Smile at the rising sun

We were all up by 5:30 a.m. feeling refreshed and ready to go. LOL!  Even though we felt great we knew that a speedy start could result in an early crash and burn.  The morning views from the balcony were great.  As my in-laws got ready for work and daycare Zane and Dude had a blast with their 2 year old cousin and I tried different Japanese breakfast foods.  Aloe yogurt was by far my favorite, but the bread, mayo, corn kernel snack and octopus bread balls were also good.  By 7 a.m. my bro-in-law was off to work and about a half hour later I joined my sister-in-law (who we will call Cuñada-chan) in dropping off my nephew to the neighborhood day care.  Cuñada-chan took me to the closest grocery store (here they are 7-11s with healthy Japanese food) then she gave me great instructions on how to catch the bus to the train station, so we can meet her at her job for lunch.  

I left her at her bus stop and headed back home to my guys.  We laid around for a few hours, got dressed, then headed out to find my sister in law.  

Once again (just like in Germany ) buying train tickets was... let's say a challenge.  One of the keys to happy travels, and to life in general, is knowing how to laugh at yourself, and metro travel abroad puts thebphilosophy into full affect.  So after a 5 minute attempt at buying a train ticket I gave up and decided to ask for help.  I found the friendliest looking person in uniform around and asked for helping in English.  Our convo went like this:

Me: "Ohio gozaimasu (that means hello 1 of the 4 words I know) how do I buy train ticket?" 

Transit employee guy: Nods his head as if he understands me (good sign) he then points at the machine I just left.

Me: Hai (that means yes #2 of 4 words I know) but I don't read Japanese!

Him: you must press English button (he then gives me the universal DUH you're a dumb-ass look)! 

Ha!  Feeling like a humbled idiot I returned to the machine pressed the big-ass English button that I previously didn't see and continued to buy the tickets.  I bought the ticket but still am not sure if I bought the correct ticket or the concept of ticket buying in Japan. 

We finally made it to my sister-in-law's job at the Yokohama Landmark tower and ate lunch at the top.  The view was beyond impressive and the guys went crazy over the amount of helicopters and helipads that were on top of the surrounding buildings.  The dish of the day was meat loaf with rice and salad. Dude murdered that meat loaf.  I mean he ate the whole block of meat like a caveman.  I've never seen him eat so much during our travels.   

After lunch at about 3pmI was ready to walk around more, but the guys were sleepy and insisted in going back home.  AlphaPoppa kept saying I'm ok I just don't have the energy to walk around I'm not going to sleep.  But let me tell you, as soon as we got in the apartment he ran for the couch and was out like a light,  the boys and I were able to stay awake a couple of hours, but out next was Dude.  I let him sleep 40 minutes then tried to wake him to go to the park.  He stayed awake for about an hour but was painfully cranky and fell asleep the first chance he got.  Zane was doing great, but I 

knew something was up when I disappeared around 7 pm.  He too was in bed in a comatose slumber.  I'm currently fighting this sleep like a pro.  You are what's keeping me up right now. Thank god Cuñada chan and my nephew are home to help me stay awake for just a while longer.

And we're off!

The wind seems to have blown me and my guys away on an adventure again.  This time to the Far East.  Hello Japan!!!

We arrived at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International airport 3 hours before our 1:15 pm flight, which is always a must with international flights.  This gives travelers time to deal with the unexpected; whether it be traffic en route to the airport, long security lines, ticketing errors, departure gate changes, etc.  being early when traveling wth kids also allows you to take your time and stop for snacks and bathroom breaks.  We had plenty of time to do all that.  

We made sure we were amongst the last to board the plane just to give the kids their time to run, jump, wiggle, rock, and roll before being confined to this 13 hour flight.  

On the flight Dude and I sat on one side of the aisle, AlphaPoppa and Zane sat on the other side.  We didn't plan that but didn't mind at all knowing it would prevent the typical sibling complaints of," Mommy, Dude's foot touched me!" Or "Daddy, Zane said I'm a baby!"  

Truly, the flight itself was great.  The back of each seat had a touch screen monitor to play games or watch movies.  Dude played with it for a while then suddenly collapse into a deep sleep. I immediately followed him and also slept. 

To try to prevent jet lag my plan was to sleep early in our flight and wake up when it would be the Japanese morning while still in flight.  Time will tell if this works.  The airplane served plenty of snacks, meals, drinks, and warm towelettes to wash our faces.  

Holy moly!! How on earth did I forget to tell you guys that this flight was on a double decker airplane.  Yes ladies and gents, the plane had an upstairs and downstairs.  Upstairs was all first/business class as was the front of the bottom level.  Each passanger get a mini bed to lay down in, check the pix!

Our route to Japan surprised me.  Since I know very little about aviation I assumed we would fly in a straight line from Atlanta to Tokyo passing over the Midwest, California, and the Pacific Ocean.  That was not the route at all.  According to the inflight interactive map we flew north west crossing over Canada from its border with Wisconsin, over Alaska, damn near to the North Pole then swinging down over Russia heading south near the Koreas approaching Japan from the north.  I never would have guessed such a route.  AlphaPoppa explained to me that since the earth is curved one must fly in a curve.  I straight line won't get you where you want to go. Interesting, huh?!

We arrived in Tokyo's Narita airport at approximately 4pm their time.  We passed through immigration where we were fingerprinted and photographed then we passed through customs with our luggage.  The kids and I each had one personal item (for me a purse and for them backpacks) and a carry-one bag. AlphaPoppa just had a carry on.  We did not want to check any luggage so we packed light for our one week stay.  Even though I'm a master at packing and traveling, I'm still a woman and managed to pack 5 pair of shoes along with all my clothes.  Ha!!  In the battle of Knowledge vs. nature, my womanly nature of loving stilettos and pretty shoes killed all knowledge that I most likely will not wear them all.

Our 13 hour flight was just the first part of our journey.  We then had to take a 2 hour train ride on the Narita Express to the Yokohama train station.  AlphaPoppa's brother has been living here in Japan for nearly 2 years (his second go round living here) previously living here for 3 years before returning to the US for a while.  His wife gave us perfect directions to get to their house.  We changed trains at Yokohama station and took another train 2 stops to their station.  We then jumped in a taxi that took us right to their apartment building.  All this with limited Japanese. And when I say limited I mean we only know how to say hello, thank you, and numbers 1-3!!  

During our travels from the airport to their home I was constantly texting with my sister-in-law to let her know where we were and to make sure we were on the right track. We used an app called Viber. Viber is my favorite app to keep in touch with international family and friends.  You can text, send pix and videos, and make phone calls through the app. The morning of our trip I called my cell phone carrier and they added an international data plan for me for $30 for 120gb.  When I'm not using it I switch the phone to airplane mode to not waste data roaming time.

Once we arrived at their apartment building my brother-in-law was there waiting for us.  What a thrill it was to see him!! He took us up to the apartment and we hung out and settled in a little until his wife and son came home about 30 minutes later.  We spent all night chilling and enjoying each other.  We held on trying to not sleep too early, Trying to lessen the effects of potential jet lag. We didnt sleep until 10:45 then we were knocked out!  Thank goodness for safe travel adventures and lovely family all over the world.

12 hour Niagara Falls Adventure

At the very last minute we were presented with a free flight opportunity to fly out of Atlanta to Buffalo, New York at 8 am with a returning flight at 8pm that same night.  I couldn't resist.  As in usual Echo style I made my decision at 11:30 pm the night before our 8am flight.

"Ok boys throw a change of clothes in your backpack and get your passports! We are waking up at 5am to go to Canada!"  And in typical Zane and Dude style they threw a couple things in their backpacks and jumped in the bed eager to go to sleep knowing they should be well rested for our next day's adventure.  Unfortunately Big Papa had to work, but he promised to make our next trip.

I woke up at 5 a.m. to prepare and pack a light breakfast.  Hard boiled eggs and toast.  Once that was all packed, I woke up the boys and they put on the clothes they'd laid out the night before.  I knew they'd be groggy still so I wanted to do as much as possible before waking them up.  Once they were ready, we quickly got the kids in the car and Alpha Poppa dropped us off at Atlanta's Hartfield- Jackson Airport.

I just love how seamless travel is nowadays.  I went to Delta's check in kiosk and printed our boarding passes in less tha 2 minutes.  We were making great time and the boys had fully awaken by now, so we agreed that it was a good time for breakfast.  We sat down in the food court area, ordered Orange Juice from Burger King and enjoyed our little breakfast and our time together.  These two little rascals can make anything fun even at 6:45 a.m.!

After breakfast we headed through the security line.  Luckily the kids don't have to take off their shoes, even little things like that make traveling with them less stressful.  We arrived at our departure gate with time to spare so we enjoyed a little photo shoot to share with Alpha Poppa and of coures with our faithful readers ♥.
 

Dude watching the aircraft being prepped

Zane with a big happy travels Kool-Aid smile

Me trying to contain my excitement about having a 12 hour adventure.

 

 

Once we boarded the plane, it took only minutes for us to fall asleep, not waking until landing in Buffalo, NY.  Our flight was approximately an hour and a half.  I swear I have spent longer traffic getting to the Farmer's Market in Atlanta.  I knew that this adventure was going to be a blast.  During the short time I had to put together a plan on how we would get to the Falls from the Buffalo Airport I saw info on taking the city's public transportation for only $3 (or less) per person, hiring a taxi, or taking a shuttle service.  Of course since I'm always trying to save money, my first choice was to take the public bus to the falls.  However, I changed my mind once I saw the cloudy skies over Buffalo and checked my weather app.  I have no problem taking a bus but I absolutely prefer not to do so in the rain, with children.  While trying to figure out what my next move should be I was approached by a fast-taking tourist guide who wisked us outside to a taxi stand. 

 

The Guide: "Ma'am, the taxi is the best option the public bus will take over an hour and the taxi cost $30 with a 15 minute ride"

 

Me: "$30!!! That's far more than the $9 I budgeted for...."

 

The Guide, quikly interrupting: "Oh dont worry, there are 2 ladies here also going to the falls, you can share a cab and split the fare."

 

No that sounded much more reasonable to me.  What really made my final decision is once I started talking to the 2 ladies.  They were from Spain, and only spoke Spanish, which many of you know is my second language and one of the boys' first languages (along with English,  they have 2 first languages).  They were so excited to meet Spanish speakers to help them in their journey.  I knew the feeling. Whenever I travel and come across what I call a "travel angel" it's the biggest sense of relief.  I knew this was our chance to be travel angels for someone else.  We agreed to split the fare and we were on our way to the Falls.  They were also there for a one day adventure before heading to other parts of the U.S..

 

Taxi ride from Buffalo Airport to Niagara Falls

 

            Cloudy skies on the way to way

Zane and his Nintendo 3DS- Technology is a big help when traveling with kids.

 

 

When we were dropped off at The Falls we split from our new Spanish friends, eyes wide open and ready to see the beauty of it all.  We spent about 2 hours on the NY side, walking, and snapping pictures.  I was all, and more, than we expected.

 

The Rapids of Niagara on the NY side

Am I happy or what? In NY with Canada behind me.

After having our fun in NY.  I asked the boys, "Sooooo... you guys wanna walk to Canada?"

Zane: "What!  Walk to Canada! No way!"

Me: "But look, all we have to do is walk across that bridge over there.  On the other side is Canada."

Zane and Dude: "YEY-YUH!! We're walking to Canada!!"

Follow the signs

Selfie on the US- Canada bridge

 

The walk was exciting and fun.  We met other Atlantans in the immigration line to enter Canada, they seemed just as excited as us.  I was a bit shocked passing through immigration the officer asked for written permission from the "children's father" authorizating them to travel internationally without him.  I definitely was not expecting that!!!  I reassured him that I was NOT trying to kidnap our children and unfortunately did know that a authorization letter was required to spend a couple of hours on the Canadian side of the fall.  I asked that he look through our passport pages to see the different stamps as proof of our travel passion.  He did flip through the pages but was satisfied until he asked Zane questions to see what our true intention was for crossing the border. "Does your dad know where youare?", "Why isn't he here?", "How dropped you off at the airport?".  Zane answered all these questions, like a "big boy", to the officer's satisfaction, he stamped our passports and we were on our way.  He almost cracked a smile when the boys did the happy dance seeing a new stamp in their passports.

 

Once in Canada we were all hungry again.  We decided on French Fries and Apple Juice from a little restaurant.  We didn't exchange money for this short journey so I asked the waitress is she would let us take a picture of the Canadian Looney for our blog and for my curious kids.  She was much abliged to do so.  Zane thought is was cool that the money is called Loonies.  Of course he did, rt?

Tha Canadian side definitely give a more open direct view at this amazing source of falling water!

 

 

It also didn't take much for us all to agree on getting on the Maid of the Mist boat ride.

 

Now this is something I was ready for.  Many of the online review I read loved the boat ride but did not love the wet shoes, socks, and pants, they were left with after the boat ride.  In each of our bags I packed flip-flops specifically for the Maid of the Mist ride.  Once we got our ponchos on, I pulled our hoodie string tight so only our faces were exposed,  I rolled up all our pant legs, and switched our sneakers out for our flip-flops.  I cannot stress how that was probably the best idea I'd had in a loooong time.  During the ride it occurred to me that the usage of the word "mist" may be somewhat of a misnomer.  At times it felt like we were being hosed down, to the point where poor little Dude could barely open his eyes.  By the time the ride was over water was literally dripping from our chins and noses.  I was soooo fun though. 

 

After hours in Canada, we walked back to the US side and spent even more time soaking in the beautiful views.  We did'nt see our Spanish friends again, but Im sure they were gifted more travel angels on the way.  We caught a taxi back to the airport and landed in Atlanta at right about 8 p.m..  The boys received so much praise about their behavior on the flight back.  While deplaning the passangers in our section shockingly exclaimed, "I didnt even know there were children in this section!" "They were so well-behaved (unlike the little girl 4 rows back)!"  "Did you bribe them?" "What is your secret?"  "You should write a book!"  We soaked in the complimets and thanked them for their kind words.  Practice makes perfect and prepping them for their responsiblities also helps with their bahavior when traveling.... and who knows maybe someday I will write a book.  I just hope its an inspriational best-seller. 

These smiles and this hug was proof of a successful trip.

 

Where would you like to see us go on another one day or over-night journey?  We will test out the waters for you and blog about it to prepare you for when it's your turn.  Leave a comment and let us know. 

 

Thanks for letting us share with you.

 

Love always,

ECHO