Japan with a Toddler

We traveled to Japan with our 20 month old this summer. Here's a few things we found helpful.

You can also read more about travel in Japan.

Our trip centered around a family wedding outside of Tokyo, and our home base was in Echigo-Yuzawa in the Japanese Alps in Niigata. It's an easy Shinkansen ride into Tokyo and we made the trip a few times.

Timing

Good weather is always great to have during vacation, but all the more so when you're toting around a toddler in a stroller and their goods.

Tokyo (like a lot of the world) has gotten hotter, and unbearably so in the summer. Summer in Tokyo has always been hot and humid, but I don’t think the temperature went below 90F at night the entire time we were there, and was into 100s during day. That seems to be the new norm from mid-July to August

June into early July is the rainy season.

So spring and fall are the most comfortable times to go if you have some flexibility.

Tokyo

As we have traveled with our toddler, we have found limiting the number of hotel changes really helps with our routine and logistics. Moving two adults is easy, especially with luggage shipping in Japan, but not trivial with toddler setup in tow. 

Tokyo with a few day trips sound great. I’m a huge fan of Nikko, and Kamakura is an easy day trip as well.

Within Tokyo, Odaiba has family friendly activities. teamlab Planet was fun if your kid doesn’t get too overloaded with sensory stimulation (plan to bring a carrier though, no stroller inside and you’ll need to carry at some parts, without ruining the surprise).

I did find the expat blogs, like this one, super helpful. This was their post on Odaiba with kids

Logistics

You’ll want a travel stroller. Our monster American ones won’t cut it on their narrow streets and transport. We love the Mountain Buggy. It was also was nice to have the lie-flat for changing

The city is pretty accessible, especially after the Olympics, though you might have to search for the elevator (easily pronounced as “ele be-ta-“). Here's a cheatsheet for Japanese kid-related words

I highly recommend shipping luggage from the airport to hotel and between and hotels — Google “takuhaibin” or just shipping luggage in Tokyo. It’s about $15-25 per suitcase and super easy. Hotels can arrange for you if you ask in advance, and there are a few vendors at the airport (I use ABC or Yamato)

Onsen

I love going to onsen, the hot springs and public baths, and the ryokans that have them. The bath may feel hot for children, but they can still sit with you to bath in the shower. Some rooms may have in-room baths as well. If your child is not potty-trained, just be careful with the public baths

I was excited to see this Kinosaki post on visiting my favorite onsen town with children.

Eating

Our kid is a fairly easy eater so she was ok eating out with us. Sushi restaurants are challenging because they generally don’t have anything else on the menu, but many family restaurants and izakaya have many kid-friendly options, including simple rice, miso soup, and edamame (which are all Yuna favorites). 

We regularly stopped at convenience stores for snacks -- the bread and ready made section (onigiri 🍙 in particular) were favorites.

In addition to water, “mugi-cha” or barley tea, is not caffeinated and a kid favorite for drinks

Lanikai Pillbox Hike

Lanikai is Hawaiian for "heavenly sea". The calm, white sand beach is sheltered in a residential neighborhood with Mokulua Drive the sole access road from Kailua, on the windward east side of Oahu.

The Lanikai Pillbox Hike has some of my favorite views in the world.

The hike takes you high above Lanikai beach and is marked by two concrete pillboxes (old bunkers) at the top. You can get to the first pillbox in less than 15 minutes at a steady climb. There's also a longer hike past the second pillbox that takes you along the ridges to the south end of Lanikai.

Short Hike

The path to the pillboxes starts near the 18th green of the Mid-Pacific Country Club off of the cul de sac on Kaelepulu Drive before it turns into a private community. Your best bet for parking is on Aalapapa Drive and walk up Kaelepulu Drive to the trail.

Pro-tip: Wear sneakers and keep your hands free -- use a backpack, camelback, pockets for keys, phone and/or water. This is a short and not super difficult hike, but the first (and last) stretch is pretty steep and you'll want to grab on to the trees and rocks. There are also some parts of the trail where you'll want your hands on the rocks to steady yourself.

There are multiple paths to get to the first pillbox, though you'll get the beautiful ocean views if you keep left. The first few minutes are the hardest, so don't despair, it'll get easier. And while it's a good place for a breather and photos, don't quit at the first clearing where you can see the ocean -- that's nothing compared to the top and you've passed the hardest climb!

The first pillbox is reachable in 15-20 minutes at a steady pace and some breaks. Climb on top of the bunker to enjoy the view.

The second pillbox is another 3-5 minutes away and worth the extra walk.

When you've had your fill of the views, you have two options. 

Turn around and hike down where you came from. You can do the short pillbox hike in well under an hour.

Long Hike

The trail continues past the second pillbox. It took me nearly 40 minutes (with minimal photo stops) to hike to the other end. It is absolutely beautiful and a good, strenuous hike, but not for everyone.

Like probably not for someone who: 

• Doesn't like getting dirty hands from branches and rocks and mud
• Is sensitive to grasses and thorns - the trail was quite overgrown (Dec 2016) and your skin will touch lots of grass
• Would freak out from lots of little red millipedes, or the occasional bug in the eye

For the record, the only animals were those millipedes and chirpy little birds, and an Alaskan woman who I snuck up on who thought I was a bear.

The longer hike is harder than the first part. It's less than a mile but has some steep climbs and the last stretch is challenging. The path is less trodden and has more rocks and obstacles. I hiked in the late afternoon after morning rains and the paths were fairly dry, but you may want to go another day if it's been raining heavily.

The hike goes along the top of the ridge, all the way to the south end of the Lanikai neighborhood, with a few interstitial peaks. The grass is short at times, and the trail is completely covered at others. The trail gradually declines from the pillbox, until the last stretch, where you have two mini summits and one last peak.

Once you get to the top of the last peak, rejoice!! Take a break! The path down to the street was by far the hardest and least pleasant part of the hike for me. It's slippery (with or without rain), narrow, and steep, though there are handholds in the form of rocks and branches. It took me about 12 minutes to make it down.

The Other End

Unlike the Mid-Pacific/Kaelepulu Drive end of the trail, this end of the pillbox trail is not marked and difficult to find if you know where you're looking. Here's a Google Map pin for where the trail ends on the Luika Place cul de sac. Luis Place is a short dead end street off of Po'opo'o Lane, which is the last road on the right off of Aalapapa Drive before it turns back towards Kailua as Mokulula Drive.

You can also choose to start at this end, given how much that last stretch sucks going down.

Note: Cell phone coverage (at least T-Mobile) is spotty at the end. It's about a mile from Kaelupulu Drive, which is a short drive but quite a long walk after this hike. So leave your car here or plan ahead if you think you may want a ride home from the far end.

Or you may end up hitchhiking as you are exhausted self is walking down Mokulua Drive #truestory

Misc.

• Lanikai Juice is my favorite stop in Kailua for a delicious Kailua Monkey smoothie or an acai bowl
• Hibachi is nearby in Kailua and has the best poke bar and a great selection of wine and local/craft beer
• Ehukai Pillbox Hike is another Oahu hike on the North Shore by Haleiwa. Great view of the big waves and surfers from the two pillboxes! 

My Japanese-Inspired Home

If I ever have the luxury to design my house from scratch, I want to incorporate basic Japanese elements into my home...

Foyer

Japanese homes are strictly "shoes off" and the foyer is architected to easily separate the inside space from the outdoors. When one enters the home, whether is it a grand house or a tiny studio, there will be a continuation of the outdoor level inside and a physical step up where the "home" begins. Shoes are never ever worn above the step, even for the all-too-common "oh shoot, I just need to run in and get..." situation in a US shoes-off home.

Japanese Bath

The modern Japanese bath is just a brilliant and sustainable concept. There's an enclosed space with both a "shower" and "bath", but you clean yourself with the shower before you bathe so that the clean bath water can be reheated and re-used by the family (or several days for a single person). There is a cover for the bath that is rolled over during the shower, then removed for bathing. The whole room is equivalent to the "shower" space, with drainage and door to close off the space.

The hot water system is shower is controlled by a panels with options for temperature, water volume, and timer, and sometimes even multiple panels so that you can remotely heat up the bath from your kitchen and tells you when it's ready!

The bath is also taller so that one can sit upright and be covered above the shoulders. Tubs are not made to stretch out like Western bathtubs, but to sit with knees tucked up and warm up.

Japanese Toilet

There is a ton written on this topic in American media, but who doesn't want a warm seat and bidet when they do their business? As the founder of toilet product Tushy said, if a bird pooped on your head, would you wipe with a tissue or use water to make sure you're really clean?

Kinosaki Onsen 城崎温泉

Kinosaki Onsen is a lovely town on the west coast of Japan that is known for its hot springs. I stayed at a "ryokan" (Japanese guesthouse) and spent two blissful days eating amazing food, drinking sake, and steeping in natural hot springs.

Kinosaki Onsen is approximately five hours by train from Tokyo. Take the Shinkansen (bullet train) three hours to Kyoto, then another express train for two hours through beautiful countryside to Kinosaki Onsen. 

Note: I highly recommend getting the JR Pass before arriving in Japan - it's a brilliant rail pass only available to foreigners that is all-you-can-ride Japan Railways, including the Shinkansen. You can get reserve seats for no cost as well. You'll usually make up the cost of the pass with one Shinkansen trip.

Shinkansen Pro-tip: Try to get seat E if you reserve seats - the north side window of the train (right side on way south, left north) generally has better views, including Mount Fuji about an hour out from Tokyo. Also fun to track your blue dot on Google Maps, you'll never see the dot move so fast!!

Stay at a Ryokan!
I stayed at Ryokufukaku (beautiful Japanese website / English tourist site). 25,000 yen per night for a tatami room, breakfast and dinner, ryokan's baths, and access to the seven "soto-yu" hot springs in town. Pretty incredible deal, as the dinner could easily cost well over 10,000 yen.

What to do in Kinosaki:

• Onsen ("hot springs") that have been here for 1400 years of geothermal activity is the main attraction and a must do. The ryokan's rent yukata (and hakama overcoats in winter) for guests to wear out to baths. I literally wore that all day. See below for the seven "soto-yu"

• Ropeway at the west end of town will give you a beautiful view of the village and surrounding mountains, all the way to the Sea of Japan.

• Drink local sake - this is a must. Sakamoto-ya Sakaya 坂本屋酒屋 is a liquor shop that offers shots of sake for 300 yen. Two tables outside and four stools at a little window bar to snack and drink your sake or beer or liquor. They have local brews of sake, beer and liqueurs that you can try before you buy. Highly recommend the "ji-zake" 地酒, local fresh brewed sake out of a keg, super rich and potent.
• Eat seafood, Tajima beef and Izushi soba. The ryokan and restaurants alike get fresh seafood daily from the Sea of Japan, and the area is known for crab in winter months.
  
  Izushi is a nearby town, known for its soba plates, eaten five different ways for each serving of five plates (soba sauce, plus grated daikon and negi, plus wasabi, plus grated mountain yam, plus a raw egg).
  
  
• Pottery making at Rakugaki is fun and you get something to keep from it. You can make designs, actually shape the clay, or decorate small jewelry. If you paint or sculpt, they'll fire the clay and ship you the final pottery (even overseas, was 1,200 yen to the US). Roughly 2,400 yen to make a cup and chopstick holder.

Onsen
There are seven "soto-yu" 外湯, or "outside springs" that most ryokan's will provide you a pass to enter for free. Each spring also has an a la carte price for day trippers.

So the seven hot springs. Each is named "xx no Yu", which means "Hot Spring of xx". I'm partial to the ones with "roten-buro" or outdoor baths. In order of my favorite:

Gosha no Yu 御所の湯 is styled after a Kyoto palace, the largest and most elegant of the seven, with indoor, steam room and outdoor baths besides several waterfalls. They rotate the men's and women's bath daily so try to hit Gosha no Yu two days in a row to see both sides.

Ichi no Yu 一の湯 is the landmark Kinosaki Onsen and has an outdoor bath carved into a cave.

Kou no Yu 鴻の湯 is the farthest onsen by the ropeway and has an outdoor bath covered by a pagoda.

Mandara no Yu まんだらの湯 had a small wooden bath that seats two by the forest

Sato no Yu さとの湯 is the newest and most modern bath, with multiple floors, baths and saunas. The rooftop outdoor bath feels a bit kitschy but is nice, and I enjoyed the dry heat, steam and penguin (0-5 degree C!) saunas

Yanagi no Yu 柳の湯 is one of the smallest but with beautiful wood in the high beams that make up the indoor bath

Jizo no Yu 地蔵の湯 has an indoor bath inside a nice multistory inn.

Ashi no Yu 足の湯 are foot baths along the main roads and free for anyone to stop and dip their feet. Sato no Yu and Yanagi no Yu have them, and there is one near the corner by Ichi no Yu with a beautiful view of the street (also conveniently close to Sakamotoya liquor shop if you get a sake to go) and also by the ropeway. Good stop while you wait 11 min for your onsen eggs.

By the way, your ryokan is likely to have its own hot spring, and perhaps even some private Onsen that you can reserve!

Last note: Kinosaki Onsen is a pretty local tourist spot. Even the Japanese tourists are primarily from the Kansai region, and while they're starting to see more Chinese tourists, non-Asian foreigners are less common. So just note, it's a tourist spot with very little English speakers, though Kansai folks are super friendly as a whole and I'm sure they will do everything in their power to be hospitable!

New Orleans

My best friend and I took a long weekend to visit New Orleans, a city both of us had on our list but never had the chance to visit. The food and music met the incredibly high reputation, and pleasantly surprised by the shopping and charming beauty of the city.

We flew from opposite coasts on Friday, arriving at MSY late afternoon. The line for the $36 cab was horrendously long (better off for two people than the $24 shuttle, also with a line), and grabbed a black car for $60 to the Westin New Orleans, right on the water on Canal Street and adjacent to the old French Quarter.

DAY 1

French Market - meet the bartender Doug

Shrimp and crabmeat stuffed avocado

Garlic and herb grilled oysters

Maque croux w andouille sausage

Sweet potato fries

Beer - Andygator and Purple Haze mix

Cafe du Monde

Three beignets 

Hot chocolate and cafe at lait

Copper monkey - meet the bartender  Laurna

Bourbon w ginger beer and lemon

St Lawrence 

Hush puppies w pickled okra and jalapeños

Buffalo wing of NCIS Nola guy

Mac and cheese

Redemption - bourbon cocktail 

DAY 2

Atchaflaya

Duck hash w blackberries

Boudin (rice and pork sausage patties)

Eggs atchaflata w crab meat

Grits

Bloody Mary bar w green tomato juice

Milk punch - brandy, cream half and half, simple syrup, egg nog, nutmeg/cinnamon

Shopping on Magazine Street

Loft43 with owner Kevin

Buffalo Exchange

Basin Seafood and Spirits

Crab and Crawfish beignets 

Garlic herbed butter oysters

Parish Canebrake American wheat from LO

Julia St Art Walk happens on first Saturday's of the month. Check out their site online

Cochon

Grilled broccoli salad

Cucumber pickled w herbs

Louisiana cochon

Shrimp and eggplant dressing

Roasted pumpkin arugula salad

Cote du Rhone

Bourbon vanilla brown sugar satsuma cocktail 

Eggnog cocktail

On to music on Frenchmen Street!

Dba

Three Muses

Eff white drink

Mac and cheese 

DAY 3

Coops Place

Coops combo - gumbo, jambalaya, creole shrimp, fried chicken, beans

Take the $2 ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers Point - worth it for the view of New Orleans

Dry dock cafe - right off the ferry stop, time to get a beer and get the next ferry back

Abita Christmas Ale

St Lawrence

Baked sweet potato Fall spice daiquiri

Shrimp and grits

Brussel sprouts

Spinach dip 

Vienna & Salzburg

July 2015

My mom and I visited Vienna and Salzburg following four days in Milan. Vienna is a sort of mecca for classical music lovers and it did not disappoint!

Here are some highlights:

• Salzburg - Famous as Mozart and the "Sound of Music" Trapp family's hometown, Salzburg is an idyllic city with a lazy river running through it and surrounded by lush green mountains.
• Performances - Vivaldi Four Seasons by string quartet in St. Stephen's Cathedral
• House of Musik - best interactive museum I've experienced.

Milan

July 2015

I took a week long trip to Milan and Vienna with my mom to coincide with the World Expo 2015 in Milan.

Here are some highlights:

• World Expo - In Milano from May 1 to Oct 31, 2015, think of Expo like a massive six-month trade show of countries, or Epcot on crack. See bottom of the post for more, including a short video!
• Food - Milanese cuisine is more rice than pasta and richer than what I think of typical Italian food, but their love and care of food is still Italian and there are many opportunities for great meals.
• Duomo - the central Milanese cathedral is magnificent inside and out and worth a visit.
• Last Supper - one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings is on a rectory wall in Santa Maria delle Grazie Church.
• Shop - I happen to not be a fashion type, but Milano is certainly one of the fashion meccas of the world. Emmanuelle Galleria houses the original Prada shop and some might enjoy the fashion district. I on the other hand, enjoyed the “saldi” season at your lower/mid level boutiques and made a killing at Promod. Italians make lovely shoes as well.

Notes on Milan

• Milanese speak some English in tourist areas, but it's worth getting some basic phrases down
• We stayed in an AirBNB studio near the Lima stop off of the Metro 1/Red line and a 5 minute walk from Centrale Stazione where you can get a bus/train direct from Malpensa international airport. It was so lovely to have a fridge and mini-kitchen for breakfast and snacking, and to live in a more residential area. Highly recommend over hotels.
• Summertime is ridiculously hot, and well into the evening. Avoid being outside mid afternoon if you can.

Eat and Drink

We had a lovely mix of casual and fine dining in Milan. Turns out the olive oil, tomatoes, pasta that I think of when I imagine Italian food is more prevalent in mid to southern Italy, and Milanese are closer to say Austrian or German food with more breads, rice and mix of meat and seafood.

• Ristorante Cracco - we had a decadent, luxurious and creative two and a half hour lunch at Chef Carlo Cracco's two-star Michelin restaurant just blocks from the Duomo. We splurged on the tasting menu with a few classes of wine
• Osteria del Treno

Milan Sites

We joined a guided walking tour through a company called Veditalia. It was 63€ per person for the "best of Milan + Last Supper" and English guide with eight other people for three hours. It was worth it because my mom wanted to see the Last Supper and reservations were full through five weeks out. But our guide Christian was a local Milanese, incredibly knowledgeable and we learned a lot about Milanese history and the sites.

We visited:

Duomo Cathedral and its Square - the central cathedral in Milan took five centuries to construct and is a continuing work in progress. It's 2

Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site - given the sensitivity of the famous and ancient Leonardo da Vinci mural, there are strict 15 minute reservations. Totally worth it though, really powerful.

Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, the “living room” of Milan with the flagship Prada shop

Sforza Castle - outside and its inner yards

Mercanti Square, the medieval city heart

La Scala Theatre (outside) and its Square

World Expo

For those who don’t know, one of my life goals after working at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai is to see every Expo going forward - they happen every five years and cities bid on them like the Olympics (next one is Dubai 2020).

The theme for Expo Milano is “Feeding the World”, focusing on what people and countries are doing to sustainably produce and provide food around the world. More broadly, Expo is about showcasing countries with each nation sponsoring a pavilion that represents their culture, technology and philosophy around food. So what better way to experience this Expo than food/drink crawling!

Highlights at Expo:

• Japan Pavilion - Japan did a phenomenal job weaving together Japanese food customs, industry and innovation in an interactive and digital experience. As a testament to that, it was the only pavilion with a constant line. Overall I would guess it takes about 20-30 min to get in plus an hour to get through the multi-stage show.
• Allavita! - Cirque du Soleil has a special show for Expo. It is fanciful and dynamic and incredible like every other Cirque show I've seen, plus set in an open air theater with a longer interactive show around the theme of food. 38€ for the closest to stage of three sections (open seating in all).
• Russia Pavilion
• Italy Wine Pavilion
• Eataly - I know there are other Eatalys in the city, but if you are in Expo and want to eat Italian food, Eataly is a great place to sample food from every corner of the country. Try the gnocchi and tiramisu at Locanda Mammi in the Abruzzo e Molise region, amazing!

Country Pavilions - besides the ones mentioned above, I find the larger countries to be somewhat underwhelming for the amount of money they are probably spending. I loved the "smaller" places like Bahrain that not only had the most beautiful architecture and told a wonderful narrative about gardens and their primary agricultural exports and Morocco showed their various regional environments and specialties. Qatar was impressive, and I actually love going to places like Senegal to try a baobab drink or Slovenia to learn about salt.

Coolest architecture (take pictures of the outside but not worth going in) - UK, Vietnam, USA (sorry it's true...)

Eat/drink - in addition to Eataly, Italy Wine and Salumeria Pavilions, Japan and Russia, the Czech had pilsners from an outside poolside bar, Belgians had fries, beer and great cafe, Morocco had nice outdoor garden restaurant, US has a Food Truck 2.0 area (I didn't go), Chile for daily 4pm wine tasting seminar.