Destination Japan! Estimated Arrival Time: October 2014!

Hello there my lovely readers. Hopefully life is treating you kindly. If not...I hope you trip whoever is torturing you and get away with it. Like oh so sorry awful coworker/roommate/classmate, didn't see you there. XD O maybe I should wish for more positive things, like everyone finds a $20 bill (or the equivalent of that) in the parking lot. Why that's an outfit and accessory for Duffy! Or a movie for one.

Oh the story of my life. XD Only my area has more plushies...

When life starts to weigh heavy on me I like to take a deep breath and imagine every one fire. Or or....because maybe that is slightly negative....something fin. Like a trip. As it stands Tenchi and husband are planning a magical trip to Japan in the year 2014. Yeah that is quite a ways off but a girl has to have dream yes? Note I started writing this at the beginning of the month, before things got...well special. Like oh look it's May 5th, the anniversary of when we went the first time...so....hopefully most of this still applies.

Oh why didn't I see you........why didn't I see you in 2011?

First off we are planning for either spring or fall. Not that we hate summer. We live in Florida, we aren't afraid of the heat. But if I am going to spend a chunk of change on a trip I rather it not rain half the item. The spring trip would be the exact days when we went to Japan last time May 6th- 31st. The fall dates would be most of October. Hopefully the husband will have a new “job” by then which would rule out September. The brother (who we are going to visit while there as he is stationed there) has stated that October would be better. The husband says he will have to see.

We are coming Japanese Mickey!

One thing we are basing this time frame on is...Tokyo Disney! This time I plan on going to both parks because really I am still kicking myself over not seeing Disney Sea, the best park ever according to everyone. I also hope to spend 4 days at the park this time instead of one. Really what was I thinking last time? I hope this is the plan but since we are spending part of the trip with my brother and sister-in-law. We got to take their situation into account. I hope they start saving money...now! But yes 4 days and hopefully we can stay at the Hilton across the way. I liked our hotel in Tokyo last time, just I want to be in line to grab past passes and an hour travel's time makes that hard to do for a sleepy head like me. First day will be Tokyo Disney Sea. I want the husband and family to run and ride all the scary rides while I go buy Shellie May, Duffy, and tons of stuff. I imagine this might take a while but I want to get it done early so I can take pictures and what not. What way on day Two, at Disneyland Shellie May/Queen of Hearts and Duffy/Mad Hatter can dine at the Queen of Hearts restaurant where I will take millions of photos. Plus the 4 days will help in case it is busier this time as when we went it was faster the tsunami disasters. And we will have more time to explore the hotels and shopping areas, we won't be so rushed. Just need to save more cash for all this extra fun.

Make room in my suitcase!!!

While we are going to try and visit new spots this time in Japan we are obviously going to go to some repeats, like Tokyo Disneyland. Why would spend the money to see things we already experienced? Because they were fun! Why I go to places over and over again where I like yes? So I plan on going to the Ueno Zoo, Puroland Land, and Harajuku again. We were a bit rushed at the zoo last time because it wasn't planned (but yay pandas). One part of Puroland was under construction last time and there wasn't enough time to go shopping AND catch all the shows. When we went to Harajuku I saw NO cosplayers minus the ones in XURWIEU. Plus they were making a huge Kiddyland and I want to see the Snoopy store to take pictures for my friend. Add in the fact that my brother and sister in law won't have seen any of these things and we should have tons of fun yes?

My wallet hurts already.

Akihabara is a must....obviously....obviously. I need more nendoroids that won't fit in my suitcase and my husband is like is this real life? Maybe this time I will be forced to leave some of the boxes in the trash. I don't know if I would go on a Sunday again though I liked the walking in the streets there in Ginza but...it was super crowed in the stores. Will have to ask members of my party what they prefer. But I will go and spend lots of money. The building with the second hand stuff should be done being built by then (or now) so they won't be all spread out this time. That was kind a fun...all that exploring.

I am sure my sister in law will lose her mind at this place too. XD

Actually let me just go ahead and make a list of repeat places I want to go. That way I can always go back and see how many free days we have. Now I have been to some of these places I know what will be a whole day trip and what will be a half day trip.

I will probably spend 2 hours in the store. XD And then whatever time I can in the restaurant/show area.

 
Tokyo Disneyland/Sea – 4 days 
Puroland- 1 day 
Akihibara- 1 day 
Uneo Zoo/Temples- 1 day 
Ghibli Museum- ½ day 
Asakasa Temple/Sky Tree- 1 day 
Harajuku, Shibuya, Meiji Temple- 1 day 
Pokemon Center/Tokyo Tower- 1 day 

I shall get pictures of things inside of the stores!

I think I am going to try and do things differently camera wise. I notice other bloggers have tons of photos in areas that say no pictures. I tried to follow the rules last time but hello no one else is! Does that make it right? No but I want pictures! It's not like I am going to damage anyone or their property. I want to show people all there is to see within reason. Museums with such rules I understand but shops? Why not? I need to learn to be more sneaky though as the tiny camera I had last time died. Like I think it was mortally wounded when I dropped it at Puroland and died on the plane ride back home.

See I won't starve! XD

I am still a picky eater. That hasn't changed. I don't know the level of foodies my brother and sister in law are but my husband will try anything that isn't a squid ball. He has had camel. So I am willing to go inside the restaurant and take you guys pictures but I am not very adventurous. I will try all the snacks though. There we go! Snack food blogging. That should be okay. A few 100 yen and it it's yucky it's not great loss and I haven't offended anyone. Rejoice!!

The husband has already been informed that Duffy and the new Shellie May will be taking pictures in Japan. He said...tay. XD

Being the dork and picture lover I am I will go picture crazy, like I did last time. I didn't even post half of all the pics we took. I need to start reposting those. Last time I had a nendoroid walking around with me but I always worry I will scratch them up. Duffy is much more squishy. That and I think he is used to be being dropped....So there will be tons of pictures of Duffy going on trips/adventures. But I am also going to to be a giant dork and take pictures of classic anime scenes. Of course for this blog it won't matter as I don't post my face but it will be fun to scrapebook. Here is my list so far for classic anime scenes I can take. Because obviously I can't do a school festival or New Year's Eve shot.

So many picture ideas!

Running in place at train tracks. 
Winning something at arcade (sneak shot) 
Drinking something is a cute cafe 
Buying a souvenir for someone
Dramatic fanning shot. SO HOT 
Eating crepes 
Getting drinks at a vending machine 
Going to Family Mart 
Praying at a temple 

I am sure when the time gets closer there will be more things added to the list. That and I can't plan the whole trip. Things will come to me. There will be three other people with me. Well really two since my husband usually just goes along with what I want to do. As long as he gets his way on one or two things he is happy. But I have never traveled with other people like this before. That means more breaks and allowing people room to breath. Go with the flow, wasn't that my new year's resolution? That goes for the whole trip really. You can't plan every second of your day. I remember I used a guide book last time to plan part of the trip and we went to one building because it was supposed to be cool. It wasn't. It was nothing. So we had to make a different plan for the day. Like oh look at this cool underground shopping area with tons of cute shops. If we had plans and we happen upon something special going on we shall stop and see. Sorta hard to do when you can't speak the language but if there are crowds I want to see. So go with the flow. If something sucks or doesn't take as long to do well time to do some exploring. Those are the best pics anyway, when you get lost and find cool side streets?

Gotta go during a holiday to see even more!

All these fun things I have planned. I really do need to make sure the brother is saving money. I am currently saving each week as saving our 2012/2013 tax returns. Still fun costs money, especially when that fun is named Duffy. I might try to hold off on getting SO many stickers and cell charms as those can add up really fast. I want...well all the Duffy/Shellie May stuff and tons of nendoroids. But maybe I can get some of that cute fake food they put on display at restaurants. That way I can use it all the time. For...um I am not sure. But I can get the souvenir plates at theme parks that I can...display all the time. XD Hopefully the yen will stay at the 1 dollar=100 yen level by next year. Or even better! When we went it was about 76 yen to 1 dollar. So that is almost 25 percent more cash in my head. Please stay the same or better! 

We also got some basic Japanese knowledge this time. I mean I still don't think we will pack umbrellas but yes to the darn phrase book. We know now why we got turned around in Shinjuku station. We know that subways are battle grounds. We know where the cheap noms can be found. We know prices can vary from stall to stall. We know that squid balls are gross. And we know I need to get in shape. STAIRS!!!

NO MORE STRESS!

But I guess the key to any trip and adventure is to have tons of fun, be flexible, and have plans/backup plans. Especially traveling with more people. Stay rested and hydrated and have a great time. Well great time 2.0. This time with twice as many people too! Maybe the brother and sister in law will have some inside help...even if they are living off the main island. 

Oh and I don't know how much blogging I will be able to do there. I don't want to play my internet games this time but posting pics on Facebook should be doable. I guess it depends on how early we turn in. Like if we get up at 8 and come back at 8 I can watch some crazy Japanese tv and blog yes? Guess we will see. I will try anyways. I think last time I did...4 posts in Japan. X___X Out of like 25?

When the husband and I returned from our trip last time I started making a list of places I wanted to see on our return trip. XD Go me. So here is the list of places I have jotted down one a pad of paper from the Peabody. X___X I think we used the bathroom there once when we went to Megacon and the husband and the brother.....borrowed things from the hotel. Criminal activity on my blog folks!!! But yes here is some places we didn't see last time that I would like to see this time. Also this list will probably grow and change as others insert their opinions and ideas too.

I will find you this time!

Odaiba- SHOPPING! Wants to see Fort Venus and Hello Kitty Kawaii Paradise 
Sweet Paradise- Can we say belly full of of treats? Several locations in Tokyo. 
Akasaka Hie Shrine 
Tokyo Dome City 
LaLaport Toyosu 
Mister Donut- How did we not get a panda treat from this place?! 
Ikebukuro- Sunshine City Gate and Sanrio Gift Gate. I need more Hello Kitty clearly. 
Tokdorki Keikoku (Setagay-ku) 
Harajuku- We apparently missed the entire road that is Takeshita Dori last time. 
Kameido Tenjin Shrine 
Tokyo Sky Tree 
Nezu Shrine 
Toshogu Shrine 
Build a Bear- HEY! I checked their website and it looks like they have things our doesn't carry anymore. Plus it is in an area we are already going to...don't judge! 
Universal Studios Osaka 

My friend will be like bring me back a snoopy!

Let me see...what else to type...This seems like a lot given that this trip is still WAY OFF! Just that May is ending um right now and that is when we returned from our amazing trip in 2011. Memories...in the way corner of my mind. XD But tons of pics to look at. But yes folks. A Japan Trip for 2014. Probably too soon to be counting down the months though yes? XD Silly me.