Tokyo--Thursday

Up at 4. Ready and on the airport shuttle bus at 4:30 a.m. They gave Todd 3 brown bag breakfast meals. They had a banana, juice, and a variety of pastries. Not near as bad as we had envisioned. Got to the airport, through passport control, and then off to security. The guy asked if I had a computer (normal) or an umbrella (not normal). I didn't have either so I went through and Cameron went through. Todd got stopped because he had a little umbrella in his bag but they didn't ask him if he had one. He had to take it out and they had to examine and test it. When Todd got by us he said "obviously some idiot tried to do something with an umbrella". Off to the lounge. We had a little of our brown bagged breakfasts and Todd had some eggs from the lounge. Off to the gate.

Killing time.

We sat around the gate area for about 15 minutes and then they started boarding. The Wallace's were the first ones on the plane. We found our seats and settled in. It was almost time to go when one of the airline workers started talking to Todd and checking his ticket. He got upgraded to first class...lucky. He looked at me and said "should I go?" but as he was saying it he was already out of his seat. He looked like a little kid who just got the best present ever.

Machine at the gate.  It sells cans of beer.  Odd.

Cameron and I thought we would get the whole row to ourselves. He moved into Todd's seat but then a girl said that is where she was suppose to go. Shoot! Back over Cameron went. Once the flight was in the air Todd came back with his same goofy look on his face to get his bag. He said "I'll take this up front with me so you don't have to carry it off". Oh jeez, that's nice of you. As he was going back through the curtain he looked at us one more time with that goofy smile. I was thinking 'ok Todd, we get it. You're cool'. And no, there was no jealousy going on.

Breakfast was served. Scrambled eggs, sausage, broccoli, fruit, muffin, and a drink. Cameron devoured all of it except 2 tomatoes that were with the eggs and the muffin. When he was finished he said "that was the best airplane food ever.". I'm going to have to agree it was good. Todd said his food wasn't good. He could only have the noodles because they had no more eggs left by the time he was moved to first class. Poor Todd.

Todd checked on us with 45 minutes left in the flight. Cameron played his DS and the IPad. He also watched a movie. I looked at a couple of magazines, slept a little, and tried out the DS. Found out I'm terrible at Pacman and Gallaga. Out of the blue Cameron said "I can't wait to get to the hotel to play with the toilet". What a goofball.

At the Narita Airport we did everything needed to stay in Tokyo and made our way outside. Todd jumped in the money exchange line while I found out about the Limo bus that goes to the hotel. Turns out the bus was leaving in 5 minutes and the next bus left in 1 1/2 hours. Todd got out of the money line, bought tickets, and we went out to the bus line. 1 minute later the bus pulled up, we got on, and it pulled out. Perfect timing.

Driving down the interstate Cameron was dozing off. 3 times we tried to get his picture but every time he would wake up. Finally he was out cold. Got his picture and we continued to cruise until a tiny red car decided to pull over in front of us. The bus driver slammed on his brakes and laid on the horn. This certainly woke up all the sleepy businessmen and Cameron. We continued on our way without incident.

No, I am not tired.

Finally out cold.

Got to the Courtyard Marriott Hotel and the first thing we saw was Denny's.  All of us got a little too excited.  We will need to check that out.  Inside the hotel we checked in and went to our room. They are giving us a different room tomorrow that is bigger. They were full tonight. It's no big deal since we will barely be at the hotel. Cameron immediately went in the bathroom. He let out an excited squeal when he saw it was the kind of toilet that squirts water. He immediately sat and started pushing buttons. Man, this kid is so easily entertained.

We went exploring. First place was Denny's to check the menu and to use the ATM.  Very disappointed...Denny's is not like the American Denny's.  We will not be eating at this place. Next we were trying to get to Shibashi station to get on the metro. We made a wrong turn and after walking at least 20 minutes we realized we were not going in the right direction. Turned around. Found a McDonald's so Cameron got a McFlurry and I got a Diet Coke. 

How cool is this motorcycle?

Walking around Tokyo.

About to get some ice cream.

Continued walking. Finally found the right station. Bought tickets and we were on our way. 5 stops later we got off at Odaiba. First thing we saw was Lego Discovery Center. We immediately went there but it was like the one in Chicago and not for Cameron. We looked around the gift shop and found some things Cameron would like but way too expensive. We continued to walk around. We found a beach which was nice. We got a drink and hung out by the beach for awhile and watched the boats. Nice day. We found the Statue of Liberty, we thought we went to New York for a second. Found a Toys R Us so of course we went in. Again, very expensive compared to home. Luckily Cameron understands this and wasn't upset he couldn't get anything.

A shot from the train. 

Enjoying the ride and the view.

Cameron wanted a picture in the mouth...

And the bootie.

What is wrong with your eyes Cameron?

Cameron's new best friends.

The view from the beach.

Rainbow bridge is in the background.

Cameron drinking some of Grandma Janet's expensive Evian water.

Statue of Liberty off in the distance.

We thought we were in Tokyo.

The greatest store on Earth.

Next stop was dinner. As it turned out it was a snack. We each got a burger. Todd had an egg on his, mine had bacon, and Cameron a pineapple. They were delicious. We had a great view of the Bay too.

That's a big burger.

Out the window.

Pineapple on top.

Going in for the first bite.

Found our way back to the Metro and back to where we started by the hotel. We found the hotel much easier than finding the station. We had some free drink coupons so we went to use them. Cameron got freshly squeezed orange juice. It smelled so good and he downed it so it must have tasted good as well.

We ventured out again. We stopped by a pizza place to look at the menu in case we needed pizza later. We went to a 24 hour sushi place. We sat right in front of the sushi makers. Todd and Cameron ordered a platter of different kinds of sushi and grilled scallops. I tried the grilled scallops and they weren't bad but I don't do sushi. Todd and Cameron devoured the sushi. They looked like they were in heaven. Todd said the sushi already made the trip to Tokyo worth it and he hopes we go back before we leave.

Coming up from the Italian restaurant.  Steep stairs.

Pretty neat at night.  Lots of lights.

Trying to decide what to order.

First bite.

Check out the sampler they chose.  They look pretty happy.

Grilled scallops.

Left the sushi place and went back to the pizza place. We got a salami pizza. It only took about 10 minutes to cook. Carried it back to the hotel. We stopped at Lawson's to buy water for our trip tomorrow and then went back to our room. Ate the pizza. It was small but good. Cameron definitely took in the most calories today. He must be growing again.

My pizza that Cameron ended up eating too.

A little tv and then off to bed. A big, long day tomorrow.