Hiding from the heat..

Our original plan to go to Meiji Jingu did not happen today.  Partly because Jad woke up at 5am and refused to go back to sleep and also partly because..

Yup, it was only actually 93 degrees today but felt like 111 with the humidity and since the Meiji Shrine is all outside, we decided to just keep it indoors.  Also, I think the kids wouldn't get so much out of it if they were sweating and tired.

So, we just took it easy.  I took Jad to the local Lawsons (convenience store) for some bread and milk and when Kai and Sora woke up, we watched some Japanese Sesame Street equivalent for a while in our room.  Amy then took Kai and Sora to the supermarket while Jad lay down for an early nap.  Jad woke up about an hour later and we finally headed out at about 11am.

The sweaty streets of Tokyo.  Early in the day, before the kids are too tired, they will often do things like hold hands as they walk or help each other.  Later this turns into fighting but Amy was able to capture a sweet moment here

We decided to go to "Ramen Street" at Tokyo Station, which is really just a collection of ramen shops in the station basement level.  After two trains and wandering around lost for a bit we finally found it!

How could we miss it?  There's a giant bowl of ramen prop right in front.  But, really, this station is gigantic as the crossing point of at least 5 subway lines and the endpoint of several Shinkansen trains into Tokyo proper.

Utility won over idealism, as we chose the place to eat mainly because there was a smaller line and larger space for the kids.  There were a couple places with lines around the corner and if we were kid-less then we could stand in line for 30 mins but, alas, those days are past

The ramen shop we chose seemed to specialize in anchovy (bonito?) broth.  I wasn't sure about it when we ordered but it turned out to be quite good.

Everyone is really digging into their noodles, even Jad!

We also wandered around the "Character Street" area in the station and found (yet another) Pokemon store and (more importantly) a Ghibli store!  Such cute items from the golden age of Miyazaki.  Amy got a Totoro mug souvenir :)

Then we headed home.  This is likely our last subway ride before we head to the airport tomorrow.  

Great picture, but no Jad..

That baby doesn't always look at the camera anyway :p

This evening, Amy is meeting her college friend, Mina, for dinner while I watch the kids.  I managed to get Jad to bed first while Kai and Sora got to watch a bit of TV, then got Kai and Sora to bed after a couple stories.  I don't know why these kids fight so much, they are so tired, they practically pass out as soon as they lay down for a minute.  So paradoxical these children, hopefully, not just ours.  

Yay to meeting up with old friends!

Tomorrow, our flight doesn't leave til evening so we will have breakfast, pack, leave our bags at the hotel, go to the Edo Tokyo Museum nearby, have some lunch there, head back to get our bags and finally go to the airport in the afternoon.  Jad will nap somewhere in there, likely in the carrier with me carrying him (he's been doing that a lot here in Japan.)  Hopefully the nine hour flight home won't be too bad. 

Traveling with kids is hard!

Just wanted to write a post about traveling with kids.  Don't let previous posts fool you, traveling with the kids is tough!  😒  Especially when they are so young.  They are not very flexible, complain a lot, get irritable quickly, can't walk very far, can't help with luggage (or any tasks really), can't sit still on the plane, get in your and other people's way, fight each other, etc.  There are a lot of great pictures when we can get them but, of course, we're not taking pictures of Sora when she's throwing a major tantrum or Kai when he's pushing Jad down because he's in his way.  Ugh..  This trip was definitely important because I wanted to check on my mom and how she is doing in Thailand with my dad taking care of her and how her dementia is progressing (overall, she's doing quite well) but the kids are honestly a bit too young.  That plus the heat and humidity of both Thailand and Japan on this trip really is hard on them.  They can't walk more than 5 minutes without complaining, probably rightly so because it's hard even on Amy and I.  I think our next big trip probably will be in 2-3 years.  By then Jad will be almost four, Sora nearly seven and Kai probably close to nine.  Then it'll be a whole different ballgame .. though we'll probably try to choose somewhere/time, when it's not so hot 😅. Still the trip, overall, has been worth it.  The kids learned a lot about life in other countries, different cultures, saw their grandparents and relatives, so we hope that they will take something away from this experience.  Anyway, enough ranting about the kids..

Today is our second to last full day in Tokyo.  We decided to go to Ueno Park, mainly for the National Museum of Science and Nature.  Normally, the park itself would be quite a draw as well as there are lakes to boat in and shrines to visit, but the weather remains too hot to spend much time outdoors.  Even walking to the museum, we had to stop several times so the kids could take a break.  Still, when we made it there the museum was pretty awesome (partly because it had A/C and it was only $6 per adult and kids were free!)

This was very impressive.  A big room with three large screens showing an animated timeline of 1) how the earth was formed and life started, 2) evolution of life from single celled organisms to mammals and eventually humans and 3) progression of human civilization.

Kai finally smiling after cooling down near all the animal exhibits.  

Sora likes the colorful butterflies

Jad got a picture with pine cones :p

We did take an ice cream break.  Jad didn't get his own but his siblings were kids enough to share with him.

This plesiosarus was pretty cool

And a life size blue whale at the exit

We had lunch at the museum food counter (this is where Sora had a 20 minute temper tantrum) and then saw a few more exhibits before heading out.  On the way back, we walked by a Baskin-Robbins and got some Pichachu themed ice cream.

Pokemon everywhere around here..

We then walked along the Ameyoko shopping street on the way back to the subway.  We got a little waving Neko cat for Jad (on this trip, he learned to say "kitty" and wave his hand forward and backwards.. so cute that baby.)  

Hmm, all the kids were actually looking at the camera despite their fatigue, gotta give them credit for that one..

We also chanced it at a local food establishment and had a couple chirashi bowls, one with raw fish for us and cooked salmon for the kids.  Overall, it did not go well, the raw fish was warm and too fishy, the kids didn't like the soft salmon, Jad was running all over the place.  We gave up after a bit and came home.  

Our only hope is that we don't get a stomachache..

On the way back, we stopped at 7-Eleven and got some musubi and a bowl of pre-packaged ramen (cold ingredients and noodles, a slight step up from instant dry ramen.)  Of course, the kids loved it and were slurping up the noodles and the soup.  I don't even know why we try to eat different things :p

Loving dinner from 7-Eleven

Jad also tore into the musubi.  

One more full day tomorrow!  The plan is to go to the Meiji Shrine in the morning and then return in the afternoon.  Amy is planning to meet a friend for dinner by herself(!) so I'll manage the kids through dinner and bedtime.  Fingers crossed :)

So. Much. Fun.

[note: Italics equals Nik in this post]

Today was a particularly fun day for the kids. We started off the morning at Tokyo Dome City. The Shaws had highly recommended it and we were relieved to go somewhere where we were mostly indoors and with A/C.

We avoided going on any of the rides since they were prohibitively expensive, but ended up at an indoor playground, called Asobono (which was also quite expensive).  Still the kids had lots of fun jumping around in the giant ball pit, climbing various structures and just goofing off. Lately, we've had a lot of behavioral problems with Kai. Usually what happens is that he's flailing around and some unintended consequence will occur, like hitting Sora or running into Jad. I think part of the problem is that in this heat and with our small living space, the kids haven't had many opportunities to blow off steam, so Kai gets squirrelly and restless. Anyway, this was a great chance for the kidsto run around freely. There were many different play areas (train/building sets, pretend play, etc.), but our kids just stayed at the playground area. Our allotted hour of time flew by.

Ball pit heaven

This boy is so silly..

We grabbed lunch at the mall. We opted for easy and had hot dogs. The kids ate easily and since Kai and Sora were dipping their corndogs in ketchup, Jad insisted to do the same with his little chicken drumstick. Kai even asked for another corndog after he finished his.. inconceivable! Afterwards we grabbed some takoyaki and breads.

Corndogs for the kids..

.. takoyaki for us!

We had to head back to our rental to change rooms (the room we had been in wasn't available for the duration of our stay in Tokyo), and fortunately Jad napped in the carrier. Though he has been so attached to Nik this trip and that has been a burden, I will have to say that Jad has gotten much better at adapting to different sleep situations. He has been napping easily in the carrier and at night, he sleeps in the peapod, a little portable pop-up sleeping tent.

After settling ourselves back into our new room. We had to head back out again. This time, we were headed for the big Pokemon Center with an attached Pokemon themed cafe. The cafe is by reservation only and we luckily scored last minute reservations. We first checked out the store and got a few more items and then headed over to the cafe for our reservation

The kids' love of Pokemon is starting to rub off on Jad

Overall, the experience was fun, though I was a little disappointed that with all of the cutesy Pokemon decor and paraphernalia, the kids still gravitated towards screens. We ordered via tablet and I forced the kids to check out the cafe and take a few choice photo ops until our food arrived.

Here we are at the Pokemon Cafe..

.. yet all the kids wanted to do was play with the Let's Go Pikachu game at the cafe entrance. Though the kids couldn't figure it out since the game was in Japanese -_-

Obligatory photo ops...

The food was Instagram-able and cute and tasted ok, overpriced of course, but that's what I was expecting anyway. The kids enjoyed the foods and ate well.. and then the highlight of the night came out...

Gengar grape smoothie for the kids and Corsala latte for me. You choose the Pokemon you want printed on the foam

Espeon chicken terriyaki burger

Sora relished in eating Espeon's head

This DIY pancake kit came with a tube of warm chocolate for decorating and instructions on how to draw a few different Pokemon. Here's my rendition of Marill

.. it was Eevee! The kids were so excited to see Eevee come out that I guess that alone was worth the overpriced food. They did a short presentation in Japanese which, of course, went over our heads and Eevee did a little dance for the adoring crowd. The kids were nervous and starstruck.. Kai managed to shake her paw, though Sora was too starstruck to approach her. Unlike Disneyland, they don't pose for photo ops specifically and it was only a short part of our dinner, so I couldn't get a decent picture of the kids with Eevee, but it was a memorable experience nonetheless.

I gave Kai a digital camera so he could take his own pictures

This is the best shot I could get of Kai and Eevee. Not the best.. but that smile :)

The best picture I could get of Eevee and the kids.. not as nervous now that they're separate by a glass wall :P

After Eevee left, we finished up our food and headed back to our rental.

Getting a souvenir drink coaster

Trying to get the bottom of the smoothie to find out what makes Gengar glow..

In spite of everything going on in the cafe, the kids were watching this TV during most of dinner

We took the train home and since it was late, the city was lit up. I bribed the kids with the promise of playing Pokemon Go to take a good picture with the lit up Skytree.

Hey, it worked :P

City lights along the Sumida River

Because our reservation was only for three (who knew you had to make reservations a month in advance -- lucky for us, there was a cancellation), Amy took Kai and Sora to the Pokemon cafe for dinner while I went for a walk with Jad.  We wandered over to the nearby Takashimaya store (as I needed new pants) but quickly realized that it was really expensive :p  e.g. no pants for me, but in the basement were a lot of food vendors with more reasonable prices.

Jad, intrepid wanderer through the streets of Tokyo...

Bargain basement food

As a side note, in addition to their super toilet / bidets, they also have baby seats in the larger stalls so you can still care for your baby while you do your business.. clever!