Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland's main entrance

I'm all over the place with my posting timeline. In February our friend Fumie helped us enjoy Tokyo Disneyland for my son's 7th birthday. She showed us that there was a bus that we could catch at a stop that wasn't too far from our house, and it would take us right to Disneyland's main gate. We woke up at 4:00 a.m., caught the bus at 6:00, and two hours later on a Thursday morning, there we were!

We stopped by the Gag Factory near the Roger Rabbit ride to get my son's birthday medal and Mickey doll. The hardest part was tearing them away from the cartoons that were playing on the TVs inside!

It was a beautiful day. We stayed in Toon Town for a little while, rode a few of the rides, watched a Frozen parade, and visited Mickey's House. Even though we arrived when the gate opened, and even though it was a Thursday, it was already a full park and the lines for popular attractions (like meeting Mickey) were quite long:

The wait time was nearly an hour, but 
thankfully it felt like much less time. 
We all enjoyed seeing Mickey's house 
come to life, and it was great to
meet Mickey!

Since it was our first day, we weren't really familiar with the ins and outs of the park. Fumie told us about the FastPass machines, but we didn't really understand how it all worked. We didn't know that there was a different machine for each ride, or that we really had to run around the park first thing in the morning and visit all the FastPass machines for the rides we wanted. We also didn't know that the passes were sold for a rather specific window of time, and that we couldn't have more than one FastPass for each time window. It all kind of makes sense now, but it was a lot to figure out on the first day. It was also difficult for us to figure out which rides were height-compatible with our kids, because there isn't a list of rides by height-requirement that we could find. (Scratch that, I think I found one in Japanese, but it was still difficult to decipher.) By day two we were much more familiar with the process and we made it on more rides.

There were FastPasses for shows, too. The most popular shows require a reservation that can be made online, but that site is only in Japanese (and most of the words are graphics that can't be translated by a browser, unfortunately). The shows are so popular that the FastPass machines for them give tickets by lottery. We tried our luck, but we were only allowed to try each show once on any given day, and luck wasn't with us. Next time I think we'll give the online reservations a shot.

Online reservations are also required for any of the sit-down theme restaurants like Pirates of the Caribbean. As with the shows, the reservation site is only in Japanese and again most of the text is actually a graphic that can't be translated. Hopefully I'll know enough Japanese before the next time we go that I can get that done myself.

I was surprised at how long the lines were for everything. The rides, the food, and shopping at the end of the day (tip: do NOT shop at the end of the day)! Thursday wasn't quite as crowded, but Friday coincided with a holiday for China (Chinese New Year) and there were a LOT of Chinese tourists that day. Apparently it's best to be an expert on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese holidays, because they greatly impact the crowd level.

This is the line...for churros!

Speaking of food, this is the main indication that you aren't in any other Disneyland in the world. The park looks so similar to the one I've been to in California that if it weren't for the food and the Japanese signs, I could be forgiven for thinking I was back in America (even the character actors are white and speak English). But back to the food. Especially the popcorn! There were 3 flavors: caramel, chocolate, and curry! We could follow our nose to any one in the park. Sometimes the aromas overlapped. Chocolate curry smells weird :-) And smoked turkey legs are a very popular food cart item!

Aside from the popcorn, the other food items at the park definitely had a Japanese spin on them.

A sample menu at one of the more kid-friendly
snack shacks. Picky kids may not enjoy the
Chinese steamed bun or the corn on the pizza,
but I thought they were delicious!

Even the hot dogs are a bit different from what you might expect:

"Pluto's Favorite Sausage" has a real bone for a stick!

All in all, it was quite an eventful trip for us. We rode a lot of rides, walked a million miles, and ended the trip with dazed but happy kids. Next time: Disney Sea!

Did I leave you with questions? Put them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!

Japanese BBQ

Back in April a friend of ours invited our family to enjoy a barbecue in Kasama city's Kitayama park with his family and his church group. We try to say "yes" to every invitation, because we always learn something new and we're usually exposed to something delicious :-) This time was no exception.

Grill area, complete with storage for the grill plates

The setting was a beautiful grill area, complete with shelters, a bathroom, a long sink with running water, and a playground. The weather was gorgeous, and the whole place was very clean.

It was quiet, clean, and cool beneath the shady trees

The entire affair was interesting to witness. There is no fee to use this site, but reservations are required. With the reservation comes a key to the storage area where the grill plates and other items are stored (1st photo). While the kids ran around, the experienced adults set up the grill plates and carried mountains of food and supplies from their cars.

The food was cooked on metal sheets that rested on a cement oven. Charcoal logs (one of the many items carried in that day) were placed in the firepit area underneath. While the surface was getting hot, everyone went to work. The kids were given the job of destroying shredding the vegetables while other adults chopped onions or opened packages of meat. Our daughter and son thoroughly enjoyed pretending to be monsters while they ripped cabbage and sweet bell peppers to tiny bits. It was less messy than I thought it would be!

Thicker pieces of meat went onto the grill plate first, and then the vegetables. Last were packages of yakisoba noodles and a delicious sauce. The entire process only took about 20 minutes, and then everybody tucked in. It was so delicious! Even my son loved it, and he's a hard one to please.

Yakisoba is a delicious and easy dish
that can feed many people

We enjoyed a dessert of berries and roasted marshmallows, and then helped with cleanup. Japanese kids are required to clean up in schools, and the training to be efficient and thorough clearly lasts through adulthood. Ashes were swept, the tile surround was scrubbed, and all borrowed items were returned to the shed just the way they were found.

Before we knew it, everyone was packed and ready to break camp. We were told that there was a very long slide only a little hike away, so we enjoyed the short walk through the forest to get there. We stopped by the visitor's center to get the foam seats (also fee-free) that you really want to sit on when you go down the slide. Another short walk took us to the bottom of it, and we could see why the seats were important. The slide was about 500 meters long and made entirely of metal rollers that can pinch skin or clothing if the seats aren't used.

Wisteria growing near the visitor's center.
Dozens of bees hummed lazily in the
flowers above our heads.

In spite of the steepness of the hill our kids raced to the top at least 3 or 4 times and thoroughly enjoyed the trip down. "Raced" isn't the word I would use for the adults, but we enjoyed ourselves just the same :-) From the top to the bottom, the trip takes about one minute. (No, literally, one minute! That's a long slide!!)

Just a portion of this long, long slide!