Tokyo ~ Day 1

Okay, so technically this should be titled 'Tokyo ~ Day 2', but, since the real 'Day 1' was mostly a travel day and we were pretty much exhausted to do anything but eat dinner at the hotel, we'll call the next day, 'Day 1'.

Our adventure in Tokyo first began trying to figure out the subway system, which, was actually fairly easy! Our mission today was to find dish stores with blue & white dishes. I had started a collection the first time I visited Japan; however, 7 moves within 11 years, some of my dishes have seen better days and others have bit the dust completely.

Of course, 11 years is a long time and at 19 years old, I wasn't really paying attention to demographics, so, I did some online research as to where I could find said stores and as a last minute thought, I enlisted a good friend of mine from high school that I recently reconnected with (Facebook is awesome!) who lived in Tokyo herself for a few years for help in finding the illusive "Dirty Dish Store".

We also asked the concierge at the hotel for suggestions on where to find dish stores, and she directed us to Kappabashi, which is the Kitchen District of Tokyo. She also suggested stopping off at Asakusa Buddhist Temple, which is within walking distance of Kappabashi. We were actually considering a bus tour that would have taken us to Asakusa, but, after we figured out the subway system, we thought we'd save ourselves a couple 100 bucks and take our own tour! I always enjoy doing things on our own time table. Especially with two little ones in tow. So, here's a photo collage of our stop off to the temple:


For the most part, the Japanese people weren't as fascinated with Kami's blonde locks as the Korean's are. However, there were a few exceptions (and actually, as I write, I'm wondering if they might be another nationality?):


And then we were off to find some dishes! Navigating ourselves around the streets of Tokyo was also fairly simple. It's always nice to see a posted street name that corresponds with what's on the map. So, we found Kappabashi and we found blue & white dishes. But, I just didn't find what I was looking for. I did, however, find the same dishes that I had bought 11 years ago!

By the time we got back to the hotel, I found that I had a couple of emails from Linsey for directions to the dish store. But, it was late in the day and my two little ones had had enough adventure for the day. My hope was this could be an adventure for another day, but, alas. It turns out it'll have to be an adventure for another trip. :^(

So, after a little resting and getting Kami & AJ down for naps, we decided to venture out to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. And though it was a little cloudy and threatening rain, we decided to take the 30 minute walk to the HRC. It was beautiful going...

...but by the time we were finished with dinner, it was pouring down rain! And with two umbrellas between us, Drew and AJ tried the best they could under one umbrella, and the other I gave to Kami to hold. The result of my motherly instincts of making sure my children were taken care of before I gave thought of myself:
All in all, it was a good adventure for our first day in Tokyo! Stay tuned; day 2 coming soon!