Of Sushi, More Shopping and A lot of Sight-seeing

We had been trying to decide if we wanted to go to Hakone. Firstly Ah Kong and Ah Ma have already been there in their previous trip to Japan. Secondly, if we were to go, we would need to wake up very early. Also whether to bring you a long. So, to make the decision, we decided to take the train to Shinjuku Station where we could inquire further about the trip to Hakone.

As usual, we made sure that you'd taken your lunch before heading out to Shinjuku. Upon arrival, we headed straight to the counter and after making inquiries, we decided to get the Odakyu Hakone Freepass for the both of us. We did not have to make a decision straightaway about bringing you along, as with travelling with you so far within Japan, there was no extra charge for your ticket.

After buying our tickets for a (VERY) early trip for Tuesday, we headed to Shinjuku Terrace City for a little retail therapy (ahem.. for the eyes). Ah Ma bought herself a nice jacket and after looking around and taking pictures, we headed for Ueno again.

What was on the menu in Ueno? Sushi, of course! We haven't had sushi since we arrived and there's only a few more days to go before heading back to Malaysia. So we took the train, and by the time we arrived in Ueno, you'd fallen asleep. A blessing, as it was a sushi restaurant serving sushi on the rotary. As we had our lunch perched on our stools, you dosed contentedly in your stroller parked at the side of the restaurant (safe and away from harm!)

After a yummy lunch, we headed to Ueno to buy more foodstuff to bring back to Malaysia as well as some food for Ah Ma to cook for tonight's dinner. Soon, we were on the train headed home to Akasaka to rest a little and to prepare for dinner.

We had decided that we would let you decide whether you'd be going to Hakone with us. Since we needed to leave Akasaka latest by 6.30am for our 7am train, we'd bring you along if you woke up. And guess what? You did wake up. Just on time for mummy to bathe you and off we went. With the stroller (despite Ah Ma telling us that it was not possible to use the stroller).

We arrived in Shinjuku Station with ample time to buy something for breakfast before looking for our seats in the "Romance Car", the train that is a faster train. I thought that having woken up so early, you'd sleep in the train. But nooo... you had something else in mind. You played and played in the train while daddy napped most of the way to Hakone-Yumoto and only decided to fall asleep around 15 minutes before we arrived! Sigh.. so mummy didn't get to nap. Oh well...

We waited a while in Hakone-Yumoto and soon the tram arrived and we hopped on the switchback train on Hakone-Tozan Line that first moved forward then backwards, zig-zagging up the hill until we arrived at Gora. When we arrived, there was a large crowd waiting to hop on the cable car to go up to Sounzan. Since it was still early and we didn't want to join the crowd, we decided to walk around Gora and wait for the next tram. It was quite a wait and as we waited the crowd got bigger and bigger. And when we got it, it was rather packed and the seats were VERY close together. As usual, you picked the best time to ask to be breastfed. So how? Luckily mummy had your (current) favourite rice crackers in my handbag, and so that kept you occupied and forgot what you originally wanted from me. Phew... Next was to catch the gondola on the Hakone Ropeway to Owakudani. That was one of the points where we could see Mt Fuji. It wasn't too clear that day, but we've had several nice shots of Mt Fuji already, so nevermind... Here's where the sulfur mountain was. The sulfur smell was quite bearable.. or so we thought. We bought the eggs that were boiled in the natural hot springs. Er.. forgot to take a picture of it. Too busy eating. Then off we went to climb the sulfur mountain. And I tell you, thank goodness we decided to bring the stroller. Hey.. we managed to push you up almost all the way. But the moment we neared the top, the sulfur smell was too strong, so we doubled back down to have lunch and off we went on the gondola again this time heading to Togendai.

You loved the rides that we've taken so far. Especially on the gondola. You even disturbed the nice ladies in the gondola, but of course when they spoke to you, you decided to be shy... Here's a picture of you in the gondola and also the view of Lake Ashi from our gondola.

Again, we missed the "pirate ship" that was to take us to Moto-Hakone, the last stop for our Hakone trip. But since it was still early, we wondered around, got you some more milk from the store and also came across this sign.. Daddy could not resist taking a picture of the signboard.

Soon, it was time to queue to board the ship. We managed to get a seat with beautiful view. Here's some of the pictures taken in Lake Ashi as well as of the ship. Next stop, Moto-Hakone. It was a slow ride of around 30 minutes.

From Moto-Hakone we walked a little, enjoying the view (again, I'm thankful we brought the stroller) and we arrived at the bus station, waited a while and when the bus arrived, we headed back to Hakone-Yumoto. You'd fallen asleep even before we boarded the bus and you only woke up when mummy carried you off the bus in Hakone-Yumoto. The return trip to Shinjuku was to be by train. This time it wasn't by Romance Car.. and it was the longest trip back ever! It was crowded and we stopped at one station for more than 20 minutes!

Finally.. yes finally we arrived at Shinjuku station and took a train back to Akasaka where Ah Kong and Ah Ma were waiting for us. What a long long day of sightseeing and interesting travelling. Just in one day we sat on the: subway, train, cable car, gondola, ship and bus. Wow!

Some Shopping Finally...

It's the first weekend we get to spend with Pek Kong and so what was on the itinerary? First we fed you your moi moi and then we were off. Before we started sightseeing the malls/branded shops, we made a stop at Omotesandō, as we were going to make a stop at Harajuku to look at the Meiji Jingu-mae, a shrine built in dedication the Emperor Meiji and his wife. We had to walk a short distance from the subway station. Guess what we saw along the way? Lots of shops selling branded items. And they were each several floors high. Not just one tiny shop lot. What an eye opener! Haha..

We finally arrived at Harajuku and since it was Sunday, there we several street vendors along with the locals dressed in Gothic clothing and make up. Anyway, we made our way to the entrance and it was a rather warm day and in fact, we had to remove our jackets as it was getting stuffy. Furthermore, it was a rather long walk to reach the shrine from the entrance. You initially insisted on walking, but as it was a really long walk and your little short legs could only go so fast, we had to put you into the stroller with a promise of letting you come out to walk as soon as we arrived at the shrine compound. Unfortunately it was a very bumpy road and after sitting quietly in the stroller for a while, you started to protest. But daddy pushed as fast as the stroller could go and we finally made it. Phew..

Entrance to Meiji-Jingu Mae Compound of Meiji-Jingu Mae

As with the many places we have been in Japan so far, it was crowded. And it was made worst with the fact that it was a Sunday. There were many children dresses in Kimono and Hakama. I guess there's a big occasion as some mummies and daddies also went dressed in their best. Here's a little girl in her Kimono and of a lady getting married with everyone taking pictures of her. She posed for so long for her own professional photographer as well as visitors like us to take pictures of her.

We walked around the grounds before leaving. Next stop was nearby Harajuku. There was lots of little shops selling mostly clothes. We made a quick stop to have a light lunch of crêpe and drinks. And we took a stroll back to the train station before heading to Ginza.

Ginza was an interesting place. As it was Sunday, the road was closed to traffic and we were free to cross the road whenever and wherever we felt like it. Managed to get this picture of the road, all decorated with Christmas decorations. We walked into several shops and even into IOIO a large shopping mall.. but it was crowded everywhere. There was even a jam trying to get into the escalator! We got separated from Ah Kong and Ah Ma as they managed to get into the lift while we couldn't as we had to struggle with the stroller, so in the end we had to push our way onto the escalator and when we finally made it to the lower floors, we could not find Ah Kong and Ah Ma.. after searching and searching while mummy waited near the entrance, daddy and Pek Kong found them.

By then it was rather late and everyone was getting tired from all that walking. But before we left Ginza to go back to Akasaka.. we had one more stop and one purchase to make. See that silly grin on my face? Yup, daddy bought me something. Isn't he sweet?

And then we headed home to rest. Dinner was early as lunch was a light one. What did we have for dinner? We went to the nearby restaurant that we walk pass everyday on our way home and out from the apartment. Look at what we had... Yummy Japanese steak. It was heavenly!

As it was still early, we crossed the road to take a train to Shibuya. Yup, the place with the busiest pedestrian crossing. Daddy tried several times to get a good shot of the human traffic. It was rather difficult, but he finally managed these as we were leaving Shibuya to take a train home.

Yummy Japanese Steak Dinner

Hello Kamakura

It was to be a long, busy day ahead. The plan was to leave the house by 8am as we needed to take a train for 1 hour to reach Kamakura. Pek Kong wanted to come along with us, but he didn't feel too well in the morning, so daddy was our tour guide for the day again. We took the train to Tokyo station to catch the JR Train. Our JR pass was still valid, so we took this train for free. You slept all the way there. By the time we arrived in Kamakura, our bums were roasted! The seats were heated, and boy, were they hot!!

We bought tickets for the Enoden and off we went. First stop on this train was Enoshima. We walked across the Enoshima Ohashi Bridge that linked the mainland to the island. Not a very short walk, but when we arrived, we saw many stalls selling souvenirs and also seafood there. So where to for the first stop? We walked and we walked and we walked first up the steep slope and then on steps and more steps before we came to this temple. It was a temple of the Dragon King. We continued walking and we came to this beautiful beach with many people carrying buckets and eagles flying overhead. Daddy stopped to take some pictures before we walked a little bit more to reach the Enoshima Iwaya Cave.

Enoshima Ohashi Bridge

It was an interesting place, made up of 2 caves. Some parts were low and there was a bridge linking the 2 caves. We saw something interesting on our way to the second cave. I guess it was naturally made by the waves that come crashing in and out. Looks like a tortoise, right?

After exploring the second cave, daddy took you down to the beach to have a look at the little fishes in the water. I wonder what else was there...

Eagles soaring nearby

And now we have to walk and walk back to where we started. But halfway you made a lot of noise, asking to be fed, so we decided to stop and have lunch. It was a simple restaurant with a beautiful view. No time to take pictures.. hehe.. Had to look for a place to breastfeed you and after that we had our lunch of yummy tempura with rice and you also shared some of our food. Only a little...

We wanted to go to the lighthouse, but it was another long walk and we were all too tired, so we decided to head back to the Enoden to take a train. We stopped to buy some things before arriving at the train station and waited for the train.

Next stop: Hase. It was several stops away and the train was VERY crowded. I guess it's because it's a weekend. We were packed like sardines. Luckily mummy managed to get a seat and you entertained a nice Japanese lady sitting next to us. After getting of the train, we walked and we walked again, with you walking too, but in the end, we put you (protesting away) into the stroller as it was very crowded and the sidewalk was rather narrow. And finally, we arrived at the Great Buddha Statue of Kamakura.

We strolled around the compound, sat a while to rest our tired legs and you also had a feed. I actually noticed people feeding there too.. Under their cape, but since i had nothing, daddy sacrificed his jacket for you to have a feed. I guess you're hungry and tired. And off we went after that to go to the next site in Hase, Hase Temple. We had to double back the way we came.

On the way to the Great Buddha, we saw a lot of people holding large rice crackers in seaweed. And of course we also had to try it out. Er.. nothing spectacular. In fact after a while it felt very dry. Hehe.. Never try, never know, eh? And we continued until we reached the Hase Temple. By then, everyone was too tired, so we abandoned the plan to see this temple. Instead, we headed back to the train station.

It was quite a wait before the next train arrived. By then the crowd waiting for the train was very big. And when we finally got into the already packed train, it was very full. And I'd thought the earlier ride to Hase was full! We had to make a few more stops before reaching Kamakura station and even though the train was already packed people still pushed their way into the train! We were all thankful when we finally arrived at the last stop. And if you think this was the crowd leaving Kamakura as it was already late, there was an even BIGGER crowd waiting for the train.

Another short wait and we were off on the train heading for Tokyo station. And so ends, another long day. What was on the menu for dinner? Pek Kong cooked for us, his "house specialty" and it was delicious, after having eaten out for more than a week.

Rest Day in Tokyo

Or so that was originally planned. In the end, we did not stay at home as planned. Instead we started the day by taking the subway to see the Imperial Palace Gardens. Remember that picture that I had posted earlier of the night view from our apartment? Well, we decided to go there and explore the beautiful grounds. And it was worth the time spent there. You had a wonderful time, walking around, and most importantly, jumping on the man holes as well as the leaves that were on the ground. It was then that we realised that this trip to Japan is also your first time walking on the roads and streets. After all, when we're back in Malaysia, most of the time is spent in malls.

Checking out the manholes!

We walked around, took some pictures and you enjoyed running around a garden too. There were many people enjoying the sun and the beautiful garden. As we were leaving you walked by yourself and lost balance. So... you had a bungalow on your forehead. It was all read and spotty as you'd fallen on the road. Poor little thing. Luckily you were easily consoled and continued the walk, jumping on the drain covers as we walked towards the exit.

Running around the Imperial Palace Gardens

We wanted to have a look at the Imperial Palace. Since it was a different entrance from the one we took, we had to walk a distance. That was when you started whinging and crying. We had to stop on and off to pacify you, but it only worked for a while before you started again. in the end, we gave up and mummy had to carry you in my arms, with you indicating that you wanted to be fed. We crossed the road, trying to make it to the subway station, but ended up on a park bench. It was a beautiful park, and so mummy fed you and you fell almost instantly to sleep. I had to carry you for a while more before we managed to put you in the stroller.

We had to change trains to finally arrive at the station to ride on the Yurikamome Elevated train. It was late and we were hungry too. So where did we stop? We stopped at Daiba Station to try to get lunch at Aquacity. But.. as always, all the restaurants had a long queue. Sigh.. so we walked to Decks to try our luck there. Not much choices, but we just made do with a simple lunch. Something that resembled Chinese food. You'd woken up just as we arrived at the station and so you joined us for lunch too.

Beautiful view in Decks

These 2 places weren't too interesting so we hopped on the train to go to Venus Fort. Ah.. that's my kind of place *grin*. Went to buy something that my friend and asked me to help her get. The outside is deceiving as it looked like some warehouse, but when you enter...behold... Venus Fort:

Cool eh? It's got lots of little shops and a beautiful fountain and the "sky" changes like the sky outside.

We had to head home soon, as Pek Kong was coming back to Japan from his trip today. But before we left, we decided to ride the train to the end of the line and back to the first station, Shimbashi. As we were the first to be on the train in Toyosu, we got to sit in the first seat to enjoy the beautiful view all the way back.

We changed trains to get back to Akasaka and you had your dinner while we waited for Pek Kong, in the end we went off for dinner as it was late and we weren't sure what time he'd be back. While you were sleeping we noticed that your cheeks were rather red. Looks like 2 possibilities: sun burn while we were walking in Imperial Palace gardens or heat from the heater in the elevated train. Hhmmm...

Our Trip Out of Tokyo - Continued

Our third day out of Tokyo was spent in Nara and Osaka. As with the day before, we all woke up early to get ready for another long day. We arrived at Shin Osaka station to change trains to Osaka, then to Tennoji and then to hop on another train to bring us to Nara. It took almost 30 minutes by rapid train to reach Nara. Upon arrival, we got some information then hopped on a taxi that took us to the Nara Park where another UNESCO World Heritage site was located, Todaiji.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the residents of the park. See...

They were everywhere. And we even got to buy food to feed them. So we need to beware when carrying any packaging, as they seem to think it's food! Goodness...

We walked a little bit and soon arrived at the beautiful temple of Todaiji, which resides Japan's largest Buddha statue and also being the world biggest wooden structure. The weather was VERY cold. Thank goodness mummy bundled you up well. So hopefully you were warm. As with all the places that we have been to so far, it was rather crowded. There were local and foreign tourists there. We walked around the temple and its grounds before buying some souvenirs and leaving the temple grounds. As we didn't have anything else planned, we walked around the park for a while before trying to eat lunch, as you were hungry. Too bad.. the restaurant nearby was crowded. So we headed back to the station (daddy bought rice crackers for you.. and you were contented with that.. phew) and since there was one direct train heading to Osaka, we decided to have lunch in Osaka.

Family Picture in front of Todaiji

In Nara Park

Another 1 hour train ride, with all of us napping all or most of the way back to Osaka. We took a late lunch at one of the restaurants near the train station before hopping on another train to Osaka-ko. Where to next? The Osaka Kaiyukan. Where?? The AQUARIUM.. yay.. finally we get to see something different.

Got out of the station into the freezing weather. We're near the harbour. That's why... So we tried to walk as quickly as possible to reach the end of the road where the Kaiyukan was supposed to be. Sadly we met with an accident on the way there. We'd stopped at an intersection and daddy was zipping up your jacket (you were walking) when a big gust of wind blew and the stroller went off like a bullet! It zoomed so quickly that before daddy could save it, it crashed into a van that was waiting for the light to turn green. Phew.. luckily no damage there and the driver was ok with the little accident! It was a scary thing when we saw the stroller zooming away, but we all had a good laugh after that... Good thing you weren't on the stroller. We are still wondering if the stroller would have run off if you were seated on it. Lesson learnt: put on the brakes when no one is minding the stroller.. or make sure someone holds on to it all the time.

The Kaiyukan had multi levels, starting from the 8th floor, we worked our way to the lower floors. Here are some of the attractions that we saw there. The main attraction was the Whale Shark. Of course there were others too. Can you guess what species this is?

Haha.. it was the attraction of the season: swimming Santa. Cute, eh? We met him on the way to the nursing room. Yup, they had a nursing room there. So convenient. Of course, we could not leave without a souvenir. So what did we get you? Haha.. a whale shark soft toy.

As it was still early, we tried to take a picture of the Christmas tree there.. But it was SOOOO cold, so we attempted to take a picture before running to the warmth of the nearby shopping center. Walked around a little, had dinner before heading back to the station to take a train back to Shin-Osaka. And that was the end of another day.

The plans for our final day was to be a lazy day before heading to the train station to take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.. but NoOooo.. you decided otherwise.. You had to wake up at 7am and so all of us also had to wake up. Since you were up, we wanted to go to Osaka to walk around the shopping mall.. but NooOooo... you had other plans in mind. You decided to fall asleep just as we were leaving. So we lazed around the hotel room, until you woke up, we checked out, left our luggage at the station before heading to Osaka. But we only had 1 hour to spend before rushing back to Shin-Osaka, buy lunch and hop on the bullet train back to Tokyo.

Xmas Decoration in Hankyu Department Store

As always, you napped almost all the way back to Tokyo. Daddy managed to get this beautiful scenery on the way back. Mt Fuji...

Oh yeah.. by the way, we saw this place that caught out attention on the way to Osaka on Monday. It was a factory with little babies showing their bottoms to us. Hehe.. it was a Unicharm factory, makers of Mamy Poko, the diapers that you are using.. Too bad it was too fast for us to get a picture.

Our Trip Out of Tokyo

We had to wake up a little earlier on Monday. Our bullet train would be leaving Tokyo Station at 11am, but we needed to get there early, in case we got lost. Furthermore, lunch was to be on the train, so we needed to buy our bento lunches and drinks. We had our yummy lunch and soon we all fell asleep, despite the spectacular view.

We arrived in Shin-Osaka Station right on time. After a short walk, we arrived at Laforet, our company's corporate hotel. It was a simple hotel, but daddy loved the room. Have a look and see why:

Can't figure out why? Have a look again:

Got it? Yup, this massage chair. Daddy's favourite spot the moment we get into this room! And he was on it most nights after our long long walks.

Well, after checking in, we rushed off to the train station again. We wanted to either go to Nara or Himeiji. We hopped onto the train with the intention of heading to Osaka and changing trains to head to Nara. But we changed our minds when we noticed that we were on the special rapid headed for Himeiji. Yikes.. what a BIG mistake! It was the "slow train" heading to Himeiji, taking almost an hour to arrive at Himeiji. We rushed all the way to Himeiji Castle, but we were too late. Just missed the last entry at 4pm. So what to do? We took some pictures before heading back to the train station to book our Shinkansen tickets back to Shin-Osaka. Since we had time, we had dinner in Himeiji before heading home.

We woke up early on the next day to head to Himieji again, as we were behind schedule. Since we had already booked our tickets, we knew the time and did not have to rush for the non-reserved seats. We arrived at Himeiji and took a cab to the castle. Hehe.. save our legs to walk the castle grounds. It was a beautiful castle, being a UNESCO World Heritage too..

There were times when we entered the castle area and needed to remove our shoes. It was interesting. We even climbed the castle. It was 6 floors high. Ah Ma gave up after the 3rd floor. You on the other hand obviously followed us. So you got "imperial" treatment, being carried up the stairs by Ah Kong or Daddy. They had to take turns. Mummy could not carry you, as the steps were narrow and rather steep. We even got to stamp on our brochure to "prove" that we reached the top. There were 2 groups of school children at the top too. They were there on a school excursion. How lucky...

After that, we headed back towards the train station. But before that, we had our lunch. Ah Ma insisted that we had lunch in Himeiji as she had read somewhere that wheat was grown in Himieji and so the noodles there is delicious. And it sure was. We all had udon cooked in different styles. And everyone agreed that it was DELICOUS!

Next we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto, our first choice location which we did not manage to get a room. And now we know why we couldn't get a hotel room. The crowd there was AMAZING! So many people in all the places that we visited. So where did we go to? First stop by cab was to Sangjusangendo a temple with 1001 Kanon, Goddess of Mercy. Too bad no pictures were allowed. So we only walked in to have a look pray a little and off we went to the second stop.

Where to? Next stop is Kiyomizudera, another temple. But we didn't see much of the temple, instead enjoying the wonderful scenery there. We took lots of pictures, but here's one of the beautiful view. Amazing, don't you agree?

We were a little late, so we decided to catch the later Shinkansen and so dinner was at Kyoto Station. We originally planned to eat nearby, but it started to drizzle just as we were leaving the station, so we doubled back to the station, walked around, looking at the many restaurants before deciding on one restaurant. Remember how I said before the food that we have eaten is great? Well, the food in this restaurant was... not the best. Too bad.. We did a little shopping before heading to the platform to wait for our train. And so that's the end of our second day away from Tokyo.

Busy Part of Tokyo

It's Sunday and we started of with a lazy day before heading out to Shinjuku. What was the plan for the day? Well.. we needed to get our Ordinary Pass converted into a Japan Rail Pass. Ah.. mummy and daddy bought this before leaving Malaysia as it was only for foreigners. You didn't need it as children under 6 years old travel for free! Cool... eh?

Anyway.. after looking for the office and also booking our tickets for Osaka on the shinkansen (bullet train), we were off to tour this shopping district. It sure is a busy area... We walked around, looking at the malls, the scenery and the people. We walked and we walked and we walked until we got hungry. Lunch time.. Yikes! It is Sunday and looks like the whole world is out here for lunch! In the end.. we had.... (drum rolls, please... ) Mc Donalds. Daddy had mentioned when we first arrived that he would like to try it.. but we didn't expect to eat it so soon. Anyway.. even McDonalds was crowded. It was on the second floor and seating was either on this floor of the third floor. We had to wait a while before finally getting a place to sit. Worst still.. the third floor had a smoking area! Can you believe it? A family restaurant.. Anyhow, we later noticed that people were allowed to smoke in most places..

After that, we walked around in one of the malls.. It was full of branded goods! Wow.. never seen so many brands under one roof. Anyway.. we only "cuci mata" for now. We will wait for Pek Kong to come before really looking at some items to buy *grin*. While looking for Ah Kong and Ah Ma around the mall, we came across the Christmas decorations. Couldn't resist this picture moment.

It was still early and so we came to this little street... See.. it's so narrow, but full of little restaurants to select from. Too bad we've eaten. Anyhow, I think we'd have difficulty trying to get you to sit on the stools!

Managed to get a shot of the large crowd in Shinjuku.. but I didn't bring the cable for that camera.. Darn.. Remind me to load the picture later, okie?

Went home for a rest and you had dinner before we all bundled up to have our dinner. It was sooooo windy that my teeth were chattering. So, we didn't take our time to look around at the restaurants in Akasaka. We just saw this restaurant at the end of the road, peeked at the menu and quickly hopped in to order our dinner. Phew.. out of the cold for a while. Dinner as always was delicious. Must be the cold weather.. Improves the appetite. Or rather.. we feel hungry all the time

Ok.. time to sleep.. we have a long day ahead tomorrow. Oh yeah.. Here's the night view from where we're staying. The dark area is where the Imperial Palace is. Nice? Daddy's getting better with his camera.

Sick in Japan

Yup.. I think mummy infected you too. Sigh.. You woke up very early this morning, crying away. Perhaps it's rather dry too, so you took a feed, but seemed uncomfortable still.. So mummy gave you some of your medicine (thank goodness we brought them!) and to our surprise, you fell asleep again, and only woke up around 9.30 after mummy had taken my bath. Phew... so you freshened up, took you moi moi and off we went. We left the apartment around 11am. Pek Kong had already left the apartment. He's going travelling and will only be back on Friday. Where did we go today?

We went to Asakusa to look at a famous Buddhist temple. We took the subway to Asakusa which was the last stop on the subway. The train ride took less than 30 minutes, but you sat quietly on daddy's lap all the way there. Perhaps this new experience is a little scary to you. We got out and slowly made our way to the temple. All along the way there were vendors selling souvenirs, all types of biscuits and snacks that were made there, and even clothes. They had the adorable Yukata, that Pen Kong had bought for you last year when daddy came to Japan.

Finally we came to the temple. It was massive and there were lots of people visiting this temple. Seemed to have many locals there too. Perhaps it's because it's a Saturday. Everyone is out! We walked around, and daddy took some pictures before we walked back to the shopping area to look around. What to eat for lunch? There were so many shops to pick from and we didn't know where to start. We finally settled for a shop, after looking at the displays outside. It was a good choice, being a family restaurant, they even had a baby chair for you and even served kiddy meals. But since you'd already taken your moi moi, you ended up eating the Chawan Mushi that came with Ah Ma' s lunch. The food was yummy. Hey.. in fact, all the food that we've tried so far has been delicious and new to us. We walked around a little more before heading towards the subway to go to Ueno.

Ah Ma was thinking of cooking dinner tomorrow, and so we hopped off the train at Ueno. Got a little lost trying to find the market area. But we finally found it and it was interesting. There were so many stalls, selling from shoes to clothes, to raw food to cooked food. We bought some things and headed home.. without the food for tomorrow's dinner! I guess we'll be trying another restaurant for dinner tomorrow. Or maybe Ah Ma will buy some things to cook at the convenience store nearby tomorrow.

You'd fallen asleep in mummy's arms (sigh.. didn't bring the stroller with us today) and daddy took over to carry you. My arms were already aching this morning from carrying you the whole day, yesterday! But you woke up 30 minutes later when we were just about to reach home. Luckily you played a while in the house and went back to sleep again. So we all took this opportunity to siesta too.

Dinner was at a little 24hour restaurant that daddy recommended. He said that the beef or chicken meal was nice. So we took a little walk and had a simple meal as compared to yesterday, but still delicious. It is more quiet in Akasaka today as fewer people come here, with it being a business district and today being Saturday. I guess they headed elsewhere unlike yesterday when it was Friday and everyone just headed to the nearest bar to relax after a long weeks' work.

Everyone is sleeping now, and I haven't gotten the time to figure out how to load the pictures from daddy's camera. Must make a note to self to ask him tomorrow. I think I'd better hop into bed too. Goodnight. Hope you get better tomorrow. I wonder where we're going next...

Our First Dinner in Tokyo: Fugu

Welcome to Japan..

After a long flight, were here in Japan. Mummy's voice decided to stay back in Penang and so I'm now croaking like a frog! Anyway, you were fine on the flight from Penang to Singapore. In fact, you had a wonderful time playing on the travelator while waiting for Ah Kong and daddy to buy some stuff before entering the departure hall. But by the time we got onto out flight heading to Narita, it was WAY pass your bedtime and so you were rather grouchy. Hey.. it was already 12 midnight! Anyway, you finally fell asleep and the stewardess came to fit in your bassinet. It was really small, but that didn't bother you obviously. In fact you slept quite well there until perhaps it got too dry and you woke up. You spent the rest of the time sleeping on my lap. They served you a wonderful breakfast of mashed potato, minced chicken cooked in tomato sauce and something else that we cannot figure out. It also had a box of fresh milk and fruits. Too bad you didn't eat too much. Only ate most of the mashed potato and some of the milk. Probably too early. Hey it was around 4am Malaysian time! As we were arriving in an hour's time, daddy changed you out of your PJs and you continued your sleep on my lap.

We arrived in Narita airport at 7.00 local time. You were up as we were disembarking the plane as the stewardesses were saying "bye bye" to everyone. After clearing immigration, collecting our luggage and clearing the customs, it was nearly 8am. We bought our bus tickets and waited for our bus which was to arrive at 8.30am. And boy was it punctual. They loaded our luggage onto the bus and we headed towards Tokyo. As ours was the last stop with the bus ride taking almost 2 hours, we managed to catch up on our nap. Especially poor daddy. He has difficulties sleeping on the plane.

At our stop, The Exelsior Hotel Tokyu, we hopped off, took a short walk (you were still sleeping, by the way..) and finally arrived at our destination, Prudential Towers. That's where your 2nd Pek Kong lives. It's in Akasaka, a business district. He'd left instructions along with a spare key for us. So we dropped our luggage and relaxed around the apartment, while waiting for you to wake up. After that, we headed to this Ramen shop that your Aunty Ashley had discovered when she was here recently (with instructions from Pek Kong, obviously). Lunch was delicious, with the hot soup being served in the cold weather.

We walked around and went to buy some groceries before heading back to the apartment. Ah Ma cooked moi for you and after you had your lunch, it was siesta time again for all of us. Phew.. this travelling sure is tiring.. We were going to have dinner with Pek Kong, but he said that he would be late. So after everyone had freshened up, we fed you the balance moi moi that Ah Ma had prepared earlier. To our surprise, Pek Kong came back earlier than expected. His meeting ended early.

So what was for dinner? Japanese food, obviously. Guess what was on the menu? Fugu! Yup.. you got that right.. it's the pufferfish. We'd walked a short distance to come to this quaint restaurant. Not a small one.. it had several floors! We had left our shoes in the lockers and were seated at 2 tables. Hey.. there are 5.5 of us.. He ordered the set. So we had the pufferfish served raw, fried (we loved that the most!) and also the rest of the bony parts to be cooked in a steamboat, along with tofu, veggies and other things. Last of the meal was rice which was cooked in the steamboat broth with eggs. That was delicious. Of course dessert was also served. It was "asam boi" flavoured sorbet. Hehe.. I can't for the world figure out another word for "asam boi"! My dictionary (daddy) is sleeping, like you!

After dinner, we took a short walk, stopped by the subway station for Pek Kong to show us how to reload the subway card and went home. But before that, the trees outside our building was beautifully lighted, so we stopped (in the cold!!) to take several pictures. After a long, tiring day (despite all the naps), we all finally fell asleep..at nearly 12midnight.

p/s: No pictures to put up yet. Dunno how to figure out daddy's camera. Will do it another day when he's up.

And We're Off...

Sayonara... We're going to Japan for 2 weeks. We will be heading to Japan tonight on the night flight to Singapore and then transit to Japan.

Hopefully I will have time to blog while we're in Japan. I'm sure Ah Kong will be bringing his notebook with him. Or maybe your 2nd Chek Kong, whom you will be meeting for the first time has a computer that mummy could borrow. Till then, tata!

Catching up

Phew.. it has been a busy 2 weeks for mummy. It is financial year end and so I had to rush to complete my work before we go off on holiday. I had several things to blog about, but no time to..

So here's a summary of what's been happening:

~ 8th November was baby Audrey's full moon celebration. Too bad mummy had to work that day. But Aunty Michelle (mummy schoolmate) sent the package to the house. We all ate something from the package. It was yummy. Of course mummy and another friend, Aunty Je Lyn managed to meet up with Aunty Michelle at her house to see little Audrey and also to give them a gift on Sunday, just in the nick of time...

~ On the same night, we all went to G Hotel's Sesame (the Chinese restaurant) to celebrate Grand-Aunt Doris' birthday. Dinner was delicious. And to make it a complete night, you and Annabelle che-che had to tear off the wallpaper on the restaurant! Luckily the Captain said that it was alright and he would get someone to fix up the wall! Sheesh.. mummy just left you for a minute and you both decided to entertain yourselves this way!

~ Mummy and daddy both got a little sick, with both of us having sore throats. But thank goodness we're fine now. Hopefully, you're did not catch the bug from us.

~ We had great retail therapy sessions lately, buying all the necessities for our trip. We borrowed a more compact stroller from Aunty Jamie. Luckily you are OK with it. We took it earlier to ensure that you are comfy in the stroller before going off on our trip

Time for a Haircut...

Haha... you must be thinking "again?!". No.. actually time for daddy to have a haircut. But we proceeded as planned and brought you along to watch daddy have his haircut.

We arrived at the shop after 6, but Uncle Austin was still there. Phew.. luckily. But guess what? You were happily walking along the corridor when we stopped in front of the shop. You obviously can recognise the place as you immediately stopped dead in your tracks. And flatly refused to enter the shop. Daddy tried to coax you to go in with him, but you didn't want to. Mummy had to carry you in but you kept making a lot of noise and insisted that you wanted to go out. So we stood in the heat outside for a while. But in the end, mummy carried you in again and after some noise, you gave in and willingly sat on the sofa.. away from the area to cut your hair!

Mummy had to take things slowly to convince you to go nearer so that you could see daddy having his haircut. After washing your hands I managed to get you to sit on the little chair, nearer to daddy.. and you seemed interested to see what was going on with daddy. You were also interested in the hairdryer.

We didn't manage to let you have a haircut today as there were other customers in the shop, but hopefully after this round, you'll be better next time.

Greedy Evan

You're still on your milk strike. Or to be more specific EBM (expressed breast milk) strike. Instead, you prefer the fresh milk that we take.. probably because it's cold. Or so we thought. Ah Ma gave you cold EBM which you instantly rejected the moment you caught a whiff of it. Even though it was in a cup. And she tried giving you cold formula milk too.. After enticing you with fresh milk first.. but she said you took ONE sip and immediately rejected it.

BUT the moment mummy is home, you immediately indicate that you need to be fed. Any effort to redirect your attention was in vain. You will remember that you wanted your nen-nen and will insist and start fussing if mummy tries to stall any longer.

I guess that is a way of your self weaning from breast milk? Maybe... But the weaning from the breast part seems like a more difficult task. Nevermind.. we'll take one thing at a time.

We have been feeding you food that we eat in hope that it would be easier when we travel in 2 week's time. So far, we will give you rice mixed with some of our dinner dishes. But to be on the safe side, kakak still cooks moi moi for you. You seem to be OK with the rice.. But perhaps it's too dry or just too much effort to eat that you will sometimes spit the food out. And since you sit next to daddy during dinner time, he's the one who's got to prepare your food and feed you as he eats dinner.

But you seem to be better with our food now days. In fact being able to recognise foods that you have eaten before. We were watching the Food Chain which is hosted by the Singaporean actress Tan Kheng Hua yesterday when there was a segment on "kaya roti". You got so excited and kept pointing to the TV telling mummy and daddy that there was toast on TV!! Hahaha.. Ah Ma says that you're such a clever boy now days, being able to finish one whole slice of toast for breakfast or tea-time. And when the program finished, you kept showing the hand signal "no more" and saying "boh".

So guess what you had for breakfast today?

Yikes... Sausage Lips

What happened? Perhaps you forgot that we had the 3 steps from the dining room to the living room. Perhaps you were too happy to be back in our house and playing with your toys.. No one knows the reason, but on Monday, you decided to forget about the steps.

Ah Ma said that she's just taken her eyes off you for a while to look at the new Japan Visa forms and the next thing she knew, you'd pushed your little jeep off the 3 steps and so you landed on the living room floor. It was already 5pm by then. Yikes.. what followed? Lots of crying lo.

Poor Ah Ma was shocked. After she'd managed to calm you, she called daddy who then tried to call mummy, and he headed to the carpark to get the car. Mummy's reaction when he called was a loud "WHAT?!" that everyone sitting nearby heard the panic in my voice. That was a scary moment.

By the time we arrived home, you were already calm, with Barney playing on TV but still manja as Ah Ma was carrying you. You didn't give us your customary toothy grin when you saw us. Instead we were greeted by you with your 2 swollen lips and Ah Ma's bloody shirt. I guess when she carried you with your bleeding gums, it dirtied her shirt.

Thankfully, you could still latch and eat your dinner. By night, you were back to normal albeit having sausage lips (as dubbed by Aunty Joanne).

As of yesterday, your lips looks perfectly alright, with only a little tell-tale mark on your lower lip.