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 Childs@ The 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.