That’s Tokyo – oh I am so tired!
My mom, brother and his 11 year-old son came to visit us in Japan in March. We were so glad they came, even though the trip was short – but I think we all ended up with some wonderful family memories. We were all over the place and had a ton of fun.
They arrived in Tokyo at 5AM, and in order to meet them at the airport I (Robert here) flew down the night before. That in itself was a memorable trip, for me at least. I arrived at the Haneda airport around 9PM and somehow had to find my way to the international terminal. After a lot of directionless pacing I found my way down an escalator to an enormous room that looked like it was taken straight out of one of those doomsday movies where all the lights are on, the TVs are blaring but there’s no sign of life anywhere – except me. I thought about crashing right there for the night, but I still wasn’t sure how to get to the other side of the airport yet. And there it was, the gate for the shuttle. Thankfully they were still running, so I just sat there until, true to Japan, the bus arrived exactly on time. “Boarding pass?” the man asked when I approached him. “I don’t have a boarding pass. I’m trying to get to the international terminal to meet my family arriving tomorrow morning from LA,” I explained. “Ah, meeting. Come,” he replied, and with that I was on the shuttle bus, the only passenger, on a 20 minute ride from one side of the airport to the other, literally driving around the airplanes on the tarmac.
The international terminal was the complete opposite of the domestic terminal, bustling with busy crowds. I explored for a while, stopping occasionally to catch up on the next chapter in my book. (An enthralling tale of deceit, trickery and mischievousness – The Secret Garden, perhaps you’ve heard of it. I figured it’s never too late to catch up on the classics). Eventually I spied a corner section of chairs on which to bed down for the night. With gratitude for my wife reminding me to take earplugs and an airplane pillow, I nodded off to sleep. And then woke up to check the clock and watch the zamboni clean the floor. Then sleep, then awake. Repeat 5 times. Surprisingly the number of people in the terminal didn't seem to diminish much – the difference was just that every other bench had turned into someone’s bed.
Finally, I woke up and noticed it was 4:20, and the flight would arrive soon. I jumped up (rather, I rolled off), and went to where they would exit customs. I was literally staring at them when they came out, and my brother gave me a rather quizzical look and then I recognized him. I was glad to see them.
After a quick bit of freshening up (remember, they had just had a 10 hour flight) we got on the train and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the New Sanno around 7AM, a bit early to check in to our room, so we stowed the bags, ate a big buffet breakfast, lingered around the dining room for at least another hour, then headed over to the locker rooms by the pool to get ready for church.
After church, the hotel let us have one of the rooms, so we could get ready for the rest of the day, which is where the pictures start (and probably where I should have started this post instead of turning it into a recap of Tom Hanks’ character in “The Terminal” – I liked that movie, by the way).
I’ve been to many places in Tokyo, some several times, but one place I hadn’t been to yet was Asakusa (the ‘u’ is silent, but I still can’t pronounce it). Lyana recommended it and it turned out to be a great place to go.
The main avenue leading up to the big temple/shrine is full of assorted shops and vendors, and the the whole path is lined with read lanterns. This is a perfect stop for first-time visitors to Japan.
I like five-story pagodas (or is it pagodi?) And I think they mean something special in Japanese culture, though I can’t put my finger on it right now.
We didn’t realize how close we would be to the Tokyo Sky Tree. It will open in May, and at 634 meters (or 2,080 ft) tall, it is the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world (the first is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It’s featured in the latest “Mission Impossible” movie, which I really enjoyed, and not just because half the audience in the theater gasped in fear as Tom Cruise jumped out a window on the 100th floor.)
We were fortunate to be at the Shrine when a religious procession went through. I won’t pretend that I knew what was happening, but it was pretty cool to watch, especially that dragon in the back held up on poles. I’ve got video of it that I’d like to show you, but it takes too long to upload, so I’ll save it for another day. Besides, this post is long enough as it is.
The rest of the day, not documented with photos, consisted of squid balls, dangerous playground equipment, firefighters in bright orange wetsuits, trains, trains, more trains, snacks and Pawn Stars.
The next day we went to Tokyo Disney Sea. Mom had never been to Disney anywhere, so it was neat that her first time was in Japan. Despite the long lines, she was hooked.
There was a Japanese holiday the day before we went (don’t know which) but it was the only day we could go, and though it was crazy crowded, we had a blast. Fast Pass is the way to go. We ran straight to Tower of Terror (and apparently so did 9,000 other people). The line just to get the Fast Pass was longer than the line for the ride, so we bit the bullet and stood in line (actually, they stood in line while I ran and walked and ran and staggered short of breath to the Indiana Jones ride to get a Fast Pass for that one, then hobbled my way back to the others – yes, line jumping, I know).
This is probably a good time to confess my sins: we didn’t tell mom what the Tower of Terror actually was. We just told her it had something to do with an elevator. I’m not sure at which point she figured us out – maybe when she was asked to buckle here seatbelt or perhaps it was during that first plunge down the elevator shaft.
Here’s a few outside shots for you. This globe greets you at the entrance. Water flows along the sides where the oceans are. Gotta see it for real to appreciate it, sorry.
Disney really was a lot of fun. I couldn’t believe some of the wait times for the rides. Journey to the Center of the Earth had an estimated waiting time of 180 minutes at one point. All the Fast Passes were gone by the time we got around to that one, but since we had done everything else, we said what the heck and went for it (but only after the time had decreased to a less alarming 150 minutes). We didn’t notice the wait too much, though. We had two games of Scrabble to keep us busy (we had an i-phone AND an i-pad with us). The batteries died a few minutes before we got on the ride.
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Okay, time to switch gears. Tuesday morning we got up at a reasonable time, and the plan was to get to the LDS temple up the street for a 10:00 session. We went fast, but not fast enough. We just missed it, but we decided that since we were already there, we’d do whatever they wanted us to do, so we ended up participating in some sealings, which turned out to be a great experience. It was just great being in the temple together with my mom and brother (we left the nephew in the hotel).
And then mom and brother. A small detail you might not realize, but notice that mom and brother are not standing right next to the train. They tried, but off the picture to your right all of a sudden several custodians/train janitors shooed us them away from the train. We thought they were telling us that we weren’t allowed to touch the train, but when the train suddenly started moving, we realized they were just trying to keep us safe.
My mom, brother and his 11 year-old son came to visit us in Japan in March. We were so glad they came, even though the trip was short – but I think we all ended up with some wonderful family memories. We were all over the place and had a ton of fun.
They arrived in Tokyo at 5AM, and in order to meet them at the airport I (Robert here) flew down the night before. That in itself was a memorable trip, for me at least. I arrived at the Haneda airport around 9PM and somehow had to find my way to the international terminal. After a lot of directionless pacing I found my way down an escalator to an enormous room that looked like it was taken straight out of one of those doomsday movies where all the lights are on, the TVs are blaring but there’s no sign of life anywhere – except me. I thought about crashing right there for the night, but I still wasn’t sure how to get to the other side of the airport yet. And there it was, the gate for the shuttle. Thankfully they were still running, so I just sat there until, true to Japan, the bus arrived exactly on time. “Boarding pass?” the man asked when I approached him. “I don’t have a boarding pass. I’m trying to get to the international terminal to meet my family arriving tomorrow morning from LA,” I explained. “Ah, meeting. Come,” he replied, and with that I was on the shuttle bus, the only passenger, on a 20 minute ride from one side of the airport to the other, literally driving around the airplanes on the tarmac.
The international terminal was the complete opposite of the domestic terminal, bustling with busy crowds. I explored for a while, stopping occasionally to catch up on the next chapter in my book. (An enthralling tale of deceit, trickery and mischievousness – The Secret Garden, perhaps you’ve heard of it. I figured it’s never too late to catch up on the classics). Eventually I spied a corner section of chairs on which to bed down for the night. With gratitude for my wife reminding me to take earplugs and an airplane pillow, I nodded off to sleep. And then woke up to check the clock and watch the zamboni clean the floor. Then sleep, then awake. Repeat 5 times. Surprisingly the number of people in the terminal didn't seem to diminish much – the difference was just that every other bench had turned into someone’s bed.
Finally, I woke up and noticed it was 4:20, and the flight would arrive soon. I jumped up (rather, I rolled off), and went to where they would exit customs. I was literally staring at them when they came out, and my brother gave me a rather quizzical look and then I recognized him. I was glad to see them.
After a quick bit of freshening up (remember, they had just had a 10 hour flight) we got on the train and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the New Sanno around 7AM, a bit early to check in to our room, so we stowed the bags, ate a big buffet breakfast, lingered around the dining room for at least another hour, then headed over to the locker rooms by the pool to get ready for church.
After church, the hotel let us have one of the rooms, so we could get ready for the rest of the day, which is where the pictures start (and probably where I should have started this post instead of turning it into a recap of Tom Hanks’ character in “The Terminal” – I liked that movie, by the way).
I’ve been to many places in Tokyo, some several times, but one place I hadn’t been to yet was Asakusa (the ‘u’ is silent, but I still can’t pronounce it). Lyana recommended it and it turned out to be a great place to go.
The main avenue leading up to the big temple/shrine is full of assorted shops and vendors, and the the whole path is lined with read lanterns. This is a perfect stop for first-time visitors to Japan.
We were fortunate to be at the Shrine when a religious procession went through. I won’t pretend that I knew what was happening, but it was pretty cool to watch, especially that dragon in the back held up on poles. I’ve got video of it that I’d like to show you, but it takes too long to upload, so I’ll save it for another day. Besides, this post is long enough as it is.
I should probably be able to tell you who this guy is – after all, the picture’s in my blog. But alas, I do not know. He looked important, though, so I snapped a photo.
The next day we went to Tokyo Disney Sea. Mom had never been to Disney anywhere, so it was neat that her first time was in Japan. Despite the long lines, she was hooked.
There was a Japanese holiday the day before we went (don’t know which) but it was the only day we could go, and though it was crazy crowded, we had a blast. Fast Pass is the way to go. We ran straight to Tower of Terror (and apparently so did 9,000 other people). The line just to get the Fast Pass was longer than the line for the ride, so we bit the bullet and stood in line (actually, they stood in line while I ran and walked and ran and staggered short of breath to the Indiana Jones ride to get a Fast Pass for that one, then hobbled my way back to the others – yes, line jumping, I know).
This is probably a good time to confess my sins: we didn’t tell mom what the Tower of Terror actually was. We just told her it had something to do with an elevator. I’m not sure at which point she figured us out – maybe when she was asked to buckle here seatbelt or perhaps it was during that first plunge down the elevator shaft.
Oh, here’s a pic of Ariel’s Grotto. We saw the Little Mermaid live show in there. We loved it. The dialogue was in Japanese, and the songs were in English.
Lunch afterward was in the grotto too. That’s a “sausage pizza” which in Japanese means “hot dog, corn and onion” pizza. I told my nephew the clear gelatinous stuff on the dessert plate was Jellyfish brains. I like to think he believed me, though he probably won’t admit it. And I should probably apologize with every ounce of dentist in me, that I think I got him hooked on melon soda.
Mom (and I guess the rest of us) loved the shows. We saw several. Some were outdoors on the harbor like this one, others were inside theatres – acrobatics, live music, cinematronics, puppeteers, 3D – we saw it all.
What do you think it’s like inside those floats? Do you think they have a bathroom?
Young at heart. I made sure we all got to ride the double-decker carousel.
Disney really was a lot of fun. I couldn’t believe some of the wait times for the rides. Journey to the Center of the Earth had an estimated waiting time of 180 minutes at one point. All the Fast Passes were gone by the time we got around to that one, but since we had done everything else, we said what the heck and went for it (but only after the time had decreased to a less alarming 150 minutes). We didn’t notice the wait too much, though. We had two games of Scrabble to keep us busy (we had an i-phone AND an i-pad with us). The batteries died a few minutes before we got on the ride.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, time to switch gears. Tuesday morning we got up at a reasonable time, and the plan was to get to the LDS temple up the street for a 10:00 session. We went fast, but not fast enough. We just missed it, but we decided that since we were already there, we’d do whatever they wanted us to do, so we ended up participating in some sealings, which turned out to be a great experience. It was just great being in the temple together with my mom and brother (we left the nephew in the hotel).
And then off to the Shinkansen (bullet train). At the platform we had to take pictures (though it turned out to not be the train we’d be on). First the nephew.
The train ride up was uneventful (more Scrabble – recharged at the hotel). Finally arrived in Misawa and that’s where I’ll stop.
More to come (whether you like it or not).
Rob
P.S. I didn’t mention the prank my nephew pulled on me Monday morning, but let’s just say it had something to do with the alarm clock and he’d better be on his toes next time we get together.
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