Family Vacation @ Tokyo - Day 8, Sayonara Tokyo

The alarm went off at 3am. Took alot of effort to pull myself out of the bed. Freshen up, woke my hubs, did one last check on all belongings to make sure nothing was left behind and we checked out. The transport that Aunt Shujun has kindly arranged for us was at the driveway when we came out of the hotel. The skies was still dark and everyone sleepy. Much to my surprise, Janelle woke up on the journey to the airport.

Reached the airport at 4.30am. Jayven woke up when we were about to check in. And both of them appeared wide awake instead of sleepy. So my assumption that they would be sleeping all the way till boarding was wrong. It was super early hence we went to a 24hours cafe to get coffee and some light breakfast.

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 6.30am and the boarding gate opened at 6.15am. The souvenir shop next to our boarding area opened at 6am and I spotted the Matcha kit kat that I have been looking for. So happy to have gotten my Matcha and Sakura Matcha kit kats (heard great reviews about Sakura Matcha) just before I left Tokyo.

Not long after the flight took off, the lil ones fell asleep. I prayed hard that they would sleep through the flight but it never happened. An hour plus later, both of them woke up. Janelle could not stretch her long legs while asleep so she woke up. Jayven could not toss and turn while being zip up in the bassinet so he woke up too. So they started to play and ran about (to their grandparents seated one row behind us).

Needless to say, I was not able to catch any wink during the flight back.

Wide awake at 5am at Haneda Airport

Cheeky boy saw jiejie at the railing and followed suit

Looking at the plane in boarding area

The boy that cannot sit still. During turbulence, the air crew will always remind us to strap him with the infant seat belt. Then he would struggle and scream.

Overall, it has been a fun yet tiring trip. I'm grateful that my parents could join us in the trip as they have been a great help in manning the kids thus the opportunities for time alone with my hubs. I know it has been a tiring trip for my parents too but I hope that they also enjoyed themselves.

Looking through all the photos that we have taken in the trip, I realised that we have created many beautiful memories as a family. I feel so blessed that we could go on family vacation and experienced new things together. I love how a vacation can bond the family even closer - relaxed mood, quality time with kids and hubs, the siblings doing things together and having fun.

Time to plan for the next vacation! Hah!

Family Vacation @ Tokyo - Day 7, First Avenue Tokyo Station & Shinjuku

The last day in Tokyo. But we have not gotten the various kit kats that I would like to get. Hence we did a last minute research online the night before and saw that we could get the different flavours of kit kats in one of the shops near the Ramen Street in First Avenue Tokyo Station.

We spotted 2 key words. Kit Kats & Ramen! I like ramen and I would love to have a bowl of ramen again before we leave Japan. So the plan was to check out First Avenue Tokyo Station in Tokyo Train Station in the morning and Shinjuku in the later noon.

My parents keeping the kids entertained in the train journey. Or should I say my kids was keeping my parents entertained instead? Hehe

Tokyo Train Station is really big. After asking for directions, we finally found First Avenue Tokyo Station.

We decided to explore the Character Street in First Avenue first. It is an underground street that is lined with popular character shops. It was fun to be walking through the street, looking at all the cute lovely characters. It took me alot of determination to say no most of the times to my girl who wanted to get everything that caught her eyes (& mine too). Well, we bought souvenirs from Hello Kitty shop for the girls and a toy from Lego shop for Jayven.

After which, we walked further down to Ramen street to check out the stores. It was lunch time then and there were long queues at each store. And we spotted the shop that we intended to get our kit kats at the end of Ramen Street. Gotten many flavours such as Strawberry, Apple, Azuki (Japanese red bean), Wasabi but no sight of Matcha kit kats. I found out from the staff that they are only available in the airport.

As we were not too hungry (and we did not wish to join in the queues), we decided to visit Daimaru first. With no intention to shop for clothes, we ended up at the food section again. I was very keen to buy the grapes as they looked big and juicy. But selling at SGD20 per pack, I could not bring myself to buy them (I may probably swallow the stems too).

At approximately 1.30pm, we returned to Ramen Street and the queue has cleared by then. When it comes to dining, space was a deciding factor as we always have the stroller with us. Hence we decided on a ramen store that seem slightly more spacious, not too crowded but must have crowd (cos it will means that the food is good. Hard to please huh!) and the ramen picture on the vending machine looks yummy. Same as the earlier ramen store in Odakyu, we have to spilt into 2 tables as they do not cater to big groups and the food was served relatively fast. Yes yes, no pictures again as Janelle was starving and I had to attend to her immediately. Jayven was asleep then so no ramen for him. The ramen tasted better than those in Singapore but we still prefer the ramen in Odakyu basement.

Hence after satisfying our ramen cravings, we made our way back to Shinjuku. I went to Fancl in Lumine 2 to get my skincare needs before we proceeded to Odakyu again (I wanted to get my strawberry cake). There was a outdoor playground at Level 9 so we brought the kids there for play and my parents get to rest their tired feet before we continue to shop.

The playground

We went to the children department, gotten some kids' stuff and proceeded to basement again. At this point, the kids started their crankiness as it was past their nap time. Janelle was super cranky and she refused to walk any further. For the first time, she sat down in the middle of the pavement and refuse to get up and walk. My goodness! We did not want to give in to her tantrums so my hubs and I just moved on. She started crying (loudly!) and even though my dad offered to carry her, she did not want to budge. Seeing that she was not getting her way, she got up and ran towards my direction asking to be carried. I was carrying Jayven then (who was also kicking a fuss and refused the stroller). My dad offered to carry Jayven and he started to cry out loud. He wanted me to carry him whenever he is hungry or tired. So there we were, with 2 cranky tearful kids. It seems almost impossible to continue shopping, hence we decided to buy food from the basement and eat in hotel room. Thanks goodness my boy fell asleep after a while and with Janelle koala-ing on me, she fell asleep soon after too.

Just when we were about to walk back to the hotel, we came across Hokkaido Fair and my hubs was very keen to buy the famous Hokkaido White Chocolate Lover Biscuits. So we went in search for the biscuits. To my astonishment, he was actually tasked by his colleague to buy 4 boxes of the biscuit and we wanted to get for my in-law and family so we bought a total of 8 boxes and we requested for them to be packed in a carton box (to be checked in as we have no more space in our luggage).

On the way back, we chanced upon drugstore and I went to get the collagen jelly requested by my sister. However, they do not have the quantity we want so we went back to the hotel to offload our bags and have our dinner first. Just when my hubs and I was about to leave the room and continue to search for drugstore to get the collagen jelly, my girl woke up. Told her not to finish the strawberry cake slice but it was gone when I came back. Boo!

It was the last night in Shinjuku so my hubs and I just simply walked the streets of Shinjuku, enjoying each other company while my parents look after the kids.

Then we went back to the hotel to shower the kids and packed the luggages. We gotten too much souvenirs and some large bulky items so it was impossible to squeeze everything into 2 big luggages and 1 medium luggage. Eventually we packed some items into Janelle's new My Melody sling bag and into a hand-carry big paper bag.

Next we set the alarm to 3am as our flight were scheduled to depart at 6.30am. Don't ask me why our flight was so early. That's another long story. So the kids were dressed in their nicest sleepwear so that they can wear them on board (as I assumed that they would be sleeping all the way till boarding).

Family Vacation @ Tokyo, Day 6, Edo Wonderland

Rise and shine at 7.30am. Usual routine for the morning - water filled, diapers replenished, jackets packed, snacks packed. Changed the 2 sleepyheads while they continued to zzz. Time to set off at 8.30am.

Aunt Shujun was waiting for us at the hotel entrance driveway. Off we went on the journey to Nikko. After one and a half hour of travelling on the road, we stopped at a rest point for coffee. By this time, the kids were awake and breakfast served (milk and breads). We continued the journey for another hour before we finally reached our destination: Edo Wonderland aka Edo Mura.

This cultural village was strongly recommended by Aunt Shujun. Apparently it was her 4th visit to the village. The entry ticket was not cheap though. It costs 4,500 yen per adult. Lucky Aunt Shujun owns certain cards that granted us discounted tickets.

I read that Edo Wonderland is one of Japan's coolest attractions and it is the only place to experience the living history and culture of Edo period Japan. Every staff was dressed in traditional costumes and played certain roles such as ninjas, samurais, geisha and more. The public can also rent the costumes at a fee to explore the village. There are different fees based on what costume or what character you would like to dress up as. Initially we were pretty keen to dress the lil ones as ninjas which cost 3,100 yen each. But there was a queue and it took ages to dress one up so we gave up the idea and proceeded to explore the village.

The ticket booth

Entrance

Edo Wonderland mascot

We visited Ninja Kai Kai Tei House of Illusion. It is the ninja training house which was situated on a  slope and the house was slanted. When we stepped in, we realised the interior was also slanted and as we walked further, it became increasingly difficult to maintain our balance. And I was carrying Jayven. Took me so much effort not to lose my balance and fall inside. When we finally came out of the house, we could still feel the after effects. At this point, we hear an excited voice "I want to go into the house again!" Yes, that was Janelle. Surprisingly, she did not seem to be affected by the illusionary house and the gravity pull. But no one was keen to bring her back in for another round.

Spot Jayven, the ninja

Entrance of Ninja Kai Kai Tei

The interior of the illusionary house. Gotten this picture from the website as there was no way that we were able to take pictures while trying to balance ourselves,

Thereafter, we queued for a ninja show performance. It was an interesting and impressive performance between two clans of ninjas fighting for a secret scroll. It was confined in a small room to view the performance and the ninjas often appeared from nowhere, scaring the audience. I was worried that the lil ones may be frightened but it seems that both of them enjoyed the performance too.

Photo with the ninjas after the show

Lunch time. Actually we had our second round in this stall. Aunt Shujun mistook that there are no tables and chairs for this food stall hence we went to another restaurant with proper seating so that we can feed the lil ones first. Yet she strongly recommend the yakitori hence we went for second round and spotted 2 tables and benches.

Oishii yakitori bento. We ordered more subsequently.

We chanced upon Yaba Archery Range and Janelle wanted to try. And of cos she has her dearest daddy to guide her. I always love to watch daddy and the children doing things together. Bonding moments.

And the cheeky boy will always want to join in. He nearly went into the forbidden grounds ie shooting zone.

This girl simply love horse ride!

And my boy want to follow his jiejie too. So Aunt Shujun brought him along on her lap.

A shrine within the village

Edo Wonderland closes at 5pm when the skies turns dark. Hence we left the village at 3plus and proceeded to our next destination, Nikko National Park. We wanted to visit Kegon Waterfall and Toshugu Shrine. It took us another hour to travel from Edo Wonderland to Nikko National Park and the park closes at 5pm too.

Never did I expect that we have to drive up a mountainous road to get to the park. It was Aunt Shujun's first attempt driving to the park too so she was not familiar with the road. And by the time we reach the park, there were fog forming and skies are turning dark. Hence we decided to skip the park in case we get caught in the fog and darkness. Aunt Shujun carefully drove all the way down the many twists and turns on the mountainous road. It seems more challenging than the one in Genting Highlands.

Anyway we made it safely down the mountain. I can feel that Aunt Shujun was very stressed when she was driving down the "Initial D" road too. With the skies turning dark, we decided to travel back to Tokyo which is a 3 hours drive from Nikko. Halfway through the journey, my hubs jumped when he felt something warm flowing onto his jeans. Jayven's diaper was too full and leaked out onto his daddy's jeans. So we had to find the nearest rest point to clean and dry. And I realised that I never brought an extra set of clothes for the lil ones. Hence the poor boy had to make do without his pants while we continued the journey back to Tokyo.

It was a long journey back as we were caught in the highway jam. It was almost 8pm by the time we reached Tokyo. Yes, all of us were famished then. Hence we decided to go Takashimaya for dinner since it is near the hotel. We settled down in a Japanese restaurant specializing in soba and started feeding the lil ones when the food came. Needless to say, I have forgotten to take pictures of food again. Hah!

We really appreciate Aunt Shujun playing a good host especially over the weekend. We all know that driving long hours on the road is really tiring (we have spent approximately 7 hours travelling on the road). Furthermore, she has kindly arranged for pocket wifi and a local line for us so that we can stay connected on the move during our vacation. As her hometown is a 2 hours drive from Tokyo, she has booked a room in the hotel so that she can continue to catch up with my mum. I joined in the conversation for the last 30 minutes after my boy fell asleep in our room (Janelle followed my mum to Aunt Shujun's room to play).

The next day was our last full day in Tokyo and our flight was very early the following day hence Aunt Shujun would not be able to see us off at the airport.

Family Vacation @ Tokyo - Day 5, Asakusa and Odaiba

It was the weekend in Tokyo. And my mum's friend, Aunt Shujun has kindly offered to drive us around. We planned to visit Asakusa and Venus Fort in Odaiba.

We have arranged to meet Aunt Shujun at 8.30am but we were late. The lil ones slept past midnight and it was a struggle to wake up early and got the ready. And we had to pack their necessities like filling up the water bottles, filling up the hot water flask, filling the milk powder into container, replenishing diapers, replenishing snacks, etc. Yes, you can imagine how heavy my baby bag was. I usually hang the bag on the stroller's handle. If the kids were not on the stroller, the bag has to be transferred to the seat or it will topple. My bag was that heavy.

Finally, we were ready by 9am and we set off to Asakusa. It was already very crowded when we reached there. And it was very sunny (hot but luckily not humid). We have just started exploring the Asakusa Nakamise shopping street when the kids got cranky again. So we had to find a place to feed them breakfast first. Well, we did feed them bread on the journey there but they have not had their milk. We spotted McDonald's and my girl insisted on having her breakfast there. Well, the intention of the vacation is to delight the kids so her wish was granted.

Thereafter, we continued to explore the shopping street as there were alot of food stalls and souvenirs shops. But we realised that we were not allowed to walk on the street or step into another stall if we were consuming food bought from other stalls. Initially I did not realise what the Japanese auntie was telling me when I was still happily munching on the food while looking through the souvenirs in her stall. Then the owner from the opposite food stall came over and dragged me back to her stall. And I saw many people staying within the stall to finish the food. Such weird rules! Anyway I was not too tempted to try other food then as we cannot have the luxury of staying put at one place to consume the food. There is no way that my kids can stay still so we just have to move on.

We gotten some food stuff as souvenirs and my hubs bought a fortune cat to be placed in his office (well, I guess people in sales line welcome any auspicious things that can bless them with more sales). There were alot of different types of fortune cat, fat and skinny, big and small, selling in many shops there. The one that we saw and eventually bought can only be found in one particular shop and it wasn't exactly the cheapest one. But we found that the nicest and cutest one. Too bad I have not taken any picture and it is sitting on my hub's office desk now, blessing him with more sales so that he can bring home more $$$. Hehe!

Towards the end of the shopping street is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, known as Sensoji or Asakusa Kannon Temple.

Entrance of the shopping street

Crowded with tourists

It was a hot & sunny day

Shades for eye protection

The entrance of Asakusa Kannon Temple

With Aunt Shujun.

 

Actually I don't know if there is any particular meaning on this big red lantern

The passageway to the inner shrine

Before we stepped into the inner shrine, we spotted many people drawing lots and we joined in. 100yen for each lot.

The mistake that I have made, accordingly to Aunt Shujun. Drawing lots must be sincere and made personally. Janelle was having fun with drawing my lot and we shake the tin together, gigling and laughing away.

Thus, I ended up with a bad lot. Aunt Shujun told me that it was due to me not being serious while drawing the lot (Oops!). Hence I was advised to fold the bad lot and tied it on the metal bars as seen in the picture, while reciting something about bad lot go away, good lot come my way. I just recited after Aunt Shujun so I can't remember what was the exact words. After 2 tries, I have finally gotten a good lot. My lucky hubs gotten a very good lot in his first attempt. And we were told to fold and keep the good lot in our wallet.

We were told to sweep the smoke towards whatever part of the body that you want to bless. Eg sweep the smoke to the head and the kids will be smarter, sweep the smoke to the body and you will be healthy. How true is it, we are not certain. Anyway, it is always fun to learn new things about different cultures and it doesn't harm to try.

There is also a big well which we are supposed to cleanse our hands and mouths in 3 steps. First scoop to rinse left hand (or right hand? I don't remember. Oops! But there is a signage to guide you.), second scoop to rinse the other hand, third scoop to wipe your mouth.

We chanced upon a group of youngsters with bunnies. Apparently they are soliciting business for a restaurant nearby which you can have bunnies to dine with you. Sounds interesting but we did not went to check out the restaurant though.

Once again, the kids were getting cranky as they were hungry and tired. We went to a Japanese restaurant to have lunch. We relied on Aunt Shujun to place orders for us as the menu is in Japanese. Almost finishing his meal, Jayven was dozing off on his daddy's lap. My dad offered to carry him since he has finished his meal.

It was almost 4pm when we left Asakusa for Odaiba. Janelle fell asleep during the car ride and Jayven slept through from lunch till destination.

Odaiba is an awesome man-made island featuring shopping malls, leisure complexes, museums, hotels and office buildings. My plan was to visit Venus Fort hence I estimated that half a day should be sufficient but I was wrong.

We reached Venus Fort at 4.30pm and our first stop was to find a place to change the lil one's diaper. I was glad to find a baby care room and to my amazement, the baby care room was huge! When you entered the room, there are 2 drinks vending machine and one food vending machine and a resting area where parents can rest their tired legs or feed the lil ones milk / food (high chair are available too). Apart from the usual changing tables and nursing rooms, there is a parent-child restroom and it is a relatively big restroom (kids can run about in there).

Even the changing table is spacious

The all-in-one washing area that I was very impressed with. Put your hand at the right and water will flow out. Place on the left and you can lather your hands with the foamy soap. Once you are done washing your hands, move to the bottom centre (as seen in the picture) and your hands will be blow-dry. Convenient and no water spilling on the floor. 

It's a dog-friendly mall as we saw many dogs walking in the mall. Jayven was fascinated and kept following the dogs

Kiddy rides discovered within a mini amusement centre. 100 yen per ride.

Janelle's happiest find in the mall. Hello Kitty Kawaii Paradise (it's a mini Hello Kitty theme park)

Getting on board Hello Kitty Joyful Train. 300 yen per pax. We have to purchase the tickets at a nearby vending machine

My Melody appearance. We did not expect that there will be a character appearance. Just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Janelle was elated. They have invited all the kids to dance along with My Melody. Janelle was standing right in front and very focused on following the actions.

Receiving a big warm hug from My Melody

A picture taken for 500 yen. We get to bring the photo back

Spotted a small open concept casino at level 1

Spotted another mobile casino in the middle of an atrium on our way to dinner. And it was gone when we came out from the restaurant

Dinner time. Insisted on feeding himself. Amused with his dirty face

The kid's meal that we have ordered for the lil ones. It comes with a glass of orange juice and a scoop of ice-cream. Oh! and not forgetting a toy that they get to choose for themselves (presented in a basket)

A huge Dracula Mickey Mouse display at the entrance of a store

Nice touch to the mall: A Venetian water fountain

There is a Toyota Motor Corporation Showcase where we can go for test drive. But it was closed by 6pm. And we saw a corner for little car rides for the kids but it was closed too. Hence after dinner, we took a leisure walk around the mall. Actually the mall is huge and we did not manage to explore every corner. Then we rested our tired legs at Starbucks and I enjoyed a cuppa of my all time favourite Green Tea Latte in Starbucks before Aunt Shujun drove us back to Shinjuku.

It was a great day out and with Aunt Shujun bringing us around, we have saved much time in exploring and commuting via public transport. And we totally relied on her when it comes to communication in Japanese. Hah!

We had to rest early for the night as we had to set off at 8.30am the next morning to Nikko, 3 hours drive from Tokyo. But we ended up with lights off at 12 midnight again. Such privilege for the kids only during vacations.