Mark and I, Tokyo style

It’s time to blog!!  Yes, this is Rob.  And let’s just say “It’s about time!”

No doubt you read Lyana’s post about our trip to Tokyo for UK visas back in May (click here to read it) and she set me up perfectly at the end.  Well, now it’s time to play catch up. 

The trip to Tokyo started out with Lyana, Mark and me on Tuesday.  After applying for our visas (and then having some fun around Tokyo together) on Wednesday, Lyana took the Shinkansen back to Misawa, while Mark and I stayed behind for a night of father/son party time in Tokyo.

The first thing we did was go to “Children’s Castle”, which is a multi-story children’s play place surrounded by towering Tokyo skyscrapers.   This is one of the places that charges an admission fee (the one I would have preferred to visit was damaged in last year’s big earthquake, so it’s closed for repairs . . . still.  This one’s OK, though.  Unfortunately, the outdoor roof track was closed, which is the best part (bikes and scooters and such).  But there was of course WAKU WAKU LAND!!

On another floor was the music room with lots of drums and other percussion instruments for kids to play with.  When we arrived in this room there was a group performing children’s songs and a couple dozen kids with their parents sitting on the floor around these drums.  We sat in the back and tried to keep up, but as we hadn’t a clue what they were actually singing, we left until the show was over. 

When we returned, we put on a show of our own. 

We probably spent a good two hours there – would have been longer if more of it was open – and that was enough.  We were just having so much fun together, it didn’t matter what we were doing.

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel.  I picked up a small pizza from the café downstairs, put in a movie, and we had a pajama movie night (one of Mark’s all time favorite things to do). 

The next day we hit the ground running – literally.  There’s a beautiful wooded park just up the street from The New Sanno hotel.  We played on the toys.

We hiked the many trails, up and down the hills.

And took in the natural sites, all in the heart of Tokyo.  Oh, and Lantern was with us through it all, too.

In fact, here’s Lantern and Mark posing in front of the LDS temple, just across the street from the nature park.

And here’s the inseparable duo next to the spaghetti map of the Tokyo subway system.

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I enjoy taking pictures just about everywhere I go, and I like to think of myself as a decent ‘family’ photographer.  But sometimes, I just can’t seem to get the right perspective.  Enter Mark, the budding child photographer.  I gave Mark the camera (securely wrapping the strap around his wrist), taught him how to ‘point and click’, instructed him to “take pictures of everything” and then we were off – me pushing him along in his stroller.  What we ended up with were simple, real-life Tokyo photos from the perspective of a 3-year old child seated in a McClaren umbrella stroller.  Here are some of my favorites.

GALLERIA:  PERSPECTIVE OF A 3-YEAR OLD IN TOKYO

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I think Mark has a future in photography – at least until he’s out of the stroller.

Ah, that stroller.  No easier way to traverse the streets of Tokyo.  We were just passing the time, now.   In that twilight zone after checking out of the hotel but too soon to go straight to the train station.  So we ( I ) decided to explore.  We went to the Tokyo station, but instead of hanging out in the dungeons, waiting for our shinkansen, we just left the station, hoping to find something interesting.  And we did.  A bridge. 

Which then led to the Imperial Gardens, which we couldn’t actually enter, but they were pretty from the outside.  Here also demonstrates the advantage to strollers.  When it’s time to take a picture just park the stroller, step back a few paces and shoot, you’re done.

Of course it’s always nice when they (Mark and Lantern) decide to get out of the stroller for a change.

And it’s even better when a passerby agrees to take the photo for you.

And then it was time to go . . . back to Misawa, that is.  This is the restroom ON the train.  Far cry from those lavatories you see on the airplanes.  The Japanese know how to go in style.

No matter how much fun the trip is, we are always happy to get home to Misawa.  Mark . . .

and Lantern.

Rob