Winter Break Part 10: More Odaiba

The 28th was our last day in Tokyo and we spent most of the day in Odaiba. Before heading out though we had breakfast at the hotel.

Toyoko Inn Shinagawa-eki Konan-guchi Tennozu was definitely the largest Toyoko Inn I've stayed at. I really liked it!

Winter Break Part 9: Bigbang at Tokyo Dome

On Saturday the 27th I went to a Bigbang concert at Tokyo Dome! But first that morning we headed to Shinokubo to eat lunch, which was also kind of breakfast because we had missed the breakfast at the hotel.

We took the monorail to Hamamatsucho Station and then took the Yamanote line to Shinokubo.

We had to wait a while to get into Miyomi, but maybe only about 20 minutes so it wasn't too bad. Miyomi plays a lot of Bigbang videos so it was very popular that day. It was also pretty much only women there though there was one other guy, with probably his girlfriend, in front of us in line. Then I saw a couple more come in while we were eating.

Winter Break Part 8: Night Helicopter Tour Over Tokyo

This is the second part of my posts about getting engaged. Here is the first part: Winter Break Part 7: I Got Engaged!

When we arrived at Maihama Station we went out the north exit (not towards Disney), went to a clock tower, and waited there. I realized we were waiting for a bus or something, but I had no idea where it would take us.

Other people started gathering in the same area, but then they got onto a hotel shuttle bus. Jonathan was very worried and thought whatever we were going to might be canceled. He kept checking a website and tried calling some number, but something wasn't updating and he couldn't find out anything. A couple other buses came, but they weren't what we were waiting for. I said I was happy enough and didn't care if we did anything else. I couldn't imagine the day getting any better so I really meant it. Jonathan was still very worried though. Whatever we were waiting for was late.

There was a group of three people who seemed to be waiting for the same thing. They spoke Chinese, but one guy spoke English and asked Jonathan if he was waiting for the same thing. I didn't catch the name of the place though. So then that guy called the place and told us the shuttle would be there around 7. Jonathan was very relieved!

When the shuttle van arrived I was very excited to see what it said on the side. Helicopter tours! I have wanted to do that for a looong time. I saw people fly over Tokyo in a helicopter when I watched some silly show called "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" back in college. Then I looked into it when I moved to Japan but it was expensive.

The driver didn't acknowledge us and seemed in a bad mood or something, but oh well. We were on our way!

Luckily the late shuttle and driver were the only bad experience. Once we arrived at Urayasu Heliport, the staff was extremely professional and it felt classy. The lounge was nice and I had a free orange juice while we waited for our flight.

We had to put our stuff in lockers, go through a metal detector, and watch a safety video before boarding. Then it was time to go! Boarding was exciting because the propellers really created a lot of wind. They spun super fast and were a bit scary, but cool!

We got in the helicopter with six other people. There were four seats facing forward and four facing back. They all faced each other. I was on the right side, by the window, facing forward.

After buckling in we soon took off. It was sooooooooo beautiful. It was a super clear night and the city sparkled. I've been up in towers at night, but they don't even come close. As the helicopter flew, the view constantly changed. It was awesome every time the helicopter tilted as it turned. We flew over many famous places such as Tokyo Tower, Skytree, Tokyo Dome, and Rainbow Bridge. So perfect!

It was pretty much impossible to get good photos, but Jonathan did take a few short videos. These pictures are some stills from that video. They don't do the view justice at all though.

Winter Break Part 7: I Got Engaged!

Finally it was the 26th, the surprise day Jonathan planned for me! I had been curious about it ever since I had decided to see Bigbang in Tokyo. I was trying to decide whether to go on the 26th or 27th and Jonathan told me to go on the 27th. I asked why and he said we were doing something on the 26th but wouldn't tell me what. I was kind of suspicious, but he said some things to make me think it wasn't a big deal. He said I'm always the one planning our trips and wanted to give me a break. I still kind of wondered why he wouldn't tell me anything, but it kind of made sense. If he had told me any plans I probably would have tried to do most of the planning anyway.

After breakfast at the hotel, we took a shuttle bus to Shinagawa Station. There Jonathan told me that we were going to Asakusa. I couldn't figure out why we were going there. Sky Tree was close, but why wouldn't we go to a closer station? There were cat cafes and bunny cafes in the area but I knew Jonathan wouldn't want to ruin the rest of his day with allergies.

When we arrived in Asakusa Jonathan began searching for something. He headed towards the river and looked around there for something. Then I figured it out. He was looking for a boat dock. Back in the spring I had looked up some boat info so I knew that many of them begin in Asakusa.

We crossed a street and soon Jonathan found the ticket office and bought tickets for the Himiko boat to Odaiba at 1:25. So what we were doing until then? Skytree!

I had been up in Skytree before, but I had said I would like to go back on a sunny day when views were better. The weather was very clear that day!

It was fairly early on a Friday morning so it wasn't busy at all. We were able to pretty much just walk right up to the ticket counter and get our tickets. We hardly waited for an elevator either.

Winter Break Part 6: Christmas - Church, Kyu Furukawa, and Arcades

We started out the day by eating breakfast at the hotel. It was our first time eating it at that hotel.  We hadn't eaten it the day before because we had actually left before breakfast started. The food was similar to other Toyoko Inns, but they had a few more options maybe. But the breakfast area was huge!

Winter Break Part 5: Christmas Eve at Disney Sea

On Christmas Eve Jonathan and I went to Disney Sea. I was excited to see it decorated for Christmas.

That morning I put on some Frozen nail stickers. Unfortunately the designs were a bit too long for my short nails so the pictures got a bit cut off on some, but they were still cool.

Winter Break Part 4: Lake Chuzenji

After checking out of the hotel we walked to Kinugawa Onsen Station.

Jonathan enjoyed sliding around on the ice. He got stared at by some old people, haha.

We had a little bit of time before our train so we briefly stopped in a gift shop. I bought a really cute bunny pouch.

Winter Break Part 3: Kinugawa Grand Hotel Yume no Toki

After Nikko we headed to the nearby town of Kinugawa Onsen and checked into our hotel, Kinugawa Grand Hotel Yume no Toki. A woman led us to the room and served us tea. So fancy!

The room had two separate rooms (one with western beds and futons in the main room) as shown on the website, but it was even bigger than we had expected.

Winter Break Part 2: Nikko

 On Monday the 22nd we went to Nikko. It was my second time but Jonathan's first.

I took that picture in Asakusa as we walked towards the station.