Brent was informed his presence was required on another business trip (so soon after the last) to Tokyo (with two weeks notice) and we thought "Why not?" So Brock and I made our own way (a little out of the way) to Tokyo and met Brent at the airport - just 20 minutes before his flight arrived. The 12 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo's Narita airport wasn't terrible - it helped we had our own row of 5 seats for Brock to climb all over and nap upon.
What a journey! Departed Seattle on Thursday morning and arrived Friday afternoon only to survive another 2 hour bus trip from the airport to the hotel. We received our room keys after checking in at The Westin and opened the blinds to this view of Tokyo. The newly completed (2012) Skytree tower is the one to the right lit up in red.
We are completely off our sleep cycle. My body had no idea if we were taking naps on our first night/day or if we were down for the night. Our family was all down for breakfast when the restaurant opened at 6:30am. I'm not sure if I should credit The Westin or the Japanese culture/people, but the service they provide here is amazing. The breakfast buffet is quite elaborate and Brock receives his own sectional plate, spoon, fork and bib when he dines. The one thing that is lacking here compared to most buffets back home - fruit. They have bananas, apples, pineapple, and grapes. However the grapes here all have seeds in them and the skin is tough (my friend, Shoko, who lives here recommended peeling the skin). Brock managed to eat them just fine (after I removed the seeds), but I wasn't much of a fan.
On our first full day here, we walked around the Ebisu Garden - a mall across the street from our hotel. In said mall is La Table, a very famous french restaurant. Then we made the mistake of taking a second nap lasting well over 7 hours and having to take Brock to a bar at 11pm to eat dinner. After heading back to bed at 1am, we were good to go until Brock woke up at 5am. Yay jetlag with a toddler!
On Sunday, we were set to meet Shoko for lunch and some sight-seeing around Asakusa. Lunch was delicious - thinly layered pork stacked to make a patty and then breaded and fried - served with cabbage and rice. Brock loves sticky rice!
Shoko took us to the Senso-ji - Asakusa Shrine, Five-Story pagoda, and other buildings comprising the oldest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo, founded in 628.
On our way out, we had to stop and see the koi fish!
I asked Shoko to come with us to a grocery store too so we could pick up a few snacks for the week (so she could read the boxes!). So helpful!!
We stopped at a local playground so Brock could release some steam. What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon! Thanks Shoko for taking us all around! It was great to see my friend - maybe next trip we'll find a pick-up game of volleyball!
No comments:
Post a Comment