Trip Report *COMPLETED* I've climbed the mountain, I've crossed the river, and I'm almost there!

Introduction

We've only been back from Japan since Saturday night but I am just itching to get started on this report! We had an absolutely AMAZING trip and I'm not ready to let it go, and writing my TR is one way for me to delay the inevitable return back to "the real world." This was the longest vacation I've ever taken, and like any long trip-or any new experience, for that matter-there were ups and downs, good moments and not-so-good moments. There were mistakes, mishaps, mountains, and monkeys. Yes, monkeys! There were surprises and there was DRAMMA!* There were things we will do differently next time we visit Japan, and believe me, we knew less than halfway through the trip that there WILL be a next time someday!

In case you missed the PTR, here it is: Bee's Big Birthday! There you can read about the cast, the general plans, and the reasons for planning this particular trip.

Now about the title: It's a reference to this song from The Princess and the Frog:

​

I have been kind of obsessed with this song lately and I found myself singing it in my head repeatedly during the trip. You'll see why soon!

So, if you're ready for a journey halfway around the world, thousands of photos, and Double Disney bookends, keep reading!

EDIT: The Tokyo Disney stuff starts here.

*I've mentioned it in previous TRs, but I like to spell "dramma" the Italian way because I'm an opera singer and what's more DRAMMAtic than Italian opera?? So please don't think I'm an idiot (for that reason anyway )!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Catbus is from My Neighbor Totoro. Studio Ghibli...pretty cute movie.

 

[Tuvalu]

Your trapped in Kyoto Station story had me in stitches! (But I didn’t have to live through it, sorry.)

 

[MinnieM123]

It's hard enough to find your way around in a large transportation area in the States, let alone in a foreign country! That was a drag that you also had to deal with your luggage, while trying to find your way. I can well understand your frustration. I tend to get lost easily, as it is. (I can't find my way out of a paper bag . . . )

 

[LadyBelle]

Your trapped in Kyoto Station story had me in stitches! (But I didn’t have to live through it, sorry.)

Me too. The next Home Alone-type movie series.

 

[bee]

Loving your tr!! I can’t wait to see how it turns out. DL was awesome. We’ve never been but your pictures make me want to go.
Sorry about your headache. Glad you started feeling better.

We love Disneyland and will definitely go back some day! I think every WDW fan should visit Disneyland once.

Reading about your « adventure » to get to your AirBnB brings back memories of trips gone awry in my life ... and I am sure I am not alone in thinking this. I sincerely hope that by some point in your trip you thought back on this day and managed to laugh about it

At some point, yes!

Catbus is from My Neighbor Totoro. Studio Ghibli...pretty cute movie.

Good to know, thanks!

Your trapped in Kyoto Station story had me in stitches! (But I didn’t have to live through it, sorry.)

It really would have been funny...if it hadn't been happening to us! I felt like I was on a hidden camera show.

It's hard enough to find your way around in a large transportation area in the States, let alone in a foreign country! That was a drag that you also had to deal with your luggage, while trying to find your way. I can well understand your frustration. I tend to get lost easily, as it is. (I can't find my way out of a paper bag . . . )

I am usually pretty confident getting around...but Japanese train stations are a whole new level!

Me too. The next Home Alone-type movie series.

 

[bee]

Day 5, cont.

So, we got out of the cab from hell...and we were still NOT at our destination. We tried figuring it out from both Google Maps and the printed handbook S had, and wandered a few blocks, still looking.

I guess we were in the run-down part of Kyoto?

Finally we found something promising...

But we couldn't get it! There was no intercom and there was no code provided in the handbook!!!

Wait...maybe this is it?

FINALLY, we found the correct building!! There was an unlocked sliding door and inside was a window to a check in desk. So, although we had booked this place on AirBNB, it was actually more of a hostel setup.

First, we had to pay taxes in cash that were not included in the prepaid room rate.

Then, we had to take off our shoes in the tiny entryway before we could even go up the stairs. Oh yes, we were on the second floor and there was no elevator, so we had the pleasure of dragging all our luggage upstairs.

Finally we were in the room!

Our room was SMALL. We got a great deal for a place so close to the city center, but there's no point in beating around the bush. It was SMALL. See the ladder in the photos above? That lead to a tiny loft with a mattress where S and J slept. They could just barely sit up in bed. M and I had a bit more room downstairs but it was still tight.

Oh, hello!

This sink area was between the toilet room and the shower/bath room. It had a privacy screen you could pull down for changing.

There were exactly enough towels for each person to have one body towel and one hand towel.

Some pictures in the hallway:

I am happy to say that once we were actually in the room we were all able to laugh about our misadventure getting there. We decided to nap/rest for a couple of hours and then go out for dinner.

Up next: A dinner surprise

 

[amjt660]

My first ever room in Japan was in 2001
Small single bed and desk and the pre formed bathroom.

When I swung my legs and sat on the edge of the bed I was pretty much sitting at the desk (they did not even give me a chair for the desk)

I literally could touch the walls on the short distance with my finger tips (and I am only 5'9")

The front desk apologize profusely for putting me (a Toyota employee from a foreign country) in a small room

Only 1 night and then a moved to a room with 2 single beds (so at least I had a spot to put my suitcase)

this room you had (not the loft) was spacious compared to my first room!!!!

Max

 

[bee]

My first ever room in Japan was in 2001
Small single bed and desk and the pre formed bathroom.

When I swung my legs and sat on the edge of the bed I was pretty much sitting at the desk (they did not even give me a chair for the desk)

I literally could touch the walls on the short distance with my finger tips (and I am only 5'9")

The front desk apologize profusely for putting me (a Toyota employee from a foreign country) in a small room

Only 1 night and then a moved to a room with 2 single beds (so at least I had a spot to put my suitcase)

this room you had (not the loft) was spacious compared to my first room!!!!

Max

Love it! I totally appreciate that our room wasn't small by Japanese standards, but it was cramped for four people and our luggage. The space was used efficiently and everything was in good repair, but by the end of our stay we were ready to move on.

I'm fairly certain I'd have a complete attack of claustrophobia in that room.

I think the worst part was the ladder. It came right up to our bed so it was a tight squeeze getting around it. It was a comfortable place to sleep, though, and we saved a lot of money by staying there and not in two hotel rooms somewhere fancy.

 

[krisri18]

Day 5, cont.

So, we got out of the cab from hell...and we were still NOT at our destination. We tried figuring it out from both Google Maps and the printed handbook S had, and wandered a few blocks, still looking.

I guess we were in the run-down part of Kyoto?

Finally we found something promising...

But we couldn't get it! There was no intercom and there was no code provided in the handbook!!!

Wait...maybe this is it?

FINALLY, we found the correct building!! There was an unlocked sliding door and inside was a window to a check in desk. So, although we had booked this place on AirBNB, it was actually more of a hostel setup.

First, we had to pay taxes in cash that were not included in the prepaid room rate.

Then, we had to take off our shoes in the tiny entryway before we could even go up the stairs. Oh yes, we were on the second floor and there was no elevator, so we had the pleasure of dragging all our luggage upstairs.

Finally we were in the room!

Our room was SMALL. We got a great deal for a place so close to the city center, but there's no point in beating around the bush. It was SMALL. See the ladder in the photos above? That lead to a tiny loft with a mattress where S and J slept. They could just barely sit up in bed. M and I had a bit more room downstairs but it was still tight.

Oh, hello!

This sink area was between the toilet room and the shower/bath room. It had a privacy screen you could pull down for changing.

There were exactly enough towels for each person to have one body towel and one hand towel.

Some pictures in the hallway:

I am happy to say that once we were actually in the room we were all able to laugh about our misadventure getting there. We decided to nap/rest for a couple of hours and then go out for dinner.

Up next: A dinner surprise

I'm fairly certain I'd have a complete attack of claustrophobia in that room.

 

[Swissmiss]

Your room reminds me of a hotel stay in London once with my my DD (4 yo at the time) and my sister. I found a hotel that had a double and single room with a connecting door. There was just about enough space to walk between the wall and the side of the bed in our room (the door opened out from that wall into my sister’s single room, at the foot of her bed). In our room there was a full bathroom (toilet, shower, sink) about the size of a small walk-closet (think pre-fabricated completely contained bathroom added to a corner of the room). In my sister’s room the bathroom was also a pre-fab, but the size of a normal closet and you literally had to sit on toilet in order to take a shower! It certainly gave a new meaning to “water closet”.

 

[bee]

Day 5, cont.

S and J took a nap but M and I stayed up so we would be able to sleep that night. Around 6:00 everyone was awake and ready to go find dinner. M and I knew going into this trip that we would have a difficult time finding vegetarian foods since seafood is so ingrained in the food culture in Japan. I am positive that we inadvertently ingested fish or pork broth on our trip. Even though at home and throughout the US we are able to be particular about it, we knew we didn't want to be rude and waste food here and we knew there would be a language and cultural barrier. That said, we did our best and tried to find vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the various places we went.

When I searched for "vegetarian restaurants" on Google Maps, some Indian places came up on the map. Most Indian places have lots of veggie options because it is common to be vegetarian in India for religious and cultural reasons. M and I love Indian food and, lucky for us, so do S and J! We picked a nearby Indian/Nepalese restaurant and made our way there.

On the way...

Another interesting thing about Japan: people actually cross at the crosswalk and wait for the walk signal, even if no cars are coming. Sometimes there were no crosswalks for a good bit, even at intersections, so we had to go a somewhat roundabout way to get where we were going. Often Google was aware of this and told us to cross earlier than we would have thought.

We soon arrived at Partik Restaurant.

The owner/host/server greeted us and seated us.

This is for an all you can eat menu, I believe. We ordered a la carte instead.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE VEGETABLE CURRIES!!!

Beer was cheap and we were on vacation!

M and I shared a beer so as not to get too drunk/sleepy.

After we ordered but before the entrees came out, we were served a complimentary salad.

This is apparently a common Japanese salad and it was really good. I don't know what was in the dressings but they were great!

My palak paneer (cubed cheese in a spinach curry)

M's paneer chili (cheese in a tomato/pepper curry)

NAAN!

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this naan was huge!

Both of our curries were delicious. My palak paneer in particular was SOOOO good. It was probably the best palak paneer I've ever had!

In general I didn't take any photos of our friends' food, but I asked to take a photo of the following because it was something I'd never seen before:

Cheese naan

I tried a bit of their cheese naan and didn't really care for it. The cheese was very sweet and it didn't really compliment the curries. S and J both said that cheese naan is typically not sweet. After the meal they asked what kind of cheese was in the cheese naan and the owner told them what kind (I don't remember) and said they put sugar in it also. That explained the overwhelming sweetness!

Many restaurants in Japan are cash only, but this one accepted credit cards. Japanese restaurants do not allow tipping and the service (and usually tax) is included with the meal charge. Here, like at most restaurants we visited, we paid at the cash register at the front.

As we were checking out, the owner asked where we were from. We told him the US and he seemed interested. Unless you live under a rock you probably know that the US does not have a great reputation internationally (made worse by recent events) so we were surprised that he didn't react negatively. Japanese people in particular do not like Trump, not necessarily because of his politics or policies, but because he is impolite!

The owner thanked us for coming to his restaurant and asked how long we would be in Kyoto. We said only three more days but he gave us fliers and invited us back. If we had had more time there we probably would have gone again! Everything was excellent (except the overly sweet cheese naan) and the prices were very reasonable.

After dinner we headed toward a 7-Eleven to get breakfast for the next day. It had been raining throughout the evening and I was glad to have my raincoat. We were almost to the store when M realized she had left her umbrella in the restaurant. She and I walked back and grabbed her umbrella, then met S and J at 7-Eleven.

Up next: The surprises continue!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Day 5, cont.

S and J took a nap but M and I stayed up so we would be able to sleep that night. Around 6:00 everyone was awake and ready to go find dinner. M and I knew going into this trip that we would have a difficult time finding vegetarian foods since seafood is so ingrained in the food culture in Japan. I am positive that we inadvertently ingested fish or pork broth on our trip. Even though at home and throughout the US we are able to be particular about it, we knew we didn't want to be rude and waste food here and we knew there would be a language and cultural barrier. That said, we did our best and tried to find vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the various places we went.

When I searched for "vegetarian restaurants" on Google Maps, some Indian places came up on the map. Most Indian places have lots of veggie options because it is common to be vegetarian in India for religious and cultural reasons. M and I love Indian food and, lucky for us, so do S and J! We picked a nearby Indian/Nepalese restaurant and made our way there.

On the way...

Another interesting thing about Japan: people actually cross at the crosswalk and wait for the walk signal, even if no cars are coming. Sometimes there were no crosswalks for a good bit, even at intersections, so we had to go a somewhat roundabout way to get where we were going. Often Google was aware of this and told us to cross earlier than we would have thought.

We soon arrived at Partik Restaurant.

The owner/host/server greeted us and seated us.

This is for an all you can eat menu, I believe. We ordered a la carte instead.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE VEGETABLE CURRIES!!!

Beer was cheap and we were on vacation!

M and I shared a beer so as not to get too drunk/sleepy.

After we ordered but before the entrees came out, we were served a complimentary salad.

This is apparently a common Japanese salad and it was really good. I don't know what was in the dressings but they were great!

My palak paneer (cubed cheese in a spinach curry)

M's paneer chili (cheese in a tomato/pepper curry)

NAAN!

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this naan was huge!

Both of our curries were delicious. My palak paneer in particular was SOOOO good. It was probably the best palak paneer I've ever had!

In general I didn't take any photos of our friends' food, but I asked to take a photo of the following because it was something I'd never seen before:

Cheese naan

I tried a bit of their cheese naan and didn't really care for it. The cheese was very sweet and it didn't really compliment the curries. S and J both said that cheese naan is typically not sweet. After the meal they asked what kind of cheese was in the cheese naan and the owner told them what kind (I don't remember) and said they put sugar in it also. That explained the overwhelming sweetness!

Many restaurants in Japan are cash only, but this one accepted credit cards. Japanese restaurants do not allow tipping and the service (and usually tax) is included with the meal charge. Here, like at most restaurants we visited, we paid at the cash register at the front.

As we were checking out, the owner asked where we were from. We told him the US and he seemed interested. Unless you live under a rock you probably know that the US does not have a great reputation internationally (made worse by recent events) so we were surprised that he didn't react negatively. Japanese people in particular do not like Trump, not necessarily because of his politics or policies, but because he is impolite!

The owner thanked us for coming to his restaurant and asked how long we would be in Kyoto. We said only three more days but he gave us fliers and invited us back. If we had had more time there we probably would have gone again! Everything was excellent (except the overly sweet cheese naan) and the prices were very reasonable.

After dinner we headed toward a 7-Eleven to get breakfast for the next day. It had been raining throughout the evening and I was glad to have my raincoat. We were almost to the store when M realized she had left her umbrella in the restaurant. She and I walked back and grabbed her umbrella, then met S and J at 7-Eleven.

Up next: The surprises continue!

The pictures of Japan as you were traveling by train was so interesting. Thanks for including them. They can sure cram a lot of stuff in such a small space. I guess those self cleaning toilets are the norm in Japan? The food from the Indian restaurant looked delicious and the prices seemed reasonable. Looking forward to more adventures! Hopefully not too many more stairs in the future of this trip.

 

[dizfan917]

YUM!

That food looks delicious! I still remember how amazing the curry dish I ate on my last night in Delhi was. I don't remember what the dish was, but it was SO good! I think I lapped it up with 2 naan. MMMMMmmmmm!!

Thanks for taking me to Japan!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thankfully for once I am reading a post with food pictures after I’ve already eaten dinner - so now I’m only jealous but not hungry

 

[bee]

Your room reminds me of a hotel stay in London once with my my DD (4 yo at the time) and my sister. I found a hotel that had a double and single room with a connecting door. There was just about enough space to walk between the wall and the side of the bed in our room (the door opened out from that wall into my sister’s single room, at the foot of her bed). In our room there was a full bathroom (toilet, shower, sink) about the size of a small walk-closet (think pre-fabricated completely contained bathroom added to a corner of the room). In my sister’s room the bathroom was also a pre-fab, but the size of a normal closet and you literally had to sit on toilet in order to take a shower! It certainly gave a new meaning to “water closet”.

Ha! Water closet!

The pictures of Japan as you were traveling by train was so interesting. Thanks for including them. They can sure cram a lot of stuff in such a small space. I guess those self cleaning toilets are the norm in Japan? The food from the Indian restaurant looked delicious and the prices seemed reasonable. Looking forward to more adventures! Hopefully not too many more stairs in the future of this trip.

Glad you are enjoying them! There will be plenty more food photos!

YUM!

That food looks delicious! I still remember how amazing the curry dish I ate on my last night in Delhi was. I don't remember what the dish was, but it was SO good! I think I lapped it up with 2 naan. MMMMMmmmmm!!

Thanks for taking me to Japan!

You're welcome! Thanks for joining me!

Thankfully for once I am reading a post with food pictures after I’ve already eaten dinner - so now I’m only jealous but not hungry

Get ready for more jealousy as time goes on! Be sure to always eat before reading my TR!

 

[Swissmiss]

Get ready for more jealousy as time goes on! Be sure to always eat before reading my TR!

I don’t have enough discipline - for me reading TRs is like reading a good book - I just HAVE to keep reading as soon as an update is available to know the next installment of the story

 

[Rista1313]

Japan has perfected tiny home living.

 

[krisri18]

Japan has perfected tiny home living.

I thought Ikea had done that. Lol

 

[Rista1313]

I thought Ikea had done that. Lol

hmmm I think of Ikea as functional for less money, not less room.

 

[krisri18]

hmmm I think of Ikea as functional for less money, not less room.

They have those display rooms where they cram an entire functioning apartment in 77sq ft or something. Lol