Jen & Co.

Last week Jen and her three kids were here visiting from Singapore, and we really packed a lot in to those 48 hours. We went to the Tokyu Food Show in Shibuya station, where we bought yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick), vegetable tempura, a couple of cucumber rolls and a cream-filled chocolate cake that looked like a giant Yodel. We braved Kidzania, a sort of theme park where kids work various "jobs" (like baker, fireman and radio announcer) for play money that they can then spend on pencils and other junk from the gift shop. (Think of it as a high-concept Chuck E. Cheese, only with an "edutainment" bent, and with diligent, engaged staff... and none of those headache-inducing bleep-bleeping arcade games...so come to think of it it's not at all like the mouse place...).

After Kidzania, we took the Tokyo Metro to Hiroo for a run-around in Arisugawa Park. The kids were quite happy riding the train. I think the man sitting next to them was too polite to change seats.
This guy also seems to wish he was some place else. On Saturday we wandered around our 'hood in the drizzly rain, making a quick stop at this Japanese gift shop in Hiroo. It wasn't all lacquered trays and those bejeweled sticks that some women use to put their hair up; I had to keep the children outside to protect the paper lanterns and antique kites while Jen snagged some cool spin tops and other wooden toys.
Here's Jen snapping her daughter's picture outside this second-hand kimono shop. The place also had some ugly leather jackets and one sad-looking puffy white taffeta gown. We had lunch at Ippudo, where the kids wrapped clumps of sticky white rice in little squares of dried seaweed while Jen and I chowed on noodles in creamy, pork-fat-enriched broth...

Here's Jen with some of the kids, waiting for our table to be ready.Perhaps sensing that we were the sort of group that would become, shall we say, restless if kept waiting too long for food, one of the servers brought a menu outside so we could get our order in.
Come back soon guys, we miss you!