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On Tuesday, I thought the alarm on the phone was set but it didn’t ring so we slept in until 10 or so. We showered, dressed, claimed everything we needed and headed down to eat breakfast in the family restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. The food was yummy and the prices were awesome!

We bothered the desk clerks some more for some maps and such of the subway and headed to the Hiro subway station where we bothered the attendant there with all sorts of questions of “How does this work” And “Is this ticket right?”

Scaredy cat Wendy made me go first through the electronic ticket readers, even though we didn’t know how. Of course, I looked silly when I didn’t put my ticket in and the “gate” closed on me. Oh well – practice makes perfect, right? So, once we figured out how to get into the station, we went to the right platform and waited.

We were both nervous. This was my first subway experience and hers, too, I think; however, it was awesome! It was quick and I could see someone with a sensitive stomach becoming sick but it was very convenient and pretty cheap. Frequent, too. I definitely see why many Japanese people don’t have cars or use them often. (That, and walking and biking are both much more common than in the States. Some say because there’s simply no parkign space.)

We found our stop easily. It was the next one, as someone had instructed us and there were electronic marquees above all the subway doors as well as an overhead announcement. We departed and got to go on the fun journey of figuring out how to get out of the station, now, and find the train station to get to Harajuku.

We finally figured that out, but mistakenly purchased tickets for the subway again. I figured we could use them for the trip home, and we did. So we got to the train station which was slightly more confusing but a nice man helped us out, we purchased tickets and found our platform. A short wait later, we were on a train which was significantly more packed than the subway. And shortly after that, we arrived at Harajuku.

According the the map the hotel gave us (this map exactly), the train station (JR Harajuku) was right near one of the main streets of Harajuku, which it was. So we crossed the street and were in the shopping district.

So we headed straight and covered about 7 blocks of Gothic, Lolita, lingerie, book and shoe stores. Wendy bought a lot. I did not. It was hot and the stores were small and cramped, even without the hundreds of people we passed by. And, after a point many of the stores started to look exactly a like.

We took a break to have some crepes which were great. I’ve had crepes in Japan before and while I’m not sure why a French dessert is so popular here, I’m not complaining.

Unfortunately, clothes shopping for me in Japan is virtually impossible. I did actually stop into a bunch of lingerie stores but nothing would fit. Their band sizes don’t even go up to what I wear, which is pretty common and although their cup sizes are supposed to be the same, they’re not. I was falling out of a cup size bigger than what I normally wear. -l-

A lot of the stores have knick knacks and trinkets of the store you might find at a garage sale, specialty store or comic shop in the USA. Much of it was used, and you could tell. In the back of the name brand clothing store, it wouldn’t be surprising to find Disney characters or Star Wars toys; it was quite bizarre.

I did particularly like Pin Cross and the Mad label which many of the EGL stores carried. I’d link but neither store nor label seems to have an official site. Pin Cross was where Wendy bought her Creepers, which was one of the requirements of things to do in Harajuku.

At the end of that street, we turned left and headed to Book Off which was one of the few things Wendy wanted to see. We hit Book-off and H Naoto, both places Wendy was dying to shop. About this time, I was becoming tired and cranky so we browsed around the building H Naoto was in, including a J-rock CD store – the first of which we found, btw; J-rock seems to be rather underground here, even in Tokyo – and headed back the way we came.

It took 5 or so hours for us to go less than a mile with the number of shops and people. I was definitely all shopped out and, by that time, we didn’t have time to see anything touristry. I would have loved to go sightseeing and see something like a temple. -sigh- Alas, I’m here for more than a year, still.

We wrapped up the trip by stopping by a shop we’d passed on the way down and I purchased some Gizmo slippers I had my eye on! They were super cute and just another example of the niche that American cult-classics seem to have in Japan.

We headed back via the train to Ebisu where we transferred to the subway to Hiro station where we departed and headed back to our hotel. Unfortunately, I was a little disoriented and mistakenly assume we were on the wrong side of the street and headed the wrong direction. >_> We figured it out after a couple blocks and reversed route back to the hotel, stopping at Mcdonald’s on the way.

We ate at the hotel, stopped downstairs at the bar and each had a Strawberry margarita. IT was a bit exciting because it was my first bar drink. -laughs- We hung out in the hotel room until we decided to order room service because, dammit, we were in a hotel and we could! We finished out the night quietly but it was fun.

Wednesday, we rose early to board the bus and head back. It was mostly uneventful, no octopus tentacles this time. We arrived back on base earlier than expected, again, and the girl across from us drove us back to our apartment which was nice of her. I felt bad because I’d never caught her name. Oh well.

Monday morning, at the hotel, we woke up around 6 to get ready to board the bus to Disneyland at 7:30 – at least I did. I believe Wendy had trouble sleeping and had actually been up for several hours.

Eventually, we made it down to the lobby, after having to run back upstairs twice be -cough- I forgot both my sunglasses and my camera. >_>. We boarded the bus shortly after 7:30 and waited while the rest of the people took their time showing up. The first bus left quite a bit before us because right around 8 o’clock, the last, lone passenger showed up. Coincidentally it was the girl across the aisle from us.

Then we were on our way driving through Tokyo which was pretty neat. I was still amazed at how big everything is. Just huge. I took some pictures of the giant ferris wheel, which other people have heard about were all amazed at just how many people were there. I think we got there before it opened and there were still a good several thousand. It was crazy for a Monday and I’m sure the weekends would be terrifying. Everyone was really decked out in Disneyland and Mickey Mouse stuff. They also loved Stitch; he was everywhere! Hats, ears, headbands, dresses – It seemed like these people go there every day.

Then we were in (to the ‘lobby’ at least)! We passed a huge line waiting to get pictures and signatures from Mickey and that was the last I saw of any character. There weren’t any in the park itself. Nada. None. So we headed into the World Bazaar/Park Entrance, after taking some more pictures of course.

We browsed through many shops – I actually didn’t buy anything and slowly made our way to adventureland which featured POCT stuff. The buildings were all so great. I was impressed at just how much detail was put into the park. Nothing was forgotten. At certain times and places, it really felt like you were in your favourite Disney flick.

Unfortunately, most of that was not yet open. We eventually made our way to the Jungle Cruise ride and jumped in line for that. We waited 20 minutes or so until we got on and I took a lot of cool shots. It was a bit sucky that we didn’t speak Japanese cause the boat driver/guide did a great job of pretending to be real. The animals were all fake but I thought they did a great job.

We spent a few more hours wandering around and looking. We eventually had lunch at the Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland) Ballroom which was really cool. It was buffet style and I think we both had roasted chicken which came with vegetables and potatoes as well as a little plate of dessert.

Next, we headed next door to the Haunted Mansion ride (also in Fantasyland) and, as we were waiting a parade based on Lilo and Stitch went by. I snapped a couple pictures of that but we weren’t in a very good vantage point and had to keep moving because we were still in line.

We were shortly in the Haunted Mansion ride. Let me mention that I loved this movie. It was dorky but cute and I thought all the effects, costuming and props were done very well. Someone, behind the scenes, had a Gothy touch. -w-

After that, we wandered around some. Soon, I would realize that my lack of sun screen had left me looking like a lobster and my arms were burning. Of course, with such a crowd, it was nearly impossible to steer clear of others so there were a lot of painful moments when I brushed against someone or something else.

It was about that time when I decided I wanted to partake in some food in the shape of Mickey mouse. Afterall, this was Disneyland. Even though I wasn’t particularly hungry, I decided on a hamburger. They had Mickey shaped pizza but, by then, I wasn’t feeling particularly ambitious and we were much closer to the hamburger place so off we went.

The place was the Tomorrowland Terrace which sounds much cooler than it really is. Essentially, it was a giant fast food restaurant with Mickey shaped burgers, which also happened to be extremely popular and packed to the max. I made Wendy wait with me for probably 20 minutes as the throng of people we were in only moved a few millimeters as a time. Several times either one of us suggested just giving up, but I toughed it out.

How was the burger? Gross. I had to pick off all the vegetable crap and there was this weird sauce on it. Totally not worth it. To top it off, there were no tables so we ate outside on the steps, with many other people.

After some wandering around and acquiring some drinks, we decided to join the masses who had clustered on either side of main street for the giant parade, and I’m glad we did. Originally, we found a bench but the Disney police (okay, not really police but still!) kicked us out so we had a seat on the ground with everyone else.

The parade was super cool. It started with Mickey and featured a lot of the classic characters as well as many of the ones that are in right now. The song they played was really cool, too. I know it was something about being welcome in this wonderful land where everyone is special. I felt very much like a little kid.

Snapping pictures was hard because the characters kept moving and, obviously, so did the parade. Plus, I was sitting down and we all know I’m not the tallest person. It was still cute. I was especially impressed when they had boo and Sully from Monsters Inc. -l-

The parade ended with Cinderella, followed by Minnie Mouse who was quite stunning.

After, we followed the parade for a bit trying to get out of the mess of people and browsed some shops back in the World Bazaar. We took the early bus home at 5 pm. I certainly had had enough of Disneyland and wasn’t in a great mood. We spent a quiet night at the hotel ordering sandwiches and wahtching a rented movie.

My first Disneyland experience was great but certainly extracted a high toll. I’d love to go again with more money, better shoes and sun screen!

The morning of the 27th was cold and gloomy – weather I would otherwise love if I hadn’t been extremely tired and leaving my husband for several days (not a big deal unless you consider that it’s the first time we’ve been apart for more than a day since I moved here).

Rian drove us to the parking lot where the buses were boarding and we hopped on. I was surprised at how empty the bus seemed. I wasn’t sure if the other bus was as empty but, if it was, then they were wasting a ton of money by not consolidating. I would guess that maybe half the seats were full. Considering all the other budget cuts that have been made on base and concerning activities, this was a little disturbing but I suppose I’m one of the few people who thought so.

Each bus had a “tour guide” who handed out some info – a booklet with sights to see and maps in Tokyo, a Disneyland pamphlet and a little card with emergency Japanese and the guide’s cell number. Wendy and I had already checked out the Disneyland website the night before to stake out just where we wanted to go so that we wouldn’t waste time. We were set on Fantasyland, Adventureland and the World Bazaare.

We left at around 7 and were told we’d be stopping for a break every 2 hours (!) and having a 1 hour lunch. I was anxious at hearing this because I didn’t see why we would need to stop that often – I just wanted to get there already. However, I do understand that there were a lot of children going who would need frequent potty breaks.

Our tour guide also explained that we were lucky [insert eye roll here] to be on a brand new bus. Lucky, my ass. It reeked. I’m sure it was just “new bus smell” but it coated my nose and mouth and it was all I could smell or taste for quite a while even after I was off of the bus.

All in all, the trip was uneventful. I tried to sleep but that didn’t work out so well; it usually doesn’t on a bus. After a while, I was more excited than tired anyway.

Our frequent stops went quickly. We had brought our own munchies anyway so we didn’t eat much. When we stopped for lunch, I just had an ice cream cone. You can never go wrong with that. Wendy wanted something more so she wound up buying this.. thing.. our of a vending machine which was super weird. You choose your food, then it drops down into a microwave which cooks it for you right there.

Her food looks like ‘tater tots in BBQ sauce – it was neither here nor there. However, she realized there was something chewy in the middle and these were nothing like tater tots – they were slimey! Luckily she also forced me to eat one. I did. I swallowed it down and that was then she had to nerve to say “Hey, I think these chewy things are octopus tentacles!” Eww. Needless to say, I had no more and she didn’t finish them either. -lol-

Most of the trip was through the country-side and it didn’t look fantastic or remarkable anyway. Around 3pm we entered a large city which turned out to be Tokyo. We didn’t know at the time because we didn’t expect to be there until several hours later.

Anyway, it was Tokyo and we drove through for about 30 minutes until we reached the hotel – about 2 and a half hours earlier than expected which left quite a bit of time before it fell dark.

We went through hotel security because it was an American military hotel and we had to show IDs – in Wendy’s case, her passport, got our room keys and went up. I was really impressed at the hotel. It was very American, something of which I am glad. Japanese hotels tend not to be as nice or fancy as American hotels. They’re much more minimal and bland.

The hotel was quite large – 7 floors and included 5 restaurants (Japanese, French, a sandwich shop, fine dining and family dining), 2 shops (gift shop and a general/gift shop), an internet cafe, an APO (army post office) plus pack ‘n’ wrap, a Navy Exchange, a bank (plus ATM) and a pool and fitness center.

We wandered around the first night. Just a few blocks up was a rather busy street with many shops, restaurants and a mall. Originally, we were going to eat at a pasta restaurant but the prices were a bit too much so we headed back to the hotel and ate at the Japanese restaurant.

It was very traditional, which I’m sure Wendy enjoyed. I ordered teriyaki chicken which came with several dishes: sushi, vegetables, salad, rice and finally the main course. I did try some of the sushi (seaweed, salmon and shrimp) but I wasn’t overly eager. I also tried some of the vegetables and had a bit of salad but saved room for the rice and chicken – both of which were great. We also topped it off with desert: chocolate mousse for Wendy and a strawberry tart for me. Overall, it was a great experience.

We chilled out at the room after that. Of course, I had to use the internet cafe to e-mail Rian. <3

Stay tuned for the next installment of this incredibly long story: Disneyland!

I’ve uploaded all the pictures from my Tokyo trip. Hop on over to see pictures of Tokyo itself, Disneyland and our hotel room. I’m going to be switching over to thumbnails (again) for the pictures and photos pages so your connection (and my bandwith) will feel less strain.

Speaking of connections; tonight ours sucks which has made this a difficult job. Oh well – C’est la vie.

Shortly, I’ll write up about the rest of our trip.

Wendy arrived on Sunday the 20th. Unfortunately, she was set to arrive shortly before I was due at work so Rian dropped me off a bit early and went to pick her up. In his usual style, he tried to pull a fast one on me by telling me that Wendy hadn’t arrived because of plane engine troubles, when he came to pick me up at work. I was skeptical because I know his kind and, sure enough, when I arrived home I spotted foreign shoes in our entryway.

These shoes belonged to a monster sleeping on the couch, a monster better known as (dun dun dun!) Wendy! She continued to sleep and ignore me for several hours, as did Rian.

During the first week, we spent much time walking around on and off base. I’ve learned more about the local city over several days with her than I had over several months with Rian. Sadly, there wasn’t much to learn.

I’ve probably visited every bookstore in a 5 miles radius and she’s probably purchased random books (in Japanese, which she doesn’t read XD) from all of them. (“I’ll learn this summer” she says and “Magazines have pictures.”) Whatever.

Luckily, I worked shorter shifts most of the first week. Unluckily, my shoes have holes in them so whenever it rains, my feet get wet. This was the case on the 25th when we walked to the base beach for the “Memorial Day Bash” which was fairly uneventful but did involve free food.

After that, we trekked all the way to main base with the intent of see TMNT only to realize that I got the time wrong and we wound up watching Spiderman 3 instead. It had been lightly raining at the beginning of the walk and nearly an hourand one umbrella-blown-inside-out later, I was thoroughly wet at feet and I was going to see any movie, god dammit.

I liked it. I thought that Spiderman was too overdone with action because OMG-It’s-a-comic-book-movie but Spiderman 2 was quite boring – I fell asleep watching it. The third did a good job of balancing between action and romance and although I felt that 3 villains was a bit much at some points, the plot had a few interesting twists. Overall the movie was quite enjoyable, even if I felt bad for watching a movie Rian had been wanting to see quite badly.

I cannot tell you how nice it is to have someone else to speak with other than Rian. I love him to death but conversation with the same person can become quite old and sometimes I feel rather foolish being silly around him, which is not the case with certain friends – like Wendy.

On the 27th, we boarded a bus at 6:30 in the AM on our way to Disneyland in Tokyo, a tale for another post (and the sequel to IM The Lost Art: Part 1 is still forthcoming)!