tokyo with toddler, part 1

First day there was 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
It would not last.

I finally seem to have made some adjustments to my internal clock and can start documenting our trip. I have to say that these trips do a number on my brain going from one home country to the other that I’ve had some really weird, action-packed dreams since getting back with all sorts of people from both countries in it. Last night, Kathy Griffin was singing “Popular” from Wicked on some award show and got a standing ovation.

Anyway, rather than try to chronologically report our trip, I have decided to organize it by event. In no particular order. So here goes.

Playing in Tokyo with a toddler is totally different from playing just with me and Philip. First is the schedule. Despite jet lag, we wanted to at least try to give Yuki a nap in the afternoon, which meant that we needed to get out pretty early in the morning. But things don’t really open until 10 am, so our daily routine was to get up and out the door by 10, to go a place that is fun for Yuki, then return after lunch for a nap. We would then just take it easy in the evening. This no-packing-our-schedule-thing was also our approach to desperately trying to avoid the Swine Flu, which is also raging in Tokyo.

Another factor is that it takes forever to get anywhere in Tokyo. Tokyo is a HUGE city. It has the most comprehensive subway system to a point that there is not a place you cannot get to by train.

Just looking at this map makes Philip itch.

All that is swell, except that you will need to switch lines several times to get most places. And even if we avoid rush hour (and trust me, if you want to live, you want to avoid rush hour in Tokyo), it’s a very crowded city. Add a toddler and you have a serious challenge.

The first day there, we went out and bought an umbrella stroller, which was the best $30 we spent on the entire trip. Philip and I could just grab the front and the back of it and go up and down the stair cases of every platform (because much of Tokyo really isn’t wheelchair accessible) and maneuver through the crowd that way.

Also, Mobile Napping Unit!

On one occasion, we were getting on a train that was crowded and Yuki fussed at the very last minute about wanting to get out of the stroller. I picked her up and got on, but Philip, who was trying to fold the stroller and get on, didn’t make it. Well, he stuck the stroller in the train, but it got caught in the door. People tried to help him and the door opened just long enough for him to pull the stroller out, but it closed again. He shouted, “I’ll meet you at the next stop!” And so Yuki and I rode for one stop and got off, and were able to reunite with him very shortly, but for Philip who has always relied on me to get around Tokyo, this was unsettling. Not to mention he was left standing there with a stroller and Hello Kitty Thermos but no child, which must have looked odd.

Anyway, we had to pick places that we could get to in less than an hour so Yuki wouldn’t crap out by the time we got there. Luckily, my parents live in a centrally located neighborhood so we managed to find a variety of places to take her but had to rule out some others, like Hello Kitty Land (much to our disappointment).

Places we went were:

The Zoo at Inokashira Park (there are 13 zoos in Tokyo, by the way) where Yuki not only saw animals

Hooray for Guinea Pigs!

but rode many, many rides.

Yeah, monkeys. Whatever. Let's go on this one again.

The Tokyo Toy Museum, which we had pretty much to ourselves due to bad weather and the fact that it was a weekday. Yuki played a lot with all of the wooden toys and spent a lot of time in the library.

What's wrong with this picture?

The Shinagawa Aquarium where we saw a dolphin show.

Not pictured: dolphins.
Also, hello Hiro.

Tokyo Metropolitan Children’s Hall in Shibuya, which has six floors of different hands-on activities for kids.

You're like a young George Hamilton Green.

The roof of the Town Seven shopping center where we spent much more of our day than we ever intended.

Not pictured, the attached smoking section.

But, really, wouldn’t you?

This went on for about twenty minutes.

The Ghibli Museum (the movie studio behind Ponyo and Spirited Away) where the Miyazaki nerds (us included) all go to experience what the world is like inside Hayao Miyazaki’s brain.

Nothing will interrupt snack time. That's our girl!

Outside of that, we visited with my friends who have kids, which was a very special experience.

Kiddo liked it too. Their TV is enormous.

These are friends I’ve had since birth, preschool, or kindergarten whom I can pick right up with, regardless of the time lapsed in between. We’ve known each other for so long that there is no need to try to explain ourselves or prove ourselves when we get together. It was so great to see our kids playing together. It also made us feel old and weird. Some of our conversations were about our parents, making me realize that I am now in an age-bracket where we start to lose our parents. One of my dear friends is caring for her mother who has terminal cancer, and her father who is utterly untrained in housework and also is hobbled by diabetes. She works full time as an executive at Sony and has a 5-year-old daughter. She said that hearing my voice on the phone made the knot of stress go away. She cooked the most elaborate meal for us (that is another thing—all of my friends are INCREDIBLE cooks), but she insisted that it was great fun for her to do.

Her daughter is a great-big goofus, too. Kiddo loved her.

All of my friends had gifts for Yuki, which was so sweet. One of them made her a very pretty jewelry box (or girlie treasure box) by hand, which is not to be believed. It was great to see what great moms they all are and to see them in their kids who varied in age from 2 to 10. These people feed my soul when I go home. Anyway, I digress.

Part 2 on Wednesday night-ish.