SNOW in the Pilbara: Japan, Tokyo

Clinton and I went on a holiday to Japan at the start of April. Originally we planned to take the whole family but after some research we found the cost and practicality of taking four young children to Japan were insurmountable. After talking to Clinton's parents, they kindly agreed to fly to Karratha and look after all FOUR children while we travelled to Japan for 10 days. We were so grateful for the opportunity, especially Clinton who hadn't been back to Japan since his mission over 16 years ago. It turned out to be a trip of a lifetime and we will cherish our memories of it forever.

Grammie and Papa flew to Perth first and spent a few days with Trent's family, then they flew to us and spent two days with us before we left. Clinton had to fly to Perth before me on business, so I met him on Saturday afternoon after saying goodbye to the kids (wishing Mum and Dad good luck) and flying to Perth on my own. It was a weird feeling flying to Perth on my own and knowing I wouldn't see the kids for such a long time. My nerves improved once I met up with Clinton, I think we finally got excited about the prospect of flying to Japan the following morning. We had an early flight on Sunday and flew to Hong Kong with a short layover and then on to Tokyo. The flights themselves felt like a holiday to me...I had nothing to do except eat, sleep, watch movies and read! Bliss! Normally I'm busy looking after kids on airplanes and barely functioning by the time we land. Here is an iPhone selfie of us on the plane, do we look relaxed or what?

We arrived in Tokyo late Sunday night and to say we were excited is a massive understatement. We got into the taxi and Clinton was immediately speaking Japanese to the driver. He told me it was broken Japanese but it sounded pretty fluent to me as they chatted to each other. I've only heard Clinton speak Japanese a couple of times in all the years we've been married. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Shinjuku, overlooking the cityscape of Tokyo. I knew I had to get some sleep but I couldn't wait to get out there and explore. Here is the view from our hotel room.

We were up early (habit, thanks to our kids) and walking around Shinjuku. I couldn't believe how clean and organised the city was, in comparison to other large cities I've been to.

The Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower really stands out as you walk around the city, it has such a sleek shape.

I was surprised by all the trees and plants around the city. There were lots of these little planter boxes around, full of colourful flowers.

One of the main tourist attractions in Tokyo is the Sky Tree - to get a glimpse of the vastness of the city from above. However, you also get a view from the top of Municipal Building which happened to be directly across from where we were staying. We headed there first thing and lined up with several tourist groups.

Tokyo is a huge city

Some souvenirs they were selling at the Municipal Building.

Another view of the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

You can't go to Japan and not be in awe of the vending machines. They are everywhere and sell nearly everything! My favourite thing to buy from the vending machines was hot chocolate in a can. It was delicious and the perfect temperature. Clinton and I also liked the ice-cream vending machines and we used them often!

We then visited Meiji Jingu temple

These are wooden wishing plaques or "ema"

It was a beautiful temple, surrounded by lush, green parkland

Clinton holding his DJI Osmo mobile - he used it to capture lots of video footage

Such pretty trees and bamboo everywhere

We then visited the famous Takeshita Street in Harajuku and it was as overwhelming as I expected it to be. We joined the crush of people and tried to find something to eat. There are plenty of options if you're willing to line up for them.

This fairy floss looked amazing but line for it was huge!

There was a large line for these sweet pastries so we joined the queue...unsure of what we were actually getting. They turned out to be a crispy sweet pastry filled with like a creme patisserie. They were good!