FMF: Puppies, Disney and More

I got a lot of questions that needed answering since I left for Tokyo and so here are the answers that I have for you guys.

I want to get a puppy but I don't want to support puppy mills. What do you recommend?

There are a lot of different places where you can get puppies on the island. Eventually you are going to encounter some that are not necessarily the most legitimate. Although I do not have a full run down of what places are more legitimate than others here's my thoughts. I have seen some good pet stores and some not so great ones. I have also seem some good breeders and others who are no better than puppy mills. In my opinion each puppy out there deserves a good home and it's hard for me to turn away a puppy who looks like it wants love just because of where it came from. In my opinion if it's healthy and if you want to love it go for it. Personally the dogs that I have gotten I got for free from people who were giving them away. That's not to say that I would not purchase from anyone in particular but in my past experiences I have found puppies who needed a home at no cost.

How was the JetStar Flight Experience?

I very much enjoyed the experience. The only thing that I found irritating is that when I was in Narita we needed to get off the plane, get on a buss and then go to the terminal which then was the same case then getting on the jet on my way out. It wasn't that it was a problem but like I mentioned in another review it would have been nice if someone would have notified us that this would be the way we would be getting on and off the plane so I could have prepared more manageable carry on items.

Can you do a video about certificate of eligibility?

When it comes to things that deal with legally getting here I prefer to not try and go into those details. This is because I want to make sure I am not giving out inaccurate information. My recommendation is to go through the authorities in these areas. Sorry for any inconvenience.

What is in natto? Is it fish?

No it is not fish. Natto is fermented soy beans.

Is it as nice as people say to travel on a plane throughout Japan?

Yes. It is very nice to travel throughout the country. The airlines are great even when the are discount airlines. They treat customers very well and the airlines are extremely clean (yes I have traveled on various airlines back and forth through Japan) and the airports are for the most part easy to use and user friendly.

76.47 US ? That's expensive for one night for one person.

When traveling throughout Japan it is important to remember that the cost of items and services don't change based on the strength of your local currency. When I first got here to Japan the yen rate was 140yen to the USD which was nice but when the US economy started to tank hat got less and less now we're sitting at about 76 yen to the USD. Of course this doesn't change the amount that people charge in Japan for a room (for example). I got my room at the Narita Rest Hotel for 5000 something yen for that one night which was extremely affordable considering that the average is 15,000 yen per night per person.

I've begun to use the little Google man to see how to get around.

I love the little google man. I use it all the time to determine where I need to go but unfortunately when I got lost trying to get to my hotel it as just trying to find the buss itself. The hotel was not necessarily in walking distance so I was supposed to get on a buss. Unfortunately I did't know what bus number to get on and every time someone walked up to me asking where I needed to go they didn't understand what it was I was talking about. This was frustrating but nonetheless when I called Russ he helped me find the bus number I needed.

From visiting both parks did you see a lot of Stich and Angel merch? Did you meet any characters other than the ones at Chef Mickey's?

I did notice that there was a lot of Stich merch but not as much Angel. Also I did not meet any characters other than the ones at the character breakfast. I had the chance to but I didn't want to wait in line or run up to a character and push a little kid out of the way. I had seen many characters in my day and I think every kid should have the chance to do the same.

I grew up near the original Disneyland in Anehiem and it's a shame that other Disneyland locations seem much better.

I have never been to the original Disneyland but I spent a lot of time in Walt Disney World. I too think that it is a shame but I do think that t is good that there are still places where you can experience Disney the way it was meant to be experienced (in my honest opinion). For me Tokyo Disney is that place. It brings back memories of when I first experienced Disney with characters everywhere and everything Disney themed. I will be writing more about this later so stay tuned.

77 may be cold in Naha but is it cold in Tokyo?

To be completely honest 77 isn't really cold in Naha but it is the lack of humidity which made it seem so cold for me. Now I do not believe that 77 is cold for Tokyo, in fact I think that it is rather warm for Tokyo because most of the people were in the area were dressed for summertime and looking very hot not to mention I couldn't seem to find a good long sleeved shirt that was worth getting so I could stay warm.

How much does it cost to live in okinawa in USD?

This is a complicated question. It depends on a lot of factors on where you work, where you live and how you live.

How are the disney parks different from the ones in the US?

Tokyo Disney Resort is very similar to Walt Disney World 1994/5. There are characters everywhere even walking through the parks. There is also disney theming everywhere. I will be making an in depth post about this here in the near future so stay tuned for that.

More Tokyo Disney Sea: Video

Around the Area: Ikspiari Shopping Center

 

We started off the day with some coffee which I had packed for the trip. This turned out to be a very useful thing especially the "blendy sticks" that I had also taken along with me which gave the coffee that gourmet taste without the gourmet price. If you are into paying over $10.00 for your coffee there are a number of places in the local shopping center known as Ikspiari where you can find a variety of places that serve up almost anything you can think of but more about that later. The Ambassador Hotel did offer up a few different types of hot drinks such as instant stir and go coffee as well as tea but I am glad that I had brought along my drip coffee especially with the amount of coffee that we drank.



 

 

It was a long flight for my mom who was coming from Boston so we decided to start the day off at Chef Mickey's and then spend some time in the area at Ikspiari seeing as it was very close to the hotel, in fact it was about a 5 minute walk from the elevator to Ikspiari itself. We had actually planned on going to various other places in Tokyo to explore, however, the sheer size of Ikspiari coupled with the amount of food, shopping and entertainment offered ended up keeping us entertained for most of the day.

 

To be completely honest although it would have been fun to go from place to place as I had originally planned I was actually blown away by the variety of what was offered at Ikspiari. If you are familiar with the Disney Resorts around the world, mainly Walt Disney World, I would compare Ikspiari to Down Town Disney. There is a movie theater, live shows, food and various shopping all with the high quality Disney customer service that you would expect from the company. There are, however, some main differences. Although there is a Disney Store there are very few Disney themed shops in Ikspiari which was nice. There were also a lot of places which were more practical rather than novelty. For example they don't have places like the magnet store which only sells magnets but they do have various clothing stores, cosmetic stores as well as some familiar brands like Coach and Lush.

 



If you do not want to shop there are various other areas you can explore like the large court yard with a stage in the center where there are various acts for everyone to enjoy. Although we did not sit down to watch any of the shows in particular we did see a bit of one where a man was doing tricks on the stage with the help from the audience. It seemed silly to me but the crowd seemed to like it and were very involved. These shows seemed to happen every night although we did not see a schedule nor did we watch every night so we took it as more of something to see if you happened to be in the area. The rest of the area is just beautiful though, there are flowers which were just fantastic and the sights and sounds were very enjoyable.

 

I do, however, think that it is important to note that although it is a nice place to stroll this is still a high traffic area. Although it is not as high traffic as some areas in Tokyo might be it is still Tokyo and you will experience the hustle and bustle of the city so be aware of that. If you have children strollers will be just fine but I would think twice about having young ones walking freely because of the amount of people and the slightly confusing layout of the area.



So you want to save all of your money for Disney merchandise, I understand, but everyone's got to eat! I was incredibly pleased with the food options which were available at Ikspiari. No matter what you are looking for or what type of food you enjoy you can find it here. . . somewhere. And you can even find those places that you otherwise would have searched all over Tokyo to find, right here, at your fingertips. Rainforest Cafe was no surprise but I was pleased to see that there was a Sweets Paradise which I had been searching all over for. Other restaurant options included Yakiniku, Italian, Sushi, Traditional Japanese, Tempaura and more. If you wanted to grab something for your room there are various places like a grocery store where you can pick up various international favorites. The prices were a little steep compared to what I am used to but according to Mom they weren't that bad and were rather affordable in many cases. There were also other places where you could get fresh foods such as sushi, rice balls and various other favorites. This was in my opinion much more affordable and I wish I would have seen this sooner. There are also places where you can get hotdogs and sandwiches if you are not in the mood to try some different Japanese style foods although I should warn you that many of the American foods are a bit overpriced because they are a special treat.

Overall this is a fantastic area and certainly worth the trip if you are in the Tokyo Disney Resort Area. It's also a little taste of Japan Shopping even if you are not out in the city and stay in the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Here are some more photos from Ikspiari including some of the foods that we got from the grocery store:

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Ikspiari (Tokyo Disney Resort) Rainforest Cafe Review

One of the restaurants which is a must for my family and I every time that we visit a Disney Resort is always the Rainforest Cafe. Here in Tokyo it was no exception. I could not resist the chance to eat some familiar foods and enjoy some nachos and tacos the way that they were meant (as far as an american is concerned) to be eaten.



 

The service was great and the prices were typical so I really can't say anything bad about that. They also had many of the favorites that you might find at any Rainforest Cafe with the addition of some Japanese style specialties to include a salad which included raw seafood. Before I continue any further it is important to note that if you are interested in going to the Rainforest Cafe and have not been here before you should know that it is loud and exciting. If you are looking for a quiet or romantic sit down restaurant this is most likely not for you. There are "animals" around the entire restaurant which "act up" from time to time as well as "thunder storms" which happen every so often. I would not imagine that this would be the place to bring children who may be fearful of these types of things. This wasn't a problem for my mother or myself though.



 

 

Overall Review

The service was great and the food came quick. Once it arrived it was delicious too! The staff was friendly and although they did not speak English well they did do their best to take my mother's order and there were no mistakes.

RATING: I give this restaurant a 10 our of 10. There was nothing that I could honestly say they needed to improve on that I was aware of.

If you are interested in going to the Rainforest Cafe in Ikspiari I would definitely recommend it.

Katventures Tokyo Issue 1: Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast

There is no better way to start off your trip with a nice filling breakfast and we did just that at the Tokyo Disney Resort Ambassador Hotel's restaurant "Chef Micky's". Like the Chef Mickey's located at different Disney Resorts around the world this restaurant offers a nice dining location for families as well as adult groups/couples to enjoy a hearty breakfast no matter what you enjoy eating. From steamed Japanese veggies and dumplings to jelly beans trust me when I say there is something for everybody.

The breakfast was very affordable at 3300 yen per adult for an all you can eat buffet. There was no posted time limits on the buffet although I assume it would be the standard 90 minutes the they have at other all you can eat places in Japan. The selection was HUGE and in fact I didn't even scrape the surface with what I ate. I also made the mistake of having two Micky pancakes which were very heavy and filling although they were amazingly delicious. There was fresh fruit, veggies, pastries, meats, pancakes, cereals, rice, curry, and so much more! The down side is that for two people it felt a little bit cramped. The table we were at was small and in a corner which made it hard to get in and out to see the characters without disturbing the two girls that were along side of us. Of course it's Disney and everyone was very understanding of what was going on because that is the nature of the restaurant but still I think it is worth mentioning if you are planning on going with just yourself and one other person.

The cast members were very helpful and most spoke either English or would alter the way they spoke Japanese to a more understandable vocabulary. If there was a misunderstanding then they would quickly either get someone to assist or they would find out how to ask the question in English before returning to the table. That made everything very helpful and less stressful especially for my mom who wasn't sure how to communicate what she wanted. I should also mentioned that regardless the fact that I could have assisted my mom before I had the chance to even explain that Japanese was ok for me the cast member would have already rushed away to get a statement translated. . . it was that quick.



The main dish, as far as my mother was concerned that is, were jelly beans. There were 4 different containers of jelly beans of mixed flavors for you to enjoy. They were also Jelly Belly brand which was surprising to me because usually Chef Micky's has candy for breakfast but not high quality beans like this. Everything was good and high quality though so I really can't say anything bad. There were also only 4 characters which was fine with me but I understand how some people may not have been pleased with that. The characters came around much more quickly than they do at Chef Mickey's in Walt Disney World but nonetheless it was still fine with me.



All of the characters were very "physical" in that they would shake your hand, give you a kiss or whatever else. For me I am tall so they pulled me down so I would be at their level. I had a great time taking photos with the characters and it was a good chance to get my photos in without having to wait in the lines that there at at the parks. If you want to really have a different variety of characters though, you can go to various character dining options that are around the resort. This is a great chance for you to see everyone but for those who you do not see you can check them out a the parks. They have a TON of characters (even the ones that you haven't seen for years and years) for you to meet and greet. They also have them out for long periods of time so that almost everyone has the chance to see them if they want to.

The Bottom Line:

RATING: 7 out of 10

If you are staying at the Ambassador Hotel then this is a great way to start your Disney trip. The price is right at 3300 yen for an all you can eat buffet with character meet and greet. If you are not at the restaurant early you may find yourself having to use something called "priority seating" which means you can get a ticket to come back to the restaurant at a later designated time rather than having to wait. This is common at other Disney Resorts also and I find it extremely useful.

So why 7 out of 10? The table was just a bit too small in my opinion and just a bit too close to the one next to us especially for a restaurant where you are up and down taking photos with characters. I also would have liked to see maybe just 2 more characters and have them a bit more spread out because it felt just a bit rushed.

Other than those things everything else was GREAT! Definitely something I would recommend.