Last Saturday I got up at the unearthly time of 4:30 to begin my journey to Tokyo for two days. I had been planning this trip for months, and had found out just a few days before that Tokyo DisneySea, the only one of its kind in the world, was sold out for that day. So I was feeling really bummed that I wouldn't get to visit Disney.
At 6 'o' clock, I left my apartment and rode through the snow & dim light to the train station. It was freezing cold, so I bought some hot coffee at a vending machine just to warm my hands and throat. My train was set to arrive at 6:29. My friend & coworker, Ken, was coming with me on the trip, as well as his wife, Mizue. But as my watch read closer and closer to 6:29, I got really freaked out, because they weren't there! Then it WAS 6:29, and then 6:35, and the train was actually late!! A few minutes later, I saw them walking along the platform to me. I couldn't believe how lucky it was that they made it before the train came. Limited express trains are rarely ever late in Japan!
From there, the day got better and better. We dropped off our bags at our hotel and then took the train to the Disney resort area. Outside of the parks (Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea), there is a big Disney-themed shopping mall called Ikspiari. We got lunch there at a place called the Monsoon Cafe. I had Pad Thai and Thai shrimp toast. It was really good. :) Then we spent the rest of the day shopping. I mostly shopped at the Disney Store, where I got some Frozen and Tangled goods. I ALSO got a mocha at the Godiva store! I was going to try one of their frozen drinks, but it was cold, so I got a mocha. I think it was made with real Godiva chocolate syrup- it was expensive but soooo good!!
To end off the day, we visited a small yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant for dinner. The menu was mostly different kinds of meat on skewers, but they also had interesting things like potato balls mixed with cheese, and boiled scallops. Everything was really good. As we were eating, Ken and Mizue convinced me to take a slightly later train home the next day and go to DisneySea with them! They were very convincing and I really wanted to go, so I conceded. That's for another blog post, though. ;)
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| Scenery near my town on the way to Tokyo |
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| My hotel room (it was really big for one person!) |
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| Ikspiari shopping mall entrance |
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| They didn't know I snuck this pic of them... hee hee |
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| View from my hotel room at sunset |
