No matter. August was a fun month and we got to spend some great, quality time with Mommy's side of the family in Japan. On August 15 we took that long flight out to Tokyo where we arrived in the afternoon/early evening of August 16 (we lost a day due to the time difference). T was great on the plane. He watched Rio and Cars on the little, personal screen (with no sound - we tried to offer him the headphones but he didn't care for them), played a lot of games on the IPad (he's quite good at a puzzle game called Tozzle), and got some sleep in. The only "incident" was T peeing out of his diaper not once, but twice (thanks to Mommy who kept giving him water to keep him hydrated. At least she was prepared with extra clothes for all). Oh, and upon landing, the stroller that had been gate checked got stuck on the luggage lift at the gate in Narita delaying us by nearly an hour, but hey, all those incidents weren't a big deal and we'd take that over an unhappy toddler on the plane any day. =)
The first part of the trip, we spent 3 nights by Tokyo Disneyland and had a great stay at the Sheraton. The place was made for families - not only was it easy access to Disneyland, there was a play space where T had tons of fun and a pool to cool off from the ridiculous heat and humidity. Because of the earthquake/tsunami in March, the Tokyo area is conserving energy and all of the buildings barely had their air conditioning running so the pool was refreshing. Here are some pictures from the play space and pool.
Playing in the ball pit
Eating plastic curry rice (he couldn't get enough of it)
Courting a girl (he needs work in this department)
Playing in the pool with balls (the indoor pool required swim caps)
As for Disneyland, we think T enjoyed it. We know he really liked the Small World (he kept asking for more when it was over), street performers and, once he woke up in the evening, he seemed to enjoy the Electric Parade too (Mommy forced Daddy and T awake to go back to Disneyland in the evening to watch it). Unfortunately, T was still too little to really take advantage of most of the rides and also too jet lagged and hot.
With Daddy about to go on "It's a Small World"
With Mommy watching the street performers
Looking miserable from the heat and humidity
Still asleep arriving to Disneyland in the evening
Finally awake
And, speaking of jet lag, we probably should have saved this portion of the trip for the second half rather than first. T's schedule the first few days consisted of waking up at around 2am, staying up till about 5am, then sleeping again until about 8am. He would then be asleep again in the late afternoon, and not want to wake up. So, on our first full day, we did make it to Disneyland until the afternoon, but once we got back to the hotel, we all passed out until Mommy forced everyone up to go back to Disneyland. The second day we couldn't motivate and ended up sleeping all afternoon until the late evening missing out on going to Disney Sea. Here's what jet lag looks like.
Passed out at the hotel
Passed out at a restaurant
For the second part of the trip we flew down to Kyushu for 5 nights to visit with Obachama and Jiji and the rest of Mommy's family. Uncle Hide and Auntie AM (who was in Japan from England) also met us there. Unlike the last time we were in Japan, now that T is older, he was much more interactive and we got to do a lot more things.
For starters, we realized that T is just probably too lazy to talk (he has picked up a few words here and there but, for the most part, he's still a grunter). Why do we think this? Well, because within 5 minutes of meeting Obachama and Jiji's dog, he fell in love with it and couldn't stop saying "dog." He even woke up one morning, sat up, started saying "dog" and opened the bedroom door in search of the dog. It was cute.
On one of the days we went to the Greenland Amusement Park. The place was pretty old, but it had quite a few things for Tyler to enjoy. He didn't like the small ride where you get to shoot a water gun, but he did enjoy the trampolines and riding the merry go round with Auntie AM. And, he liked the petting zoo.
Water gun ride
Trampoline
Merry Go Round
Family Photo
We also took T to the bowling ally as he really enjoyed bowling on the Wii with Lolo and Lola before we left for Japan. Mommy and Daddy thought this would be fun, but after one game we called it quits. It was much too difficult helping T carry a 5 pound ball, trying to make sure he wouldn't drop it on his toes, and then helping him roll it down the lane. Of course, he had no idea of this and had a blast.
Tamana, the town we were in, is famous for their hot springs. We had thought about bringing T to one, but couldn't decide whether it would be too hot. Uncle Hide and Auntie AM had a private bath in the ryokan (Japanese style hotel) they were staying at so we decided to give it a shot. What were we thinking, the kid loved it. Anything with water, hot or cold, he enjoys.
We also spent a little time at the beach. More water. But, this time add sand and rocks. T was in heaven. And, the paparazzi (that would be Daddy and Uncle Hide) went crazy with their cameras. =)
On one of the nights, Suechan and Gonchan (Mommy's aunt and uncle) drove down from Oita (a 3 hour drive) to see us and we had a family dinner at Mamachan and Jijipapa's house (the great grandparents). By this point, though, T had totally adjusted to Japan time and was too tired to hang out with everyone and passed out. And, Daddy, having had quite a few drinks, also passed out shortly thereafter. =)
On our last full day in Kyushu, we went to Fukuoka with Obachama, Jiji, Uncle Hide and Auntie AM. Because it was raining and we couldn't do anything outdoors, we went to a Japanese mall that had a Toys R Us and play space.
Checking out the goods
Hanging out with Mommy
That night, we went to Canal City and found a yakiniku (Korean BBQ) restaurant for dinner. T loved it. He proceeded to eat A LOT and then pass out.
Speaking of eating, T really enjoyed the food in Japan. Here are some pictures to prove it.
Eating tonkotsu ramen (ramen with pork broth that's famous in Tamana. Fatty but SOOOO good)
Another type of noodle dish
Eggs
Ice cream...
Ice cream...
And more ice cream.
And he really liked Japanese milk
The one thing he wasn't into was sashimi, but I think it was because he was tired.
The next day, before we had to leave for our flight, we went to the park across from our hotel and ran around the sandy, open field. It was perfect for wearing T out before our flight to Narita and then on to San Francisco.
Playing in the field
Passed out before our flight to Narita
With the family
Again, T was great on the flight home. It helped that he had adjusted to Japan time and the flight was during his bedtime. Here's what we looked like on the flight home.
Of course, this meant that once we were home, we had to readjust to San Francisco time (it took a week), but it was worth the fun that we had on our annual trip to Japan. Here's an awesome video re-cap (courtesy of Daddy) of our trip. Enjoy!
Japan Trip 2011 from Christian Cruz on Vimeo.
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