One Week in Japan!

 We had planned a family trip Stateside, but plans changed due to health reasons... So instead I had to take my daughter and her little family to Japan. Sara tagged along and we stayed for a week!

We arrived into Narita and made our way to our usual Hotel. We ended up just staying in. Mostly because everyone except me got sick! So, we all just rested and by Wednesday morning I had breakfast and we got ready to ride the Limousine Bus to our stay at Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel. No fussing with trains and carrying our luggage as we changed stations, Yippee! Just one shot loaded our luggage, got onto the bus and we rode for an hour and a half.

If was definitely a nice ride. We got to our hotel by around 3pm. My grandson, loved the play area! Other kids were having fun there too, while parents were checking in. We got our rooms and both faced the Tokyo Bay. Sara even noticed that we could see just a glimpse of Mt. Fuji in the distance. It was overcast, but you could definitely make out a silhouette. Wow!

 

Our room was nice and the beds were so comfortable. I loved the window treatments, they were Tatami style too! So you would just slide the gold style divider and than the white rice paper shade. We definitely felt excitement in the air!! New adventures await!

 

We decided to eat at the buffet restaurant in the hotel for dinner. It was definitely a feast with many choices for sure! Just look at my dessert choices! Haha! Sara and my grandson were not as hungry as the rest of us, because they were still battling a cough and cold. So we just ate our fill and than decided we'd call it a night so that everyone could rest for our day of fun at Tokyo Disneyland!

 From Sara and my room we could see downtown Tokyo and all the skyscrapers with lights. Every so often airplanes were leaving Haneda Airport. A dreamy place for sure at least for those of us who live in a completely different atmosphere from the city life. By Thursday morning, we ate breakfast and made our way towards the Disneyland Monorail. It was already crowded and the park hadn't even opened yet!! 

By the time we got to the park there were loads and loads of people in line. The park was decorated in a Halloween theme and was just as magical as ever. We took photos of the decor and made our way to shops for some souvenirs. Than we decided to eat some ice cream, drink hot cocoa and a marching band played as they came through. The main reason we came to Tokyo Disneyland was to help my daughter's partner propose to her. So I had the ring hidden in my purse. I made the request of taking photos in front of the castle. 

While Brenavin and Taby posed for a photo, Taby began to walk away and I had her turn to him and he was already knelt down and he proposed to her! It was a dreamy proposal and to see her say yes was even better!! Mission accomplished! Now, on to more fun!

We went through the castle and just took our time going through the park. We took TJ to his first time at It's a Small World. He enjoyed it I think! Haha! Toontown, than also to Mark Twain River Boat, just to name a few of the rides. Lots and lots of people. There were even people already sitting at certain spots for the parade route. But we heard from a teammate that the 1pm parade was cancel due to the wind, and perhaps the Halloween Parade may also be canceled too. UGH!

Just some quick pics of the Small world ride...

By the time we were done it was lunch time. We decided to eat at the Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall. There were set menus available. I got myself the Hamburger steak dish and salad. Which was pretty good actually and the nice surprise was that if you had ordered a dessert in a Alice theme ceramic dish, you got to keep it! So cool for sure!!

Taby got to keep the mug and heart shaped plate! So she had one set. I kept the one heart shaped plate as well! So cute and small too and perfect as a candy dish! If I had known that I would've bought more desserts!! LMAO! 

By the afternoon, we just decided to buy some popcorn buckets and do a bit more shopping and head back to the hotel. It was overcast most of the day with temps in the early 70 degrees with winds at 9mph. Sadly, both Sara and my grandson were exhausted and fussy. So we called it a day and went back to our hotel rooms. 

I did get a cute Nightmare Before Christmas charm bell and I played this cool Fortune palm Ready Machine at the Penny Arcade. 

My view from our hotel window. Made me think of the cool anime or mangas with Tokyo's concrete jungle. But this was just so amazing to see! Sara took some meds and we fell asleep early. Poor baby, but I made sure she rested as much as she could.

By Friday morning, Sara was still not feeling well. So I opted to watch my grandson while Sara rested and Taby and Brenavin went to the Tokyo Skytree and downtown! Sara slept in and Baby slept not long after as well. Which was good because by the time the two got back, they decided that later they'd go to the Disney Mall for a bit of shopping! So Sara felt better to go with them.

That evening, when the gang got back, B got me these two too cute to eat bear donuts!! One strawberry and one in mint chocolate chip!! Sara ate the mint one and I had the strawberry one. I saved the pink bear for my coffee in the morning! 

By Saturday, we had to check out and catch our bus back to Narita for the remainder of our trip... It was a rainy day. We had actually lucked out, because our Disneyland day was overcast but not rainy! Yay! It was raining most of Saturday. I can't complain because there was a typhoon close by. Just so thankful it didn't really hit the areas we were in. 

Once in Narita, we headed to Aeon Mall for our fave shopping fix. I tried the Sankaku Choco Pie at Mcdonalds. It was like eating a Chocolate Lava Cake! Yum!! The bun was flaky like a croissant too, Oh My!!

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday at Aeon Mall, shopping, playing the arcade, dining in, etc. On Monday, we caught our flight back to Guam. It was a really tight flight too! Whew, we made it home safe and sound. Now, hopefully everyone can get well asap. So far, I am thankful for all we've experienced. 

I hope you try to get out of your comfort zone and live! I truly appreciate you my friend! 

Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls

Part 2 : Going Down Memory Lane!

     For Part 1!! Once we got back from North Carolina. We made sure to do some shopping while in Florida! Kalani had taken us to a shop at The Avenues Mall. Hi So I believe was the name. A lot of cute anime and cute everything in the shop. Just look at this kitty plush with a costume on. I was so very tempted!! Haha!

Sweet dragon kitty.

Adorable bunny kitty.

I wanted this Annabelle coin bank.

    There were our usual fave shops, like Hot Topic or Spencers that we had to check out. It was fun but oh my gosh, the mall was super crowded for a Sunday!! I don't recall my anxieties getting so bad. But it was pretty bad. Darn. So we left and made sure to stop by Five Guys burger joint for dinner! I got the little cheese burger and fries combo. They make their burgers so well. I even tried out the cajun fries! YUM!

Five Guys Burgers.

    Afterwards, we went to Bruster's Real Ice Cream! It was an outdoor location and I tried the Ube you see on the top left. We were definitely full afterwards and ended the night with relaxing. The next day, Kalani took us to the antique shops in her area! We made sure to get lunch first, so we ate at the Salsas Mexican Restaurant. I ordered myself a chicken burrito! We even tried their "Horchata" drink, it was so yummy. Its a drink made with rice, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Kalani recommended it. The first Antique shop we went too was a bit overpriced on some items. But I saw a lot of great vintage items too! We ended up staying there a good hour at least! I did get the vintage rattle toy still in package there!

Salsas Mexican Restaurant.

    

    Some pics below of the first antique shop we went too! My full TikTok video below. It was fun and we each found something we recalled from our childhood. Along with some more modern handmade items as well and the ladies there were very friendly. Lots of vintage records, Pyrex, Corningware, a few dolls and toys. Mostly from Disney of course! It was really a treat for sure!

 

Not vintage but still adorable. Tempting to get for sure!

Barbie and other handmade items.

Unique mod clock.

Liked the look of this ceramic lady.

Look at these little metal painted chairs!

@ggsdolls_vtg Thrifting fun… #thrifting #vacation #vintage #antiquingadventures ♬ Cute - Audiolist Productions

    Afterwards we made our way to a larger antique mall. We found parking right in the front of the main entrance and we headed inside. I was amazed by how large it was. It was a whole complex with at least 3 or 4 isles of vintage!!! OH MY GAWD!! Boy was I in for a treat! Thank you Kalani!! This was the best one, I had seen in all of my antique adventures! Four isles! Sara and I started down the first isle...

@ggsdolls_vtg More thrifting fun… #antiquing #thrifting #fun ♬ original sound - sanrio

    The video above showed one of the first plushies I found. A bit overpriced so I decided not to get it. Because the resell value may not give me much of any profit. Oh well. Still lovely though. I spotted some great ceramics and Fire King bowls. Even a Knickerbocker Bear Chime toy. I was about to get it, but decided not too in the end. It saw it had some issues on the body.

    There was a vintage toy stall in the middle third isle that I had found!! If you look at the video below, that's how I found it. I was walking towards the 2nd to the last stall in that isle, and saw from the top, peaking out a lot of plushies and I was like oh my goodness is that toys?! Finally! Haha! I immediately, turned the corner and it was Toy Heaven for sure!!

Knickerbocker chime toy bear.

 

 

I spy a Rushton Mouse!

 

 

 

 

@ggsdolls_vtg Part 2 : my toy adventures… #antiquing #part2ggsdolls #finds #fun #shopping #vintage ♬ Sweet Strawberry (Live) - eas Ratta

    Yes, I spotted a Rushton! It was just a mouse but still it was nice to see. He was huge and the price was very reasonable, but resell may not be good. Because most collectors prefer the rubber face Rushtons and not so much this type of plush. So there he stayed. I did spy a Pouty brown bear, but sadly, he was high up on the shelf and I didn't even bother. I looked at that stall for at least a good 45 minutes. Sara was like are we done yet?! Haha! So much vintage goodness there too! Talk about a honey hole!

    I did find a lovely blue and pink toy rattle with Bambi from Disney on it. I made sure I took a photo of it and the number of the stall to ask for someone to get it. Because it was inside a glass secured case. We left the area to continue on our way down the third isle and go towards the center or front isle. Sara found a guitar section and a record stall. But of course lots of the vintage vinyls were expensive. It was fun to check it out though!

    There was a shop that had a large tiger plush on the shelf and I remembered there was a movie I had watched prior to our trip where the lead actress had a large plush tiger just like this one on her bed! When I looked at the other items inside the shelf, there I found a Alan Jay squeak girl and there behind a white owl figurine was a Knickerbocker Bunny plush!! A bit overpriced though. I still took some photos of her. She was adorable for sure! I was very tempted!

    In the end, of that adventure. We headed to a Goodwill just in case! It was fun and Sam found a luggage for us to pack the things we bought. He thought perhaps a box and this luggage we could easily check them in and not have to worry about carryons. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and had done at least four thousand or more steps that day! Whoo, my feet were on fire! It was an awesome time with Kalani and Max. Thank you guys so much for having us! It was time for us to head to our next destination... Next post soon! Part 3

Thank you for looking! ~ ggsdolls