Today was jam-packed, another day of Samara and I trying to squeeze in as much as we possibly can because we know our time is limited in Japan, fitting in Mitaka and Studio Ghibli (the Ghibli Museum), Takeshita St and surrounds and then the bullet train to Kyoto.
We started early, after deciding that we weren't going to lug our big cases to Kyoto with us, (I know I'll survive with a limited amount of clothing but I'm not sure about Samara although she isn't as bad with clothes as I thought she would be or at anything else...she's been a great travelling companion.)
We aren't coming back to the Tokyo Plaza (unfortunately) when we get back to Tokyo (as we had planned on having our last full day in Japan at Disney we decided to stay at a hotel on that side of town,which is closer to both Disney and Tokyo Station which is where we will arrive when we get back from Kyoto. We found out about a luggage storage place there so we decided to take our bags and put them there for a few days. Good thinking because lugging them around would not have been fun today....but that meant an early start because we wanted to beat the crowds on the train...(again not sure what all the fuss is about finding the trains amazingly easy and not nearly as crowded as I thought they would be )
Really have enjoyed our home away from home in Tokyo. The staff at the Tokyo Plaza are warm and friendly, the rooms are basic, but clean and once you get used to stepping up to get in the bathroom (and not tripping when you go into it in the dark) you find that the shower was AMAZING....and the toilets lets just say I could get used to those (and if anyone else has been to Japan and used one of the flashbang loos you know what I mean.)
The only thing you had to remember was that if someone else takes the key with them to dash outside the other person is left in the dark (we learnt after the first time LOL). The area was great, and it's a hotel I would recommend to anyone wanting to experience life in Tokyo.
Today was a day that Samara has been hanging out for since we decided that we were heading to Japan. She's an anime nerd and for anime nerds you have to head to the Ghibli museum. We'd booked our tickets from Melbourne, which is a must do, as they restrict visitors and you can't just rock on up and get in to the place.
It's very quirky as you'd expect with some great buildings and artwork but I think Samara was expecting a little bit more. We enjoyed the short film they showed (even me who isn't into anime)and the artwork on display was fabulous (even I could appreciate it ) I understand why they restrict visitors, it's not big, and if it was too crowded you wouldn't get to appreciate all the displays. Samara had a ball in the museum shop, and a few yen was spent today....she bought things for herself and some of her friends but I wonder how many of the gifts will get to her friends LOL
We froze our butts off on the coldest day so far in Japan. We enjoyed our side trip to Mitaka and the Ghibli. It's a great little surburb or town (not sure which) and deserves a longer look.
We decide to head for Harajuku and Takeshita St for souvenir shopping as we hadn't really done much so far and we're not sure whether we will get much of chance when we get back to Tokyo.
It's a great street, and even me who isn't the best shopper in the world (yeah I know odd for a woman to not get a shopping gene) enjoyed it. It is definitely a place to see a very different side to Tokyo and shouldn't be missed. Trouble was wondering whether we'd have any room for our new purchases as we were down to just our hand luggage. From Takeshita St we headed back to pick up our hand luggage and head for the bullet train and KYOTO.....
It was a great trip down (on the wrong side to take photos of Fuji but will make sure I am on that side on the way back to Tokyo but enjoyed what I saw of the countryside outside of Tokyo) and we ate really well (see Bento box entry)
We arrrived in Kyoto, and navigated yet another train system, and again not a problem but sooooo pleased we decided that small bags were enough because I wouldn't have wanted to drag those big cases around again. The Hearton Hotel is very nice and a bit more up market then the last but lacking a bit in character (a bit of a cookie cutter hotel and really if you didn't look at the hotel stationery or the bathroom products with the kanji on it you would think you were in any hotel in the world). However walking down the side street to the hotel we noticed a few shrines along the side of the road, so looking forward to exploring again in the morning.
We threw in our bags and headed out to explore a little, it's late and our beds are calling, but we wanted to see a little of Kyoto before we settled in for the night.
It started to snow and I was back to being a kid again as we wandered around in it. I don't think it's heavy enough to put our plans for tomorrow in jeopardy so that's good. We head off to stock up on supplies, after our bento box lunch it's cup noodles and green tea and breky supplies
Best cup noodles ever!! Looking forward to exploring more as this is what we found between the 7-11 and Lawsons (see the picture at the bottom).
I think I am going to like Kyoto a whole lot. Another night of quirky Japanese television, cup noodles and green tea surprises and watching the snow outside our window. Another day down in Japan and it's getting harder and harder to think about leaving.