Stock Show!

Our friends asked if we wanted to go to the stock show.  We had taken the older boys, but apparently hadn't taken B.  He LOVED it.  I can't believe we had deprived him of this very unique experience.  We also went to the extreme dog show, which was mheh.

 

1/2 days are the best days

These guys had a half day a few weeks ago, so we went to lunch and Dave and Busters for the afternoon.

 

Randoms from Japan

These guys did A LOT of shopping on our trip.  Things were very reasonable!

The bathrooms had some pretty funny signs.

We did a lot of eating, which was also reasonable.

And wandering/exploring with no real agenda.

B loved these capsule stores which were EVERYWHERE.

We stayed on this little alleyway, but these were all over Tokyo and so cute to explore.

Ads really wanted to buy a nice knife while we were there.  Pretty much the only stores open around New Years were knife stores, so that was what we did!

And ate many meals at 7-11, very common for Japanese as well.

This little ramen restaurant was one of Nicholas's favorites.  And my favorite bathroom signs.  The next 3 photos go together.

You order your individualized ramen on a kiosk and then eat in silence in individual booths.  If you need anything, you put it under a little garage door and they bring it out.  No need to even ask for water, you have your own spout!

These two were getting sick as we left to fly home, so they slept a lot on the train ride, which led to a long adventure as we had gotten on the wrong train.  When we exited, it was SNOWING!  And we were ery far from our home, so we ubered.

The sweetest woman owned this gyoza restaurant close to where we stayed.  We ate here often (though she closed for NYE, NY day and several days around that time).

Vending machines were everywhere!  With WARM drinks!  It was amazing.

 

Last Day- Adventure

While we had planned on going out of Tokyo for a few days, it just wasn't in the cards for us this time.  Between train mishaps online, no seats on trains and poor planning, we never made it.  The last day, we did take many trains to the coast.  While not a perfect adventure either (freezing cold, trouble with timing of eating, crowded trains, Mt Fuji hidden by clouds and other factors), we did manage an adventure.

What could have been a great view of Mt Fuji.

 

New Years is a major holiday in Japan, which we did not realize.  Many families shut down their businesses for several days and hunker down at home.  Its also a time for prayer.  We heard a million people visit the Meiji Shintu shrine on New Years day, but it was the only day that worked with our schedule to visit.  The area is filled with vendors selling food, souvenirs etc.  While it was incredibly busy (and we didn't dare get into the line to get into the actual temple), it was a really fun day to  explore the area.