Monday: TeamLab Planets

We took mom for her last trip to Japan in 2019 for a Princess Cruise. We went several days early so she could spend time with her sister, brother and families. On one of those days, we took her to TeamLab Borderless which is a digital art museum. 

To say that mom did not like it would be putting it mildly. All the digitally changing lights and a few uneven surfaces had her discombobulated. On the other hand, Art and I thought it was amazing and super fun! So we recommended doing it with our kids and grandkids. Unfortunately, TeamLab Borderless was moving to Azabudai Hills and in the process of rehabbing it's digital rooms.

We were disappointed, but looked forward to seeing TeamLab Planets instead which was still open. 

Tiffany had ordered tickets ahead of time and warned Keola and Sarah to make sure the boys had a change of clothes (and for none of us to wear a dress).

It's a good thing she warned us. You had to remove your shoes and socks and place them in lockers before moving to a tunnel of rushing water.

Friends had gone to TeamLab Planets the week before our trip and warned me to avoid going through the beginning experience. She texted a blurry video that I SHOULD have paid more attention to. (She'd told me there was an alternate route, but it was too late. I hadn't paid attention to where that might be.) There was even a sign in ENGLISH that I SHOULD have paid better attention to. It was something about elderly people avoiding this experience. Ummm.... Who's elderly anyway?

It was AWFUL! I mean AWFUL! You had this DEEP squishy area that you had to climb through (over?) to get to the other side. I'll bet it would be like climbing over quicksand. There was nothing like this at TeamLab Borderless! 

OK, this was similar to what we saw at TeamLab Borderless and much MUCH better. The colors changed every few seconds and it was mesmerizing. You can see why you shouldn't wear a skirt.

I'll bet the boys would tell you this was their favorite room. They went absolutely nuts chasing and splashing at digital fish that swam under the waters. (And yes, it was a good thing Keola and Sarah brought extra clothes for the boys.)

And this was my favorite experience. It was a mirrored room with lots of live orchids all around us. 

On the way back to the hotel, we saw this gigantic Gundam statue. I read a little about it doing this blog post and think we probably should have gotten off the train for a closer look as Tiffany had suggested. Ah well... it's something we can save for next time.

Back at the hotel, we rested for a bit. I thought I would show you that even though it has a fancy name, our hotel room was super tiny.

There wasn't a good area to hang your clothes, just three hooks by the doorway and one giant drawer below the suitcases to store belongings.

However... the convenient location and breakfast area made up for it. (Uuuummm... you did have to pay extra for the breakfast tickets, but it was reasonable.)

Later that evening, Keola and Sarah put the boys to sleep and Art and I crept into their room to babysit while they, Tiffany and KC went out to see the nightlights of Shinjuku in Tokyo. I spent that time getting a head-start on documenting a few days of the trip on my blog. 

I'd made sure to turn off the sound on my iPad and was as quiet as could be. Art even dozed a little after catching up on his text and email messages.

The next morning, JK chuckled and said, "Grandma, I heard you in our room last night. I could see you and I heard you turning pages." (That's because I had to look at my notes in my journal.) He had thoughtfully stayed quiet so he wouldn't wake his little brother.)

As for the rest of our family, they had a wonderful time out seeing Tokyo at night. We were all a little bleary eyed the following morning but we woke up in time to see more of the city from up high.