Sunday, December 1, 2024

Tales of the Traveling Tote #41 and a Giveaway


Welcome to the 41st edition of 
Tales of the Traveling Tote, 
where a group of us share our 
travels with our MacKenzie-Childs 
tote travels.  

This is edition is taking me and 
Miss Petit Four all the way to 
JAPAN!!!


A little over a year ago two brothers 
and their families invited us over 
for a Japanese dish - okonomyaki 
and then told us they were going 
on a 12 day cruise to Japan and 
asked us if we would like to 
join them.  We jumped at the 
chance to go with people who 
spoke Japanese.  One of the 
brothers had served a two year 
mission for our church in Japan 
when he was 18 so he speaks Japanese.

Our first night we spent in Japan 
so we didn't have to worry about 
missing flights and missing the 
cruise.  We explored the area at 
night and then went shopping the 
next morning and enjoyed the 
wonders of 7-Eleven stores.  
Everyone says you must try the 
convenience food at 7-Eleven in 
Japan.  One day the kids counted 
that we stopped at convenience 
stores 6 times; that included 
Family Mart which is also fun.


We boarded the Celebrity Millenium 
in early afternoon, so we had lots 
of time to shop and explore Tokyo 
before we boarded.
We were blown away by how elegant 
the ship decor and furniture were. 


The ship departed from Yokohama 
and this was a view before we left port. 
We noticed each port had a ferris 
wheel and a tower - so beautiful. 


Our first day was at sea and 
they had formal night that night.
The food for formal night was 
delicious. 


The 16 of us were off and 
running the next morning.

Japan is so amazing - 
most ports had transportation 
 provided for us as 
we got off the ship.  The 
transportation would take 
us to the main area of 
the city and drop us off.

When we weren't doing 
their transportation we 
took taxis and Ubers.  
In Japan when you call an 
Uber, it is just a taxi car, 
BUT - 
the rate is set and the car 
finds you!  The taxis and 
Ubers were so reasonable.  
With this group we had to 
order 4 cars but they cost 
about $11-$13 for most rides.

Our first stop was in Kobe.  
We went to the Zoo there and 
then made sure we experienced 
Kobe beef.
It was a bit of a trick finding 
a Kobe beef restaurant that 
could fit all 16 of us, but we 
saw a chef out on the street 
and he brought us to his place.  
It was absolutely delicious!
That evening we wandered 
the city and had fun with the kids.

The next day we were in 
Osaka.  We had two days here. 
While the young people headed 
to Kyoto, we empty nesters
 took a short 10 minute
 taxi to Universal Studios.

It is their 10 year anniversary.  
With as much as our family 
loves Harry Potter, we had to 
go here.  They had gold metal 
anniversary mugs for their 
butterbeer, which I had to have.


The next morning we took 
the bullet train to Kyoto.  They 
have tourist help in the train 
stations, and although we had 
a girl from the US sell us our 
tickets, she didn't tell us which 
platform to go to.  We ran to four 
different platforms and had 
missed our train, but grabbed 
another and made it.  
We learned our lesson.  ASK!!!


The Kinkakuji Golden Shrine 
was so spectacular.  It was 
built as a retirement villa for a 
retired shogun.  In 1952 a young 
monk who was schizophrenic 
burned it down and it was 
rebuilt in 1955!  It was one of 
the most beautiful sights and 
fabulous gardens we visited.  

We also visited the bamboo forest 
while in Osaka.  Japan is so 
welcoming to the cruise ships.  
Almost every port had some 
production for us coming or 
going.  In Osaka they had an 
amazing drum group of 18 
youth playing for us as we left.


The next day we cruised slowly 
through the southern islands of 
Japan, which was so beautiful, 
to reach Hiroshima.  

You need to get advance tickets 
to the Peace Garden museum.  
It was quite sobering.  Oh the 
brutality of all wars!!!

We found a place that could 
take all of us for Okonomyaki, 
probably my favorite Japanese 
dish - pictured on the big grill.

These young families can 
eat a lot more than us older 
people, so we were always 
on a food crawl.  Our friend 
wanted us to try all of his 
favorites from his mission!

We finally had to take our 
shoes off at a restaurant and 
wear their slippers.  I was waiting 
for that experience.  The table 
next to us was loud and our friends 
apologized, and we said we loved it - 
that's how it is pictured in the 
Asian Dramas!!
The waygu beef was amazing.
We went back to the ship 
after that and the young 
people went and found more 
Okonomyaki!!!


Sunday was at sea and we had 
a nice chance to rest.  
Celebrity Millenium had 3 
nights that were dressy on this 
12 day cruise.  Hubby and I 
love to dress up, so we took 
advantage of it. 


The next day was in Hiroshima, 
where we went to gardens 
and saw their famous bridges 
that survived WWII.  Rachel 
and I had to buy Kimonos there.


Our next port was Jeju Island 
in Korea.  Cruises to Japan have 
to visit another country.  Rachel 
and I were so excited to get to 
go to Jeju Island because we 
love watching K Dramas - 
Korean Dramas - so we had 
an authentic meal there with 
the grills.  We also hiked to a 
beautiful falls and later  
swam in the ocean. They 
didn't give us enough time 
in Korea, but it was fun 
using some of our words we 
have learned from watching 
K Dramas.  It was a dream 
for Rachel and I. 


Our Captain had been advising 
us about an approaching 
typhoon.  They were watching it 
as we were approaching 
Hiroshima and Jeju Island, 
and he finally announced that 
we were abandoning our 
itinerary and heading up the 
west coast of Japan to outrun 
the storm.  He said over the 
PA system, "I am faster than 
the typhoon!"  And was he 
right, we went faster than 
I have ever seen a cruise ship 
travel and were in Hagudate 
by the next day.  We laughed and 
said this place was like the 
town in 
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 
although it was all built around 
squid and not sardines!!!


We landed back in Yokohama 
and James and Rachel and 
Kirk and I were staying for 
4 more days in Tokyo. I had 
booked the Yokohama Bay 
hotel, which was fabulous and 
right there by the port.  It was 
also attached to the Queen mall.  
The rest of the group dropped 
their bags at our hotel and 
we had a great time with 
more food crawls, finally trying 
the Takoyaki and a Hedgehog 
Cafe.  They have lots of pet 
cafes in Japan where you can 
pay to go and play with animals. 
We also visited the Cup Noodle 
museum which was fun. 


Since we were already 
across the world, we had to see 
Disneyland Tokyo 
while we were there.  The families 
with kids missed out, but school 
had already started and they didn't 
want them to miss more. 

Tickets are only $58, but they 
don't have a park hopper pass, 
so we just bought tickets for 
both parks each day. 

We had booked the Disneyland 
Hotel.  I got tears in my eyes 
when we walked in, it was so 
beautiful.  We had booked the 
Tinkerbell rooms and they were 
just magical.  We paid around $400, 
so we thought that was a bargain 
too, compared to the Disneyland 
hotel in CA!


They have unique rides, 
which makes the parks fun.  
You do have the option to 
pay for fast passes, but they 
were only $11 to $13 each, 
so by the end we still spent 
less than park hopper passes 
in California.  

The big deal here is getting 
into Fantasy Springs, which 
just opened in June.  You can 
enter this park if you are 
staying in their new hotel, 
but that is completely booked. 
But they do offer fast passes 
for their three big rides there 
and we were able to get all 
three once we entered Disney 
Sea.  Disney Sea is also 
more popular than Disneyland, 
so crowds at Disneyland were 
low.  

We told our friends they truly 
missed out, so they want to 
take their kids back next year.  

We also visited our church's 
Tokyo Temple during our 
extra days and went to the 
famous Shibuya crossing. 

Take aways:
A cruise is a great way 
to see so much of Japan easily.
Call an Uber - they are cheap 
and come and find you.  Yes, 
they are just the taxis, but you 
know the price and don't 
have to speak Japanese to 
communicate with the drivers.
Very easy if you need multiple 
cars.  
You have never seen such big 
smiles and welcoming people 
as in Japan.
Try the local foods, and 
check out the egg salad 
sandwiches and chocolate 
and cream crepes in 7-Eleven 
and Family Mart.  
Shopping is fun in the big 
cities, so leave some room 
in your suitcases. 
Don't miss Disneyland!

Thanks for letting me share 
this amazing trip to Japan! 
I was always nervous about 
going to Asia, but we loved it. 

Now, on to the giveaway - 
isn't this tote so cute?!!


Visit Linda and leave a comment 
to enter to win this.  Also hop 
on over to our lovely ladies and 
see where their totes were off to 
this quarter.  

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)
 Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney ChildsThe French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante


Then come back and visit us 

on March 1st, 2025.








Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Dream Space - My New Closet Tour


Welcome to one of my favorite 
rooms in our new home.  
My closet!  

I had inspiration photos from 
a closet I had seen years 
ago, and the builder and 
cabinet maker did a great 
job updating the design and 
creating a dream space. 


One of my goals was to have all 
of my clothes behind doors.  
You will notice when 
influencers show their 
closets, they have minimal clothes 
showing and all color coordinated.  
Well, we all know they have more 
clothes than they pictured and 
we all know closets, real closets, 
get messy looking, so I wanted it 
all hidden. 


I also wanted lots of 
drawers, so this island has 
drawers on each side.


More drawers over here 
too, so lots and lots of 
storage.

The cabinets are divided into 
some high/low and some for 
long dresses, and the upper 
cabinets leave great space 
for long term storage.  

I found these fabulous and 
beautiful, yet light weight 
ladders and bought several 
to have around the house. 
I got a three step, four step, 
and five step in gold and keep them 
in separate rooms around the 
house.  They are super slim 
and I tuck one right at the 
end of one of these cabinets 
in my closet.  You can't even 
see it.
Click here. 


You can see a peek into hubby's 
closet in the back of this 
photo - not as grand as mine, 
but lots of space and he chose 
black and white for his shelves and 
a more modern look.  The large 
doors conceal a washer and 
dryer - not stacked.  We love 
this.


I also wanted display cases 
for fancy shoes and purses.  
I had them add the corner 
shelving with glass and lights 
to highlight these.  

Of course, the granddaughters 
love to come and play with the 
shoes and purses.  Oh, don't grow up!


The inspiration photo also 
had a stair going up to 
the upper level in the house.  
Our railing guy copied the 
design of the rail, which is 
beautiful and feminine.  

I love the oval window and 
it has a motorized blind that 
comes out of the valance.  

I found this gorgeous vanity desk 
and popped it in the space by 
the stairs.  It fits perfectly. 

You can see a peek of the 
fairy dress I created for my 
fantasy photo displayed up 
on the shelf.


We got a bid for tufting the back wall 
and they wanted to charge us $30K, 
so we opted out of that and laid this 
beautiful diamond studded tile. 
I ended up liking it better because it 
is a more updated look than tufting. 

The stairs leads up to more closet 
space, but as we were building 
I had a sleepover with some of 
the granddaughters and I decided 
I didn't need that much closet space 
up there, so we turned it into a 
closet and a nursery.  I placed 
three French canopy beds 
up there and eliminated one 
large closet.  I will feature 
that on another post.


There is a hidden door leading to 
a closet under the stairs where 
I have more shoes and hanging 
hooks.  It is also a great stash area.


The chandeliers are show-
stoppers and everyone 
comments on them.  This 
triple one going up the 
stairs weighed 150 lb. and 
they had to add more support. 
I was amazing to watch the 
workers hang all of the 
crystals on all my chandeliers.


I also wanted my jewelry 
easily accessible and so we 
made the top drawers of the 
island velvet-lined and added 
lighting.  


When I was out of town, my daughter, 
who lives next door, found my 
Fancy Nancy 
book and placed it in the 
display shelves.  I thought that 
was so appropriate.

I think my mother would have loved 
these display shelves.  She taught 
me to love high heels. 

More home tours to come - 
just so busy living life to 
the fullest with 10 grandkids 
and my niece all next door neighbors!

Thanks for stopping by.




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