Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Dumbo and Grief, yes it's been an interesting day

I know I've said I had no desire to do the Dumbo Double Dare again, but something happened after Tinkerbell. I got this crazy idea that perhaps I could go for two Coast to Coast medals in 2014.

It sort of started when I saw the Wine and Dine medal at the Tink expo. It's different then one I have from 2012 almost cleaner souped up version.

But then I was conflicted as I was planning on doing the Tower of Terror 10 Miler, so a trip to Disney World in October then November is ludicrous.

I was on my way to work today when I decided if I can get into the Dumbo Double Dare which opened today for registration then Tower of Terror will go to the 2015 list and Wine and Dine will go on to the 2014 list.

When registration opened at 10 am my time I had a heck of time getting access to the website, it kept crashing and then finally I was in and......I registered for my 2nd Dumbo Double Dare. I want a rematch as the last one was right after my Dad died, the weather was super human and I was miserable. This time I want a different ending. I also want a different ending to Wine and Dine, the last time I did it I went back to the hotel afterwards and didn't join the after party, this time I'm partying the night away.

I booked my flight for Dumbo already and now arranging the hotel with my gal at Wishing Well Travel. I'm thinking I'll stay at Grand Californian this time as it's the one Disneyland hotel I haven't stayed in yet.

This afternoon I was off to my first grief counselling appointment.

It was a bit eye opening for me. For one thing I started talking about my mother not my father and burst into tears at the start. I realized I never quite dealt with her passing and that was 12 years ago. The counselor I got who I'll call D, was awesome. She was easy to talk to and I never felt uncomfortable. I didn't realize I had so much inside to get out and all I did was talk.

What I asked for was strategies to get through tough times as in no time I'll be facing the first anniversary of Dad gone in June and April marks the 12th anniversary for Mom.

So I'll meet with D again and then in March I start 6 weeks of group counselling and then meet with D again after that.

I feel like an adventure awaits in two ways. The first way putting my energy into properly training for Coast 2 Coast 2 and in the second way seeing what happens when I let my armor come off a bit and figure out what's going on inside me.

It's been quite a day indeed.


Sunday, January 26, 2014

RunDisney envy

Hello All,

Well the Tink medals are now at home with the others.


Glass Slipper Challenge is now 4 weeks away and I'll be doing my first post Tink run tomorrow on the treadmill. I took time off to let my chins and right knee like me again.

The problem with belonging to a whack of RunDisney facebook groups is that people are of course excited about upcoming races.

Now I registered for the Expedition Everest 5K as I love that medal and I intend to register for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in October as my goal was to collect every medal at least once.

Last week I registered for a race closer to home and that's the Centaur Subaru Half Marathon which is part of the Calgary Marathon weekend on June 1 (2 days before my birthday)

Disneyland Half registration opens soon but I really have no desire to repeat that one or repeat the Dumbo Challenge. Going through Angels Stadium was fun but beyond that I didn't care for the course or the heat and humidity was awful but I know that's not normal for Disneyland.

What is intriguing me is doing Wine and Dine in November again but I'm not sure. I'm travelling to Disney World in a month, then again in May and then in October, can I swing another trip in November? I saw the medal at Tink and see that's it's different then the one I have.

So far I've trained so so for all the Disney races but for the half in June I intend to give it my all so that's what intrigues me about Wine and Dine, what happens if I do train with complete focus?

I have a goal to do Dopey in 2015 so that's a trip to DW in January and then if this rumored Star Wars race happens at Disneyland in January as well I so need to go to that as I'm a Star Wars geek. Just to do Dopey I need to train seriously and get in better shape.  So my logical brain is saying don't be silly skip Wine & Dine and do it in 2015. The other part of my brain is saying if you can swing it - it's probably not a bad idea to do a half in November in preparation for Dopey. Aaagghhh, I have time to sort this out but the annoying part is registration is so far in advance for the Disney races.

Really I should just focus on Glass Slipper and oh I added the Cinderella 5K to that one. Though my plan is walk the 5K, mostly walk the 10K to keep legs fresh for the half. Register for TOT (Tower of Terror) based on the original plan and take it from there.

What I should have done is planned this year better and bought an annual pass as I'm planning 4 trips but it's too late now as park passes are purchased for Feb and May but it's something to keep in mind for 2015. As I really do like the Tinkerbell course and it's far easier and cheaper for me to get to California.

Thank you for reading the randomness in my head about RunDisney.

I went to weigh in on Saturday and I was down 3.4lb, which is great but also the difference between weighing in at the end of the day vs first thing in the morning. However I'm back to basics and tracking.

Yesterday I went to a turkey dinner that my friends hosted as a bunch of us were away at Christmas. I volunteered to bring dessert.


There was only about third left but happily that stayed with host as I didn't want that temptation in the house. I tossed all the leftover ingredients as I had extra cake and pie filling.

Hope you all had a nice weekend and on to a new week.

Hugs!!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Gym bag dilemma

The other day this was on Facebook and I found it pretty funny. Today I did a wintersault. I was walking to the shuttle bus that takes me to the train. I was doing the penguin walk as the ice covered streets now had a fresh layer of snow on top. I call this camouflage snow. I was just at the sidewalk and saw there was no ice and I took a bit of a too big step and whammo! I was down.

Luckily I was wearing a backpack full of gym clothes so that cushioned my fall and all day I felt no effects. Until I got home an laid down in the bath. Oh yeah a wee sore in the upper shoulders and neck. I should count myself lucky as I've only fallen twice this winter and winter hit in October.

Speaking of gym bags I have a hard time with finding what works for me. I know that may sound ridiculous but  I've tried the trendy Lululemon bag (too heavy) and not a fan of one shoulder carrying on packed trains or long walks home, I have lots of backpacks but they were from flying to work when I had to lug a computer, ipad and etc, however as gym bags they're not right it doesn't quite fit my stuff.

So today I got this:

The first thing that caught my eye was purple, I love purple. No computer pocket - Yessss. Mulitple pockets - another Yesssss. The really good thing it's exceptionally light. That's one of things that bugged me about Lululemon the bags alone have a weight to them. Plus I figured I needed a fun colour.

I was planning on hitting the treadmill tonight but then I remembered I have to get up super early to catch a plane tomorrow. It will be an outrageously long day tomorrow. I get on a plane at 6 am and I get on a plane at 7 pm to fly home. I'll be in bed early tonight.

The Marathon Photo photos are starting to come in.

This one was taken during the Cupid Shuffle dance at the start area, I love the RunDisney DJs and this song is also on my run playlist. When I buy race pictures I typically always get the end medal shot and typically one that shows me in action. I think I'll get this as I just look so happy and it's been awhile since I felt happy.

I got a call from my Dad's lawyer today to say the will has cleared probate. Which means one more step has been accomplished. I start grief counselling next week. Which I'm looking forward to, I think it will be good for me and as I never did it with my Mom or had any counselling during my parents break up (which is when the weight gain really began). I'm sure I have issues that need resolving and that counselling will benefit me in the long run.

With the counselling coming up I found my thoughts going to heaven. I do believe in heaven and I know my parents are there but I wanted more info or something. I was on the train home one day sitting next to a woman reading "Heaven is for real" by Todd Burpo so I downloaded it on to my Kobo and I also found "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander (he's a neurosurgeon). Now let me preface while I believe I know some don't and I strongly believe your entitled to your own beliefs. The reason I picked another book was I wanted to compare details. After reading these it just made me feel a little better. Like Mom and Dad are o.k and happy.

I'm feeling more inspired to be more organized like meal plans and yes training plans. Cereal has quite often been my dinner for sometime as energy to cook was just not there.

My mind keeps going to my goal to do the Dopey challenge in 2015, and while I have the Glass Slipper Challenge in a month, I know I need to start training for Dopey now even before registration. Today I signed up for the Calgary Half Marathon in June - 2 days before my birthday to keep it going.

Disneyland Half registration is coming up. I admit I thought about it but it was so hot and I wasn't crazy about the course I'm going to pass on that one. I have the first Dumbo Challenge medal that's good enough for me.

I am thinking of Wine & Dine again as I noticed the medal changed. I do have a goal to do every RunDisney race at least once so I think Tower of Terror 10 miler will win this year.

I'm also looking forward to going to my regular Saturday WW meeting this week. I promised my leader I'd bring the medals :)

Hugs!!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Anything you set your mind to

 I posted the above picture in August on Facebook with a statement along the lines of "You can do anything  you set your mind to"

I posted this picture yesterday and on Facebook on Sunday with the statement "Mission Accomplished, you can do anything you set your mind to". 

For 90% of the Tinkerbell Half my shins hurt, my right knee was angry but I never for a moment thought about giving up. I just ticked off the miles in my head. After I reached each mile marker I would chant the next marker in my head. Factoring in that my training fell apart in October, it was will and determination that made me cross that finish line. 

This got me thinking today about this whole weight loss thing. If I can complete a half with little training and a whole of will and determination why doesn't that work the same for weight loss.

I brought the medals to work today and I was showing them to one co-worker who just thought the whole idea of doing a 10K and then a Half the next day was a little crazy. I had a wee aha moment. I told her that for my whole life I've never felt good enough and felt that people often underestimate me. I told her that crossing that finish line and having that medal around your neck feels like you shouting to the world "I am a force to be reckoned with".

Somewhere past mile 8 when shins, knee and feet were not happy I realized I'm bound and determined to get the Glass Slipper Challenge medal and do Dopey in 2015.  

If I put the same focus of one foot in front of the other to staying on plan and taking each meal at a time. Making activity a priority I will be successful.

It's stopping the falling off the plan, sort of following the plan, abandoning the plan and treating this like a marathon not a sprint. I saw my official time for the half and it was 10 min slower then my last one reflective of lack of preparation - falling off the plan.

I'm following the plan from now on that's WW and training plans.

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Enough. I can do anything I set my mind to. 

Monday, January 20, 2014

Tinkerbell 10K and Half - I did it!!!!!!!!

Well Hello!

Sorry for not posting in awhile. Work got crazy just before leaving for the Tinkerbell Half.  Still haven't heard anything on the potential new job (though they emailed me on Friday to say they'd know soon).

On Friday I was off to Los Angeles and then on to Disneyland for the Tinkerbell 10K and Half. The flight was fine and when I got to LAX I decided to take a cab to Disneyland. I wanted to get to the expo as fast as I could. Of course I get a driver whose unfamiliar with the Paradise Pier at Disneyland. Well we got there and it cost me $100 but I knew that going in. First off I checked into the hotel, I had debated going straight to the expo but I figured I didn't want to carry my carry on bag through the expo.



 I love the beachy details, I've know stayed at the Disneyland Hotel once and this my second stay at Paradise Pier. The first visit was for the Inaugural Tinkerbell Half.

My view in the late afternoon of California Adventure.

I hit the expo first to pick up bibs and then to find the Tinkerbell Jackets were sold out. I did like the colour and structure so I bought a non Tink version from Champion but still disappointed that they sold out by Friday morning with a full day of Expo still to go.



I did like how they organized the RunDisney merchandise thought, after the debacle at Dumbo they decision to block it off so traffic had to orderly make their way was a big improvement. I found other things to buy as well trust me I do damage in the RunDisney area. Got two new vinylmation Run Mickeys (one for home and one for my desk) plus two Tink miny medals. The haul:

 The RunDisney Tink merchandise, I went back on Saturday and got a water glass with lid and curly green straw that says Tink Half but on the back it says Flutter to the Finish.
 Two shirts from RawThreads - they glow in the dark
Close up of the 2014 RunDisney vinylmation. I got two and they were both yellow but apparently there's a green version out there.

My first night I took it easy. I strolled through Downtown Disney


View from the room at night.

I was in bed early as the 10K was the next day

 Just about to head out to the start line. I do enjoy the RunDisney start area, the DJs are fantastic and dancing is a pretty good warm up.
 And after with the Inaugral Tinkerbell 10K medal. I shaved 4 minutes off my Disneyland 10K which in retrospect probably wasn't so smart. I'll get to that later. As I stood on the start line I regretted using winter as an excuse to abandon training (last long run was 6 miles in October)  while realizing grief had a lot to do with it a well. I didn't really remember how badly I wanted this and that Pink Coast to Coast until I was standing there.
I went to charge my Garmin for Sunday's Half to realize I didn't bring the right charger. What I thought was Garmin was my Kobo charger. Slightly traumatized I decided as an early birthday present to myself I'd get a new one at the Expo.

The Garmin 620, well I can say it's a whole lot lighter then my old one. Got to my room plugged it in then walked around afterwards as I didn't feel like death. Popped into Disneyland for a bit but again conscious of the Half I went to bed early though now had an obnoxiously loud family in the room next door. I packed ear plugs.

When I got back to my room I found a little magic moment from housekeeping, this is what I love about staying in a Disney property.

I didn't take my phone with me on any of the runs as I forgot to bring the case that allows it to fit in my FlipBelt.  Yeah I didn't pack well for this trip at all, I will remedy that for Princess in one month.

 The other great thing about Paradise Pier my corral is right out the front door.
 The before shot at 3:15am, I wore a DL half shirt as a reminder I've done this before I can do this again. As I was repeating myself by doing a 10K/Half with little training. After all Dumbo was 2 months after Dad passed and again I found myself regretting not being more focused.
 I was part of the Tinkerbell Half facebook group and found a lot of people who talked about being swept as there is a time cut off for all the races. When I did the first Tink I didn't know anything about sweepers and I'm happy I didn't. So my focus was purely one foot in front of the other.  I was 16 seconds over 3:30 (the max time according to the website). So 15 min slower then my first Tink but I finished based on pure will and determination. I was back in my room with room service ordered and I could see people still heading to the finishing and I was cheering them on from my window.
The medals side by side, so this one is identical to my first one with a different ribbon. Apparently they change the medal design every 5 years. So I might revisit Tink in 2016 and train for it properly to see what happens. Though I did hear a rumor about a Star Wars themed Half, 10K and 5K plus an Avengers themed race as well at Disneyland in 2015. Yikes just take my paycheque as being a Sci-Fi geek I have to do those. We'll see what RunDisney has to say in the future but with Tink moving to Mother's Day it sort of makes sense.

I did walk the majority of the race as my shins were mad into mile 1, I drank water and powerade at every station. Just after mile 4 I had to find the bathrooms. I did not time my early morning routine of coffee and hour before I leave so well. I've never had to stop to pee during a half before. Not to mention when I left I almost got to the start area when I realized I forgot my Ipod so I booted it back to the hotel (luckily close) got it and went back. Which probably expended more energy then I wanted. They loaded us into the corrals one hour before start time so 4:30. I wanted to be in the front of the corral so I went then. I was freezing and I come from super cold weather. So I was doing my best to hop in one place. There's something about zipping through the parks with no one there.

I rested for awhile and used Voltaren on every area that hurt. I knew I had to get moving so I went to California Adventure. I've decided it's not my favourite park and I prefer Disneyland. I'm old school Disney.

 After the park I went back to Dowtown Disney and got some new ears. I'm looking forward to Maleficient - the movie. I wanted to go back to Disneyland but waited until dark.
 Cinderella's Castle decked out to honor Frozen, which I still haven't seen

 I despise the ride but the lights of It's a Small World are incredible.

I have this innate ability to find a parade whenever I'm in a Disney Park, Mickey is really playing the drums on this float I was super impressed.

I didn't want to stay to long as I was getting up obscenely early to catch the flight home today. I don't know what possessed me to catch a 7:30 am flight. I must have been saving money. I totally overestimated how long it would take to get to LAX and the cab (the hotel had a coupon for a flat rate of $85) was half an hour early. Thankfully Starbucks was open and I started reading Outlander, it's been around for ages I know but it's new to me.

I did not need to fly to Fort Mac after all so it's back in the Calgary office tomorrow so I'm happy to be in my own bed for a few days.  Thursday will be hell as I need to fly up for a meeting, so that's a plane at 6am and a return flight at 7pm.

Now I need to focus on the Glass Slipper Challenge in a month. I can't revolutionize my training but I can be focused and do what I can. As inspiration I took a picture of the medals at the expo.


If you can conceive it, believe it and you will achieve it.



Thursday, January 09, 2014

8 sleeps to Tinkerbell

I can't believe that tomorrow marks one week till I'm off to Disneyland to take part in the Tinkerbell 10K and Half.

My preparation for this race has been lackluster at best. I know it's primarily due to grief as I've found most regular tasks difficult over the past few months.

So Tuesday  I got on the mat and did some yoga, my right knee didn't like this at all but a bit of Voltaren on it and it was fine.

On Wednesday I hit the treadmill for an hour, I started with run intervals and again right knee felt funny so I dropped to a fast walk and it was fine. My pace was well within what I need to complete Tink.

You know the inaugural Tinkerbell Half was my first RunDisney event, I didn't belong to any facebook groups or even really on twitter. I knew nothing about being swept nor did I worry about it at all.

I started joining Facebook groups with Dumbo.

There are a lot of people in the Tink and Glass Slipper group that are worried about being swept which drives me a little batty. Don't focus on what could go wrong but focus on the positive.

If you think you won't finish - well you won't - it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Focus on the image of that medal around your neck. Perhaps easier said then done but I noticed a difference in  my behaviour during Dumbo now being aware of the sweepers.

On Saturday I'll do one more long run then keep it short to prepare for the race.

That job I was telling you about well they talked to me about it today. It's called a chat as I'm internal but really it was a type of interview. Should know in a few weeks on if that's meant to be as they will see some external candidates which I totally understand you want to see all your options before you make a decision. In the meantime I'm busy with a project that will make for an interesting next few weeks.

Tomorrow I fly to Fort McMurray for a meeting so I need to be up at 3:30 am and I won't be home till about 9:30 pm - it's going to be a long day.

Saturday the 9:00 am weigh in as it's my favourite meeting.

This weekend I need to start packing as I fly back to Fort McMurray on Monday morning, fly back Tuesday night then on Friday fly to LA. Fly home on the Monday - change bags then fly to Fort McMurray for 3 days. Yeah a little crazy with the travel.

I keep thinking about Dopey Challenge 2015, it's on my goal board but I know I need to be in the best shape of my life to complete this. It's a year away so do able.

Alright those are the random musings in my head.

Hope all of you are doing well!!





Saturday, January 04, 2014

First weigh in of 2014

I made it to weigh in today though I went to the 2nd morning meeting as opposed to my go to first meeting, the dog just gave me a look this morning that said let's sleep in. It was -22C and we got a fresh dump of snow on top of the record snow fall my city has had before. More snow has fallen so far that we got in total last year.

When I got there I saw there was a line for weigh in which I thought was odd as I expected there would be some new registrations and the meeting after New Year's is typically busy.

However they base their staffing on last week's meeting, so last week's meeting was in the middle of Christmas vacation and apparently 5 people showed up, good on those 5 people. The Simple Start commercial is on heavy rotation and they didn't think maybe we should have more then the leader and one receptionist.

At any rate it seemed people were pretty patient which was good.

Also discovered we have a new leader...again. It looks Sharon who I was a wee iffy about at any rate has decided to move on. I have to give her credit though she led a lot of meetings and had another job on top of that. The new leader was my weigh in person quite often and seems super nice.

I was down .8, which was awesome as I was up 2 when I stepped on the scale shortly after I got back from Japan.

The meeting itself felt off as it wasn't my regular crew and they had the monthly pass on sale. I get the monthly pass and while I was paying it for it with PayPal had no issues with receiving it. Then I had my trouble with PayPal and opted to just use a credit card. Well last month I didn't get the pass in the mail so I had to print the temporary one. Now it's one week till my current pass expires and so far no new pass. Yet the new temporary pass is available online, I've contacted them and hope to get that fixed.

We talked a lot about Simple Start and to me it's Simply Filling and I've always been leery of that as I don't trust myself to eat till satisfied. I'm thinking of giving it a go but still track it.


On Friday I got a new journal for 2014, I had plenty of space left in the old one but 2013 is not a year I want to revisit. I wanted a new start. I want this journal to be the story of my success.

Something new happened this week as well, I went back to work on Thursday and my boss told me about a new job posting in the company. I was surprised by this as I've been in my current role for 6 months and though it has always been described as a "flow through" role as in not one you'd spend years in and the purpose is to move on to something else. The role is a team lead position so it would give me my first opportunity at a leadership role in 5 years at the company. It would mean returning to the team I started with that has changed significantly since I was part of that team. Now there's no guarantee I would get it but of course I don't know that until I apply. I've just had so much change lately that I feel I need consistency, yet the best time to change is when you're in the middle of it. It's not like I can stay in the role I have now for more then a year anyway at least my predecessor didn't. There are changes to the organization that will bring changes to my current group anyway. So do I take a stab at controlling my own fate? This is a little insight into the jumble in my head.

So I talked to a few people to get their opinion and  I'm definitely considering it. It closes on the 9th  I think I will apply and see what happens, it's not that I didn't like working with that team back then it was just 2 years of the same thing so I pursued something different and this new role would be different as well. I still know people in that group. Funnily enough it probably would have been my role had I stayed on that team 2.5 years ago at least my boss at the time I told me that.

I get the feeling 2014 is going to be a very interesting year.



Friday, January 03, 2014

My Tokyo Tips

My last post about Tokyo I promise, but I wanted to share some tips as it was my first trip to Japan and I really appreciated learning these.

Guidebooks 

I read a lot of guidebooks, Rough Guide, Frommer's but my hands down favourite was Frommers. I found it had the best maps, the best info and the best back history.


Toilets

Yes I'm going to talk about toilets as they are very different from the typical one found in North America, one the flush handle is often not that obvious and some bathrooms have no toilet paper or no soap or no hand towels or hand dryer.

 This was the one in my hotel room, notice flush is not on the control panel, it was a handle mounted behind. This had heated seats (with temp control), bidet and shower option.
 When I was out and about I looked for department stores to use the bathroom, here I found the flush option on the wall, a normal handle or automated. Plus the option of music to hide any sounds you wanted to hide. I will miss those heated seats.
In the train station I did run into just water, I had brought anti bacterial hand gel with me but having a hand towel on me was also great as there were no hand drying options. You will find people on the street handing out samples of toilet paper - take one.


Transportation

Taxis are expensive so keep them for short distances, when I landed the Airport Limousine Bus that went to my hotel wasn't running so I opted for the $248 fare to the hotel as I was so tired. There's also the train but depending on where you're staying you will most likely need to transfer trains. if you're hauling a big suitcase this could be awkward especially if you land during rush hour. My number one choice would be the airport bus at $30 each way. I would have tried the train if I hadn't been awake for 20 hrs.

For around Tokyo take the train, there train system is amazing. Maybe a little daunting at first but you'll get the hang of it fast trust me. Get the Pasmo card, it costs you a 5 yen deposit but you can load multiple denominations. I spent just over $40 on train fare in a week. You can return the card and get you money back minus the 5 yen deposit at train station offices. I kept mine as I'm definitely going back and they don't expire for 10 years. Note the Airport trains aren't covered by the Pasmo.



Train Behavior

Do as the natives do, put your phone on silent, speak quietly, don't eat on the train, don't blow your nose (sniffle only) yet yawning with your mouth open seems o.k

Stand on the left of the escalator and pass on the right.

Communication 

Remember "Sumimasen" it means excuse me and works for asking for directions which could be charades or if you bump into someone. When ordering food there's either a display or a menu with pictures at the till so you can point and get your thoughts across. While there is some English don't assume everyone speaks even a little bit of it. I used "Sumimasen, eggo ka wakarimaska?" a lot which means "Excuse me, do you speak English."

Bowing
People will bow when they greet you though a foreigner is not expected to bow a nod of the head at least shows respect.

No Tipping
Not at the restaurant or the cab driver or the baggage clerk. Handing over money is crass. If you do give money it's discreetly and in an envelope but certainly no one expects a tip. They take pride in their work and aim to please. The customer service is exceptional by the way.

Bring comfortable shoes
Tokyo is a walking city though I saw very few people in running shoes so I brought Merrels. Casual dress is fine (i.e jeans) but no one dresses like a schlep there.

Random Observations 

It's a fascinating culture, Tokyo has 38 million people but no one is rushed. Very rarely did I see anyone in a hurry and if I did they were catching a train. Revolving doors move slow.

Blowing your nose in public is a faux pas, yet yawing with your mouth open is totally fine.

Mind you I was there in winter but as I watched all the people going to and from work I noticed all the outerwear was black or beige which surprised me.

Make up is natural, I packed my make up bag and then noticed the majority of women wore a very natural minimal look.

I can't wait to go back

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Going Home and what I brought back

So this brings me to my very last day in Tokyo which is pretty much till I catch the bus to the airport.

I got breakfast to go as my plan was to just chill in my room till I left. Interesting thing in Japan when you get something to go, they also pack your drink.
 This scone is half the size of the American version and far less sweet as well. It was really good. Remember that Japan has lowest obesity rate. Everything in moderation and when they have a treat it's small and very well prepared.
 Last look out the window

 On the bus for 3000 Yen, $30 as opposed to the crazy cab fare of close to $300

 Kind of wild to see my city on that board
 Found the stores yes there on your way out and there are some really great duty free stores.
 More vending machines but this time water or drinks and ice cream, and apparently squeezable ice cream.

 At my gate, so the flight home was good with the exception of sitting next to a seat hog, so annoying sir keep you knee on your side please. I left at 4pm on the 27th and arrived in Calgary at 9:30am.
Yeah I was tired that's for sure but have since bounced back.



 Flying over the Rockies
Home sweet home


 So this is what I brought home, a Yakuta (spring kimono)

 Silk scarf
 Strawberry Kit Kat
 A knick knack for my desk that says Tokyo

 It was cute and useful
 Fridge magnets and the ninja is going to work as an anchor to get me on track WW wise

 A compact mirror
 The only clothes I bought was two of these heat tech shirts, they're super warm, super thin and breathable hey I do live in winter.
 A New Year's wreath with is a Japanese tradition

 A Japanese fan
 Tea
 The Disney loot, Mickey and Minnie in Kimonos, the Christmas Mickey and Minnie, the New Year's Mickie and Minnie and the really the only pin I could find - this one is for New Year's
 Wasabi Kit Kat
 Fabric that I plan to frame
 2014 Calendar fabric
 Chopsticks
 Fan Holder and key chain
 Coffee tumblers from Starbucks, I had planned to just get the Tokyo one but then I saw the Year of the Horse one and I couldn't decide.
 Some J-Pop as I heard it everywhere I went
I got this at a temple, it was just so gorgeous.

I do plan one last post about Tokyo and it's all about the tips I picked up for a first time traveler there after that I promise regular blog posts :)