The Log Dog Blog: Tokyo

Showing posts with label Tokyo. Show all posts

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Asian Adventure 2020: Day 1

Just as I did when we went to Tokyo in 2017, I'm going to write short blog post each day because it will be more manageable than trying to write about the whole trip when we get home, which I usually what I do!

This is an adventure we'd been planning for a year! C found a sale on airline tickets last winter and since we'd never been to Thailand or Singapore, we decided to book a trip! I wasn't working at the time – I was home with my mom – so my schedule wasn't an issue, and we figured if we were going to travel so far, we'd go for two weeks.

Fast forward to June, when the Reading Specialist job became available. Although I really, really, really wanted the job, before I applied, I emailed my principal and told her I had a trip planned for the first two weeks of February that could not be changed or cancelled. I knew it might be a deal breaker, but I was more than willing to take the time unpaid, and since that position does not require a substitute in the case of absences, my principal graciously agreed and the rest is history! I'm so fortunate that things worked out as they did!

On Friday morning, January 31, went left our house at 8:00 am and my mom kindly drove us to the airport. Our flight left at 11:00 am and landed 13 hours and 40 minutes later in Tokyo. We had a 3 hour layover, and then a 7 hour flight from Tokyo to Bangkok. Fortunately, the first flight was a 2-4-3 plane, so we had a pair of seats to ourselves, and then we lucked out with an empty middle seat between us on the second flight, which was awesome. We flew on ANA, which is the airline we flew on when we went to Tokyo, and I really can't say a bad word about them. Their flight attendants are wonderful and the customer service is top notch. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about was that on our first flight, the temperature in the cabin was ridiculous stifling, and yet people wore coats and hats and slept under blankets, so maybe it was just us? We do both like it to be cold and I guess we are in the minority because clearly no one was complaining about how hot the plane was!

The flights were otherwise fantastic, the layover in Tokyo was relaxing (there was a 7-Eleven in the airport and the 7-Elevens in Tokyo have amazing sandwiches and snacks, so we were super excited!), and even passport control in Bangkok, while busy, was perfectly fine. We are staying at a hotel near the airport for one night, just because it was convenient after such a long day of travel and arriving so late at night (after 1:00 am).

We are very tired, and the change in time zones has already messed us up a bit, but these are small prices to pay for the privilege of traveling!

My beloved work wife sent me the most adorable crocheted rainbow Dachshund for Christmas, and I brought it along on this trip since we can't bring our actual dogs when we travel! I decided I'm going to take pictures of it throughout the trip in different places we visit because I like to do weird, adorable things like that!

we were on flight #1

we flew over my hometown!

Japan's coastline

exhausted but happy!

I need to get some rest because the exploring begins tomorrow!

Happy Tails to you!

Monday, January 1, 2018

2017: A Look Back

2017 was a bit of a roller coaster for us! There were certainly some very happy moments, but also some decidedly sad and worrisome ones as well. Such is life, I suppose…but if there were more ups than downs, then I think it's safe to say it was a good year!

In January, we went to WDW for the "After Hours at Magic Kingdom" event. We'd done this once before and loved it, and we had a great time at this year's event, too!

In February, we went to Philadelphia for a weekend because we'd never really spent much time there aside from sporting events and it was so much fun to soak up as much of the history as possible.

March was a relatively quiet one, mainly because Sadie was having a rough time and we were at the vet for appointments quite frequently. To be honest, it was kind of a sad month because we knew Sadie's health was rapidly declining and we were living on borrowed time with her. We just tried to love on her as much as possible every day.

April brought spring break, which meant a long-anticipated trip to Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland! What a FABULOUS trip! I loved it so much and would go back in a heartbeat because Tokyo was such a cool city!

May represents the year perfectly – the lowest low and the highest high. On May 5^th, we helped our Sadie cross the Rainbow Bridge, which was indisputably the saddest moment of our year. How we miss that wonderful little dog. At the other end of the spectrum, on May 26^th, my brother and sister-in-law welcomed our first niece, Emma, to the family, which was the absolute highlight of 2017 for us!

In June, we attended a Lantern Festival, and it was truly the most magical experience! I definitely want to do this again! It also brought the end of the school year, and although I love teaching, it's always a great feeling to wrap things up after a long year! Once school ended, we went on an amazing adventure to Copenhagen and Prague. If only we were independently wealthy so that we could just travel all the time because we love exploring new places…the whole strangers in a strange land thing!

July was another busy month! I taught an Elementary Math Methods course for pre-service teachers, which was awesome. SO awesome. I love working with pre-service teachers because they are excited and passionate about education and their enthusiasm is contagious! On a sad note, my mom's dog, Carmen, passed away, and she was very much an honorary member of my herd. Ginny was particularly close to her, and so it between losing Sadie in May and Carmen in July, it was a tough few months for her.

We also did some traveling in July! We went to Edinburgh, which had long been on my bucket list, and in a happy twist of fate, one of our friends happened to be there at the same time, so we were able to meet up one afternoon, which we loved! We also spent a weekend up in Canada with family, and then we went on a Disney Cruise at the end of July with C's parents to celebrate their 50th anniversary!

In August, I went on a super fun trip with my mom! We spent two nights at WDW, followed by a four-night Disney Cruise! We actually ended up with an additional night back at WDW because our flight home was cancelled!

The end of August was less fun, as it not only meant back-to-school time, but Maddy had to have surgery to remove her spleen because there was a large tumor on it (which thankfully turned out to be benign!). She had a tough time with recovery and it was due in no small part to my mom's care and devotion that she slowly but surely returned to her happy self.

For the third summer in a row, I did my #100daysofdoxies / #100daysofhappy photo series. I love capturing the ridiculous and adorable antics of our dogs!

September is always a crazy and exhausting month because of the everything that comes with the start of a new school year. I know people always say that teachers are tired at the end of the school year, but I find the beginning of the school year much worse. Of course the end of the school year is tiring, but the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter each day. Not so at the beginning of the school year!

Between September and October, I also spent three weekends up in Canada with family. Frankly, it was bittersweet as my beloved grandma was moved into a nursing home about eight hours further away from me. I am certainly hoping that we will be able to visit her this year.

The other trip we took was to Las Vegas to see a Golden Knights game in October. We had a great time and it's always fun to see a new NHL arena. This one was our 34^th!

November brought a trip to Disneyland Paris and although it had a rocky start with a missed flight, we had an incredible time!

The end of the year was a bit of a blur because Maddy had to have spinal surgery in late November. Yep, a second surgery only three months after her splenectomy. 2017 was not the best year for that poor little dog! Thankfully, she recovered beautifully this time! Other noteworthy events include the Remembrance Ceremony in honor of Sadie and Carmen, Christmas, and finally our 23^rd wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve!

Tomorrow, it's back to school after an all-too-brief winter break, but we've got some fun things planned for 2018 and we're looking forward to lots of adventures!

Finally, I wanted to thank YOU for reading my blog!

Today is the five-year anniversary of The Log Dog Blog! When I started, I really didn't have any idea of the direction this would take; I just knew I wanted to somewhere to share our stories with far-away family members! It has turned into a place where I can document both the simple, everyday parts of our lives, as well as the exciting and amazing things we've been fortunate to see and do! It has kept me connected to people I don't see nearly often enough in real life and it has given me an outlet for sharing big and little moments through words and pictures.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Happy Tails to you!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

Tokyo Disneyland Hotel

We have stayed at a lot of Disney hotels. We've stayed at all of the WDW resort hotels and all three Disneyland resort hotels. They each have their charm and appeal (theming, proximity to parks, amenities, ease of transportation, etc.). The "deluxe" tier hotels are WDW are very nice and we have enjoyed staying at them, but don't make a point of doing so unless we get a great annual passholder rate. Grand Floridian is the flagship resort at WDW and rightly so, because it is absolutely beautiful!

However, for a long time I maintained that the Disneyland Hotel was the best Disney hotel we'd ever stayed in and I never felt that Grand Floridian was quite as awesome as the Disneyland Hotel. The history, the theming, and the overall style of the Disneyland Hotel are just fabulous. We've stayed there on a few different trips to California, with the most recent being in October 2015, and we were upgraded to what has to be one of the best rooms at the hotel aside from the specially themed rooms – a corner room on the top floor with two balconies and views of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. We thought that room would be the pinnacle of our Disney hotel experiences.

We were wrong! In January 2016, we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel when we visited Disneyland Paris. Everything about this hotel placed it head and shoulders above either Grand Floridian or the Disneyland Hotel. The hotel is beyond beautiful. If it were at all possible, I would live in this hotel! The service was incredible and it was less than a five-minute walk from our room to the park entrance. That is tough to beat! So the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris became our new gold standard in terms of Disney hotels.

You may have guessed it…we were proven wrong yet again. Let me say that the Disneyland Hotel at Tokyo Disneyland is stunning and our new favorite Disney Hotel. The park view we had, a two-minute walk to the monorail station and a three-minute walk to the park entrance, the amazing service…I could go on and on. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but we definitely have a new favorite Disney hotel!