Back to Tokyo

In September, we had our last family "hoorah" before baby arrives in 5 weeks! We went back to the New Sanno hotel in Tokyo for two days.

On our way there (driving), we got lost in Japan for the first time! Anyone who knows me knows I do NOT like to take the path less traveled and I do not like to "just see where this road goes." When I make a wrong turn, I prefer to turn around and go back the way I came. Especially in a country where I can't read the signs. And when I don't have a map (in any language, let alone English) on hand.

However, Brian was driving, so he forged ahead and drove around hoping to find our way. I have to say I was too panicked to contest...or was it that I had no idea how we could "turn around"? (And I was too busy envisioning us abandonning our car on the side of the road and finding our way on foot to a subway. Afterall, I had a subway map.) Either way, I pride myself on remaining rather quiet and calm in this instance, at least outwardly. And, within 20 minutes or so, without any help from me, he'd navigated us back on track.

Despite our delay, we made it to the Ueno Zoo, where Sydney loved seeing all the animals. Monkeys (maybe her favorite), elephants, giraffes, tigers, lions, bears, panda bears, penguins, and more! Then we stopped by the Roppongi Hills area, which is an upscale residential area with many shops and restaurants.

On our second day, we headed to Akihabara, the electronic district of Tokyo, where you can purchase any type of electronic device known to man...if you can read the Japanese packaging, of course. We weren't in the market for anything, but it was fun to look. Apparently, gaming is a big draw to this area, and there were young men (mostly) lined up to enter entertainment centers for gaming.

Finally, we ended up in Harajuku, mostly to check out a large toy store called Kiddyland. Here we found Hello Kitty and Elmo decked out in Halloween garb, and Totoro (Sydney's favorite Japanese animated character).

When we settled on a cafe for lunch before heading home, little did we know we'd actually be attending a wedding--or so it felt when a young Japanese couple dressed in "Western" wedding attire strolled by us as they entered the reception hall attached to the cafe. But I didn't feel too bad about being under dressed, since the cat (yes, a real cat) sitting at the table next to us didn't have a special outfit on for the occasion either.