Previously, on Survivor...It's been a week of more milestones. Tina finished her first full week as an OB/GYN. That's four deliveries and two on-call night shifts in five days! But I think the more sentimental achievement was that mother and son were apart for an entire evening for the first time. Don't worry – I was able to bring Nathan over to the hospital everyday so that Tina could nurse.
We're Off To See The Wizard
To cap off the successful week we decided to visit Tokyo! Our objective: find Charlie's office building and do a little sight-seeing.
We packed up Nathan's gear, grabbed our English JR train map and rode four different trains to Tokyo. It should have only been three train rides, but on the second transfer in Yokohama we goofed and rode into Shinagawa (a different section of Tokyo). No problem. We simply hopped on the next train from Shinagawa to our real destination Shibuya. Since there are about 256 train stations in Tokyo I was actually impressed that we only made one mistake.
Google Japan
In case you've been under a rock for two years, I work for Google. And I'm currently attempting to transfer to Google's Tokyo office while we live in Yokosuka. So we set about finding the Cerulean Tower and Google Japan's office in it. Which wasn't hard to do; the building is down the block from Shibuya Station. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and of course the business portion of the building was closed. Darn it! I still hammed it up and had Tina take my mug shot in front of the sign in the lobby. (Man, I'm a dork.)
Google only leases out a few floors of the Cerulean Tower, the rest of the skyscraper is a (very, very, fancy) hotel. Fortunate for us the hotel is open on the weekend. Nice. The three of us went to the 40th floor to take in the view. Whoa! We already knew it was a gorgeous day, but we weren't prepared for the view from the top. Rain from the previous days had cleared out the sky and Mt Fuji, already capped with snow, was easily visible to the west. (Check out the photos in my Picasa Web Album.)
Shibuya Scramble
We've been told that Shibuya is the hip, trendy, younger generation's hang out of Tokyo. At its heart are the cool shops and restaurants that run from Shibuya Station to the NHK television center.
Immediately outside of the train station is the famous Shibuya scramble cross walk, where once the traffic light turns red thousands of people walk across from all directions, mixing in a sea of humanity. Twenty thousand pedestrians cross that intersection in a hour and we were three of them that Sunday! Amazing to see that many people.
We walked north along Koen-dori. Tina and I laughed at the cute english names of shops ("Three Minutes Happiness"). Come to think of it, seems like every store had english signage and advertisements. No surprise either that Shibuya is home to one of Tokyo's Apple retail stores - it looks exactly the same as the shops in America just with more Kanji. :^)
Shrines & Kids
We made it all the way to the site of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games at the northern boundary of Shibuya and found the Meiji shrine and gardens. As we had experienced in Kamakura two weeks ago we witnessed countless families bringing their children to the Shinto Shrine for their 7-5-3 ceremonies. But this Sunday the tourists were in force with their photo gear. One girl, dressed in a traditional kimono and holding an umbrella, posed for dozens of photographers. The photo I've included here was taken by Tina. (BTW, Tina really does have a great eye for a shot.)
We ended our day in Tokyo on Takeshita-dori, a very crowded pedestrian-only street near the Meiji shrine. If Shibuya is for hip, trendy professionals with money to spend, then Takeshita is the hangout for their teenage children. Takeshita-dori is crammed with shops for for clothes, crepes and lingerie... all that every teenager ever thinks about on one street.
More appropriately it was wall to wall people funneling down a tiny alleyway. It was cattle herding. Moo. Moo. Moooooooooo. It was madness just how many people were walking down Takeshita-dori. And it was like that all the way back to the train station, down the train platform and even onto the train. Whew, what a day.
Mr. Popular
It has to be mentioned that all day long, Tina and I have been walking with Nathan in the baby bjorn or pushing him in his stroller. Every few minutes a Japanese person would see Nathan and would want to pinch his cheeks. Keep in mind that the Japanese are incredibly stoic all the time; they especially don't make eye contact with strangers. But boy do they light up with smiles and giggles when they see our son!
We stopped for lunch at a ramen restaurant near Takeshita-dori. (Great food. Couldn't finish it all. Wonderfully friendly staff.) Nathan slept in his stroller next to our table. An older Japanese lady noticed him just as she was leaving. She stopped, bent over and just stared quietly and lovingly at him for a solid two minutes. Then she looked at Tina and me and said, "Domo. Domo. Domo." Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And left.
Yes, They Really Are That Nice
But that nice encounter wasn't the most amazing moment we experienced with a stranger in Tokyo. No we had three more on our way home. At the Shibuya train station a complete stranger helped Tina carry Nathan's stroller down a flight of stairs! He never said a word. We thanked him profusely and he just went about his way.
An older Japanese woman noticed we were checking our map. She asked — in English — where we were headed. She laughed that we were going back to Yokosuka. The boondocks in her mind probably. She apologized for not knowing the correct train, so she literally grabbed a JR employee, who kindly told us the right platform to walk over to. We made it back just fine.
As soon as we arrived back in Yokosuka it was again time for Nathan to nurse. So Tina setup shop on a park bench just outside the train station. An old man on another bench came over to greet us. He was very excited to see the stroller, but shocked that it didn't contain a baby. (It was dark out and he apparently couldn't tell that Nathan was already underneath the privacy blanket and nursing.)
Through exaggerated hand gestures, simple English and bad Japanese we tried to explain to him our son was "busy" and "having dinner." He thought that was the most amazing thing. He obviously had once known how to speak English and was trying very hard to recall the proper words to say. He wanted to know if "You father?" or "You momma?" But as soon as we said "Hai" (Japanese for yes) he would ramble off even more Japanese at us. Tina and I had no idea what he was getting at.
We three adults all laughed and smiled at each other. He kept smiling and pointing at Nathan's bald head and his own bald head. Guess these two guys are brothers. Eventually he got out of us that Tina was with the Navy and a doctor. And when it came time for our goodbyes, he said "Momma beautiful" and then saluted Tina.
Japan is an amazing place.
Google JapanIn case you've been under a rock for two years, I work for Google. And I'm currently attempting to transfer to Google's Tokyo office while we live in Yokosuka. So we set about finding the Cerulean Tower and Google Japan's office in it. Which wasn't hard to do; the building is down the block from Shibuya Station. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and of course the business portion of the building was closed. Darn it! I still hammed it up and had Tina take my mug shot in front of the sign in the lobby. (Man, I'm a dork.)
Google only leases out a few floors of the Cerulean Tower, the rest of the skyscraper is a (very, very, fancy) hotel. Fortunate for us the hotel is open on the weekend. Nice. The three of us went to the 40th floor to take in the view. Whoa! We already knew it was a gorgeous day, but we weren't prepared for the view from the top. Rain from the previous days had cleared out the sky and Mt Fuji, already capped with snow, was easily visible to the west. (Check out the photos in my Picasa Web Album.)
Shibuya Scramble
We've been told that Shibuya is the hip, trendy, younger generation's hang out of Tokyo. At its heart are the cool shops and restaurants that run from Shibuya Station to the NHK television center.Immediately outside of the train station is the famous Shibuya scramble cross walk, where once the traffic light turns red thousands of people walk across from all directions, mixing in a sea of humanity. Twenty thousand pedestrians cross that intersection in a hour and we were three of them that Sunday! Amazing to see that many people.
We walked north along Koen-dori. Tina and I laughed at the cute english names of shops ("Three Minutes Happiness"). Come to think of it, seems like every store had english signage and advertisements. No surprise either that Shibuya is home to one of Tokyo's Apple retail stores - it looks exactly the same as the shops in America just with more Kanji. :^)
Shrines & KidsWe made it all the way to the site of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games at the northern boundary of Shibuya and found the Meiji shrine and gardens. As we had experienced in Kamakura two weeks ago we witnessed countless families bringing their children to the Shinto Shrine for their 7-5-3 ceremonies. But this Sunday the tourists were in force with their photo gear. One girl, dressed in a traditional kimono and holding an umbrella, posed for dozens of photographers. The photo I've included here was taken by Tina. (BTW, Tina really does have a great eye for a shot.)
We ended our day in Tokyo on Takeshita-dori, a very crowded pedestrian-only street near the Meiji shrine. If Shibuya is for hip, trendy professionals with money to spend, then Takeshita is the hangout for their teenage children. Takeshita-dori is crammed with shops for for clothes, crepes and lingerie... all that every teenager ever thinks about on one street.
More appropriately it was wall to wall people funneling down a tiny alleyway. It was cattle herding. Moo. Moo. Moooooooooo. It was madness just how many people were walking down Takeshita-dori. And it was like that all the way back to the train station, down the train platform and even onto the train. Whew, what a day.
Mr. Popular
It has to be mentioned that all day long, Tina and I have been walking with Nathan in the baby bjorn or pushing him in his stroller. Every few minutes a Japanese person would see Nathan and would want to pinch his cheeks. Keep in mind that the Japanese are incredibly stoic all the time; they especially don't make eye contact with strangers. But boy do they light up with smiles and giggles when they see our son!
We stopped for lunch at a ramen restaurant near Takeshita-dori. (Great food. Couldn't finish it all. Wonderfully friendly staff.) Nathan slept in his stroller next to our table. An older Japanese lady noticed him just as she was leaving. She stopped, bent over and just stared quietly and lovingly at him for a solid two minutes. Then she looked at Tina and me and said, "Domo. Domo. Domo." Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And left.
Yes, They Really Are That Nice
But that nice encounter wasn't the most amazing moment we experienced with a stranger in Tokyo. No we had three more on our way home. At the Shibuya train station a complete stranger helped Tina carry Nathan's stroller down a flight of stairs! He never said a word. We thanked him profusely and he just went about his way.
An older Japanese woman noticed we were checking our map. She asked — in English — where we were headed. She laughed that we were going back to Yokosuka. The boondocks in her mind probably. She apologized for not knowing the correct train, so she literally grabbed a JR employee, who kindly told us the right platform to walk over to. We made it back just fine.
As soon as we arrived back in Yokosuka it was again time for Nathan to nurse. So Tina setup shop on a park bench just outside the train station. An old man on another bench came over to greet us. He was very excited to see the stroller, but shocked that it didn't contain a baby. (It was dark out and he apparently couldn't tell that Nathan was already underneath the privacy blanket and nursing.)
Through exaggerated hand gestures, simple English and bad Japanese we tried to explain to him our son was "busy" and "having dinner." He thought that was the most amazing thing. He obviously had once known how to speak English and was trying very hard to recall the proper words to say. He wanted to know if "You father?" or "You momma?" But as soon as we said "Hai" (Japanese for yes) he would ramble off even more Japanese at us. Tina and I had no idea what he was getting at.
We three adults all laughed and smiled at each other. He kept smiling and pointing at Nathan's bald head and his own bald head. Guess these two guys are brothers. Eventually he got out of us that Tina was with the Navy and a doctor. And when it came time for our goodbyes, he said "Momma beautiful" and then saluted Tina.
Japan is an amazing place.
1 comment:
Sounds like a good place to be with a kid since everyone is so helpful! Reminds me a little of the Virgin Islands actually. People there are always helping others get the strollers off the ferries, and things like that. Total strangers pick up the kids and help them get off the boats, etc, as though it is just expected of them, and maybe it is.
I'm really enjoying reading your blog!
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