There isn’t much better than a pina colada in a coconut at a swim up bar!
Like the rest of the world, the COVID pandemic ground our travels to a halt. We were hoping to get vaccinated so we could take some sort of trip this summer, but really weren’t sure when our names would come up in the vaccine lottery.
Well, on some random weekend in March, both of us found out we could get vaccinated ASAP. Chuck’s parents were planning to visit the week after we were both fully vaccinated so Chuck asked them to watch the kids for a few days, and luckily they said YES!
After over a 1 ½ years of not being on a plane, we were so excited to go somewhere, anywhere. Normally, we like very active, busy trips, but after the past year, we wanted ocean and low-key. The Bahamas were open to US travelers, and offered quick, non-stop flights, so it made the perfect choice.
It was a little weird being in an airport again as it was the most people I’d been around in over a year. But it quickly felt normal again, except for the masks. And after an easy flight, we arrived!
And we’re off!
After a quick taxi ride, we arrived at our hotel, the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar. Luckily our room was ready, so we were able to drop off our bags and head down to one of the many restaurants for lunch. And drinks of course! (Despite all the booze pictures, we really didn’t drink that much – I think we just only took pictures of our drinks!) And then the vacationing began.
We spent the bulk of our 2 main days sitting at the pool which we NEVER do. We are just not “sit at the pool all day” people, but on this trip, that was exactly what we needed.
And what better way to pass the time than with some frozen cocktails from the swim up bar! I’ve always wanted to get a drink from a fresh coconut, so I was quite excited to finally get one!
Both evenings we went to the jazz club for live music – man was it nice to enjoy live music again – and just chilling. Unfortunately they weren’t playing jazz, but they were pretty good, so it was still nice.
Chocolate & Espresso martinis at the jazz bar
The resort also had flamingos and I fell in love with these guys. I kept heading over to watch them.
These guys were fighting and making such a ruckus
One day I left the pool to run to the bathroom right as they were doing the daily flamingo parade. I quickly grabbed my phone then caught up to them as they did a little flamingo info session. We didn’t hang out at the beach very much as it was extremely windy the entire time we were there. We still did get some beach chilling time in though.
Aside from that, there was some eating, a little bit of gambling at the casino, some wandering around, and that was about it. Oh and getting our COVID test for our flight back home. Yeah, that was fun. 🙂
All in all, it was exactly what Chuck and I needed and we’re so grateful to his parents for watching the kids so we could get away. We both really liked the Bahamas and figure we’ll be going back some day.
The hotel was good, and we were pretty happy with our stay, although our room was a little weird. I’m not sure who thought having the bathroom open to the bedroom was a good idea?!? Regardless, I would stay here again.
South Korean is known for their Jimjilbang or public bathhouses. Since we had such a great time at the spa in Japan, we knew we had to do one in Korea too! Plus, this was the last day of our trip and our legs and bodies were in desperate need of some relaxing.
This one, Siloam Sauna, was very different than the one in Tokyo though. We skipped the public baths this time and went straight for the co-ed sauna rooms. The sauna floor mostly consisted of lots of little rooms heated or cooled to various temperatures. There was an ice room, a cold hard charcoal room, an oxygen room, 2 jade rooms, a Loess sauna, a fire sauna, a salt sauna, and a jade sauna. We went to them all except the fire sauna as that was heated to an intense temperature.
Chuck and Mara loved the ice room.
Beckett loved the Loess sauna and kept playing with the little Loess (soil) balls.
I liked the salt room and jade rooms although it did hurt my feet to walk on it.
Jade saunaSalt sauna
We had a great time visiting one, taking a break, visiting another, taking a break, and on and on.
Before we went, I read that people will fold the orange towel they give you into a Princess Leia type of hat and wear it, so we all took turns doing that. I only saw a few other people doing it, but whatever, it was fun!
After a few hours, we needed to get back for dinner and packing, so we reluctantly said goodbye.
We all gave the experience an enthusiastic thumbs up!
I remembering hearing about the DMZ growing up and learning a long time ago that Americans were allowed to visit and even step into North Korea. For years, I knew if I ever made it to Korea, this would be at the top of my list. So when I planned our trip to Japan, I made sure to include South Korea as part of the itinerary so I could include a trip to the DMZ too.
And then I started to stress. I liked the idea, but man did it freak me out to go there. Chuck and Mara weren’t phased, but Beckett was adamant that he wouldn’t go. Cue lots of reading, researching, thinking about it, and more reading. Ultimately, we decided that it would be safe as people had been doing this for years and years and years without a single incident.
That didn’t stop Beckett from refusing to go though. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay home by himself, so reluctantly he went along. Chuck and Mara were excited. I was still freaked.
We took a tour – you have to – that handled everything for us. We boarded a motor coach around 8am and drove about 90 minutes to the border. Our first stop was lunch.
Our first view of North Korea across the waterLunch
After lunch, it was off to the Dora Observatory, where we got a look at the border and into North Korea. It was fascinating to look into North Korea and see people going about their lives.
South Korea in the foreground and North Korea across the river
South Korea facing south
After that, we went to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. This was one of the tunnels the South Koreans discovered that led from North Korea into South Korea. You first watch a video, then get into a little mining train and descend in a very narrow tunnel a good 5 minutes deep into the earth. Beckett was pretty freaked out by this, so once we got to the bottom, Chuck and Mara got out to explore the tunnel, while I rode back up with Beckett.
There didn’t seem to be much down there, just a long walk to a door that was at the border between North and South Korea.
Then we had a few minutes to take some pictures before we went to the main event.
Then we headed to Camp Bonifas which is the UN Command military post located just south of the border. We joined with other tours and went into an auditorium for a security briefing. We also had to sign some paperwork basically acknowledging the danger we were about to take.
As we boarded the buses to go to the border, Beckett started to freak out and refused to go. I felt so bad for him, but at this point, there was no way to stay behind. One of the American soldiers came up to talk to him, and told him that they would stay by his side the entire time to make sure he was safe. And he did. The guy was so nice and really made sure Beckett was ok.
After a short drive, it was showtime as we arrived at the Joint Security Area (JSA).
We then got to stand at a place I’ve seen in pictures so many times. It was surreal. You can see that Beckett is less than thrilled to be here.
After another briefing, it was our turn to enter the building. The soldier went into North Korea and talked for a bit, before he told us we were allowed to enter the North Korean side.
We’re in South Korea, and he is in North Korea. The microphones on the table mark the border.
This next part happened so fast. We walked into North Korea, took some selfies, and before I knew it, they were telling us we had to leave. I think we only got 2 minutes on the North Korean side so I didn’t get the pictures or videos that I would’ve liked. It didn’t help that there were so many of us in the room, that its not that we had much of a chance anyway.
Still, WE STOOD IN NORTH KOREA!!!
Walking across the border into North KoreaIn North KoreaNorth Korean selfieView from North Korea into South KoreaIn North Korea with the background as South Korea
And then it was over and we were back outside.
Despite Beckett’s initial resistance, he was over the moon once we entered the building and stood in North Korea!
From there, we walked down to the Blue Bridge where Moon Jae In and Kim Jong Un had a historic, private conversation in April 2018.
We also got some time to take pictures of the Freedom House before boarding the buses and heading back to Camp Bonifas.
Once back at Camp Bonifas, we boarded our first motor coach to continue our tour.
The soldier that was keeping an eye on Beckett, gave him 2 military patches before we left.
Our final stop was at the Dorasan Station. This is a train station which used to connect North Korea and South Korea. The hope is that one day, this station will be used to connect them together again.
We bought tickets to Pyeongyang, North Korea
The train routeWaiting for a train that wasn’t coming yetThe train network linking Korea to Europe
And sadly, this was our last stop, so we headed back to Seoul.
Overall, it was such a neat experience. It wasn’t as scary as I expected, but that’s also probably because they removed all the soldiers with guns from both sides 6 months before our visit. Still, I never felt unsafe or had an concerns once we got the border.
And as soon as Beckett got to cross into North Korea, he was so happy and relaxed. He ended up being so glad that he went, and so proud of himself for pushing through his apprehension.
I think for all of us, this was one of the top experiences of our entire trip and definitely our top experience in Korea.
One of our favorite things to do when we travel is visit night markets. They are a great place to try different foods and drinks, to see what interesting things are for sale, and to people watch.
We went to the Myeongdong night market our first full day in Seoul and loved it so much we went back the next day. We spent a good 2 hours there the first night and probably longer the 2nd night.
First up was getting the kids some of the favorite night market treats – watermelon smoothie and grilled corn on the cob for Beckett and fried potatoes on a stick for Mara. These were both some of the kids’ favorites in Thailand and other places we’ve visited.
Fresh watermelon smoothiePotato on a stick!Grilled corn on the cob – on a stick of course
There was also plenty of other eating as we walked around: dehydrated strawberries that the kids fought over, crepes, and other random things that looked good.
Nutella crepe – another one of our favorite night market treatsMore food on a stick
It was really crowded in some spots, but in some spots it wasn’t so bad.
Strangely, it seemed that every 3rd actual store was selling face masks. We were able to pick up a few for free as they handed them out when you went into the store, and Mara ended up buying a few more to take home.
Face mask store after face mask store
And then I spotted a “Lush” store. I love “Lush” products, and it turns out the kids now do too! We spent a LONG time in the store trying different products and picking out our favorites. They’re so ridiculously expensive, but we still let the kids pick out a few things to bring home. Mara loved them so much that I bought her more for her birthday later!
The second night, we got a traditional Korean BBQ at one of the restaurants near the night market. It was delicious, although Beckett wasn’t a fan.
To make it up to Beckett, we let him get a watermelon milk ice treat he’d been eyeing up while the rest of us got cake slices and cupcakes to enjoy back at the room.
In addition to all the eating, there were some fun sights around:
All told, the night market was one of our favorite activities in Seoul!
One thing Mara wanted to do in Japan was take a dessert making class. We looked into taking a class learning to make wagashi, but couldn’t find a class that fit our schedule. However, I found a class in Seoul making the Korean version of wagashi known as Bean paste rice cakes so we took that instead.
Chuck didn’t want to take the class, but he came along to watch and take pictures.
The bean paste was already made for us, so we only had to weigh it, roll it into balls, then cover them so they didn’t dry out. And then we learned how to decorate them. We made 6 each and we all did surprisingly well.
Covering them in 2 colorsEtching grooves into themThe finished product
The finished products:
We took the class with Sunny S Dining and she did such a great job of teaching us how to make our cakes. The best part was that we got to take our creations home with us, and while I wasn’t a big fan of them, the kids nibbled on them for the rest of our time in Seoul.
We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace on our first morning in Seoul. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 and was the main royal palace for centuries. Unfortunately it burnt down in the 1590s and then was destroyed again in the 20th century by the Japanese. Some buildings were spared and the rest have been recently restored.
One of my favorite things about visiting this palace is that many of the visitors dress up in traditional Korean costumes known as hanboks. It’s appropriate for even non-Koreans to wear the traditional dress to the palace, but I felt like it really wasn’t our place to do so, so we skipped it. Seeing everyone else dressed up really made it a richer cultural experience though.
Tourists wearing traditional Korean costumes
There aren’t any buildings that you can enter, so we just strolled the grounds for an hour or two. It really reminded me of the Forbidden City in Beijing and I found it quite cool, although the kids were a bit less impressed.
I love seeing the palace grounds with the modern city in the background
As we were leaving, a group of guards marched passed us so we followed them outside. Once they were done with their march, people lined up for pictures. It was a neat way to end our visit.
We arrived in Seoul after an exhausting, but fun 11 days in Japan. After grabbing some snacks at the airport since we missed lunch and picking up our pocket wifi, we headed for our hotel to drop off our bags. Normally we’d drop our bags and head out to explore, but this time we all chilled in the room for a bit before wandering around.
Our hotel was in Insadong which is one of the top tourist areas known for more traditional Korean shopping and food. The hotel was a great choice as we had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, there was an included breakfast buffet which was awesome, plus we had a full kitchen and living area. The location didn’t turn out to be the best choice for us though and I kind of think we would have had a better time somewhere else.
The pedestrian only streets around our hotel were neat, but after a brief stroll, we we’d seen all we wanted to see. Plus the restaurant choices weren’t the best. At this point, we were all so tired and hungry and honestly just needed some “normal for us” meals. The first night, Chuck and I actually went to an Indian restaurant and then picked up some ramen and other food from a mini market for the kids’ dinner.
The next morning we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. After visiting there, we found a burger place on our walk back to the hotel and it really hit the spot. Normally you can’t find a good burger outside of the US, but this place was pretty close and we were all able to get fed!
We then wandered around Insadong and found a stand making King’s Dessert. This consists of taking a block of honey and rolling then stretching it into 16,000 strands which are then filled with nuts or chocolate. The guy made a special batch for us and we took a bunch home to snack on the rest of the trip.
King’s DessertInsadongCute alleys off the main pedestrian streetMara favorite – fresh coconut!
After a brief rest at the hotel, we took the subway to a different area of Seoul for our Korean Dessert making class. There didn’t look to be a good place for dinner near the class, so we took the subway back to our hotel and then walked a good 15 minutes to the Myeong-dong night market to hunt for dinner. We love night markets and had a great time exploring the market and trying the food.
Area between our hotel and the Myeong-dong night market
Day 2 started with us visiting the Bukchon Hanok Village which is a traditional Korean village. I’d seen this on travel shows and it looked so cool. And it was cool, but… not as amazing as I was hoping!?!? It may have been the heat, so while we enjoyed seeing it, I wasn’t as blown away as I expected. That said, I’m really glad we went.
We had lunch at the same burger place from the day before then wandered around Insadong some more, mostly on the hunt for treats. I ended up picking up some Starbucks and discovered the best Starbucks drink I’ve ever had although I can’t remember specifically what it was now. I was hoping the drink would come to the US, but sadly it hasn’t yet. I loved the drink so much, that I ended up getting one most of the remaining days in South Korea.
Treats!
We had plans to visit another section of Seoul, but we scrapped them for some relaxing time at the hotel.
That evening, we revisited Myeong-dong for a traditional Korean BBQ meal then strolling around the night market again.
The day was incredible, but tiring so we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant about 10 minutes from our place then crashed for the night.
Day 4 was our last full day in Korea and there was still so much we hadn’t done. First up was going to Gangnam. Beckett has always LOVED that song, so we had to go to the area to check it out. We found the one stage and proceeded to dance to the song and take pictures like total tourists.
We never found the other stage – it turned out to be far away – and then found a Japanese shabu shabu meal for lunch. Yes, despite eating so many shabu shabu meals in Japan, we were back for another one!
We had a really nice time relaxing at the spa before heading back to the hotel to pack up.
Fun in the back of a taxi
For dinner, we walked a gazillion miles to a pizza place and after a really long wait, we were treated to pretty authentic NY style pizza that totally hit the spot!
Day 5 had us leaving South Korea and starting our long journey home.
Departures Board at Incheon airportCool robot at the airport
All in all, I enjoyed our time in South Korea, but I have many mixed feelings. I didn’t love Seoul as much as I expected, but I didn’t hate it either. There were so many things I had planned that we didn’t do from going up the top of Lotte World Tower, one of the world’s tallest buildings that has a glass floor on top, to visiting Lotte World, the world’s biggest indoor amusement park, to visiting other markets and sites. But we were so exhausted that we couldn’t have fit in one more thing. Plus finding food for all of us was far more challenging than I expected.
That said, visiting the DMZ was an absolute highlight of my travels and we got to see and experience many cool things so it was definitely worth going.
The travel show that was the catalyst for our trip to Japan featured the Dōtonbori area of Osaka. The store fronts had large octopus or crabs or other huge displays above the entrance and the place seemed amazing. So there was no way we were coming to Japan and not at least seeing this place!
Even though there is plenty to see in Osaka, we only allotted about 24 hours to it as we were crunched for time trying to fit everything else in. Our original plan was to arrive around 10am, drop our bags at the hotel, try some fun food along the Dōtonbori, then visit the Osaka aquarium to see whale sharks, return to the Dōtonbori and surrounds for dinner & window shopping, then head to bed.
Previously, I mentioned to the kids that there was an Universal Studio in Osaka and the kids didn’t really care about going. However, when I mentioned it again a couple of days before going to Osaka, the kids jumped at the chance to go. I hated giving up seeing whale sharks, but I thought visiting a theme park would be more fun and give everyone, especially the kids, a break from sightseeing. I secretly really wanted to revisit Harry Potter World, so I was pretty happy.
So the first part started off the same by checking out of our Kyoto airbnb, then taking a train to Osaka, then dropping our bags at the hotel before walking around the Dōtonbori area.
First up was trying takoyaki which are fried octopus balls which we’d seen on the travel show. We weren’t fans at all, so they quickly went in the garbage. Boo.
Takoyaki
Then we wandered around checking out the cool displays and hunting for lunch. I really wanted to try okonomiyaki which is a savory Japanese pancake with cabbage, but I never found a place that was open.
The Dōtonbori area was fantastic though!
I thought we’d have an easy time finding lunch, but it proved really difficult to find something for all 4 of us. Eventually we found a place that was an ok choice, then headed to Universal Studios Japan!
The weather was scheduled to rain all afternoon, but I thought we should risk it. It turned out to be hot and sunny and never rained. In fact, we ended up buying sunscreen as we were going to get sunburned if we didn’t lather up! Good thing we didn’t let weather stop us!
Universal was so much fun. I LOVE Harry Potter World and it was so much fun to visit again. First up was perusing Honeydukes then grabbing a butterbeer.
Butterbeer!
Then we headed for Hogwarts and the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. I decided to skip it this time as it made me so nauseous last time. I was so sad to miss out, but it seemed for the best. The wait was crazy long, but there was a way to still tour Hogwarts so I did that while Chuck and the kids waited in line. Then I strolled around Hogsmeade and had a great time.
Inside HogwartsDumbledore’s office
Once we were back together, we grabbed a snack at the Three Broomsticks. And after some more strolling around Hogsmeade, we headed out to explore the rest of the park.
The kids were able to ride a few rides, and we had a great time walking around and taking it all in. Our legs were ready to fall off at this point so we took breaks when we could, yet we still had a good time.
We ended up staying to watch the parade which was cooler than I expected.
With the park now closed, we made our way back to the Dotonbori and got to see it all lit up at night.
We dropped the exhausted kids back at the hotel to shower while Chuck and I went back out to explore the area more. Unfortunately it was closing time and the stores were all shutting down, so we went back to the hotel too.
The next morning we had breakfast then headed to the airport for our trip to South Korea.
And that wraps up our time in Japan!
P.S. I noticed the manhole covers in Japan were really cool. The ones in Osaka in particular were painted in addition to having neat artwork.
Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) is a Zen Buddhist temple that was originally built in 1397 and reconstructed in 1955. It is such a beautiful structure set in such a picturesque setting.
It was overcast when we visited, but still quite stunning. The weather didn’t keep the crowds away so it was also quite crowded. We only spent about an hour or two seeing it and wandering thru the gardens. Even though it was a short visit, it was still one of my highlights from our entire trip.
Anyone that knows Beckett, knows that his favorite food is noodles. Specifically Japanese noodles like ramen and udon. So it was an absolute must that we take a noodle making class while in Japan!
We took a class with Ramen Factory in Kyoto. The class was fantastic. They walked us through every stage of making our own noodles, cooking chicken, flavoring our own soup broth, and then getting to enjoy our creations.
After getting cleaned up and our aprons and handkerchiefs on, we started cooking.
First up was using some cooking twine to tie up some chicken pieces and then they put them in the oven to cook.
Then it was time to make our noodle dough. The first step was sifting the flour, then mixing it with salt and water.
Sifting flour
Then it was time to soften the dough by punching it repeatedly for a long time.
Next up was putting the dough through a pasta roller a few times to turn it into long, flat sheets.
The next step was so much fun as we got to use the pasta machine to cut the dough into long ramen noodles.
Look at our trays of fresh ramen noodles!
We then got our cooked chicken back and cut it into bite sized chunks before using a torch to flambe the outside of the chicken. I think this was one of the highlights for the kids. Maybe not so much for Chuck.
I love Chuck’s body language as Mara uses the torch
At this point, we took our noodles over the cooking station. Here we were given a rundown of the different soup bases and were allowed to mix and match the different flavors to make our own custom soup flavor. I think we all ended up with a different combo.
Then we cooked our noodles. This involved putting them into a mesh basket, and stirring them in hot water for a minute.
Then we dumped them into our bowls, added our soup bases and soup broth, and returned to our table for the finishing touches.
After adding the chicken and condiments, it was finally time to eat!! OMG was it delicious. The noodles were so good and fresh and it was one of the better ramens I’ve ever had.
Kirsten’s ramenMara’s ramen
Once we were done eating, we decided that we just had to buy a souvenir bowl to bring home and a t-shirt for Beckett especially since their slogan is pretty much Beckett’s mantra: “No Ramen No Life”.
Once we came home, Beckett started using their ramen recipe to make his own ramen. For Christmas he got an electric pasta roller and noodle cutter and has continued to make his own fresh ramen.
One of the most iconic pictures I see of people’s travels to Kyoto are of the Torii gates in Kyoto. The Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine is considered Kyoto’s most important shrine. It was founded in 711, but the main shrine wasn’t built until 1499.
The beginning of the shrine complexWalk up to the shrineMap of the shrine and gates
At the rear of the shrine are literally thousands of torii gates (I’ve read 10,000 gates!) that wind 4km up the mountain. Each torii gate was donated in the hope of receiving good luck and fortune or to have a wish come true, and the name of the donor is written on the back of each gate.
We arrived around 10am and gave ourselves an hour and a half to see the shrine and walk through the gates before we had to leave for our 12pm ramen making class. Apparently every other tourist in Kyoto had the exact same timing as the gates were mobbed. However, as we walked up to other sections, we’d find moments where the crowd stopped for pictures behind us and we were able to appreciate the site and get some good pictures.
Entrance to the first torii gate section. So crowded!Entrance to another torii gate section
The kids and I walked up the main couple of sections, then decided we’d seen enough. Chuck wanted to hike up further, so I led the kids down the mountain and we did some light browsing at the gift shops until Chuck returned.
By leaving the gate path, we were able to enjoy the surrounding forest and even found a cute, little bridge over a stream.
Gates set in the forest
Once we left the shrine, we walked to the train station to catch a train a few stops to our ramen making class. On the way there, we discovered a place making fresh watermelon smoothies. Watermelon is Beckett’s favorite fruit so we couldn’t pass up the chance to let him try a fresh watermelon smoothie made by putting a blender inside of a watermelon.
Japan popularized the animal cafe so I was hoping we’d get to visit one while we were there. Unfortunately, at many, the animals aren’t treated well so I wasn’t sure if I’d find one that I could feel OK about visiting. And then I found an otter cafe in Kyoto! We love otters, especially Beckett and I. I did some research on the cafe and it seemed like a good place – the animals are the owners pets, they rotate them so they have limited time with people, and they seemed healthy and treated well.
I didn’t tell the kids about this place at all as I wanted it to be a surprise. I also knew if I told Beckett that he’d drag us there as soon as we arrived in Kyoto.
After our ninja class and snack, the kids wanted to go back to the rental, but this is when I planned to visit. The kids realized something was up and spent the entire walk there trying to guess what we were doing and badgering me to tell them.
Beckett saw the sign first and then got so excited that he was going to get to play with otters! Unfortunately they were booked up, but we were able to get a spot a little later.
When you arrive, you first wash your hands, then are allowed to enter. You put your belongings in a locker and then have a seat. They have 2 otters out at a time and they just run around, eat, play, and rest while we observe. You’re not allowed to pick them up, but at points, they’d give us food and let us feed them.
They also have a giant water tank where 1 or 2 otters would be swimming and playing, plus a huge room with a glass wall where there were other otters and no people, so you could watch them play, snack, and sleep too.
The experience was amazing. They’re so fun and playful! And they eat so cute – they grab the food off your hand like their paws are hands then feed themselves.
We only had about 45 minutes as we had to get to the GEAR show. But we came back the next day and spent the full hour with them.
The kids both put the experience in the top 3 of things we did on our trip so I’d say it was a definite win!
There was no way we were coming to Japan and not taking a ninja class. Ninja stars?!? Swords?!? Cool outfits?!? Yes, please!
We took a 1-hour lesson with the Ninja Dojo and Store, although it ran longer than an hour. Luckily it was just the 4 of us at this lesson, so we got to really enjoy the experience as a family.
After getting suited up and getting some pictures, we first learned some Japanese and then the ninja training began.
One of the first things we learned was how to walk like a ninja. Ninjas primarily work in the dark so they not only have to be quiet, but know how to avoid obstacles. This is done by pointing your toe and gently touching it to where you want to step. If something is in your way, you’ll discover it before putting any body weight down and can then search for an alternative path. Very sneaky.
Walking like a ninja
Then we learned how to enter a secret door and come out quietly. Some of us were more graceful than others at this and we had a good time practicing.
Mara about to disappear behind a hidden door
After learning a couple more things, it was time for the Ninja Swords! We not only learned the difference between a Ninja sword and a Samurai sword, but also why it has a string on it. We then learned how to properly pull it out of its sheath, how to wield it, and then how to re-sheath it when done.
Don’t we look menacing??!
After a bunch of practicing, it was time to take on a bad guy. First we did our ninja walk and once the bad guy was detected, we stabbed him then put our sword away. We had a great time doing this part!
Chuck about to attack a “bad guy”
Next we got a rundown on different Ninja weapons and when they’d use them. First up for us to learn was Ninja Stars (Shuriken)! We all picked it up fairly quickly and (mostly) hit the target. Chuck was a bit scary with how good he was at it.
Next up was learning to throw chopsticks. Yes, chopsticks. Sometimes a ninja has to use whatever is available, so we saw how an innocent chopstick could be used as a weapon. This was a little more hit or miss, however, I was quite good at it. One of mine ended up embedded in the tatami mat though which was pretty funny.
The last weapon was the blowgun. Chuck and the kids did well at this, but I struggled to blow enough air since I was battling all my jaw issues and it had been so painful on the trip. I still was able to do a couple, but then gave the rest of mine to the kids. It was still fun though!
Sadly our lesson was over so we took some final pictures, took off our cool ninja clothes, did some shopping (a metal Shuriken for us, some rubber Shurikens for Beckett) and headed out.
The ninja class was so much fun and one of the funnest activities we did on our entire trip. We had a blast dressing up, weilding swords, throwing Shuriken, posing for pictures, and laughing as we messed up or did well. It was definitely an experience I won’t forget.
On our first morning in Kyoto, we took a taxi to the pedestrian streets leading up to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple complex. We had a great time popping into the shops on the walk up to the temple. Many shops had samples so we were able to try so many Japanese desserts and snacks and even bought a few souvenirs such as “cat”. We ended up buying many of the snacks we tried including these delicious matcha white chocolate cookies from the Malebranche store shown below.
After about an hour, we finally made it up to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The Temple was founded in 778, however, the buildings were constructed in 1633. Before we walked up to the temple, we stopped by the bathrooms and discovered this really cool cemetery.
The temple structures were both bold and intricate, really fascinating just to sit and take in.
Its neat that many visitors to the temple dress up in traditional clothes. I loved seeing everyone dressed up!
It cost extra to go into one of the buildings so Chuck and the kids found a seat while I went to explore. Little did we realize that it wasn’t just the building that I had access to, but the entire rest of the complex. I ended up being gone far longer than expected, but it was such a treat to see everything. Unfortunately without working cell service, I couldn’t text them to come meet me, and by the time I was back, they were ready to move on.
We explored a little more of the complex together. Since we were set so high up, we had a great vantage point to look down on Kyoto and surrounds too.
Great view of Kyoto from the temple complex
We took a branch off the the main pedestrian street on our walk down from the temple onto what I think is Sannenzaka street. We found a great little place for lunch that had a soft tofu lunch which Kyoto is famous for. Lunch was not cheap, but was delicious!
RestaurantBeckett’s tofu lunch
Description of Beckett’s lunchMy lunch – so good!
We then spent another couple of hours checking out the shops on what I think was Sannenzaka and Ninnenzaka streets. Chuck disappeared at some point and I found a shop giving out samples of this yuzu honey drink. O.M.G. was this stuff good! I called the kids over and we tried so many flavors of their honey drinks – blueberry, mango, raspberry, and on and on. We bought some to drink then, but also containers to drink at home which we slowly rationed over the next 6 months.
Yuzu & mango honey drinks
After gorging ourselves on yummy drink samples, we found Chuck in a nearby shop eating some weird ball things. I tried one and quickly regretted my decision.
And on it went. Walking into shops, trying samples, seeing a cool pagoda or shrine, walking more, popping into another shop.
What a great sign!
We eventually found the world’s coolest Starbucks:
Starbucks
Unfortunately there was quite a line and we didn’t feel like waiting, so we decided to head back to the rental. All told, I think we were out for over 6 hours and were absolutely wrecked once we got back. Despite the long day, this was one of the (many) highlights of our time in Kyoto for me. I loved the traditional feel of the streets and even though I’m not much of a shopper, I loved exploring all the shops and what they had to offer. I was hoping we’d get a chance to come back before we left Kyoto to pick up some more souvenirs, but we never did. I’ll just have to do that next time!
Gion is the traditional geisha district and is what I picture as the quintessential historic Japanese area. Wooden buildings, paper lanterns, Shoji screen doors. It is so picturesque and charming and I wish we’d had more time to explore the tea houses, shops, temples, and shrines that are tucked into the district.
I booked our rental a few blocks from the main Gion district. We were able to walk through the area numerous times, but never went into any of the shops, restaurants, or tea houses at all. However, just walking around was such a cool experience.
Our first night, we went out and stumbled onto pedestrian only Hanamikoji street. We came upon a group of people just standing around and were trying to figure out what they were looking at, when all of a sudden a geisha and a maiko (apprentice geisha) came out of the building and were quickly whisked into a car. I was unprepared for this so my pictures came out fuzzy and had a lot of people in them. Still, I couldn’t believe our luck of seeing them in person our first night in Kyoto. Later in the trip, we were walking along the street with our rental and I saw one come out of a building not even 20′ away and quickly get into a car and leave. I’m not even sure the kids saw her as it happened so fast!
Hanami-koji street
We meandered onto Shinbashi-dori Street on another trip to Gion which is called the prettiest street in Gion. Its also home to the Tatsumi Bashi bridge which was featured in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.
The Tatsumi Daimyojin Shrine
Here are some pictures from other streets around Gion and near our rental:
Years ago I watched the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” and was completely taken by the scenery. The movie was partly filmed in Kyoto and the more I saw pictures of the area, the more I knew we had to visit when we went to Japan.
Planning our trip there was the hardest part of the entire planning though. Kyoto has more than 1600 temples and more than 400 shrines, so trying to figure out which 3-4 to visit was overwhelming especially since everything I read recommended different temples. This is also where I decided we’d do the bulk of our activities so weaving it all together and not exhausting us was tough. I partly succeeded, but partly failed as we didn’t see as many temples as I wanted and skipped some other things I wanted to do, and STILL ended up exhausted!
That said, Kyoto was a highlight of the trip for us!
Kyoto was the 2nd stop on our Japan trip after a busy 5 days in Tokyo. We were all worn out from our whirlwind trip there and the gray, raining travel day didn’t help.
But our moods improved when we made it to our rental. This place was so cool! The kids loved their room and all the traditional touches. Having a nice kitchen and a washing machine also made the place a great choice. And it was once again cheaper than a hotel!
Kid’s bedroom
Street our rental was on
By the time we got settled in, it was already dinner time. The kids elected to stay in for some downtime so Chuck and I went out for dinner and found this great gyoza place a couple of blocks away. I love gyoza and enjoyed trying the different fillings.
Gyoza
Chuck and I were excited to see Gion, so we wandered the streets despite it raining. We were also exhausted, but I didn’t fly the whole way to Kyoto to sit in the rental! The area is just too perfect. Its absolutely what you picture when you think of traditional Japan with the wood buildings, paper lamps, shoji screens. We even saw a geisha and a maiko (an apprentice geisha)!
We found a grocery store and bought the kids food for dinner, breakfast foods (I even found pancake mix!), and headed back to the rental for the night.
Day 2
Day 2 started with breakfast at our rental before getting a taxi to the area around Kiyomizu-dera temple. We had a great time walking around the famous streets around the temple, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. After walking our legs off for over 5 hours, we went back to the rental for some much needed rest.
We decided to cook dinner at our rental as none of us wanted to go out to eat. After dinner, Chuck and I went for a stroll to the famous Pontocho Alley and nearby Kiyamachi-dori Street. Once again it was raining, but it was still cool to see.
Pontocho AlleyPontocho AlleyBack side Pontocho Alley buildingsKiyamachi-doriKiyamachi-dori
Day 3
We had a relaxed morning on Day 3 before heading out for a very busy day. Our first stop was Nishiki Market. There we saw some really interesting sea creatures for sale along with the usual items. We didn’t try anything exotic, but did share a bubble tea and bought some cool gelatinous face washes for the kids.
After the market and a lunch stop at an Italian restaurant for marginal pizza and Italian food, we went to our Ninja Class where we had an absolute blast. On our walk there, we saw an Eggs ‘n Things like we ate at in Tokyo, so we stopped in after our class for some more yummy pancakes with a mountain of whipped cream.
At this point the kids were begging to go back to the room to rest, but this is when I was surprising them with a visit to the Otter Cafe. They quickly realized something was up and spent the entire walk badgering me about where we were going and taking guesses. As we got close, there was a sign and Beckett figured it out and got so excited!
Unfortunately, they were booked up, but had a window for us to visit an hour or so later at 5pm. The time meant we’d have to leave early as we had 6pm tickets for the GEAR show. We jumped at the chance though as some otter time is better than no otter time!
While waiting, we walked around the Shinkyogoku and Teramachi Shopping Streets where the cafe was located.
We had the best time with the otters! You can read more about that here.
Then we headed to the GEAR show. This is a 1 hour non-verbal show featuring street performers, wrapped in a story about robots and a doll that come to life. The show was fantastic and the kids absolutely loved it. You aren’t allowed to take photos during the performance, but I took one before the show started. Beckett loved the show so much that he did the “robot walk” for months after.
GEAR show set
After the show, we hunted around for what felt like forever trying to find a suitable dinner and ended up at another Shabu Shabu restaurant. There was a good hour wait and I felt like I was going to pass out, but eventually around 9:30pm, we finally got fed! Phew!
We were so exhausted at this point, that my entire afternoon plan of visiting a Zen garden, wandering the famous Philosopher’s Path, seeing the Silver Pavilion, and having a soft tofu dinner got completely scrapped. Instead, the kids stayed home again while Chuck and I wandered around Gion. We found an Indian restaurant for dinner that was quite good and a welcome break from Japanese food. Then we found a place where I had a delicious mango cocktail, Chuck got sake, and we shared a ginormous kakigouri (shaved ice).
My mango cocktail, Chuck’s sake, and Kakigouri (shaved ice)
And then we stumbled upon the Yasaka Shrine. It looked so cool all lit up at night and there were even food vendors selling various foods all around the shrine.
Yasaka Shrine entrance
Day 5
Day 5 had us going to beautiful Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) on the other side of town. Originally we were thinking of going to a zen meditation class in the morning before visiting the temple, but that got scrapped. I was also hoping to visit the nearby Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and maybe get a foot massage and tofu lunch in the area, but all of that got scrapped too. We also had penciled in a samurai lesson that afternoon, but didn’t bother to book that as we all needed a break from scheduled activities.
Instead, we took a taxi back into the heart of Kyoto for another shabu shabu lunch, then rested back at the rental.
Chuck booked us another visit to the otter cafe, so we headed there for another hour with the otters before checking out the Gion Matsuri Festival that was happening. Gion Matsuri is Kyoto’s biggest festival and is celebrated over a couple of weeks. The first main event, the Yamaboko Junko, is a parade that was being held the next morning when we were headed out of town. There are festivities on the 3 days leading up to the parade, where they shut down the streets, people dress up, and there is a big street party.
We saw none of that. Sure, we saw the floats parked and the streets were closed with a lot of people out, but there wasn’t much of a street party happening. So after wandering thru the streets and into Gion, we called it a night and went home to start packing up for our departure the next morning.
Float for the parade“Street Party” the night before the first big parade
Day 6
On Day 6, it was time to leave Kyoto and head for Osaka.
Kyoto was such a beautiful place filled with such history. I’m so glad we spent as much time as we did here and wish we’d gotten to see and do even more. It is definitely a place I’d love to come back to some day with more time to meander and soak it all in.
One of Chuck’s friends went to Japan the year before we did, and posted pictures at this Japanese Onsen Theme Park. The experience looked so cool so it quickly got put at the top of Chuck’s Bucket List for our trip.
The Onsen, Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari, bills itself as one of Japan’s largest Onsen Theme Parks. The place consists of a various hot baths, a street food section, and outdoor section and more.
When you first arrive, you check in and drop your shoes in a locker. From there, you select your yukata before heading to the locker rooms. There you find your assigned locker, take off everything except your underwear, and use the instructions on the wall to put on your yukata. And then its time to go explore!
It was so cool that everyone wears one of the assigned yukatas the entire time they’re there. They did take a little getting used to especially the first time I sat down, but we all got a kick out of wearing them around.
I loved the back of our yukatas
It was well after 2pm at this point, so the first order of business was lunch! We checked out each of the many street food restaurants and I think we all ended up with food from a different restaurant.
Street Food Restaurant area. There was another even bigger section too!Lunch
After lunch, we decided we needed treats since they had so many yummy choices.
Massive shaved ice for Beckett
Then it was time to explore the facility. We ended up going outside to this really serene area with foot baths. It was so nice and peaceful.
Family enjoying the foot bath
The kids really wanted to use the fish spa like they had in Thailand. It cost extra, but it was totally worth it especially to watch Beckett giggle and squirm.
Fish Spa
We noticed that prices for leg massages were pretty reasonable, so we decided to splurge on 30 minute leg massages for the entire family. We booked a time about an hour later and went to the actual onsen (baths) while we waited.
This part is where it gets weird. The Japanese use the baths naked. Completely naked. The men and women are split into different sections, but still. We each grappled with whether we wanted to partake in this, and each decided “When in Rome…”.
The first thing you do is get a locker to put all your clothes into. You’re given a hand towel and a washcloth and that’s all you are allowed to take into the baths. When you enter, you’re supposed to rinse off and then you can go into any bath you want for as long as you want. The baths ranged from cold to lukewarm to blazing hot. There is even an open air natural hot spring outside. I did feel awkward at the start, but pretty quickly realized no one was really paying attention to me and that this is normal for them, so I just went with it.
Once done, there is a section of little tables and stools with various soaps and a hose where you can sit and clean yourself. When you’ve had enough, its time to shower and get dressed in your yukata. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice my main locker room key in the spa’s locker and left it. I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t have it and went back only to find my locker already taken by someone else. Despite the language difference, I was able to explain to the locker room attendants what happened and they put a note on the locker asking the person to return my key. I had to wait till after my massage was over to find out if I got my key back and was so worried that the person would use it to open my locker and steal my stuff. Luckily the locker room staff had it and I could breathe a big sigh of relief.
Back to the massage. We all met up after our onsen experiences and were taken to this massive room with many massage tables set up side by side. We each got a 30 minute leg massage that was glorious. Each masseuse did things differently, but we all had a wonderful experience and it really soothed our tired legs. Beckett was even talking about it long after we got home.
It was somewhere around 6pm at this point and we decided it was time for a snack. So back to the food court we went for snacks and treats. We even got some arcade time in and wandered the little shops.
Mario Kart plus the kids got to play the drum game again here!
It was nearly 8pm when we finally left. None of us wanted to go as it was such a relaxing place and it was so nice to slow down after all our busy days in Tokyo. But we were heading to Kyoto the next morning and needed to get home to pack and get some sleep before our big travel day.
If you go to Tokyo, I highly recommend visiting this onsen. Its such a unique experience, but also a nice oasis from the big city.
We went to the teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum in Odaiba, Tokyo. They have a few different art installations, but I picked this one because it looked mind blowing. I have to say it definitely lived up to the hype. This really was one of the coolest museums any of us have ever experienced.
You have to get tickets ahead of time as it usually sells out, but even with tickets, there is a wait to get in. We waited maybe 20-30 minutes before we got in. I was happy that I’d looked at the website as there were no maps or directions inside so it wasn’t obvious where to go or how to find things. Plus it’s very dark especially in between the rooms. But because I knew of certain rooms, I knew to keep wandering hallways and staircases until we found everything.
I’m also glad I read the online reviews that said to wear a white shirt and light pants as you’ll blend into the art better. I told the rest of the family, but was pretty much ignored (in their defense, I don’t know that any of them brought white shirts on the trip).
We first entered a long, dark hallway before emerging into a long room with light projections of flowers on every wall. It was incredible to be immersed in the space.
“Forest of Flowers and People”
After exiting that room, we entered a huge room with a rainfall that was really cool.
“Universe of Water Particles on a Rock Where People Gather”
Next we entered a room that consisted of hundreds of lights dancing in different patterns. We spent a long time in this room mesmerized by the choreographed lights.
And then we went up some stairs and discovered one of the coolest rooms we’ve ever seen, “The Forest of Lamps”. There was a wait to get in as it’s quite popular and once inside, you only have a couple of minutes max to enjoy it. There is one way glass though, so you can watch the lamps transform from color to color while you wait which was amazing in and of itself.
Our time in the room was way too short, but it is still so vivid in my mind and one of the highlights from our entire trip.
Next up we found the Crystal World. The crystals are laid out in a maze so you have to follow the the cutouts as you wind your way through. Once we were ready to leave, we couldn’t find the exit and had to keep wandering paths until we finally found doors. The crystals changed colors and patterns so it was constantly changing.
“Crystals World”
This is how it went for the next hour: Opening one door to discover a room then leave and find another room then walk up a staircase and find yet another room or a balcony into a room and on and on.
We were getting a bit hungry at this point as it was around lunchtime, but I knew we were missing one of the cooler rooms I’d seen online. Eventually we found a tall staircase and at the top was the “Athletics Forest”. Its a massive room with a planet trampoline, undulating floors with various sea creatures, a side alcove with a slide, another few side alcoves with lights or activities, and a room of giant balloon lights in the back. I don’t even know how to describe what it was like being in there.
“Athletics Forest”I loved the massive whales swimming on the walls and floor
The kids started by jumping on the trampoline while Chuck and I explored. He noticed you could interact with the water droplets coming down the pillars which was fun to play with.
“Multi Jumping Universe”Waterfall Droplets
Then we discovered the drawing center. Here they had various creatures you could color in. Then they would scan it and your creature would show up on the walls and floor and crawl around. We had a great time finding our creature and following them around the room. Stepping on them would cause them to smash briefly before they’d be fine and start crawling around again.
Mara’s CrocodileMara with her invention!
My iguana:
We spent over an hour in the area enjoying the room, its alcoves, and all the activities.
“Weightless Forest of Resonating Light”
“A Musical Wall where Little People Live” – This was really cool as there were little digital people that would interact with whatever you built!“A Table where Little People Live”“Aerial Climbing through a Flock of Colored Birds”
At the back of the Athletics Forest we found the Sketch Aquarium which was like the main room in that you could color a sea creature, scan it in, and watch it come to life. I loved this room – it made me so happy!
My happy little jellyfish!
Beckett’s fish with a black cat on it
As the kids played in some of the rooms, I went to the main room and realized the floor and walls were responding to me. As I stood still, the water droplets moved around my feet and a garden started to grow. Then I sat down and watched a garden grow on my legs.
After a good hour and a half in the Athletics Forest, we decided it was time to go. On our way out, we walked through one last room and took our last photos.
All of us were blown away by the experience. None of us wanted to leave, but our legs were tired and we were so hungry. Plus, we were headed to the onsen next and needed to make sure we had enough time for that.
I really hope this museum comes to the US sometime as all of us would go back in a heartbeat.
Day 5 started out fairly early as we were headed to the man made island of Odaiba for some really cool activities. Odaiba was 45-60 minutes from where we were staying as we had to take the metro to the monorail. The monorail trip was pretty cool though as we sat in the front which had glass windows and offered a great view.
We really didn’t want to leave the onsen either, but we needed to get back to pack up as we had an early morning the next day.
Day 6 started with the usual flurry of packing, making sure we had everything, and rushing to get out of our place. Schlepping our bags in and out of the metro and through the train station wasn’t a lot of fun, but such is the life of travel.
Our plan was to hit the Tokyo Ramen Street in the lower section of the Tokyo Station, but that didn’t exactly happen. Once at the train station, we found it really hard to figure out how to get there. It turns out we had to pay to leave the station then head downstairs to this underground mini mall. We found the Tokyo Ramen Street, but there were lines for each place and we didn’t have time to wait.
Tokyo Ramen Street
We did find some other restaurants to eat at, but no one could agree on what to eat. So Beckett and I took one bag to one restaurant while Chuck and Mara ate at another.
Mini mallUdon soup and tempura for Beckett and IChuck’s lunch
After lunch, we had a bit of trouble getting back into the train station, but eventually got to our bullet train and had a 30 minute wait to board.
Shinkansen (Bullet Train)
Riding a bullet train (Shinkansen) was one of our “must do” activities while in Japan, so I had high expectations that it was going to really cool experience. Yes, the train was sleek, comfortable, and clean. And Yes, it did go fast, but ultimately it just seemed like a normal train ride. I’m still glad we did it, and it was neat to see the countryside of Japan.
Unfortunately it was a really gray and rainy day. BUT we did get to see Mt. Fuji! It was just a faint view in the distance, but it was still Mt. Fuji. We had it in sight for a while and I’m sure it would be epic on a clear day. I didn’t expect to see it at all, so I was pretty excited even if it wasn’t perfect.
Mt. Fuji!
After a 2 hour trip, we arrived in Kyoto. We were all really hungry so we found an Irish pub before we headed to our rental and our Kyoto adventure began.
And then the vacationing began.
The resort also had flamingos and I fell in love with these guys. I kept heading over to watch them. 
We didn’t hang out at the beach very much as it was extremely windy the entire time we were there. We still did get some beach chilling time in though.
The next step was so much fun as we got to use the pasta machine to cut the dough into long ramen noodles.
After adding the chicken and condiments, it was finally time to eat!! OMG was it delicious. The noodles were so good and fresh and it was one of the better ramens I’ve ever had.
The kids really wanted to use the fish spa like they had in Thailand. It cost extra, but it was totally worth it especially to watch Beckett giggle and squirm.
