Japan Trip Day 2, Sunday September 28th: Tsukiji Market, Shibuya, etc.

Sunday morning we were awake bright and early and got to witness a beautiful sunrise from our hotel room. We had a lovely hotel breakfast where we tried lots of Japanese food (had to experience it all!) and went for a walk. We walked by the Imperial Palace but it wasn't open yet so we couldn't go in that day, and we took the train to Akihabara, known for Anime and video games (which of course we aren't into at all but still interesting to see!). After that we made our way to the Tsukiji Market where we were very excited to have some delicious Wagyu beef and tuna sushi from street vendors. This is where I discovered fatty tuna and it has changed my life haha! Soooo delicious! We wandered around the market and made our way to Meiji Shrine. We saw a lot of shrines on this trip and while at some point it was starting to feel like they all looked a bit similar, this was our first one and it was really cool to see!

We made our way to Takeshita street which was basically just a really busy shopping street. We needed a break from all the activity so we stopped at a Woodstock cafe and had some coffee/tea. It was tiring but also really fun to see so much every day! We went to Shibuya after that to check out the famous Shibuya Scramble and made our way to Shibuya Sky for our entry at 3:40pm. It was a beautiful view! We hung around until sunset although it was a bit cloudy so didn't have the best sunset view.

After Shibuya we went to a sushi restaurant in the Shibuya area that was good, and we went back to the hotel for another early night. Jet lag was definitely a factor, I had a hard time sleeping through the night and often woke up multiple times, especially those first few days. The early nights were good though as we were still able to get a decent amount of total sleep at least. First full day in Tokyo was a great day!

 

Japan Trip Day 1, Friday September 26th - Saturday September 27th: Arriving in Tokyo

I decided to do each day as it's own post because there are literally hundreds of pictures and I am worried blogger might get overwhelmed in a single post. Here goes!

Friday finally arrived - Japan time! Brian and I got up early to go to the gym before our flight and get our holiday started off on the right foot:-). Mark drove us to the airport around 11 and we got checked in and hung out in the lounge for a while. We were flying Business Class on Hawaiian Airlines (Brian used some of the points he built up in those Facebook travelling years!) so it was nice to take advantage of some of the benefits of that. The business class in the Airbus 330 was not quite as nice as the Air Canada flight we took to Portugal a few summers ago but it was still pretty amazing. I can't tell you how much of a difference it makes to be able to just stretch out and relax for a 10 hour flight, so glad we got to have that experience. I didn't sleep much because no matter how comfortable I am I don't sleep well when I'm travelling anywhere, but it was still a pleasant flight.

We got to Tokyo around 5pm Saturday Japan time, and it was a bit hectic at the airport but we figured out where to go to get to our express train to our hotel. Brian had done the majority of the research for the trip so he knew what we needed to do which was nice. I had found out through some Facebook groups that we should get a Suica card for subway train travel so we got that at the airport before we left. We caught the train to Tokyo and settled in for the hour long ride into the city. We found our hotel after not TOO long (Google maps is great but not perfect, especially when there are high rises with multiple floors). We were really happy with our room although it was a bit smaller than we were expecting (not small by Tokyo standards or anything!), the view definitely exceeded our expectations. Amazing! 

We were thoroughly exhausted but it was only 7pm or something so we tried to freshen up a bit and went back to Tokyo Station (right by our hotel) and found some ramen for dinner. We stayed up until 9 and then crashed. So tired but so excited for more exploring the next day!

 

Japan time is here!

Here we are, tomorrow we leave for Tokyo! Yikes! I have been busy getting the house all ready for Mark and Frances to watch the boys while we are gone, and yeah - it's a bit overwhelming but I think I'm as ready as I will be!

What has been going on . . . so Nathan did not make the school team in basketball unfortunately. He tried out for the Select team as well but unsurprisingly he was a bit behind those guys, too. I found this program in Seattle that meets for an hour and a half on Fridays and they do some skills and 3 on 3 scrimmage. I've had some interactions with the guy that runs that program and it seems like a great option for Nathan, so we're going to check it out starting in mid-October (we just have too much going on until then). Hopefully he likes it and can keep building his skills!

Adam is all done with his Invisilign, yay! What a milestone, I can't even believe we made it through the 46 weeks. His teeth look amazing, we could not be happier with the results. He has a retainer now that he has to wear at night basically indefinitely (they said for sure 3-5 years, ideally forever) but it seems like such a minor inconvenience compared to what we've been doing. I'm happy for him, happy for us, happy all around!

Our Monday night volleyball league wrapped up this week, it was a fun season! I think I'm probably too competitive to play in a rec league, but maybe the fun is worth it lol. 

That's really it! I picked Mark and Frances up from the airport Wednesday and we leave tomorrow. I'm nervous as this is my first trip to Asia, but I'm definitely excited. Hopefully I haven't forgotten something big, because at this point it will be what it will be! Will post when I get back!

 

School back in session, almost Tokyo time!

We are two weeks into school and trying to get back into the swing of things! It's been a bit of a rough start with Adam, his bus has been very inconsistent and it's been a struggle to get into a good rhythm. I think we are finally getting there but it's been a bit frustrating. I finally figured out this week that dismissal times are different than last year which is good to know. Yikes! Anyway, I think we are getting to the point where a pattern of some kind is being established. Adam has been a bit more repetitive again, which we think has to do with Lynsey leaving, he is trying to process that. Hopefully he can get through it and the repetition slows down again.

Nathan has basketball tryouts this week, his second tryout day is today after school. We are pretty sure he will not make the team this year based on what he told us about Tuesday's tryout, but we are trying to figure out other ways that he can play more basketball this year to keep practicing and getting better. He has made improvements but continues to be a bit behind other kids his age, hopefully he sticks with it and catches up! He's adjusting well to 8th grade so far, as we were pretty sure he would.

Lynsey has been gone almost three weeks! She is doing well over at U of A, we still talk to her fairly often and Nathan actually talks to her most days I think (they play computer games together and chat while they're doing that). She's adjusting to her classes and balancing everything so far. This is the longest we have gone without seeing her and we are missing her for sure, but so happy for her that she's doing so well so far. Looking forward to seeing her at Canadian Thanksgiving!

Mine and Brian's trip to Tokyo is only two weeks away! Crazy! Next week will be a lot of preparing for Brian's parents coming on the Wednesday before we leave. I hope they have an easy time here with the boys, it should be pretty straight forward. 

I'll check in again before we go away to update you on the basketball situation. Fingers crossed we can figure something out for him!