Travel Day Tokyo - Day 11

Sunday June 22, 2025

This morning we enjoyed one more breakfast in the dining room before disembarking from the cruise. It timed out perfectly, with our group number being called just as we finished our meal. We went off the ship and collected our baggage and walked a short ways to the train station. 

We rode quite a few commuter trains and finally a shuttle bus on our way from there to our next hotel. 

As we neared our hotel, we began to see people wearing their Disney garb. I saw a trio of girls wearing matching Stitch ears and Stitch backpacks. I’m sure if I’d gotten a closer look they would have had even more matching Disney items. That was one of the things I thoroughly enjoyed during our last visit to the Disney parks in Tokyo, was the level of “twinning” and matching outfits (down to every little accessory) that many of the guests were wearing. 

We also spotted the “Friendly Airport Limousine” bus, which is how we arrived last time to our hotel.  

When we were at the Hilton dropping  off our bags, they asked us about the luggage we had “sent ahead.” So that seems promising that our bags have arrived at the hotel and they were aware of them and had connected them to our booking. 

With this knowledge, we hopped back on the shuttle bus and went to get some lunch. Bryan and I had… wait for it… grilled chicken and rice. 😁 And everyone else went to McDonalds for some familiar fare. 

Then Bryan got Desmond a candy apple that he graciously shared around with us all (it was sliced up and in a plastic cup, to be eaten with a little fork). It was delicious!  The apple was crisp and good. The candy coating was thin, and reminded me of a Red Hot. 

                                  

After that, we took a few more trains into Tokyo for some sightseeing until our room is available to check in to. 

We visited Shibuya crossing, the largest pedestrian crosswalk in the world. We crossed it a few times, and took in how big and busy it is. It is also unique in that all the car traffic is stopped at the same time, so all pedestrians can cross simultaneously. Due to this, you can go from whichever curbside to whichever curb across the street you want (diagonally or whatever).

Dylan called his dad to see if he could see him on the live video feed of the intersection. Dylan was wearing a bright red shirt to be seen more easily. I’m not sure if he saw him, but that was fun to try. 

This area of Tokyo reminded Desmond of New York City, and I can see the resemblance. Lots of people and commotion, large tv screens above, etc. 

After that we were in our way to the Nintendo store where Desmond hoped to find Splatoon souvenirs. But first, I spotted a Disney store and wanted to check that out. We went in, and the mom, Desmond and I went up the small spiral staircases to the second and third floors. They had a ton of really cute stuff!  I wanted to buy most of the Baymax items I saw, but resisted. 

At this point dad decided he was done sight seeing and would like to take a taxi back to the hotel. I offered to go along, to get them into their room (the reservation again being under my name) but they didn’t want to cut my time short.  So, after making sure they knew where they were catching their taxi, the four of us continued on. 

Soon we were at the Nintendo store, and I was glad I had stayed. They had a ton of fun stuff, included a huge section of Splatoon items. Desmond picked out some amiboos and a shirt. One of the things he really wanted most was a poster, and luckily it turned out that it was free with the purchase of other Splatoon items. Yay! 

I resisted the urge to buy him a ridiculously soft squid pillow. I’m sure he doesn’t need more soft things in his bed at home, and I’m not sure how I’m even going to get all the clothing I have home as it is, without buying bulky souvenirs.  

After that we went to a convenience store to get a cold drink. I looked a long time at the cold tea, but eventually just got a cold water. It was a hot day, and I was feeling very over done with all the noise and heat. 

It was at this point that Bryan asked if I was ready to head back to the hotel, or if there was anything else I wanted to do/see. All I wanted to do was sit down somewhere with AC. I told him that could be the train if it had to be. 

Dylan and Bryan’s plan was to continue on to Akihabara for more shopping.  Bryan bought me the tickets for our first portion of the route home, then pulled up directions on my phone to the hotel. 

Maps will give train directions, including departure times, platform numbers, and what cars to board. It’s pretty amazing (having traveled before that sort of step by step help was an option). The only thing I didn’t like about it was it continued to tell me to board a train coming at 3:10 when that time had passed. I finally decided to close out the directions and load them again to refresh. This worked, and now it knew when the train would arrive next. 

We stood where the words on the platform showed that our line, car 6 would arrive. I double checked the board and my directions. A train came and Desmond told me “This isn’t ours, mama.” I hadn’t tried to get on it, but it is the type of thing Bryan would have said, and Desmond was right. Team Schmidt communicates information as we travel on the subway trains to ensure everyone has the info and confidently knows when to board and when to get off. 

The next train came, and we boarded. We got off when my watch told me to, and proceeded toward where we needed to be to buy tickets for the next leg of our journey home and make our transfer. Only, when we put our tickets in to get out of the train area, it didn’t open the little gate like it usually does, and it flashed red. So we went to the ticket counter and showed them our tickets. Somehow we had not paid enough for the tickets, or when I rerouted it sent us further on this line than we had paid for. In any case, I gave the man more money and he let us through. 

Next we went to the machine to purchase tickets. Desmond quickly clicked through setting the language to English, searching for the station name, and hitting the combination button so we could purchase both our tickets at once. I helped a little. Then we put our cash in, got our tickets and continued on. 

At this point we needed to make it to the platform and board our final train to go home. I was having difficulty finding it, and Desmond suggested we hop on a train about to leave because it had “the same advertisements as the one we rode here on” earlier in the day. I told him that was not ever a good method for determining what train to get on, and as I continued to try and figure things out he said “We’re doomed!” I asked him to kindly refrain from such C-3PO statements while I was working hard to figure out how to get us back home to the hotel. 

We made it without further confusion or delay, rejoining mom and dad, and getting keys to enter our room.  After taking in the amazing ocean view from our window on the 9th floor of the hotel, and being reunited with my backpack (yay!), I took a much needed lay down on the bed and shut my eyes. 

Later, when Bryan and Dylan were coming back from shopping, it was dinner time. I decided that we would go meet them at the station, where there was food, rather than have them come all the way to the hotel, and then need to figure out where to go for dinner. 

I hopped us all on the wrong bus and Mom, Dad, Desmond, and I rode over to the monorail station needlessly. We had to circle back, wait for the next shuttle, then we had trouble finding the restaurant. But when we finally did find them, it was all worth the trouble because we got to eat at TGIFridays in a foreign country - which is sort of a tradition of Bryan and mine. 

The drinks were cold and in huge American-style glasses. They took special orders (removing the cheese from my shrimp tacos, for example). The food was tasty and the servers helped us in English. It was a positive experience after a long day. 

After the meal we went back to the Candy Apple where Mom and Dad treated Desmond to another apple (and got a few for themselves as well). They were so good!  We all had a few bites of apple and rode back to the hotel full and satisfied. 

Want to keep Traveling with the Schmidts? Read Day 12