Play and Dinner

Kit had a busy Friday. She started out at the library with music and story time.

Then she met up with her friend, Kaitlyn, at a park.



For dinner, we joined two neighborhood families and tried out a new middle eastern restaurant, Jerusalem. The food was very good. The three girls (Maria, Alesha and Kit) had a great time together.

Hike

Last night we went for a walk along the river levy. Kit preferred to walk in the gravel along the edge of the bank instead of on the pavement. She is a great hiker.

At two points along our trek she walked to the center of the pavement, sat down then lay on her back looking up at the sky. She has never done this before. The only conclusion is that she is checking to see if this might be a good spot to pitch a tent.

New Table

Last night, while Tuk was at class, Kit and I wondered what to do with our evening. It didn't take us long to decide that a walk to the park would be nice.

She enjoyed the slides

and the tunnel

and the swings.

I made pot stickers for dinner.

We had a tea party on her new table, along with baby (Peanut).

We danced to Dancing with the Stars on TiVo until Tuk came home.

Father-Daughter Football Night

Last night there was a moment where Kit and I were sitting together on the sofa with a blanket over our legs eating cheddar cheese while watching football. It was the perfect moment.

Children's Museum

Kit waiting for the Children's Discovery Museum to open.
Pouring some tea to share with mommy and daddy.
Enjoying the water zone!



Today was mariachi day. Most of the groups were all women or mostly women. Kit loved the music. She danced along in her chair while eating lunch.
There was a group of children too.
We returned home late so she didn't get to start her nap until 4:00 today.

Sunnyvale

Kit started out the day at the Sunnyvale Farmer's Market where she enjoyed organic strawberries from Watsonville.
What she really wanted was to play at Washington park. She insists upon doing the swings herself. Well, Daddy can push a bit.
When she saw the bigger kids heading her way she just played it cool.

Park

Steph joined us on our walk to the park today. Kit loved being pushed high on the swings!
Then we enjoyed some Jamba Juice: Razzmatazz

First Fort

Kit enters her first fort, a tunnel style fort.

Where did she go?
Here she is!
See, she entered here...
And ended up way over there.

Some of the secrets to good forts include:

- Solid construction techniques

- Hidden entrances and exits

- A turn, or a second level

- Spaces that are too tight for adults

Pots-n-Pans

Today we bought Kit a table, chairs and some pots and pans at Ikea. I have not put the table and chairs together yet but Kit loves playing with her own set of pots and pans. She has a wooden spoon to stir the Cheerios (a rather good choice I think) in the pan, blow a bit (because they're hot, you know) and munch on them. She has a pot with a steamer insert and a lid, a frying pan and a wok.

Park

Kit poses for the camera before going down the slide. Oh my.

Kit races her Dad down the slides.
Kit Wins!!!

Talkative

Kit is quite talkative. She demonstrates learning new vocabulary on a daily basis. Sometimes she just rattles of a bunch of words for fun, "Monkey, cookie, Mommy, Daddy, baby, yogi (yogurt)"

She often blends her Thai and English vocabulary together in a conversation.

Park

Miss Kit was back at her regular park today. She brought baby along with her.
Baby went down the slide with Kit but baby isn't ready for this advanced swinging. Whee!!!

Kit likes to include everyone. She'll say, "Mommy, Daddy, Baby, Git."


She's a big kid on the swings now.

And she likes wearing her pink mouse apron, suitable for cooking, art projects and playing with water.

Yukata

Kit enjoys wearing her yukata, a casual type of kimono.

And she enjoys fishing then giving the fish a kiss.

Kit had another big kid milestone today: She did her first #2 in her own little potty!

Harajuku and Home

As usual, my jet lag is gone the day I am to leave. I planned to walk from Shinjuku to Shibuya but I slept in so I went to Harajuku instead. Sadly, the Harajuku SnoopyTown shop is gone.

I love the little Harajuku train station.

This shop is still there and gets a lot of attention.









I headed to Shinagawa station to catch the Narita airport express train. I used to stay here when I worked at NEC. The station is very busy yet more luxurious and less chaotic than the Tokyo station. I bought this package for my trip to the airport.I unwrapped the "una-jew" (grilled eel over rice in a box) and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. I typically get either a vitamin water or anything labeled lemon water since most of the other drinks are loaded with caffeine. Tokyo (and most of Japan) runs on very little sleep.
There is a shop at the airport selling specialty ice cream mochi. They have all sorts of flavors. She explained that I must wait for the outside rice wrapper to thaw before eating. They treat each one like a treasure. Being a novice, I ordered chocolate yet strongly considered rum raisin. She took my hand and gently placed the mochi into my palm and reminded me to wait 15 minutes so it would be perfect.

Yokohama Night Walking Tour

Went to visit the unagi guy and had a great dinner. I mistakenly ordered a regular and not a large. How sad!

The unagi master takes the prepared eel, dips it in sauce and gently grills it over wood charcoal. This shop uses wild eel, usually from Kyushu island or western Japan.

Unagi-don-buri (una-don) is in a ceramic bowl and tends to be smaller. Una-jew is in a special box and tends to be larger.

Went to downtown Yokohama for an evening walk that turned into a nice long hike. I started at the base of the Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan and currently 45th worldwide. It has the second fastest elevator in the world. Whoosh! It costs $10 to go to the top. I didn't go since I thought I was running low on Japanese currency.

The Ferris wheel is huge and can be seen from far away. Actually, I can see it from my hotel room. No way am I going on this thing.

There are a couple large old brick customs (tax) buildings built in 1913. They survived the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 that destroyed much of Tokyo and Yokohama. It did relatively well due to the iron reinforcement. The U.S. Army occupied the buildings for a while after WWII. Now it houses little shops.

Yokohama Bay Bridge. Japan formally surrendered to the Allied Forces aboard the USS Missouri in Yokohama Bay with some 100+ other US warships present. What a sight that must have been.

View from the cruise ship terminal. As a kid I wanted to take a container ship to Yokohama. I would trace the shipping lanes on my globe to see where they went.

There were many couples, both young and old, sitting together enjoying the city lights.

Yokohama has one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. Many shops had already closed and most were getting ready to close for the night.

I wandered up and down the streets enjoying the lights and checking out what the food vendors were selling.

That was quite a hike! Even as a lone foreigner with a big camera around my neck, I never felt unsafe. Also never felt lost. I'm not sure how to get truly lost.

Tomorrow morning I have a few hours to walk around Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya. I enjoy Japan but I am so happy to be going home.