17 amazing days we spent in Japan (Even if everything went wrong!)

Day 14 - Ikebukuro (and Crisis (3/3)

So I had been fighting an on and off toothache since we'd made it to Kanazawa, but realized the night before this that I was absolutely going to be miserable if I didn't do something more drastic than ibuprofen. We had set aside this day to see Tokyo DisneySea, but instead, I spent it at United Dental. We also saw Tokyo Tower (only a few steps away!) so it kinda counted as sightseeing, lol.

I am hugely afraid of the dentist and a really anxious, awful patient, but Dr. Enatsu was a godsend. His staff emailed me at like 1 AM the night before to set up an emergency appointment ASAP for 9 AM, and then gave me amazing care. The whole adventure took about 4 hours, and $1800 USD (ouch), but I was 100% back on track and able to eat by the time we made it back to the hotel. Root canals... ugh.

Luckily, after I slept off my lingering discomfort, we went to ICHIRAN for the best ramen of my entire life (not even a joke) and the whole day seemed a LOT less awful. :) We also made it to Sunshine City where I spent probably my entire souvenir budget at the Pokemon Center, and then got DisneySea tickets at the Disney store for the next day.  (You can do this to avoid the lines!)

Day 15 - Tokyo Disneysea

If you're hearing "DisneySea" and going, "Sea? What?" then let me explain! Much like how California's Disneyland has a uniquely local partner park, California Adventures, the Disneyland in Tokyo has DisneySea! It's a totally unique Disney park that exists only in Japan on the same grounds as Tokyo Disneyland. The Tokyo Disneyland itself is very similar to Disneyland in California, but DisneySea is very original and totally awesome! You'll see a few familiar rides and characters, but the park itself is drastically different and really fun.

Unfortunately, my dental adventure had ruined my perfect schedule, and now, our only options were to go on Japanese labor day, or over the weekend. :( As anyone who goes to theme parks knows, holidays and weekends are the worst for crowds. Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea have a Crowd Calculator on their website that estimates how packed the parks will be, but even it didn't anticipate the massive amount of people who were there!

That said, we LOVED IT. The food was an adventure in and of itself, and we managed to go on 3 rides before tapping out. We had more fun exploring the environment than anything else, and that was wonderful! Also, I was NOT an idiot this time (learned my lesson in Hakone...) and paid for us to take the Official Disneyland shuttle bus directly from Ikebukuro to DisneySea and back. So worth it.

If you go, try the Gyoza dogs! I ate myself sick on them and still wanted more on the way out.

Day 16 - Akihabara, Ikebukuro some more

We decided this was an easy day, so just slept in and then cruised around the city eating tasty food (like A Happy Pancake and Ichiran (for the 3rd dinner in a row).

As it got dark, we mustered the energy to go to the famous otaku and pop culture center of Akihabara and got sucked into the Fate Grand Order arcade game (omg, so addicting) and did all the anime shopping our poor hearts could stand. Like seriously, so much shopping. My husband also worked up enough appetite to have a conveyer belt sushi 2nd dinner (like a hobbit) and dragged me to a smoker cafe, which is a place that serves coffee and also sells cigarettes and allows you to smoke indoors. Convenient, if a bit gross! We had a dessert of taiyaki (fish-shaped pastries stuffed with custard, chocolate, or sweet beans) and took in the nighttime views.

We shopped until things started to close and then headed back. There's a LOT to see in Tokyo, but after all our trials and tribulations, we were ready to rest and recharge.

#Tokyo #Ikebukuro #dentist #TokyoTower #SunshineCity #Ichiran #ramen #TokyoDisney #TokyoDisneyland #TokyoDisneysea #Akihabara #AHappyPancake #Shiawasenopancake