My 81-year old grandmother is now a first-time passport holder. She has never been out of the country and has only flown on a plane ONCE in her life, over 15 years ago, on a short domestic flight to visit her sister in Xi’an.
Her health is not too good. She needs to always carry around her insulin shots, and though she looks fine, her legs are often stiff and in discomfort, making it so that she can’t walk long distances. These days, she doesn’t like being away from home too much and has no desire to travel.
But my aunt and uncle have been wanting to bring her out of the country for a while now, because let’s face it, she’s not getting any younger and what better time than now to travel while she can still move?! And plus, with my grandpa being gone now, getting out of the house will do her good. So at their persistence, she let them get her a passport. But she believed that she’d never use it.
But the chance came sooner than any of us imagined.
When my Auntie Hui (the one who hooked us up for a day of pear picking) in Tokyo had 4 days free and invited us to visit, we all jumped on the chance. Well, my aunt, uncle, and me did at least. My grandmother took some convincing. But since this was such an impromptu trip, we literally had one day to decide, and may have peer pressured her into saying yes. ;)
4 days and thousands of pictures later, we’ve returned from Japan with my grandmother fully in tact and in higher spirits than ever. She is the full embodiment of the message that anyone, at any age, can travel!
It’s still going to take me a while to sort through all my photos. And I’m not sure yet how I’m going to document our Japan trip. I may stray from my usual style and do more of a diary style. This has been such a monumental trip — My grandma’s first time abroad! The first time we all traveled as a family! And my 30th birthday trip! — that I would like to do it proper justice.
But for now, I want to do a (not so short) re-cap as well as any random ramblings that come to mind. So here’s what we got up to:
Nov. 10th – Flew to Tokyo
We started the day with grandma’s homemade dumplings (my favorite!) and a mango mousse cake for my birthday. and then it was to the airport we went!
Side note: The most amazing thing about traveling with an elderly person? PRIORITY BOARDING for our entire group! This was the first time ever that I got to go on the plane early. It felt so special to not to have to stand in line with everyone else. :P
And a second side note: I’m so used to flying cheapo airlines that Japan Airlines was practically like luxury! Every seat had a large seat-back screen, we got a blanket if we wanted one, and they even served dinner on a 2.5 hour flight (with Haagen-Dazs ice cream)! Best flight experience I’ve had in a lonnnnng time.
our group: my grandma, the 3 sisters, me, and my uncle (he’s always with a group of women!)
And then my grandma set her foot on foreign soil for the first time ever! Auntie Hui greeted us at Tokyo Haneda Airport with a bouquet of beautiful peach roses. For me, because it was my birthday. :)
A third side note: My grandma and I only shared one carry-on luggage between the 2 of us, and about half of that was filled with food to take to Auntie Hui. This is not as impressive as it sounds. Because my grandma insisted on wearing on her body literally every single piece of clothing she was planning to wear for the 4 days. As in… she wore her pajamas under a sweater, under a light puffer, under a peacoat (and just about as many layers on the bottom too!). Sigh… she’s funny…
Visited Odawara Castle
I think the clouds add to the atmosphere of this picture, no?
at the pretty castle moat
Odawara Station, with the castle in the background
On our first full day, we took the metro to Odawara and visited the Odawara Castle. It dates all the way back to the 15th century and had a tumultuous history with multiple changes of power. In the mid-1800’s, it was mostly demolished when the new Meiji government ordered the destruction of domain castles.
The castle today is a reconstruction and holds a museum of historical documents and samurai weapons. Though we didn’t go in because the chrysanthemum exhibition was currently going on in the castle grounds, and we were much more interested in that.
The chrysanthemum is unofficially Japan’s national flower and is the symbol of the imperial family. Seriously… does Japan must do everything better?! These were the largest and the most perfect chrysanthemums I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t as much variety, but honestly, each one was so much more perfect than the ones in Beijing.
But my grandma didn’t care so much for them and was a lot more interested in feeding the pigeons. :)
Hehe, she’s so cute! She’s like the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2.
Saw the most beautiful autumn scenery at Hakone
Odawara is a popular stopping point en-route to the town of Hakone, which is famous for its abundance of natural hot springs resorts, open air museums, and the Hakone Volcano crater. We went there to see the best of Japan’s autumn scenery. And for that, we went to the Hakone Museum of Art.
the moss garden at Hakone Museum of Art
my aunt, Auntie Hui, grandma, and my uncle
WOW, the colors were unreal. I could not stop taking pictures. Luckily, Auntie Hui loves taking photos as much as me, and we stayed there snapping away until the sky started to darken (which is like 4:30 pm in Japan at this time of the year) and our camera batteries started to die.
I’m pretty sure I will have a separate post on this, so I won’t share too many pics now. This was my absolute favorite part of the trip.
Had a slightly uncomfortable, but good, thermal bath experience
don’t you hate when someone else takes the picture and it’s all blurry? Black and white it is!
Back in the hotel, I had my first ever nude thermal bath experience. Since Hakone is so famous for their thermal baths, it seemed like a shame not to partake in one especially since the hotel has a complimentary bath. Yes it was pretty awkward, and I still insisted on wrapping the tiny towel around me when walking around.
But you know what? It is actually entirely possible to just not look and not feel weird about the fact that you’re hanging out in a pool with your family naked.
Saw Mount Fuji!
The next morning, we set off for Mount Fuji. Auntie Hui had hired a driver for the day. The first sight of Mount Fuji was absolutely breathtaking. We rounded a bend… and bam! There it was in front of us – a spectacular white peak rising above the clouds.
Auntie Hui said that we were really lucky to get such a good view of Mount Fuji. Because of the climate around the area, the famous mountain is often completely covered by clouds. Trying to get a clear peek (ha, no pun intended) of it is tricky, and is best done in the early hours. At this point, it was around 10 am already, so we were lucky to get such good visibility. And indeed, not even half an hour later, the the mountain was swallowed up by clouds.
We made our way up the mountain, on a road that carved through a forest of golden pines and into a fog that created a very atmospheric scene.
We were able to drive halfway up to Mount Fuji to Step 5 (a total of 10 steps) and admire this magnificent mountain from closer up. There was some snow on the ground and we also had fun with silly photos.
At this time of the year, Step 5 is as high as you can go on Mt. Fuji. All trails from this station onwards to the summit have already been closed until next July (the climbing season is only July – September). Auntie Hui climbed it last year and it took 7 hours from here to the summit! Maybe one day, I’ll be in good enough physical shape to do it too.
Visited Tokyo Imperial Garden
After we spent time exploring areas outside of Toyko, we were finally ready to do some sightseeing in the city itself.
First, Auntie Hui took us to Tokyo Imperial Garden (the free admission one), though I admit I didn’t think it was that impressive. I enjoyed the garden at Hakone a lot more!
But we did get there through Tokyo Station, which was a beautiful structure.
Saw the city of Tokyo from 150 meters up
Then in the afternoon, we went to Tokyo Tower – the tallest self-supported steel structure in the world! It’s even taller than the Eiffel Tower, from which it was modeled after.
The tower has a general observatory at 150m (490 ft) up, and a special one at 250m (819 ft) up. We went to the general one and it was a great 360 degree view of the city. The glass floor was a lot of fun too.
Checked out the night scenery at Yokohama
In the evening, we went over to Yokohama to take in the night scenery. Yokohama is a port city with one of the largest ferriss wheels in the world. We spent a while strolling along the bank and admiring the display of lights. From a quick research, it seems like that Yokohama is a vibrant town with a ton of things to do, and would be worth coming back sometime during the daytime.
And that was 4 days in Tokyo in a nutshell! It was short, but definitely one of the most memorable trips I’ve taken. I wrote a whole post before about why I didn’t like Japan the first time I went, but I really loved my time here and Japan is definitely worth more chances.
If anything, my grandmother is proof that you’re never too old to travel! It’s never too old to start filling that passport with stamps. We’ve even got tentative plans for her to visit me in Malaysia next (though she’ll need heavy convincing from my aunt and uncle again, but I believe we can do it!).
Many thanks to my Auntie Hui for playing tour guide, translator/communicator, host, and chef for these days! Doumo arigatou gozaimasu! (which was the only phrase of Japanese I learned the entire trip :P)
I mean Japan looks great and all, but your grandma is definitely the star of this post. What a legend. And what a lesson- you really are never too old for new things! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, especially those pretty trees…
She really is the star! She did so well this trip too… I mean she woke up every day before me and didn’t even fall asleep on the long car ride (and I did). I really hope she’ll want to travel more! And yes, the fall foliage was soooo pretty. It’s been like 2 decades since I’ve seen autumn scenery!
Looks like you had a great trip! My grandmother is a decade younger than yours and I cannot convince her to visit me in Switzerland. Any special tips on how you convinced your grandma to travel?
#WanderfulWednesday
Honestly, my aunt is SUPER persuasive. The main concern for my grandma was that she can’t walk long distances. So my aunt made sure that there was a wheelchair for her in the airport and in Japan. And we pushed her whenever she got tired. But she insisted on walking a ton herself too! I really hope your grandma can visit you… she’s still young, really!!
Your grandma is the cutest! These family pictures are priceless!
I know! She’s seriously the cutest, hehe. We have so many family photos, but I knew I couldn’t put every one on here!
How amazing! I’m so happy that you got to do this with your grandma. You’ll always treasure that trip and all of the beautiful photos you took :) I can’t get over that photos of Mount Fiji, it’s beyond stunning!
Oh Mount Fuji was so breathtaking to see in person, especially the very first glimpse we got of it. Maybe I”ll summit it someday :). And yes, this trip was so special… I hope we can convince my grandma to travel again and make more memories like this!
I love this post for so many reasons. Firstly, your grandmother – wow! She’s gorgeous and I love the fact she got her first passport at the age of 81. When my Nana was about 70, she decided to travel around Europe in a van! Who says age holds you back from following your dreams? Those chrysanthemums are incredible! The colours at Hakone are simply stunning too. This post has made me SO excited about our upcoming trip to Japan next year! #WanderfulWednesday
Wow, your Nana is a superstar too! That’s so awesome that she decided to do a European road trip. Ooh when are you going to Japan? This time of the year is soooo good because the weather is amazing (not too cold and not hot) and the colors are so gorgeous. But of course I’d like to go during the spring for sakura season some time too!
Thanks! She was a pretty awesome lady. Was widowed very early on in marriage so was fiercely independent. A trailblazer in women’s education in NZ – one of the first women to study accounting at university in Canterbury, NZ, despite being advised not to because ‘women who study accounting NEVER get married!’ Haha. Funny times. We head to Japan at the end of January – we’ll have about 4 days in Tokyo then up to Niseko for a week’s skiing. SO excited! Will be cold though – I see even Tokyo’s had early snow this year!
Wow! Your Nana is amazing!!! What a truly inspirational woman. Oooh skiing in Japan sounds SO fun!! I would love to do that. Have a great trip!
I love this post, I love your grandma and I love you! This is absolutely fabulous and you are 100% right, you are never too young to travel, I mean, look at the spirit your grandma has and that smile on her face, fantastic (I love dumplings too by the way!). I am not surprised you have a plethora of photos to trawl through, everyone who visits Japan seems to have an amazing time and it’s now been pushed to the top of my bucket list so I have pinned this post for later. As for Mount Fuji and all things you saw and did, wow is all I can say (love that you had priority boarding as well). Now that I have found you on #WanderfulWednesday, I will be sure to follow your adventures :-)
Actually, the first time I went to Japan (a year ago), I didn’t like it at all! But I had such a good time this time, because I was with my family and one of them was a local who can show us around (and it also helped that I didn’t have the pressure of having to plan everything ourselves haha. We just went along with what my auntie already planned). I think Japan definitely deserves more chances! And yessss priority boarding was so nice haha. It sucked when I had to stand in a huge line with everyone else again the next time I flew. I’m excited to follow your adventures too… I’m following you now and asked to join your group! :)
great trip! and it’s wonderful that your granny came too:)
It made is so special that she came… it wouldn’t have been the same without her!
I love the picture of your grandma feeding the pidgeons – she looks so happy!! And I’d love to see Mt Fuji one day too! Seems like you were really lucky for the clear view on it!
I LOVE that picture too! I seriously think that was the thing she was most excited about haha! Yeah, we were so lucky to see such a great view of Mt. Fuji, because it was gone for the rest of the day!
That’s amazing Anna – so glad she had a fun time too. Maybe you will be able to convince her to take another trip
We really hope so! We’re hoping for Malaysia in April.. so we’ll see how convincing my aunt & uncle can be!
What wonderful, priceless memories & what an utterly special way to celebrate your big birthday! I’m so happy for your grandma to have had a chance to travel abroad even at this age & look at how happy she looks feeding the pigeons! So sweet that she wore her pjs on the flight too! I wish I had made it to Hakone when we went this year, as it looks so beautiful!
I wouldn’t have known about Hakone if not for my auntie that lives in Tokyo. It was really the highlight of the trip and I can’t wait to sort through the 400+ photos I have just from there, haha! And yeah my grandma is so funny hehe. She seriously insisted on wearing EVERYTHING because she was afraid it was going to be cold on the plane, haha!
What an amazing trip – certainly one you’ll never forget! So so cool you two got to go to Japan together!! Japan is just amazing…. hard not to fall in love.
I had a similar conversation with my mum, whose lifelong dream was to go to Paris. It took some talking into but she finally agreed– the “no better time than now” argument really holds up.
It’s funny that I didn’t like Japan that much the first time, but because had a local guide this time (and because my family is really fun), I liking and appreciating it more! I remember when your mom went to Paris! I’m glad she fulfilled her lifelong dream too. My mom has never traveled except for from her 2 homes in the US – Beijing. So now we’re talking about all our family come visit me in Malaysia next year!
Diary-esque trip recaps are always my favourite! So I’m excited to read about what you go up to, and see more photos of course!!
Haha, Kris and I are the same. We’re always travelling the cheap way and if we happen to get on a nice flight or an extra nice train it’s like we’ve been upgraded to first class. We’re travelling to Disneyland Paris with a nice train so I’ll be enjoying my luxury train next week!
Hakone looks like such a beautiful place! So many colours! That’s definitely my kind of place!
Climbing Mount Fuji would be amazing! I think you should aim for that :) Plus I want to see the photos! That photo of the mountain and the one underneath of the road are my favourites here!
Your Grandma sounds amazing! I’m with her, why take luggage when you can wear everything!
What am awesome trip!
That sounds so fun – going to Disneyland, and on a nice train! Mainly, I”m just jealous that you get to go to Disneyland Paris!!! And seriously, I was like so excited about everything on the flight, like the fact that there were seat-back movies and footrests and dinner… and my aunt is just like “ummm that’s normal”.. LOL.
Hakone was goooorgeous and I have so many pictures to sort through. I really enjoyed Mt Fuji, but it annoyed me that it was always shooting into the light, so in my opinion, none of the pictures came out good. And it bothers me not to have pretty pictures on my blog, heh.. Maybe I just need to get over that?
I would say you need to get over it, but I’m just as guilty for only wanting “nice photos” on my blog. Shooting into the light is a giant pain in the butt… Hopefully you can edit them a little and salvage something, or edit them a lot haha. I love editing photos. Maybe if you’ve got a few of the same, but at different exposures, you can merge them? I sometimes do that when I can’t quite get what I want.
You accomplished something I never did. I couldn’t even get my grandma (when she was still around) to visit Singapore by car, let alone get on a flight somewhere. She was so afraid of us forcing her to make a passport that she hid/destroyed/made disappear all her valid identification documents.
Still, I am surprised you all went to Japan. Don’t Chinese people our grandma’s age mostly hate Japan to the guts (war reasons)? My grandma did. When my big brother left to Japan for his degree, my grandma declared that she disowned him. Maybe the situation is a bit better in China?
Oh wow… your grandma was intense. But some people are truly happy being close to home, and I think if that’s the case, then travel shouldn’t be forced, because it just stresses them out more. And seriously, it’s mostly my aunt, who’s SUPER persuasive. And our family is Beijing is really close, so my grandma feels safe traveling with us.
Hmm it may be different for us. Because my grandpa’s old job was greeting all the Japanese dignitaries and important visitors, and he traveled to Japan several times. I’m not really sure actually of the story of how he got that job (*hangs head*). And my auntie has been living in Tokyo for decades now! But yes, I do know Chinese people who still harbor hatred for the Japanese!
Your grandma feeding pigeons is adorable. Hope she visits you in Malaysia!
I went to some naked spas in Korea, and that led to a lot of awkward giggling between me and my friends for a bit before it felt normal. But I just can’t imagine hanging out with naked family! Seriously, that makes me laugh. I guess it’s just one of those things where the idea is weirder than reality.
Oh trust me, it’s SO weird! But I just sort of kept the towel around me, and then when you’re in the water, you can’t see anything anyway haha. But I can imagine that it’s the kind of thing you’ll get used to. My aunts LOVE it and go every chance they can get.
What a cool story – your grandma is amazing! And I love all of your fun family snaps :)
Thanks Jessi! My grandma is so cute hehe. And we’re all so happy she finally took her first international trip!
Wonderful post and great photos! We can’t wait to visit Japan.