Spring Break 2013 - TDR & Tokyo - Trip Report

[AndyR]

We did everything separately:

Hotel rezzie via the english speaking phone reservation line at the 6mth booking window.
Special Hoppers once we checked in at the hotel (only available by asking for them).
SUICA pass at Tokyo Station.

The gyoza sausage bun line ranged from 10mins to 30 mins when we did it (3 times).

GREAT report and pictures. Glad you had a fun time. We are thinking about going to TDL next March or April ourselves.

May we ask a few questions please?

When you booked your trip, were Hotel, Special 4 day park hopper tickets, and public transportation all purchased as part of a package? or did you have to buy them separately? Did you do it all online, over the phone, or at the Resort?

How long was the line for the gyoza sausage buns at Disney Sea?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AndyR]

We took a cab from TDLR to the Four Seasons. Initially we were going to catch the train, but.....it was raining and we didn't want to schlep our stuff through Tokyo Station. The cab ride took just about an hour in mid-day traffic (in the rain).

Arriving at the Four Seasons......our room wasn't ready so we went up to the lounge & restaurant for lunch.

The lounge in the Four Seasons Marunouch, we clearly wern't in Disney anymore:

To kill some time until our room was ready we walked over to the Bridgestone Museum of Art where there were running a special exhibition "Through Japanese Eyes: Paris, 1900 - 1945" - needless to say no pics of this visit.

The museum is small, consisting of 8 small galleries, but it houses paintings by most of the masters including Renior, Monet & van Gogh.

http://www.bridgestone-museum.gr.jp/en/

The Four Seasons is billed as a "luxury boutique hotel" located in the Pacific Century office tower, and takes 7 floors. When we arrived in our room, we found that we had a large corner room, with two walls of glass and two US sized queen beds (which we expected):

http://www.fourseasons.com/tokyo/accommodations/guest_rooms/premier_room/

The room was very modern including the bathroom:

So we unpacked. This was to be home for the next 4 nights. It was at this point that Susan found she'd left the battery charger for her Canon G12 at home. So it was off to the nearest BIC Camera to buy a new one:

By now we were hungry and wanted something other than 'hotel food' (no matter how good or expensive it was )

Susan had found a place called A16 in Brick Square - a Pizza joint close to Tokyo Station, so we set off on foot (in the rain). After walking through Tokyo Station (not a small place), I found which way we should go and located the restaurant.

What a nice place......Most of the restaurants in the area cater to the 'Banking Crowd' and A16 was no exception. I think we were the only people in there *not* dressed in black suit, white shirt and black tie, or black suit and white blouse. However the staff were very friendly (something we found to be true of every restaurant and eatery we visited), and the place had a great ambience.

The twin pizza ovens of A16:

A16:

Brick Square by night (with rain):

The food was excellent, but by now we were pooped and needed sleep.

Day 5 - Studio Ghibli up next.....

 

[taylor3297]

Thank you so much for sharing! I am planning on going to TDL and TDS when I turn 50 in 3 years. I just need to figure out when is THE best time to go and if it should be a family trip or a girls trip.

 

[AndyR]

Day 5 - Studio Ghibli Museum.

Wednesday started off as Tuesday had finished, with a light rain:

We had to meet our tour group at a hotel by Shinjuku Station, so we headed into Tokyo Station to catch the train.

Lunchboxes set out for folks to buy on their way to work:

Tokyo Station contain a large underground shopping area including 'Character Street' where stores sell only mechandise based on TV and movie characters. Needless to say we stopped by a store selling Studio Ghibli items:

I wanted to get this but....:

After scoping out the store it was time to catch the train. Tokyo Station has been recently refurb'd, here's the central dome:

Waiting for our train:

At Shinjuku we met our guide and headed to catch the train and then bus to the Studio Ghibli Museum.

Shinjuku:

After the train ride, it was time to catch the bus to our destination. The museum is run as a joint collaboration betwen the city and Studio, and bus stop for Ghibli is suitably themed:

So is the bus:

Our first view of the museum, from the bus:

Totoro sells tickets, not really - you have to book in advance for a specific time slot:

 

[AndyR]

The museum does not allow photograpgy once inside, but it is filled with amazing items and a stop not to be missed. That said here's a few pics:

Exterior of museum, most of the windows are handmade stained glass:

One of the larger stained glass windows:

Ornate manhole cover:

Our guide told us the 'trick' to photographing the glass. While no pics are allowed inside, you can open the door, prop it open and take a pic of the door while standing 'outside' lol:

Once on the roof we find the iconic robot from Castle In The Sky:

And 'The Cube':

Before catching our bus/train back we had time to stop into the Cafe:

Where I got to sample a Studio Ghibli beer:

While we'd missed the peak of the Cherry Blossom bloom, there was still plenty to be seen.....Waiting for the bus:

Here's the girls with our wonderful guide:

Back at Tokyo Station, the rain had stopped:

Sunset, looking towards the palace:

Finally, back in our room, time for some R&R and dinner:

Next up......Day 6, Kamakura.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! What a great hotel room. That food to-go looks great and cheap'ish. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AndyR]

The food all through Tokyo Station was great and relatively cheap.

 

[AndyR]

Day 6: Kamakura. For the next two days we'd decided to hire a guide from Tours By Locals, and customize a tour based on what we wanted to see. We were met in the lobby of our hotel and then it was off to catch the train to Kamakura, about an hours ride south of Tokyo.

The Shinkansen from our room:

But first some breakfast:

The plan was to take in all the Temples in the area. Little did we know but this would involve about 10miles of walking.....

First up: the Hasedera Temple:

First the ritual cleaning which preceeded each temple:

Main Temple square:

Wheel Library:

Immaculate grounds:

And a cave:

Next up was the 'Great Buddha - Daibutsu':

Yep, its big alright:

Then it was off to a noodle house for lunch:

This place also had a great ornamental garden and shrine:

We could just about make our Mt. Fuji's snow cap too

3rd up was a large complex back in town:

With lots of sake:

Then a final stop (they were beginning to blur at this point):

But photos were allowed inside:

This is an active temple:

After the rapid train ride back to Tokyo Station it was time for dinner and bed:

Next Up: Tokyo Tower, Pokemon Center and a few other spots.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I love that cave temple! Thanks for sharing.

Was the Tours by Locals conducted in English?

 

[AndyR]

I love that cave temple! Thanks for sharing.

Was the Tours by Locals conducted in English?

It was way cool in there. I have other pics of all the miniture 'souls' in the deepest part - will post one later. A lot of the Temple was dedicated to 'lost' children - very sad.

 

[Etoile]

Some really great photos there! The cave is my favorite part of Hase-dera, did you do the Benzaiten statue? And all the hundreds of Jizo statues...sigh. -_-

I hope you didn't walk both ways between Kamakura station and the Daibutsu! You mentioned 10 miles of walking...you took the Enoden train at least one way, right? Your poor legs and feet!

 

[AndyR]

I love that cave temple! Thanks for sharing.

Was the Tours by Locals conducted in English?

Yes it was. She took really good care of us too.

 

[AndyR]

Some really great photos there! The cave is my favorite part of Hase-dera, did you do the Benzaiten statue? And all the hundreds of Jizo statues...sigh. -_-

I hope you didn't walk both ways between Kamakura station and the Daibutsu! You mentioned 10 miles of walking...you took the Enoden train at least one way, right? Your poor legs and feet!

We took a train from the main Kamakura station to the Hase station and walked to Hasedera from there.

Then we took a bus to Daibutsu. From there another bus to the Tea/Noodle house & Garden.

Then another bus down to Kamakura for Tsurugaoka Hachiman gu Shrine.

Then we walked to the Kenchoji Temple, and finally a train back to Tokyo.

 

[AndyR]

Day 7. Tokyo Tower, Pokemon Center, Akihabara......

This was to be our last full day in Tokyo. Our Tours By Local guide met us in the lobby of our hotel at 9am, then it was off to catch the train(s) to Tokyo Tower.

S & S strap hanging all the way to the Tokyo Tower:

We'd decided to skip the Sky Tree after hearing about the long lines (we'll do that on our next trip and decided to take in the original tower):

Daytime view:

One of the clear 'look down' windows in the floor:

After grabbing an ice cream we caught the elavator back down and headed over to the Pokemon Center. Sarah was in her element here. She's a really big fan of all things Pokemon:

The 'Center' is really just a big store, it was mobbed the day we were there:

After buying what seemed like half the store, we headed back to the station to head to Akihabara:

We did see some interesting Disney items, still not sure what this was (EDIT: its a UHV Antenna):

We rushed through Akihabara, in search of lunch, and didn't really stop in any of the famous places to browse:

We then headed over to the cities large modern Catholic Cathederal, St. Marys:

And the beautiful gardens attached to the Four Seasons Hotel which is across the street:

The sun was setting, so we headed back to our hotel, and grabbed a bite to eat, along with dessert:

 

[PrincessInOz]

My DS would just love that Pokemon Centre. I don't think we'd get out of that store at all!

Thanks for sharing.