Pit Stop At Gift Shops

and this particular gift shop is for all things One Piece, over at Huis Ten Bosch. 

 Get your wallets and purse ready! Let's get ready to do some spending!

 

They have everything you probably want. Confectionaries, items of clothing, stationeries, toys and even stamps! Which we have to absolutely get

plus a postcard. We always make a point to send a postcard to ourselves at each different city we visited when we vacation. It makes nice souvenir for us. ^^

Fancy a snack?

Gotta love this sight. Waiting in line patiently to play that One Piece card game. And gotta love the fact that kids were courteous enough not to hog the machine and let others have a go at it too.

There's a One Piece restaurant too, selling all One Piece inspired menu. We didn't eat there though. We went elsewhere for our lunch.

The Bribe - More Game!

or should we rephrase it? It's reward time. For a boy who didn't complain (much) when his parents  dragged him when they were in Japan or how long the "dragging" took.

Rewards came in form of :

1. Sugar (in form of Kamen Rider/Ultraman can drinks)
2. Game (in form of Nintendo 3DS)
3. and also this :

the deal is : one game per city/day. Gaming time would be accorded just before we made our way to our hotel room before we go out again for dinner. Or maybe after dinner, with Mommy if Daddy wants to venture out alone. It's a great bribe errr reward for Mommy to give to him because then he'd be more willing tagging along withMommy when Mommy was shoe shopping! ;p

Call it irresponsible parenting but only in Japan would I leave him at the game centre (and providing him with more coins than what was agreed with Daddy) while I went shoe browsing at the floor below. (p.s. I'm cheap enough to just limit my shopping at ROX) ^^

The Bribes - Sugar Overload

How do you keep a 9 year old happy, walking and sightseeing daily hours on end for a fortnight? By bribing of course!

Exhibit no. 1 : sugar bribe.

Not just any old thing. For this boy, it's Daido's Ultraman and Kamen Rider drinks. 

 

Worked pretty well in previous years too.

They cost 100yen at the vending machines. Can't choose what you can get over at the machines so if you want to try to collect a complete set, a better bet would be to head-off to Yamashiroya nearby Ueno Station. They sell this stuff too, with tax at 105yen.

Of course, a bribe is only effective if used sparingly and wisely. You can't be bribing left, right, center!

For Son - one sugar bribe a day. That's the limit and usually handed out when the energy level was way low. 

Postcards To Home

Rather than sending them to others back home, we love sending postcards to ourselves from each city we visited when we are vacationing in Japan.

It's fun to look at the postcards and the stamps not to mention if there's any special postmark on it. ^^

This year, we have Hakodate, Yufuin, Dogo Onsen (Matsuyama), Nara, Enoshima, Kagawa added to our postcard collection.

And we have a new set of stamps added too.

Cute, right? *^-^*

Firsts!

There are many firsts in this trip, so far on Day 1 & Day 2. Gonna keep the post short and sweet (in narrative) but with lots of photos. *^-^*

We arrived Tokyo International Airport, Haneda in one piece on our first ever plane trip with Air Asia X. I do have to say the budget carrier exceeded our expectation and for th price we paid our fares, I certainly will consider taking it again!

First ever arrival to Japan via Haneda. We arrived 20 minutes earlier than scheduled, but even with the earlier arrival, most shops are already closed for the night.

First meal in Japan was bento bought at 7-11. 300+yen bento for each of us and a melon pan for Raimie, washed down with a grape drink thant cost 105yen for 1ltr.

The next day, our first lunch in Japan was at Tenya, at Shin-Yokohama station. We were famished! Raimie keep wanting to go eat curry at Coco Ichiba and we keep reminding him that we cannot eat the Japanese curry in Japan. Oh dear.

First time setting our eyes on the Nippon Maru but didn't go and visit the Maritime Museum.

Raimie having a breather at the nearby park. It was noon, the weather was nice, cool & sunny. Saw a few runners doing their lunchtime run and got jealous & wish I'm running too. LOL

First "aki" experience in Yokohama

then, we walked to this Red Brick Warehouse

then, Raimie got tired and decided to plonk his butt anywhere

but we managed to prod him to get moving with a promise to let him buy the thing that he's been hankering for and we walked from the Red Brick House to the Cup Noodle Museum then all the way to Yokohama Station and went to Yodobashi Camera which is near the station. We even stopped at a sports store and spent ages there and went to buy some Uniqlo stuff for Raimie.

And let Raimie buy what he's been waiting eagerly to get - a Nintendo 3DS and two games.

In total, we spent almost 10 hours on our feet today, with only a few short breaks - to eat lunch & stuff. Zaini is now happily snoring away and Raimie is still badgering me to let him play his new Nintendo but it needs to be charged first! I gotta get some sleep soon. Planning to hit a nearby park early tomorrow morning for a bit of run. Night!

Toy Shopping

Shopping in Japan! Each of us have our own list of shopping to be done. And this is the one time that Raimie is allowed a free rein to do some toy/games shopping (within an allotted budget, of course).

He knows how much he is allowed to spend and with that budget, he already has list made out. He is pretty much his father's son - him and his list. LOL

Things We Do On Our Vacation. 1. Downloading Free Games

Spending time at DS Station, downloading free games.

If you ever tag along with us for a vacation in Japan, be prepared for this. Countless times at some store (usually either Yodobashi or Bic Camera. Yamashiroya in Ueno is a favourite of ours too. ^^) looking at games and toys and at this games station. You have been warned. XD

The Disk "O"

 Hanayashiki Amusement Park - it's old,  its rickety but still absolutely fun to visit! It may not be Disneyland, but we sure had a fun morning here, one day in September last year. On the Respect-for-the-aged day, to be exact. ^^

A newer ride (than the rest, that is) and an awesome ride at Hanayashiki, I give you the Disk "O".

It spins, it goes up and down and it's a helluva ride! :)

Also Lisa of Ichigoichielove (did I get it right?) is hosting Show Me Japan Vol 1 Issue 21. Check it out!

Drinks Fit For A Super Hero

Another juvenile post, after last week's super heroes post. *^-^*

Fancy a can of cider or two with Kamen Riders?

or some cola with Ultraman Jack, Leo or Hikari?

or are you a bad ass and fancy drinking with the villains - Macron, Zetton or King Joe Black?

Some of those drinks you can find only in Japan and for sure, we bought some for our son; him  (not to mention the Dad too) being consumate fan of all tokukatsu series.

Super Heroes Time!

I'm going all juvenile for this post!

What do you think when you think Japan? For us, it's super heroes, aliens and monsters! That was the reason we made our second, third, fourth.... trips to Japan, by the way.

Meeting up the Ultra Heroes were awesome memories for our son. He still loves them but has now moved on to Kamen Riders. He's already a big boy, after all.

Some of the heroes he met all these years vacationing in Japan, and met a lot, he certainly did!

Ultraman

Ultraman Agul

Ultraman Cosmos

Ultra Father & Taro

Ultraman Justice

Ultraman Mebius & Hikari

Ultraman Tiga

Xenon

Ultraman Zearth

What's Japan for kids if not for those tokukatsu series? Those Kamen Riders, Super Sentais and ofcourse,Ultraman. HENSHIN!

Anyone still remember Space Cop Gaban? *^-^*

Another entry for  Budget Trouble : Show Me Japan.

Day 5 In Japan: A Great Time At Ultraman Club

Raimie sure had a blast at Ultraman Club, spending time meeting up his heroes and did some shopping too! If your kids love Ultraman and you are in Tokyo or Yokohama, this is the nearest place you can meet Ultraman everyday.

I bet any Ultraman loving fans would love to be here, regardless of age. :)

Raimie receiving briefing before meeting his current hero : Ultraman Zero

After the meeting (that include some nice personal moments with his hero), off he went and played in the play area. You can play shoot, bounce and kick at the bouncy gym (or whatever they call it), play the latest Ultraman video games and so much more there.

After the play session, it's time for some retail therapy at the M78 shop (official Ultraman Shop):

Snacks, Ultraman can drinks or  Ultra Heroes SD figures. Or do you fancy an Ultraman Kids' beer?

Raimie was happy playing the arcade games too!