Mikan picking and Cherry Blossoms

Today we headed north on Okinawa for some natural beauty. It is mikan picking season. Mikan is Japanese for a small orange/ tangerine fruit that is oh so sweet. We stopped at a local seller, asked to go mikan picking and for 250¥. It was all you can eat picking experience. We had to follow the farmer up the hill to get to the sight. It was one of those moments that I wasn't really sure we were being safe. For all I knew this farmer was taking us up the hill to be killed for 500¥.
Once we got there I was reassured we were safe. All you can eat!!
After picking Mikans we headed up to Mt. Yaedake to the the cherry blossoms. It is such a beautiful drive on a beautiful day.
The only bummer is that there is a million and a half people also trying to also look at the flowers.
Such a fun time in Okinawa!!

Last day in Tokyo

Since we had a long day at Disney, we decided to sleep in a bit and have a lazy morning. When we got up, we put on our swimsuits and headed down to the jacuzzi. I needed a hot soak after all the walking the day before.
After that we cleaned up and got dressed and packed ready to head out.
We hopped on the subway headed to Harajuku St. This area is known for the way people dress, colored hair, crazy clothes and elaborate costumes.
We first had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. We crave American food and Tokyo has a lot more options than Okinawa. Then we went shopping down Harajuku St. We saw some crazy people. I have a picture of the back side of one. She has rainbow colored hair. I wish you could see the "doll" like makeup she was wearing. This street was a great place for some awesome people watching.
After walking the street we headed back to the train to head to the airport. We have an hour long train ride on a bullet train. Who knew Narita Airport is so far out I the city. This was the first time we flew into that airport domestically.
This weekend was a great time in Tokyo. So glad we booked the trip last minute.

Tokyo Disney Trip day 3

Today we got up early, had breakfast the the hotel and headed out to Disney Sea. It is very cold on Tokyo. Best part about riding the subway is that the seats are heated. Sometimes they make you too warm. Riding the subway is a quite time. People rarely talk and often sleep. After a short subway train ride we arrived the Disney Resort.
We caught a ride on the monorail(it cost 500¥). We bought our tickets and entered the magical world of Disney sea. We walked through looking for rides. It is so funny to see the Japanese, who are Disney freaks, all decked out in all of their Disney gear!
Bill was so distracted, too much to look at that he had trouble listening to me. We had the same conversation about ride many times.
The day was all around a great day of Disney fun! We rode all the rides, saw some awesome shows and ate our way through each area. Disney sea is an Epcot meet Disneyland. There are different lands: Mediterranean, American waterfront, port discovery, lost river delta, Arabian coast, mermaid lagoon, mysterious island.
My favorite ride was adventure to the center of the earth and Indiana jones temple of doom.
Food wide we had Chinese for lunch, strawberry popcorn, black pepper popcorn and a Japanese "American" hot dog.
We watched the finally show Fantasmic. Always a good display of fire, water And fire works.
Before the park closed we ran to Toy Story Mania. My all time favorite ride At all the Disney's.
We shopped our way out looking for the t-shirt and shot glAss souvenirs. Japan does not have the quintessential American souvenirs. It is so strange.

Tokyo Disney Trip Day 2

So not only did Bill surprise me with this trip to Tokyo, but he surprised me with booking a Japanese room at the New Sanno.
The Japanese Room is typical of what you would expect in a traditional Japanese Home. There is a tiled entry way where you take your shoes off. Then there is a small sitting room where you can serve tea. The adjoining room is a tatami room. In that room there is grass mats on the floor, a low table for eating and then you pull our flop beds each night. They are 2 queen size pallets. They are really comfy, we pushed them together so we had one giant bed. Just off the tatami room is a dressing room with a vanity. And then the bathroom. The bathtub is a typical Japanese size tub. It is a 1.5x2.5x3 ft deep. It is tiny but deep. Defiantly an experience.
Because we got in so late, we slept in a bit. We got up at 8:30, got dressed an headed out to hit the city. Our plan was to do sightseeing and sumo wrestling.
We took several trains out to the sumo arena. When we arrived we saw the tickets were SOLD OUT! We were so bummed. So we walked over to purchase tickets for tomorrow. But this plan would take time out of Disney and it was going to be a lot of traveling. But Bill really wanted to see the Sumo.
Then all of a sudden this American approaches us, adorned with a red jacket full of Boy Scout patches. She asked us if we were looking for tickets for the sumo tournament today. We are like yeah! In the back if my mind I am asking all these stranger danger questions: is this a scam? Can we trust her? Is she going to rob us? Man if this is a scam, she is committed, she is wearing a bear scarf tie.
Then I start asking her questions: 250 Boy Scouts are going to the sumo match, they bought too many tickets, she has lived in Tokyo for 10 years, she works at a local attorneys office. I think she's legit.
We paid her the money and walked away satisfied that this Tokyo trip is coming together very nicely. We would return to the arena at 3pm.
We grabbed a quick snack at McDonald's and hopped back on the train. We were headed to the Ueno Area. Time for some Japanese culture. We walked through the Ueno park, went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum and the Tokyo National Museum. It was nice going into the museums and seeing Japanese art. After the last museum we were on a hunt for food.
I am not real adventurous when it comes to food. Tokyo has fewer English menus, so you go by pictures. We ate in the subway and had a Japanese version of grilled cheese. Very good.
We got back onto the train/subway station to go to the Sumo Tournament.
Watching sumo was truly an experience. We sat way at the top, but it was fun! I googled rules and history so I could properly enjoy the wrestling. Amazing things is the wrestlers live in a communal stall and follow strict traditions. The loin cloth they wear weighs 7-11lbs. And is 30ft long wrapped around. The final match there was lots of pomp and buildup and the actual fight lasted less than 6 sec.
After the sumo wrestling match we caught a train to head to Tokyo Skytree. We had dinner at a nice worldly restaurant and took some picture of the Skytree. We were too late to go to the top, but no big deal. We were tired and ready to go home. We hopped back on the subway and headed back to the New Sanno. Today was a great day!
Tomorrow Disney Sea!!