Our first flight out as a family of four to Japan. It was certainly an adventure travelling with 2 young kids in tow and to a place real cold like Japan that is 7 hours flight away. Frankly speaking, we didn't do much planning as our dear friends, the Lians, had done the great job of organising the trip. In that 11 days from 14 to 24 Dec, we toured Tokyo, Lake Kawaguchi for Mt Fuji and Kyoto.
Since it was free and easy, we really travelled like the locals, loads of time on the rail and buses. Yes, we did get lost a bit on the rail as they have just so many train lines and not all come frequently or like us here whereby when you take the wrong train, you can just jump off the next stop to a train travelling in the opposite direction. Sometimes, one stop can be really far away. Bus travel was exciting as we went really local when we were at Lake Kawaguchi and Kyoto and not many spoke English there. However, pleasantly surprised that in Tokyo, most Japanese that we approached spoke some sort of English that was comprehensible.
Days were short during winter and night fell by 5pm. Sometimes it really felt like there was just so little time to move around.
Our flight out. The infant and child meals were pretty decent.
Even cold noodles onboard as appetizer for the adults.
Airport Limousine to our first hotel, Grand Prince New Tanakawa. Japanese are really orderly.
By the time we arrived on the first night, it was already about 8pm. Quickly we settled for a small eatery nearby at the Shinagawa train station. The food tasted quite typical of Singapore Japanese food. Well, more exciting food should come along the way. The supermarket just downstairs was closing and food prices were reduced. Looking at the prepared sushi and bento sets and all, we wondered if we could just had those at half the price we paid at the shop. Nonetheless, in the cold weather, we wanted hot food.
Decently big hotel for a price steal of 10,000yen per night! Erm, but the beds were a little hard and the pillows rather flat. One thing, the Japanese do have great toilet care. Warm toilet seats with bidet just made going to the loo a lot more pleasant.
Disneyland! We watched the parades and shows and took some kiddie rides which we enjoyed. Well, our kids were kinda afraid of dark so we had all the cries and screams when we went into 3D shows and rides in the dark. Guess they weren't too ready. There were just so many people at Dsneyland and they all seemed to know the parade times. They have all their mats ready and settled down to have their good views while we all squeeze behind the crowd to catch a glimpse.
Messing around Minnie's house. Yes, Minnie's still Keziah's favourite, ranked above all the princesses.
We ended the night in the dark with the Electrical Parade which was really nice. The characters were all on shimmering floats and the kids were all watching with amazement.
Disney Sea was quite different from Disneyland. The setup was over the sea and it was certainly a lot colder with the chilly winds. In anyway, the old archaic castle gave it a medieval feel.
Parade was at see. The characters all were onboard the boat and came to a floating platform to performed. Seemed like a lot more people over here at Disney Sea but probably coz it was smaller as well.
Popcorn with these captivating containers really got grips with the kids. Since at Disneyland, Keziah's been asking for one and we got her her favourite Minnie. It's really amazing how fast kids can finish a bucket of popcorn and asking for more.
Our Character Shoots....
Mermaid land - Ariel's playground - an indoor playarea for kids which was all heated! An escape from the cold.
There were alot of these old London vehicles parked along the road side in AmericaLand and the kids were enjoying imaginery rides on them.
We ordered a kid's meal for Keziah and it was definitely a feast for her. It came with an activity page and even bib.
Night view of Disney Sea with the last parade on sea.
Rise and Shine the next day and we were off on a short train ride from Shinagawa Station to Shinjuku station to catch our coach to Lake Kawaguchi. Vending machines are everyone in Japan, even for purchasing noodles. We were quite amazed with this toilet at the train station where it even indicated which cubicles were unoccupied.
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