Finale to a fabulous 5.

Kind of unintentionally - but this post will be the final entry of this blog. As I write this, I've completed an incredible, unforgettable 5 years working and living in Chiba Prefecture - and I've returned to my home country of the U.S.

I just wanted to share shots from my hectic last few weeks in Chiba (and Japan) - but the little joys within them that make me want to go visit again as soon as I can.

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes.

Yep. This is my car trunk (with the rear seats folded down) loaded up with stuff to ship back home. Thankfully, the people at the post office in Chibaminato were incredibly helpful - not to mention it's one of only three post offices in the prefecture were you can send out books, etc. for a slightly discounted rate! (The other two locations are in Narashino and Narita Airport.)

I wound up spending over $700 on shipping...yikes, moving really is no joke.

Love these handwritten messages at Starbucks! So sweet.

Towards the end of my time in Japan, busyness escalated so much that between moving, work, and catching up with friends - the only free "times" I had was early morning. This photo is from when I met up with a friend at 6:30am because that was the only time our schedules were open (she was moving back to the US too, and running a schedule probably even worse than mine).

More early morning pick-ups.

For the last 2 months, I was probably averaging 2-3 hours of sleep per night. Towards the end, I was terrified I might get into a car accident or something - like this morning, when I had to leave Kamogawa at 6am to get back to Chiba City for more appointments. This taco meat sandwich was absolutely epic...and the 10 minutes of shut-eye I got really helped!

Dinner in Kamogawa - one of my all-time favorites: kinmedai no nitsuke (golden eye snapper boiled in Japanese seasonings)

When will I see you again...? Kamogawa's lovely Maebara Beach.

In between all the running around too though, I got to spend some quality time with friends - and even managed to actually do a lot of those plans we'd talked about but never gotten around to doing.

Seriously one of the coolest hotels ever...and for such a steal!

One such instance was going to Tokyo Disney Sea with a bunch of friends from work...and then staying at the Brighton Hotel in Shinurayasu, just one station away from Maihama (where the Tokyo Disney Resort is located).

There were 5 of us - so we stayed in the loft room - gorgeous, with a fantastic view, right next to the station...and super spacious! Ugh I wish I could live there.

Best of all, it was only 5,000 yen per person for the night...including breakfast! This is unthinkable considering the class of the hotel. You'll pay a minimum 7,000 yen per night for a cramped room in a business hotel around this area - and perhaps more if you try to add breakfast. On a final note - their breakfast had a huge variety of food and drink to choose from - we definitely got a great deal on this one.

I will definitely want to stay at the Brighton again.

Happy 30th anniversary!

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort! So just two days after I went to Disney Sea, I also went to Disney Land...the day ended in crazy rain, but we had a fantastic time nonethelss :)

But perhaps no place is better than a place you can call "home."

But I must say...one of the most touching experiences was a friend allowing me to stay with her for my last week in Japan. Not only have I never done a proper homestay lasting for more than 1 night - it was so kind of her to let me into her home and stay with her family. Pictured above is from our temaki (hand-wrapped sushi) party on my last night...unbelievable to many, but my first time doing such a thing! (Just realized I took the photo before the main fillings and seaweed actually were added to the table though, whoops.) I'd love to try it over here in the States.

I know this is a super jumbled post - but my 5 years in Chiba were such a hodgepodge of experiences, I don't think I can possibly present it in an organized way while giving it due justice.

So to try to sum things up...

...thank you for an incredible five years!!

Just one night. (@Tokyo Disney Sea Hotel Miracosta!)

So at the end of May, my mother came to visit. As a part of our late Mother's Day celebration, I arranged for a stay at the wondrous Tokyo DisneySea Hotel Miracosta!

Our room keys. Each guest gets their own - to keep! Also, straight lines are hard to draw on a trackpad...

My family has gone to the Disney Resorts in Florida and California a handful of times when I was growing up. We've stayed at a handful of the Disney hotels, and when I was studying abroad in Tokyo, my parents and I even spent a few nights at the Tokyo Disney Ambassador Hotel. I was pretty confident I knew what it was like staying at a Disney hotel.

But the Hotel Miracosta rocked my socks off.

When I talked about how much I liked Disney, people here would almost automatically respond that I needed to spend a night here. But all I really knew was that the Hotel Miracosta is so popular that it's nearly impossible to book...supposedly you need to book over a year in advance - well, if you're trying to book directly. I hadn't planned that far in advance, but I barely managed to find an opening through a travel agency. Aside from the suites, Miracosta's rates (and availability!) depends strongly on which view you are booking - but I'll get into that a bit later in this post.

I was pretty skeptical with all the hype, but despite the lofty price tag, it was totally worth it. I'd so do it again.

Hotel lobby!

Land of dreams for sure! Cast members in the entrance area will enthusiastically approach you to see if you need help with your luggage. If you come around check-in time, the lobby will be overflowing with people waiting - not too long at all! - to be shown to their room by a cast member. The Miracosta has all the best parts of Japanese and Disney service combined.

Studiously checking out the hotel info channel.

Maybe because I only really stay at business hotels in Japan, but the sheer size of the room really impressed me. I guess it is the size of a standard hotel room back home though - I guess I mostly only stay at business hotels here in Japan, where the rooms are about the size of a closet ;D

Being silly in the powder room.

View from our room!

I touched upon this at the beginning of the post, but room availability and rates depend strongly on which side of the hotel you're trying to book. For standard rooms, there are three views are available (in the order of price/difficulty to book): the Porto Pallazzo side, the Venetian side, and the Toscana side. We were on the Venetian side, which offered a partial (but still gorgeous!) view into Disney Sea. Porto Pallazzo is by far the most popular side because it offers a full view into the park...someday I will stay in one of those rooms!!

Out front the hotel! (Also, yes my sweatshirt is insane and that's why I love it!)

Guests of Tokyo Disney Resort get to enjoy all sorts of perks during their stay, like an unlimited pass for the Tokyo Disney Resort monorail during the duration of your stay, and early entry into the Tokyo Disney Land or Sea (available on the day of your check out as well)! Even cooler is that (1) if you purchase anything from the shops within the resort, they can deliver it directly to your hotel bell service - fantastic considering how much omiyage people buy here in Japan! and (2) even if you're only staying one night, like I did, you can check out and they'll hold your luggage until late that evening (10pm, I think?)!

Wandering the Tokyo Disney Resort.

After settling into our room, my mother and I decided to take advantage of our monorail pass to go wandering around the resort. We took a lovely ride to the JR Maihama Station area, which is connected directly to the Ikspiari shopping mall and Tokyo Disney Ambassador Hotel!

Random shots as we wandered the Tokyo Disney Resort (counterclockwise, from the top left):
(1) Awesome giant map painting of Tokyo Disney Sea, located right by the Hotel Miracosta entrance to the park
(2) Ceiling mural at the newly renovated Ambassador Hotel - where my parents and I stayed 6 years ago!
(3) Giant cookie art (Happy 30th Anniversary, TDR!) the bakery inside the Ambassador Hotel.
(4) Mickey grabby things inside the monorail car!
(5) My mom being boss inside the Ambassador Hotel lobby
(6) One of my new favorite cafes - the epic nana's green tea, located on the ground floor of Ikspiari!

Retracing our steps from 7 years ago!

Next post...mother-daughter date at Tokyo Disney Sea!

Everyday should be Disney day!

I love amusement parks!!! Something about them takes me back to being a little kid and I laugh like a maniac on roller coasters.

Despite my intense love for theme parks of all kinds and having gone to Tokyo Disney Land five times over the course of a single year, I still hadn't managed to go to Tokyo Disney Sea for the entire four years I've been here (five if you add in my time as an exchange student).

Long awaited Tokyo Disney Sea!!!

While I recognized a lot of the rides from other Disney parks, Tokyo Disney Sea is one of a kind. For years, I had heard how pretty it is, and TDS definitely did not disappoint!

Duffy and Shellie May (shortly after renamed Yorrick and Ophelia) enjoying the scenery.

It got intensely hot and bright! But even more gorgeous!

Mermaid Lagoon!!! Althought it is under renovation...:(

We had only heard about prettiness, and that there wasn't much to ride....certainly, there aren't as many rides as Disney Land, but more than enough to keep you occupied for a day!

Playground area inside Mermaid Lagoon. I didn't actually go in, so I will have to go an explore another time!

Trying to recreate Kicchan's face in the photo...a perfect rectangle!

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Tower of Terror. But we are not going crazy and the "Tower of Terror" story is totally based on the whole Twilight Zone thing right??? Because the TDS Tower of Terror had some weird voodoo doll story....not that it changes the ride itself in anyway, but it was just strange.

I don't have photos, but other awesome rides were the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (does this exist in any of the US Disney parks? I don't remember it at all, but it was a very Peter Pan-esque ride), Journey to the Center of the Earth (intensely fun but super short!), Sindbad's Storybook Voyage (like It's a Small World...including the crazily catchy song part!), and Indie Jones (so nostalgic!!).

Inside the brand new Toy Story Mania! attraction.

One thing I am still unsure of...supposedly the Toy Story Mania! attraction didn't open until the 9th of July, but we totally went on the 3rd and got to ride it like it had always been there. Since it seemed so normal, I just assumed this was an old ride and there was a new one somewhere else, but afterwards I kept seeing footage on the news and commercials on TV, and it was totally the same ride we went on! I guess we were guinea pigs?

Cranberry popcorn!!!

Disney food is usually quite good, and the Tokyo Disney resorts seem to take this to a different level. Tokyo Disney is really big on their popcorns! I had never realized the flavors sold at TDL are different from those sold at TDS. Disney Sea had CRANBERRY! and MILK TEA! flavored popcorn, and both were mindblowing! I would literally go back just to get some more popcorn.

This Cruella de Vil was AMAZING.

I also never realized they have villain characters around too! The lady playing Cruella was really fantastic, she kept petting anything people had that was remotely fur-like and saying really creepy things in English! I hope I run into her again sometime.

The Legend of Mythica show at the Mediterranean Harbor!

As usual, Tokyo Disney resort shows are made to impress! Since this show is performed on the water, they use giant boats with lots of fun decorations and effects!

Jet ski performers zooming into place! So cool.

The show takes advantage of all the wide space to do awesome tricks like these kite maneuvers.

More TDS pretty scenery!!!

Sorry for the horribly messy post, but I figure Disney parks are pretty self explanatory! However, if you are a fan of theme parks and/or Disney, I definitely recommend Disney Sea. While most of the rides already exist at other Disney parks, I don't think any of the other parks are quite as "scenic" as this one. It's also really chill, so you can enjoy a more leisurely, mature trip to Disney :D

My next mission is to potentially stay at the Hotel Miracosta and watch the harbor show from the room balcony!!!

One Week in Chiba: Part 4 ~Tokyo Disneyland Halloween 2011~

On the next leg of our trip, my mother and I went on a playdate to Tokyo Disneyland! I've been wanting to go to the Halloween event for ages, and since my dad (who is not such a big fan of theme parks) was off playing golf, this was a perfect chance for my mom and I to go.

Halloween decorations in front of Cinderella's Castle!

The forecast called for rain that day so I was a little uneasy about how much we would actually be able to enjoy the park, but it cleared up pretty early on and turned out to be a gorgeous day!

 The entire park is decked out in Halloween decorations, so it's a lot of fun enjoying them as you wander around. The highlight for me is by far the Haunted Mansion, which is given a total Nightmare Before Christmas makeover at this time of the year. Do we have that at Disney World/Disneyland in the States too???

Zombie dancers?!

Another thing that I'm pretty sure we don't have (or at least nowhere near the same scale) at the Disney parks back home are the parades

Some random shots from the Halloween parade:

I always love the dancers' costumes :D I would SO want to wear this outfit!

Two-faced lady sitting on the inside of one of the floats.

Vampires? They are super cute~.

One of the dancers interacting with a member of the audience.

In between parades, rides, and walking all over the places, we replenished our energy with snacks. No trip to Tokyo Disneyland is complete without this:

Soy sauce & butter popcorn! Pure genius.

In typical Japanese fashion, there was also a bunch of different "limited time" foods available just the Halloween event. This is the pumpkin soft serve!

Soon the evening rolled around, and it was almost time for the Electrical Parade! 

I think? I heard someone say that they hadn't been doing this parade for awhile because of setsuden (conserving electricity) stuff. When I last came in the summer, they had a much shorter and simpler version only for rainy days, so I wasn't sure how much to expect...but I was very very pleasantly surprised!


And here's a bunch of photos from the parade:

Goofy is hiding around the center of the photo, and Minnie is standing right next to the giant drum!

Toy Story float!

Alice and the Cheshire Cat.

Monsters, Inc. float.

Genie! Someone around me was constantly talking about how this flight has been repaired/given a makeover. You can't tell in this photo, but Genie can change colors, etc. - like he changes into an aloha shirt!

Many of the princesses were present too! A little blurry, but this is Cinderella's float.

And once again, you can't forget the dancers! ...and I just wanted to post this photo, which I think turned out really cool with the moving lights.

Anyway, the Halloween event will be held until October 31, so there's only about a week left...but if you have the chance, please go! It's so much fun!!! There's also the annual Christmas event that will start in November and run until the end of the year.