Family Trip 2024
I have not seen my family for about 10 years. Last year, my sister decided to plan a trip to Japan so we can hang out with her and her family. Five famil ymembers from the US came. My wife and I spent time with them! My mom is getting a bit older so she preferred driving. Japan is a train and bus country but it can be exhausting. Driving every day wasa unique experience for me.
Monday July 15th:
We picked up our car. We rented a Nissan Serena. We got “Full Support”. It worked out to 173,000 yen for 11 days. We actually returned it a day early. We were not sure that we would be able to but the price was the same for 10 days if the car was returned at night, or 11 days if the car was returned in the morning.
Our car:
The car was easier to drive than I expected. There were a lot of unique new features that I have never used in a car.
We did not use the highway to drive home and I missed a few of the turns that I needed to make. We made it to the AirBNB and luckily, it had a parking space! My family just rested.
Tuesday July 16th:
Everyone was tired so we wanted to have a relaxing day. We hung out around Machida Station. We went shopping in Machida Twins. We also went to Yodobashi Camera. The main attraction for the day was the Owl Cafe, Rapace. We wanted something simple for lunch so we had Hidakaya.
Wednesday July 17th:
We had a plan to go to a special Hotel. We stayed at the XIV hotel at Lake Yamanaka. To start the day, we picked up Bambi’s mom. We stopped at Miyagase to take a break. We stopped at Zebra Coffee near Lake Tsukui for lunch.
Then we drove to Mount Fuji on Doshi Road. The weather was nice. It was hot but it was sunny. When we got to Lake Yamanaka, it was cloudy so we could not see Mount Fuji. It was sad but it was OK because at night, we had a spectacular view of Mount Fuji from the hotel!! We played at Hirano Beach for a little while. We were going to go to Oshino Hakkai but we were a bit behind schedule. We checked in to the hotel. We ate and then we rested in the room.
Thursday July 18th:
We woke up and had breakfast. We decided to take the highway back. The drive was smooth and easy. Everyone was still struggling with jetlag and adjusting to the weather. We basically stayed home for the day after we got back. I drove Bambi’s mom back to her house.
Friday July 19th:
Harry Potter! I think the plan was for everyone to go. Some people were under the weather so they stayed home. The Harry Potter tour was a lot longer than we expected. It was a scorching hot day too! Most of the exhibits were indoors so it was OK. There were some that were outdoors so it was OK.
Saturday July 20th:
The AirBNB was near the Machida Squirrel Garden. We walked there to check it out. It was so much fun for everyone. There are a lot of different animals there. You can feed the animals in the front area if you buy some vegetables. The back area is where the squirrels are. You have to wear a glove and an oven mitt. You use the glove to put food in the oven mitt and then feed the squirrels from the oven mitt.
Shopping around Machida
Sunday July 21st:
The kids love animals so we went to Enoshima Aquarium. We had a lot of fun! We saw most of the exhibits and the dolphin show. We went to Enoshima Island and walked over to the dragon temple. Then we walked back to the bridge. It was hot but the walk was so refreshing.
Monday July 22nd:
Everyone was tired so we spent the day resting. My niece was really into ramen so we went to Ichiran. After that, we went to Mega Donki to look for fun and cool things. They bought a lot! haha!
Tuesday July 23rd:
For my niece, the main attraction was Harajuku. She was dying to go there! Some of my family members were a bit under the weather so it was just Bambi, my sister, my niece, and me. We took the Odakyu Romance Car to Shinjuku. Then we took the Yamanote Line to Harajuku. I think that everyone really enjoyed the Romance Car. On the way there, we had a seat near the front so the view out of the front window was amazing.
After Harajuku, we took a walk through Meiji Jingu. After that, we were getting tired so we headed back home. My sister really wanted to go to Shibuya but in the end we all agreed to go home. Sorry Mel! We took the Romance Car back. It is luxurious. We do not normally ride the Romance Car but it was a good experience!
Wednesday July 24th:
It was near the end of the trip so my family needed to do some souvenir shopping. My younger brother’s family is really into golf and sports. We went to some sports shops to look for something that you can only buy in Japan. Unfortunately, we were not able to find anything good. The good ones were not in their sizes. The other stuff was available in the US.
We wanted to eat Ramen on more time so we went to Machida Shoten Max! It is a shop that I go to often. It was the third time to have Ramen. I think that the atmosphere of that shop is different from the other two. I think that my family liked all three shops.
Thursday July 25th:
Zebra Coffee in Inagi
Highway drive to Haneda Airport - No parking so we dropped them off.
We returned the car to Nissan Rent-a-car.
