Sunday 13 December 2015

263. sugar, spice & everything nice ii

Last Saturday, December 5th, I decided to bring my mom to Kichijoji because of the Momiji in Inokashira Park. She hasn't been to Kichijoji before either, so I thought it was a good idea to bring her since it's near my place.

We went to get curry for lunch and slowly walked to the park after that. There were an a street art fair and performances going on and mom seemed to have enjoyed herself. The park also wasn't too crowded which was nice, actually.



I always see this guy with his 8 cats walking around Harajuku and Shibuya, so I was surprised to see him in Kichijoji that day. Mom thought the cats were stuffed toys. We also stumbled upon a little cafe in the middle of the park. The coffee was alright, but I really liked their Autumn Latte, pretty sure it's maple flavoured.
Snufkin being the hipster he is, of course, drinks coffee.

We went for some window shopping once we got out of the park. I was waiting for the sun to set so that I can take her to see the winter illuminations in Sagamiko, not too far from my place. It didn't take too long by train to get to Sagamiko Station but from the station to the illuminations took about 30 minutes due to heavy traffic. 

It was crowded at the illumination place because it was a Saturday. Not too bad though, there was enough room to move around and take photos. It was really really cold there because it was up on a hill, near a forest. The name of the place kinda put me off, it's called Pleasure Forest. Kinda suggestive, don't you think? When I told mom she couldn't stop laughing. 

This year's theme is Great Britain. So there was a replica of Buckingham Palace,  and obligatorily, they were selling Fish and Chips. Mom and I were a little hungry so we ate before walking around. There was a Ferris Wheel and several rides. Honestly, I don't think anything I've seen so far is better than Nabano No Sato in Mie but this place is good because you don't have to go too out of your way. 

We took our time walking around and enjoying the sights and I took too many photos.
More photos after cut >> 

The entrance 
Buckingham Palace.

This was probably the prettiest to me, there were light tunnels like the ones in Nabano No Sato. The only difference with the light tunnel here is that, this one has three colours - pink, gold and blue. Which changes as you walk through the tunnel. It's a good idea to record a video as you're walking through it, I recorded mom and I to send to my dad because my dad is annoying and kept asking me to send him photos. =_=

I was really glad I brought mom to see the illuminations, she seemed the happiest here from the entire trip and she told me it was really nice because she hasn't seen anything like this in her life. Initially, I was planning to come here with little sis next year but I don't mind visiting twice. Maybe with little sis, I can actually go on some of the rides. 

We made our way back to my apartment at about 9.30pm and got home close to 11 because trains don't come by the station that often. We called it a night and got up early the next day. 

Since it was mom's last day in Tokyo, we decided to go to Odaiba for ramen, some shopping and onsen. It was really cloudy in Odaiba that day. To my surprise, there were a group of Rockabilly dancers in Odaiba between the path from Odaiba Station to DiverCity. Yes, the ones that are famous in Yoyogi were there that day and mom was enjoying their performance. Their group is called Black Shadows. First thought that came to my mind Oh, that sounds like very lynch. lol


We didn't do anything special in Odaiba but spent almost 3 hours at the onsen and got home close to 11pm also. Odaiba is too far from my apartment. Mom was packing her luggage that night and seemed a little sad. 

On Monday, we went straight to Narita airport from my place. I really hate how faraway it is from everything. It's alright if you have company but on the way back, I was dying. Took mom to have some hitsumabushi (I miss Nagoya) and killed some time with her before her flight. She started crying after I hugged her and I felt so bad. Hey mom, I'm going to see you next month already! You don't have to cry. Once she got into the terminal, I slowly (and dreading) made my loooong way home.

Mom's trip to Tokyo this time was much better than the last, I'm relieved. Next month, my family is planning to go to Maldives. I'm looking forward to that since we haven't been on a family trip in a long time. I've been missing family trips for the last couple of years because of passport problems or being here. 

Also, I'm so excited for my sister's visit in February to March next year. I have so many new places to show her, places to explore, shows to go to and just plain, being with her makes me happy. We're planning to go to Osaka for Hogwarts, eating and to see lynch. She's dying to see them and bugged me to get tickets for both Tokyo and Osaka shows. Can't wait for that! Looks like I'll still be seeing lynch. a lot next year, yay!

Though I did say I didn't want 2015 to end, now when I think about it, I DO want 2015 to end. 2015 has been an okay year but when it was down, it was really really down and when there's an up, it's not that fantastic or spectacular either. So I'm looking forward to 2016, things will be much better. I can only hope. 

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