Japan Without Sushi - Part 1

So. Cherry blossom in Japan has been crossed off my imaginary bucket list. The trip was not planned until early this year, which could be considered late compared to our other long trips. After deciding destination cities and the dates, air tickets were booked. Not long after that we came to realize how difficult it was to secure the hotels during the chosen period.

This trip required lots of planning, navigation skills, internet data plan and some basic body language. We hopped on and off the different mode of transports, dragging children and luggage along. So our stuff was split into 2 luggage, one was carried along and another was shipped from first destination to the last destination. Internet came handy when basic body language did not work, for example when asking for sugar or honey as first aid, or when asking whether or not the fireworks was cancelled.

The weather was not really on our side during the trip. The double-digit temperatures predicted plummeted without warnings. And it's not only the low temperature and wind; it came with showers as well. When packing, I doubted if the gloves I brought along would be of any use, and I ended up regretting not packing up the long johns. Either way, we survived :)

We could not decide whether or not to bring an umbrella stroller along until the last minute. Searched the web and found both pros and cons on the topic. In the end we did not bring it and did not regret the decision - the children survived and we were amazed they could actually walk that much, some whining aside. The amount of walk we did was not a joke, it exceeded 10,000 (adult) steps most of the days.

Our itinerary:
1-3 Apr 2015 - Tokyo
3-5 Apr 2015 - Fujikawaguchiko
5-8 Apr 2015 - Osaka with daytrip to Kyoto
8-11 Apr 2015 - Tokyo Disney Resort

Fujikawaguchiko was chosen as it is supposed to have the best view of Mt. Fuji, provided the sky is clear and not covered with clouds, which did not happen in our case :( We left the small town on Sunday, and snow was predicted to fall there on the following Wednesday! So the cold weather was getting from bad to worse.

We did not manage to get any available rooms in any hotel in Kyoto, so we stayed in Osaka and did day trip by train to Kyoto instead. It was doable, but it meant we covered less than what we wanted in Kyoto, which was a pity as it has more to offer compared to Osaka.

Disney visit proved to be magical, one more time!

In summary, we had great fun, enjoyed lots of sumptuous food and fantastic sceneries in our Japan trip. Might do it again another time!