Continued from Ueno Day 4.

Like all other days here, the day starts out in middle of the night with a Lawson food run.

Took this photo on the way back to hotel from Lawson. Hotel is literally separated from the subway entrance by a coffeeshop in between. This made it easier on us during the rain a couple of days ago.
They had okonomiyaki! We are leaving Tokyo today for Hong Kong, and I realize that I haven’t had okonomiyaki on this trip, so one from Lawson’s will have to do.

Been awake with this thing since 2am…it’s gonna be a long long day.

She goes to sleep….but we do not. Damn you jetlag!!

We look ridiculous with all of our giant packs. It’s 11am and time to check out. The hotel will hold our luggage while we lunch, then we will head to the airport. Ugh, gonna be such a long travel day.

Hate to leave such a beautiful day here in Tokyo. The only minor regret that I have about leaving Tokyo is that I did not get to see Tsukiji Fish Market for one last time. The fish market is moving at the end of the year, and it will never be the same again. I had read an entire book(Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World) about it just before coming on this trip. But I had already visited the market twice in the past, and a third visit wouldn’t really yield anything much for me, and especially not while carrying a baby around in a busy working market. Oh well, time marches on and things change.

Lunch spot is right around the hotel, and it’s in one of the traditional Japanese houses that’s survived the bombings during the war.

Love the old school atmosphere.

Already tired, so lots of blurry photos today.

Yum, katsu donburi. Gotta have this while in Japan.

RL got some sort of curried noodle soup.

Now that lunch is done, back to hotel to claim our giant packs. It seems like every guest in our hotel is having them hold their bags today.

Packs so heavy…legs so tired. We can feel our bodies wearing down from the past few days of walking around.

In 10 min or so, made it to the train station. On this entire visit to Tokyo, we did the very unusual thing of only taking two trains, one from and one to airport. Other than that, we took zero public transportations and just walked everywhere in Ueno. Kinda cool I think.

Ahhh, nice and empty.

On the ride out, we see how the sakura blossoms outside of the city center has lost their flowers as well.

She’s farting up a storm….I hope there isn’t more poop. She already pooped twice last night, so with some luck, we won’t have to change a poopy diaper on the go. It’s always a victory when you don’t have to change a poopy once outside of your home base.

Where does she get all of her energy? She’s squirming and talking and jumping nonstop. Seriously…mommy and daddy are so tired already. We’ve already been up all night and will still have much more to go. Please go to sleep!!

Can’t stay still…

The sakura fared better over here.

Here, not so much.

Getting fussy…

Eventually, I had to put PL in her carrier and walk around the train trying to put her to nap. She calmed down, but a nap did not happen.

45min or so later, we’ve arrived at Narita airport.

So tired…

Of course, we get the reject checkin counter off to the side.

And the counter isn’t even open yet. I guess we’ll just haul our heavy bags around some more and wait a while.

Ahhh, the sexist restrooms here at the airport means I don’t have to change the diaper!

There are lots of tourists here from either Taiwan or mainland China. They all seem to have a new box of ricer cooker that they are bringing home with them. Out of all the possible items to get, why is the rice cooker the “in” item to purchase?

Sat at the bench looking at the new Miata they had on display here. People keep on coming up and taking photos of it. I wants one…

They have changing rooms for people with colonscopy bags or adult diapers, but no baby changing table in the men’s restroom…

Tired hands, blurry photos.

Would you pay $90 for chopsticks?

Loves her, but daddy so tired.

A gallery for toilet products, Ha!

They are actual working restrooms.

Delightful and engaging space…what if you were having explosive diarrhea? Engaging, perhaps, but delightful, no.

So cute, but daddy so tired.

Man, rice cookers are so expense. They range from couple of hundred US dollars to one that’s almost $2000!!!! WTF.

I was on a mission to find a baby changing station for the Men’s room. I guess if I really wanted to, I could change the baby in ostomate room.

The women’s side next door has a baby changing station.

Must snack before flight.

Last chance to get some green tea soft serve before we leave Japan.

She knows what she wants, but daddy mean and didn’t give her any.

Daddy needs calm his nerves before this long 5 hour flight to Hong Kong with a fussy baby.

She’s a handful.

Our plane arrives.

Seems like everyone and their mother has a Boeing 787 now.

RL gets an early taste of China. Our fellow passengers consists of Hong Kong residents and also mainland Chinese residents. The little old lady in black(a mainlander) cuts RL in line by knocking her aside right as she was going to get her ticket scanned. Seriously?? We are already missing the polite people of Japan…HK residents also share a common dislike for mainland Chinese.

I am flying on a HK airline, a place where car seats are not required in a car for a baby. Yet, they require that I use this seatbelt on my baby while on the plane? Mixed up of safety priorities you think?

This turned out to be a very difficult plane ride. PL was fussy on take off, and started crying. There was no where to walk her around since it’s a single aisle plane. The seats were cramped, and they never dimmed the lights in the cabin.

After lots and lots of rocking while being strapped to the seat, finally got her to fall asleep. For the next two hours, my arm would be numb. I guess it’s the price I pay for a sleeping baby. RL and I are also getting exhausted by now due to jet lag. It’s about 5pm in the afternoon, so it’s usually when we get the most tired, but since I am holding the baby, there’s no sleeping for me. Oh yeah, we also woke up at 2am last night…


You have a lot of time to look around when you are holding a sleeping baby. I realized that the seats on this plane has a little foot step on the side for you to reach the overhead compartment. I don’t believe I’ve seen this on American flights before, probably due to Asians being shorter and need that boost in height.

PL wakes up groggy, then for the next hour, we had to hold her while she goes into berserk mode and flirts with all the passengers around us. Then she gets tired and starts to cry and fuss, and I had to rock her to sleep all over again. We Are So Exhausted!! Even though it’s only a 5 hour flight, we felt almost as tired as our 13 hour flight.

Finally reached HK!!!! Rushed into the tram to immigration and baggage claim.

Must beat crowd to immigration. There were two halls for immigration, one side was completely full, so we were directed to the other hall where we were the first in line. Yes!

Love 7-Elevens.

Lets go claim our luggage. So tired.

Now, looking for the train to get us into the city.

Comes every 10 minutes, how nice.

This is HK’s train (very like the BART, except it’s much nicer).

Daddy’s tired, please entertain yourself…

In about 25min, we’ve reached HK. Now, a short taxi ride to our hotel where my parents will already be there waiting for us.

First taxi ride with baby without a car seat. I will say, not a pleasant experience for me. For obvious reasons, did not feel safe. Good thing the ride was a short 5 min one.

The Peninsula Hotel, which we will not be staying at.

We’ve arrived at our hotel, and guess what, saw my dad waiting by the taxi drop off.

A little quick family reunion. It’s been a month for my dad and 2 weeks for my mom since they’ve seen PL. They’ve really missed her.

This is what $283 a night gets you in a great location in Hong Kong.

They are all about the baby.

We got a corner room facing Nathan Road and the Peninsula Hotel.

Hope it won’t be too loud for us.

So tired, but it’s 10pm, and we haven’t had dinner yet. Let’s see if we can just grab a quick bite of something at the 7-Eleven by the hotel.

For once, the 7-Eleven failed us. This was the smallest 7-Eleven in the world and also they did not have a great selection like ones you’d find in Japan or Taiwan. Sad!!! Ugh, still tired, and still hungry.

Decided to just eat at the fancy restaurant in the hotel that’s open until 11pm. Super awesome bbq pork and duck.

It’s got gold foil!! I never really quite understood the appeal of putting gold foil on food…I guess it’s a way of showing conspicuous consumption.

Of course, in HK, gotta eat some dim sum items. Super delicious food here.

We are spent, ate a quick bite and it’s time to go to bed. We’ve been awake for almost 24 hours now, must sleep!

To be continued at HK Day 2.