Posted by Jess
08 August 2010
Today we explored a bit of Tokyo under the guise of needing to buy some household goods. Our relocation helper told us about a store called Loft (IKEA/Target/Spencers Gifts Combined) in Shibuya so we headed on the train to the Shibuya Station. Shibuya Station is only 2 stops from the station closest to our house, so it was a quick ride. According to Wikipedia, Shibuya Station is the 4th busiest rail station in Japan, with about 2.4 Million people passing through on a weekday. Of course today was Sunday so it was not as busy, but still more hectic than our neighborhood which made for some fancy maneuvering with the stroller.
When arriving at Shibuya Station, we stopped to take a picture of us with the statue of the Shibuya mascot - the dog. The dog mascot comes from the story of Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.
This area felt more like the Tokyo we've seen on TV. I've felt that its a lot quieter than I would have thought around our apartment - not as many people, sidewalks pretty easy to navigate (except for the large number of bicycle riders) - but this area was hopping! Here are some pictures of what we saw as we stepped out of the station:
And here's a picture of what Ella saw (taken by her!):
We headed up one of the streets from the station and found Loft. We passed many stores on the way - Louis Vuitton, Coach and Hermes to name a few - which should tell you the type of shopping you can find in this neighborhood. Luckily Loft is more in our price range! Each store front seems to have its own TV screens or LCD screens out front and are blasting music. This will take a little getting used to.
Loft has 7 floors of merchandise ranging from cosmetics to furniture, so we took a peek at every floor. We just needed a few things, but one thing we wanted to get was training chopsticks for Ella. Next to them were training chopsticks for me! These sticks tell me where to put my fingers by using a diagram and little dots. Ella and my deal is that by the time she is 5, we will be chopstick pros. We've got some time, but I'm hoping it doesn't take that long.
While wandering through Loft, Ella started getting tired and hungry and we decided to head to lunch next. We asked what she wanted to eat for lunch and she said McDonald's, so we headed over there. People, I know its early in our adventure to break for McDonald's, but if you see our earlier post about not much sleeping going on in this house, you must know that arguing with a four year old will get us nowhere. So McDonald's it is. We walked up and the cashier flipped the menu on the counter over to be in English. Most of it was the same - happy meals, Big Mac, etc, but there were a few different sandwiches. I tried the Salt and Lemon Chicken Sandwich. Think fish sandwich, no tartar, add garlic/lemon oil. It was pretty good, I have to say. And the girls ate the most that they have since we've been here. Jason noticed the high level of service at the restaurant - people hand-delivering sandwiches and taking trays away for you. The service here (everywhere) is really phenomenal, which I think is ironic because there is no tipping in Japan. So you'd think that people would be a little more helpful in the states than here, but its not even close! Here's a picture of Ella and her "happy set" toy.
After lunch, we headed back on the train as the girls were getting really sleepy. Ella even closed her eyes on the ride home and then took a ride in the stroller. Of course its a different story when we walk in the door and both girls were a little tough to get down for a nap, but Ella eventually fell asleep since we promised a toy store trip later.
Fast forward to KiddyLand, a few hours later. Sunday may not have been the best time to check out this very popular toy store/tourist attraction. Think KayBee Toys on steroids. Not like FAO Schwartz though - really loud, moving, bright toys on 6 levels with a lot of people. This is probably where we've seen the most non-Japanese so far in our adventure (tourist attraction for sure!). We tried to navigate KiddyLand, but it was packed. We got to 3 floors and Ella was very overwhelmed. She did manage to pick out one toy though - a Cinderella play set (just like a Snow White set she has back in Minneapolis). Since Abby skipped nap today, she slept through it in the stroller but I have no idea how she could have. Here's just a few pictures of KiddyLand to give you an idea of what it was like:
08 August 2010
Today we explored a bit of Tokyo under the guise of needing to buy some household goods. Our relocation helper told us about a store called Loft (IKEA/Target/Spencers Gifts Combined) in Shibuya so we headed on the train to the Shibuya Station. Shibuya Station is only 2 stops from the station closest to our house, so it was a quick ride. According to Wikipedia, Shibuya Station is the 4th busiest rail station in Japan, with about 2.4 Million people passing through on a weekday. Of course today was Sunday so it was not as busy, but still more hectic than our neighborhood which made for some fancy maneuvering with the stroller.
When arriving at Shibuya Station, we stopped to take a picture of us with the statue of the Shibuya mascot - the dog. The dog mascot comes from the story of Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.
And here's a picture of what Ella saw (taken by her!):
We headed up one of the streets from the station and found Loft. We passed many stores on the way - Louis Vuitton, Coach and Hermes to name a few - which should tell you the type of shopping you can find in this neighborhood. Luckily Loft is more in our price range! Each store front seems to have its own TV screens or LCD screens out front and are blasting music. This will take a little getting used to.
Loft has 7 floors of merchandise ranging from cosmetics to furniture, so we took a peek at every floor. We just needed a few things, but one thing we wanted to get was training chopsticks for Ella. Next to them were training chopsticks for me! These sticks tell me where to put my fingers by using a diagram and little dots. Ella and my deal is that by the time she is 5, we will be chopstick pros. We've got some time, but I'm hoping it doesn't take that long.
While wandering through Loft, Ella started getting tired and hungry and we decided to head to lunch next. We asked what she wanted to eat for lunch and she said McDonald's, so we headed over there. People, I know its early in our adventure to break for McDonald's, but if you see our earlier post about not much sleeping going on in this house, you must know that arguing with a four year old will get us nowhere. So McDonald's it is. We walked up and the cashier flipped the menu on the counter over to be in English. Most of it was the same - happy meals, Big Mac, etc, but there were a few different sandwiches. I tried the Salt and Lemon Chicken Sandwich. Think fish sandwich, no tartar, add garlic/lemon oil. It was pretty good, I have to say. And the girls ate the most that they have since we've been here. Jason noticed the high level of service at the restaurant - people hand-delivering sandwiches and taking trays away for you. The service here (everywhere) is really phenomenal, which I think is ironic because there is no tipping in Japan. So you'd think that people would be a little more helpful in the states than here, but its not even close! Here's a picture of Ella and her "happy set" toy.
After lunch, we headed back on the train as the girls were getting really sleepy. Ella even closed her eyes on the ride home and then took a ride in the stroller. Of course its a different story when we walk in the door and both girls were a little tough to get down for a nap, but Ella eventually fell asleep since we promised a toy store trip later.
Fast forward to KiddyLand, a few hours later. Sunday may not have been the best time to check out this very popular toy store/tourist attraction. Think KayBee Toys on steroids. Not like FAO Schwartz though - really loud, moving, bright toys on 6 levels with a lot of people. This is probably where we've seen the most non-Japanese so far in our adventure (tourist attraction for sure!). We tried to navigate KiddyLand, but it was packed. We got to 3 floors and Ella was very overwhelmed. She did manage to pick out one toy though - a Cinderella play set (just like a Snow White set she has back in Minneapolis). Since Abby skipped nap today, she slept through it in the stroller but I have no idea how she could have. Here's just a few pictures of KiddyLand to give you an idea of what it was like:
We walked a little further after this just to check things out and then decided to stop off for dinner. The girls were good, although getting pretty tired at this point. After eating, here's Abby...
And so we headed home for the night...its 8pm and the girls are in bed. Wonder how long it will last.....?????
Kanpai!
Jess
6:18 AM |
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1 comments
Comments (1)
Awesome!! Love that you guys are out and about exploring! It must be so excited every time you go out and see and experience new things!! Love that Ella picked out a Cinderella set!!