Tokyo Disney on New Year’s Day

So technically, we didn’t go to Tokyo Disneyland, with the castle and the princesses and parades. We went to the more adult park next store called Disney Sea. After comparing the two, the rides I wanted most to ride were there. Plus, it was New Year’s Day, and I figured Disneyland would be more crowded.

First impressions, everything was so pretty. Everything looked brand new! This park has been around for 14 years and it looks incredible. Pluto was even there at the gate to greet us!

The view as you enter is the great Mount Prometheus. It has a ride inside it, as well as a role in the night show, Fantasmic. It also periodically spits fire.

We explored American Waterfront, which includes Toy Story Mania!, the Tower of Terror, as well as a mishmash of American-esque culture, architecture and restaurants.

 

Instead of The Twilight Zone being the driving theme of this ride as it is in the U.S., they decided to go with an explorer theme (mimicking the park’s attractions) basing it off a man named Harrison Hightower, a shady guy who stole artifacts from all over the world, landing him a spooky cursed item. It was fun, smart, and hey, they avoided paying royalties to CBS!

We went inside Uncle Scrooge McDuck’s (a gift shop) and tried on a few silly things.

Silly was sort of a theme for us.

There were tons of old presidential propaganda posters everywhere.

Duffy the Disney Bear is HUGE here. There’s an entire store devoted to it. There’s a zillion different outfits, accessories, you name it. These were very old bears being displayed by an old man. He graciously let them model for me.

A view of Mediterranean Harbor

On Mysterious Island (where the mountain is) are two rides and a restaurant. This is the gift shop for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

We made reservations for Magellan’s, a super swanky place, for lunch!

While we waited for our time, we explored the fortress around the restaurant.

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Lunch was delicious. We splurged and got the four course meal, which made us feel a lot like Jack Dawson in Titanic. It was very good.

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Next, we hopped aboard the Disney Sea Electric Railway to get to Lost River Delta, the land where our next ride was. On the way, we passed over Port Discovery where the water rides are. The ride below is called Aquatopia, and it looked to be a sort of bumper cars on the water. IT WAS COLD PEOPLE. Why those people risked getting wet was beyond us.

Lost River Delta had the ride I was most excited for, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. I didn’t get to ride it in California, which was a huge bummer, because I wanted my mom to ride ‘my ride.’ I say it’s mine because it has the same ride path and vehicles as Dinosaur: the ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, where I worked for two years.

Indiana may have been running around, but all I heard was Dr. Seeker yelling, “Abort! Abort!” in my head.

Next, we headed to Arabian Coast. An Agrabah themed land. It was beautiful!!

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We didn’t feel like riding rides, but if we had, Jasmine’s Flying Carpets was there!
Instead, we headed for Mermaid Lagoon in search of dessert. (well, I had another search in mind). Yes, I found my secret treasure trove, full of whose its and whats its galore, most importantly, my Prince!!

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The line for Ariel was super short, plus the caramel popcorn cart was right next to it.
It was fate.

Freezing our butts off (if only), we headed back to American Waterfront to get a good seat for Fantasmic!. Now I had seen it at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but this show was incredible. It was done on the water, with stunts, and fireworks, and dancing, and DRAGONS WITH HUGE AMOUNTS OF FIRE. I was thoroughly impressed and almost forgot how cold I was.

I left for South Korea the next day. We shared our last ramen together at the airport. It was a wonderful trip and I can’t wait to return! We plan to go to Kyoto next time, and perhaps even The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan!

I can’t believe I can now say I’ve been to Korea and Tokyo. Is this real life?

This postcard represents my ‘horizons being broadened’ with Mt. Fuji on the left, and Namsan with Seoul Tower on the right.

Shibuya Days, Roppongi Nights

Tokyo is home to over thirty shrines. Despite this, religion in Japan isn’t as prevalent as it would seem. Less than half of the population of Japan identifies with an organized religion, be it Buddhism, Shinto sects, or Christianity.

The shrines are beautiful and well maintained though. My favorite one we visited was Meiji Shrine.  Located in Shibuya, this Shinto Shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife.

One of the main reasons I liked it was because it was in the middle of an 170 acre forest. There are numerous pathways to walk and parks to relax in.

I also learned what this gate means. It’s called a Torii  and it marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.

At the entrance of the shrine is a wash basin to wash hands and mouth (cleansing body and mind) before entering. At the window of the shrine, you can bow, clap twice, and bow again, offering a prayer and coin.

Next we headed to Asakusa market, a common tourist attraction. This place was a mad house, but very fun to people watch.

It also was the location of Sensoji, an ancient Buddhist temple. It’s the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of its most significant.

These two shrines were most likely very crowded on New Year’s Eve. In Japan, instead of partying all night, thousands of people will visit shrines at midnight for Hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year.

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At this shrine, you can pay a coin and get a fortune. Sadly, we both received pretty depressing ones.

I love this photo purely for the look of disgust on the man to my left.

All that walking made us hungry so we headed back to Shibuya for sushi. I got to walk through the famous Shibuya Crossing, which is a crazy scramble of people in a huge intersection.

We went to a fun restaurant where you sit down in front of a screen and conveyor belt. You order what you want and it zooms out to you, freshly made. SO good. It was just one of the amazing places we stopped to eat during my trip. I’ll never forget the best bowl of ramen I’ve ever had.

Our one night out was in Roppongi. Here we started at a ‘british style pub’ where we had a few beers. A chinese business man joined us for a bit and spoke English very well, but he insisted he didn’t.

Side Note: For you uber-cheesy tourists, there is a Hard Rock Cafe here! I’ve been getting my dad shirts from every location I go to this past year. 

Afterwards we headed to Motown House, a favorite spot of my friend’s. We had an amazing time dancing like crazy Americans and dazzling all the drunken patrons with our skills. This is the only photo taken, because I JUST WANTED TO DANCE!!!

Side Note: I have heard mixed reviews for Motown House. While our experience was successful, others have reported being drugged and robbed. Please be wary at any bar in a foreign country. Watch who makes your drink and never leave it unattended.

Let me tell you, teaching a Japanese man to bachata is no easy task.

 

A Tokyo Christmas

I decided to spend Christmas and ring in the New Year in Tokyo! A friend of mine lives there with her husband, and she was very excited to hear I would be living so close to them (a mere 2 hour flight away!).

Although I’d already flown internationally from the U.S., I hadn’t done it on my own yet. It sounded so scary in my head, entering a country, hoping they wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, sorry. No, you can’t come in!’ Silly, I know, but this is the mind of an anxious person.

I tried to nap on the flight, but the super nice stewardesses kept asking me if I wanted lunch, or drinks, or anything besides sleep. (Japan Airlines is super nice though!) I resolved to read Little Women on my new tablet (sacrilege I know. I’m still not totally sold on the idea, but wow is it light). I love Little Women. The movie brings me to tears every time. Sometimes even thinking about it makes me puddle up. It represents my childhood, and hanging with my mother and sister. Oddly enough, I have never read the book. My mom always told me to, knowing I would love it, but I’d only ever seen the film. Let me tell you. The book is even worse in the emotional department.

It got weird.

Keeping myself together was a struggle. The guy next to me thankfully was asleep. His shoes were off, which was gross, but at least he didn’t snore.

Caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji on the way in.

Japan felt so different from South Korea. There are tons of societal rules in Japan
Such as:

• being extremely quiet, at all times, in nearly every place
• placing money/payment in a dish rather than hand it straight to the person you’re purchasing from. Apparently handing cash directly to someone is super rude, but they can hand it back to you. Made very little sense to me.
• They stay until the very end of a movie, credits and all. Did I mention they were silent? No chuckles, no gasps, maybe not even breathing.
• ‘Foreigners’ don’t talk to or acknowledge each other. Meaning, if you’re lost, and need someone who speaks english, no one will help you

This is all sounding very bitter, which I don’t mean to be. I just get frustrated with societal rules in any place, especially if there’s no explanation for them other than, ‘that’s just the way it’s done.’

Something I loved about Japan was how clean it was, despite the lack of garbage cans anywhere. The streets and alleyways, malls, side shops, everything was so neat and well cared for. South Korea tends to have a thick layer of grime on any given surface.

Green tea has become one of my favorite things. I’d only had it in latte form before, but I much prefer it naturally, especially on a chilly morning.

It was nice to see this friend again. We have known each other for nearly 15 years. Quite a feat these days. Friendship isn’t always easy, especially when you’ve know someone from middle school age to adulthood. We know so much about each other, making it hard to adapt to changes and growth. Despite it all though, I think we’ve done a pretty great job growing together.

Christmas dinner was delicious! Luckily they have a Costco nearby so we were able to get a few treats. The menu was Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes (made by yours truly), sauteed ham, asparagus and the softest bread ever.

Christmas morning was delightful with our little gift exchange. My friend was so sweet and gave me a new notepad and pens, which I immediately put to use. George Washington, being one of her favorite presidents, was my first sketch.

I gave her David Copperfield and The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. I am not a Dickens fan, but she is. Whenever I go into a used bookshop, which is often, I always keep an eye out for them. I had had these books for a few years, and brought them all the way from D.C..

I was on a sketching-roll, so I decided to channel my Star Wars excitement.

I’ve always liked Pre-Serious-Jedi-Luke best. He was an amazing pilot!

Vader is my nephew’s favorite character. He calls him ‘Kokerr’ because of the sound Vader makes when he breathes. Yes, I agree. He is the cutest kid ever.

As a Christmas present to ourselves, we decided to splurge on ballet tickets to go see The Nutcracker at the New National Theater. My Tokyo tour guide is such a fashionista these days. We both realized upon my unpacking that we both wear black almost exclusively. We’ll stop wearing it when they make a darker color.

The ballet was incredible. The music brought back such wonderful memories for me. My family watched the 1986 motion picture version every Christmas. It’s amazing.

Our seats were pretty good, that’s our spot right on the end. With no one sitting in front of us, our view was never obstructed. The orchestra was flawless.

A few days later, we decided to start the tourist journey, first stop: Harajuku.

This is a common tourist destination, Takeshita Street being one of the more famous areas. Though it looks miserably crowded, once we were in it, it didn’t feel too bad. It’s all shopping, with a few karaoke clubs here and there.

Did I mention we love karaoke?

Here in Japan, the idea of singing in front of people you don’t know is ludicrous. Instead, they rent out private rooms. You can order food, drinks, and sing to your heart’s desire. It is addicting. We extended an hour, because you can’t sing enough Elton John, people.

It was a long night of love songs and rock ballads. All in all, a successful night out.

Next up, shrines, Tokyo Disney & more!