Japan adults only 9/29/19

[Cousin Orville]

Those are both great changes! And I’m glad to hear James and Tomomi are back together. They guided us at the beginning of the summer. Enjoy!

 

[calypso726]

Our visit to the Pure Water Temple was nice and I managed to find Hidden Mickeys in the real world. Our welcome dinner was fantastic! We really enjoyed the entertainment and the food. Playing dress up was icing on the cake!

 

[mmmears]

Great pics! I'm really enjoying following along.

One of the long bus rides that people complained about is being replaced with a train ride instead. There was a cruise on one day that did not get good feedback and that was eliminated. Not sure what the replacement will be. The mochi making demo is now optional. From reading previous feedback it seemed like that was better in theory than in practice. It doesn’t seem as if anything is being watered down or anything. The changes are due to guest feedback, better logistically and seem like positive changes. I think there might be a couple of other changes but they seem directly due to providing a better experience.

Those sound like really positive changes. Thanks for explaining!

 

[sayhello]

Day 8. Leaving Odawara Hilton day.

That was a long day!

Are you still doing the CUPNOODLES museum?

Sayhello

 

[WeLoveABD]

That was a long day!

Are you still doing the CUPNOODLES museum?

Sayhello

I was wondering the same thing!

 

[calypso726]

That was a long day!

Are you still doing the CUPNOODLES museum?

Sayhello

I was wondering the same thing!

I believe our group might be the last one doing it. They are planning on switching but not sure to what.

 

[sayhello]

I believe our group might be the last one doing it. They are planning on switching but not sure to what.

I'm glad you guys get to do it. I'm kind of sad for future groups. It was really fun. But I'm sure they'll come up with something great to replace it. I'm assuming the train is *after* the open air museum?

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

Today we took the bullet train and then the ferry to Miyajima. There are deer roaming around and much like birds at Disney World, will try to steal your food given the chance. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

We did visit the Hiroshima peace museum afterward and I did not take any pictures. It is always hard for me to visit places like these and not get emotional. That said, I think places like these are worth visiting if for nothing more than to be a stark reminder of what the consequences of certain decisions can lead to.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I believe our group might be the last one doing it. They are planning on switching but not sure to what.

I'm glad you guys get to do it. I'm kind of sad for future groups. It was really fun. But I'm sure they'll come up with something great to replace it. I'm assuming the train is *after* the open air museum?

Sayhello

I'm so bummed to hear they've removed CUPNOODLES! We loved it, and it was one of the things I was looking forward to most on the itinerary when we signed up I lived on Top Ramen as a high school/college student I'm so glad we did this ABD year one. Despite the good tweaks it seems like they always eliminate good stuff, too.

Love the pictures of Hiroshima. It's such a moving days and was one of the highlights for us. Hope you liked you Okonimyaki!

 

[calypso726]

Visiting any memorial can be emotionally jarring. Visits to the 9/11 memorial in New York and the Holocaust museum in DC left me in tears which is no different than today’s visit to the Hiroshima Peace memorial. But there is something different when you know the tragedy wasn’t something done by someone else and it is a part of your own country’s history. The memorial wasn’t negative towards America in any way, it’s just facts and the story of how the people of Japan dealt with the aftermath. But as an American, I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. These memorials are a stark reminder of consequences to decisions made on a grand scale. The focus on peace is the message here and one that inspires and that we should aspire towards.

I really appreciated how we ended this part of the tour. The origami crane making activity ties directly in to the life and story of one of the children who survived that day. Her story and the message of peace and rebirth lives on and we get to be a small part of that with this activity.

 

[calypso726]

Today is shaping up to be my favorite day and we still have the afternoon and evening ahead of us! This morning we had Taiko drumming lessons at the Chomyoji Temple. That was followed up by a Bento Box cooking adventure lesson. Activities like these are one of the many areas that Adventures by Disney excels for me. I would never do something like this on my own and even if I could it wouldn’t be the same.

I really enjoyed getting to experience this part of the culture. I have long been an admirer of the Taiko drumming and when I saw this on the itinerary I literally let out an out loud SQUEEE! So this was the day I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint. I don’t have a rhythmic bone in my body and much less any musical talent to speak of. So getting to participate in something like this and not feel self conscious about it at all was a blast.

 

[Cousin Orville]

We also loved the cup noodle museum. I wasn’t that into the outdoor museum to be honest. It will be interesting to see how they alter it. It would be nice to get into Tokyo sooner though.

 

[calypso726]

This afternoon we did a river cruise on canoes. It was scenic, relaxing and fun. I could not have planned a more perfect day. The river cruise guides make this look easy.

 

[calypso726]

This evening was the optional excursion to Dotonbori food district. We thought it was a fun evening and we’re glad we went. We had nearly an hour between returning to the hotel and heading back on the bus to Osaka. We took the opportunity to pack most of our stuff so it would be ready for bag drop in the morning.

The ramen was amazing and so was everything else we ate.

 

[calypso726]

Today we visited Fushimi Inari Shrine and Nara Temple Park. The deer at Nara are protected and quite tame. It’s neat to see them roaming everywhere with no fear of people. Lunch was on our own and we opted out of the Mochi making demonstration which is optional now. Instead we had an amazing Tonkatsu lunch. Afterwards we were treated to a Sumo wrestling experience which was pretty awesome.

 

[calypso726]

Today we visited a world heritage site, Shirakawa-Go and later on enjoyed a bike ride in the countryside. Although the weather was rainy and drizzly it didn’t detract from the experience. The locals are friendly and welcoming. We rode by a school and the kids all waved hello from their classrooms. It was very sweet. I’m really glad ABD takes us to these areas. I know that I would not have thought to visit them on my own. They also seem fairly remote. It was also neat to see what rice looks like when it is about ready to be harvested.

 

[LovesTimone]

Such a great trip report...

Where were you at for the Sumo exhibition? or the name of it.... so that I could check it out..

Thanks

 

[calypso726]

Such a great trip report...

Where were you at for the Sumo exhibition? or the name of it.... so that I could check it out..

Thanks

Thank you. I am glad to know you are enjoying the trip report.

It was called Katsuragi City Sumo Pavilion.

 

[sayhello]

Today we visited a world heritage site, Shirakawa-Go and later on enjoyed a bike ride in the countryside. Although the weather was rainy and drizzly it didn’t detract from the experience. The locals are friendly and welcoming. We rode by a school and the kids all waved hello from their classrooms. It was very sweet. I’m really glad ABD takes us to these areas. I know that I would not have thought to visit them on my own. They also seem fairly remote. It was also neat to see what rice looks like when it is about ready to be harvested.

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Your photos of Shirakawa-go are so cool. I've always said that bad weather makes for great photos. And it's so cool that you saw the rice at the other end of the life cycle! They were just planting it when I was there!

And I agree, neither of these days' activities were things I'd've come up with to do on my own!

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

This morning was our turn to do the calligraphy activity and walking tour with some food tasting in Takayama and through the Ebisutaigumi Preservation district. We really enjoyed tasting the local flavor. Granted, none of us were strangers to tofu, miso, or sake but learning this history and process was very interesting. We also sampled a couple of other things that were new to us. The area we walked through is charming and picturesque. This morning a perfect balance of where guiding and enjoying some exploring on your own was struck. Our group and each person we spoke to felt the same way. It was a nice relaxing break in the middle of our Japan adventure.

After our tour we back tracked to do some shopping and further tasting. It was great to know exactly where we wanted to go back to. I found an epic Godzilla tee shirt past our historic touring area and had to get a matching set for me and DH. The merchant also presented me with 3 different origami cranes as a thank you for the purchase. This was so unexpected and I told him I would place them on my Christmas tree each year and remember his thoughtful gift and lovely shop. He seemed very pleased and surprised by that idea.

I also picked up some sake from the sake tasting place. We learned that each local sake house in the area has their own brew and isn’t something we would find at home or even in other places in Japan. It was nice to bring back something fairly unique.

Pro tip: stop at the honeycomb ice cream shop and have some honeycomb with ice cream in a cup. OMG!!! It was sooooo good!

We really enjoyed wandering around and interacting with the local shop owners. Today was one of those days that wind up surprising me by how how much I truly enjoyed the experience. There’s always at least one of those on an ABD for me and I think today might be that one.

We are now on the first of two trains which is a change from previous trips. Good call ABD!