Japan Update!

Hi all! Well its after 10 at night here, so I am just going to post some pictures of the past couple of days, not including today. We are exhausted from our tour of Kyoto today, we melted in the heat! Next up is Tokyo Disney! Update when we get back to California!

Welcome to the land of the rising sun... Japan!!!

Hey everyone! I wanted to do an update of our vacation while I had the chance. Lets start with getting to Japan. Mom drove Sarah and I to LAX, no real problems. We get to the terminal for Korean Air, check in and head to security. Almost no line, and it seemed much more lax (no pun intended) then our normal domestic flight. We get to our gate, and notice no fast food. Only 1 sandwich shop. We ended up eating peanut butter and crackers, cheez-its, nutter butters, and ritz cheese and crackers. We boarded our flight, (sitting next to each other!) and we were off!

No one had the window seat, so we spread out among the 3 seats. We quickly learned english was no longer the primary form of communication, as all announcements were made in Korean, some were periodically translated into Japanese and English (hopefully we didn't miss anything important). Our first meal was curry (I think). No good for us, but the bread was yummy. They later came around and passed more bread out. I was stoked. But then there was something in the middle, so Sarah tried it. Then we turned the light on to find out it was meat. On to dinner where Sarah had chicken and I had pasta. Yummy! Also, the plane has great entertainment! A TV for everyone where you can pick from lots of movies, games, CD's and more! Enough about the plane.

We land, and were greeted by someone who got us a car, and we reached our hotel (after some traffic). We settled in, ate Italian at a restaurant at an hotel next to ours, and retired for the night (I was in bed by 7!).

The next day we were off on our tour. We saw the Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Plaza and some sort of Buuhist Shrine and shopping area. Our tour then ended and took us to a JR station, which our tour guide also had to take and explained how it worked. Then we were on our own. We went to Shibuya, which was amazing! TONS of people, and lots of shopping. We had lunch at McDonalds and I don't want to talk about dinner. We stayed until evening, then came back to the room, exhausted.

The next day it was off to Nikko, where we saw a shrine, visited a lake, and saw 1 of the 3 most popular waterfalls. We left for our tour at 9 and didn't get back until 7:15! We sat in lots of traffic. I enjoyed the sights while on our bus.

Let me tell you, we can't believe how big the city is. Everywhere you look is just more city! It is incredible. And traveling on the JR is awesome! Although, it stresses me out we may get lost, I really enjoy it. That is all for tonight, I got some post cards to write, enjoy the pics for now!!!!

Day 8 to home!

Well, I stopped taking notes on what we did each day, so I will just do a picture blog for this last one. Enjoy!!!

Day 6 & 7!

Day 6!
It rained all day. We started at the Animal Kingdom. We saw the Nemo show (not my dad!), did the jungle trek, saw the Lion King show (elephants are awesome!). We ate lunch at the Rain forest. Yummy nachos & pizza at the bar. The bus ride back to the room took forever and was freezing.

Tried to rest while Sarah got internet. Ate at the lounge for dinner - pulled pork sandwhiches.
We then went to the Magic Kingdom. TTA was open!!! We also went on the tea cups, haunted mansion, pirates and the Swiss family treehouse. Watched the parade (even though it was sprinkling!) Did the laugh floor and TTA closed. (so sad) Went back to hotel and got Sarah a Dole whip, straight pineapple for me!

Day 7:
It poured rain twice today! Started at the Animal Kingdom. Went on Safari, funny guide sang to the radio. Got fast passes for Everest. Lunch at Yak and Yeti, where I had a Yak attack.
Pouring rain on the way to dinosaur. Missed the fast pass due to rain (didn't want a high speed bath!). Got a new one and did the Africa jungle walk. Saw Nemo from very front. Got on bus to Ticket and Transportation Center, where he dropped off people at the Magic Kingdom first (we have the worst luck with buses) instead.

While resting in the room, poured rain again. We then went to Epcot and did Universe of energy. Sarah got really scared when the veggie dino blew out his nostrils, the velociraptor spit water right in her face, and at the end the lights all went off and a dinosaur roared, and Sarah was on the floor. Hilarious! We went on test track. Walked around the world. Got ice cream, ccokies and cream as they were out of cookie dough. Then a journey on Spcaeship earth!

Day 5!

Day 5:
We had a little rain at MGM - Sarah bought an umbrella. We went on Toy story mania - Sarah won, probably by a lot. We got shrunk, but an ant helped me out. Went on Star Tours - (Where a little boy got off and said, "That was awesome" his dad replied, "You wanna go again" which received a prompt "No".) Had lunch at the Sci-fi drive-in. Sarah had an Oreo Orbiter & I had a Space monkey. MGM closed early for some religous event. We tried to see the Indiana jones show, but it ended early due to lightning. Saw the Little mermaid show (awesome!). Took a spin on the roller coaster.

Next we headed to Downtown Disney. Took the bus to pop century - got right on bus to downtown disney. Went in a couple shops, and lost sarah in world of disney. Also spent lots of money. Rode back on the bus with a lady who broke her knee on test track.

Then we went... you guessed it Epcot! We first ate dinner at the concerige lounge - turkey skewers. Went to the world showcase and shopped. Spent some money in Japan. They have really small feet. Emilee had some rasberry sake (woah!). Extra magic hours. Water fountain tasty in America (helped me finish the sake!). Had some Kakigori for dessert - melon. Had more dessert in China - Sarah had red bean ice cream. She made me drink water. Fun times on Space ship earth with silly face.

Day 4!

Day 4!
There was no rain, but the sky did tease us. We started at the Magic Kingdom, rode the magic carpet ride, had a turn on the jungle cruise (boring!), visited the fun tiki room and rode snow white.
Went on Pooh (got off immediately), used a fast pass for peter pan, the castle under attack again
(that is a show that shoots fireworks, looks like the castle is being invaded!) We had lunch at the Plaza, which means Milkshakes! We continued to experience the disappearing waitresses. Took pictures with the Step-sister who taught us to whine for ice cream. Took a spin on small world (boring!), and the county bear jamboree.

We then headed to Epcot. Security finally asked to see into our bags instead of just reaching in (learn some manners!). We took a journey into our Imagnation, we found Nemo, Crush was no good at turtle talk (Dude!). Fish are friends. Did some shopping around the world. Ate at Teppen Edo (I had a Tokyo Sunset). While I sat at a bench while Sarah shopped, I was attacked by bugs! Sarah just thought I was crazy. We went to Mars and did some more shopping.

Day 3!

Day 3
No rain again! We started out at Animal Kingdom. We ate lunch at the Yak & Yeit, where I had my everst avalanche. We rode on Sarah's least favorite, Dinosaur, where she tried to jump in my lap! Got some bruises on the Dino Spin, and retrieved some band aids in Africa. Turns out we packed some crappy shoes, rode on Mt Everest (twice!), rode the rapid ride, then headed back to the room for a long rest!

Went to MGM, which closed way too early, where there was more stuff closed for refurbishment. We rode Areosmith and Tower or Terror. We ate at the Prime Time Cafe (where Martin works!), we were scolded for whining, but still got yummy dessert!

Due to the early closure we headed to Epcot where we went back into space, rode Soaring (where I kept saying, I've been there!), watched the nighttime show, Reflections of Earth, guy from Yokohama (I actually don't remember what this relates to), then a swift powerwalk to monorail. All in all, a great day!