Gyoza Town

Hayabusa

We had a quieter day today.  (About time!).  We had seen a programme devoted to Utsunomiya a city North of Tokyo which is famed for its gyoza (Chinese dumplings).  We all love gyoza so thought it a good idea to investigate and a good first trip out on the shinkansen - especially with it being a weekend as we aren't wanting to go to tourist destinations at the weekend.

Gyoza

Happily the shinkansen that takes us to Utsunomiya is the Hayabusa - the green one with the long nose.  We got ourselves to Tokyo station, did some train spotting and then hopped on.  It was an hour's trip (most of that quite slow getting past the drab and never-ending suburbs of Tokyo).

It was roasting hot again today - maybe a little hotter than yesterday making it hard work to do too much.  However, Matt had done some homework and found that there was a good gyoza shop just opposite the shinkansen station that does a selection plate.

We found it without too much trouble and ordered ourselves 2 x plates of 12 mixed gyoza.  From memory the flavours were:

+ Shi-take mushroom
+ Mai-take mushroom
+ Pork
+ Shiso
+ Kimchi
+ Garlic
+ Cheese
+ Ebi
+ Kenta (not sure what this is)
+ and 3 others - sorry memory not working well.

Colourful building

We had to open them all up to find the mushroom ones which Tom and I shared, and the spicy ones which Matt and I shared and then we just dug in.  Last time we came to Japan Tom didn't really go for gyoza.  This time he did.  So much so that we ended up getting another plate of just ebi ones as he was still hungry once we had finished and we felt hard done by the number of gyoza he inhaled!

We then went for a wander around the streets, but didn't find anything very interesting.  We were here just for the gyoza and hadn't looked up what else to do.  However, there was a big shopping centre opposite the station and as it was so hot outside we decided to head for it and its air conditioning.  There just happened to be a big Yodobashi Camera - so once again we found ourselves in the camera section with Matt trying on various camera bags.  This time he bought one - the first one we had found earlier in the week but at a cheaper price than in Tokyo - so happy smiles all round.

Sat on the shinkansen home

We then just happened to find ourselves in a large Daiso.  We actually lost Tom in the shop.  He was carrying the basket and sharing his time between me and Matt.  However, there came a time when he couldn't find us and we couldn't find him.  A strategic sweep of the shop found him.  Was he bothered?  No of course not.  In fact Tom is at his most relaxed here.  Nothing and I mean NOTHING has fazed him since we got here.  He has taken it all in his stride, no-one would have a clue he was from a tiny village in the UK.  It is almost as if he's been here all his life: he positively dances around on the streets, doesn't seem to mind the heat, doesn't mind the language difference, the difference in people (looks and sheer quantity of them), the difference in buildings, the difference in food etc etc.  Culture shock is an alien concept to him - we are really proud of him for it.

Anyway, we were getting tired, so found ourselves a cafe to sit down in for tea and a bun, then we searched out a supermarket to get some food in before getting the shinkansen home.  Then back to the apartment in daylight (for the first time since we got here), home cooked food: Hayashi rice, shower, bath and bed.

Boats, Temples and Ninja

Wow-wee what a day.  Am writing this at 9.50pm with a glass of whisky trying not to feel bloated.  It's been a great day.

So we all said goodbye to nasty old jet lag last night, each of us getting a good sleep without the silly wake ups in the night.  In fact no-one got up until 8.30 and we were all still in our pyjamas at 10.00.  It was a wonderful lazy morning.

Boys on a boat

Golden Egg and Sky Tree

We finally left the house at 11am and got the water bus from Hinode Pier (just round the corner from our house) to Asakusa a hot tourist spot in Tokyo as it is the location of the Sensoji Temple.  It is also home of the golden turd (an Asahi building meant to look like a glass of beer, but which the locals have renamed the golden turd.  We explained this to Tom, he thought it was funny but thinks it should be called the golden egg.  (Fancy that a 5 year old who doesn't latch onto poo when given a chance!)

Charming the ladies

It was extremely hot today - the locals told us it was the hottest day of the year so far - at least 30.  We were all in sunhats and walking very slowly wilting in the heat.  Many Japanese were still wearing jumpers??  Why???  I will never understand!  We headed to the new Tourist Information Building for a look around (not much information considering its purpose) but they had a cafe on the 8th floor with a viewing area so we headed up.  The cafe was ridiculously expensive so we looked at the view, took a few photos and headed back down again.  By now it was lunch time so we went looking for something to eat.  As we are in a tourist spot, prices were quite high, so we headed off down some side streets and found an Izakaya.

When we walked in the owner wasn't too sure, but as soon as Matt started speaking Japanese they relaxed and we had a really good time.  We had two large meals: Yaki Niku for me (flash fried beef and onions in a ginger sauce with rice, cabbage, miso soup and pickles) and Fried Fish meal set for Matt (Fried pankoed fish with all the same side dishes as me).  Tom helped us with both and did really well - once again using his chop sticks to eat it all.  We left the restaurant feeling revived, especially as the owners gave us a fan each (two adult sized ones for us and a mini one for Tom) we needed them too as it was roasting outside.

Spot the tourists

We then headed towards Sensoji, as we did we noticed a covered shopping street, being unable to help ourselves we walked along it just in case we found something we needed.  It didn't take long, we found a 100 Yen shop which had to be investigated and I found a bag shop (My current bag is falling apart so one of my challenges this holiday has been to find myself a new one).  We made purchases (of course) and then carried on to Sensoji.

Too many people!

Boy with fan at temple

We actually entered the main drag of the stalls in front of it half way down and that was too much!  The prices were high and there were too too too too many people - it was crowd rage hell!  We got to the temple, took some pics, asked Tom if he wanted to make a wish (he didn't)  then went for a walk around a much quieter area with water features etc.

We were wilting again - so we left and looked for a cafe for a sit down.  We found one and got fleeced!  Oh hum, one iced tea and one coke cost almost as much as lunch earlier.  Oh well, it was nice to sit down.

Boys drinking tea

We then headed back to the station.  We found yet another 100 Yen shop to look around and also managed to find a photo station to print out some pics for Tom's scrapbook (been a bit epic trying to sort this out due to us having Apple equipment and the photo printers here only working with windows).  Then we headed to Omotesando which is where Mr Kuroda's new shop is (he had to move premises as his old place was being redeveloped).  His new shop is bigger than the old one but still an Aladdin's Cave and full of lovely high quality products.

Course 1

They were talking us out for dinner.  All they would say was that it would be somewhere interesting.  It certainly was.  We took a train and walked to a restaurant called Ninja.  We were met by a Ninja who appeared in one doorway, shouted and then took us down a dark hidden passageway.  There were waterfalls and at one point some treasure in a river which we had to cross,  a hidden walkway was lowered  so we could get across and then we had to shout for the walkway to rise again.  We were lead into a Ninja Village and our own private room.  We then had the most amazing meal - all Ninja themed, so as many of the courses as possible were black.

Here's what we had:




Course 1: Black shuriken grissini (throwing stars) with pate
Course 2: Pickled fish on raw tomato with spicy dressing (gulp - I managed the tomato - Matt didn't)
Course 3: A huge black snail with garlic butter (Matt had ebi instead) this went with a bang as it had a trail of gunpowder on it which got lit and flamed up.
Course 4: Black Rissotto croquette
Course 5: Soy milk and dashi soup with vegetables and pork - cooked with a hot stone.
Course 6: Black choux bun filled with raw salmon, avocado and horseradish cream
Course 7: A tiny glass of green seseame covered vegetables covered in white foaming soy sauce
Course 8: A frozen ball of sugary tea sorbet

Meal for Tom the Prince

Course 9: The main course - I had black cod and Matt Sea Bream
Course 10: Sushi - 5 types of sushi
Course 11: Cheesecake frog

Scary smoking box of pudding

We were both completely stuffed by the end.  I was wary of how much this was costing the Kuroda's so made sure I ate everything.  Might regret it tonight!

Cheesecake frog

Tom was served a special meal for a Prince: all his favourite stuff (again) - sausages, ebi fry, hamburger, 3 types of sushi, chunks of egg omelette, chicken karage and potato.  Wow.  He once again did really well both with eating and dexterity with chopsticks.  He then got served a pudding from a box with smoke coming out of it.  He was too scared to open the top, so Daddy helped and inside was ice cream and strawberries.  He couldn't understand how it could be cold, if there was smoke in the box.

Thank you Mr & Mrs Kuroda

Tom finished his food before us (obviously as we had so many courses) and kept us amused.  We could see a couple of floors above us and some wooden bars, so he kept telling us what animals were up there and then he started catching animals and throwing them to us.  He could only do it because he had special gloves.  It was mad, there was no reason to it, but he kept himself and the 4 of us completely entertained during our meal.

If you are curious have a look at their website: http://www.ninjaakasaka.com

A ninja magician then entered the room and did some magic tricks, focusing on Tom - getting him to hold things etc.  Tom was completely enthralled by it all.

Too quickly it was over and we were asked to leave, Tom got a little present and we took photos.  It was almost 9pm before the little one got to bed.

Our Japan rail passes start tomorrow...

Sky Tree and Kitchens

The jet lag has almost gone.  I woke up bright and raring to go at 1.16am but managed to get off again and then didn't wake up until 6.30 so a good night's sleep really.  Tom did quite well but was up at 7am which I think is too early considering his late bedtimes.

Today we had decided to head further into town to take in Akihabara, Asusaka and The Sky Tree.  We had a leisurely morning - Matt working, Tom and I in our bedroom reading / playing on the ipad (you can guess who was doing what).  I then started doing Tom's scrapbook with him - school want a scrapbook from Tom showing what he's been doing and learning etc (not exactly sure why as they are fining us - but his education means too much to me to not do it).

Anyhow we left the building around 10.30 and headed to Akihabara - mainly to visit Yodibashi Camera - one of Matt's favourite shops: 8 huge floors of electrical goodies.  We went straight to the camera section to look at camera bags for Matt.  The selection was enormous and got Matt really confused as to what he really wants.  I think he will return once he's alone to try them all out again before purchasing one.

We then headed to the main drag of Akihabara - believe it or not we found it quite hard to find, when we finally found it we were underwhelmed.  I was hoping to see lots of people dressed up in mad anime outfits etc, but apart from some maids dressed up in their netted skirts, we didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  It was extremely hot by now and we were all flagging so we decided to find some lunch.  We couldn't find much on the street we were on so ended up in Excelsior Cafe (a Japanese cafe chain) for a sandwich and drink before heading back out.

We headed for a shop we had seen on the corner advertising itself as for hobbies and models. When we got there we found that it had a floor dedicated to model railways - result. We had a good look around and found some great stuff, but it was all for N gauge (the next gauge down from Tom's), meaning it was all too small for his layout. Shame as it would have been good to buy something typically Japanese to add to his layout as a sort of red herring for people to spot.

Anyone for a cup and saucer set? 

Must be a street for chefs!

When we came out of the shop we found ourselves in front of a subway station so decided to take it to Tawaramachi where there is a shopping street: Kappabashi which is my idea of heaven - the two sides of the street are dedicated to kitchenware - for private use or trade use. I could have spent over a day there browsing all the shops and spending an insane amount of money on everything. I was quite restrained until I found a shop that specialises in cutters for biscuits and sugar paste and then I went a little mad. The cutters here are cheaper than in England and the range was amazing. I just wish I could see in to the future to know what I will need. Instead I made some guesses. There were also disposables shops (something I really struggle to find at home), food model shops, knife shops, machine shops and shops selling flags and other textiles all to do with the catering trade. True to form Tom piped up he was hungry and thirsty. There weren't any cafes here so we had to leave to find one, and then the only one we could find didn't really do snacks but it did do ice cream so Tom ordered some and true to form ate it all up - ice cream isn't really his thing so he must have needed it. We returned to the shopping street, we found some cool dipping plates (means we won't have to use ramekins anymore) and an oblong frying pan (for making tamagoyaki a sweet layered omelette that we all like) and then Tom piped up that he needed a wee - arggghhhhh, we happened to be in the only place in Japan with no loos! Matt took him for a walk and ended up asking a policeman where to take him whilst I was left to my own devices - dangerous stuff!

Boy and a tower

Quite tall then.

Although I could have spent hours and hours on that street (and millions of Yen), I figured that the boys had probably had enough so with one last look we headed back towards Asakusa. We then found a bus going to The Sky Tree so decided to head there as it was quite clear. The Sky Tree has only been open 2 years and is the tallest free standing tower in the world and second tallest structure in the world. It is quite an impressive site when you walk up to it. We asked Tom if he wanted to go up and he replied with an astounding YES! There was no queue which has great so we went straight up. The first level was 350m up and gave us a great view of the city. The city was hazy but then it is summer and this is the biggest city in the world so we couldn't see everything and Mt Fuji was hiding - think we need to come in winter to see that.

Happy boy

Lots of buildings

Having got so far we then decided to go to the top platform which is 450 meters up (the actual height of the tower is 634m). It was an even better view and now Tom was mega excited! I was sure I could feel the thing swaying but no-one else seemed too?

All made it on the glass floor

We then headed back down to the first platform and looked around again. This time we saw the the glass floor you can stand on. I was fine with this, Tom more hesitant, and Matt very hesitant! However, the boys got their courage up and both walked across and even paused to have their photo taken.

Two grinning charlies

Mai and Totoro

We headed back down into the shopping centre at the base where I happened to spot a Totoro, on closer inspection we found it was a Donguri Republic - a Studio Ghibli shop. It was beautiful - there was a massive Totoro, Cat Bus and Jiri to look at and a model of Mai asleep on Totoro in the tree which you could activate with a button. Everything was gorgeous, but we didn't open our wallets - the visit to the tower had been quite expensive and anyway we are going to the Ghibli museum next week.

We decided if we stayed near the Sky Tree for dinner we would get fleeced so we got the underground back to near Hamamatsu-cho and walked home. Tom saw a curry shop on the way and said he wanted curry, we didn't argue - it was nice to be able to sit down. We all devoured our curries and then headed back home, tired but happy. Another good day.

Trains!

Not a great night. I woke up fresh and bright at 1.30. Got back to sleep, then Tom had a nose bleed at 4.00. He got back to sleep, but then he woke me up playing with his Lego at 5.00, so I ended up getting in bed with him. He was good and finally submitted to sleep at 6am when I crawled out of his bed and back to my own. I didn't get back to sleep, but Tom didn't wake up again until 8.30 - lucky thing. I wonder when the jet lag will leave us all?

What is the date?

It dawned grey and overcast. We were going to head over to the Sky Tower but instead thought a museum would be better as it was so overcast. We gave Tom a choice of things to do: Fire Fighting Museum, Natural History Museum or Train Museum. Guess what he choose? I'm not that sure why we gave him options, yep, it was the train museum.

We quickly got ready and headed to Hamamatsu-cho and got the Keihin-Tohoku line to Omiya, which took about an hour and then one stop down a little local line to the museum. The museum is quite new and of course, this being Japan, has been done very well indeed.

200 Series

First you enter a hall stuffed with old trains. There were at least 4 steam engines, plenty of old local engines and carriages, some very posh ceremonial carriages which we could view but not sit in. There was a Zero Series nose to look at and a whole 200 series (looks the same as the blue zero but has green livery instead). There was also a special room with a whole zero series in it. This year is the 50th anniversary for the shinkansen so there was a dedicated exhibition about it.

Nose!

At 12.00 we were summoned to the main hall where a steam train on a turntable was being turned around.  This was rather forced and gimmicky with two 'drivers' dressed up with while gloves etc waving, two 'trolley dollies' kneeling on platforms operating the turntable and waving and a man dressed up as a modern driver talking away.  They also hooted the horn a number of times which Tom didn't like - his new-found ears hurt when there is any big sound.

Hayabusa Bento

Steam Train Bento

Our tummies were beginning to rumble so we headed outside to where there was a bento stand to buy some lunch.  Once again, they had thought about what they were doing and had provided a number of train themed bentos.  Tom chose the Hayabusa bento - served in a plastic toy resembling a Hayabusa which was filled with all his favourites: sausage, sausage on a stick, burger, ebi fry, tomato rice and an omelette (which he didn't eat).  I chose one which was in a special steam train bag and had nori cut out to the shape of a steam engine on the rice, whilst Matt just chose a boring one!



 

Spring loaded Shinkansen

Hayabusa Slide

We all devoured our lunch in the heat (the skies by now had cleared and it was hitting on 30 degrees and humid - yuck) and then Tom ran over to the play area.  This was full of train themed equipment.  Lots of shinkansens on springs to bounce on, and a Hayabusa slide.  How cool were they?

Just hanging around

Happy Boy

We then headed back in to the museum for air conditioning if nothing else and headed to the next floor.  We had been putting this off as we had read that there was a large model railway up there, we know that as soon as he saw it we would have trouble getting him to leave and we were right.  It was up to standard, a huge display with many trains running around: all local to the area, so there was the Hayabusa, the Komachi, the Narita Express, Yamamote Line etc etc.  Once an hour they do a show to depict 24 hours in the life of the fictional town they had made.  We stayed for that, meaning we were in there for a good 45 minutes.  We had to use blackmail to get him out, but better things awaited him...

Model Railway

First of all there was a ride on a mini E2 shinkansen which was fun.  But next was the chance to drive your own train.  This cost an extra £1 and was amazing.  There were mini trains all painted up in livery of famous trains - although I'm not sure what ours was on a track layout with points and stations etc .  Tom was let loose on the controls - carrying me and Matt around the track.  He had a leaver - up for forward and down for brake.  He had to keep an eye on the signals and stop anytime there was a red signal (very confusing as quite a few times there were 2 signals together, one green and one red - apparently we could ignore the red one as that was for the points - but to be honest, I didn't understand it and for sure Tom didn't either: Matt was having to tell him to go forward when he was sure he was to stop - it didn't make sense and caused a little bit of confusion).  Anyhow, we made it back to the start in one piece, Tom having driven us all around.  He was very pleased with himself - he said that was the best part of the day and I can see why.  I was a little jealous that I didn't get to do it myself!

Video - Tom driving a train: http://youtu.be/duKy8t7wCKY

We then made our way to a viewing platform on the third floor and sat down with a drink watching shinkansens whizz past.  Then up to a roof garden.  It was intensely hot, Matt and I were both wilting, but Tom didn't seem to notice and spent the whole time running round and round it?!!

Why won't this box move?

We then went back inside (once again to recover in the air conditioning), we found an interactive area - exploring trains and the need for them.  Tom tried one exhibit where you had to move a heavy box 1) by itself, 2) with wheels, 3) with wheels on wooden rails and 4) with metal wheels and rails.  He soon worked out which was easier!  We then found a second museum shop so had a look round (we were once again very restrained) and then a small boy tugged us back into the model railway so in we went for another half hour or so.

Very nice stained glass window

We then made our way downstairs to do some purchasing in the main shop, then another look around the main floor (we had missed quite a few trains first time around!).  By now it was 5pm (time goes fast when you are having fun) and although we hadn't done all the museum we decided to call it a day, so we headed back to Omiya when we headed into to Daiei next door to the station looking for dinner (not a great choice of restaurants - we ended up in a 'bit of everything' type establishment) and then downstairs to Daiei to buy some bits and pieces for breakfast at the flat.  We then got the train back to Hamamatsu-cho.  This was eventful with Tom and Matt playing spot the double decker carriages all the way back (not sure what the end score was).  I then trumped them both as I saw a luxurious sleeper train on its way out of Tokyo and was quite smug about it until Matt trumped me - pointing out Dr Yellow passing us.  Doh!  We only saw him for about 5 seconds, and he wasn't exactly yellow as it was dark, but it was definitely Dr Yellow and Dr Yellow out-trumps everything!

Oh hum, we got home, had a shower & bath and Tom went to bed (it was 8.45 by then).  A long day, but a good day.

PS - we could have done the Sky Tree as it did clear, but we had a good day so it didn't matter.

Odaiba

Today was supposed to be a miserable day, so we decided to spend the day in Odaiba.  This is the entertainment district of Tokyo, built on reclaimed land in the bay, it has a number of large shopping complexes and entertainment venues - including Legoland, Sega Joypolis, Madame Tussauds etc etc. It also has a beach, promenade, and is generally a good place to kill a day.

Tokyo Bay Skyline

Where in the world am I?

Banksia flowers - very pretty

We got the Yurikamome line across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba.  The first thing we saw when we left the station was the Statue of Liberty?  Very strange, not a 100% sure why it is here - something to do with the Americans being present in the country after the war maybe?  Anyway, it makes a good tourist attraction and they have built a nice promenade going round it, so all good stuff.  

We strolled around the sea front, through a couple of parks.  As we do so the clouds began to break up and the sun came out.  Typical - I had left sunglasses, cream, hats etc at home as I thought it was going to rain all day.  

Oh well, after exploring the parks (oh - they seem to have banksia type flowers here just like Australia) we headed into the first shopping centre: Aqua City.  Here we found a Daiso (100 Yen shop) and were too excited not to look round, so that we did.  We were quite restrained and only bought a couple of things, but we were both making mental notes of things to get in the future before we leave.  

Tucking into Okonomyaki

We also had a good look around the restaurants and decided on a lunch of Takoyaki.  We bought two plates, thinking we would get the larger share, but Tom really enjoyed them and equalled us on quantity - poo!.  We carried on exploring the shopping centre, we went up onto to the roof for a good all round view of the harbour and to see the shrine, oh and a good look around Toys R Us - last time we were here we got some great Japanese pyjamas from Toys R Us and were hoping to do the same again this year, however, the sizing of boys ends at 120 and Tom is now 130!  Oh well.  We found loads of great train related toys etc but once again were quite restrained and managed to leave empty handed.

After a sit down and a drink (it is very humid here, meaning we are constantly thirsty) we headed over to another shopping park - this time called Tokyo Decks - opposite the beach, so there were loads of Hawaii style shops, beach shops etc. There were also lots of children's stores including one which did have Japanese style pyjamas in the right size (just), so they got purchased just in case it was the last set we see.  This was the place with loads of children's entertainment - including soft play and toddler friendly computer games, then Legoland etc.  A place we could spend a lot of money.  We picked up leaflets for everything and then headed past, not wanting Tom to get his hopes up too much.

DR YELLOW!

We then headed to Diver City, yet another shopping centre.  As we walked into this one we were faced with a shinkansen shop - selling everything and anything to do with shinkansen.  It even had a huge Dr Yellow in it for children to play on.  Our eyes nearly fell out of our sockets.  I don't know which of the three of us was more excited!  This time things were bought (see below), but once again we were quite restrained considering the variety of products on offer.  

Eating a Happy Face Donut

After that, we needed a sit down to recover and ended up at Krispy Kreme donuts.  My first experience of them.  They were good doughnuts, but I really don't quite understand the hype around them?

Once fortified, we headed around the mall.  We found a Uniqlo where we went quite mad.  Tom got a Komachi T-shirt and Matt 2 new T-shirts amongst other things.  We also found another, bigger Daiso and spent another happy hour exploring it, making some more purchases.  We are happy this time as the exchange rate is in our favour.  Last time we came to Japan a 100 Yen shop was an 80p shop, but now it is a 60p shop.  The things you can buy for 60p are outstanding!  If we didn't have a luggage allowance, I would go absolutely mad in those shops.

After a quick look round some more stores, we realised that it was actually after 5pm and we were all hungry.  It was time for dinner.  On our travels we had come across a Sushi Train restaurant, where your sushi orders arrive directly to your table on a shinkansen train.  How could we not eat there?

Big beer

Collecting a plate off the shinkansen

It was the most exciting and novel dining experience any of us have ever had.  It was a sort of round sushi restaurant but with an extra novelty factor. Basically there was an ipad on your table, which had the menu in English.  You scroll through it and click on what you want to eat.  The kitchen get your order, load it on a shinkansen which carries it to your table.  You unload the shinkansen and then send it back to the kitchen.  How exciting is that?  

How much food?

Raw fish - yummy!

None of us could believe our luck and Tom - well he was in seventh heaven, very excited and suddenly very very hungry!  We had so much fun, we ended up eating quite a bit.  In fact we ate 20 plates of food between us, however, it only came to roughly £26, in our minds very good value for the fun we got.  Don't think Tom sat still for longer than 30 seconds during the whole thing.  He certainly tried lots of new things, and in the end would only eat raw fish, refusing things like chicken karage etc.

Video of the Sushi Train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suY1XNf7eXQ

Gundam

Sunset over Tokyo

Finally we dragged ourselves away from there and paid up.  We then headed home, via Gundam - a huge robot outside the shopping centre.  Tom was scared of him - said he was too big and was happy when we were walking back towards the train station again.  We were greeted by a lovely sunset behind the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower, so stopped to take a couple of photos before heading home.  It was a good day, we didn't get back to the flat until after 7!

Today's purchases:

+ New bigger Japanese pyjama set for Tom

+ Shinkansen T-shirt (Komachi)

+ Shinkansen socks (Komachi)

+ Shinkansen sleeveless T-shirt (lots of shinkansen)

+ Shinkansen toothbrush

+ Shinkansen dividers

+ Shinkansen fridge magnet

+ Shinkansen sticker for the suitcase

+ Shinkansen iphone case for Matt

+ Banana cutter

+ Pliers

+ Garlic peeler

+ LED nightlight

+ 2 x T-shirts for Matt

First Day - Trainspotting (of course!)

It wasn't a great night's sleep.  Matt did ok, but gave up at 5am.  I managed 2 x 2 blocks of 2 hours sleep and plenty of snoozing.  Tom, on the other hand slept through and didn't wake up until quite late.  (Lucky boy).

We didn't stray too far today as we knew that jet lag would have an effect at some stage.  We headed back to Tokyo Station, got our Japanese Rail Passes sorted.  They start on Saturday, so we won't be going for any long trips for a while yet.  We had a look at some Dr Yellow merchandise (it has expanded in the last 2 years, went on the hunt for Uni Qlo (where we got Tom's train T-shirts last time) but we could only find small ones which didn't stock any children's clothes.  Not to worry, we have plenty of time yet...

Tempura Lunch

Oh well - nevermind, we were getting quite peckish at this point so decided to head towards the food outlets to see what would tempt us.  Tempura tempted us, big time, so much so that we were happy to wait in a queue for a while until they could squeeze us in.  It was good too.  I had a vegetarian plate with soba noodles and Matt a mixed fish bowl with rice which we shared with Tom alongside a side plate of 3 extra ebis (well we would have struggled otherwise with 2 ebi between 3 of us!).  It all went down very well.  We brought Tom's special chopsticks with us - we bought them in Japan last time - they are smaller than average and have a little clip on them to make them easier to use.  Tom uses them at home when we have Shabu Shabu or sukiyaki and he did extremely well with them today.  We are hoping to get the clip off them during this holiday.  Well there's a demonstration of developing fine motor skills for school!!!!!!

Komachi

Next on the itinerary was the event of the day: train spotting at Tokyo station.  We weren't alone.  There were a handful of other 5 year old boys with their mums on the platform too - it's what you do when you are 5 after all!!!!!  We hung around on the JR East shinkansen platform and weren't disappointed.  First to arrive was the Max - a double decker shinkansen.  Tom when loopy when he saw it.  He, of course knows all of the trains from videos on you tube, but this was his first time to see them with his own eyes and he was very excited.

Hyabusa

In fact he spent most of the time on the platform jumping up and down in sheer excitement.   The next one we saw was the E7 (or Asama) the newest of the shinkansens a white number with blue and gold trimmings.  None of us had seen this one before. This one will go to Kanazawa (goes as far as Nagano at the moment) - apparently the actual track laying for this line finished yesterday.

Happy Train Spotters

Then... the ones we had all been waiting for - the Hayabusa and the Super-Komachi: otherwise known as the green one and the red one.  These truly are amazing to see with the naked eye.  I generally don't see the point in train spotting, but found myself pulling out my camera to take photos of these - although it is difficult to translate what you see on to 2d media - you just don't get the same affect.  Even better for Tom was that these two were 'kissing' - this caused a lot of jumping up and down.  We went down to see the kiss and found lots more little boys also very excited.  Even better, another kissing couple arrived on the next track, meaning there were two kissing trains.  How much excitement can one little boy (and his Dad) take?

They are KISSING!

It was only due to lack of benches on the platform and heat that eventually we left, we were getting tired and thirsty.  We headed one stop down the line, found ourselves a cafe for tea and a bun.  Well - iced coffee for Matt - which he made me try saying it was sweet and if I like coffee cake then really I should like iced coffee, and anyway Tom is trying lots of new things at the moment, so I should too.  I took a huge gulp - OMG!!!!!  It was an assault on my mouth!  I really can not fathom why oh why anyone would want to drink that liquid.  It burnt a ring of terrible bitterness in my mouth - how that can be refreshing or enjoyable is completely unimaginable to me.  Yes I know I'm the minority, but really - the rest of the world does have it wrong - it is disgusting!!!!!!

A proper kiss!

A very excited boy!

Once  I had recovered we headed to BIC Camera - one of Matt's favourite electric shops.  On the way I noticed a model railway shop, so we had to go in.  Matt took a deep breath looking at the prices: the standard size for model railways here is smaller than in the UK, so if you want Japanese trains for our railway, you will be looking at A LOT of money!  Oh well it was nice to look! Matt went looking for a new camera bag, he found one but it is a bit pricey so he's thinking about it.  We then had a look around the toy section - lots of trains of course to keep a small boy happy.  Then we found ourselves in the off licence section (obviously there is an off licence in an electric store) and found a great range of whisky including McClellands - a brand we found last time which is a single malt marketed under this name for Japan.  It is extremely well priced - £11 for a 750ml.  How do they do it?

We were now all flagging, so headed home via the local supermarket where we picked up some gyoza for dinner.  We were really really flagging when we got home, so had an early dinner, then filled up the bath for a good Japanese bathtime.  The bath here is fully automated, you tell it how deep you want the water and how hot, press a button and it does it for you.  A panel in the kitchen then beeps and tells you when it is ready.  All very well, but you need to put the plug in first - doh!  Once we had figured that out we tried again and had a very pleasurable bathing experience.  Tom then went to bed, but we stayed up.  I really really struggled.  I tried to write the blog, but instead of English typed some gibberish (all of which I had to delete this morning - even I couldn't understand it!).  I went out on the balcony, ate more food etc etc, but the jet lag had me.  I got to 9pm and then collapsed thankfully in bed.

Here's a short video of a couple of Shinkansen at Tokyo station:

http://youtu.be/ZckPFHuoxa8