OUR TRIP:
Important notice at the Shanghai airport (???!!!):
Our first glimpse of Tokyo:
On Sunday morning, we were able to attend one of the English wards for Church. We were lucky to have the Christmas program that Sunday, and the boys really enjoyed primary with lots of other kids. It was a pretty good size ward. Well, compared to what we are used to. That afternoon we went to the Imperial Palace Gardens and walked around. The Japanese really know how to do a beautiful garden!
Here is a small temple we happened upon when we were out exploring. We walked all over down town Tokyo.
We ate at Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo. Yummy. But all of the food and everything else was expensive! We were pretty creative with our eating.
Early one morning, at 4:30am, we got up and went to the fisherman's wharf, where all of the fish comes in from the sea and then gets packed and sold, and sent out to different places to eat. We saw the Tuna Auction. They used to let people in to the middle of it to see it, but they are working, and it's actually fairly dangerous to get in their way. So, now we had to stay back and look from a distance. There is a man in the middle of all of these huge tunas, and he is the auctioneer. It was crazy! I think this is the first day they didn't let visitors in, because there was a news film crew there. We were interviewed about our feelings on not getting to go into the auction, and were on the News! Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it.
There were rows and rows of these stalls for buyers to come and get. There were also these small propane-tank trucks that would whiz about picking up and delivering fish. We had to work really hard to stay out of their way!
The thing I was most looking forward to: The freshest Sushi you can get in Japan! We were able to watch him make it. Mike and I shared it and it was delicious!!! ( who would have ever thought I could crave raw fish and seaweed!) It was 30.00 for these few pieces of sushi, but worth every penny for the experience.
We went on a river-cruise through downtown. The boys really enjoyed it. The sky was SO blue, and beautiful. We aren't used to such clear weather.
This is the largest temple in Tokyo, and I wish I could remember the name of it. Hmmm. It was so interesting to compare Japan and China. In some ways they are similar, and in others, they are miles and miles apart in their ways.
Then, on our way to the Wonderful World of Disney! We stayed at the Disney Ambassador Hotel. It is really a great atmosphere and so much fun. We went to Disneyland for one day, Disney Sea for the second day, and split the third day between the two. Boy was I Disneyed out by the third evening. We had a fantastic time. The boys were in Heaven!!!
We went to the Diamond Horse-shoe Saloon for their lunch show. The boys and I got roped into being in the show, and Mike enjoyed sitting there taking photos :-)
Poor Mike, he was too big for the kiddy roller-coaster.
It was all decorated so beautifully for Christmas. A lot of the rides were redone for Christmas as well. It was so fun. We enjoyed several shows and a couple of Christmas shows as well.
The boys humored me and went on It's a small world. They loved all of the "mountain" rides like Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. They also loved The Tower of Terror, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and the Indiana Jones Ride. Eli kept us on track with a map in his pocket and pulled it out constantly to tell us what direction to go.
Some interesting things: The Japanese know how to stand in a line!!! They are so polite. This is opposite of our friends here, who push and cut in and everything else. Most of the people at Disneyland were adults. A lot of younger couples and all in silly Disney hats. In fact, they didn't have much to buy at all at Disney. All of the stores had the same things in them. Cheesy hats in all shapes and sizes and some stuffed animals. They were all very fashionable, and lots of the girls were wearing short-shorts, or short-skirts with tights or nothing on their legs. I was in 4 layers. And they wore high heels at Disneyland! I felt so frumpy in my jeans and gym-shoes. The hot food-item of the day was curry popcorn. There was always a line at least 30 minutes long for this in Disneyland. We didn't try it. I felt like I did when I first came to China, as I only knew 3 words..Hello, Thank you, and good-bye.
These are oragami. Amazing.
