Happy Birthday to Me! ... Still in Tokyo

Andrea and I have been in Tokyo for a week now and are both sufficiently in love with this city! Everything is organized and clean and well-presented... and mostly just overall welcoming! Tokyo, well done. We have been very busy, but I have to fill you in on how I spent my birthday last Thursday. I really doubt if there is any better way to turn 23... for me at least.

I of course spent the day at Tokyo Disney. Being a Southern California Native I have a super soft spot for anything Disney or Disneyland related, and going to Tokyo Disney was the closest to home I was going to get! The entire day felt like a dream for ... well, a ton of reasons. But mainly because evrything about the place was just so familiar! My mind had a hard time accepting it was actually in TOKYO and not ANAHEIM. Andrea was very patient with me as I would pause and just let my jaw hang open in complete disbelief that I was where I was. My first prority after entering the park was to pick up my mouse ears - of course! Tokyo Disney is celebrating their 25th Anniversary, so I chose a pair of special anniversary ears. Japanese Disney-goers seem more interested in odd sorts of hair accessories than they do traditonal mouse ears and ball caps, so they were the best ones. We rode all my favorite rides, and Andrea was, again, extraordinarily patient as I schooled her on the entire history of each attraction. (Or at least its counterpart in Anaheim) We took lots of pictures (that I will post here as soon as I find a good way to upload them) and ate lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace. Sadly ... The Haunted Mansion and Star Tours were both closed for rennovations and there wasn't time for the Jungle Cruise or Space Mountain because we had a dinner reservation at 6 pm.

My parents are amazing and for my birthday I got to eat at Club 33. It was incredible! In Anaheim, Club 33 is located in New Orleans Square, above Pirates of the Caribbean and Blue Bayou, but in Tokyo is in the World Bazzar (which is the same as Main Street, USA at home). We had were seated near the window and could see Cinderella's Castle from our table. (Yes, they have Cinderella's Castle, not Sleeping Beauty's like at home.) The staff were all very kind and were doing their best to speak English. We were surprised, because we assumed a place as nice as Club 33 would have an English speaking staff, because so many other places in the park did. After our first course, the head waiter told me that my "Birthday Ceremony" was ready, and asked Andrea and me to follow him. We went into a side lounge and sat down. Not gonna lie - it was a little creepy - even though I knew what was coming next. The whole wait staff came in and greeted me in Japanese. They took some pictures of Andrea and me and gave me a huge schpeal ... which was in Japanese too .. so I have no clue what they said. Then they sang and I blew out the candles on my small but sweet Birthday Cake. Then of course, the guest of honor arrived: Mickey Mouse! I felt pretty silly considering it was my TWENTY-third and not my THIRD birthday, but it was still fun. The Japansese teenager that was likely playing Mickey popped his (her?) head into the room in perfect Mickey fashion and we posed for a whole slew of pictures ... and then blew my birthday candles out again. Then Mickey had to leave so that he could get to the parade.. haha .. and we went back to our table. While we were gone, they folded our napkins to look like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and put a rose on my plate. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS meal and were just waiting for them to kick us out when all of the sudden the lights dimmed, they pulled back the curtains, and I saw the Blue Fairy wheeling straight towards me! For those of you who are not Disney-Literate; the Electrical Light Parade began and went directly beneath our window. We could hear the music and watch the parade with the castle in the background! It was so perfect. They let us stay to watch the fireworks too, and gave us some souvenir Club 33 sticker books (well, match books that had stickers inside) that had our names and the date on them. Not to mention the souvenir photos with Mickey Mouse - those were great too! haha.

We left, rode Peter Pan, the Tea Cups and It's A Small World ... and then had to leave to go home (always the saddest part of any Disney day)


It was the most relaxing and happy birthday I think I have had .. in recent memory anyway! And what a wonderful way to kick-start my trip! I of course was thinking of all of you - and wishing you could have been there too. We've been keeping quite busy in Tokyo, and I will update soon if I can. We leave on Thursday to make our trek into Cambodia, and I am sure this is the last reliable internet connection I'll have for a while... so pleae be patient and check back often!