Japan Adventure Begins

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The wheels have touched down in Japan, and our grand adventure has officially begun! Duke's already a week deep into Japanese culture, surviving the initial jet lag battle and diving headfirst into culinary experiences ranging from traditional sushi and ramen to mysterious street food that was "probably octopus" (with zero regrets). Meanwhile, Jack, his wife, two daughters, and the rest of us have just arrived, ready to embark on what promises to be an epic, exhausting, and gloriously chaotic journey.

Star Wars Celebration stands at the heart of our trip – we're primed for panels on Ahsoka, Lucasfilm Animation, and the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu movie. Between feverish pin trading sessions and merchandise hunting that necessitated packing extra suitcases, we're fully embracing our inner Jedis in this gathering of the global fandom. But our Japan experience extends far beyond the galaxy far, far away.

The post-convention itinerary reveals our diverse interests. Lewis will temporarily branch off to explore the World's Fair, while Jack and family dive into Japan's kawaii culture at Sanrio Puroland (Hello Kitty Heaven) before experiencing the uniquely Japanese phenomenon of the Unko Museum – a colorful, artistic celebration of poop that has everyone strangely excited. We'll reconnect for classic Tokyo experiences – navigating Ueno Park's serene gardens, hunting for capsule toys in Shinjuku's organized retail chaos, and consuming our collective body weight in Takoyaki. For Jack and Lewis, the journey culminates at Tokyo Disneyland and the legendary Disney SEA, completing what promises to be an unforgettable cultural immersion punctuated by hourly snack distractions. Follow along as we document every surprising, delicious, and wonderfully bizarre moment of our Japanese adventure!

Voice intro and music

Intro music by Alex Grohl

AlexGrohl - Pixabay

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Sayonara.
Right Jack, his wife and twodaughters flew in all the way
from Las Vegas and I taggedalong for the ride.
We're super pumped to dive intothis galaxy far, far away and
also like eat all the snacks.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
We'll get to our wild plans in a second, but first,
duke, you've been in Japan foralmost a week already.
How's it going?
How was the flight?
Are you surviving the jet lagand, more importantly, how's the
food?
Yo?

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Japan has been incredible.
The flight was long but smooth.
Shout out to the complimentarygreen tea.
Jet lag kicked my butt thefirst couple of days, but I've
adjusted now.
As for the food, I've eatensushi ramen, some kind of
mystery street skewer that wasprobably octopus and I have zero
regrets.
10 out of 10 would chew again.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Jealous, so jealous.
Jack and I just got in andwe're ready to go full Jedi mode
at Star Wars Celebration Panelspin trading, merch hunting it's
gonna be intense.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
We are all really excited to check out the panels,
especially the ones on Ahsoka,lucasfilm Animation and a
Mandalorian and Grogu movie.
Fingers crossed for somesurprise announcements too.
I'm bringing an extra suitcasejust for merch and maybe another
one just for pins.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yep Gonna trade like my name's Dex, and I own a diner
on Coruscant Nice reference.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
After the con wraps up, though, we're splitting up a
bit.
Lewis is off on a solo trip tothe World's Fair, which sounds
wild.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yep Gonna nerd out and soak up all the futuristic
stuff.
Meanwhile, Jack and the fam aredoing something very different.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Haha, yep, we're going full kawaii.
First stop, sanrio Puroland,aka Hello Kitty Heaven.
Then we are hitting up the UnkoMuseum.
For the uninitiated, unko meanspoop in Japanese.
It's a poop-themed art exhibit.
Very colorful, very weird.

(02:27):
The kids are stoked.
Honestly, I kind of am too.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
You had me at poop museum.
I regret none of this.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
After that, Lewis will rejoin us and we are diving
into Tokyo proper museums,gardens, street food, the works,
Really looking forward to Ueno.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Park and maybe some shopping chaos in Shinjuku.
Gotta get some capsule toys andeat my body weight in Takoyaki.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
I'll be flying home right after that leg of the trip
, but the adventure keeps goingfor Jack and Lewis.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
That's right.
We are finishing it all offwith Tokyo, Disneyland and
Disney SEA.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
I've heard Disney SEA is next level, so we are hyped.
This whole trip is going to beamazing, exhausting and probably
a little chaotic Just the waywe like it.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Tune in next week to see if we actually managed to do
everything we said.
Honestly, it's probably goingto take a couple episodes to get
through it all.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Spoiler alert we are definitely getting distracted by
snacks, at least once an hour.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
All right, folks, until next time stay vaguely
inconsistent and very jet lagged.