Our family planned a trip to Hong Kong to visit Mum and Dad in July 2018. When we decided to book our trip, Qantas had a points deal running - with a discount on fares paid with frequent flyer points. We took advantage of that special and booked flights to Tokyo, Japan on our way to Hong Kong. Yes, we know Tokyo isn't really "on the way" to Hong Kong! We just wanted an excuse to get back to Japan and to take the kids there! We only stayed in Tokyo for four days but we managed to pack a lot into those days. I didn't get my actual camera out in Japan, it was much easier just taking photos on my iPhone, so excuse the quality of them.
In the car on the way to the airport - everyone was excited!
Below is a picture of Alissa catching a lift on Dad's suitcase after a long flight. First we flew to Sydney and then on to Tokyo through the night. We arrived early in the morning in Tokyo and were greeted by two ground staff that told us our bags hadn't arrived. Japan is such an organised place, usually you wait at the baggage claim and discover your bags are missing when the last bag has been collected and yours haven't shown up. Instead, they knew our bags weren't put on the plane in Sydney and were there to meet us as soon as we came through the passport check.
We had arranged to meet the owner of the AirBNB we were staying at first thing that morning. Clint needed to fill in paper work for our missing bags at the airport, which meant I had to catch a taxi on my own with the kids to our AirBNB in Harajuku. The taxi driver couldn't find the address I had given him (and didn't speak much english), luckily I had the AirBNB owner's phone number and he happened to be Australian. He explained where to go and even came out looking for our taxi. The AirBNB was fantastic, it was called 'the submarine house' because of its submarine round windows and tight configuration. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms plus a living area, kitchen and washing machine/dryer. This much space is hard to find in Japan! Accomodation for a family of 6 is nearly impossible, unless you want to pay for three seperate hotel rooms. Clint met us a while later and told me that the bags would be delivered to us but that they may take a couple of days to arrive! We were all dressed in warm clothes for plane travel and it was Summer in Tokyo and extremely hot and humid. Our first mission was to buy some clothes and toiletries for the next day or two.
Before we went clothes shopping we stopped for breakfast at Bill Granger's restaurant 'Bill's' in Tokyo. An Aunty of mine had recommended the ricotta pancakes and I can tell you they didn't disappoint! They were the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes we had ever eaten.
They came with banana, burnt butter and syrup!!
Zara was exhausted and slept through the whole breakfast - which made it a very peaceful meal!
After finding some Summer clothes and essentials we worked our way back to Harajuku and the famous Takeshita Street. The kids were blown away by how busy, colourful and packed with tourists it is.
Clint and I spied children eating these huge coloured fairy floss sticks when we were last in Japan by ourselves. We had to get some for our kids to try and watch how they made them.
Tired and loaded up on sugar - a good combination!
Just down from Takeashita Street is the Happy Harry Cafe. It's a cafe where you can see and hold hedgehogs (only in Japan!).
A family photo of us looking a little tired and hot!
The kids loved the hedgehogs and after being a little scared initially, they happily held them.
Zara's impersonation of a hedgehog face!
We then visited a park nearby for a rest in the sun
For dinner we went to a sushi train restaurant where you order your food on a screen and your food gets sent out on a track next to your table. The kids ate heaps and loved the novelty of ordering and waiting for their food to arrive! Luckily they are all mad sushi fans!
After dinner we trained home and collapsed into bed. A good first day (apart from our missing luggage!).
