Category Archives: 2018 Travels

East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Conclusion: Tokyo and the Return Home On Monday, October 8, our epic, 19 day journey to the Land of the Rising Sun would come to a close, but not before one last chance for sightseeing in Tokyo. Since we were staying at the Ueno Terminal Hotel as an easyContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Conclusion: Tokyo and the Return Home”

East Meets ACE–Epilogue–Part 4: Beppu, Rakutenchi/別府ラクテンチ and Return to Tokyo On Sunday, October 7 Richard, Vanessa and I began our day early in order to get in some sightseeing before our visit to our final park of the trip. After a quick walk to Beppu Station we caught a bus heading to the Boiling Hells.Continue reading “East Meets ACE–Epilogue–Part 4: Beppu, Rakutenchi and Return to Tokyo”

East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Part 3: Kijima Kogen / セントレジャー城島高原 On Saturday, October 6 after another good breakfast, we departed Hakata Green Hotel No. 1 for Hakata Station, catching a bullet train to Kokura Station, where wechanged trains to a regular train to Beppu. We arrived at Beppu Station later that morning andContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Part 3: Kijima Kogen”

East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Part 2: Greenland / グリーンランド and Fukuoka On Friday, October 5 after a good Japanese inspired breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out to the first of three parks we would visit on Kyushu. This day would take some good logistics to make it work. From Hakata Train StationContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Epilogue – Part 2: Greenland and Fukuoka”

East Meets ACE – Epilogue Part 1: Nagasaki On Thursday, October 4 Richard, Vanessa, David and I left the Hilton Osaka early that morning to catch a bullet train at the Shin-Osaka Station for our journey to the southern island of Kyushu. Breakfast had been good at this hotel, but we had to leave tooContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Epilogue Part 1: Nagasaki”

East Meets ACE – Part 16: Himeji Central Park / 姫路セントラルパーク On Wednesday, October 3 we had come to the last day of East Meets ACE. We had two parks on the agenda this day, the first of which was Himeji Central Park in Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. Operating since 1984, this was the second ofContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Part 16: Himeji Central Park”

East Meets ACE – Part 14: Nagashima Spa Land / ナガシマスパーランド On Monday, October 1, we had survived the typhoon and it was time to resume our trip. We checked out of the Hilton Nagoya that morning as we prepared to move to Osaka. We had enjoyed good breakfasts at this hotel, although not asContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Part 14: Nagashima Spa Land”

East Meets ACE – Part 13: Typhoon & Missed Credits at Parque Espana / 志摩スペイン村 The next morning, Sunday, September 30, we would not be able to go to Parque Espana-Shima Spain Village in Shima, Mie, Japan, as it would close at noon, most coasters would not be running and the three hour drive backContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Part 13: Typhoon & Missed Credits at Parque Espana”

East Meets ACE – Part 12: Suzuka Circuit / 鈴鹿サーキット We arrived at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan early Saturday afternoon, with rain coming down steadily. With a large number of the rides here being various sorts of go-carts, we expected to see most everything closed. We just hoped we could get to rideContinue reading “East Meets ACE – Part 12: Suzuka Circuit”