Tokyo German Village Winter Illumination

If you are looking for an impressive holiday light display, Tokyo German Village might be the place for you.

The village is located in Chiba, and is not near a train station. It does though have ample parking if you drive.

The village was lit up with lights every color of the rainbow.

Once an hour, or so, a light and music show happened in the main marketplace area. Cat faces appeared on the buildings in time to the music.

Since they are a German Village, we tried the sausage platter in the cafeteria. It was... OK. The rest of the menu items were typical Japanese fare, curry rice, etc.

Fuji!

The Illuminations continue till March 31st.

Snoopy's American Diner

For Christmas I received the entire Re-Ment set, Snoopy's American Diner. As a huge Peanuts fan, I was thrilled.

I set up a Licca diner scene to show off the pieces.

Mmmmm... a Snoopy sundae!

Ren works behind the counter, scooping popcorn.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza, aw yeah!

Maki is ready to drink her huge mug of root beer.

While Miki gazes longingly at the cookies behind the counter.

The diner even serves breakfast, it's signature dish? Snoopy pancakes stuffed with bacon and a side of scrambled eggs.

Goodbye New York

The next outfit Gene will model is "Goodbye New York".

The outfit consists of a red shirt, brown skirt, jacket, gloves, pantyhose, a hat, brown heels, a muff, a teddy bear, a handkerchief, and a hat box.

The hat doesn't quite fit on her hair-do, so I have tucked the black lace veil under the hat.

She looks gorgeous against the orange and yellow background in this outfit. I can imagine her waiting for her train and waving goodbye to her family and friends.

"I won't cry."

The shoes disappoint me. Who wears mules in the middle of Winter? She needs some nice brown covered shoes or boots for this outfit. Plus the shoes slide all around and fall off at the slightest movement.

Universal Studios Japan, Part 3: Everything Else

Like Universal Studios in Florida, the park is divided into neighborhoods, all circling a body of water. The neighborhoods I haven't discussed yet are Hollywood, New York, San Francisco, Jurassic Park, and Amity Village.

In Hollywood, we watched the Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show and Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic.

In New York, Terminator 2: 3-D kept us entertained. We had lunch at Finnegan's Bar & Grill.

This Irish pub was well stocked with drinks and had a slightly larger menu than the other restaurants we looked at. I had a seafood potpie.

Dave had the beef stew. Both meals were tasty, as were the drinks.

 San Francisco is home to one of my favorite rides from when I visited the Florida park when it was new, Back to the Future - the Ride. Backdraft is also in San Francisco. It loses a bit by not being in English, but is still easy to understand. Both of these attractions are no longer at Universal Studios in Florida, so it was a bit like traveling back in time to experience them here.

In Jurassic park we rode Jurassic Park - the Ride. We were silly. It was 40 degrees out, we did not purchase the ponchos for sale at the start of the line, and we got really wet. It didn't help that we were in the front row of seats in the boat. 

We had dinner at the Discovery Restaurant the first night. The food was mediocre, but we were hungry and tired.

The decor, though, was nice.

 Amity Village is all about Jaws. Jaws - the Ride (another ride no longer in Florida) was my favorite attraction at the park. While corny and outdated, the effects are fun and our tour guide/actress was hilarious.

 What do you think, should this be next year's Christmas card?

 We had a great trip, but if you are planning on going, here are some helpful hints:

1. Fly out the night before your visit. We flew that morning, which meant that we had to get up around 2:30AM to make a 6:30AM flight.

2. Buy the ticket package that comes with the priority attraction tickets of your choice. It is more expensive, but you won't have to wait in really long lines.

3. Smuggle snacks in with you, and remember that there is a mall right outside the park with lots of restaurants. You have to ask at the gate before you leave the park for permission to re-enter. If they are feeling kind, they will stamp your hand.