Tokyo Disneyland

Oh Mickey Mouse! I've been obsessed since I was a kid and just the thought of possibly seeing him in a kimono makes my inner 6 year-old self unnaturally excited. There wasn't even a question as to whether or not I was going to Tokyo Disneyland, just rather when and how!

Because I was traveling through Tokyo solo and in order to help save both precious time in Japan as well as money, I opted for a weekend Starlight pass that allowed me in the gates from 3pm until closing (7 hours should be more than enough time to get a couple Mickey pictures!) The other great thing about my starlight pass was that I was able to tour around Tokyo for a while in the morning before heading to the parks!

Getting to the parks took a little bit of time but was quite easy thanks to the lovely subway (or JR train as they call it) throughout the city. I got off at the Disney stop though and thought I would cry. It looked like it was going to start raining. {lucky for me God must be a Mickey fan as well because he quickly cleared the skies up for me!!}

It was a little daunting to walk into an unknown amusement park alone for the day not knowing where to go first, but I did what any good westerner would do and promptly began following a group of girls in kimonos haha! I quickly discovered that Japan was preparing for the holiday of Tanabata which from what I can tell is some type of holiday for lovers and sending their wishes to the gods? (I may or may not have totally butchered that so please don't take my word for it!!) {ok update...I was finally able to google this stinker! There were 2 gods in the sky separated by the milky way and they are only allowed to see each other on the 7th day of the 7th month bringing about the Tanabata Festival...there we all learned something today!}

Anyways, for me this entailed seeing tons of people of all ages dressed in their holiday kimonos while walking through the parks, as well as Disney having a large set up under the World Bazaar when you entered the parks to put your wishes on Mickey shaped papers and tie them to a tree so they could be sent to the heavens. {also this means they have a special parade with Mickey and Minnie in the traditional holiday garments that Tracy missed by 20 minutes when she got to the park....grrr is all I can say}

To commentate my time in the park I wanted to purchase something uniquely Tokyo Disney, but surprisingly their stock in nontraditional Disney items is quite limited. I settled on a small bag to use for traveling that has my dear Mickey dressed from head to toe in traditional Japanese clothing!

The layout of the park was pretty similar to Disney World in Florida with Cinderella's castle in the center and 5 different themed lands surrounding it. In acuity many of the rides were the same as well though Tokyo did get a couple that were unique to them, and of course I saw Mickey, watched the light parade at night, rode on Dumbo, the tea cups, watched the firework show and everything else that makes Disney Disney!

One of the exciting parts for me was realizing the big "thing" for Tokyo Disney. I'm Florida people love to buy and collect pins. In Japan people love to buy and collect popcorn containers and the rotating flavors of popcorn they offer. POPCORN and MICKEY MOUSE?!?! My life was pretty complete. I looked over the list of the flavors available that day and marched around the park until I found someone selling a fresh batch of Soy Sauce & Butter popcorn...to say it was unique is an understatement!! 

I was in the last wave of 2 of people to mosey out of the park around 10:45 and though beyond exhausted I was happy! Oh so happy! Thank you Tokyo for an amazing first day!

4 Days in Tokyo!

I did it! It's been on my bucket list for so long and although I was nervous, I'm so glad I am able to say "I did it once, I can do it again!"

For about forever now I have wanted nothing more than to travel solo. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love traveling around with my friends {and it's still my preference in many instances} but I just wanted to know, for myself, that I could travel alone. Sure my mom stuck me on a plane by myself when I was 9, but I was going to visit family. Yes I've flown across the states alone, but it was always to visit friends. And yes I flew here to Taiwan alone and knowing no one when I got here, but I had people who were expecting me, a job lined up, and assistance along the way.

I wanted to hop on a plane solo and fly to another country knowing no one and having no agenda other than to explore and eat my way through the new cuisine. I wanted to have to depend on myself, to determine solutions to my own problems, and meet people along the way. I wanted to challenge myself...and thank you Tokyo for doing all this and more!

 ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  

A month or so ago when I realized that Vanilla Air was offering round trip tickets from Taipei to Tokyo starting at 3,500分 {about $109 USD} I knew it was a deal too good to pass up! I juggled some dates around before realizing that after my 6th graders graduate I would have several days without class; so, I put in a request with my schools, booked my tickets, and put on my best pair of dancing shoes and did my self a little happy dance!

I booked my ticket so that my plane leaving to Japan coincided with Mason's plane leaving back to NYC so that when I took him to the airport I went packed and ready to go as well. 

Saturday, June 18

I landed in Tokyo late Saturday night (June 18) and after making my way through customs & security found myself a lovely vending machine to purchase a SIM card for my phone & another machine to change my USD that I brought with me to JPY {the USD to Japanese Yen conversion rate is currently at $1 USD to 109¥} before venturing into what may have been one of the most confusing public transit systems in the world I have ever experienced!

Sadly the SIM card didn’t work right away, so once arriving to the train station I had to rely on the help of 2 drunk European guys to help my find my hostel {such is life haha}. Needless to say it was late and I was tired, so I found my bed, grabbed a quick dinner at the convenient store across the street and crashed HARD for the night!

Sunday, June 19

I’ll be honest, my planning before going to Tokyo was at a minimum and I was more than happy to see what each day would bring. {I know many people that plan out every detail of their trips, but if something goes awry or you don’t get everything in, they dwell on that for the rest of their vacation, thus ruining the magic of the moment! By having no plans, everything turns out much better than “planned”!}

First up for the day was visiting the Meiji Shrine in the Shibuya District. This is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deceased Emperor Meiji, the first emperor of modern day Japan. The shrine itself is located within a park of sorts with many walking paths winding through a small wooded area. There were several different entrance/exit points around the shrine grounds that were all marked with an arch of sorts {called a torii arch} over its path. Walking further into the entrances, you were also presented with a small fountain of water and several bamboo ladles in which you were to cleanse your hands, arms, and mouth before entering into the shrine.

The shrine itself, as well as the others I saw in Tokyo along with their temples, are much different than the temples that I have come so accustomed to here in Taiwan. One of the big differences I noticed between the two almost instantly was that the shrines in Japan did not let you enter into the shrine itself, but rather pray from the outside. Another obvious difference to me was that instead of offering incense while they pray like in Taiwan, shrine goers were asked to toss several coins into a trough like piece and clap and bow several times before sending their prayers to the gods {I love watching and learning how the different religions worship!}

Just my luck I stumbled upon a wedding ceremony going on at the temple as well and had to stick around long enough to snoop around and get some good pictures! There was also a separate building for parents taking their babies to be offered to the church/baptized/christened (ok I don’t know what it’s called there, but you get the jist! Lol). Afterwards I walked 10 minutes or so through the wooded paths and came to the Miji Shrine Gardens. It was pretty, there was an old tea house there and it was manicured nicely with many flowers and a large pond. I think much of the appeal of this garden though was that it was green space in the midst of Tokyo! ;)

Although Tokyo is HUGE I tried to plan my day worth of sights within a common area. This not only made the day easier, but it allowed me to often walk from place to place {I did A LOT of walking these few days!}. I wasn’t trying to avoid the subway or its tolls, though that was a nice benefit, but rather by walking I found myself in many shops and alleys that I would have missed if I had taken the subway everywhere in Tokyo. With that being said I spent some time checking out various shops around the area before walking into a Ramen shop {think real ramen noodles that are now known as a “college staple” in America!} and ordering myself a bowl of Ramen soup and pork for a late lunch. 

After lunch I headed back to my hostel for a power nap, some A/C, and to grab my things….I was DISNEY BOUND!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Taiwan Janitors}

As briefly mentioned previous HERE most schools in Taiwan don't employ janitors or grounds workers for their schools. Yet, most of the schools here in Taiwan are always immaculate. How is that you ask? Simple, we don't let children ever enter the school grounds! OK, ok, just kidding! The kids clean the school, and I love LOVE it!!

Twice a day (once first thing at 7:30am and then again before last period at 2:50pm) students are given 20 minutes to clean their assigned area of the school. The classes are split into smaller groups and are given their assignments that last the remainder of the school year. They are monitored somewhat while they are cleaning, but they do all the cleaning themselves: dusting, moping, sweeping, emptying trash cans, raking, scrubbing the stairways...all of it!

Some areas the children are assigned to include:

Their own classroom
Other classrooms in the school
Public bathrooms
Teacher bathrooms
School offices
Playground
Hallways
Side yards
School entrance 

Sadly in the US I feel as though many parents would complain and accuse the school of "corporal punishment" or make other extreme accusations towards the school. Here though it is looked at as part of their education. Children not only learn the "how's" of cleaning, but they also learn to have respect for their school environment and how to help out around their home. Children here know that if they make a mess of their school it will be them that has to clean it up later, thus helping to keep our campus beautiful. 

It was surely a strange sight at first, but I have come to love this idea as the year has progressed and appreciate the values that are being instilled in these young children!

Mason's Top 10!

Holy moley guys do I have lots of blogging to catch you up on! In the past 14 days I had not only my dragon boat races and a long weekend, but also one of my longtime friends came to visit, I logged a good 35 miles of walking during a weekend at Taroko Gorge, and I took a quick hop, skip, & a jump and landed in Tokyo for a short trip!

I'll start with Mason and fill you in on the rest over the next couple days (ok, and maybe after a nap or 2 as well!)

Top 10 of Mason's visit {if you know me well at all you probably know of Mason as well lol. We started at St. Pat's in kindergarten together and were in the same class for 9 years though 8th grade and we've stayed close ever since!)

The top 10 of Mason's trip:

{10}

I finished Chinese class!

So this probably isn't on any of Mason's top 10 list for his 10 days here, but it was such a relief / sense of accomplishment / pat on the back / and stress off my back to finish my second class. Am I fluent, haha NOT EVEN CLOSE! Can I introduce myself, tell you a little about me, order food and give my taxi driver directions; heck yes I can!

{9}

Night markets galore

If you've been reading my blog for more than 5 minutes you know that I LOVE food and have fallen head over heals in love with the night markets here in Taiwan. So, naturally, when Mason came to visit, I had to give him the tour...I think we made it to night markets 4 different days while he was here...no shame, no shame!

{8}

Meeting my friends!

It worked out perfectly that Ruth's birthday was during dragon boat weekend and she decided to postpone celebrating until we were all back in town. So, lucky Mason {hmm I don't know if he considers this lucky or not lol} got to spend an evening hanging out with and meeting my little Taiwan family that has helped to make this first year abroad absolutely unforgettable!

{7}

We pigged out for 10 days.   

Haha, if I think I can put down food, Mason beats me, about 10 fold...so needless to say, between the 2 of us, we did some major eating while he was here! Lucky for both of us they only weigh your luggage when you leave and not the rest of you as well! ;) Mason had his list, and I'm not sure that we left any Taiwan dishes on his list un-touched.

{6}

Mason's birthday

Not that this was necessarily in the plans, but it worked out PERFECT! Mason got to spend his 27th birthday here in Taiwan {shout out to Josh for my 1st visitor also having their birthday over here!} Although I had to work Mason did not and decided to spend his day in Taipei. I met him in Taipei after work and we spent the evening climbing Elephant Mountain and stuffing ourselves full with dumplings from Din Tai Fung!

{5}

6th grade graduation (times 2)

My babies are gone. Both Xinfeng and Fu Long held 6th grade graduations while Mason was here. We graduated around 150 students at Xinfeng and 8 from FuLong and I'm not sure it will ever matter how many years you teach, telling your students goodbye at the end of every school year is always an emotional roller coaster.

{4}

Elephant mountain 

As mentioned above, Mason and I climbed Elephant Mountain for his birthday and as always, the views were BREATH-TAKING! They have to be hands down the best views you can get of Taipei and to make matters even better we were there around twilight time giving us an amazing lighting show as the sun slowly slipped behind the buildings.

{3}

Dragon boat races & Dragon boat after party

Due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to row on competition day for the dragon boat races, but it worked out for the better as I was able to pick Mason up, watch the races leisurely {aka go home when the temperatures reached 450 degrees!} and take quick naps before heading to the "after party". What a way to throw Mason into Taiwan on his first night here. 100 Taiwanese people in a small rented room eating, drinking, and celebrating to their hearts content and handing out awards to anyone with 2 legs that could blink an eye...needless to say I received an award!

{2}

Hiking Taroko

The way the days worked Mason was only actually here one weekend, BUT, I didn't have school Thursday & Friday prior so we had a 4 day weekend to explore! After the races Thursday we left to Hualian Friday morning and spent our day exploring the city of Hualian. Saturday we headed up to Taroko Gorge where we proceeded to walk 15+ miles through the gorgeous landscape! Sunday we took it easy and found a small Cathedral for mass and then headed to check out the ocean before calling it a day and catching dinner in Taipei at the Shillin Night Market. 

{1}

One of my longest time friends made it to Taiwan

I knew heading to Taiwan for a year that I was guaranteed one visitor; I knew Mason and his love for all things travel would make it out and he didn't prove me wrong. Our 21 years of friendship have literally taken us to the other side of the world and back now! Thanks so much for the visit and the memories Mason!!!

Taiwan - Flash Video

Here's a quick little video clip just under 2 minutes to give you a little glimpse into Taiwan!

This video was recorded while I was driving home from my evening Chinese class about 25 minutes from my house and have sped the movie up X16 times the original speed to give you a "flash" into Taiwan.

Take in the traffic, the lights, and the ever present glowing signs as I drive from Hsinchu City to my small town of Xinfeng. Enjoy!