Beyond Playground: The One About Japan (part 2)

Ueno Park

It's time for part two of this whole Japan trip saga.

December 24, 2017

After a quite packed full day at Disneyland the previous days, we decided to take things a bit easy on Christmas eve. We went to Ueno Park, mainly because my eldest wanted to see the museum. So we went to the National Museum of Nature and Science. I actually had a different idea in mind.. I wanted to see the museum of Japanese cultures and whatnot. But the kid wants something else. Maybe for next time.

We got there pretty early, making a short stop to get some bakery nearby the park (I forgot the name of the bakery but it had some pretty cute Panda shaped buns which tasted amazing!) for the young ones. We walked through the park to reach the museum. Mind you, Ueno Park is pretty huge! There are many attractions you can take your kids to see. And the park itself had such beautiful scenery. We were planning on seeing the zoo, but it had to wait for some other time. To the museum we go!

What can I say about the museum? It was huge! So much to see. There are a little area on the top floor for kids, although you need to get a ticket (it was free) from the front desk. If they're out of ticket for the day then that's it. You have to come back some other time because the tickets are limited each day to prevent over crowding of the play area. We didn't realized that we needed a ticket to enter the playground, so it was already too late by then.

Anyway. My oldest was thoroughly enjoying his time at the museum. My youngest? She didn't understand yet. She couldn't care less. Me? I think I was still pretty exhausted from our trip to Disneyland that I got myself a seat in the corner of the museum and just dozed off peacefully.

After our excursion to the museum, it was already 3pm-ish. I was getting slightly hungry. So we decided to head to Omotesando and get some snacks at Dominique Ansel Bakery. If you're in Tokyo, I highly recommend this place. While you won't always able to get a seat because the waiting line is crazy, you can always buy the food to go. I'd recommend the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups, the Frozen S'mores and the Madeleines. So GOOD.

The oh-so-delicious Frozen S'mores from Dominique Ansel

We finished off the day by strolling around Omotesando and Shibuya area. Entertaining the kids to a toy feast at Kiddyland. It was sort of a mistake going out shopping on Christmas eve around Shibuya, because good God, the crowd were cray! The streets were so full of people, we were literally walking shoulder to shoulder with others. Back to Ginza we go, which was a lot less crowded, thank God.

Kiddyland. A child's heaven. Parents' nightmare (sort of).

December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas! Wishing you all have a wonderful Christmas day.

Didn't document much on this day, because it was a full packed day of shopping (also my youngest was still being rather 'difficult')! Starting of the day by doing the whole Ginza car free day thing. The weather was so nice, it was cold yet the sun was shining it warms us in parts. Then we had lunch at this random yakiniku restaurant we passed by, which turned out to be pretty good. The staffs were super helpful and nice.

And then we're off on our shopping expeditions. We got mainly shoes for my kids. Some Adidas and Vans. Some toys here and there (of course). The streets were still overly crowded during Christmas. I think everybody went out. Most restaurants were full.

We end the day with a McDonald stop (which is right next to our hotel) and got ourselves a treat - strawberry milkshakes and a chocolate pie (available only in Japan).