"At Last I See the Light" - Our Nov 2024 Anniversary Trip Report

[Nakkira]

Day 5 Part 3


Between the stairs to the ropeway, waiting for the ropeway, standing on the ropeway, and more stairs at the top to the viewing area we had been on our feet for almost an hour so we needed a lengthy rest.

We headed to the cafe where the hubby had a tea and I enjoyed a Hon-warabimochi parfait. Due to a speech impediment that makes R's and W's difficult for me to uncinate I have trouble pronouncing warabimochi, but I sure do love it.



The ice cream was really creamy and not over sweet too. I tend to eat a disproportionate amount of ice cream on vacation.
We headed outside to look around and found the top end of the path that your used to be able to walk all the way to the top was roped off. (I think you could still walk from the bottom to the temple but not sure)

I did not see any bears and I'm pretty darn happy about it too!

We wandered around and enjoyed the views.










Yes. I actually did climb up those steps all the way to the top. I couldn't not. The hubby waited for me patiently and safely at the bottom. And yes, I did almost trip and fall comin back down.

We were getting tire and hungry so we headed back down the ropeway, stopping briefly at the temple on the way back down. We didn't pay to go in, just looked around a bit. I didn't get any "good" photos.

When we got back to town we found a little noodle shop and each got a bowl of Mazesoba with duck and sesame seeds and an onesen egg.


This was absolutely delicious. We both really love duck.

We stopped at Ichino-Yu bathhouse which features a cave made of natural boulders for another bath. This was a really cool spot to soak in. (I would post a stock photo but I am out of my photo allowance for this post.) I could hear poor hubby coughing from the other side of the cave (you obviously can't see the other gender's side) and we actually each had the bath pretty nearly to ourselves this time of the afternoon.

Post bath we meandered about town, mostly window shopping to kill time until "S" couldn't take it any more. He needed real rest.

We still had an hour and a half before dinner when we arrived back at the ryokan, so we sat on one of the couches in the garden view lobby sitting room and enjoyed tea for awhile before heading back to the room.

I went to the front desk when we got back and asked if we could possibly have the raised tables and chairs brought into the room for tonight's dinner and they said they could. Awesome. I didn't think I could take another two hour dinner at the low table.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 5 Part 4
Second Night Kaiseki Dinner

By the time we had come back to our room the table had been set up for our dinner. We hung out in the little nook with the garden view until time for service.

One again there was a knock and a woman dressed in full Kimono began the dinner service. The lady the night before had just enough English to explain or dishes to us but not much more (I do NOT expect anyone to speak my language when I am in their country so I appreciated her efforts greatly) The woman on this night was more fluent and quite personable.

As with the night before were given a menu in both languages (and this time I have pic of both) As with the night before the photos may not be in the correct order and some dishes may be missing.




Beautiful presentation once again.





I admit did not not like the texture of the abalone sashimi at all. I barely manage to get it down.

Poor "S" had little appetite but at least tasted most of the dishes. He felt bad for not finishing them but I explained to our server that it wasn't that the food was not good, but that he was feeling sick. (I had mentioned his cold at the beginning, I wanted to warn her in case she wanted to wear a mask while serving)



I was really excited to see Tajima beef again, only this time we got to grill it. "S" had mushrooms with his, mine came with Lotus root as a substitution.


Amazingly tasty grilled, and almost as tender as the night before. With that kind of marbling it would be tender almost no matter how it's cooked. Hubby only ate half his beef and the rest to me.


I did not like this fish at all and admit that I did not finish this. However I generally do not like cooked fish. "S" said it was good and actually did finish his piece.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 5 Part 5
Second Night Kaiseki Dinner cont..

It really was nice being able to get up from the table and stretch between courses and we were so much more comfortable with our legs not folded under the table.

Our server really was quite friendly and during the setting out of each course chatted with us and asked us many question including our travel plans. When we mentioned that we would be in Disney Sea for our anniversary on the 7th, she asked how long we had been married and chatted with us about our courtship <Our story really is romantic if a bit messy, short version: we met when I was 18 and 21. Brief intense romance, and then I broke his heart. 15 years later (and a divorce each - also a son from his first marriage) we were thrown back together by a friend, and after 3 years of dating got married>
She actually got teary eyed at our story. It was like a real life J-drama. LOL



Once again rice had been cooking while we ate the other course, this time in two smaller individual pots.

We were served the rice and red miso again to finish.


This time the rice had some veg in it (the night before it was plain white rice)


When she came back to serve dessert she presented us with a gift "In celebration of our anniversary"
We protested twice as is custom and then thanked her profusely. we were truly a little embarrassed because we were not trying to get special attention for our anniversary which was still a week away.


She explained that they were one of a kind handmade fired this very month by a local artisan, "lovers" yunomi (cups).

I was dying to look at them but we also knew that in Japan is is proper etiquette to open the gift later in private.
We did manage to wait until we got home to have a look but I will not make you wait until my wrap up /haul post.




Dessert was again light and pallet cleansing served with green tea. I loved the crab shaped monaka and the persimmon was delightfully sweet with japanese grapes (the best) and figs.

I asked our server if she could lay down extra futon later when she made up the beds because our backs were hurting, and her confusing reply was that she would see if the ryokan had any extra. This was confusing to me because I knew there was "extra" in the closets. Maybe I has asked using the wrong terminology or there was some language barrier issue?

"S" did not want to go out after dinner this night. He decided to go behind the partition to the sitting area, and then take a bath in-room (which was at the back of the side section attached to our main room) I decided to use the ryokans onsen bath down the hall and did not lock the door when I left.
When I cam back from my soak the door was locked. I knocked gently, but he did not hear me as he was still in the bath.
Thankfully one of maids saw me and fetched our server. She had locked the door after clearing away dinner and making up the bed. We both giggled and she let me into the room.

Bless her heart, she had procured two folding bandstands and made us up beds "off" the ground! I really hadn't meant to ask her to do that (I don't like to be a bother) but that is what she had done. She also led me to the table in our room and showed me the present SHE had made us (as the cups were from the Ryokan she wanted to do something from herself)



Two connected paper cranes "lovers". She showed me how to fold them back up to flatten them to take home safely. I bowed and thanked her again and she hugged me and showed me how to do a proper Japanese bow of gratitude.

After she bid me goodnight "S" emerged from the other room where he had been waiting patiently in a state of undress as his clothes were still in the main part of the room! LOL

We still needed to pad the beds a bit with extra bedding from the closet but it was so much better than the night before on the floor.

Step total: 13,307

 

[skellinton]

Day 4 Part 3
Upon arriving back at the ryokan we were taken to our room and given a tour of the facilities along the way. It was a very windy building but it would be easy to find our room because it was the last room in the back and very near the men and womens hot spimgs baths. I asked if they have a private onesen available (we had thought they did) but they didn't at this location. It's not that I am shy or anything I just wanted the use of the private room for my hubby and I to soak together.
Our luggage was waiting for us in our room and we were served green tea. The room itself was very traditional with tatami mat floors and sliding paper doors.
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We even had a small room off the main one with a table overlooking a section of Garden.

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We were also provided with Yukata to wear.

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We were both given (loaned) the basic one to wear around the baths and women with also provided with a prettier one for walking around town in the evening.

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Sadly, even though we has inquired ahead of arriving into size availability (knowing were are larger than Japanese standard) they didn't quite fit so comfortable. The really sad part is that we had some at home that did fit (Hubby had them specialty made for us)that we could have brought with us but had not brought with us because the measurements for their largest size looked like it they would.
I ended up taking mine off soon after this photo. This was a bad moment for me. I honestly do not like the extra weight and am ashamed. I am going to work on it. I have always yo-yo'd weight wise and it's been so much worse since the car accident. Between the tight train ride, and the yukata issues I broke down in tears of shame.
After I cried for a bit I washed my face, swallowed my pride, and called to ask if they had any larger and was provided with two the largest womens of the plain "bath" ones.
Now "S" had been given 2 in the 5xl mens size so I just grabbed one of those to put on figuring it would be bigger than the women's sizes and not being up for more self body shaming. These also did not fit either of us great but with a couple safety pines could work.

We did have a tub/shower in our room but we both decided to have long soak in the Hotel hot spring bath before dinner.

I think you look beautiful, but I completely understand how you feel. I too worry about my size and feel such shame about it. I just wanted you to know that I understand, I hear you. Thank you for sharing so much of your journey. I love your posts!

 

[Nakkira]

I think you look beautiful, but I completely understand how you feel. I too worry about my size and feel such shame about it. I just wanted you to know that I understand, I hear you. Thank you for sharing so much of your journey. I love your posts!

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback on my posts.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 6 Part 1

We woke up a couple of hours before our scheduled breakfast. We decided that we would go to Goshono-Yu bath before breakfast. We figured it would be nice to soak the stiffness of sleeping from our bodies and would give us (ok Him) more time to rest after breakfast before checkout. The night before, our attendant has asked if we wanted the beds cleared away during breakfast or if we wanted them to stay in place until we checked out. We asked her to leave them in place until after checkout to allow ourselves this extra rest time.
Originally we planned to go to the bath house after breakfast, as we wanted to check this one out and it had been closed the day before. This one was a very close to our Ryokan and very beautiful.



The outdoor onsen has beautiful waterfalls and is surrounded by trees. I am including a couple of stock photos:





It was a bit more occupied than the ones we had visited before (but also more spacious) as many of the locals were utilizing it at this time of the morning before heading to work. However this was just fine as everyone was just quietly soaking. It was absolutely my favorite of the 3 we visited. If hubby had been feeling better I think we would have gone to at least 5 of the 7 over the course of our stay, but I was happy enough with 3 we did experience.

For Breakfast the second morning we both had the Western menu. I would include the menu but apparently my photo is too blurry to ready. I chose the omelet as my eggs and the breakfast soup was a savory corn pottage.






We rested and finished packing, then headed down to the lobby to check out. As we still had 90 minute before our ride ride back to the train station we decided to explore the small onsite museum.


It was two small rooms on two floors and only took about 15 minutes to explore (had some nifty artifacts) so we returned to lobby lounge to relax.

They have this cool cold brew Dutch coffee maker set up that I had to get a picture of. (The coffee is in a bottle on ice right next to it that you can help yourself to)


Apparently it had started to rain sometime after breakfast and when it was time to leave we were escorted by attendants holding umbrellas as we got into the hotel minivan to be driven back to the station. The ladies stood out in the rain and waved goodbye until we had driven completely out of sight.

The cost was $1300 for two nights (with breakfast and Kaiseki Dinner both nights). This is the most expensive accommodation I have ever enjoyed and like will remain so unless we win the lottery.
We are typically budget travelers so it was nice to experience "luxury" just the once.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 6 Part 2

We waited at the train station for about 45 minutes before boarding and departing our train to Kyoto (departin 12:31 pm arriving in Kyoto 3:03pm)
We had picked up some tonkatsu sandwiches at the station to have for lunch on the train.



Totally wished we had gotten the egg salad instead as this was not good at all. Instead of the typical pork cutlet, these were more of a mushy, fatty, minced pork. I don't thinks "S" even finished his.

We had an uneventful train ride to Kyoto.
After arriving at Kyoto station we only had to make one transfer and ride a couple stops to our hotel. It was right across the courtyard from the train station and very near a beautiful park, and a Railroad museum. The was also a convenient family mart just outside.

We just hung out in our room for the rest of the afternoon. We could have had time to explore but not only was it raining but "S" was still not feeling well, so we decided not to push it. Early evening, we ventured out in the rain to find dinner and a pharmacy. I had brought a small pack of multi-symptom cold medicine with us but he had taken the last dose that morning. He was starting to feel better but the cough was still kind of bad. Instead of a drugstore, we found ourselves at an tiny prescription pharmacy. "S" explained with the help of Google translate, what is symptoms were and the pharmacist gave him a couple of strips of pill and told him to take 1 pill 3 times per day.
They would take no payment. I don't know if this is because of their healthcare system and they had no way to take payment here or what but we thanked them and headed across the street to a little "Curry Rice" restaurant named Sunbeam.



The menu was all in Japanese and we make it a policy not to ask for an English one unless we are presented with one. Google translate usually does the job and it was effective here too.

I ordered tonkatsu (I had to redeem for that nasty version earlier), he ordered the karaage chicken, and we got a curry rice to share.
This tiny restaurant seemed to be a one woman show with only a few tables. We were the only people dining in, but I think they did a good bit of take-out.
The food was simple but solid. We INHALED it. We were pretty crazy hungry it seemed.

I don't remember the total but I'm pretty sure the whole meal around $20.

We went back to the hotel for baths and sleep, calling it an early night.

No accurate step count. I took off my pedometer when we got to the hotel and forgot to put it back on before dinner.

 

[nono]

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The menu was all in Japanese and we make it a policy not to ask for an English one unless we are presented with one. Google translate usually does the job and it was effective here too.

I ordered tonkatsu (I had to redeem for that nasty version earlier), he ordered the karaage chicken, and we got a curry rice to share.
This tiny restaurant seemed to be a one woman show with only a few tables. We were the only people dining in, but I think they did a good bit if take-out.
The food was simple but solid. We INHALED it. We were pretty crazy hungry it seemed.
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I don't remember the total but I'm pretty sure the whole meal around $20.

We went back to the hotel for baths and sleep, calling it an early night.

No accurate step count. I took off my pedometer when we got to the hotel and forgot to put it back on before dinner.

Sounds like the perfect "comfort" dinner after your day!

 

[pezgirlroy]

We are starting to plan a trip for my husband and I and our two girls (14 and 8) to Japan. This is so incredibly helpful.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I am really enjoying your posts. It looks like you and your hubby had an amazing trip!

 

[Nakkira]

Day 7 Part 1
Kyoto

Slept ok-ish this night. Beds were still the typical over-firm Japanese mattresses, but repeating the trick of using the duvet as a mattress pad helped.
Our hotel booking included free breakfast (actually wo could use the voucher for either breakfast or lunch)
The buffet had a good mix of Japanese and western food.

I'm not super fond of runny scrambled eggs but I stirred them into my rice and curry. Those potatoes were amazing.

Hubby was feeling much better this day and the medicine the pharmacist had given him seemed to be quite effective.

We had a few places in mind to go that day and decided to start with The Museum of Kyoto. It was not raining when we left, but we checked the forecast and noticed that rain was called for later. We debated borrowing large umbrella from the hotel, but decided against it as we did not want to carry them around all day. We did however have our little sun umbrellas and disposable ponchos in our backpacks.
We took the metro to a station within a block or so of the Museum, purchased our tickets, placed our back and locked and took the escalator up t the main exhibit.





I noticed a sign that said to inquire for an English Language tour so I did.

We ended up have the most charming older woman give a 30 minute "lecture" of the history of Kyoto. Much of what she told us I knew, but as we went from display to display there was little but of invaluable culture nuance that she imparted and some things I had not been aware of.
No photos allowed inside though.
We only spent about an hour here as we had more things we wished to do that day. There was a little cafe (Maeda's Coffee) in the courtyard we decided to stop and have a coffee (tea for hubby) and some treats.






Parfaits in this country are next level. There was chocolate ice cream, a cookie, green tea sponge cake, cream, and coffee jelly.
Sadly there was also a grapefruit layer as well which I did not love. The whole thing was pretty yet chaotic.
However the "Coffee Float" that I ordered killed me.


For some reason there was ice in the coffee (the glass was packed FULL of cubes) and the ice-cream was on TOP of the ice.
So my efforts to stir the ice cream into the coffee were comically unsuccessful.
There were some shops on the ground level of the museum building so we explored the for a bit before heading back out to hit a temple or two, do some shopping and maybe hit another museum.

However when we got back to the courtyard this is what we saw....



Not only was it raining, it was pouring. We sat on a bench for at least 30 minutes hoping it would lighten up but it only came down harder and the wind was spraying the rain under the overhand the bench was sheltered by so we were getting damp.

We looked at the weather map and realized the storm would not be letting up for a couple of hours.

Thankfully we were flexible as we had done most of our Kyoto "must see" list during our 2019 trip.
We looked at Google maps and saw that Nishiki Market was about a 10-15 minute walk away so we put on our ponchos, opened our tiny umbrellas and walked out into the rain.

We got Drenched. The ponchos protected our torsos and backpacks, but mine was short sleeved. The rain was coming down too hard and at such an angle that the tiny umbrellas were useless. Our jeans were soaked through and water was poring over our shoes at it rand down to the gutters. At one point my husband reached to pull up the hood of his poncho since his umbrella wasn't effective. I thought that was a great idea and was reaching back to do the same when
SPLOSH!
Right... the hood of the poncho had water pooled in it where it had run off the back of the umbrella.
I dropped my hood like a hot potato and died laughing. I couldn't help it. The look of simultaneous disgust, surprise, and indignation on his face was priceless.
He eventually forgave for laughing, he knew it was funny.
I guess we should have borrowed the big sturdy umbrellas from the hotel.
Pro tip: most hotels in Japan have umbrellas for loan. Sometimes they are in a closet in your room, but sometimes you just have to ask the front desk.
When we finally got to Nishiki Market it was packed. Everyone us in the area had also sought shelter in the covered shopping arcade. We seriously felt like salmon swimming upstream.
Thankfully we were in the right mood and decided to ride the wave o humanity and enjoy the chaos.
We wandered around for a couple hours, stopping to shop, grabbing a couple item from food stalls. The only time I got my phone out for photos was when we stopped at a place that had a seating areas of sort. Well seating was upstairs, downstairs there was barrels to stand at. We got ¥100 sake and I had a Tempura covered omelet with Matcha salt.




We visited a couple of gatchapon stores, and checked out a few crane game arcades (but didn't play)
At one stall we got got some pretty nasty karaage that was really soggy chicken meatballs instead of actual chunks of chicken but like the disappointing tonkatsu the day before. Even worse we kind of felt like we had to eat it because there was no trash can to get rid of it, We didn't want to carry around a cup of chicken balls, and the only way to get rid of the cup was to hand the trash back to the stall we bought it from. We had one trash bag left in our backpacks but we wanted to save it in case we needed to protect them from the rain again as our ponchos were pretty destroyed.
However I also got us a nice chicken cutlet to share at a conbini and we had tea in a cafe to rest our feet mid-afternoon.
Sometime in the late afternoon when the rain had mostly dissipated we went back to the hotel to dry off.
Hubby's Poem for the day
"Though a steady rain
Though a crowded shopping street
Full of wet exiles
Still I treasure these moments
Ouch! Someone stepped on my foot!"

The lobby of the hotel was crawling with monks. There seemed to be some sort of convention as there were tables set up with people greeting them and another bus-full unloading as we came in. It was kind of cool to be honest.

We headed back out to dinner around 7p.m. Well... that was a mistake. Everything in the local area had closed down at 7 p.m.
We had forgotten that things often close early outside of the city center and there didn't seem to be any close by Izakaya either.
Our feet hurt too much to go back into the middle of the city to find one.
We ended up grabbing a random selection of food from Lawson's (also crawling with monks) and taking it back up the room to share.
As one friend on Facebook commented, it was like the ultimate "girl dinner" for 2.


We just showered in the room that night instead of using the Onsen downstairs because we figured the the Men's bath would likely be filled with monks.

Step Total 17,632 (no wonder my feet hurt)

 

[Nakkira]

We are starting to plan a trip for my husband and I and our two girls (14 and 8) to Japan. This is so incredibly helpful.

Awesome! When are you planning on traveling and what would you like to see?

 

[Nakkira]

I am really enjoying your posts. It looks like you and your hubby had an amazing trip!

Thank you so much for the feedback. I'm glad you are enjoying my trip report!

 

[Nakkira]

Sounds like the perfect "comfort" dinner after your day!

Absolutely.
We have an Asian grocer near our home where we can get the Japanese curry cubes, so we sometimes have this meal at home as comfort food.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Awesome! When are you planning on traveling and what would you like to see?

Our current plan is summer (I know not the best) 2026. Current plan is Toyko, Kyoto, and Osaka. We are planning on DisneySea as well. My daughters will be 15 and 9 at the time. My oldest just wants to eat everywhere. My youngest just wants to find as many Hello Kitty things as she can. My husband was stationed in Japan many many years ago so he has a bit of knowledge. We just recently started watching the Studio Gibhli films so that is something I am interested in.

 

[Nakkira]

Sounds like a great plan. I'm sure you guys are going to have a blast.
A little tip when looking for Hello Kitty and other Sanrio merch. Make sure you check Daiso for affordable items. Anything Daiso sells is officially licensed and is at a much better price than adjacent products in Sanrio stores. Granted you will find a lot more choice and much better/bigger items at the Sanrio stores but for cutesy things like stationery, keychains, snacks and even things like little themed tissue packs, etc Daiso is a great option.

 

[nono]

Absolutely.
We have an Asian grocer near our home where we can get the Japanese curry cubes, so we sometimes have this meal at home as comfort food.

Guess what I was just eating for lunch while reading this??!! My own S & B curry... LOL

 

[Nakkira]

Day 8 Part 1
To-ji Temple

Travel day to Tokyo

Woke up with a slightly sore throat that I was hoping was just caused by dry air.
Hotel breakfast again but this time I decided to get the omelet instead of the scrabbled eggs.



We checked out of the hotel and left out luggage with the front desk. We had deliberately scheduled or Shinkansen tickets for 1:30 pm to give us time to go to Toji Temple before leaving Kyoto.

On out last visit we had gone to the flea market they have every month on the 21st. This time was the smaller smaller antiques market at Toji Temple, called “Garakuta-ichi”, which is on the first Sunday of each month.

We had decided to walk because we wanted a good stretch of the legs before sitting on a train for 2 and a half hours later.
Sadly I was feeling very sluggish and my nose was running.
Well heck, my turn to have the ick I guess.

After what felt like forever to me (It think it was a half an hour) we arrived.





I mean, it's a beautiful place to go thrifting!



When we arrived my first order of business was to find a place to pee. I'd pounded two glasses of juice and a coffee with breakfast so this was unsurprising. Most of our time in Japan I had no troubles finding Western toilets but this time the only option that I could find was the squatter. Unfortunately my bladder couldn't wait for an alternate option. My bad knees where not a fan but I survived. LOL

This market was a bit smaller and less crowded than the monthly flea market but there was still a lot to look at.
We were mostly there to look for ceramics (teaware in specific).




We wandered around for over an hour and a half.
I found a pretty chawan (tea bowl) for me and a yunomi for a friend. (I will show and tell at the end of the trip with a haul post)
Hubby also go a chawan. He wanted more I think, but few were calling out to him (honestly he had a half a dozen or more at home anyway)



There was still a whole segment to explore but just as we rounded the corner to look at another set of tables a wave of malaise hit me.
The sun was beating on me, my backpack felt like it weighed 50 lbs and my nose was stuffed up.
"I'm done" I announced abruptly. We still had to get back to the hotel. We took it much slower going back. Resting as needed.

We cut through Umekoji Park getting back (we had gone around it before) and it was a very pretty walk back with more shade.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 8 Part 2
Shinkansen to Tokyo

We retrieved our bags from the front desk and made our way across the courtyard to Umekōji-Kyōtonishi Station.
This was a little more complicated than when we arrived as we not only had all of our luggage, but there was a craft fair set up. We kind of had to wind our way through the tables with our bags to get to the station. LOL

We rode to Kyoto station and then started making our way to the Shinkansen platform. This place is huge. We purchased some eki-ben for the ride and then tried to figure out how to print our ticket. Except unlike the JR trains it turns out that we just needed to use the QR code on our phones (this was after about 30 minutes or so of trying to figure it out and finally finding someone to ask).
We were frantically trying to get to our platform because we only had 5 minutes left to get on the train.
Turns out when we finally got there we still had an hour to wait. SOMEHOW we had gotten the times confused. It was almost 12:30 and our train wasn't till 1:30.
In my defense I was feeling pretty lousy.
Turns out that in that section of the station there is a lot of shopping and FAR more eki-ben choices than that first booth we had seen.
There was a large waiting area but it was pretty full so we sat on the ground near a pillar to wait (we were not the only ones).

Finally it was time to go to the Platform. We waited up there another 10 minutes and the train was right on time.



Happily our seats were slightly wider than on the other trains.


Riding the bullet train is a whole new experience. I actually got dizzy leaving the city things were going by so fast.
Hubby attempted some photos from the window but with little success.

We dug into lunch right away because it was past our normal lunch time.

I actually had bought two lunches.

I got the self-heating beef Bento. Pull the sting to activate the heating pouch and a few minutes later you have a warm lunch!



This was delicious. Even thought it looks overcooked and dry it was quite tender.
We also shared a small bottle of sake we picked up at the station.



My bonus bento I got purely because I wanted the lunch box for a souvenir. However I knew in advance it wasn't going to make for a satisfying lunch. They are mostly aimed at kids to be fair.




The shrimp was ok, and the hamburger patty was also "ok"
I wasn't able to finish the rice though as there had been a good bit in my beef bento.

Like I said, I got it for the reusable bento box.

I rested after lunch but did manage to see Mount Fuji when we passed it. At first we were sure it was Fuji because it had no snow cap, but the sheer size was unmistakable. We were traveling on November 3rd. Apparently Fuji did not get it's snow cap until November 6th. This actually set the record for the most-delayed Fuji snowfall in 130 years. Usually it has a snowcap by early October.

We finally reached Tokyo station and took another couple of transfers to Maihama Station. I was so excited when we arrived. We had reached the Disney bubble.

We found out later that evening that we could have just taken a bus to our hotel right from there, at the bus terminal, but we headed over to the Welcome center and were directed to he Monorail to ride it to the Resort gateway station. Kind of an indirect route but honestly I was just thrilled to be at Disney at last (even though we would not be visiting the parks until the day after next).








I really think only another Disney Adult would understand the sheer thrill it gives to finally reach the Disney Bubble.

Especially since I hadn't gotten to go to a Disney Park since 2018.

 

[Nakkira]

Day 8 Part 3
Tokyo Bay Maihama Hotel First Resort

Pretty early on in the trip planning I realized that I might not be able to get vacation package and stay withen budget. I did however very much want to stay at a Disney Resort property. With the booking windows so far away one night in April I decided to book one of the Official or Partner hotels through Expedia as long as I had free cancelation. Mostly just in case they sold out of the rooms within my budget and I couldn't book one later.

After a few hours of pricing I decided on Tokyo Bay Maihama Hotel First Resort. It really have the best value to me out of the "Tokyo Disney Resort Official Hotels".

For 5 nights with breakfast I paid $1,048.00

Once our booking window did open I ended up choosing to stay with this booking. I figured without a VP I'd want to pay for multiple DPA's per day and since the budget was now getting much tighter for the trip I would use the money saved (from the price being even lower than I could get at the cheapest Disney Hotel) to fund that guilt free.

I booked us the e "Moderate Room, Non Smoking, Castle Style"

At the Resort gateway Monorail stop we were directed onto a waiting bus to take up to our hotel.
Dude even the buses were awesome (I will have pictures later in this trip report)

Check in went very smoothly, the bell desk took our bags while we signed in, and soon we were shown up to our room by the bell person whom had our bags loaded neatly onto a trolley.
She even took her shoes off before bringing our bags in.
There was a small shoe rack by the door with slippers and space to leave your outdoor shoes.

I made sure to do a better job documenting this particular hotel because this is after all the DISboards and I wanted to do better for those planning their own trip.

The room was clean and decent sized (spacious by Japan standards)
The theming seemed to be Castle and just a bit of Alice and Wonderland.
We had twin beds which was just fine by us.






Decent amenities although the toothbrushes were rather small.



There was also two bottles of water on the table that were replenished daily.

I will say that very little in this hotel was marked in English. We were given a QR that lead us to a website with plenty of information on the facilities in English.

Thankfully I was well versed enough in Japanese toilet by this point to understand what most of the buttons did.

I could happily have just stayed put for the evening but we had 8:30 pm tickets for teamLab Planets so after a bit of a rest we were ready to head back out.
I did price out a taxi but the cost was deemed not worth it.

We decided to go to Ikspiari to grab something quick to eat before getting a train from Mahima station to take us there (a few transfers (thank you Google Maps)

We went back downstairs and got on the bus to Maihama station.