Post-break wrap-up

Well, the break is over and it was really fun. I didn’t manage to accomplish everything I had planned, but I still wiped quite a few items from my “things I want to do in Japan” list. On Wednesday we got a late start and didn’t make Happabashidori. Also most of the temples in Asakusa closed soon after we arrived. On Saturday I was too exhausted to go to Yokohama. And on Sunday plans changed and we went to Machida instead. Fortunately a return trip is in the planning stages involving Ginza and the Apple store, Happabashidori, and Asakusa together since (by train) they are all along the Ginza line.

We did go to the Ghibli Museum on Thursday, and it was fun. Not as cool as it could have been in my opinion. Particularly the gift shop was very lacking in what I was hoping for. Tokyo Disney was tons of fun. As I said before it was the first day of the Christmas stuff and that was really nice. It seemed a bit weird since the weather was hot (you’ll see I’m wearing a t-shirt in the pics) but I guess it’s coming up regardless. Machida was good shopping; I got some omiyage and we all saw some outrageously priced clothing in some department stores. We also ate at a T.G.I. Friday’s, which was awesome. Didn’t find the 5-story 100 yen shop that is supposedly there, but I’m definitely going back sometime.

Returning to Tokyo Disney, it was largely comparable to American Disneyland with some exceptions. For starters and most obviously, all the characters spoke in Japanese. Well, I guess that is to be expected, but they also had (mostly) the exact same voices, so it was interesting. For the Christmas musical performances, the songs were about half Japanese and half English. It’s hard to describe the experience, but I got some video, so check that out when I get it up and you’ll see what I mean. Second, the rides varied. Space Mountain had the exact same cheesy old-ass space effect stuff, but was actually fast as hell. It really took me by surprise that boring old Space Mountain could be that much fun. Thunder Mountain was also quite fast, and longer as well. In fact, it was definitely my favorite ride at the park, whereas in America I think it sucks. I’m not sure why, but Splash Mountain left something to be desired. So did the gift shop. All I wanted was a simple t-shirt that said “Tokyo Disney” on it, and there was not a single t-shirt in that entire goddamn park. Oh well. I’m now hoping to find time to hit up Disney Sea some evening.