Tokyo with Kids Day 4

Sorry for the break, I ran out of steam. Chugga chugga, woo woo. But I am determined to create a record of our whole trip. Posterity, you know.

Step Thirteen: Thou shalt not fear the food.

The weirder it looks, the more you should try it. People wouldn't eat it if it wasn't palatable, so give it a go. Mimi won the most adventurous prize, followed by me and then Jude and lastly Dx, the food wimp.

Octopus cupcakes, anyone?

What REAL fish sticks look like.
And so we bought one. The white flakes are salt. Mimi and I gave it a go, but found it, well, fishy.


Step Fourteen: Go in search of Fashion.

These girls are the real deal, Harajuku Girls in Harajuku, as made famous in the US by Gwen Stefani. On Sundays the Harajuku neighborhood is filled with young people participating in dress-up play. They put on full head to toe costumes and a persona and interact with each other playacting. The costumes are fabulously outrageous, and unfortunately, our camera gave up the ghost that afternoon. There were better specimen, but this is our best picture. They're dressed like outlandish lolitas.

Thank you, Harajuku girl, for the obligatory peace sign.

Step Fifteen: Go where you hear loud noise.

We were taking a lovely walk through the park on Sunday and heard this loud music in the distance, so we walked over to see what was going on. We happened upon this dance festival and it was one of the coolest things we saw in Tokyo. So You Think You Can Dance and America's Best Dance crew have nothing on these dramatic performers.

They dance in a warrior style, mixed with hip hop. I've seen a lot of types of dance, but I'd never seen something so frenetic and committed, look at the expressions on their faces, they're sneering not smiling. I don't know what the style of dance is called, but it was an intense experience. Check out the video at the bottom of the page, it is like nothing you've seen before. Kind of like hiphop capoeira.

Note the traditional red eye makeup.

Step Sixteen: Visit Holy Places.

Shinto is the most ancient religion in Japan, based largely on animal spirit worship. It's been around there longer than Buddhism and its holy places offer a different atmosphere from busy Buddhist temples. Ever seen those big red angular arches? Those are Shinto gates.

This is the courtyard of a Shinto Shrine. Look off to the right, see the red kimono? That's a bride in traditional Japanese dress. We were really lucky to happen upon their ceremony.
These are the prayer ema, plaques where worshippers write their prayers or wishes. They cost money. I just observed.

After the peaceful Shinto shrine, we visited the Buddhist temple in Asakusa. It was a bustling market place and packed full of people. It was an interesting contrast, kind of like the Jesus before/after cleaning out the temple story, Buddhist being before, Shinto after. These pictures were taken after the camera died that day, and aren't so good.

Mimi inside the shrine. People were throwing money into the temple and kneeling saying prayers. Mimi knelt down and said a little prayer. She always prays for Ellie, I don't know why. Perhaps because she's her namesake.
This is the pagoda outside the Buddhist temple. Secretly, I have no idea what pagodas are all about, but they sure do look cool. Before I return to Tokyo, I would like to learn more about these holy places. I felt like a big tourist at these places, but we enjoyed the sights and the food.

This is a video of one of the dance troupes. Observe how aggressive the moves are.

Tokyo with Kids Day 3

Step Nine: Put your kids in their cutest outfits. Coordinating is best. You're going to look at those pictures for the rest of your life and chances are your kids are already kind of bugging you (mine weren't, but still) so you want them to be extra cute with their hair done in order to encourage the love a little bit more. On day three we found this place called The Children's Castle. (Check the opening hours, we were an hour early and it was rough). There are five floors of fun, including a live music drum room, an indoor play structure, a kitchen area, carnival games, craft rooms and a bike riding and jungle play area with balls on the roof. It was perfect for ages 0-11 and a total local hangout for kids.

My favorite of Jude's outfits. He's such a chub. It's all the noodles he slurps down.

Fabulous kitchen area where Mimi wore aprons and prepared sushi with pals.

Step Ten: Embrace all dorkiness.

I developed an I'm-in-Tokyo peace sign pose. Dx cuddled large cuddly animals (who whacked him somewhere inappropriate.)

Notice how our kids aren't interested at all.

Step Eleven: Point order. Most menus have pictures or the restaurants have that weird plastic food outside. If it looks like you might like it, you probably will love it. I point ordered this tart. I hoped they didn't cut it into smaller pieces, but alas, they did. I could have eaten the whole thing.

Shabu Shabu is different and much better in Tokyo. I don't know what we put in it, but one of the things on the plate to the right was called Jew's Ears. Is that kosher?

Step Twelve: Bring your own baby food and formula. What the heck is this stuff? He did enjoy the snacky stuff and drinks, but I have no idea what they were and it made me a little nervous.

Jude HAD to have his own handle on the subway or he would scream.

Step whatever: This is the ancient Kabuki theater, showing a million shows each day. It's a great place to see the old style theater and people wearing Kimono. We did not see a show because we had our kids, but it was within walking distance to our hotel and very cool all lit up at night. It's on our list when we go back.

Here's a video of the kids at the Children's Castle in Shibuya. It's rockin'.
This kinda ups the ante, doesn't it Kindermusick?

Tokyo Day 2, Get Out of Town

Step Five: Go on your big nap-skipping Day trip early in the vacation. We went to the village of Hakone, located about an hour and a half outside of Tokyo. The area is known for it's hot springs and has an antiquated resort type area. It was no easy task finding our way there.Navigating the subway and the commuter trains was complicated, but no more or less so than any other subway with larger trains leaving the central metropolis to further reaching towns. To get to Hakone, we took one subway train and then the bullet train! It was really really fast. Then we hopped on one or two more trains and a bus up a windy hill. Getting to the destination is part of the fun. Step Six: Breakfast is not a sit-down meal.
We ate breakfast on the run, stocking up the night before at grocery stores or 711 type shops. Guess what things are by their pictures and hope for the best. Later on I discovered that this was totally gauche and embarrassing by Japanese standards. We were the only ones eating outside buildings. Apparently, we were tacky and inappropriate Americans. Oh, and the picture above is what I thought was a ball of rice. Surprise, it had some creepy fishy thing inside. I passed it to Mimi, she devoured it. I tell you, that child will eat anything.

Step Seven: Go where the locals go for fun.
We were guided by my trusty local friend to Yunessun, a family oriented hot springs swimming extravaganza. We're a big water family. This suited us fine, except for the suits. I had to wear A ONE PIECE and Dx had to wear a shirt because of our tattoos (no, not matching.) You'll notice a lack of pictures of me in this section.

Women were given these silly suit cover-ups, men wore matching blue ones. This was the indoor section. We (ok, I) was the only white person there. The pools were all warm and there were, say, 30 of them and they were all different. Kiddie pools, cave pools, outside water slides. And then the piece de resistance: the mountain valley of outdoor fantastic (anti WofW) pools. Starting with:

The coffee pool, made, smells and tastes (what? Of course I tasted them!) just like coffee. It's a bit disconcerting swimming in a big brown warm bubbly pool, but it smelled divine. Further up the hill was this lovely typical Japanese bath, complete with cherry blossoms and floating reed thingys. Jude found them delicious.

Here's Mimi climbing into the Green Tea pool. (Also delicious).

And here is the Crvn family bathing in a bacchanalian Red Wine pool. We didn't drink this one.

There was also a honey pool, other types of tea, a sake pool, a charcoal pool and a number of others. The only thing missing was the chocolate pool. Yunessun was unlike anywhere I've been in America or elsewhere (the Gellert Baths in Budapest included. If you've been there, you know.)

Step Eight: Try everything.

At Yunessun they offered the legendary fish pedicure. You put your feet in a pool and fish nibble off bacteria and dead skin. Sounds horrible, yes? We totally did it. Watch:

I am the one shrieking.

Tokyo Day 1, Yes You Can

When Dx and I were first married, we traveled all the time. In the first two years of our marriage, I think we hit maybe 30-40 different major cities throughout the world (mostly in Europe). Having children altered our lifestyle significantly, but we recently decided that we would have to bite the bullet some day and try our hand at taking our kids abroad.

It was a smashing success.

Tokyo should be your next family vacation destination. It is an incredible city, more first world than America, and perfectly accessible for families. It is clean, organized, efficient while crowded, and easy to get around. There are a ton of things to do and see, most of them free.

In the next few posts, I intend to demonstrate how to take your two tiny kids (and more) to a foreign land and have the best vacation of your life.



Step one: Find someone who already knows all about your destination, preferably someone who lives there and is an expat. Ask them exactly what is worth doing. Do everything they say. This is best accomplished through Facebook and emails. Thank you, Tony C. If not for you, we'd never have found the Tsujiki Fish Market, open at 5 am.

These three pictures are in the huge working fish market. We were the only people with kids there, but nobody ran us down in their little carts. The bottom picture is Ahi Tuna, right before it was auctioned off. Big, huh? High Mercury content.

Step two: Plan every day in advance, plan two activities per day with an extreme midday nap, even if your kids are on completely different schedules. This results in basically two full days made out of one. Exhausting, but not if you're going to bed at 6:30 because your family never adjusts to the time change.


Our first morning was the Tsujiki fish market, and then we tried to go to the Imperial Palace, but it was closed. That afternoon, we went to Ginza which is the main shopping district.








This is a little Shinto Shrine we found wandering around near our hotel. Note the change in outfits, this is the same day but post naps.





This is Ginza, the shopping district. Notice how there's no garbage or debris, despite how bustling the city can be.

Step three: Make sure you have the appropriate carriers for children. We brought our single stroller and used the bottom storage section as a day pack. Dx carried the baby backpack. I felt like a big hippie the whole time, especially because everyone in Tokyo is dressed for work and we were in travel mode, but both kids were able to fall asleep on Dx's back. As for the stroller, there were elevators MOST of the time. Some times we had to two-person carry the stroller up and down stairs.

This is typical Tokyo, at least where we were staying. Completely clean, blue skies, towering sky scrapers, and something more efficient than I'd ever seen in America: ramp stairs.

Jude was happy as a clam in the carrier. You should have seen the back of Dx's neck at the end of the day. It was covered in food. Oh, and Jude Jude learned to spit on him during the trip.

Step four: The trip is about the kids. This was our first big trip as a family, so our priorities necessarily had to shift. We went places that they could enjoy and skipped places that we'd might have wanted to see. If they weren't welcome, we didn't want to go. This means, no shows, no intimate dinners, no museums. Our goal was sightseeing, eating delicious food and finding at least one kid activity a day. Everybody was happy, despite being together 24 hours a day. We found that if we just kept moving, there was so much to see that there weren't very many breakdowns. Mimi, 2, is a great traveling age because she's impressed by trains and transportation and she's easy to distract with small games and food.

Pipe cleaners. Easy to carry, fun to make into whatever you need to keep the two-year-old entertained. She often boarded trains wearing her special glasses, and the Japanese people just loved her. Especially when she would say "Arigato!"

We happened upon this rooftop play area above a shopping mall in Ginza. The kids had a ball.

Stay tuned for more tips on traveling abroad with little people. I'm no expert, but I was once intimidated by big trips and now, having had such success, I want others to go do the same.

I'll Never

My husband and I recently went on a road trip to Tahoe. On the way we had a little conversation about where we are in our lives and how we're on either side of 30. We decided to come up with a list of a few things we would probably never do in our lifetimes. The rule was you had to have considered the possibility at some point during your life, only to realize now that it is too late to do that thing.

Mine was extensive.

I'll Never:

1) Be a professional prima Ballerina.

2) Make a music video, starring me.

3) Be on Saturday Night Live

4) Marry royalty.

5) Be famous.

6) Visit Australia. I just don't want to.

7) Be in the Medical Profession.

8) Win a trophy at any sport.

9) Live alone in a trendy Parisian flat.

10) Win an Oscar/Emmy/Tony/Pulitzer

I could go on and on. It's a sobering list.

It's amazing how many doors close every year of your life.

Not so for Dx.

We chatted about this for two hours.

He could only come up with TWO THINGS

he would PROBABLY never do in his lifetime.

They were:

1) Use hardcore street drugs (heroin/coke/crack)

2) Own a Geo Metro.

That's it.

Everything else is within the realm of possibility for him. It's going to be a long eternity.

Dear Britney,

Actually, Dear Britney's Muffin Top,

I love you. I love that you wrap your loving arms around Britney Spears' midsection. Sure, I tuned in to watch Britney's Doc. For the Record, but you were the real star. My favorite moment of the night was the first few moments of the pre-show countdown, when they chronicled all of your most memorable career moments. Britney waltzed out on stage wearing her trademark lowcut jeans and minuscule halter top. Muffin top, I saw you then and I had such hope. The jeans were cutting a little tightly and I thought, surely she's not going to sit down in that outfit. And then sit down she did. And out you popped in your glorious fold-over-the-jeans type of way.

Muffin top, I had my suspicions. I genuinely thought they wouldn't let Britney bring you to her CD debut, but you snuck in under their radar despite all her exercising. Sure, you were not so prominent when Britney was standing, but sit the wench down and you spilled out, squeezed mercilessly between her disgusting black halter and skanky jeans. I couldn't take my eyes off you. It was like you were there just for me.

You see, Britney and I go way back. We're nearly the same age (happy 27th birthday, Brit!) and I've followed your career as though it were my secret alternate slutty life. You are the Hannah Montana to my Miley Cyrus, minus the softcore pornography (on my part). Brit-Brit and I were married around the same time, but I think she may have gotten the shorter end of the stick on that one. We both have two kids very close in age. We both have stupid tattoos. Once upon a time we had similar bodies, though I gyrated slightly less and covered myself only slightly more.

Us, circa 2000. Before digital cameras were invented, thus no pictures of me. Too Bad, So Sad.


And then things went sour for Britney. We went in two extremes -- I became righteous and got normal looking hair, and she went crazy and got gross extensions then shaved her head and then got more gross extensions, and now has circus freak hair.



Us now-ish, post birthing two babies each. XOXO, backfat.

Watching Britney's body get fat then slightly thinner, then druggy chubby, then pregnant again, then lumpy, then kinda in shape was the main reason I tuned in. I could identify and it was gratifying watching Britney expand and contract. Before the Documentary, I thought Brit was headed back to teeny-bopper LA thin, but then my fears were assuaged when she showed up with your little friend. Paired with a wider girth all around, I think the Muffin Top is a nice accessory.





Sure, she looks trim. But she's doubled in width! And I dare her to sit down in that getup!

Yes, Britney Spears, you and I are the proud owners of a little Muffin Top. Even you, with your trainers and nutritionists and nannies can't stop the "wrong side of 25" spread. Girl, you wide. Gone are the prominent hip bones. Hasta la vista, stomach definition.

And Muffin Top, I do believe you're here to stay. And unlike Britney, I wear my MT with pride, because I have a wonderful husband and cute babies, but you? You're still gyrating like you're 18. Good luck with that, trainwreck.

With love and the grateful passage of jealousy,

Nortorious

Yes We Can.

Cousin Griffin and Mimi, the Under 5 Constituency, both for Obama.

Dear Mimi and Jude Jude,
The world changed today. Today was the most important political moment of my lifetime thus far. You were there to share it with me. Your family voted for the first black family to occupy the White House, and because of that your life will be different than ours in marked ways. Racism hasn't ended, but the dream has come alive in the most visible, highest office in the world. Before this day, when children were told they could be anything they wanted to be when they grow up it was just a hope. After today there is living proof that no boundary is unbreakable.


At the Polling Place

The people you see on TV will be different than the people I've seen. The expectations of the disenfranchised will be higher, for better or worse. The bar has been raised, babies. If a long shot single-parent raised black man can be the most powerful man in the world, you, who have more privileges based on your birthright alone, can achieve whatever your little hearts desire.

I loved when Obama brought Marian Robinson (Michelle's mother) and Biden brought his mother out to the front of the stage. I hope some day I'll be able to watch you in your finest moments, to bask in your accomplishments in whatsoever field they may be.

Dx and I did not vote for either candidate in 2004, and one of many reasons motivating our leaving the country was the political climate. While in Europe, I often felt embarrassed by our President and the mismanaged war. The last time I believed in a candidate was in the 2000 primaries, when I voted for McCain who lost. In the eight years since, I've become disinterested in politics, feeling that my vote didn't count. Obama is the first candidate that gave us hope for a better world reputation, a government with less dependency on oil, solutions to the healthcare problems and other issues that particularly concern us. Obama has renewed a positive political feeling for us as voters, and his election really does give me hope that America will be better during your lifetime.
This world can be very bleak. Your religion teaches that things are going to get worse before they get better and that can be very depressing. Today, however, I am renewed with hope that God really is watching over this nation and that the national community will be a more positive place for you, my little brown kids, to grow up.
I have you in mind on this historic day.
Love,
Your Mama





Three Generations. Pam doesn't like Obama's ears and thus did not vote for him.







P.S., Ahem, I TOLD YOU SO!! I called this sucker 10/18/2007.
I was right.

Nursing Avec Toddler

Dear This Person:

I understand and appreciate that you are trying your best to adjust to This Person:

But I need you to know that jumping into him on the couch and generally wreaking havoc while I am feeding him is starting to make me very angry.

When I tell you to stop being a destructo, please do not ignore me and give me This Face:

Or I will be very tempted to drop you off at This Person's:

(Pam wearing Ti Chi outfit, gift from the Olympians)

And furthermore, would it be too much trouble to speed up This Activity?:

Thank you for your cooperation.

I think we all saw this day coming. I'm sure it's only a phase of crazy.

Much love,

Your Mother who may or may not have been reduced to allowing you to run around half-clothed, messy hair, eating cookies off the ground with a wet diaper today.