On the Loosa in Asakusa

Today was much different than yesterday.  Mainly in the fact that we were greeted by sunshine and not snow.  And also because we knew how to get on and off the metro without making too many people mad.

It was somewhat a typical day as I made a major airhead move and left the SD card for the camera in my computer.  Which was back at the hotel.  An hour train ride away.  But we figured in one of the most technologically savvy cities in the world, it would be no problem finding a store that sold memory cards.  Of course, we forgot that we were in one of the oldest parts of the city, dedicated to the ancient times.  But after walking around looking lost and doing our best (via sign language and the always effective point and look method) to ask people where to find camera memory, we finally were able to get busy documenting our day.  I would also like to go on the record and state that my husband didn't even lose his cool with me when he realized what I had done... 

I was really excited about today's destination: Asakusa.  All the guide books I read somehow made me think we'd be visiting a quiet, small, off the beaten path type of place.  With narrow streets lined with ancient shops.  Well, there were narrow streets.

Although I knew there was a major temple, the Senso-ji, somehow it didn't click in my head that thinking this place was off the beaten path would be like thinking people would only know about the Vatican if they read it in a guide book.  The whole area was quite charming and felt more like what I thought Tokyo would feel like- crowded, bustling, old, imperfect- than what we experienced yesterday.  It was very interesting, a little touristy, but enjoyable.  

The Kaminarimon.  Large gate that is the entrance to the temple.

Nakamise-dori, the shopping lane leading up to the temple (think Chamorro Village or French Market type wares)

Before entering the temple, many worshipers drink water from the fountain pictured  above and also inhale the smoke and rub it over their bodies from the fire pictured below.  They believe this will heal what ails them and make them wiser.

The inside of the temple

The temple grounds were quite lovely.  Price enjoyed chasing the pigeons.  Everyone enjoyed watching him.  In fact, he is on several videos, camera phones, etc.  Don and I are pretty sure we're going to see him on a commercial here pretty soon.

He even tried to make a new friend, but she and her family were in a hurry to be somewhere.

Pretty sure this will be my favorite picture from the trip.

There are some neat things to see around the Nakamise-dori.  We enjoyed wandering up the narrow streets, getting away from the tourists.  

We saw noodles being made here.  I wish I could tell you we ate here, but to avoid a colossal meltdown a few hours after this picture was taken, we ate at Mc Donalds.  Foodies, I will accept your shuns.

Bicycles in front of a grocery store.

A button store.

After spending a good portion of the day in Asakusa, we decided to head back to the hotel via a water bus.  It was a really relaxing, 35 minute ride through the city by ferry.  

The ferry deposited us at Hamarikyu Gardens, which was once property owned by a Shogun family.  Several of the teahouses in the gardens date back to the family.  It was a nice walk and gave Price a chance to run off some energy before we got back on a train.  This field helps you imagine how beautiful the rest of the gardens must be in the spring when things are in bloom.

Bride & Groom

Ancient Tea House with modern Tokyo in the background

We probably walked 400 miles today, our legs are T-I-R-E-D!!  But we enjoyed just about every step.  And are off to bed because tomorrow we take the little man to the land of the mouse.  Yes, we're going to Tokyo Disney!

ps-  don't have any good pottys today, but I can tell you I had my first experience with a psuedo open air squatty potty.  If you are wondering what that is, well it's a public toilet that is open (literally) to the public. Like when I saw WAAAYYY more of an elderly woman than I EVER would want to, my initial reaction was, "poor thing, the door must have opened on her."  Until I tried to go into the "regular" stall (I originally was going to use the handicap one b/c I was going to try and change Price) and walked in on someone else.   Then I realized they were squatting.  And I was outta there.  Thankful that we stuck with super absorbent diapers for Price. (And both of these "rooms" were on a main walkway by the temple, and you didn't have to go into a main room and then pick a squatty potty. It was like two outside gas station restrooms without doors, just a little half wall).

pps- sorry about the title of this post, it's late, I'm tired.

Yeah, So I Probably Wouldn't Survive the Amazing Race

Today was a good day.  And even though I'm about 100% sure I wouldn't make it on the Amazing Race (I DEFINITELY wouldn't win it).  It started a little crazy as Mother Nature seems to have forgotten that we are visiting from Guam.  Where we wear flip-flops and shorts. Everyday.  Coming up with clothes that would keep us warm in 50 degree weather was a bit of a challenge, it's not like you can buy a ton of winter outfits on a tropical island.  But thanks to my mom and some amazing sales at the BX, we made it here with several long shirts, pants, socks, a jacket or two.  And now, thanks to the snow that we got to experience today, we also now own gloves, hats and scarves.  That we probably won't need again for at least 2 years.

Yes Mother, he had gloves.  At first he wore sock mittens until we found a pair of gloves for him.

We were prepared to brave the snow and were positive that ALL the museums we wanted to go to were closed, because that's what they do.  They close on Monday.  Which was PERFECT since we wanted to be outside as much as possible.  And brave the snow we did because we had to find a 7-11 to get money.  (Note to anyone with a MasterCard issued debit card, 7-11 is one of the only places that will accept MC in the ATM.)  And then continued our trek to the Metro station.

This is where going to a foreign country with someone who has been there before you would be helpful.  We knew what train to take and which stop to get off on, but knew nothing about buying tickets, or the amount of stairs required (with no elevator available) or how rushed people are to get into and out of the 4 turnstiles and how mad they get when you block two of them trying to get the kid out of the stroller and the stroller folded.  It was intimidating!  But we did it (although while trying to get on the subway and get out of the station, I knew I could never be successful at the Amazing Race), and we didn't even get cross with each other!!  We successfully found our way to Don's mecca- the Sony Store which just happens to be located in the heart of Tokyo's shopping district- Ginza.

Looking down the main thoroughfare in Ginza.  Shops include: Burberry, Van Cleef & Arpel, Ferragamo, Tiffany, Yamaha,  Gucci, Prada.  All my usuals.

I happily put up with an hour plus of browsing 6 (yes, that is a SIX) floors of Sony technology. Since there would be a trade off of window shopping and going into at least one of Tokyo's famous department stores.  But, after visiting the Sony Store, I would have happily gone there without the lure of all the other stores nearby.  It was free, it was full of hands-on computers, cameras, TVs and video games to try out.  Price was even entertained most of the time.  He especially loved the high-def touch screen computer.  He also loved flirting with all the showroom hostesses.  He is becoming quite fluent in saying ,"konichiwa" (hello), "sayanora" (good-bye), and "arrigato" (thank you).  He also tells everyone, "My name Pricey. I am 2."

After the Sony Store, we were hungry.  So we headed over to the Mitsukoshi Department Store (yes, for all you Disney fans, this is the same store that is in Japan at Epcot).  Oh my goodness!!!  This store was incredible. Beautiful, luxurious and EXPENSIVE!  Had it just been me, I would have spent hours wandering on each of the twelve, yes twelve, floors.  I had read that most department stores have to-go food in the basement and sit down restaurants on the upper floors.  We asked at our hotel and it was recommended we eat at one of the upstairs restaurants.  Of course, we ignored that and headed downstairs to see what was available.  And I'm so glad we didn't take the advice.  The selection was amazing, picture a football field worth of Central Market Cafes on the Run.  From very traditional Japanese food (picture the eight legs of an octopus with a hard boiled egg on top) to French pastry.  Price fell asleep as Don and I walked and gawked at all the choices (and again, I didn't take pictures), so we were able to look for over an hour before finally settling on some type of noodle, gyoza dumplings (potstickers) and the most amazing chocolate croissant I've ever eaten.  All the food was presented beautifully.  It was a feast for the eyes and a literal feast for the palate.

P enjoying our cold noodles.  I have no idea what kind they were.

After lunch, we went to the Apple Store and then took Price to Hakuhinkan Toy Park.  It's a neat toy store spread out over four floors.  It's very interesting to see how children every where like the same types of toys (and also that world wide marketing is effective).   He was instantly drawn to this toy.

It's a pig/dog looking creature that kind of rolls around on what we have termed "bumpy wheels."  They "like" to go around objects.  He was fascinated and watched this thing for many, many minutes.  So, that was his Japanese toy souvenir.  We are now the proud owners of "Pal, the Special Thing" (my kid has some creative naming skills doesn't he?)  The only way we were able to get him to quit playing with Pal was to have Price put Pal to bed.  He also got to play with trains, and race cars.

He started out racing a Mustang, but once he saw a Mario Kart, that was his car of choice.  There were two much older gentleman racing as well and they had fun slowing their cars to let "Mario" pass them and then speeding up to pass "Mario."  I couldn't tell who was having more fun.

After the toy store we headed back to the Metro station and navigated ourselves (and the stroller) much better!  My highlight of the day- the department store and looking at all the food.  I think Price's favorite thing was the subway and pretty sure Don's was Sony, but he really liked looking at all the food too.

Bathroom of the day- there's a tie!  Both at Mitsukoshi. 

1.  They have infant changing rooms (no, we are not agressively working on potty training while here in Japan.  I don't want to traumatize Price into  NEVER going to the bathroom).  It's an entire room, with 6 full size tables, each one with paper to put down, an adjoining table to place your bag AND diaper disposal systems that make Diaper Genies seem antiquated.  Oh, and they are clean.

2.   The ladies' room.  It was spacious, easy to get into and out of.  The toilet was self-flushing.  But my favorite thing....  The baby seat.  It was a booster seat attached to the wall.  I was able to plop Price in it and use the restroom without worrying about him pressing buttons and spraying me with warm bidet water.

Well, I'm off to bed!  Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be an adventure.

Going to Japan

Dear Tokyo,

I may be falling a little in love with you.  I wasn't sure that I was even going to like you when we stepped of the plane and were greeted by a swarm of mask wearing, hazmat suit clad, body scanning people. Next, when I got chastised by an unhappy immigration person because I couldn't seem to get fingerprinted correctly (You know it's bad when they actually have to STAND up and touch you to make it work.  Odds that my passport have been flagged- 100%), I wasn't feeling the love.  And then after that, I got trapped in the first bathroom that I attempted to use.  Don't get me wrong, I've been doing my research, I knew I was going to get to experience some funky pottys, but I wasn't ready to do it so soon.  First, I had to push a button just to open the vacuum sealed room, and then push another button to reseal the room.  When I walked in there were three toilets(?).  Well, there was a toilet, a bidet and something that looked like a dog washing station, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't what it was for.  Of course, I used the western-style toilet and all was well and good, until I couldn't find where to flush.  I thought it was maybe an automatic thing- nope.  All I could think about was everything I'd read about cleanliness, especially in the bathroom is so important to the Japanese culture.  And then I felt like I was going to be stuck in my space capsule of a bathroom forever out of shear embarrassment of being "that American" who couldn't even flush the toilet.  So, before I got kicked out of the country by the etiquette police, I decided to go for broke and push the buttons on the wall until I got a flush.  Luckily, the big silver button, which was nowhere near the toilet, was the magic button!  And I was able to escape the bathroom with my dignity (but not my humility) intact. So, my dear Tokyo, I was concerned that if the toilets were any indication of future flummoxing, we were not going to get along.

Once got on our shuttle to a hotel.   And as we drove into and through Tokyo, I began to feel intrigued.  Everything is so different here, especially compared to Guam.  It's clean, but it's not beautiful, but you can tell how important beauty is.  Because no, you may not look out of your window and think this is beautiful, as you walk around you see beauty every where.

We FINALLY got to our hotel and were very fortunate to attend brunch, even though we didn't have reservations.  It was nice not to go hunt down food in a foreign land so soon after arriving.  After brunch we attempted to take naps, and although all three of us were exhausted, only one of us (guess who? and it wasn't the 2 year old) was able to sleep.  So we decided to take a short walk around the hotel.  But we were so absorbed by what we saw, we walked for more than two hours.

It was on this walk that I saw the attention to beauty.  There isn't a lot of room to spread out here, but the space seems to be used efficiently.  In the neighborhood we're staying in there are small restaurants, patisseries and florists every few feet.  They are small, but beautiful in how a little can go a long way (I can't describe it, but I'll try to get brave and take pictures, it's just very clean in form and simple in presentation yet warm).  We haven't seen a restaurant yet that I would be scared to eat in, ok, I would but because I wouldn't know what I was eating, but not because they look dirty or scream out food poisoning.  And then in the midst of all these tiny modern, urban jewels there are ancient shrines, in the shadows of skyscrapers.

We're pretty sure this isn't actually a shrine, but someone's home and it may not be old.  But it is surrounded by skyscrapers.

And thank God for the parks.  We fell in love (other than with the construction, it appears that the waterways are being drained and cleaned) with this one at the Tokyo Library.  I loved it for it's charm, but mostly because it gave the little man a chance to run and climb and be a boy and burn off all the energy he had stored up after being confined all day in various modes of transport.

Tokyo, I'm pretty impressed with you so far.  You're making me want to live in a city again.  I'm excited to get to know you better over the next few days.

p.s.  I couldn't think of a good title for this post, but Price has been saying we're "going to Japan" for several months.  I'm not sure what he'll say when we're back home...