Tokyo 360

My blogging dry spell might seem like we haven't been up to much, but the opposite is true. We've been getting out on little adventures more than ever.... I just haven't been great about bringing the camera along. (We need a smaller one, the big Rebel is great for important things, but to bulky for buzzing around town)
Sidenote: Isn't it ironic that I don't want to snap pictures when I'm in Japan... like it would be weird to bring my camera everywhere?

Did you know Combi is a Japanese brand? I didn't..... I guess I never gave it much thought..... I always thought of it as Scandinavian (like Ikea), I'm not sure where I got that impression......
Anywho... my point is that it is a Japanese company and their expanding into baby clothes. Tobias was called to audition for the catalog shoot, but it would be in Tokyo (about an hour by train). I figured if we were going to travel for it.......we should take advantage and make a day trip....maybe two. So we did!
The actual audition was a zoo! There must have been over a hundred little babies coming and going in a little tiny office building. At least 59% were screaming the whole time and I started to feel a little sleazy for being part of something that seemed a little stage-mom-ish. Tobias was a great........... but he didn't get it.
Oh well, I'm sooooooo glad we had planned a trip around it, otherwise I would have been really disappointed. As it was... this was just the beginning of our Tokyo adventure.
First we checked out the Kabuki-za Theater. This is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Japan it originally opened in 1889. (It's style is old, but it was actually rebuilt in 1951 after it was destroyed in bombings during World War II).


Kabuki Theater seems like a fun little novelty experience.......so later when Mark and I were in Tokyo alone, we tried to give it a go. We showed up at the ticket window on a Wednesday at about 10:30am for a one act show........SOLD OUT! I was amazed...who goes to this?.......I thought it was a touristy thing....... apparently not. This is still a very popular form of entertainment in Japan.


After checking out the Sony Showroom
and exploring Ginza (shopping, shopping, shopping) the kids were over it and desperate for something that was actually fun.
Most of the major department stores have a kids zone, and we found this one on a rooftop. It was chilly, but the kids had a blast...they had it all to themselves.





We spent the night at the The New Sanno (Loved it! And it has a pool, hot tub and American food so the kids were in heaven).

The next day Kids choice was the Tokyo Tower......

Here is the 360 view of Tokyo








I was happily surprised at how much there was to do there. We discovered a kidszone on the bottom floor.... so we ended up spending another couple of hours.



Here is Max moping because he is now officially too big for 'Bouncy Land'.


The trick in Japan is being able to anticipate how much Yen you'll need. In Tokyo most of the major stores will take a debit/credit card......but otherwise it's cash only, which is tricky because you can't always find an ATM that works with American cards either. After all the unexpected spendy fun at the Tokyo Tower we were almost out of Yen....and lunch was looking a little meager.... we found a really inexpensive place that served rice and a simple curry. It was delicious!

Mark doesn't like to feel restricted when it comes to meals so after lunch we set out to find an ATM (and more food). While Mark went inside a bank the kids and I waited outside. While waiting, this little gem pulled up and set up shop. Genius!

Talk about creative spaces!

Part Two later.........