Australia 🇦🇺 and Japan 🇯🇵

We had a week to spend in Australia, flying in and out of Sydney. We had beautiful weather and spent days at Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. We also went to the zoo and aquarium. We were enjoying our time in Sydney . . . then the Luckhounds had some bad luck. Long story short, right before our flight to Japan, Mike hit his head (surfing? boxing kangaroos? epic fight with the missus? I will only tell you IRL!). Concussed with a giant egg, he had to spend the night in hospital in Sydney with the trauma team running him through scans. So wow... not good. 

I had been feeling kind of bad myself — aches, fever, etc. Turns out it was a viral infection. Yay. So Mike had to miss our flight to Tokyo, and the girls and I had to go on without him, fingers crossed that he’d be able to meet us in Tokyo soon after. Rather stressful day: Mike in the hospital, and for me and my girls — an eleven-hour flight to Seoul, quick plane change, then two more hours to Tokyo, not knowing the state of Mike! 

By the time we got to Tokyo, we had confirmation that Mike was on his way, so that was a relief, but I felt like hot garbage. In Tokyo, I went to Emergency and got a prescription for antivirals, which took a while to kick in. So our first few days in Tokyo were spent mostly in our hotel, in the pjs they supply (love that!), recovering. Our poor kids put themselves to bed one night after playing Minecraft for hours and eating a few clementines for supper! Pitiful. 

On Day 3 or so, we went to Harajuku, a cartoony part of Tokyo that’s on blast. Pretty much the worst place to take a guy with a concussion! We had truly terrible food at Kawaii Monster Café, which was visually spectacular and extremely loud. We were so overwhelmed by it that we had to go relax in a cat café. Meow. So chill, much nicer time. 🐈 

Moving on, we bought our rail passes and took the bullet train to Kyoto for a week. There we met Peter MacIntosh, who is a very fun host. Let’s just say he knows Kyoto (See link below!) having lived there since 1993! Pete is a geisha expert, a tour guide, an artist, and sweetheart. We went on his walking tour through the geisha district, then met for dinner with a geisha. It was fascinating to spend time with her and learn about geisha history and culture. 

Kyoto is a cool city, and the people we met were extremely helpful and sweet. We went to peaceful Shinto shrines, ancient gardens, and great restaurants. We did some karaoke. Chloe and Mike had an epic bike ride around the city, and Sylvie and I spent a day on a big shopping street — the two-level Hello Kitty store and the ubiquitous capsule toys were highlights. 

We took a day trip to Hiroshima, to the Peace Memorial Museum and Park. It’s a heartbreaking place, showing how awful and vulnerable people can be. It was hard for us all to go through the museum, reading and listening to exhibits, and seeing artefacts that convey some of the devastation and long term harm the atomic bomb caused the people of Hiroshima.  Also, it’s gutting to know how much nuclear weaponry is still out there, and likely in development. Outside the museum, we thankfully met groups of local students on field trips, reciting poetry and bringing paper crane garlands and other artwork to the Children’s Memorial. There were some outgoing and comical kids who were happy to practice their English on us. 

We also stopped to see the famous water shrine and tame deer on the island Itsukushima (Miyajima). We wandered through a huge temple and enjoyed the architecture and landscape. 🦌⛩ 

We headed back to Tokyo, sad to say goodbye to Peter and his wife Aya, but excited for our Disney plans. It was the first time at any Disney for Mike and the girls, second for me (remember that time, DHS ladies?). The girls in their fresh new Mickey shirts, we spent a day at DisneySea and another at Disneyland. We rode some coasters, cute rides, 3D rides, and ate some junky snacks — highlights were Temple of Doom, Journey to the

Centre of the Earth, caramel popcorn, and a shell-shaped ice cream monaka. The people are so kawaii with so many friends “twinning” their outfits. DisneySea is huge and gorgeous, and the lineups weren’t bad at all. Disneyland was busier and several rides were closed, but still a fun place to be for a day. Space Mountain, Star Tours, and It’s a Small World did not disappoint. 🎢🎠🗺

All in all, we LOVE Japan and plan to return someday. For the food alone it’s worth it: 

sushi, ramen, wagyu beef, yakitori, Lawson egg salad sandwich, I could go on. 🍣🍜🥩🍢🍙  Even the oniri rice triangle from the corner-store is tasty. Arigato! 🇯🇵