from seoul back to tokyo

and just like that, our quickie trip to korea was over and we were back at the airport for an early morning flight back to tokyo.

i love asian airlines.  they feed you.

we even got a glimpse of mt. fuji from the plane, which was awesome since we didn’t have time to try and squeeze in a day trip so this would be the only chance we got to see it.

once we landed, we caught an uber to take us to our next hotel so that we could drop off our luggage (i say “luggage” and not “carryons” because one of our last purchases in korea was a suitcase that we then filled with all of our souvenirs and skincare).  from there we headed to the train station which was oh-so-conveniently located just down the street.

and when we got off that train, it didn’t take too long to see that we were definitely in the right place.

and then it was a really short walk (once we figured out the right way to go) to our activity for the day - a visit to sanrio puroland, one of two sanrio-themed amusement parks in japan.  the bonus?  this one is indoors and air conditioned.  woohoo!

there are only two actual rides in the park, and it was already after 1:00 in the afternoon.  this meant that it was fairly crowded in there already and the wait time for the first ride we saw was well over an hour.  but i’d seen online that there was a paid priority pass, so after asking a staff member she pointed to a vending machine around the corner to check for availability.  and for a mere 2,000 yen (which converts to under $14) we walked right onto the ride without having to wait even a minute.

it was a cute little boat ride, with all kinds of silly scenes that we didn’t fully understand.  but we appreciated the sanrio-ness of it all.

there were, of course, lots of fun little gift shops to browse through.

and then we somehow stumbled onto this room that contained a truly frightening animatronics scene but which also had an ice cream vending machine.

we walked around a little and caught a glimpse of the live show down on the ground level.

we decided to stop here to grab a late lunch.

photo op!

there were lots of gachapon and claw machines, and the bean had a blast trying to win more little toys and trinkets.

photo booth!

we stumbled upon the second ride, which also had a really long line but also an immediately available priority pass.  so we coughed up another 2,000 yen and hopped on.

ride photos:

and then when we found this adorable restaurant, we stopped to share another small meal because why not?

by then, it was closing time.  we took one last look around and then headed on out.

back at the station, we found this cute little booth to sit in and wait for the next train.

we had one more planned activity for the day, which took us to shibuya.

we joined a bazillion other people as we crossed the famous shibuya scramble.

the one thing i really wanted to see while we were here was the statue memorializing hachiko the dog.  he would walk to the train station with his owner every day and wait for him to come back from work.  sadly, his owner died and that sweet dog waited there until the day he died.

after a little confusion, we found our way to our next activity - a quick elevator ride to the top of this building to get a fantastic view of the city below.

we went up this escalator to keep climbing up to the very top, chasing the sunset the whole way.

but we realized that we could get a better view of the shibuya scramble if we went down a level.

back down on ground level, we found an all-you-can-eat meatfest for dinner.

and we had to shop in their very large don quixote.

our home for the night was the hotel JAL city tokyo toyosu. the room was lovely and clean and comfortable.

i liked how the toilet room had its own teeny-tiny sink to wash your hands after doing your business.

our trip was winding down and while there was still so much we would have loved to do, i knew we were both missing the hub. and the old lady and the old man. and the dogs.  we were having the most wonderful time making lots of memories together and i know it’s a trip neither of us will ever forget.