Bobbing for Apples at Sogo Shien

On Monday I went back to work, after almost no sleep. But what. Had forgotten, was a costume, so I improvised, and decided to wear my fuzzy bear suit. I knew the kids would love it and I'd be warm too. At most schools, I get to do at least one Halloween lesson, but at my special needs school, the whole day is Halloween themed. The teachers had brought costumes for all of the kids, so everyone was dressed up. We did bobbing for apples in teams with the entire school, it was such great fun and the kids loved it. Then we searched around the school for Pumpkin man, A teacher dressed up, but who terrified the kids! They loved the candy I brought them too! All the teachers got involved, and it was just a great day. One teacher had gone to Costco and bought all American, fun sized candy bars. That for me, was really exciting and I know she also bought them little pumpkins to carve. It was really a great day and a nice way to start the Halloween season!

Shopping in Saitama

Another very expensive taxi ride, and I was back at the station. I grabbed an adorable Hello Kitty daruma doll bento and got to ride on the double decker Shinkansen to Omiya. Omiya is basically part of Saitama city, but apparently it's where the shinkansen stops, s I figured I would get off there. Originally I wanted t go somewhere else, but I saw it from the train on te way to Gunma, so I stopped on the way hme to shop. I enjoyed myself a lot, going in different shops, Jung earrings and such. And to top it off, they had a PAUL bakery, so I was in heaven!

The Daruma Temple, Takasaki, Gunma

On Sunday morning, Josh and I got up and tried to have an adventure in Tokyo Station. We really love the bakery Paul, but we couldn't find it in the Mitzukoshi to save our lives. I was pretty heartbroken, and next time, I'm just going t take him to Le Pain Quotidient. I took him to his train for the airport, in the old section of Tokyo station. After he left, I had a little cry. I missed him already, and it was hard for me. But I found an entire empty floor and it actually felt a little peaceful. After he left, I headed towards Takasaki, in Gunma. It was a bit of a stretch for me to do it in just one day, but I got to travel on the JR East shinaknsens as well as the cool double decker one! Takasaki was bigger than I thought and it reminded me a little bit of a small Kokura. I took a taxi ( an expensive one at that! ) and arrived at the temple. I saw this temple in a guide book and it looked fun. It was pretty small, but there were daruma dolls everywhere. I took lots of pictures of the different types and even one with me and a giant daruma tha was taller than I am! I went around the temple, took some photos, and then called a taxi. I was probably done in just half an hour, but it was a nice easy visit, and I had to visit Gunma eventually.

Back in my favourite room

We went on some more rides, got more popcorn, used our fast passes and went around and took sme pictures. Before long, it was getting cold, so Sam and I were quite grateful for our hats! I took them up to the castle, which was just beautiful at night, and would be perfect to go on a date. I showed them my favourite room, the Orrery, the giant solar system model. It is simply wonderful. I can't quite put my finger on it. The decor is lovely and rustic. The music is amazing, and I jus feel quite at peace there. I was really excited to show that room to Josh before we went home. It was a great way to end a lovely day.

Apple Cinnamon Popcorn

I love the popcorn at theme parks. It just goes hand in hand with movie theatres and theme parks, and it's great to munch on while waiting in lines. Disney here has really weird flavours, like black pepper, and curry flavour, strawberry, and milk tea....which are all pretty strange. In the Duffy area they just got Apple Cinnamon, which probably sounds weird, but is amazing! We waited in line for ages, but it was great, we got a cute Duffy head and Sam got caramel popcorn in a glow-in-the dark ghost which had Mickey ears! It was pretty amazing! Later we got sea salt too, which is still the best flavour, but I would kill to have apple cinnamon popcorn every day! And I was super lucky because Josh carried around the Duffy head all day, and wore his ears like a pro. I love this picture of him on the American Waterfront with his ears on, shades on, and eating out of a bears head!

Put your mask on...

One of the nices things about Disney Sea is just the amazing level of detail. When I visited with Daddy in May, we spent a lot of time in the Venice part, and it really is just like Venice. So in keeping with the theme, they had a Venetian mask party going on, with all the decorations with little masks with Mickey ears and even the characters in costumes sporting masks too. We had our lunch in the Venetian part, partita of course, and it even came with little masks on it. I didn't love the pasta, althought it was good, but the Pannacotta was to die for! It is such a lovely atmosphere in the Venice section and the decorations were really beautiful!

My boyfriend likes Camels

When I visited Disney Sea last, I discovered little alley ways all around the park. They just make for interesting ways to walk around, and aren't necessarily leading to a ride. It makes a good quiet spot to sit and chat, or eat, or whatever. I found some very cool alley ways in the Arabia part too, which is based on the
movie, and it looked just like it. The Arabia section is really good. Instead of flying Dumboes there are flying carpets, and I really love the photo of my dad and I infringing of the tiger statue there. There is also a very cool camel in the middle section. Of course, I made Josh go and pose there, I had to really. Then I joined him and had Sam take some photos of us. They were cute, and then we started being silly, acting like the camel was going too fast! I then attempted to get off the camel, and got my heel stuck, so I hung not the camels neck for dear life! The photos were hilarious, especially when we realised the camel had a sensor which makes it make a camel sound! Scared us a lot!