top of the world

Gotta climb! The boys get their fix at a playground near school.

rice taffy

It's a New Year's tradition to make mochi, a soft, stretchy, glutinous rice. At the British School's own after-school shin nen kai (new year's party) this week, students took turns pounding big globs of it with a large mallet; two Japanese ladies would then pull off small pieces, roll them into balls and serve them in little white cups topped with chocolate or strawberry. Instead of a spoon you got a little wooden stick.

city kids

Waiting to catch a train back to Hiroo after a long day of sightseeing

look mom, a tree of gold

decorated rocks outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Roppongi Hills

Moto-Azabu, Roppongi Hills

The oh-so-exclusive Nishimachi International School invited D for a "wait-list" screening. It took about 45 minutes and I haven't heard from the school since, but it was a good excuse to explore the lovely Moto-Azabu area of Minato-ku, sort of northeast of where we live. We stopped at this playground for a bit before continuing on through the pretty side streets and then onto the mega-complex known as Roppongi Hills, which has offices, apartments, restaurants, shops, cafes, a cinema (now showing I Am Legend and The Simpsons Movie, not dubbed), a Grand Hyatt hotel, and, best of all, a giant spider:

The main attraction in Roppongi Hills, though, is the 54-story Mori tower. You can pay to go up to the top floor for a great view of the city (and Mt. Fuji on a clear day). Time mag's bureau (which I hope to visit next week) is on the 34th floor. I took the kids to a katsu restaurant on the 5th floor (see post below).

katsu

The day before school started I took the boys to their first katsu restaurant (where everything is breaded and fried) and they loved the ton-katsu, the pork cutlets. The server gave us bowls of toasted sesame seeds and pestles to grind them up with, which helped keep the boys busy before the food arrived. I added a ladle's worth of sweet brown sauce (kept is a small pot on the table) to the pulverized bits and used it for dipping (though perhaps you're supposed to pour it all over the meat?). Each plate came with a mini mountain of sliced fresh cabbage, which is delicious with a different brown (sweet soy) dressing, and which of course the boys did not eat.

our stuff has arrived

There are four Japanese gentlemen in the apartment right now opening up 30 or so boxes and putting our things into closets and into cabinets. This is a first for me... I tried to put some books on a shelf but the man in charge shooed me away. So I am sitting at our new table, writing this post and trying not to interfere... I can't wait to get on my bike and ride around the neighborhood.

social hour

The British School hosts coffee mornings for parents every other Friday, and so today I got a chance to meet some more of the mums. It was a lively and friendly crowd, and there was a table set up with yummy cakes and cookies baked by the school librarian, a guy named Richie. I met some nice people but I miss the P.S. 8 moms!

time for a swim

In both our bathrooms, the tub and adjacent shower are separated from the toilet and sink by a glass wall and door. To take a bath, you have to set the temperature and the amount of water you want on an electronic control panel. From then on you just press a button and the tub will fill up according to these preset specifications. Then a female voice calls out in Japanese to let you know it's ready.

ikea assemblers extraordinaire

Step 1: put new table together.


Step 2: make "ships" out of the boxes it came in.

first day at British School

The boys share an afternoon snack outside The British School in Tokyo. They seemed to have survived their first day. Both their teachers are absolutely lovely.

Now I am a salaryman

T puts on his shoes before heading off to work on his first day as an international assignee.

we are (almost) ready to rock

Here's proof that if you ship a box from New York to Tokyo, it will eventually get there. This was T's gift from his in-laws. (You rock, mom.) Now we must wait for our Xbox 360 to arrive with the rest of our stuff, coming via air freight sometime early next week.

been there, done that

Public transportation does not faze this boy.

I've always been a fan of the New York City subway, but the mass transit system here is even better. The trains are cleaner and don't jostle you as much, and they run on time, all the time. They always stop at the same exact spot on the platform and people queue up for the doors even before the train arrives. The same etiquette (stand to the side and let passengers off first) applies here except that everybody follows it. Eating or drinking or using your mobile is verboten, and I'm told that if you are sitting near priority seating (designated for pregnant women, mothers saddled with infants, the aged and infirm) you are supposed to turn your mobile off in case your neighbor has a pacemaker. There are more than a dozen different lines in Tokyo, and we're lucky that we live close to the JR Yamanote line, which is more of a commuter train like MetroNorth and runs above ground. Kids older than 5 ride for half price, but fares vary according to destination (like in DC). I keep forgetting to swipe my Pasmo card on the way out.

Tokyo teen fashion

I wanted a picture of these girls (far left) but had to pretend I was taking one of my family outside Becker's Hamburger & Croissant, a fast-food joint in the Ebisu train station. D is doing his part to keep up the ruse. (Close up of the girls below.)

our budding photog

Our 5-year-old borrows the camera and takes this shot of his dad's feet walking through Shibuya. That's his brother's feet on the right.

hey, we live here now!

the boys pose outside the Windsor House Hiroo. The gate (in the far left edge of the shot) leads to an interior courtyard (see 2nd pic below).


There's an elevator and stairwell at the end of the path.

what is going on here?

Conor, 7, outside Shibuya station

Saturday in the park

Spent some time at Arisugawa park this weekend. It's a pretty big patch of green and not too far from our place. (You walk to the end of the Hiroo shopping street, past Nathan's hotdogs, the National Azabu supermarket, the florist that charges 3,200 yen (about $30) for a bouquet the size of my two fists and the Baskin Robbins, and you're at the southwest entrance.) It is named for Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (1835-1895). He was commander-in-chief of Japanese forces in the First Sino-Japanese War, among other things, and there's a statue of him on horseback here. We hiked along some of the narrow paths and stepped on stones to cross a bubbling brook. There are lots of small wooden bridges and a pond full of ducks.

The boys found plenty to do at the playground too. This rocking horse doesn't rock the usual way, but rather rolls forward and back.

snip snip

Took the boys to the barber on Saturday. There are several shops within walking distance, and all of them have those swirling striped poles. The boys were skeptical...


....and even more so when the hot wet towels came out.

orange tree

Came upon this orange tree a few blocks from our apartment, while walking to the Hiroo shopping street to get the boys haircuts. January skies here are typically this clear-blue, I'm told. I've also been told that Tokyo is on the same latitude as North Carolina, though I haven't confirmed this.

Somewhere in Shibuya

Under the warm and welcoming visage of the Coffee Boss (aka Tommy Lee Jones), I feel a song coming on...


Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all...

hey lady

We spent most of Sunday in Odaiba, a man-made island and shopping/sightseeing destination in Tokyo Bay. There's a waterfront park with a beach and large rocks for the boys to slip on. The boardwalk has lots of restaurants and a giant mall called Aqua City. We watched a street performer juggle flaming batons on a promenade next to a sizable replica of the Statue of Liberty before heading to Joypolis, Sega's indoor amusement park to empty our pockets of yen.

Before hitting the Sega game rooms we paused to snack on some octopus dumplings (takoyaki) from a food stand on the boardwalk. The cooks make them by dropping bits of cooked octopus meat, ginger, green onions and other tidbits into batter that has been ladled into a special cast-iron griddle with golf-ball-size cups. You cook 'em halfway then turn the balls over with a small wooden stick to finish the job. Think Florida conch fritters, only gooier. Ours were garnished with too much mayo and a sweet brown sauce. We ate them while sitting on one of the benches on the terrace in front of the mall entrance. There is a pretty nice view of the city from there, and there were many (younger) couples all around us. According to one guide book, the spot is considered one of the most romantic in Tokyo.

Here's a shot of Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba Marine Park:
Still Marine Park, shot looking in the opposite direction. Who's that lady with the torch?

The flaming baton juggler:

the apartment

To steal a line from David Rakoff's "Tokyo Story," our apartment is a riot of color: taupe, buff, sandstone, wheat, parchment and cream. (To be fair, the woodwork and floors are a dark caramel.) There are lots of closets, including two in the boys' bedroom.





These pictures were taken on Dec. 29, before we officially moved in (and out of the hotel). Last night T assembled the boys' new IKEA bunkbed so they are no longer sleeping on the floor, and they seem happy to have the same bed they had at home.

Here's another shot of the place that really captures the minimalist existance of those first few days. We had books, computers and Pokemon cards, what more do you need?

it's HOW much?

This is what 9,723 yen (about $89.50) can buy at the National Azabu Supermarket, anchor of the Hiroo shopping street and ex-pat mecca that's a 10-min. walk from our apartment. I did not buy the case of Budweiser for 5,040 yen (about $46). I did buy the $7 package of 1 doz. flour tortillas. Clearly we can not shop here....that often.

movies

On the plane trip to Tokyo last week I watched four movies: Stardust (which is terrific, especially Michelle Pfeiffer as an evil witch) No Reservations (with C Z-Jones, acceptable if only as a way to kill time), Ratatouille (not Pixar's best but still great) and, unfortunately, Evening, a chick-flick in the worst sense, an "exploration of the heart" (cue to roll eyes) that asks the question, In love, is there such a thing as a mistake? blahdee blah blah. It is truly awful. Hugh Dancy was great in HBO's miniseries about Queen Elizabeth I (Helen Mirren! Jeremy Irons!) but he cries too much in this. A real shame. And unfortunately now I cannot stand Claire Danes. She plays the fallen star in Stardust, and I didn't mind her when I was watching that, despite her ridiculous British accent, but Evening, in which she plays Vanessa Redgrave (!?!) as a young woman, has turned me against her. See Rotten Tomatoes' roundup of bad reviews, which pretty much say it all:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/evening/

In an octopus's garden, in the shade...

The boys discover another playground near home:

Ebisu, who are you?

We live in Hiroo (pronounced "hee-roh-oh" with a rolled "r"), but we are very close to an area called Ebisu ("eh-bee-soo"). Here next to the Ebisu train station is a statue of the god of commerce himself. He is also known as the god of fishermen and good fortune (see the big fish, a sea bream, under his left arm?).

Ebisu is one of the most popular of the Seven Lucky Gods; one website says he "symbolizes not only safe sailing and plentiful fishing, but business prosperity for merchants in all trades."

In the Kojiki, Japan's oldest chronicle (c. 720 AD), Ebisu was born Hiruko-no-Mikoto, the third son of the Shinto gods Izanagi-no-Mikoro and Izanami-no-Mikoto, the progenitors of the islands of Japan. Hiruko was born without any bones (?!) so he was cast out into the ocean at age three. He came back somehow, and was cared for by one Ebisu Saburo, and eventually he became the god Ebisu. Will need to research this some more...

New Year's holiday almost over

It's Jan. 3, the third and final day of the New Year's holiday stretch, and our neighborhood is creaking to life. "Freshness Burger" is still closed but the restaurants in the nearby Ebisu Prime Square office complex/commercial plaza were open today, including "Sharks Fins Chinese Restaurant" (shark's fins, 12 different ways! get 'em sashimi-style, grilled, chopped up and mixed in fried rice, etc...) and the Dexee Diner, where I ordered the Korean chicken salad, T had the spaghetti with sardines and eggplant and the boys had pizza, which was gourmet-style with fresh basil we had to pick off (it's just green for goodness sakes, it's not poisonous!). Dexee's slogan ("Book Providing") is, as far as we can tell, a nod to its lounge area, where couches surround a large bookcase stocked with back issues of Japanese Vogue and Japanese Esquire and some other glossies. The place plays techno-pop (think Madonna, Ray of Light..or does this reference reveal too much? I admit I am hopelessly unhip) and has a bar. We'll have to get a babysitter and check out the scene after dark.

a week of firsts

Saw our first homeless guy this afternoon. He was hanging out in this little playground that is up the road from our apartment building. He had one of those carts piled high with stuff and a boombox that he was keeping on this little concrete deck that I think is this playground's best feature. You walk up a small flight of steps and there are three stump-like concrete seats and a railing. I tried to designate it as our new clubhouse but the boys didn't go for it. D said it couldn't be our clubhouse because it didn't have a table or a TV. We really have to wean those kids from the tube...Anyway the place does have some impressive monkey bars (the kind that was probably outlawed in the U.S. sometime in the 70s), a pair of swings, a slide and some benches. Alas, no shock-absorbing black mats, just good old-fashioned packed dirt/gravel! (That's not worrisome, nope, not at all...)

Speaking of tubes, Colgate toothpaste is only two bucks here! Of course it's the size of my pinky. Kidding. It's regular size.

Stroll through the 'hood

Here D is wearing his new fuzzy ring (thanks Carolanne!) and carrying a can of hot "milk cocoa." There seems to be a vending machine every few yards in this city and each one offers a different assortment of hot and cold beverages: green tea, fruit juice, coffee...some even sell cans of corn soup (second from right in photo below).

Look at what you've won!

The new apartment rocks. Will post more details and photos soon, but the first thing I have to tell you is....there is a washing machine and a dryer in the kitchen. I think it's been 11 years since I didn't have to lug laundry outside my front door to get it clean. I'm so happy I am doing The-Price-Is-Right-Girl imitations....

cabs and food

I love that the taxi drivers here wear suits and ties and that their cabs are spotless inside and out. The upholstered seats have doily-like covers. Doors open and close automatically. There's no tipping, which feels weird but is good because fares are high, starting at around $7 (meters click on at 710 yen). We sprang for a cab home from the grocery store, where we dropped 14,980 yen (about $138) on milk, OJ, cereal, yogurt, bread, butter, pasta, tomato sauce, pesto sauce, eggs, cheese, bananas, a bag of Belgian waffles, pancake syrup, clementines, apples, lettuce, carrots, salad dressing, olive oil, soy sauce, wasabi, a six-pack of Yebisu beer and some pre-packaged sashimi (tuna, salmon, sea bream) for tonight's (grown-up) dinner.

The boys ate while we were out window shopping on Omotesando-Dori (street) which has all the high end stores (Gucci, Fendi, Burberry, etc. etc.) as well as some less fancy ones (Puma, Body Shop, Gap). One part of Omotesando, a western stretch near the Harajuku train station, was packed with street food vendors (maybe on account of the holiday? they weren't there the next time I passed thru) and the boys got corn-on-the-cob-on-a-stick:


C also had fried chicken-on-a-stick and D had a hotdog-on-a-stick. For some reason they opted not to get the grilled octopus-on-a-stick, which actually looked really good (though D asked if we could "buy some tentacles" when we were shopping for groceries).

While noshing on his corn, our 7-year-old asked T if it was O.K. that he was eating in public. (We had explained to him that it's just not done here, but if the food is from a sidewalk vendor, apparently society makes an exception.) The boys split a chocolate-dipped banana-on-a-stick for dessert.

Time to eat some raw fish!

bun warmers

Three words: heated toilet seats.
Our apartment is equipped with washlets, which are ubiquitous and not the most high-tech toilets around but plenty wired for me, with warming, spritzing and drying features (there really are wires running out the back of the basin to a control panel). Our 7-year-old discovered these perks while visiting the bathroom at our local Peacock grocery store. ("This is awesome!" he declared through the stall door.) It's the small things.

Meiji part II

Approaching the entrance to the grounds of the Meiji shrine, we have no idea what we're in for...

As we get closer, the crowd gets denser and the pace slows. There were lots of fashionably-dressed couples but the pair shown here in the foreground (lower left) are my favorite (the girl is wearing a fuzzy leopard print hat; the guy is wearing Chanel sunglasses, complete with double-C logo at the temples):


We finally make it to the shrine to toss our coins and offer up a prayer for the New Year. As our group leaves, the next group waits behind the tape:

Say a little prayer...

Our excursion to the Meiji shrine was a bit arduous. It took a long time to get to it because of the crowds (like marching down to the Brooklyn promenade to watch Fourth of July fireworks-everybody else has the same idea) so by the time we tossed our 10-yen coins and offered up our New Year's prayers things were feeling a bit anticlimactic. The highlight was stopping by the cleansing station, where the boys and T washed their hands and mouths:




(The sign reads: "Please rinse your hands and mouth before praying. Please set your mind at ease. Shifting the dipper from one hand to the other, rinse first your right, then left hand. Rinse your mouth with water poured from the palm of your left hand. Hold the dipper upright in both hands to rinse the handle with the remaining water. Return the dipper to its original position. Please refrain from drinking directly from the dipper.")

While we were being herded along with the crowd, we encountered an American mom and her two daughters, ages 7 and 9, and started chatting. Their family has been living in Tokyo for two and a half years (the dad's company asked him to stay on for a third year). The girls go to ASIJ. The mom said the school was great but the distance was a drag (it's out in Chofu, in the suburbs). She said she did not feel connected to the school because she rarely makes the trip out there, and her girls don't do after school activities because they prefer not to have to take the late bus home. I am feeling good about our decision to send the boys to the British School in Tokyo (BST) which is one stop on the train and perhaps even walkable.

School starts on Jan. 8 and I need to 1) figure out what I am going to pack them for lunch, because peanut butter is off limits (allergies) and PB&J has always been the fallback and 2) find some navy blue backpacks and jackets, black "sturdy" shoes and white "indoor shoes" as well as polo shirts and pants that resemble the regular uniform items that I neglected to order until just a few days ago. The company that makes the uniform clothes, which sport the school logo (go Lions!) is in Australia. Shipping alone is going to cost me $150!

Obviously it was not a good idea to wait until after we arrived to read the fine print of BST's uniform policy. Who knew they regulated the color of the boys' coats! Those brand new Lands' End jackets (royal blue for C, orange for D) can not be worn to school! They are too bright! Aack! There is a Gap here but I shudder to think what the prices must be like. Must find generic children's clothing store...

Lunch, New Year's Day (slurp slurp)

Happy New Year!

Shogatsu (New Year) is the most important holiday here (according to japan-guide.com, the site from which I have cribbed a good bit of the info in this post). Most businesses are shut down Jan. 1 thru Jan. 3 so the streets are pretty quiet.

Leading up to the big holiday, it is tradition to host bonenkai ("year forgetting") parties (theme: leave your troubles behind) and to eat toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles) as they represent longevity. You clean the house and do the laundry (fresh start!) and decorate your door with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum tree branches.

To help usher in the New Year, the locals like to pay a visit to a shrine or temple, preferably at midnight while the bells are ringing, to offer up the first prayer of the year (this tradition is known as hatsumode). Then you view the first sunrise (hatsu-hinode). On Jan 1 you're supposed to be full of joy, free of stress and anger. You're to do no work on this day.

The Intercontinental Tokyo Bay hotel (where we've been staying since we arrived) put on a show in the lobby this morning: a woman in a kimono balanced various objects on a spinning parasol. Then there was a ceremonial breaking open of a sake barrel with wooden mallets, and cups of sake were served all around (the sake was ladeled into little wooden boxes marked 2008, year of the rat). Dishes of salt were on hand so you could take a pinch and put it on the corner edge of your box before drinking. D liked the salt but not the sake...

After we check out of our hotel and bring our stuff to the new apartment, we are going to make our own tourist-pilgrimage to the Meiji Shrine located near Harajuku Station, east of Yoyogi park and just a few stops away from our apartment, and dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shoken in 1914. After the demise of the Emperor and Empress, this shrine was constructed to venerate them. Their souls were enshrined on November 1, 1920. The original building was destroyed during World War II. The present shrine was completed in October, 1958. It is said that several million people visit this shrine every year during the three day celebration (Jan 1-3).