Why I Oughta...

As I've mentioned in a few different posts in the past month or so, I've been increasingly drawn into bonsai videos on YouTube.  Thanks to their recommendation algorithm, I've been wandering into a bonsai rabbit hole and have, I think, come to the conclusion that I should try my hand at some form of bonsai.  So, on my recent trip to Tokyo, I decided to seek out some bonsai in person.  I came across this post on Bonsai Empire that recommended this small shop called Morimae Bonsai in Ginza that was just a few blocks away from my hotel.  That story mentioned that the store was small and recommended a trip upstairs.  I wandered over there and found the place and I went in.  It *was* small and had one person working in the place behind a counter.  The Bonsai Empire piece mentioned an upstairs, but I didn't notice any stairs, so I was stuck just looking around the little shop.  They had about a half dozen trees in the store and some tools.  The tree that grabs your at

Just a couple of days ago, I  posted about some Tokyo Street Trees and how the mature trees in parkways were being heavily pruned into a columnar habit and it seemed that for the younger ones that they had planted recently, they had been selected trees that appeared to have a more natural columnar habit.  But, there are so many interesting trees around Ginza, Tokyo that I saw and this post hopefully will show even more of the diversity of both species and habits.  This tree above is outside the front entrance of The Peninsula Hotel Ginza in Tokyo  and caught my attention due to the training the trunk received to give it that curvy-nature.  I have been spending a lot of time on YouTube watching bonsai videos and learning all about how bonsai owners use wire to train the trunk and limbs to create these curves and add interest to the overall tree.  I can't help but wonder if this large tree - which I think is a Spruce or maybe a Pine - was trained with similar wires as it grew

What do you think?  Bathroom sign in Italy?  Or at Tokyo DisneySea?  Here's the setting right outside the bathroom.  And those of you looking closely, pay no attention to the group of people wearing headgear featuring Experiment 626 .  Squint a little bit and tell me that you're not transported to Italy, right? That little detail of the men's restroom sign is just another data point on *why* Tokyo DisneySea is the most impressive of all the Disney Parks you can visit in the world.  Or at least...the most impressive one that I've been to so far.  I know Galaxy's Edge is going to change that, but for now, I'll stand by Tokyo DisneySea as the top dog. Also, all of my posts featuring Experiment 626 - or who you might know as Stitch - can be found here .   Turns out, before now, they were all posts about Disney Pins that we either purchased or traded for during our trips to Walt Disney World. 

The two resorts at the Tokyo Disney Resort are connected with a Monorail that circles the property.  It makes a stop at a train station in between the two parks and to be honest, I've only been on this monorail twice and both times I did the same route:  DisneySea Station --> Disneyland Station.  So, I'm not totally sure where else it runs to and how long the route is, but I thought I'd share my experience. The trip between the two parks is a really nice experience and one that is totally on-theme.  You exit DisneySea and head out to the station.  Buying your one-way ticket at a machine, then you get through the turnstiles and head upstairs to the platform.  A few minutes later...the monorail arrives. And it is full of Mickey Heads.  The outside windows are Mickeys. And so are the handles you use when you are stuck standing as the train moves. Pretty simple, but adds so much to the experience. There was this one last touch in the car I was in:  a "

Walking around Tokyo for a few days in February, I was struck by the parkway trees.  Or 'Street Trees' as they are called.  There's a whole site called "Street Trees of Tokyo" here .  In the photo above you can see two kinds of street trees.  On the left side, you see a more mature, but HEAVILY pruned tree.  And on the right, in the braces, you can see a much younger more columnar-by-nature tree that hasn't been pruned or touched in any way. The trees that are heavily pruned take on an almost columnar form which helps in the narrow areas where they are shooting up in the parkways.  But, I can't help but wonder what they'd look like if they were allowed to grow out.  On the Street Trees of Tokyo site, they point out the pruning thusly : Unfortunately, most of the street trees in Japan are excessively pruned under the excuse of preventing toppling of the trees during the typhoon season in autumn. Consequently, street trees in Japan are in average

I added this 'resort' pin from Tokyo Disney Resort on my most recent visit.  Pin trading isn't that big of a deal it seems at the Tokyo Disney parks and they have a limited number of pins.  The last time I was there, I grabbed a park-specific pin for both DisneySea and Disneyland , so this time, I figured I'd get something with the year on it.  The problem was that I didn't see any park-specific ones that also included the year.  In fact, they had a couple of character pins (Duffy ones, I think), but the only other ones were three:  the two previous park pins we already own.  And this one:  a 35th Birthday pin. So, of course, I grabbed this one.  It features both Mickey and Minnie and has the 35 in the middle along with [Tokyo Disney Resort] in the banner at the bottom.  Since the 35th celebration spanned 2018 and the beginning of 2019, the actual year isn't on here. I'll post this on the big pin board in the garage and try to get it close to the ot

In the past couple of posts, I've talked about my trip to Tokyo DisneySea.  Today, I'm sharing a look at the Park Map that they were giving out while I was there.   During the month of February, they were having a 35th Birthday party for the resort.  Or as they call it their '35th Happiest Celebration! Grand Finale'.  Compare this with the park map I picked up on my first trip to Tokyo DisneySea a few years ago .   DisneySea is much younger than 35 years.  It opened on September 4, 2001 , so it hasn't even reached 20 years old yet, but the 'resort' - which includes Disneyland - opened back in 1983.   I've added this post to the [ Disney Parks Maps ] tag page here  where you can see the rest of the parks maps that I've shared including the most recent two from Anaheim that were holiday-themed earlier this year.