So here is what the day had in store for me...
Today was a day I decided to test my navigating skills as on the itinerary are two places that are a little further out from Tokyo: Inokashira Park in Kichijoji and Yomiuri Land in Kawasaki.
Inokashira Park is actually where the Ghibli Museum is, but I hadn't felt like trying to get tickets there. It's kinda a tough process when you live outside of Japan and they go quick! No, the park is home to a bird sanctuary called Kotori no Mori and I was interested in seeing that and just walking around and enjoying some people watching and fall foliage. Speaking of koyo, it's perfect timing as the fall colors are at their peak right now in Tokyo! The ginkos are super yellow and the maples super red and the bald cypress (I'm pretty sure that what they are) are stunningly orange!
After taking my time getting ready I headed out towards Kichijoji station. I was hungry but held off because I was going to hunt down a bento store or two that I'd bookmarked for breakfast. Turns out that the stores were just a sprinkling of what the station had to offer as there was a mall called Rambling Street and I had literally thousands of options. Everywhere were small stores and stalls full of foods, snacks, treats, omiyage, and gifts! I picked up a little sandwich sampler tray at a bakery stall, and a little sampler of dumplings made with crab for my (by this time) Brunch in the park.
The perfect place for a picnic!
Starting on the right: Ham and tomato, a really yummy shrimp salad, tonkatsu, and a fruit and cream sandwich. It was all so SO good!
Kotori no Mori is set aside and fenced off because it's a bird sanctuary. It has everything a bird could want: running water of a nearby stream, native plants, berries that were berrying, and lots of underbrush and trees! They had a cute little corner where you could peek into their world without disturbing them, and there were a few people with cameras just patiently waiting and watching. One of them struck up a conversation with me (well, more like he talked, I would repeat a word I recognized and did my best to answer him in stunted Japanese or English spoken in katakana LOL). I believe he said his name was Hashimoto (I honestly can't remember what name he said and I still am not sure if he was saying it was his name, or a baseball player he likes, or if he was making some silly old man joke), he likes to go running in the park. Bless him, he tried to guess where I was from and guessed Australia and New Zealand first, and I apologetically said I was an Amerika-jin. He then asked if I was from New York and I said Shinshinatti and he was like Oooooh! Yakyuu! And I was like! Yes! Yakyuu! Shinshinatti Redsu! Huzzah! We are understanding each other! It's a conversation! We parted saying it was nice to meet each other and I went back to watching birds. I tried using my Google conversation translator app but he seemed confused when I used it saying we could talk into it and it would translate into our languages. Oh well, it was good practice for me LOL.
I spy with my little eye...
A brown-eared bulbul (these are the loud, annoying birds you hear EVERYWHERE that sound like squeaky toys)
A crow (the other bird you hear a lot)
Japanese Cormorants (these two were building a nest together and every time the male brought a stick he made a big commotion about it, would stand around looking proud while the female did all the work building the nest with the stick LOL)
A grey heron (those cypress trees behind him are STUNNING)
And an Oriental Turtle Dove
Those were all the birds I was able to see and photograph, and now here is the rest of the park in all of it's Fall-Color Glory:
Ooooh! Ahhhhh!
Alright, my feet are starting to get sore, time to walk back to the station. I was fortunately kind to myself and, instead of just heading off to the next thing of Yomiuri Land, I decided to head back to the hotel, divest myself of my trash (seriously people, when you hear that there are no trash cans in Japan, it's true, so save your 7-Eleven plastic bag or bring a reusable one, your trash is gonna travel along with you until you get to a hotel or find the rare trash can), and take a little nap. It was only a half hour snooze, but any longer and it would have been my body trying to go back to my home's circadian rhythm. Either way, I woke up refreshed, a little lighter, and ready to navigate the 1.5 hour trek out to Yomiuri Land. One of the station being the dreaded Shinjuku Eki!!!😱
But seriously, it was actually fine. The transfer I needed was right nearby in Shinjuku. I also ran into some old friends!
Their album SUBROSA just released the other day! Sadly, it's the first one since Sushi died last year :(
The only time I was confused was when it told me to get off the Keio line at Choufu station and find platform 1/2, but I asked a train attendant and he told me it was the platform right across from the train I just got off of. What in the heck Google maps? What is "Platform 1/2" even supposed to mean??
Was I supposed to run at a brick wall like it's Platform 9 3/4?
Also, I took this picture because I was amused by the gym in the background, but these girls were able to put on makeup on a moving train?! Skillz
A much easier and quicker way to get there. And the approach was majestic!
It was amazing how many lights there were! Called "Jewellumination" they really were able to make it look like dazzling, sparkling gems with all the bright colors!
I had a coupon for basic entry but the guy at the counter ended up giving me the afternoon discount full-access ticket, which was more expensive (but not by much so I wasn't too bummed) BUT included access to all rides but the Ferris wheel. And I'm glad he did give me that; the rides were few but they were cute and fun and some really gave you a great view of the park. Like the swings (similar to the Zephyr at King's Island). I did a little shooting game on a car track (like the KI Scooby-Doo ride) where the plot was something like a poacher and his evil genius brother were hunting and capturing animals but using robot spiders? I dunno, but it was funny. And a roller coaster that was a lot of fun and based off the Taisho Lipovitan D Energy Drink?! LOL. It was really fun! Almost like Guardians of the Galaxy/Outer Limits but not as intense. And you had to shout a certain word (or just shout) right when you go to the outside part and you get your "energy level" rating at the end. Mine was 80%, so at least I was passing!
All in all, it was a lot of fun. Not a huge park (my feet are glad for that) but some fun rides, yummy food stalls (I wasn't very hungry but did enjoy a cherry Calpis boba drink), light and dance shows, and (above all) some really amazing lights!
But after the roller coaster my feet were done for the day, and the park was going to close in 30 minutes at 8:30 pm anyway.
Surprisingly, the ride back was much easier than the ride there? Taking the Keio line it just kept turning into different lines and Google Maps told me to stay on board. That was just fine by me! The train, despite transferring lines a few times, was able to get me back into Tokyo in about an hour. I unlocked an achievement by nodding off and waking up at the right time to get off the train at Akihabara and walk to the metro station which took me the rest of the way to Ueno. I stopped by Family Mart, got me a metaiko onigiri, a Famichiki, a grape Qoo drink and a creme brulee purin for dessert, which I ate like a starved person back in my room before falling straight to sleep.
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