Two kinds of magic: Disney Sea and Team Lab

What’s the one place you want to go to celebrate turning a quarter of a century? Tokyo Disney Sea, no less. Not me, but Olivia, and I was happy to join her at the happiest place on earth. Tokyo Disney Sea is a little different in the sense its more adult orientated, filled with more people our age, and the best part… you can buy beer.

Matching outfits in tow, we were there bright and early and I was getting my Toy Story Mania fast pass, no matter who got in my way. We hadn’t initially intended to do so, but being the most popular ride in the park, I’d read stories of the crazy rush that ensues in the morning.

Since we had gotten there so early at around 7:20am, I figured I’d give it a go; ignoring all signs not to run, I rushed ahead when the gates opened and had our fast passes by 8:07am. Dedication or childishness, you decide.

Once that was out of the way, we headed back to the stores selling a plethora of Mickey ears, and settled on some simple ones that really cemented our cute matching outfits. Wanting to give Olivia the most embarrassing experience I could, I told staff it was her birthday (albeit the next day) and they gave her a sticker, prompting gleeful greetings from almost every cast member.

That’s the main reason I’d recommend Tokyo Disney over any other park; everyone gets SO into it. With costumes from Zootopia, ridiculous Toy Story Hamm hats favoured by high school girls, and an extortionate array of Duffy goods (a.k.a. the teddy bear designed specifically for Japan that Olivia has a raging hatred towards).

You really do feel the magic more. I even got Snow White nails for the occasion, so I was feeling the Disney magic all day, coming to a climax at the Minnie meet and greet. I swear I’m not sponsored by Disney for saying that, but if you’re reading this Walt, hit me up.

Food as always is something else in Tokyo Disney, and for the longest time I’ve wanted to try the Little Green Men mochi balls, filled with vanilla, strawberry and chocolate cream. We also ate the sickliest strawberry popcorn, a steamed bun in the shape of Sinbad’s tail, and Olivia got the Halloween special burger designed to look like Snow White’s apple.
I wanted both the Ursula and Cruella De Ville steamed buns too, but alas there’s only so much you can scoff in a day. I’ll admit though, while beer seemed like a great idea, getting out of the mid-afternoon lull in energy is even harder having drank one.

Another reason for going that weekend was it was officially Halloween season, so not only did themed foods take on a new life, but the parades and shows were themed too.
The Villians boat show was super cool, and the Fantasmic show in the evening was hands down the best I’ve ever seen at any Disney Park. We were lucky all day, with both the weather and shows.

We didn’t plan to see certain parades, but stumbled across them at the best vantage points. Due to an incoming typhoon the park was relatively quiet, meaning we’d hit all the main rides before lunch. A rarity in Disney, allowing for a relaxed afternoon of boat rides, theatrical jazz shows, and ending the evening camping out lakeside for the final firework display.

Day 2 was Olivia’s birthday, and we’d booked tickets to attend Team Lab’s Planets, an immersive space of digital artwork. We waded through water and sat in rooms with projections of koi fish and falling flowers, and walked through mirrored rooms of light and inflated spheres.

Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but my favourite had to be the black hole installation, where my ass happily sank into the room full of bean bags and I never wanted to leave.

The pictures really don’t do this place justice, and the best thing is you’re not rushed through it at all. We lay on floors and took it all it, and left fully refreshed, perfect since we were exhausted from the day before.

Sadly we only had a long weekend in Tokyo, but we managed to squeeze in so much. Dinner at the most beautiful yakitori restaurant with Zack (a former Kumamoto ALT positively thriving in Tokyo now), an evening roaming Shin Okubo eating Korean BBQ, drinking soju and thinking we’d been transported to Seoul, and a quick early morning visit to Asakusa for brunch and a few selfies sweating our tits off at Kaminarimon. I managed to catch my second ever glimpse of Mt. Fuji too, from the plane window thanks to the most adorable cabin attendants.

I always say how much I hate Tokyo, and I honestly don’t, I’ve just got to be in the right mood to deal with the hustle and bustle. Having the best travel partner in Olivia helped, and that trip reignited my love for the city again.
Until next time Tokyo, never change.

Fleeting visit to Tokyo.

Ironically one of my top bucket list locations in Japan, was somewhere I`ve been so close to before but never managed to visit. Kamakura is on the southern edge of Kanagawa prefecture and only a short couple of train rides from Haruka`s house. I visited a little while ago now, on what was definitely the hottest weekend we`d had in a while, and seemingly the start of summer.

We started by wandering the small but bustling street of Komachi-dori which leads straight from the station. We managed to escape from the glaring lunchtime sun into a relatively unoccupied mom and pop soba shop, which to anyone in the know is the perfect summer dish. Afterwards we headed to a super fancy kakigori (shaved ice) shop that even had a limited edition version that looked exactly like hydrangeas, a symbol of the Japanese rainy season. True to form I spilt about half of mine on the table, but what’s new there.

We headed to the Great Buddha in the late afternoon, spoke to a really lovely old man, and relaxed in the shade of the forest for a little while. This is probably one of the most iconic Buddha’s in Japan, but despite that it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I expected, and you only had to walk two minutes away to find some serenity. 

We came across a tiny little senbei (rice cracker) shop and treated ourselves to a huge cracker to share. That I never took a picture of, we were too occupied with eating it. I did buy the most adorable Buddha shaped crackers for Kohei’s family though, and I’d definitely recommend stopping there if you’re in the area. They have an abundance of decorated senbei for birthdays, graduations or even just to commemorate your trip to Kamakura. Imagine those large cookies you can have decorated with icing, but rather it’s a savoury cracker.

 

During my weekend away we also visited some locations in and around the Shibuya/Harajuku area. I finally visited a hedgehog café after wanting to visit one since I first came to Japan. Our hedgehog, Kiki, was super sassy and not having any of it, but we at least got a few cute pictures of him in knitted berets. We just let him chill out and enjoyed our time with them all, despite melting to death because they like a hot living environment. 

We also visited our favourite tea shop (this time in Aoyama) for our fix of fancy flavoured tapioca, and took a trip to Good Town for some doughnuts. Photo credit goes to Haruka for that one. It's the hippest cafe I've been to in a while, with lots of old school American vibes. Strawberry lemonade and lemon poppy seed were to die for, but next time, it’s all about the maple bacon.

Surprising the bestie.

A few weeks ago I managed to pull off the best surprise to date. Haruka and I are somewhat used to being apart now, and it’s become easier with time now that we don’t live together, but the fact we’d potentially miss each other in passing this winter was something that I wasn’t going to let happen. For months prior I was scheming with Haruka’s mum, keeping up to date with her plans to return to Japan, all whilst telling Haruka I was “too busy with work” to come and see her. Yeah, right.

My plan played out perfectly. I skyped her like usual so she wouldn’t be suspicious, almost put my foot in it a few times, and gave her ridiculous hints that she didn’t catch on to on the day.

She was clueless, so after bailing from work after 3^rd period, I made it to Kawasaki by 6pm, just in time to knock on the door and leave her in a state of shock before dinner.

Once she’d gotten over the shock (honestly it took until the next morning) it was so nice to fall into our old patterns and spend some time with my second family, the Hattori’s, too. We visited a few new places together during my weekend, so here’s my run down on the places to go.

Alfred Tea Room

“Tea, yes. You, maybe”. With a motto like that, who could resist? This is a definite must-go for tea lovers. Hailing from L.A, there are two shops now located in Tokyo. The one we visited, close to Shinjuku station, gave us some tranquil respite from the craziness of the area.

There’s a variety of milk teas and matcha, things I adore equally, and Haruka will agree it was one of the best we’ve ever had. The matcha was bitter enough, the chai not too sweet and bursting with cinnamon. You can also order from the “fancy pink tea list” if you’d rather have something a little more refined or exotic. 

The store itself fitted right in to my girly pink aesthetic so all in all, Alfred Tea, like is written throughout your stores… “I love you so matcha”.

Cookie Time Harajuku

Mainly for novelty and the smell of baked goods. Right across from Harajuku station, this is somewhere you should visit if your sweet cravings are relentless but you’d rather not wait with hordes of people for some crepes or candy floss. 

Although I didn’t try it myself, there are varieties of milk on tap for you to enjoy with your cookies, along with the most ridiculous milkshakes.  

  

Yomiuriland

Haruka and I somehow always end up at random date locations together, and this visit wasn’t any different. We wanted to find somewhere to look at all the beautiful winter illuminations and instead of heading into Tokyo itself, we settled on a theme park not too far from where she lives. 

 The illuminations were more than I expected, with so many themed areas, constant light shows, illuminated tunnels and a variety of theme park rides and food stalls to add to the atmosphere. The after 4pm pass is also super cheap, so I would totally recommend this place to anyone looking for somewhere in the Tokyo/Yokohama area to see some beautiful illuminations in the winter time.