On Cloud Nine at Showa Kinen Park in Tokyo

We had one heck of a day yesterday! It began with my alarm clock buzzing in my ear at 6 am and my friend picking us up at 6:45. We went to Showa Kinen (Memorial) Park on the west side of Tokyo today, and I can't believe we've been here one year and haven't been up there sooner!

Anyway, the drive took about 2 hours and 10 minutes thanks to morning rush hour traffic. We were waiting outside the Nishi Tachikawa gate at 9:24 am and had maybe 10-15 cars in front of us. The park opened at 9:30 and our group, composed of three moms and five kids, immediately began navigating our way to the Children's Forest area of the park. Oh, the cost was ¥400 for me (about $4) and the kids were free. My friend's son is 10 and he was ¥80 (about $.80). Parking was ¥820 (about $8.20).

On the way to the children's area we passed by so many beautiful flower beds and sakura (cherry blossom trees). Little streams, bridges and cut-outs for our faces delayed our arrival to the Sea of Clouds located within the Children's Forest, but the photo opportunities were too great to pass up. Flags were hanging saying "Flower Festival 2009," so I'm not sure if the flowers are always like that or if it's something special going on.

I'll do my best to let the photos and videos speak for themselves, but I really can't say enough great things about this place. I know we made it through maybe half of the park in our nearly five hours there, and I'm anxious to go back, this time with Bob, to see the rest. There are Japanese gardens, a bonsai tree area, paddle boat rentals, bbq pits...and the list goes on.

I took more pictures and posted them in my Shutterfly album. Click here if you want to see them. For those of you that subscribe via email you'll need to go to the website of the blog to see the four videos. Click here to be directed there. Speaking of videos, be sure to watch the one of me running...and think of the song "Wipeout" while watching...if I had the time to dub that song over the video I would have.

I learned how to "stitch" photos together, so I experimented below. Thanks to Jacquie and Heather on HMW for teaching me! I took five or six shots scanning right to left and overlapping each time by about 1/3. It worked on some of the pictures I took and looked awkward on others.

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Hiroyama Koen (Park)

I emailed Julie this morning, and she immediately wrote back saying, "Call me when you really wake up." It was about 8:45 am and she knows we're not morning people. I called her and said, "Good Morning, Sunshine!" Anyway, she asked if we wanted to go see the monkeys, and of course the girls and I were up for it. She and her son, Noah, have been quite a few times, and this morning we tagged along.

The view is beautiful, and we were just above Zushi Beach. We had so much fun and the girls are already asking to go back. We saw the monkey feeding, the girls and Noah were dancing on the table (anyone have a dollar bill?!) and a little boy and his dad were catching bugs and showed us the cicada they got. Julie asked the father (and in Japanese too....I ought to see if she's available as a translator when shopping or eating out!) what they're commonly known as. He said "semi" which sounds like "say-me." And let me tell you, those suckers are loud and I can hear them even with the windows closed, and especially in the mornings!

They had a small playground which the kids loved, and mine didn't want to leave. But on the way there Julie spotted a store called Off House; a second hand store. We were anxious to get there and scope it out. Neat store, and they even had a Hello Kitty toaster!

And thanks to Julie for letting me "borrow" the first picture!

Saturday at the Park

We went to a store called Homes on Saturday...it was a combination of WalMart and Home Depot. On the way home we stopped at a park and the girls had a really good time. I have no idea what it's called, so don't even ask me!

Here’s a sign that was posted in the parking lot, and there was another one between the parking lot and the park itself. I think the second sign had the rules posted. I know one of them says the park closes at 6:15 and another says the parking lot closes at 5:15 on certain days....Friday being one of them. Bob and I were sitting drinking our drinks with Japanese labels from the vending machine and a man came in and said something in Japanese. Women started calling their kids and people were clearing out. We knew something was up, so I called the girls over to me and that’s when the man came over to us and said, “Car parking closed.” It sounded more like, “car parring crosed,” but we knew what he was saying.

As you can see, the girls have no problem fitting in, and the language barrier isn't too much of an issue. They were building "towers" with other kids, and it was a collaborative effort. Then one of the dads there was running around with a group of kids and Keanna joined right in...again, no problems.

Bob and I were talking about how the girls don’t seem to have any idea where they are or what experiences they are getting. I think they do though. Keanna at random times will say, “Mom, we live in Japan?” I confirm it for her and explain that dad’s job brings us to different places. People will look different and talk differently than we do, and we have to respect that and be nice to them. Sydney on the other hand has no idea, and just follows or copies whatever Keanna does or say!