Day 5: Bye bye Tokyo airbnb, hello Tokyo hotel

It is now mid-point through our holiday and we have been stuffing ourselves silly #alldayerrday. After our previous run, it's now time to move our bodies again. We were all kinda lazy but I am super glad that we did it. The weather was beautiful, the skies were overcast and it was amazing running in the crisp, fresh air. Love it!

Reservoir

Spot the Mickey train (Mickey-eared-windows)

Major ship (it's a ride at Disneysea)

The sister running very fast (that's why blur)

The final dash that made it 10km

We clocked a total of 10km and after 'carb-loading' the past few days, I definitely felt energetic and able to run. Along with the cool temperature, the run was thoroughly enjoyable. It started to drizzle then rain in the last 10 minutes of our run which wasn't that great, but at least we were near home when it happened.


It was nice running this route (perimeter of Disney) as the husband and I had done one similar on our last Japan trip, but it was night then and we did not see much. This time, I could see for sure and it was nice. Even though it was about 9am, it was relatively quiet. I guess the dreary weather makes it seem more peaceful. The sister mentioned in her blog something I had nearly forgotten about, which was how the adorbs father (bless him) was hovering around, expecting our return. With only one key for the apartment, we couldn't have been able to go in if no one opened it for us. We can always count on Papa for such stuff!


While we went for our run, the grandparents took the kids for a stroll in the neighbourhood. (The B was 'guarding the house' - his words, not mine).

Interesting sightings in the hood

We all huddled in our cosy home as the rain beat down and prepared to check out. The kids had a fun time jumping off the double-decker bed, stomping like giants across the thin Japanese floors, and the adults dutifully continued to fill the can-trash with beers, steadily increasing our beer count #goals


Right on plan, we left the apartment. In case you are ever interested to see how the Foo-Seah-Yeap family looks like let loose on the streets...

Along the pavements

Jaywalking with pride

We all made it safely, harming no one (even the sister was unharmed though she seemed to enjoy crashing into the bicycle lanes) and made it back to the original bus terminal. It was also the start of our using the special-3-day-train-pass that the duo helped purchase; except that we had to get another small ticket to travel a segment of the trains (we had to change). While waiting for the brains to sort out the train ticket situation....

We were all obviously having a good time

After getting the tickets, you'd think that we'd have made our way off. Well, we did; but not before needing to purchase another ticket (yup.just 1 minute after all the tickets were purchased) because the little girl was clumsy enough to drop her ticket, not just onto the floor but right between the holes of a tiny drain. What are the chances?


So, if you ever wonder how 8 adults, 2 children and a ton of luggage looks like commuting on public transport... 

Life memory #1

Life memory #2

Hope the pics did not disappoint and brought some giggles. I keep thinking back how simple it seems to move from one spot to another; yet how complex it can be because of the sheer amount of weight we are carrying (both ourselves and our stuff)... but seems like everyone seems to be real champs about our adventure.

All smiles!

It took us several flights of stairs and escalators, a few train changes and we finally made it to Daimon Station. It is the nearest station to our hotel accommodation for our last few days in Japan. The location was pretty convenient, there was a suitable number of convenience stores around the vicinity, and if we hadn't collapsed from horror at needing to lug our luggage up the flight of stairs at the station; it was all pretty good! The hotel was a basic one that provided all basic amenities, the rooms were smaller than that of Hokkaido's but then again, we were in Tokyo which is prime area. All in, pretty fine.


After checking in the hotel; we agreed to meet up and eat a very late lunch. After eating-on-the-go and forgetting what hunger feels like, I was not in a good state. I was just starving! We headed to this building (we were kinda in a business like area) which had restaurants at the basement and settled on this little shop (they were all kinda little) which served noodles. I'm not sure if it was my hunger, but the noodles were so good! Between the husband and kid and I, we had tempura soba, ramen and some rice bowl. YUM. I instantly felt happy after filling my tummy!
The sister then spotted a corner coffeeshop that sold Cremia (yup, the same milky ice-cream we discovered in Hokkaido!) and though we said we'd not eat it (because so full, and the shop was smoky from patrons who smoked); we made a U-turn to buy it afterall because, greedy. We then headed back to the hotel for a short rest, before meeting again at the agreed time.


We then ventured the train system. The train tickets that the duo helped purchase was so helpful! It saved us figuring out tickets each time we took the train and gave us so much freedom to take the trains as and when we needed on the JR line. Woot!


We headed to a particular station (I forgot what) as it was near our dinner venue. When we got there, we had about 2 hours of free-and-easy time of which I spent hovering obsessively at Uniqlo, the husband got a tee from CDG, and the sister, her busband and I managed to sneak in more beer counts ravaging through the supermarket in the mall.



Dinner for this evening was a highlight - Ichiran! The husband and I first discovered Ichiran in Jun this year. What started as a random decision to join this ridiculously long queue along the canal in Osaka, turned out to be the best decision! The ramen we had then was tasty and amazing, and we were so thrilled to have this shared experience with this #happyfamilyinJapan crew. There was, however, no queue when we went. What was nice through our reservation though, was that we had a private space just for all of us.

Eager beavers

Place your stakes everybody!

Eyes on the prize

I finished it all; and then some (the kids' leftovers). It was so indulgent and I definitely overate but it was one of those things where it only tasted THAT good when you're there, so why not?! Everyone seemed to really enjoy their noodles too and it was such a positive dining experience. It was also a nice end to this leisurely day as we did not need to rush about too much and yet managed to accomplish things quite easily (i.e. not losing anything in our commute, mini-bouts of shopping and amazing Ichiran).


That night, we went back to our hotel and gathered in our room. I cannot remember any highlights of the night, just that we continued to feast on beers, talk and laugh a lot and Dad, who usually always never hangs out has started looking forward to hanging out at night too.


Good night world, said me-so-full-I-would-have-burped-ramen... haha!


PS: my legs were still sore from Disney yesterday, and the run this morning sustained my leg-aches!