Blessings, Bliss, and Bailey: Sashimi, Spirits, and Sickness

My sister once told me that she never leaves town anymore because every time she does, something happens to her kids.
I am beginning to agree.

Christian and I set out a couple weeks ago on a completely amaze-balls trip to Tokyo. Bailey was going to split time between Christian's parents and my sister. I have gone on several trips with Christian and left Bailey, but this was by far the hardest. Something about being 24 hours away terrified me! Knowing that if she needed us, the soonest we could get there would be an entire day! Friday night I stayed with my sister and B and I snuggled together in the bed - the next morning she was still asleep, I gave her a big kiss and my dad took me on to the airport. I was CRYING! I had never gotten this emotional before, it was hard...

Once to Tokyo, we stayed at the Westin. Now, I am definitely a hotel snob... (don't be trying to put me up in a Holiday Inn) I love Starwood hotels but this Westin in particular was DOPE! It was trip in and of itself! Christian spent a good part of the days working while I wandered about the city solo. I love that. I love moving at my own pace :) But he was still able to spend a good amount of time with me. I was also able to be there for 2 weekends which helped.

I LOVE Tokyo. I could literally write about it for days but it would bore you. I love the people. I love the innovation. I LOVE the fashion. I love the food. I love the history. I love the toilets.
If you want to hear more, call me :)

As for Bailey, she was not having the best trip. Leading up to this occasion, I have not taken Bailey to ANY playdates, church classes, NOTHING. Everyone's kids are sick and I did not want to risk B getting sick before leaving her with family. Well, that was a waste. It hadn't been 24 hours that I left her and was getting calls that she was coughing. Next thing I know, my sister is taking her to the urgent care becuase she was wheezing (never done that before) and she is getting hooked up to a nebulizer and has a double ear infection! I'm like WTH! Bailey has literally NEVER been sick - she has had a runny nose, but that is really it. Now, she did get a similar thing over Thanksgiving when we flew to NC too... That leads to my point... AIRPLANES! Ugh. Everytime we fly, Bailey gets sick. She gets an ear infection and something else. I really am not sure why - I mean, ear infections are secondary, and she has never been sick leading up to them... Go figure. I have decided that those planes are so disgusting and she just cant keep her hands off... Gross.
Anyhow, that added an element of stress to me on my trip - but she is better now, and we all survived :)

Some of the BEST memories of the trip are:

- Eating the freshest fish I have ever had - Seriously, the tuna goes down like butter

- Ridiculously good dumplings...mmmmm

- Oysters at 9am fresh from the sea at the Tsujii Fish Market
This is the largest fish market in the world and also the site of the morning Tuna auctions. If you don't know what that is, look it up. It's mindblowing. The most expensive tuna ever sold at the auction was $1.8 million dollars! See the Tuna!

- Maccha Cocktail - Green Tea :)
I could drink my weight in these. I love the mixologists in Tokyo. They take there craft so seriously - spending 5-10 minutes mixing you the perfect drink, shaking it like I have never see something shaked before, and tasting every drink before serving - adding more liquor if needed. Now that is a sign of a good bartender ;)

- Spa!
I seriously had the BEST massage and facial I have ever had - hands down. The spa was seriously from another world. Had my own pool to relax in - you lay down, submerge your ears and music plays under water! All of this followed up by the BEST tea I have ever had!

- Tea
Speaking of tea, it's my new obsession.

- Waking to amazing views from our room
Our hotel was bomb but waking and having panoramic views of this gigantic city was so cool

- Toilets
I am NOT kidding when I tell you that the most elaborate toilets in the world can be found in Tokyo. More times than not, I couldn't figure out how to flush them! They are all heated which can be a little nerve-racking since normally when I sit on a warm toilet seat, I'm a little disgusted... Each toilet is also it's own bidet. Most automatically open and close the lids, and MANY have a "scent" sucking mechanism so it never gets stinky! I LOVE it. I told Christian that when we remodel our bath - we are splurging on the toilet!

- Arab Princes
I seriously saw more Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, and ridiculously souped up cars in Tokyo than combined in my entire life! At our hotel one night, this car pulls in... Some sort of Rolls Royce - it was HUGE. These Arab guys get out, turns out they are some type of Princes... The car was was all gold and had gold rims with diamonds on them! I wanted to take a picture but something in me didn't want to feed their egos anymore - ha! Anyhow, it was SICK! I asked Christian how they got their car to Tokyo - he then informs me that they have planes custom built to fit their cars in so they can take them everywhere they go! Dang - I should have married on of them ;-0

- Dinner on the 40th floor
Christian and I went to a restaurant one night in this building - there are no tables, just bar like seating around the periphery of the room so you are litterally sitting 18 inches from the window, looking strait out. We could see Mt. Fuji in the distance and ordered our meal from iPads! This was actually a funny story - we see this ipad and realize that we are supposed to choose our selections from that. So we start hitting stuff - we order drinks, apps, meals, desserts, etc... Then next thing we know it all comes out! The waitress was kind of laughing and people were staring at us! We then realized we were supposed to order like one thing at a time - not all at once! HA! We couldn't even fit all of our food in our little space!

- Language Barriers
Walking into restaurants where no one spoke English and the menu was in Japanese...
We would literally point at what other people were eating as say we wanted that! It was HILARIOUS! Sometimes we would order and have NO idea what we were getting and then be blown away at how good it was - other times, not so lucky!

- Witnessing the Shibuya crossing
This is so wild! It is basically just a huge intersection but at the busiest times, more than 1000 people cross at one time! It is so fascinating to watch! You really have to witness it in person. Here is a video from youtube Watch it!

- Seeing an apparition
Christian and I visited the famous Meiji Jingu Shrine early one morning - like 8 am. The priests had just finished their morning prayers and meditations when we got there. There was literally no one there but us, the priests, and some random lady. We walked around, washed our hands in the fountain, threw some coins in for the spirits, bowed, and moved on. Later, we looked at our pics and were astounded. There was a ghost! We were a little hesitant but I must have asked a dozen locals who all agreed it was a ghost and then told us that it is not that odd. One man told me, "That is a place of MANY ghosts." Another woman said that she too had a similar experience there. Whatever the meaning, I just hope it is good :)