And so it ends.

Jan 16
Today was our last proper day in Japan, and we spent it by visiting Disney Sea with Ellen's friend Honami again with us (which was fun ^_^). While Disneyland was whelming, Disney Sea was freakin' awesome. It's the most expensive theme park ever built, and it shows, because the atmosphere and detail is sensational. It's exclusive to Japan, and because it's set on Tokyo Harbour, all seven areas take on the theme of different water areas from around the world; there's an Arabian oasis type area similar to Aladdin, a Mermaid's Lagoon area like the Little Mermaid, an Aztec jungle river area like the Emperor's New Groove, an Americann harbour area, a Venice harbour area, a Jules Verne area (inspired by his books) and another area too I think that I can't really remember right now. Only one ride was closed (Indiana Jones Ride, but like the Disneyland closed rides I'd been to them in LA so I wasn't too upset) and even though it was cold, the lines and crowds were a bit insane.

The park opened at 10am, and we got into the park, headed straight to the Tower of Terror at 10.40am (after taking the Mickey Mouse-themed monorail from the station to the park), and found that all of the Fast Passes had been given out for the day. FML. We managed to get some to Journey to the Centre of the Earth and the looping rollercoaster though, and met Stitch, Aladdin & Jasmine, and saw a few others. After a two hour line up we rode the Tower of Terror (WHICH WAS AWESOME and COMPLETELY worth the wait). We wanted to do it again but didn't want to spend all that time lining up again, so enjoyed walking around the park as the sun set and it got all dark and pretty-like with the atmospheric lighting.

I kind of realised that even though the atmosphere and set design at Dreamworld sucks, its rides are really awesome in terms of thrills, because even Disney Sea's weren't as easily given, with maybe only one drop on roller-coasters, with the drop not all that scary.

We went out for ramen with Ellen as snow began to fall over Ikebukuro. Tomorrow we fly out for home in the evening, and arrive back in Sydney just after lunch time on Thursday. It's been an awesome trip, and I'd love to come back to Japan (but maybe this time in spring or autumn).

Jan 15
Disneyland!! Despite heavy rain forecast and it being a Monday, the park was relatively busy, far more so than when we went in LA back in January 1999 as a family. My memory as a child was obviously a lot more awesome, but as Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion were closed, Disneyland wasn't that magical. After rain stopped Big Thunder Railroad from running, Space Mountain was the only ride left that was any decent, which meant that it was incredibly busy to get into. The rest of the rides were kind of tame. It was still fun though, but the rain was a huge damper (literally... lawl) on the day. We got a bit soaked and it was freezing cold. We had our last beef bowl in Japan for dinner, which will surely be missed, as it's cheap and amazing.

Jan 14
We started the day in Harajuku, which was quite packed, wondering around its streets looking at the clothes shops (but crowds and prices stopped us going in or buying anything). We visited Meiji Jingu, a beautiful and famous shrine in the region, and because it was a Sunday and Valentine's Day, saw three wedding ceremonies and at least one other bride walking about... which was pretty cool. Meiji Jingu is Tokhyo's other cultural attraction apart from Senso-ji at Asakusa). We had yummy crèpes, and then met up with Ellen's friend Honami and her sister. We had pasta lunch and then headed for the Jinju Bridge and watched/filmed some of the crazy fashions from teenage (and weird adult) cosplayers. Ellen went home as Prudence and I headed to Shinjuku, where she finally bought her Final Fantasy necklace. At night we bummed in the hostel.

Jan 13
We went to Odaiba, a 'reclaimed' (man-made) island on Tokyo Bay, however the day was pretty miserable and wet. We saw the Rainbow Bridge, Fuji Building and an awesome shopping centre and arcade. Ellen's friend Ayaka met up with us, and we took some pretty awful purikura from a really dodgy machine (fail) before re-trying at a glitter one... win! At night Ellen, Prue and I went out for karaoke again, with the two hours flying by. Karaoke will be missed. =/

Jan 12
We slept in until noon after going out to Gas Panic, and headed into Asakusa to see the famous Buddhist temple Senso-ji, however it was under construction outside so we could only see the shrine inside. After exploring Ginza and seeing the famous kabuki theatre that's about to be torn down and re-built, we headed out to have dinner at Ellen's host great uncle's restaurant with her family. It was tempura with soba, which tasted awesome. After watching the Music Station Super Live (or whatever it's called) 1000th anniversary show, we bid the kotatsu at Ellen's house and her host family farwell. They were both pretty awesome.