Do you remember we once took the whole family to Tokyo, back in January 2010? And when we came back our car was buried in snow… haha Yeah, not this time. October is a beautiful month in Japan. We were never cold, a little bit hot (since we wore long pants), and very soaked—well, at least that was on the third day of our trip. Thursday and Friday, we had free time to do whatever, and we used every minute of it having fun…Nah….that would be an exaggeration…we had some crazy moments too, you know, with three kids in tow it always happens.
So because the first three nights we stayed at Sheraton by Disney and paid way more than we usually try to pay, we decided that the other three nights we are in Tokyo we are going to try something different and cheap. We stayed at Hardy Barracks (quite an inviting name, isn’t it?), which is military lodging in the middle of Tokyo, namely in Roppongi. The “hotel”, small military post office, small shop and navy office building are all fenced in with a guard and ID check in the front. We had two rooms connected with a bathroom, plenty of room for all of us, for merely $50. Now, that’s cheap. I think their basic price for a suite is $35, but we had to pay extra for all the kids. So, if you are ever need a quick cheap place to sleep, this is the place. Complimentary “tiny” continental breakfast is a bonus, kids loved it.
Anyway, on Thursday morning we took a taxi (in Tokyo! because it was the same price for us as to take the bus and pay for the whole family) to Children’s Museum that we wanted to revisit. When we found the place, this is what we saw…quite disappointing.
So, being flexible as we are, we walked for 15 minutes to Shibuya station, found a statue of Hachiko, famous Japanese dog (ask Robert to tell you the story behind it, he is a great story teller).
We hopped on a train and went to Harajuku station, next to Yoyogi park. This was our first time to Yoyogi park, a recreational woody area in the middle of Tokyo. I read lots about how many people come to jog and bike here, and how this is the place to rent a bike and go for a bike ride. Since the weather was just gorgeous, we found a cycling center and rented bikes. Alex was very sad he was the only one without a basket in the front of his bike. Robert said, “Only in Japan no one will be making fun of me riding this bike”. I did anyway. Still laughing about it!
We rode around the park for almost an hour. Kids absolutely loved it. I was quiet, sunny and so peaceful.
Next we made our way to the Government Metropolitan Building.
We were trying to find place to eat downstairs at that huge building, but EVERY restaurant was packed with long waiting lines because it was lunchtime, so instead we just went up to the 46th floor right away to see Tokyo from up there. I have been to this place twice before, but this was Robert’s and kids’ first time. Wow! The view was amazing! Wish we had taken a free 15 minute tour up there with a guide who’d explain to us what all the buildings were, but the kids were getting hungry and hot, so maybe next time.
Huge city!
It was almost 2 pm, so at this point we split up. Robert took the kids to find something to eat and then go swimming at the New Sanno hotel (which was close to our Hardy Barracks). I ran really fast for one session at the LDS temple. We met up around 5 pm—ran into each other on the street, actually-haha. The plan was to go to TGI Friday’s, I know, very American, but familiar. When we got there this is what we saw….
Second time today something was closed because it was being renovated.
Instead, we walked over to Outback steakhouse for some good green salad and blooming onion with lots of popcorn shrimps. Kids love shrimp.
All right, I better stop before you are bored out of your mind. I just know I have to write all of this down because I can tell, after even a week, I am forgetting everything we did. So, come back soon if you want to find out what we did on Friday, our last day in Tokyo.
*By the way, I must say that our kids did a fantastic job with all the walking we had to do in Tokyo!
**It is much easier to travel and put kids to bed in the same room now that they are older…and exhausted from going places all day.
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