East Gardens of Imperial Palace

You would think I would be a lot skinner for all the stairs I climb up and down. Unfortunately the pastries here are outstanding and they cancel out all my exercise. 

When little legs get tired. Running round playing tag and doing cartwheels for over an hour would make anyone tired.

East Gardens are part of the inner palace, open to the public where the Edo Castle once stood. It is one of the defense areas that surrounds the palace complex, complete with tall stone walls and a moat. There is also a great 5K loop that I have every intention of taking advantage of. 

When old world meets new!

Cherry Blossoms

Spring has finally sprung and let me tell you all the talk you hear about cherry blossoms in Japan in the spring are worth the hype. We were a little worried we would miss them. They are only in bloom for such a short time, maybe 2 weeks.


We took a last minute spring break trip to Hawaii, this momma needed some sun and waves. We left Tokyo on the verge of spring and came back to this. They are just breathtaking. It's hard to appreciate them in a picture. 

They put everyone in a great mood. People are smiling and taking pictures under and in front of the trees. Some by themselves, others with family and loved ones, some with friends. Cherry blossoms not only are a sure sign spring is here, but have a strange effect on the people here, they are all suddenly smiling. 

I Want Candy!!!

So I was at the grocery store looking for treats for our upcoming road trip. (Tune in Monday for pics, it is sure to be an awesome trip). Strolling down the candy aisle is always a treat. This was the one that had me scratching my head. Normally I would have bought it just out of curiosity and I may at some point in the future, but tonight I just wasn't interested in toilet candy. Maybe it helps you poo??? Who knows but for now I will remain clueless.

We have found some candy we like.  

These are delicious little caramels. I have to buy a few bags because otherwise I end up in the closet eating them so I don't have to share.

These are also a family favorite. Hi-Choo They are chewy fruit flavored candies. Kind of like a Charleston Chew but better.

These were a major score. They taste like crunchy churros. 

Terrible Car Names Installment 1

Driving around Japan I have come across some pretty bazaar car names. I decided to start taking pictures for you viewing pleasure. 

Swedish Hellfire???

This person should be fired and the driver slapped.

Svlphy??? Did they mean selfie???

Hinamatsuri - Happy Girl's Day

     Yup, I'm going to say it again, "I love Japanese holidays!" Ok well this one isn't quite a holiday but more of a festival, but everyone decorates for it, so in my eyes it's a holiday. It is celebrated every year on March 3rd.  Also known as the Doll Festival, Hinamatsuri, is a day when people pray for the health and happiness of little girls. A great idea if I do say so myself! You can enjoy these beautiful displays of dolls, on a seven tiered stands, all over the city. There is a certain order to their placement. On the top tier are the emperor and empress in traditional court dress. Then each tier below them are various court officials, musicians, wise men and supplies for any festivities the dolls may need. 

     

     The sets are put out around the end of February and taken down no later than March 4th. If you fail to take them down by the appointed date bad luck and misfortune will befall the female members or the dolls may come to life and wreak some havoc on the household. So for those of you who leave your Christmas tree up until February, this holiday isn't for you. 

     Why do they put hina ningyo out? The tradition dates back to the 8th century. It derives from the combination of a doll (hina) play during the Heian period and nagashibina which is a ceremony where simples dolls made by paper and straw are thrown into the ocean or river after transferring bad luck and misfortune to them. Setting out hina ningyo is a family's wish that a girl will grow soundly to be a healthy and caring woman. These dolls are definitely not the ones you want to toss into the ocean. They can run thousands of dollars a piece. They are passed down from female generation to female generation and can take many such generations to accumulate an entire set. 

Miyazaki Steam-Punk Clock

There are a lot of little hidden gems in Tokyo. This one located at the Shiodome is one of my favorites. We took the kids down here to see the clock go off.  It was designed by Hayao Miyazaki and is the largest animated clock in the world. The 3 story clock has over 20 tons of copper and steel. There are robots, bucket percussion, puffing engines, cannons, bells and so much more. There is so much to take in you are never really sure where to watch. It's a little dark, sorry about that. You can see some daytime pictures of the clock here. Ghibili Clock

Eating Crow

    Ok so remember a while ago when I went on a tirade about the dog prams??? Well I now see the logic in them. My beagle, Tucker, finally made it to Japan. It was a long awaited (7 months and mountains of paperwork) very happy day. Isn't he cute?!?

    About 3 days into apartment life with a dog, I caved a bought a dog pram. Thank you Amazon JP it was here within 24 hours of my order. Hypocrite, you say. Yup and proud of it.


Let me tell you carrying a wiggling 25 pound fur ball, down an elevator through numerous long hallways, through our bike area, up another elevator to the outdoors, was RIDICULOUS! Only for him to do his business and have to repeat in the other direction. Not only were my arms as sore as all get out, but I had enough dog fur on me to make another dog.  Why carry him? Well it's the rules. Animals can't walk around inside the common areas of the apartment building. Keeps them from stinkin' up the place. Understandable, just like the dog prams. Makes all the sense in the world now. However, and this is with a very big "H", my dog only rides in his pram in our apartment building. We park it in the dog pram parking area (yup my apartment has one), and he walks from there. I still see many people out for a daily stroll with their dogs in their carts. I am still holding firm to the ludicrousness of this activity.

Now on to his very trendy coat. In Japan people dress their dogs. You can't very well go walking around in front of the neighbors nakie. There are tons and I mean tons of dog clothing shops. I wish they had even a portion of as many kid's clothing stores, but they don't. I decided, when in Rome, right?!? I already picked up the pram, and thanks to my enabler of the best kind, mom, he has a very cute coat with boots.

Valentine's Japan Style

     I know this is a little late but I it's fun info. First, I need to say I love how the Japanese take American holidays and change them to what they like or only pick bits and pieces to participate in.           So, Valentine's day in Japan is only for girls to give to boys. It isn't gifts but chocolates, typically of the homemade variety. The stores set up massive displays with every kind of accoutrement under the sun to make the very best treats. Along with cute little boxes of 2, 4 or 6 slots to put them in. Now you can go purchase some pretty elaborate chocolates, they are all over, but of course homemade is preferred. Valentine's day also doesn't have all the romantic implication that it does in the states. It's very casual, pretty much if you think someone is fun you can gift them chocolates. My husband came home on a sugar high from all the candy he was gifted at work. Apparently they think he is pretty likeable too.

   He was gifted this one set of crackers, which he thought were cookies (that's a different holiday). They were fish flavored and he hates fish. LOL. He was brave and tried one though and was nice enough to bring them home for me to try. I never saw any of the chocolates.
   Now you wonder what gives. Why don't the girls get anything. Well we do. On March 14th, the boys gift to the girls and guess what it is??? Cookies, that's right homemade cookies. I can't wait! Unfortunately with all the chocolates my husband devoured at work, I see a bunch of cookie making in my future, because I can't imagine him making them. LOL!

Have License Will Travel

Getting your Japanese drivers license is no small feat. I have heard horror stories of people failing 3 and 4 times. Now how is it adults that have been driving for numerous years manage to fail a driving test? Are American drivers really that terrible? I would say yes only because those drivers who can't get out of the fast lane drive me absolutely bonkers, but I digress that isn't why we are failing. We are failing the driving test because in Japan it isn't about the test. It's about the dance. Anyone that knows my husband can attest to his sheer determination to get what he wants. He watched videos, read blogs and did his research. He over-emphasized every mirror check and street check and wonder of wonders passed on the first try. Out of the 25 people in his group only 4 passed that day. They rest went home with their scan card to try again in 30 days. Yes they issue a microchip card that has all your info on it so you don't have to continue to fill out the paperwork every time you comeback to try your luck again.

Here we are on our first car ride. I will admit my hands were folded so tightly in my lap my knuckles were white, and I may have loudly inhaled 3 or 4 times when I was sure we were going to die, but we survived to drive another day. 

My Comeback

   It's been a crazy couple of months. Sorry to bail right when it was starting to get good, but I had some technical errors that couldn't be helped. My Macbook Pro of 8 years, decided to crash, and made its way back to the big Apple heaven in the sky. With its demise went my 12 page paper (due one week later) for my advanced writing class, and homework for two other classes. Luckily I had been backing up my photos and what I thought was important (homework has now made that list) and my entire life wasn't lost. I spent the next 5 weeks borrowing my kids' electronics. It was...not my favorite, and let's just leave it at that.
   Then Christmas came, which was, to put it mildly a freaking nightmare! My husband is one of the most difficult people to shop for. Trying to find something, Christmas morning worthy, in a city where I have limited knowledge of where to find things, was a near impossible task. Let's be honest I didn't know what to look for and there wasn't and isn't a Best Buy to peruse for ideas. Then there were my kids. The one store I found with toys had the equivalent of one side of a Target aisle for both boys and girls. The ToysRUs had nothing but toys for toddlers. Apparently Japanese kids don't like toys??? Couldn't buy video games because, you guessed it, all in Japanese. I spent days riding around the city and my night scouring Amazon JP. It all worked out, (it usually does) and Christmas was a success.
    I had to order a new computer and a week after my new semester started it arrived. Japanese keyboard and all. I did choose this, it wasn't a mistake, but had I known the American punctuation was going to shifted to other keys I may have rethought the decision. I am now relearning to type.  LOL. I can't complain too much because my new Macbook is amazing!!! I've spent the last few weeks with my nose in a medical terminology textbook, but I'm starting to get back in the swing of things.

   Long story short, I have some adventures and stories to get caught up on. Hang in there, they are headed your way.