Here it is...Tokyo Disney

Well, where to begin...how about...Wow!  Tokyo Disney was great.  We had an absolute blast!!!!  The park is beautiful and clean.  When I say clean, I mean, spotless, spills immediately picked up by a team of cast members.  The whole park looked like it was brand new.  Disneyland Tokyo and Disney Sea were both amazing.  The rides were really cool and the crowds were fairly light.  I could go all into detail about the weather (not bad, little chilly and windy), the rides (some cool new ones, but also some of the originals) and the food (nothing noteworthy, equivalent to decent cafeteria food), but I'm not going to bore you.  The weather and food are hit-or-miss for any vacation and the rides you can read about on-line if you are serious about coming over to Japan and hitting a Disney park.  I also won't bore you with a ton of photo's, that'll be a later post!  Okay here's one...Mickey bow, Mickey sweatshirt (it was chilly) and food on a tray.

So what could I possibly write about?

Anyone who knows Amie, knows that this trip was top of the list of things to do in Japan, so clearly it's going to have some huge write up on the blog.  Otherwise what's the blog for?

Well, in the interest of being interesting, I am going to go out on a limb.  I have been to a few Disney parks in my time, both Florida and California.  The amount of time and money I've spent in the parks I think qualifies me as somewhat of an pseudo-expert.  I don't know all the character names, but I know the essentials, primary escape routes following a parade, certain short cuts to beat the rush to a ride, what rides to hit at what time of day to avoid waiting in a line greater than 20 minutes, and most importantly Disney is the happiest place on earth but is filled with crying kids and frustrated parents everyday around 4:00 o'clock so watch out.  I've spent enough time sitting with a baby or a toddler waiting for the other kids to come off a ride to make certain observations.  Let's be honest, once you've been to the parks a couple of times, you are able to look past the bright lights and show, and see some of the details!

So since I've assumed this self-proclaimed expert status with respect to American parks, I will now try to explain some of the differences I noted while we were in the Tokyo parks!  Some of these differences may come down to just differences between people who attend the Tokyo parks and people who attend the parks at Orlando or Anaheim.  I won't say Japanese versus Americans because that is not fair, there are rude foreigners at both, as I am sure I was accused of being here (although to my defense, whatever I did, I didn't do it, or it was an accident!)

1. Electric Convenience Vehicles (ECV).  Okay, so first off, there was not one single ECV!  At first, we joked about not seeing one, but then after a  couple hours of seriously looking around we didn't see a single one the whole time we were there.  There were plenty of people walking around with canes, and the occasional wheelchair.  Actually I think I saw one motorized wheelchair, but since the person had to use the little joy-stick to move and turn I'll cut him some slack.  Mostly, people simply walked!  Now I understand that there are truly legitimate cases for needing an ECV.  During our visit there were none of the hidden disabilities such as "I have an eating disorder, so I am fat, so I have to use this small golf cart to lug my largeness around while I eat this turkey leg."  Not a single one!

Now you could fall back on my previous comments about the food being so-so, but that doesn't add up.  The food in the parks was okay at best, but you don't instantly get fat when you show up at Disney and then need a fatty cart either in Japan or the U.S.  You have to build up the need for an ECV, and if you read my previous post, the food out in town can be really good, so there is plenty of opportunity to put on some pounds.  But that weight gain doesn't translate to a need for an ECV, and again we didn't see a single one.

And a side note of this observation was there weren't parents pushing around 9-10 years olds in a stroller!  They walked too!  Imagine that!  As a matter of fact, there were hardly any strollers at all.

2.  Moving across the row.  Another observation I made, and was pleasantly surprised to see how it is supposed to work, was the moving to the end of the row when filling the seats in the show.  Those who have gone before have heard the request:
       "Welcome to (Philharmagic, Muppets...whatever), please move to the end of row when filling the seats.  Please don't stop in the middle of the row."  Only to see either some chuckle-head who thinks the rules don't apply to them, or some foreigner who magically doesn't understand a word of English, stop in the middle of the row and hold up everyone else.  Sidenote: if you are one of these people, you are bound for one of Dante's levels of hell in my book!  So be warned!

Well, in Japan, when you hear the Japanese version of the request, everyone moves down to the end!  It was amazing.  No delays, no hold-ups!  The system works.

Now since I am somewhat discussing Mickey's Philharmagic I'll bring up another point.  For those who don't know, Mickey's Philharmagic is a 3-D movie of Donald Duck who steals Mickey's sorcerer's hat (remember, I've been a few times) and his adventure trying to get it back while trying to set up the orchestra.  It is a compilations of 5 to 6 well known Disney movie theme songs.  Anyways, not that I am comparing Philharmagic to any Italian or German operas, but those opera's were never translated into another language (to my knowledge) because the words (syllable count) were important for the timing of the song.  So when the songs were translated to Japanese, to me they didn't sound right, like someone 'speed speaking' to finish the words in a certain number of notes.  Besides, Goofy's laugh didn't sound right, so it threw it off for me!

3. Rides.  So timing is everything, speed is important.  But not if speeding up a ride will adversely effect the ride?  Japanese efficiency!  I mean it isn't about the ride itself, only that people had the opportunity to ride the ride (huh?).  So like I said, having ridden a few rides, and Peter Pan being one of my favorites, I was surprised to see how fast we went through the ride.  It was literally at a faster pace!  I mean a detail of the ride is seeing Peter's and the other's shadows across the moon, and spending time looking down on the city of London!  Well, damn I've come in for a landing slower than that!  I mean it was so fast that the moon and London were a flash and when we took a corner you slid across the seat!

After the ride, I was about to ask Amie about it but before I could, she said "did that ride seem fast to you?"  It was the same for some of the other rides like Snow White!  I guess if you got to ride the ride, it doesn't matter if you missed most of it because of the speed.

I guess what really confused me is that if the speed of a ride isn't important, and the safety of a 4 year old possibly flying out of the seat and into the crocodiles mouth isn't such a big deal, then why do they have a braking system on the Tea Cups?

Every mother's horror is when dad takes his kids on the Tea Cups and pins them against the seat with the centrifugal force.

Previous Successful Tea Cup Ride

I mean spinning your kids to the point of potential hurling is one of the truly enjoyable parts of the Magic Kingdom.  So when I watched Harrison take his brothers on the Tea cups for his inaugural "spin till they puke" voyage, I, as the dad, was horrified to see the cup suddenly slow down the spinning because of the brake installed! I witnessed poor Harrison suffer through 6 or more brake periods, halting his progress.  Major disappointment for him and me.

4.  Did Mickey just show me my death?  Okay, one last point on the rides.  I was a little stunned to see a Disney ride that ends in your death!  I am not 100% certain that it is a fact because I don't speak Japanese, but I am fairly certain the ride was over because I was supposedly dead!  Falling back on another skill I have...being a pilot...I know that you don't want to enter a rolling, spinning descent that violently hits the water.  And since the lights went out after we "hit the water" and stayed out until we left the ride, I think we got to see the darker side of Mickey!  M-I-C...see you real soon!  K-E-Y, why? because you really ticked me off so I killed ya!  M-O-U-S-E!  Amie said she heard from another mom that they rode the ride with a Japanese friend who confirmed that is pretty much what happened based on the translation.  Damn the Mouse can be cold!

5. Fashion over Function.  Like I alluded too earlier, the weather was okay, a bit windy, which made it a little cold at the end of the day.  For the majority of the attendees to Disneyland...who cares!  The cold and wind were not going to impact fashion.  There were some seriously dressed people in the parks.  I mean it was actually nice to not see a bunch of stained wife beaters and larger women wearing shirts FAR TOO SMALL for them!  I mean if you did see a wife beater it was, according to Amie "well accessorized with skinny jeans, a scarf and Doc Marten boots!"  What you did see a lot of was hats, big bows and super high heels.  I mean there were even Chuck Taylors with 4 inch platforms!

Speaking of accessorizing...it seems that the thing to do to accessorized yourself is to carry your stuffed animals with you.  Everyone...men, women, boys and girls were carrying some kind of stuffed animal.  It seems that "Duffy" is a teddy bear that is huge over here.  Even Lila noticed, and she noticed she wasn't walking around with one, which she quickly corrected and was carrying around two of them by the end of the visit.

6. Efficient, Orderly, somewhat Insane.  Okay final point.  Toy Story Mania is a new ride over here in Tokyo Disney Sea.  It's only a year or so old.  It is the new awesome thing to do in the park.  Much like in America it is very popular and people will wait in long lines to go on the ride.  In Orlando, people will make a mad rush for the Fast Pass.  Having "run with the bulls or heifers" to get a fast pass, it can be both annoying and a rush.  Here in Tokyo Disney, the difference is it is well organized and orderly.  In Orlando, you have to watch out for the person who'll sweep the leg to get ahead or try to cut in front of you, but here, not so much.  I will say the first day, we didn't even try to get passes because we saw what was assumed to be a crazy mob, but the last day we tried.  I was thrown into the mix.  So from the initial entry into the park, I made my way straight back to Toy Story.  Here's a view of the Fast pass line from where I stood...that mob looking crowd is the line!

And here's a view of the line behind me.  Again, the whole street is the line.

Twenty minutes later I was out of the line.  No one shoved, cut or tried to move ahead.  Insanity made  orderly!

Overall, a great trip.  If you are truly a Disney fan, than a trip to Tokyo Disney Sea is a must!  It is a beautiful, well laid out park with great rides.  The level of detail from attractions to shows to shops and overall scenery is outstanding.  If anyone comes to visit, I am sure Amie and the kids will not mind going back to Tokyo Disney Sea to show you in person (unfortunately probably while I'm at work)!

How does Japan not have an obesity problem???

This isn't meant to get into a discussion on the obesity rates or 'super-size' mentality.  My question is simply how you don't see that many overweight Japanese people considering all the great food options, everywhere you go.  The food here has been amazing.  I just found my new favorite restaurant last night, but more on that later.

I probably came over with an extremely narrow view point on what the food options would consist of.  I think I had this impression, ignorantly, that most of the dishes and restaurants would be centered around Japanese cuisine of fish, noodles, rice, and vegetables.  Completely not true.  First of all you can't swing a cat by the tail without hitting some kind of restaurant.  Most restaurants are not the stand alone type buildings, many are tiny little places with maybe only 4 or 5 tables.  Maybe because of the limited spaces you don't see large restaurants, but a bunch of little ones.

Walking down Blue street, just outside Yokosuka naval base has a wide variety of restaurants.  By the way, the name isn't actually blue street, most streets don't have names.  This one is blue street simply because there are blue flecks in the pavement and there are blue lights lining the street...hence, Blue street.  Anyways there is everything from McDonald's, (where the burger you get actually looks like the one in the picture hung on the wall!), to Tempura, to Indian (Indian Go-go's has this phenomenal pumpkin curry and cheese naan, naan is like cheese pizza without the sauce), to a Sushi go-round to a French bakery.

Okay, Sushi, we haven't hit a big old sushi restaurant yet, mostly because Amie doesn't like seafood.  But Harrison and I have grabbed some from the small street shops, great to say the least.  Sushi go-rounds...haven't sat down at one yet, again because it would just be Harrison and me...are a very simple concept.  You sit down at a counter with a conveyor belt in front of you.  The belt goes by carrying single plates of sushi.  You simply take the one you want and stack your plates.  Some places have plates of different colors to differentiate price, other places are all pieces the same price.  The 100 Yen (just under $1) sushi go-rounds are highly recommended.  If you here of a fish shortage over the next few weeks, it is because Harrison and I have hit one of those places!

Also, French bakeries are everywhere and they are AWESOME.  Everything from your standard pastries to hotdogs in buns with ketchup and mayonnaise (haven't tried it).  The tricky thing is trying to decipher what is in the donut.  Not every place has translated labels so you run the risk of getting a great looking pastry that is actually filled with bean curd!

The town near our housing is called Zushi.  It is beach town just south of us.  It has a ton of great little places to eat, across the spectrum, Italian, Greek, good old fashion burgers...you name it.  We found this place, Luana, a couple of weeks ago, really good.

But last night we tried this place called Matchpoint and the food was out of this world!

One appetizer was avocado spears wrapped in prosciutto, another was eggplant and potatoes (left picture).  Then I had Korean flat bread stuffed we seafood, while Amie had Udon noodles (pictured right).  Finally we split French Toast with ice cream (lower middle).

Of course it all went with a couple bottles of wine.  We went with a Merlot, but the Sparkring Wine looked interesting as well.

Learning Japanese one mistake at a time!

For those who don't know, Lila is attending a local Japanese pre-school, called Seika Yochien.  It is a great little school complete with formal little uniforms and daily customs.  Japanese is the predominant language spoken during school.  The one teacher who speaks English, Yuko, has been fabulous helping not only Lila getting settled but also to Amie as she helps Lila get settled and adjusted to the new school and the way things are done.  The school even has it's own school bus that picks up Lila and a couple of kids from our housing development.

The customs start at the bus stop every morning as the driver pulls the bus into the stop and the 'bus teacher' steps out to greet the kids.  The kids one at a time are supposed to bow to the teacher and say "Sensei, Ohayou Gozaimasu" (Good Morning, Teacher).  It is cute to watch as the kids stumble and fake their way through it.  

It is amazing to watch as Lila slowly picks up phrases in Japanese.  She can count in Japanese, we are up to 6, and she loves to run around and yell "Dame (Da-mey)" at her brothers which evidently means 'bad'.  Just the other day I was backing the car into the parking spot (backing into spots is a big deal around here).  As I was backing up, I heard Lila say "O-lai, O-lai, O-lai".  Turns out the 'bus teacher' says that when the bus driver backs the school bus up to park.  It would seem Lila's learning is though-out the day.

Well last night, Amie and I went to a dinner party with some folks from the command.  Scott and Laura did a great job putting together a truly awesome dinner.  There was also plenty of wine and whiskey to go around as well.  Scott and Laura live on the ninth floor of one of the towers at Yokosuka across from the fire department.  They were explaining at one point how the fire trucks would be backed into spot every morning, and even from 9 stories up they could here some of the firefighters yelling, "Hai, Hai, Hai" as they backed the trucks up.  When I relayed my story of Lila saying "O-lai, O-lai, O-lai" one of the spouses, Sumiko, who is Japanese from Kamakura, started to laugh uncontrollably.  

When she stopped laughing she politely explained that they weren't yelling Hai, Hai, Hai or O-Lai, O-lai, O-lai, it was simply the difficulty of R's and L's...they were actually saying "Alright!"

Let's take the train!

When I was my boys age, which Liam is convinced was sometime around the 1940's, the primary mode of transportation was riding my bike or walking.  There wasn't the opportunity to catch a bus or train to go anywhere.  Ellington CT was a small little farm town.

Now Japan has an extensive train and bus system.  The roads are small and congested.  You can pull over and park your car, IN THE TRAVEL LANE, to run into a store for 5 minutes to get milk or something.  While you're inside travelers stuck behind you either have to wait for your return or try to pass against the on-coming traffic!  Can you imagine trying to pull that in the states?  In addition to that all the highways are toll roads, so the subliminal message is...take the mass transportation.

Okay, so getting around on the train looks daunting, it's mostly symbols and numbers and not easy to decipher the first few times, but it actually isn't that bad.  Once you figure out that the symbols "skinny man, fat man, TV" are the symbols to get to Yokosuka...no sweat!  Oh and the colors, the color of the lines are very important...catch the black line and hit every stop, catch the green and skip most stops and only hit certain major ones...huge difference in time.

So I decided that it was time to push the birds from the nest and see if they could fly!  I told them a couple of Saturdays ago, that I wanted them to catch the train to Yokosuka and back.  From our house, that equates to one train for two stops, change trains and hop on another train.  It's a small station where they change trains, so not a huge concern.  The idea went something like this...

Me: Boys, I have an idea, why don't you take the train to Yokosuka?
Boys: When are we leaving, what are we going to eat?
Me: No, you guys go by yourselves.
Boys: Can we get something to eat?
Me: Yeah, I don't care.  Take the train, check out Blue Street, get something to eat and come back.
Boys: Can we eat where ever we want?
Me: Yes, fine, I don't care where you eat, I just want you to ride the train and make it back alive!
Boys: Can we have some money?

So being a concerned parent, I resorted to Aviator mode and had a very thorough 'pre-flilght' brief.  I had a white board with multiple color markers, a pocket size train map, a time table, a list of landmarks and made sure they had fully charged cell phones (aka survival gear, because Google Maps on the iPhone is AWESOME).  Then I gave them a bunch of yen, don't ask how much, it was probably enough to buy a hotel on Park Avenue...it is just monopoly money!

Out the door they went and after a few hours they returned.  They only made a couple small mistakes but they made it back!  The high-light of their day was not that they took the train by themselves, but that they got to go to McDonald's and KFC for lunch!

Since then, they hit the train a lot.  They take it home from practice without me if I am running late.  Last weekend they took the train to Yokosuka then up to Yokohama!  That's a big trip.  It's about a 30 minute train ride and Yokohama is a major city!  They explored the city, or at least part of it, because the city is huge!  Needless to say a majority of their adventure involved food.  At least this time, they ate at an Indian place, curry and cheese naan, but they spent a good chunk of time looking for a Krispy Kreme near the Yokohama train station.

Of course we'll definitely avoid the trains during rush hour in Tokyo.  The train attendants wear white gloves.  Here's why...

Is there room on that train?

Brockzilla Meets Godzilla!!!

Man: "Oh no.  There he is.  The huge Green Monster! What do we do?"

Official: "What the drunk guy on St Patty's Day with that cute girl in red?"
Man: "No that other one!"

Official: "Oh him...Don't Panic!"

Official: "Well then.  Too late.  RUN!!!"

That's right.  We found Godzilla.  Not far from our house at the Kurihama Flower Park.  Evidently Godzilla made land fall here at some point in his long career.  He is generally a metaphor for nuclear weapons in many of his early films.  The metaphors are less serious in later films when Godzilla is actually the hero.  In most of the movies Godzilla is still a massive destructive monster, who just happens to be the lesser of two evils who saves the day!

So Godzilla now guards the kid's play area.  There is actually a slide built into Godzilla, climb in through his gut, slide out the tail.  Not the best image I am sure.

Anyways, Kurihama Flower Park is near the eastern coast, just south of Tokyo Bay.  It is a 2000 meter trail that takes you through various flower beds and blooming trees.  Amie wants to go back in a few weeks when the blossoms are out in force.

It was a great day.   At the top of the hill they have a bell, not sure what it is there for, but the views were amazing.  Lila drove away some of the locals who were sitting quietly enjoying the scenery.  I guess they didn't appreciate it that Lila was hanging from the bell rope like Quasimodo!

Hunting for Dragons on Enoshima Island

Rumor has it that there once was a 5 Headed Dragon that terrorized a part of Japan just to the south of us.  This fierce dragon lived on a small island, now called Enoshima.  Benton, a popular goddess of good fortune, wealth, music and knowledge, subdued the dragon and saved the area.  Of course there are still stories of dragons loose on the island...so naturally Brockzilla had to go check it out!

We spent Saturday exploring Enoshima Island, a little island attached by a 1/2 mile long bridge.  We drove out there, which was an adventure in itself (thank you Google maps on the iPhone!).  The island is known for its shrines, observation tower and caves down by the sea.  The view of Mount Fuji is supposedly excellent on clear day.  Unfortunately it was a little too hazy.  No worries, we'll definitely be going back!      

The island itself is not that large.  Like many areas of Japan it is quite hilly! You can buy an 'EnoPass' to get into the caves, the observation tower and multiple gardens, and it also allows you to ride a number of escalators to the top.  Very helpful with Lila!  The down side is that these escalators don't exist on the backside of the island down to the caves.  So at the end of the day we had to climb back up! I had Lila on my back...workout complete!

This is a shot back towards the bridge...only slightly up the hill.  The street is full of shops.  Evidently squid pressed bread is a real treat?!  Towards the top of the street is where the Benton shrines are located.

We were looking for dragons.  Found this one, but supposedly the dragon we were looking for lived in the caves (where else would a dragon live?).  Of course, before we explored the caves we took a look around the garden, had French Toast for lunch, a big hit, and checked out the observation tower.

Even in February the flowers are starting to look great.  After lunch we climbed down to the waterline, where the caves were located.  Inside the caves we looked around by candle light.  What better way for a tall American to make his way through a dark, low ceiling cave!  Brilliant.

This shot is one of the high ceiling points.  Even Liam had to duck a number of times to get here, but it was worth it.

We finally did find the dragon.  He is supposedly sleeping, but if you clap really loudly you can wake him up.

Back outside the caves, after a head count, we checked out the flat rocks leading to the water.  The tide was coming in but nothing threatening, we just had to avoid a few puddles.  Ironically, with all the people around on the rocks, the local park attendant felt it necessary to come out and warn us of the tide and suggest we not go too far out.  I think she was afraid of the bad press that would be generated by the big, dumb Americans getting pulled out to sea!  I can understand her concern.  She was very nice and took our picture.

So what do you do after climbing over 200 steps back to the top of the island?  You dare your kids to eat SQUID on a stick!

Ethan did get in on the act.  Of course, he was skeptical at first, he didn't trust us that it tasted good.

It was an awesome day!

Buddha's House

We kind of got out of sync with the blog events and posting, so this one will try to catch up!

Couple of weeks ago we took the kids to see the great Buddha.  The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a huge bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha in the Kotoku-in Temple.  This guy is massive!  He is about 45 feet tall and weighs about 110 tons...and he's hollow.   You can actually pay an extra 20 Yen...that's about 16 cents (thank god for COLA!) and go inside.  So naturally we had to go into the belly of the great beast!  It was really cool.  Of course, Lila wasn't really impressed.  Now if there was an ice cream place inside, she'd be all over it.

Anyways, the Buddha's been around a long time, since about 1252.  He used to be covered in a huge wooden temple, but that temple was WASHED AWAY by a massive tidal wave in 1498!!!  Then in 1925 a massive earthquake struck but only damaged the base, so they re-enforce the neck and made it possible for the Buddha to move freely on a new base to avoid the shocks of another earthquake, kind of like a surf board!

At the end of the day, it is still a shrine and temple where many people come to worship, pray and meditate.  So each of the kids gave some yen and then 'made a wish'.  Liam went the extra distance getting his Zen on.