Tokyo, Japan Pt.2

[Caroline]

The next day we woke up at a respectable time and took the subway to the famous fish market. We walked and looked at some fish, but since we got there so late, there were almost no fish left. The fish is said to be so fresh you can't even smell it. It is literally straight off the boat.  Mom wanted some sushi so we found a place with Salmon roe sushi and I tried it and realized that I like Crab roe and other fish roe, but not salmon roe. So Mom had that. I did discover the state fair food of the year. It was octopus with some sort of creamy chowder-y sauce on it, wrapped in bacon on a stick. It was heaven. I also got some sushi erasers and a sushi manet for my locker next year.









We then Took the subway again. It was so packed. I was smooshed up against Mom, and she was smooshed against the wall, and I could not stop.laughing. I don't even know what was so hilarious! I just kept laughing t our situation I guess. Mom was not impressed :P We got to our stop and walked to Tokyo tower. It was so huge! The facts are, that the Tokyo tower is larger than the Eiffel tower by 9 meters including the lightning rod.







 Then we took a taxi to the imperial palace. We didn't get to see much, but what we did see was beautiful. That is where the royal family stays. Then we went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head home. I had an amazing time in Japan, and I really hope to be able to come back some day! Bucket list.







On the 3 hour plane ride back, they had the entertainment sets and dinner on board. The dinner was yum, and I got to watch Rogue One again. Win win! And when we got home, Bob and Dad and Everett were there to meet us! Win win WIN!

Tokyo, Japan Pt. 1

[Caroline]


We flew into Narita airport. On the flight, we even got to see a little bit of Mount Fuji!





We deplaned and then we got on the train to the city, and then transferred to the metro, which we took to the hotel. We put our stuff in the room, and then went out for Ramen, because we were where ramen was created. I got some dipping noodles, (A plate of  cold noodles and a bowl of hot broth. You either mix them, or dip the noodles into the broth and eat them.) Mom had the best bowl of ramen she has ever had. We looked in a bookstore and a grocery store near the hotel, then went to the room and fell asleep. We woke up much later than we intended, and got off to a late start at 11 am. :( 
We started to walk from the hotel. We walked past the area where they were building stadiums and such for the Tokyo 2020 summer olympics. I was kind of in awe about that. We just walked and talked about traveling and such. We reached an intersection, and I didn't notice, but Mom said "Caroline, I think we made it". I looked up and saw a huge sign arching over the entrance to a little road that said "Harajuku" on it. We were in the Harajuku neighborhood!!! I was really hoping during this whole trip that I would be able to make it here. Harajuku is a famous neighborhood in Tokyo known for it's unique stores and it's fashionable people with one of a kind outfits. Most of the stores were resale or one of their kind. I am not sure why... We just walked in and out of store taking it in. It was so cool. here was one store that was like a time machine. It had everything in it from barbie dolls from the 80s to 1999 olympic sweatshirts to humongus platform boots to nose rings to crazy outfits worn by the people working there. It was absolutely breathtaking. We continued walking and we also got some wrapping cloths. In Japan, using a colored cloth to wrap things in is very popular. We got several, some as gifts, some to keep.

 We stopped at an H&M, funny enough, so mom could look for something, and while she was looking, I could try on anything and everything I wanted. While we were there I got a floppy hat which I have been asking for for a long time. I haven't had one in forever. We kpt walking. On our way we ran into a crepe stand with 1,000 different kinds of crepes. We got one and It was wonderful. We also found one of the biggest Harajuku shopping malls where you get all of the fashionable stuff that you see people wearing on the street. There was some pretty fun stuff in those stores. at the last store we went to I found an outfit and Mom and I were immediately smitten. It meant no back to school clothes, but it was totally worth it. 































We went out and went to the park with the shrine. We got there just at closing time so We didn't get to see the shrine, but we got to see all of the arches leading up to it. We walked into Shibuya a little bit and got some coffee, and shopped. We also went into lush so Mom could get a bath bomb. 









We walked back to the hotel then and crashed.

Kobe, Japan!

[Caroline]

Hello! Last week I went with my mom to Japan! She had to go for work and she decided to bring me along. We flew in to Kobe, (pronounced "Ko-bay"), and ended up waiting for 5 hours at the airport waiting for my Mom's colleagues to arrive. We ate sushi at a place that had a conveyor belt running by the table with sushi on it, or you could order stuff seperately and have it brought to you on a little train that stopped at your table. My favorite was sushi with eel, cream cheese, Japanese omelette with rice wrapped in seaweed. It was delicious. We ate, and then we found a table at a starbucks and we read and listened to music and worked until Chao and Fei arrived. Then we took a taxi to the hotel. The airport was on a manmade island called Kansai, so while driving to the mainland, we just crossed bridges after bridge to no end.

We arrived at the hotel, but it kind of tricked us. The lobby and lounge looked amazing, but our room was at the same level of a Motel. We still made it work.



 We all went to a steakhouse attached to the hotel that night for dinner. Kobe is famous for it's beef. We sat down and each had a huge bowl set in front of us. Then a chef came and cooked our food in front of us and set in our bowls, telling us what to dip the food in to bring out the flavors. He was so nice. Mom got the beef, and I got prawns. But these were huge prawns, with claws and heads and everything. I had to watch Chao eat his to eat mine because I had no idea how. The beef was amazing. I walked away from that table full, satisfied, and extremely, extremely happy.







The next day I stayed at the hotel and did schoolwork while Mom went to work. Then I took a taxi to Mom's work place and met her there. We went out to dinner at an italian restaurant, oddly enough, by the harbor. It was delish, and the view was absolutely fabulous. there was even a hotel that was built to look like a boat on the shore. It was all so beautiful!

The next morning, we woke up early to go on a hike in the mountains literally next door to the hotel. Fei came along too. It was so beautiful. Everything was so green, and there were some huge and beautiful waterfalls too. We came back and Mom and I had breakfast together. It was fun. We got to chat :) Mom came back around noon, and we all went to the airport. We split once we got there because Fei and Chao were leaving Japan to go back to Shanghai, and Mom and I were flying locally to Tokyo.

My Future Home!!

[Caroline]

Near our apartment, there is a huge castle type mansion.I have been thinking, and I have decided that when I grow up and become a billionaire doing whatever it is that I will be doing, I will buy it and live there. My Mom and I are going to to have sleepovers there too. It is currently a hotel, called the Moller Villa Hotel, with a very expensive restaurant in the bottom. It has a beautiful garden out front in which I will walk my dogs. I am very excited for my new home!!

Our own movie theater

[Caroline]

Last night we met up with Fei, one of my Mom's work friends, and her two sons, Leo and Lucas, and her husband. We met at a movie theater that Fei has a membership to. We got our own theater! It had two couches and a big screen. There was a bunch of movies that we could choose from. We ended up on Trolls. (Everyone except Mom and Dad had seen it. I went with Ladeeda, Maggie and Everett during Fall break last year.)

It was so fun, and I remember how much I like that movie. I really do think that it is good for all ages. It may be animated, but the voices and humor are great. All of Fei's family including the boys are fluent in English and Mandarin. We had a great time at the movie, and afterwards, we went to Pizza Hut. To be brutally honest, I did not expect great turnouts. But it went very well! I think that
I like Pizza Hut here a lot better than back home. We had pizza, chicken wings, ribs, spaghetti, waffle fries, and calamari. It was really good!!We had an amazing time!






These are pictures from a child model search happening in the same place as the movie - somethings are very similar between the US and China! :)

The Zoo

[Caroline]

We had all woken up, I had created my agenda for the day, and gotten started, then Dad said to me quietly, we are going to the zoo in 15 minutes, get ready, but didn't tell Everett until we got there. I don't really enjoy the Indianapolis zoo, but I love the Waco cameron park zoo. This one might have been even better than that one. We started with reptiles, and it was so gross, and so slither-y! There were iguanas, turtles, snakes, lizards, and such. I thought it was amazing, but really scaly and grody. I am not much of a reptile person. I had the phone, and was taking pictures as fast as I could, not wanting to miss a thing. There were just fields wish bushes and flower patches in between the exhibits. It was beautiful, and there were some people, but it was not packed. I liked that about this zoo. we saw all sorts of animals that you do not see in U.S. zoos. We got to see Great pandas, which is one of my two favorite animals, Lesser pandas, which Everett thought was a raccoon, pumas which made me think of my favorite meme:

tigers, lions, albino kangaroos, normal kangaroos, llamas, alpacas, giraffes, baboons, chimps, and several other monkeys, birds, falcons, eagles, bears,

 orange flamingos, gorillas, a puma,

                                                             (Albino kangaroo)

(Lesser panda, everett's raccoon)

lemurs, one with a baby, and more. I loved them all, but I think that the pandas were my favorite. They were more brown that white, but that is okay.

                                                                  (Hyenas)

                                                                         (Bears)

(King cobra)

We walked from exhibit to exhibit looking and admiring. We went home after a lot of time.