We had another wonderful pancake breakfast, while catching up with family. Then packed up and readied ourselves for the walk to the train station. We were taking the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. It was going to take 2 hours, and the kids were so excited to get a chance to watch some shows.
Maybe it’s just our kids, but it seems like if we have to cut off electronics within an hour or two, they have a tendency to freak out/melt down. Is this just us?! L was freaking out over the fact he tries to hard to be good all year for Santa so he could get toys, and R was just being a grump. She finally told us she was hungry. Traveling with kids requires a lot of patience!
About a block after our snack break we start seeing people running down the street ahead of us. Then we see crowds of people lining the streets. Something big is coming but we have no idea what it is! Finally we see a huge truck rumbling down the road, and right behind is is a tiny runner. Apparently some big relay race is happening today. It was amazing how many people were out to support this race. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
We had marked a Pokémon station just up from the subway. So we were walking there, with the hopes of not just buying more Pokémon items (for L, who became obsessed within the last few months) but also to hopefully watch some people play the game. We’re still trying to figure that part out.
After the Pokémon store, we went to the subway station to get to our hotel. So glad Ty is able to decipher these systems!
We used a few free hotel nights we had, to stay at the Tokyo Conrad hotel. Something so swanky, we never would have booked it ourselves. So walking in with all our bags strapped to us, not a lick of fancy in sight, I always feel a bit like an imposter. I mean their lobby is on the 28th floor!
The room wasn’t quite ready so they sent us up to the the executive lounge where they were just starting their tea service. Snacks and drinks for free as we wait, well sure! Little did we know how crazy busy this weekend was, and how much the Japanese seem to like free food and drinks. We got there just before the rush, but there was a line of people waiting for tables for at least 30 minutes.
We decided to scrap sightseeing for the day and just hit the indoor pool. Everyone was ready for a more relaxed day.
We pool’d till about 5pm then split up to check out the hot tubs and steam rooms in the individual locker rooms. R and I were in heaven! We could have stayed for a long time, but promised the boys just ten minutes. Ty said there were too many business men, so they got out pretty quickly. But the individual hot tubs were pretty nice!
The happy hour at the executive lounge started at 6pm. But we were told it was going to be busy and to get there early. So we showed up at 5:45, and got one of the last 4 person tables. Right at 6pm, the herds hit the food. It was crazy how fast the food was going, the cooks couldn’t bring it out fast enough.
We debated going to get an actual dinner, but we managed to grab enough actual food to fill our bellies. So I enjoyed a few glasses of champagne, while the kids had salami and chicken. Ty ate whatever he could find, and we had the kids upstairs for bedtime by 7:15.
It was a pretty wonderful, low key day. Definitely needed when traveling this much. Tomorrow we will hit the ground running, and try to see as much of Tokyo as we can handle. Though the kids have already asked if we can do the pool in the morning and the evening…
