Mom's Visit to Japan - Misawa

After a couple days in Tokyo, my mom and I hopped on a bullet train and traveled north to my home in Misawa. I was excited to host her in my home and show her around my stomping grounds.

Mom in front of the bullet train

When we arrived in Misawa, I immediately started introducing her to some of my closest friends. It meant a lot to see my mom interacting with my Misawa family. They were all very sweet and genuinely enjoyed talking to her. I always enjoy meeting my friends' parents because it helps me understand them a little bit better... Too bad my dad couldn't come out. Then maybe my friends would see where I got my crazy sense of humor and expressive face from. ;^) (Love you dad!)

On our first full day in Misawa, I took mom to see some of the local sights. Our first stop was out to the Pacific coast to see the ocean. Unfortunately, it was incredibly windy and cold out so we didn't stay long.

Just a little windy. Hahaha...

Replica of our Misawa icon - Miss Veedol

Next we went to a near by shinto shrine so mom could see a torii gate in person. I thought that would be interesting since so many of them appear in my photos. Also, the old and traditional architechture is beautiful and something unique to Japan.

That night mom went with me to our youth group meeting and got to meet a lot of the students and adults that I work with weekly. Everyone was so warm and welcoming to "Ms. Kim's mom". Unfortunately, I wasn't teaching that night, but I still enjoyed giving her a sense of what I do every week.

Mom was such a great sport - excited to see and experience anything - whether it was Tokyo Disney Sea or our base commissary. She was also willing to try some of my favorite Japanese restaurants. Below is a shot of her enjoying a bowl of authentic ramen noodles.

On Thursday afternoon, we had a unique opportunity to be dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos and have our portraits taken. It was quite an experience! We got to pick out our favorite kimono, which was difficult since they are all so beautiful. Then they dressed us and styled our hair before posing us for the photos. They were meticulous - paying attention to every detail and moving our limbs and faces ever so slightly to get the perfect shot. We felt a lot like elegant dolls being gently coiffed and manipulated. Very fun! Below are our two favorite shots!

That night I was obligated to go to a meeting of the college and young adult Bible Study I help lead, so mom came along with me again. I decided to keep my hair up from the pictures. They got a big kick out of my poofy do.

Friday we had an open day and so we took a drive through Oirase Gorge - one of the most beautiful places here in Northern Japan. It is so lush and green and filled with several stunning water falls. I was very upset to discover early on in our mild hiking and exploring that I forgot to put a memory card in my camera. So the shots below were captured on my iphone. But even in these low quality images, you can see how beautiful the gorge is!

fall color beginning to show!

Look how big that tree is!

On Saturday, we went on a big Japanese shopping spree. That morning, we spent a couple of hours perusing the treasures at the base Far East Bazaar. Then we drove south to Hachinohe and took a turn around the giant fish market there. We were both pretty fascinated by all of the fresh (and often live) sea creatures on display. Then we went to Shimoda Mall where I showed mom around some of my favorite stores. We also had lunch at my FAVORITE restaurant - Pepper Lunch! You order your food through a vending machine, and then it comes on a hot cast iron plate. So you stir it around and let it cook right there in front of you. So cool!

Entering the fish market

Before we knew it, the week was over. She was planning to take the train back south to Tokyo around lunch time to catch her evening flight back to the States. But that morning, she was given a special opportunity to play the offeratory in our traditional worship service at the chapel. She also played a duet with a close friend of mine during communion. Mom was on piano (obviously), and Becky Jantz played flute. It was very special for me to hear my mom play and show her off a bit to some of my friends and colleagues. I thought it was a very fitting end to her visit. I was definitely sad to see her go, but mostly felt grateful that she came all this way to visit and share my life for a week!

Mom and Becky, both passionate musicians!

Mom's Visit to Japan - Tokyo Disney Sea

It took 25 years - but while she was here my mom FINALLY took me to Disney!!! Granted - it was in Tokyo and it was my idea. But it still counts. ;^)

Here in Japan they have two Disney parks - Tokyo Disney, which is basically a small replica of the magic kingdom, and Tokyo Disney Sea, which is a unique park with a similar concept to Epcot. The whole park is divided into seven different parts, all constructed to look like the waterfront of a different civilization throughout time. I'm not a big fan of rides, but there was so much to do and see at Disney Sea without that, so I was happy.

That morning we checked out of our hotel in Roppongi and traveled to the big American Military Resort in Tokyo called the New Sanno where we would be staying that night. We couldn't check in yet but left our bags with them and enjoyed a big American breakfast before hopping on a train and heading out to the Pacific Coast where the Disney Resort and Parks are located. When we got to our stop, we got off and boarded the Disney owned train that would take us to the park of our choice. The Disney Resort Line is SOO cute inside. The windows and hand-holds are shaped like mickey mouse and they were playing Disney music. We were so excited!

My mom riding the Tokyo subway like a champ

Disney Resort Line

The first thing we saw upon entering the park was a giant fountain modeled after Mickey Mouse's misadventures in Fantasia.

Then we walked under an archway and suddenly we were walking along the harbor in Venice! Having been there, I can say that the Disney rendering of this iconic Italian city was very accurate. There was a show going on on the water  so the air was filled with music and people were crowded around to get a shot of Mickey and his friends singing and dancing on boats. The whole park was decked out in Halloween decorations and, from what we could tell the show had a special Halloween theme as well. I was a little overstimulated for a miute - so many sights, sounds and smells coming from all directions! I couldn't take pictures fast enough!!

To avoid the crowds we walked around the harbor, through the Mediterranean village and caught a glimpse of the different areas along the main waterway. Below you can see a bit of the renaissance castle on the Mysterious Island to the right, and the New York harbor in the back. In the middle is a bridge that looks a lot like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Next we entered a large cave, and emerged inside a crater below a smoking volcano. This area was called The Mysterious Island, and contained a small inlet built up to look like something out of Journey to the Center of the Earth. My mom was excited to see the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea docked below us. All of the little details were so fun!

The next area was definitely one of our favorites. It was aptly named King Triton's Kingdom. On the outside, it looked like the castle from The Little Mermaid. Inside was a children's play area that was totally decked out to look like you're under the sea. The lighting is very low, and there are reflective tiles on the ceiling to mimick wave patterns. Everything is done up in deep blues, purples and greens, with sea life and fish suspended from the ceilings and all along the rocks and grottos. There were some fun kid-friendly rides and activities, as well as a seafood cafe and lots of gift shops. TOO cool.

The next area had a middle-eastern flair inspired by Aladdin. It was here that we found the one ride I thought I could handle. It was a beautiful two-story carousel.

Wandering through the bazaar. Loved how this park transported us around the world!

Next, we found ourselves in the south American jungle. This part of the park had a lot of elements inspired by Indiana Jones. It was a little creepy seeing the big Aztec temples rising up out of the forest - complete with fire and smoke. But it really set the mood. It was around this time that we decided to stop for lunch at a Mexican cantina. The lines were crazy, but the food was good. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the river. What an experience!

The restaurant

The meal gave us some renewed energy to continue our world trek. As we turned a corner and left the jungle behind, we suddenly found oursevles in Cape Cod. I had a moment where I knew I was in Japan but felt like I was in America...with 200 Japanese tourists in fuzzy mouse ears. There was a small lighthouse on an island overlooking the harbor, and period music wafting from behind quaint store fronts. It was beautifully sentimental.

Posing with Mickey

From Cape Cod we wandered into turn of the century New York City. There was a MASSIVE, life-sized ship docked there. You could board it and walk around, eating at a nice sea-food restaurant. We went to a fantastic show in a huge theater. It was Mickey's tribute to big band jazz. The singers and musicians were great, and occasionally some of our favorite Disney characters came out on stage to sing and dance. It was a very high quality production, and definitely worth the long wait.

the theater

Before it got dark we ran over to the last area we had not yet explored. It was a renaissance era castle perched on the cliff below the volcano on the Mysterious Island. The draw of this area was focused on discovery. You could climb all through the castle. Each room and castle turret had an interactive display inspired by the works of Leonardo DiVinci or Galileo. Very fun.

We wanted to see the final nighttime show on the water, but it didn't start till 8:00. So we spent our last couple of hours in Tokyo Disney exploring most of the attractions in the American section of the park. They had been heavily promoting their new 3-D Toy Story Mania attraction. It was fun seeing Woody's head all lit up, but we were not willing to wait 2.5 hours in line to see a little 3-D video of Woody and the gang speaking Japanese. So we moved on...

We caught the start of another show before dinner. It involved Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast singing about all different types of food from around the world. But by this time it was awfully cold outside so we grabbed a hot meal inside of a New York deli.

More Disney halloween decorations

An American favorite - the Tower of Terror - all lit up at night. Very creepy!

After dinner we still had about an hour to kill and so we wandered back over to the Italian part of the park and enjoyed some gelatto while looking out at the gorgeous Venician canals and harbor all lit up. Magical!

Finally, we joined the throngs of people vying for a good view of the main harbor where the show was about to start. The show was all about the power of imagination - done within the framework of Mickey's brush with magic in Fantasia. A giant blue sorcerer's hat covered in LED lights that turned the hat into a 3-D screen on which to project scenes from different Disney movies. Then little boats sailed into the harbor with inflated spheres on top that also served as projection screens. Different characters appeared on the boats to dance and sing as many of our favorite tunes were played. It was incredible. But half way through the show, a dramatic shift occurred. The dreams and imagination turned into a nightmare - and many of the Disney villians made an appearance, culminating in a big, fire-breathing animatronic dragon climbing out of the mirror from Snow White. But, of course, evil was vanquished and we celebrating the victory with fireworks and strobe lights! The show was so intense but also AWESOME! Definitely the highlight of the trip and worth waiting till dark.

Right before we went home, they put on a proper fireworks show set to Halloween music. What a night! We were tired and very footsore after a full day of walking, but I was content. If only James could have experienced the Disney magic with me!