Posted by Jess
24 October 2010

After Jason arrived back in Tokyo on Wednesday night, it was finally time for the highlight of Kiki-fest (at least in a four year old's eyes) - Disneyland!  Thursday we spent the entire day at Tokyo Disneyland.  It was a busy day so I'll try to sum it up, but forgive me if this post is a little long...

We took the train to the Disney Resort area.  It took 3 trains to get there and the transfers were a little long, but we made it in just under an hour of travel time. 

Disney has two parks here- Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea.  Disneyland is the classic park with the usual suspects for rides.  Disney Sea is a sort of combination of California Adventures and Epcot Center - more shows, rides like Tower of Terror, an area to explore different parts of the world.  Disney Sea does have Nemo and Ariel though (since they live in the sea of course).  We decided that since our girls are little, Disneyland would be better for us.






The park had all the same things as Disneyland in the States, except Frontierland is called Westernland here and Tomorrowland is called Futureland.  The rides are all pretty much the same too with just a few additions/subtractions.

Futureland has Rockets, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia/Grand Prix, Space Mountain, and then two additions - a Monsters Inc. ride where you have to shine your flashlight around Monstropolis and try to find Boo.  If you put your flashlight on a Monsters Inc emblem, a monster appears.  Not scary though- it's not like they pop out at you - more like Oscar the Grouch coming out of his garbage can.  The other addition is Captain EO, which is a George Lucas/Michael Jackson show that used to be at the parks.  It was just brought back to this park a few months ago.  We did Monster Inc and Space Mountain in this part of the park - both had over an hour wait.  Ella was tall enough for Space Mountain by about 8-10cm - no problem!  The cars are classic roller coaster style so 2 people in each row.  Her and Jay sat in the very front which is the darkest spot to sit in Space Mountain and she loved it!  No fear of roller coasters for that girl (but people in costumes, that's another story...). 

We didn't spend too much time in Adventureland and Westernland.  We did go on Thunder Mountain, which again Ella loved although I had to hold on to her the whole time - I thought she was going to slide out of her seat.  I thought this ride was really good - better than I remember from the other parks.  Thunder Mountain's wait was about an hour as well.  Splash Mountain was 80 minutes - too long for us and the fast passes were already gone for the day by mid-afternoon.  Other attractions in this area are the mark twain steamboat, tom sawyer's island, the tiki room and the country bear jamboree (which we didn't know if they would be in Japanese so we didn't try them) and then a railroad that goes around this part of the park.

We spent most of our time in Toon Town and Fantasyland as the day went on.  Around 5pm or so these areas started to clear out and rides that had an hour wait in the morning were now down below 30 minutes or less.  In Toon Town, Ella and Jason rode Gadget's Go Coaster while Abby played on a little kids playground.  Then we caught the Halloween Parade.









After the Halloween Parade we had some fast passes to go to Pooh's Hunny Hunt.  We grabbed fast passes as soon as we came into the park because this is a big attraction for this park.  Waits were about 90 minutes almost all day.  We still waited about 25 or 30 minutes to go on even with the fast passes.  It was worth it though.  The Pooh ride in Disneyland CA has got nothing on this one.  You sit with 5-6 of you in a honey pot and go through Pooh's world.  Along the way, you meet Tigger and then go into this room where you actually bounce.  The floor moves you up and down and Tigger is on the screen in front of you bouncing too.  Really cool effect.  Then you go into Pooh's world which is slightly psychedelic of course.  Your honey pot goes in front of silly mirrors, over to bees that drink honey and act a little crazy, and a few other things to see.  It was a good ride and we could all ride it together so it was definitely the right one to get the passes for.  A 90 minute wait would have been hard to swallow.

After that we headed back to Toon Town to grab some pizza for dinner and then got in line to meet Mickey Mouse.  The line for that was about an hour too.  But it was Abby's first visit to a park and Ella was all about meeting Mickey so we got in line.  We met Mickey and Abby wasn't so excited (some of you will remember Ella's pictures with Mickey Mouse when she was 11 months old - this wasn't far off!).   Kiki did snap a few shots though.







After Mickey we headed back to Fantasyland.  Ella wanted to ride on Its a Small World (which never has a long wait) so Jason and I took her.  By the time we got back to Fantasyland - about a 5 minute walk, Abby was asleep.  Poor thing was tuckered out.  But her and Kiki had gone on Its a Small World earlier in the day so she didn't miss anything!


We hit up more of Fantasyland after this - Dumbo was next, which had about a 35 minute wait, but by that time it was great because the Electric Light Parade came out while we were in line so there was entertainment - plus when we got up in Dumbo (Ella and I went on) we could watch the parade from up there.  Great view of what was going on below us.






We watched the rest of the parade and then Ella and Jay headed on Peter Pan - the wait was only about 10 minutes.  And Ella was entertained by the group of high school girls in line in front of them that were enamored with her.  They asked her all kinds of questions and took her picture.  After that Ella and Jay headed to Snow White, which had very little wait while Kiki and I headed back to Futureland to get some popcorn.  Popcorn is a popular treat here at theme parks and you can get different flavors at different places in the park.  There was Honey popcorn by Pooh's ride, Curry popcorn in Adventureland, Caramel and plain of course, but then in Futureland, there was Soy Sauce popcorn, which Jason had been eyeing up earlier in the day.  Everyone else thought it was great - I wasn't a fan.  We did a little shopping, watched the fireworks show and headed home for the night around 9pm or so.




And of course we met some other characters throughout the day (which Abby was not so always fond of and Ella didn't really want to see if they weren't princesses).





For the most part it felt like Disneyland at home.  But here's a quick list of what I found different or interesting about this park versus the US parks:

1. The number of adults that wanted pictures with characters or went on kids rides but didn't have kids with them.

2.  Princesses are not as big of a deal here.  Girls were dressed up as princesses and there were princesses out and about and in the parades, but merchandise wasn't really about princesses - more of mickey/minnie and then dumbo, bambi, and other classic cartoon characters. 

3.  The restaurants were very similar to the US park restaurants.  I would have thought that it would have been a bit more Japanese.  Although we did have rice and beef and sandwiches on chinese buns for lunch.

4.  There aren't embroidable ears here.  People just get headbands with ears on them or these hats that are the head of the character with a little plush body attached.  The number of grown men wearing Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse stuffed animals on their heads was insane.




6.  Shopping was not so great.  Almost all the stores had exactly the same things and even then there was not much variety.  I was really disappointed as I was hoping to find some of the great Disney toys that we usually find in the states.  Couldn't even find Ella a wand for her Halloween costume.

And I'm pretty sure we were the only foreigners at the park.

Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jess
23 October 2010

On Wednesday, I had to work and Jason wasn't due back from the States until the evening so Kiki was on full kid duty.  She did splendidly!  She dropped Ella off at school and then took the stroller down to the subway - during rush hour! - and got on the train to head to the National Museum.  I wasn't with her and Abby's been pretty mum about the excursion, but there are pictures so I thought I'd post them here.  Kiki said that with the exception of school field trips the museum was pretty empty so it was good for her and Abby to explore and Abby even got to walk around a little bit too.  I think they got in about two hours at the museum when Abby was done with her history lesson!  Kiki said she could have used more time, but was glad to see what she did.

this was a writing from the 11th century telling the rules and regulations for ceremonies

Standing Bishamon Ten (a figure in Buddhist Mythology) c. 1162  Made with wood and gold leaf plus crystals for eyes.

Abby walking around Ueno Park, which is a park that holds a zoo and many museums

Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jess
23 October 2010

Happy Birthday, Kiki!

On Tuesday of Kiki-fest I had to work and Ella had school.  But I went in to work a little later and after we dropped Ella off at school, Kiki, Abby and I headed to the Imperial Palace East Gardens.  The East Garden is one section of the imperial palace grounds.  As far as I can tell from a little bit of research, it currently holds the imperial music hall, the department of ceremonies, and the Museum of Imperial Collections.  The East Gardens used to hold the stables, housing for the workers, and prior to that, defense buildings and look-out towers, but those buildings are no longer there.  While you cannot go into the palace itself unless you are on a guided tour or on the Emperor's Birthday and New Years (Dec 23rd and Jan 2nd), I was hoping to take a look around the grounds of the East Gardens and in the outer gardens.  But because the day before had been a holiday and museums/public buildings are usually closed on Monday, the gardens were closed.  We walked the loop around the East Gardens which gave a nice view of the gates, the moat, and the stone walls all around it.  I think this area is about 5km so it was a longer walk than I expected.  Good thing it was nice out! 

Although the original castle is no longer there, this larger area was the site of the Edo Castle from 1603-1867.  And then after the Edo period ended and Edo became Tokyo, the castle was destroyed in a fire and the palace was built instead.  This version of the palace was rebuilt after the original was destroyed in WWII.  The Imperial Palace is Tokyo's White House.  It's where the Emperor lives and where official business takes place.


Other than that, I went to work and had calls into the evening, so Kiki helped out and picked up Ella from school and made dinner for the girls.  By the time I came home they were all full and ready for bed.  Thanks Kiki!

Meganebashi (Eyeglass Bridge) leading up to the main gate

The Main Gate with Guards in the Guardhouses

the railing leading up to the main gate

the imprints on the sidewalk on the walk around the gardens

Happy Abby!

And yes, she did get to run around a bit too!

One of my favorites - such a smiley girl

Hoping to head back to the palace in the Springtime as this was a really pretty area and I think during Cherry Blossoms it would be fantastic!  I also would like to do the tour of the palace (yes, it is offered in English) and get to see inside the grounds and more of the buildings.  It's hard just walking around the outside to understand how it all fits together and to figure out which buildings are which.  This area could definitely use more exploration.

Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jess
21 October 2010

Monday the 11th was a national holiday for Health and Sports Day.  It is a holiday to commemorate the opening day of the 1964 Olympics which took place in Tokyo.  Like some previous holidays I've mentioned, there are no festivals or anything - its just a day off to enjoy.  And we had great weather to enjoy it with!

We decided to show Kiki the park that I've mentioned in previous posts - the one with the zip line.  They have taken out the beer garden next door now (probably because baseball season is over?) and replaced it with more playground equipment - on the hill there is a rope climb and tires to crawl up and some swings.  Ella had fun in this area but there isn't much for Abby to do here so we played a little while and then headed to the area with the large jungle gym, trampoline and zip line.





We came back home for lunch and naps and then headed out again in the afternoon.  This time we just went to Shibuya for a department store and crowd experience.  As Kiki put it, it was a "sea of people".  And "that's where all the people are".  Until you go to large shopping areas like this, you can forget how many people are actually living in this city!  We checked out the basement floor of Tokyu department store.  Basement floors of department stores here are generally the food centers - lots of stands selling different types of foods, plus liquor stores, bakeries, fruit stands, coffee counters.  It's like the basement of Marshall Field's/Macy's but on a much grander scale.  Other than that, we just ran a few errands and then headed back towards home for dinner and bed.  Pretty low key, but Kiki still managed to get some good photos so I wanted to be sure to post them!







And because I feel like I need another picture of Abby in this post...


Kanpai!
Jess

Posted by Jess
20 October 2010

My documentation of Kikifest 2010 continues with Sunday's excursions.  On Sunday morning, Ella, Abby and I headed to a co-worker's house for a 1 year old's birthday party.  There were a lot of kids there but unfortunately not really any other adults that I knew and since Kiki had stayed home to relax away some more jet lag, it left me a little lost at the party.  But I am very proud to say that of all 12 kids at the party, my two are the ONLY two who did not cry during the 2 hours we were there!  Yay!  The girls got to eat some yummy chocolate cake and each came home with a mylar balloon - one elmo, one ariel.  And I'm surprised that today, 10 days later, those balloons are still floating around our apartment. 

We headed home in time for naps and lunch and afterwards took advantage of nice weather and headed to the Meiji Shrine, a famous shrine of the Shinto Religion.  The shrine was built in honor of Emperor Meiji and his wife after their deaths.  The shrine is very large and only about a 20 minute walk from our house.  We walked up the main shopping street by our house (Omotesando), past Harajuku station and through the outer gates.  Along the way we were able to see some of the high school age/twenty-somethings hanging out in their strange costumes, signs (free hugs) and street performances (I can sing a song in your language guy).  These young guys and gals are usually there on Sundays - there wasn't too many of them though since it was getting to be a little bit later in the day.  I digress...

We headed through the outer gate - called a torii -  to the shrine and started our walk in.  It was a longer walk than I was expecting.  The shrine is adjacent to Yoyogi Park, so its nicely shaded.  We walked past a wall of wine casks that were given to the Emperor from famous wineries in France to show their great relationship (more on that later) and opposite that barrels of sake.  As we entered the actual shrine area, Ella and I stopped to wash our hands which is customary when entering a shrine as a ritual purification.  While you cannot take photos of the main sanctuary of the shrine, we did get to see a few wedding processions and some people entering one of the buildings for baptism.








After taking a look around, we headed back to Harajuku Station.  I thought it might be fun to take Kiki out across the bay to Odaiba.   This area is really touristy but it makes for some fun picture taking!  Plus there's a pet store which the kids always love to visit.  We headed to Shimbashi Station and then caught the Yurikamome Monorail line over.  I forgot about the fact that we had to take the train over a long bridge and that Kiki isn't so fond of that, but we all made it just fine.  Out here there is a smaller scale version of the Statue of Liberty.  Why, you might ask?  Ahh, the love of the french!  Apparently in 2000, France brought their original Statue of Liberty to Japan on exhibition.  The exhibition was a huge success so the French built a replica and gave it to Japan as a goodwill gesture.  The relationship with France seems to be due to all the help that France gave in modernizing Japan when the borders were opened up, which was when Emperor Meiji took over and let in outsiders in the mid to late 1800's.  France helped build Japan's legal system, modernize the military and create a shipbuilding industry for the Navy.  Ok, history lesson over - other fun things at Daiba are a Death Star building and a giant ferris wheel.  Just some fun things to take pictures of over all which is always good for Kiki!






Kanpai!
Jess