maps was not helping out at all. We ended up walking past it and eventually found it located on the second and third floor.

The store is crazy, its literally floor to ceiling of everything you could possible need. Luckily right when we got off the escalator the kigurumi were right there. I ended up picking up 2, one for me and one for my friend at home. I also picked up some green tea and raspberry kit kats. My mission was to bring home a lot of the different flavors they have of kit kats but they were a lot harder to come across then I thought. So I’m really glad I picked up the bags here.

We headed back to the station and headed for Asakusa station. When we got to the station there was more walking, surprise surprise. We had to walk through cute little streets filled with shops and food. But before we did any browsing we headed too the shrine.

When we got there we saw a bunch of people taking pictures with the cherry blossoms and Alicia got really excited. But when she walked up to them she realized that they were fake. However that didn’t stop us from taking pictures with them.

Then it was time for the main reason Asakusa was added to our list of places to visit.






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[gemsluvwdw]

Such gorgeous pictures x looks like so much fun I would love to do this trip one day

 

[xoSamma]

Such gorgeous pictures x looks like so much fun I would love to do this trip one day

Thank you! I would love to do this trip again.

 

[xoSamma]

Fortunes and Sticky Pics

At the Asakusa Shrine you can pay 100 yen to get your fortune. Alicia came here maybe her first week in Japan and got a bad fortune, she return to get a different outcome.

First you out your money in, then you take a tin full of sticks that are numbered and give it a little shake. There is a hole in the bottom that allows only one stick to fall out, which ever one falls out is the start of your fortune. Match the number on the stick to the number on the specific drawer (this can take some time) and voila you take a piece of paper from the drawer and thats your fortune.
Marisa went first and got bad fortune

If you become unlucky and wish not to have bad fortune, you can fold up your paper tie it to a pole. However if you paper rips, luck is not on your side

I went next and got a regular fortune, just being average

And at the end of the day Alicia got the best fortune

We walked around a bit exploring the little area surrounded by street vendors and small stores

Marisa spotted a small ice cream stand that was selling green tea ice cream and this was the start of her wanting to get everything matcha flavored. One thing we noticed was how they served their ice cream. This stand had a pretty nifty machine. Your ice cream came in a single serving container that went into the machine, meaning you never get too little or more then what you’re suppose to get.

Ice cream wasn’t on my list of things I needed, until I saw that they had sakura ice cream. This was the start of me wanting everything cherry blossom.

Heres to eating flower petals and loving every moment of it

With ice cream in hand we headed out and back to the train station. But first we entered the danger zone, stands and stands of japan merchandise galore.

We walked into one little store and ended up losing Marisa. Just in this little store she was able to pick up small glass cups and waste 20 minutes on which patterns she should get. This was another start of Marisa purchasing all the breakables in Japan. We were finally able to get her out of the shop and we finally got to the station.
It was still early so we decided to get off at Tokyo Disney, there was no going into the parks (I still had 2 days until that) but we walked around what could be considered their downtown Disney.

When you get out of the station we headed right, this leads you to Disneyland and the Disneyland hotel. But before you take the long walkway over there you pass a lovely Disney store, Bon Voyage. Even if you can’t get into a park this store will have some of the basic merchandise you can find inside Disneyland.

Afterwards we headed to the left of the station or the way Disneysea is. However Disney sea is more of a 15 minute walk from the station, but we will get to that later.
On this side its like a small little mall accommodated with the disney monorail station. However once walking through this area you will come to an outside area, which made us ask “are we outside?” one thing we said way to much here, and get to the Disney Store

This store is different from Bon Voyage, it doesn’t sell the park merchandise but instead all the cute japan merchandise that everyone wishes they could buy back in America.

If I could buy everything I would, but my suitcase coming home is lacking space so I have to be picky when buying things.

But my overall favorite part of the night was sticky pics!
So what are sticky pics? It is a more complex Photo Booth that is highly stressful.
We walked into this little store right near the Disney store and it was small but had 5 different machines. Now in this store you will mostly find teenage girls primping themselves in the mirror and because this one is so close to the parks they are all matching in their Disney gear.
There are 2 parts to this experience 1) enter one side and take 5 photos (the screen gives you poses to do, but you don’t really need to do that) 2)Go to the other side of the booth and decorate your pictures. This is the most stressful. You have to pick out the background, layout and then you have maybe a minute to decorate your 5 pictures. The language probably adds to the stress because there are so many tabs of sticker options that you don’t know where it all is.
The stress and anxiety turns into fun, so much fun that we did 3 rounds.

We headed back to Alicia’s after all the fun. Once making back to Urayasu we stopped at the 100 yen store where I picked up some random Japan candy and we headed back to the apartment to call it a night.
At this time it was probably only 9 and I was exhausted. After the whole day I was exciting to come back and try the melon bread I purchased early in the day. Hands down it was delicious!

I ended up passing out while Alicia was talking about something, nothing has changed. Its what I did all the time growing up. She would stay up all night talking about things I would slowly doze off.
I soon became the Peggy, the schuyler sister who seems to disappear after the sister song in Hamilton. However this Peggy made a return after a quick 15 minute nap, Alicia was kind enough to do the thing she always does “Sam are sleeping?!” And then tells us we need to watch drunken history. So thats what we did.
Then we figured out what tomorrows adventure was going to be. We’re off to see the buddha an hour away in the morning and then harajuku at night.






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[marabusybee]

Great report! I'm so excited to hear about your experience.

 

[xoSamma]

Great report! I'm so excited to hear about your experience.

Thank you!