Babauta's Travel Blog

Japan Day 15 - Heading back to Guam

2009-06-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

By Leo

And so the journey ends.

We've spent two amazing weeks here in Tokyo, and today we head back to Guam.

Our flight is at 10 a.m. at Narita airport, which means we have to be there between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to check in our bags. Which means we have to get on the Keisei Airport Express train by 7 or 7:30 a.m. at the latest. Which means we need to get on the subway by 6:15 or 6:30 a.m. to get to Ueno station for the Keisei train. Which means we need to head out of our apartment by 6-6:15 a.m. Which means Leo had to wake by 4:30 a.m., which he did. Or I did. My grammar is mixed up by this point.

Chloe and Justin fell asleep on the Keisei train, which was pretty nice.

Rain and Maia looking forward to getting home.

Eva, Seth and Noelle on the train.

We bought a couple extra duffel bags to pack the things we bought in Tokyo -- remember that we only brought carry-on backpacks on the way to Tokyo. So on the way to the subway and airport, I was carrying 3 big duffel bags (one on my back as a backpack, and one on each shoulder). It was a great workout. The journey to the airport was a rushed and rough one. We should have started earlier. :)

The plane ride wasn't too bad, actually, except there was one Japanese boy of elementary age who threw the mother of all tantrums, crying and screaming and throwing himself on the floor and rolling down the aisles ... all the way to Guam. The. Entire. Trip.

Other than that, the trip wasn't bad, though tiring. We got home and fell into bed. Actually, I couldn't sleep so I unpacked my stuff and reorganized my clothes in my closet.

It's nice to be home. :)

See all our Japan photos

Japan Day 14 - Meiji Temple, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Tower

2009-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

By Leo

This was our last full day in Tokyo (we leave early in the morning the next day) and so we tried to get some last-minute sightseeing and shopping done -- stuff we hadn't done yet that we really wanted to do.

That included Tokyo Tower, which looks exactly like Paris' Eiffel Tower, as well as the Meiji Temple and the huge Roppongi Hills complex.

We started by heading to Shibuya, doing a little shopping and a lot of walking. We went to Dean & Deluca's (a little New York gourmet deli) and packed a picnic to take to Yoyogi Park for lunch. I was thinking sandwich stuff and fruits, but the kids wanted some pre-packed lunches such as Indian butter chicken and naan and tandoori chicken, or a pasta meal. I just had this asparagus and tomato salad plus bread, while Eva had a salad.

Eva after lunch, with her ever-present cup of coffee.

Eva and the kids at the Meiji temple tori (entrance gate). Meiji temple is the most popular Shinto shrine in Tokyo, and is really really lovely. It's set in the middle of Yoyogi Park and has wide gravel paths, very serene, leading up to the temple.

Eva and the kids again.

Here's Rain, picking leaves over a little gutter that the kids used as a racing track -- they raced leaves floating along the water. OK, I joined in too. :)

Maia, Rain, and Chloe drinking from the fountain at Meiji temple.

Noelle around this tree at the temple with really cool roots.

The kids looking at little wooden plaques with prayers from different visitors.

Here's one prayer written by a youngster from Singapore, wishing for his/her papa to slim down to at least 80kg.

After the temple, we took the subway to Roppongi Hills, a new development in the Roppongi district (often known as a red-light district). Roppongi Hills is a lot of things, but mostly it's really huge. It has a couple of really large towers, and you can go to an observatory at the top and see all of Tokyo. Within this complex are things such as: several shopping complexes, an art gallery, a library, a hotel, luxury apartments, offices, parks, many many restaurants, fountains, and more. We didn't see all of it -- we didn't have time. We just looked at this really cool spider sculpture (a favorite of Seth's -- he didn't want to leave it) and looked around the shops (really expensive ones) and then had ice cream at Coldstone.

After Roppongi Hills, we walked a good distance to Tokyo Tower. Here are Eva and the kids in front of the tower. I took it while on the ground. :)

You have to buy tickets to get to the observatory on Tokyo Tower, which was a disappointment because I was hoping to run up the stairs, but apparently that isn't allowed. The views from the observatory did not disappoint. You can walk around and see a 360 degree magnificent view of Tokyo. Above is one shot I took.

Here's another.

And as we left, I took a shot of the tower beautifully lit up.

See more: All Japan Day 14 photos

Japan Day 13 - Disney Sea

2009-06-26T02:11:00.003-07:00

By Rain and Justin

Once upon a time, in the land of Japan, on a rainy day, a family went to Tokyo Disney Sea. A place like Disney Land, but with rides for the older kids.

At the entrance there was this huge globe fountain. It looked pretty cool. There was water drifting down the globe like a clear sheet.

The buildings near the globe made a pretty good impression of old Manhatten. Steam even came out of the fake manholes when it was cold. And the cars were good too.

In that volcano was the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride. It was a roller coaster-like ride through a place that looked like what the center of the earth was in the movie. There was a really loud monster, weird things that ate moss off giant mushrooms, and a huge drop. At the end you go out to the side of the mountain, and you can see how ultra high you are before the cart goes down.

It was a very rainy day when we got there, but luckily, it dried up later. And Noelle was wearing a cute poncho!

The buildings look realistic at the Arabian coast area. They were the best life size building models we saw at the park. And the models were all very good!

The Mermaid castle was Noelle's favorite place. There were Jumping Jellyfish, a Theater, and an explore the sea place. It was more of a kids' place. But there was a cool roller coaster. It was kinda fast.

There was ab Indiana Jones ride. They took a picture of us so we could how scared we were. We were all smiling just in case. We already rode a ride that took our picture.

This is young Indiana Jones. Unfortunately, he was too short to ride, but we got him an Indiana Jones hat. He was pretty happy after that, even though he missed the one ride he was looking forward to.

The Sinbad ride was the Small World of Disney Sea. It was kinda boring (it was in Japaese). We pretty much just a ride through a bunch of scenes from the book.

Aquapolis was a fun ride. We got in these little floaters and they took us on a spinny (but kinda relaxing) ride through a little pond like body of water. Us boys liked it enough to ride it twice.

We met Goofy! He acted funny. But Noelle got too scared to take a picture with him. We'd love that job.

This lovely building will change your life. The Tower of Terrer houses a scary story, followed up by probably Disney's most thrilling ride. It takes you up super high, so high you can see the whole park. Then FLASH! It takes a picture of the paranoid look on your face, and drops you. Then it repeats the process a couple times without the picture.

See more: All Japan Day 13 photos

Japan Day 12 - Tsukiji, River Cruise and Sensoji

2009-06-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

By Leo

What a day this was! After all the shopping, we really wanted to do more cultural things today, so we planned it all out. We didn't end up doing it all, but it was still quite an experience.

We started out super early -- we left the house before 5 a.m. so we could get to the Tsukiji Fish Market (pronounced "ski-ji"), the top recommended tourist experience in many guidebooks.

When we got there, there were no signs telling tourists where to go. In fact, it seemed like tourists weren't welcome. We made our way through speeding carts, wet fishy pavement, and people hauling around all kinds of boxes and seafood. The dodginess of it all, however, is part of the appeal.

Here's a worker with a coupla large tuna that will soon be fresh sashimi or sushi.

The auction was something like we've never seen before -- it was worth hauling Eva and the kids out at 5 a.m. for this! Basically, there are several auctioneers in a room filled with huge, huge frozen tuna (caught the day before) and lots of buyers (or middlemen who will sell it to restaurants and groceries). An auctioneer will ring a brass bell for a couple of minutes before starting to auction a group of tuna laid out on the floor in front of him. He stands on a box and starts yelling things crazily and loudly and quickly, unlike any auctioneer I've ever heard. He seriously sounds demented. The buyers will bid with gestures, but all of the action is with the auctioneer -- he looks like he's going to burst a vessel. Sometimes there are a few going on at once, all in a huge cold warehouse.

Some of the tuna laid out in rows.

Here are some of the little shops and stands outside the Tsukiji fish market. You can get some good sushi and seafood in these little restaurants -- or so I'm told. We didn't actually eat breakfast here because the kids weren't in the mood -- they wanted something more American. So we went to Denny's and had pancakes. I know, but they're kids. :)

After our pancake breakfast we checked out a little temple. This is a fountain with ladles near the temple that I thought was neat.

We were going to go to the Hama Detached Palace Gardens next (it's very close to Tsukiji fish market), but it was still 8 a.m. and the gardens didn't open until 9 a.m. So we found a little playground and the kids played while Eva and I rested. Above, Maia enjoys the swing while the boys play some incomprehensible game in the background.

Eva pushes Noelle, who experiences pure joy known only to 3 year olds.

And here's the Hama Detached Palace Garden, really a beautiful garden that used to be part of the Tokugawa Shogun family's residences. The shogun hunted ducks here, we understand. It was extremely peaceful, nicely tended, an oasis among some really huge skyscrapers.

This is the teahouse in the Hama Gardens, where Chloe and Maia and I had some green tea and a Japanese sweet served to us. The teahouse seems to float on this little pond. The tea and sweet were delicious. Unfortunately, I embarrassed myself by spilling some of the tea while trying to demonstrate to the girls how refined I was. :)

After we strolled through the gardens, we took the Sumida River Cruise, which has a stop right at the edge of the gardens. Unfortunately, I was low on cash as there are so few ATMs in Tokyo that accept my debit card, so we couldn't buy tickets at first. I had to leave the gardens, run around the business district in the area looking for ATMs -- and it took me three tries at three different ATMs to get the cash -- and then run back, pay another entrance fee into the gardens, while Eva and the kids waited for me. Then we bought the tickets and took the river cruise. Above, Eva enjoys the peaceful river while Seth takes a rest.

Actually, the river seemed to have a sleepy effect on most of the kids, who had been up since 4:30 a.m.

At the end of the cruise, we were in Asakusa, a nice little district that is more traditional than the more modern districts in Tokyo. This is a little restaurant that had a tree and benches I really liked.

In Asakusa, we headed for the famous Senso-ji Buddhist temple, which was very cool but turns out to be at the center of a lot of little shops aimed at tourists. The shops are mostly along Nakamise Dori, a little pedestrian street with everything for sale from Japanese toys to samurai swords to sweets and t-shirts and shoes and handbags. Being the tourists we are, we loved it. :)

Senso-ji temple was pretty cool, if a little overcrowded.

Chloe washes her hands and drinks from the fountain with a ladle. The water was cool and clean and cleansing. There was also an incence burning thing where you are supposed to inhale the smoke and it gets rid of illnesses. Also, you can toss coins in the temple and pray. The temple is like a thousand years old (I forget the details now), although it has been rebuilt after being destroyed in WWII.

After the temple, we went home, exhausted after a long day of really cool sightseeing.

See more: All Japan Day 12 photos

Japan Day 11 - Akihabara

2009-06-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

By Justin and Rain

Today, we went to Akihabara, the electronics district. There were mostly stores full of cameras and computers, and laptops.

The stores had loads of phones, tiny laptops and cameras. We only went to four or five stores with stuff like DS games, PSPs, IPod Touches, and other games.

The streets were packed with people. There weren't a lot of cars on the road when compared with the people. And there was a lot of Pachinko (slot machine) places.

In the alleys, there were smaller stores selling DVDs, computer stuff, and sometimes games. There were signs everywhere, mostly ads.

On the streets and in alleyways, there were people dressed in costumes, most of them handing out ads. We didn't find any boys dressed up though.

Some stores with anime stuff. And stuffed animals. Most of them were characters we knew nothing about. There were also stuffed dolls of game characters, Kirby, Link, Mario, etc.

We liked the stores a lot. Even though we didn't know about the stuff they were selling.

See more: All Japan Day 11 photos

Japan Day 10 - Roppongi

2009-06-26T01:35:00.000-07:00

By Chloe

Today was Fathers' Day! We had a late start because we were having trouble deciding what to do, so we missed having lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Roppongi that Dad had wanted to go to. Instead, we went to a Chinese restaurant which was very fancy, and completely empty (besides the waiters, of course) because it was past lunchtime. While we were walking to the Mexican restaurant, we passed by the Don Quijote store and then headed back there after lunch. Later, we went to Tokyo Midtown - a huge, fancy department store. Eva and I would laugh every time we'd talk about Japanese department stores because they were so different from any department store we'd been to before, like Macy's. Tokyo Midtown had many high-class shops with small restaurants on the first floor, where we ate for dinner.

Dad and Noelle waiting for the train when we were heading to a late lunch at three pm.

The Chinese restaurant was expensive, but the food sure was delicious!

The Don Quijote store! It was amazing, and truly did have "everything known to man" from nail decorations to giant live fish!

Dad and Noelle sitting on a cool bench outside of Tokyo Midtown.

Some of the food at Tokyo Midtown's food court. I had the best sandwich EVER there!

They had a small bookstore there and we read there for awhile, but most of the books were in Japanese.

The food court's walls were decorated like a chalkboard, with food-related quotes, recipes, and drawings of food all over.

See more: All Japan Day 10 photos

Japan Day 9 - Shinjuku Gardens

2009-06-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

By Chloe

We explored Shinjuku a bit today, and after going to an international bookstore, we walked over to the Shinjuku Gardens. The gardens were very beautiful and expansive. Dad, Justin, Rain, Maia, and I had traditional Japanese green tea in a small tea house within the gardens, which had a very interesting taste. During the night, we walked around Shinjuku and got lost on our way back through the subway stations. It was interesting that while we were in the station at around ten or eleven pm, it was extremely crowded. The night life is crazy there! We were even able to watch a local band perform outside and a crazy guy playing the drums.

From across the street, we saw a couple with a pet monkey! We ran over to see it and so did some other people. Seeing the little leashed monkey was one of the highlights of our day.

The gardens were really nice and the other kids had a good time looking into the large pond, watching the fish. While we hung out at the bridge, Noelle would pick up rocks from one area and walk somewhere else to scatter the rocks. I'm not sure why she did that, but I'm glad she was entertained.

We took a break from walking at this tree while Noelle napped.

We ate at a Thai restaurant that night and the drinks were served in these cool cups. The drink was a yellow color, and we all thought it was just water that looked different in the cup. Seth didn't like it though and later we discovered that the drink wasn't water, but some sort of tea.

After dinner and a bit of shopping, we enjoyed crepes.

There was a nice Japanese-style house in the gardens that was open for visiting. It had a great view of the ponds, trees, and the rest of the gardens.

At night, all the buildings in Tokyo look really similar, so it was pretty easy to get lost.

We got to the apartment pretty late last night, but Rain and I watched videos on my iPod on the train as usual.

See more: All Japan Day 9 photos

Japan Day 8 - Ginza

2009-06-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

By: Eva and Maia

By the time we made it to Ginza we were all very hungry so the first thing we did was look for a place to eat. Then we walked around a couple of Ginza's more popular department stores -- they were very different for the department stores we are used to. We planned to have dinner in Ginza but went back to Shinjuku and ate at Coco's Curry for dinner.

A picture of me and Leo's beauty food. Lasagna, veggie penne in cream sauce, ratatouille, and some pumpkin salad. I liked the way each of the food vendors packaged the food -- wrapped nicely, in nice containers/boxes and the desserts came with a little ice pack too.

The kids enjoying donuts from Krispy Kreme. They had to stand in line for a while but I'm sure it was worth it because while they were waiting they got a free sample donut. Woo Hoo!

The clock tower -- an icon in Ginza.

Ginza at night.

Daddy and Noelle Cayce on the subway. She wanted to be a big girl.

See more: All Japan Day 8 photos

Japan Day 7 - Odaiba

2009-06-26T01:30:00.000-07:00

By: Eva and Maia

Today our family went to Odaiba -- a large man made island that is home to alot of cool looking buildings and fun things for the kids to do. Our first stop was Sega Joypolis -- a very big indoor amusement park. One of their favorite rides was the Spin Bullet. It looked like lots of fun from where I was watching. From Joypolis we walked to a science museum where the kids got to learn about different things. Then we walked to a cool shopping center where we had dinner and did some shopping.

Me and the kids at Tokyo's only beach.

Leo and Seth play a game at Sega Joypolis. They were really having fun.

Rain and Justin pose in front of the House of the Dead ride/game.

Dippin Dots ice cream! mmm GOOD!

The gigantic ferris wheel that Leo and the four big kids rode on before we made our way back home. Seth, Noelle, and mommy waited safely on the ground. I was too chicken to go on so I happily volunteered to watch the babies. =)

Chloe inside Venus Fort. Really cool -- the ceiling looks like the sky and there is a sunset every so often.

Mega Web -- showcase of Toyota's automotive technology. The kids had fun playing the Prius computer game. They learned a little bit about how hybrid cars work.

See more: All Japan Day 7 photos

Ueno Park and Zoo - Japan Day 6

2009-06-17T03:11:00.000-07:00

By Leo

We were tired from Disneyland and the several days before of walking around all day long, so today we took a rest day. We slept in (well, I just slept in to 6 a.m. but some of the others slept until as late at 9 a.m.) and had a light day of sightseeing.

I started my day with a late run -- at about 8 a.m. -- which was interesting because there were a lot more people on the streets this time. I made my way through the morning rush crowd, everyone dressed for work and hurrying to the subways. I did a good hard 45-min run, including an accidental stint through a red-light district in Shinjuku, where there were still partyers at 8 a.m.!

But the rest of the day was nice and easy:

We went to the Ueno district in northern Tokyo, and started in the Ameyoko market below the JR Yamanote rail line. It's a crowded outdoor market on a few pedestrian streets, with a wide variety of stands and shops: seafood, shoes, bags, hats, fresh fruit, dried seaweed, household goods, lots of small restaurants, and more. The pic above is just a sample.

Here's some seafood laid out in the Ameyoko market.

We then made our way to Ueno park. The kids are standing next to a pretty large pond, this half filled with water plants and ducks and big fish (I think they're koi).

We ate bento boxes and sushi for lunch in the park, and the kids played in the playground.

We then visited the Toshogu Shrine, dedicated to Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Shogun, and built in 1651! It has 200 stone and bronze lanterns (pictured above).

Eva stands near a bunch of interesting prayers in the shrine.

Then we visited the Ueno Zoo, small but the kids had a lot of fun. Pheasants, red pandas (the giant panda died last year), monkeys, elephants, deer, prairie dogs, and more.

Here's the elephant with a worker who swept him with a broom. It was interesting because the elephant was well trained, and laid down and stood up and picked up different feet depending on how the worker tapped him with the broom.

Some cool monkey like animals. We weren't sure what some of the animals were because the English signage was pretty limited.

After the zoo, the kids had some soft serve ice cream. OK, I had some with them. :)

We wanted to visit the Tokyo National Museum, but we started too late in the day and it was about to close, so we just hung out in the park and the kids played in the playground a little bit.

Rain with a chocolate ice cream cone. The ice cream got all over some of the kids, who shall remain nameless. I mean, they actually have names, but I won't give them here. OK, it was Noelle, Seth, Justin and Maia, mostly. And me.

After the park, we walked around the Ameyoko market some more but didn't buy anything. Eva poses with a girl in a maid uniform.

For dinner, we bought noodles and sushi from the grocery store. In fact, we didn't eat at a restaurant all day and barely spent anything today. Very little walking and just as little spending -- not bad!

That'll change tomorrow, I'm sure. :)

See more: All Japan Day 6 photos

Tokyo Disneyland - Japan Day 5

2009-06-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

By Eva

We had an early start today as we made our way to Tokyo Disney. We were all very excited to be going. The babies were such good sports while we waited for the big kids to finish on some of the scarier rides. The food was BLAH ... but it's OK because we didn't go there for fine dining. All in all I think it was a good day. The kids had fun and that makes me happy.

Leo and the kids pose for a picture at the entrance to Tokyo
Disney.

Chloe rides on a white horse in a huge elaborately decorated carousel in Fantasy Land.

Seth and Rain behind bars in Toon Town.

Justin trying to follow in Leo's footsteps.

The boys pose for a quick shot before the ride started. We weren't supposed to take any pictures! =)

Taking a break and having a snack by the fountain in Toon Town. I think that this was the babies favorite Disney town.

Roller coaster fun ... even Seth rode this one. I think he's sitting next to Coco. Noelle and I took this picture while we explored the Chipmunk tree house.

Leo hanging out in Donald's boat house.

The happy couple trying to pose Japanese girl style in front on Mini's house.

Justin and Leo playing around in Donald's boat.

Leo and this kids in front of Cinderella's castle.

The kids showing off their Mini ears and pirate hats.

See more: All Japan Day 5 photos

Shibuya - Japan Day 4

2009-06-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

By Leo

Our internet was down all day yesterday so we're posting this more than a day late ... but Day 4 in Tokyo was awesome.

We set out trying to find the Children's Castle, but when we did find it, it was closed. :(

So we walked a few blocks and found the similar (but not as nice) Children's Hall:

Outside the Children's Hall, which is a free play experience for ... you guessed it, kids. All the other kids there were Japanese, which was not a surprise, but it was an interesting intercultural experience.

There was a "maze" contraption, really just a fun thing for the smaller kids to climb through and around. Maia, Seth and Noelle had fun here.

The next floor up was music and arts & crafts. Justin bangs away on the drums here.

Chloe making some cool cut-and-paste pictures with construction papers. She made one of Jorma of Lonely Island. Justin and Seth made a cool castle out of boxes and bottles.

Noelle, the virtuoso. There were actually some Japanese kids who were very good at piano.

After the Children's Hall, we set out to experience Shibuya, an intense district full of really really trendy young Japanese, especially young women. Great shops here, lots of little restaurants, very very crowded. This is Sentagai (or Center Gai), I believe, though I got a little confused because there are lots of little streets, very similar, full of hip shops.

We stopped to lunch at Samrat Curry Plaza, an Indian joint with good food. Surprisingly, the kids liked the food -- they're not really used to Indian food. They had tandoori chicken (too spicy for them really), butter chicken, and even enjoyed our daal. They really liked the butter naan. Eva and I had the daal and sweet potato masala, very delicious. We finished with a mango lassi that was sweet and yummy. Ordering was done through a vending machine, a common practice here in Tokyo.

Then we stopped at Tokyu Hands department store, an amazing place with everything known to man and more. Really -- you can get anything you can think of, and much you would never have thought of. From pet supplies to toys and costumes and magic tricks to kitchen goods to electronics to backpacks and luggage to stationary and pens of all kinds. It's really mind boggling. We spent a lot of time here. Above, Maia poses in a dessert costume of some kind. I would have taken more pictures in Tokyu Hands but they wouldn't allow it.

We found the coolest little clothes shop with lots of vintage-looking clothing. Here Seth poses with a hat I quite liked.

This was in Mandarake, an anime/manga shop with every kind of Japanese comic and toys you can imagine, from cute stuff to action figures to collectors items to hardcore anime porn. Seriously, it's a dangerous place to take kids -- you could be walking along, looking at kids' cartoon figures, and then find magazine or video covers with naked cartoon women on them. It was a bit scary for us as parents.

Then we went to Tokyu 109, the trendiest trendiest department store for young women you'll find in the world (I imagine). The place was filled with the hippest young women we've seen (and that's saying a lot -- we've seen some hip places here in Tokyo). Eva and Chloe were overwhelmed with the clothes here -- they each bought a couple of things but would have bought much more if budget weren't a constraint and the boys weren't bored to tears. Above, Eva poses with a couple of anime-inspired chicks -- she loves those women.

At the end of the day we stopped in a little mall near the Shibuya subway station to get out of a sudden downpour -- our first here in Tokyo, which is lucky considering it's the rainy season. We ate at Ginza Lion, not the best restaurant but an interesting one. Here I kiss Audrey, a perennial fav of mine.

See more: All Japan Day 4 photos

Japan Day 3 in Harajuku and Omotesando

2009-06-14T04:56:00.000-07:00

By Leo

We wore out feet and legs out today, but it was a ton of fun, mostly exploring Harajuku's Takeshita Dori and the lovely Omotesando Dori.

My day started out with a 5:30 a.m. run in our residential neighborhood in east Shinjuku, with heavenly cool weather and very few people out at that hour. I ran for just 30 minutes but ran hard and felt amazing.

Our family started our outing, after a breakfast at home, by playing at the great playground just a few feet from our apartment:

Chloe and Noelle climbing one of several fun structures in the playground near our apartment. We got lucky with this playground being practically right next door to us.

Here's Seth, who had a blast climbing and sliding.

We then took a couple of trains to Harajuku station, the home of Tokyo's young, hip and fashionable, with some of the trendiest teens as well as some of the famous gothic anime-inspired outfits. This is the entrance to Takeshita Dori, a tiny street just packed with people and tiny shops. We looked at a few clothes shops and got some ice cream crepes. Yum.

Eva and I in front of the Girl Loves Boy sign. Eva insisted we take a photo here. :)

After our stroll through Takeshita Dori, we turned onto Omotesando Dori, which is often compared to Paris' fashionable Champs Elysees. I've never been to Paris, but Omotesando is undoubtedly a very nice street, wide and tree-lined and packed with people and filled with some of the trendiest upscale shops in town. Chloe is pictured above in the fairly new and expensive Omotesando Hills shopping complex -- we stopped here to check out the restaurants but they all had long lines so we actually ate at Shakey's. :)

After lunch, we went to Kiddy Land. Oh my goodness. The kids (and Eva and I) loved loved loved this store. It was heaven for children, and adults with children inside them. Toys of ALL kinds were here, from all the cutest Japanese characters (seriously -- tons of cute toys) to Legos and Star Wars and Ugly Dolls and anime and Snoopy and magic tricks and puzzles and much much more. Above, Noelle fell in love with a toy puppy.

Here's Maia posing with a costume in Kiddy Land.

And Eva with one of the goth/anime chicks.

Justin with a transformers helmet.

These monkey dudes were the cutest imo.

Here we were at the end of Omotesando Dori, tired and trying to decide how we were going to go home. We ended up taking three different subway lines.

At the end of the day, we stopped at a great supermarket and stocked up on some foodstuffs (with amazing fruits!) and got some bento boxes and sushi for dinner. The kids really loved it. I had a salad and some veggie sushi -- delicious.

See more: All photos for Japan Day 3

Day Two!

2009-06-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

By: Chloe

Today was our second day in Japan, though it was actually our first day of exploring Tokyo. We ate breakfast at our hotel this morning and headed to the airport where we waited for a bus. From there, we went through a long series of transferring from bus to bus to taxis to our temporary apartment in Shinjuku. By lunch time, we began walking around and rode the underground train to get to the busiest part of the district, where we delved into different streets and stores.

Rain, Seth, and Justin in their new room.

A chef from the tiny restaurant where we ate lunch.

Our first time riding the Tokyo trains together.

The waitress wanted a picture with me for some reason.

Maia hitting a wooden hollowed-out sheep at a carving exhibit we came across in the Keio mall.

We visited a park in Shinjuku where there were lots of trees and this man-made waterfall/fountain.

Tokyo at night. Breathtaking!

Rain attempting to use chopsticks at a very authentic Japanese restaurant.

These girls giggled when my dad asked to take a picture with them. I wonder why?

Another interesting fountain we saw in the city.

All of us, except for Eva who was taking the picture, by a LOVEly statue we saw.

See more: All photos for Japan Day 2

We're in Japan!

2009-06-12T05:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost 10 p.m. here in Narita and we're all tired, getting ready for bed here in our hotel -- the Crown ANA Narita Hotel. We're here in Japan! Woo hoo!

We're just staying in this hotel overnight and then will head in to Tokyo in the morning, where we'll get the keys to our 3-bedroom apartment (we rented a nice-looking apartment with a little space, since there's 8 of us) in Shinjuku.

More below:

Chloe and Maia on the plane. It was a 3 hr, 45 min flight, not bad at all. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

Justin and Rain also got window seats. Lucky bums. They played video games in the Northwest Airlines interactive video system.

Seth and I sat together. He had cookies for a snack, played with Star Wars figurines, and watched Nickelodeon. I caught up with some email with Gmail offline, on my Macbook Air.

Eva and Noelle, who was as active as usual on this flight (and then fell asleep by the end).

Eva and the kids in front of a shop at the Narita airport after we went through customs and immigration. It's tough going through three checkpoints, filing papers and showing passports at each point, when you have six kids!

Chloe and Rain on the bus to the hotel.

The kids in the lobby of the hotel. It's a decent hotel -- not luxurious, but not shabby.

We were hungry so we ate dinner at a nice restaurant on the top floor with a really nice view. Eva was tired.

Justin and Rain, right before they dug their chopsticks into some fried chicken (Japanese style) and tempura.

Chloe loved the little Coke bottle and even saved it.

This was the kids meal at the restaurant -- a bit different than we're used to for kids meals, but not bad at all. Of course, the bill for dinner was ridiculous -- well over $200.

But overall we're glad to be in Japan, even if we're a bit tired right now.

I'm psyched because setting up the router was so so easy. I was a little worried because I've never set up a router in Japan -- and I have a Macbook Air, which has no Ethernet connector, the default connection for hotels and other places. But it was amazingly easy! I plugged in my router, plugged the Ethernet cable into the router, and it instantly started up and I connected on my Macbook Air! I'm happy.

See more: All photos for Japan Day 1

We're leaving on a jet plane

2009-06-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

We're headed to the airport, leaving in a couple of hours. We're already checked in (online of course) and we have no luggage to check, only carry-ons -- we like to keep things simple. :)

We're all super excited to see Tokyo for the first time and get to know Japan as much as we can in two weeks.

Here's a few comments from each of us as we prepare to board our jet plane:

Chloe: For lack of a better adjective, I'm excited! I woke up maybe four times last night and counted the hours until we leave to Japan. It was hard for me to sleep last night because I was worried about what might go wrong on the plane or on the trip, and also because I was happy that we were going to Japan.

Justin: I'm excited! Can't wait to go to Joyopolis, or eat Sushi and Fish and stuff. It'll be fun being in a different country for a while.

Rain: Im very excited and I want to learn new things about Japan culture and I want to get new games.

Maia: I'm real excited I'm looking forward to going to the cool shops and stuff plus I'm excited about Disney Land

Eva: I am NOT looking forward to the plane ride there ... happy that Leo and I are taking the kids to Japan. It'll be quite the adventured traveling with our SIX kids. =) I just hope that all goes well and that the kids have loads of fun.

Leo: We're trying to keep a relaxed outlook on this trip and keep things as simple as possible. We know things will go wrong, but we're looking at it as part of the adventure. We don't have a set itinerary but have a good long list of things we'd like to do, and each day we'll decide what to do based on how we feel that day. We're keeping things simple: no luggage except carry ons, just a few clothes that we'll wash when we're there (we have an apartment with a washing machine). And most of all, we want to be present, fully enjoy Japan, and have a great time. Stress-free travel.

We're going to Japan!

2009-06-05T01:08:00.000-07:00

This is our family's travel blog. We're leaving tomorrow, actually, and we're really excited about it.

For those who don't know us, here's a quick intro:

Leo: Blogger at Zen Habits, author of the Power of Less, runner, husband, father of six. Not in that order.
Eva: Teacher, homeschooling four of our kids, loving mother, super super supportive wife.
Chloe: Oldest of our kids, 16, soon to be a junior at Academy of Our Lady of Guam, into MySpace and Lonely Island and making YouTube videos and the Beatles and playing guitar and much more.
Justin: 12 year old blogger, video game designer, guitarist, into Naruto and reading and much more.
Rain: 11 year old, graduated top student from his elementary school, outstanding soccer star, really funny, awesome video game player.
Maia: 9 year old, beautiful singer, loves Friends and How I Met Your Mother, awesome daughter and sister, really into the Harry Potter books right now.
Seth: Turns 5 years old today! Likes Star Wars, Batman, Spiderman, Legos, and anything cool like that. Has a unique martial arts style.
Noelle: 3 years old, adorable, loud and demanding, sweet and loving, a powerful personality.

This is our first trip as an entire family. We've been doing a lot of research and can't wait. We're all packed to go already.

We hope to post daily (or so) with pictures and some short descriptions. It won't be a lot but we thought this would be a fun way to share our trip with family and friends.

We've set it up to make this travel blogging super simple. Our camera will upload pictures into iPhoto on my Macbook Air, and then we'll open Picasa, select the photos we want and press "Blog This". Picasa uploads them to Blogger, and all we have to do is add a title, plus descriptions below each photo. The whole process with photos and all should take about 2 minutes, plus longer for writing descriptions.

If we get tired, we might not blog each day. But we'll do it as often as we can.

Here we are at Christmas time.

Leo and Eva.

The kids (with their cousin Lauren) at Rain's 11th birthday in January. From left: Noelle, Lauren, Justin, Rain, Chloe, Maia and Seth.