Broom Closet (Japan 2)

March 29, 2014 
Email sent to my family
Japan's hotel is a broom closet, but the bed is surprisingly nice, which is good since the whole room is practically a bed.  Finding food is a nightmare…the hotel I got is in a business district with no real restaurants.  My bath is about full, so I have to go.

Tokyo Hotel
This is pretty much the whole room

Our flights to Japan went pretty smooth.  Nobody vomited, so that's a major plus.  However, I was feeling really tired and wondering if two days of travel to get to our location was worth it. Then I realized we did the same thing, plus another 6+ hour flight to get to Thailand and even tons more travel to get to Australia & New Zealand.  So it comes down to I was sick and it is much, much harder traveling with a little nursling.

During the 50 mile, two hour drive in a Limo Bus from Narita's Airport to Tokyo we passed Disneyland.  The kids got excited by the beautifully lit palace and when I told them what it was, Rachel (6) asked, "Dizzy Land?"  I corrected her and explained what it was, but apparently not clear enough because she sweetly said, "Oh, so they watch movies there?" 

When we were dropped off at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the attendants were amazing.  The woman was wearing a button up suit with a cute cap and the men were wearing old-fashioned looking cape coats with cute hats.  They were nice, even when we informed them we would not be staying in their $700/night hotel and were moving on to our budget business hotel.  They hailed us two taxis and we took the 10 minute drive to our $435/night for 2 rooms, each a whopping 118 sq ft.  That's approximately 10 x 11 feet…walk it out and imagine a bed and bathroom in that space.

I was able to find the humor in the situation, but it evaded Peter.  After dumping all our gear, we headed out in search of food.  Every "restaurant" was so tiny they wouldn't accept us, so we eventually stopped at a small grocery store.  Finding a few staples is made tricky when you can't read labels.  Back in our room we gathered on the bed and enjoyed our mini-feast of yogurt, strawberries, snap peas, bananas, and tangerines.  Isaac was the only one who liked the quail eggs (adorable, but too much funky yolk) and the only mishap we had was a giant jug of green tea that we thought was apple juice.  That was Peter's crank-y contribution.  He was tired of me scrutinizing labels, perusing aisles, and asking for help from nice locals.  When I assured him all that was left was some juice, he quickly grabbed a bottle.  What we hadn't learned yet was that apple juice is hard to find, whereas tea is plentiful.  Even in the baby section they have decaffeinated tea rather than juice.  Well, that is if you are lucky to find a store with a baby section.




After the children were settled and asleep, I finished unpacking and steeped in a hot bath.  The bathroom was so miniature the sink and tub shared a faucet, but the tub was amazing.  Small, but deep.  I had to pretzel myself a little, but I love a deep soak.  A happy change from my home's eco-friendly tub, which is code for small and shallow. 

2nd room had a slightly different layout.
Thankfully, the rooms were right next to each other.

Asher in his too-big slippers.