Japan Trip Part I

Hello Kitty Ramen at Puroland

The view from our hotel room.

Train system in Tokyo.  It looks like some kind of electric circuit board. 

Aly enjoying Hello Kitty Ramen.

Puroland entrance

Sleeping on Shinkansen

Saya fell asleep right away at my parents' house.

We are finally back from the trip to Japan.  We spent three eventful weeks in a busy yet orderly country and my mind and soul were stimulated and rested at the same time.  The memories we made are priceless.  I hope the girls engraved them in their hearts and remember them for a long time. 

The previous post was written on the airplane over the pacific on the way to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.  The girls did well on the plane, watching TV shows on the personal entertainment system.  I took a portable DVD player and two iPads with loads of new games, but they didn't even use them on the plane.  I felt pretty tired and dozed on and off since the girls were maintenance free.  They slept finally about the last two hours or so, but the short sleep was what they needed since we were arriving in Haneda at 10:30 pm and they needed to sleep in the hotel.

The hotel was right on the airport, so it was convenient.  We still had to take a shuttle bus to get there, but that wasn't too bad.  I arranged the suitcase to be delivered directly to my house in Osaka, so I didn't have a large suitcase to haul around.  Haneda is a 24-hour airport and we could see the planes taking off from our room.  It was taking off right next to our hotel, but we didn't hear the noise at all.  Amazing!  The girls slept very well overnight and didn't get up until 6 am.  That was very good because we usually get up super early in the morning due to jetlag on the first few days after arrival.  The breakfast buffet at the hotel was awesome!  They had all kinds of dishes including Udon and Soba, which the girls enjoyed the most.  I think Saya ate five bowls of soba that morning.  The girls were extremely hungry it seemed (they didn't eat the airplane food).  I was endlessly getting food for them from the buffet and I couldn't eat much myself (I got too tired to get my own food).

We had a plan to visit Puroland where the beloved Hello Kitty lives.  They were very excited to meet Hello Kitty and other cute Sanrio characters.  We took a bus to a city of Tama which was quite far from Haneda airport.  We walked from the bus stop to Puroland and felt the heat of Japan beating me up mercilessly.  I was prepared for the notorious humid summer of Japan but I suddenly felt like I may not survive it :-).  It takes a bit of getting used to I guess.  The girls were both red cheeked and walking like they have been walking in the desert for days.  Oh boy, I thought.  They have got to toughen up!

The Puroland was just as I imagined.  Hello Kitty was there and she was huge.  The girls hugged her and said she was soft.  They also saw My Melody, characters from Jewel Pet (Japanese girlie cartoon), and many more.  There were tons of Chinese tourists as those characters are popular in other Asian countries, too.  It didn't feel like Japan since many of the people there were foreigners.  We ate Hello Kitty ramen and it was so cute.  I was ready to get out of there though since we were to travel to Osaka on Shinkansen (bullet train) and see my parents.  We had a long way to go, find our way back to the main Tokyo area on a local train, buy Shinkansen ticket and ride it for two and half hours.  The train system in Tokyo looked like a maize.  It is far worse than the ones in Osaka!  We found our way to Tokyo station and the girls followed me like little ducklings through waves of people.  The girls lost to the fatigues and fell asleep on Shinkansen.  I became their pillow and was stuck in uncomfortable and unsexy leg spread position for two hours!  The things we do for children...

When we finally arrived to my parents' condo, I was so relieved!  The long never-ending journey to my parents' home was finally over and there were no surprises or accidents!  When you conquer a challenging situation, you feel empowered and that is what I felt and I always do.  It was not bad at all and I can do this again, I thought, just like when I drove to California and back by myself with three kids.  Let the fun begin, I sang inside, and was determined to not waste any minute and eat lots of yummy food :-)