Spinning Around Tokyo
Today was jam-packed with activity. We hit several spots around Tokyo, and didn’t spend a lot of time in any one place. Here’s the rundown:
- We got breakfast at Starbucks – Kai had a regular donut and Maria and I both had curry donuts (now I know you wouldn’t normally think of putting these two things together, but they’re actually really yummy –
here’s a recipe if you’re curious[linked page no longer available]). Then we found an ATM, got cash, and went back to the hotel to pay our bill. - Setting out from the hotel again, we hopped on a train to Asuku-Yama Park, which is a giant playground, located on the former grounds of the Shibusawa estate (the same Shibusawa that sponsored Maria’s conference in Aomori). But before we went in, we stopped to get Kai some Fish McDipper’s (fish sticks) at McDonald’s, as he was still hungry (not only can you get fish sticks at Japanese McDonald’s, you can get them with Wasabi-flavored sauce – yum!). He played at the park for a little while, but the weather turned hot and humid quite quickly, and he lost interest once he started getting really sweaty.
- Our next stop was Ueno, where we went through the Ameyoko shopping district. Small, flea-market like specialty stores (like those in a US Chinatown) are mixed in around the shiny mega-stores and malls. Our mission was to find Thunderbird toys for Kai, since you can’t get them in the US. We found them on the 5th floor of the gigantic Yamashiroya toy store. They had a plethora of Thunderbird toys to choose from. Kai was excited, and immediately latched on to one toy that he wanted. Maria and I were both trying to pretend we weren’t as excited as he was (something that happens to you in parenthood is that your own happiness becomes entirely defined by your child’s happiness). We were trying to push some of the other Thunderbird toys on him too, but he would have none of it. He just wanted one. Talk about role-reversal! Overwhelmed by the excitement, he fell asleep in his stroller after we left the store, so Maria and I did some clothes shopping at Muji, which is located on the basement floor of the Maruzen mall. Muji is the coolest store in the world. Think of it as a mini-Ikea that also sells hip clothes. Once I figured out the Japanese sizes (it’s not just that they’re in metric – clothes that otherwise fit me were often too short), I found a few things that I liked. Maria was so dazzled by Muji that she set aside her normally massive aversion to clothes shopping and actually bought some things for herself. Then we did lunch in a hole-in-the-wall, and it was excellent (as I said in a previous entry, you can get good food anywhere in Japan). There I discovered mugicha, which is similar to iced tea, but it’s made from barley. It has a very pleasant, light flavor, and it’s become one of my favorite things to drink.
- Next was Akihabara – “Electric Town” – home to all the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. I found a memory stick reader, which gave me the means to download pictures off the digital camera, as I had forgotten to pack the cable normally used to connect it to a PC. Then we went for a snack at Mos Burger, which is a Japanese fast-food burger chain, although it’s not really fast, which is ok, because it’s also better than McDonald’s. Kai woke up from his nap and wanted to go back to the hotel and play with his new toy. Even though we had only just arrived in Akihabara, Maria and I were wilting from the heat, so we agreed that his suggestion was a good one.
- After taking a break in the hotel for a couple hours, we caught the train to Shibuya, which is the nightlife spot in Tokyo. But tonight we were just passing through, as we were on our way to Aoyama, to meet up with Maria’s friend Jen – they were going to do a post-conference wrap-up meeting. Before that we had dinner at an Okonomiyaki restaurant, which – as expected – was delicious. I ordered a cream soda to drink, and inadvertently discovered that Japanese cream soda bears no resemblance to American cream soda – it consists of a green melon-flavored soda with a scoop of ice cream. Not exactly what I was planning to drink with dinner, but Kai was happy to share it! We then headed down Omotesando Blvd in Aoyoma. Maria knew this area well – we walked by Aoyoma Gakuin University, where she had worked as a research scholar during the years she lived in Japan. Unfortunately, there was some kind of miscommunication with Jen, as she never showed up at the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet. We drank tea and waited for a while, then we gave up and headed to the Harajuku train station. On the way we ran across Kiddy Land, which was another massive toy store like Yamashiroya. Kai decided he wanted another Thunderbird toy after all, so we got him a big Thunderbird 2 rocket, which even blurted things at you in Japanese when you pushed its buttons. We took the train from Harajuku back to Ikebukero, and slept well after a very full day!
May 23rd, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Do you still have the recipe for curry donuts? I tried the link and it didn’t work.
THANKS!!!!