FAO Schwarz, NYC I’m very grateful that Auntie Jackie and Grandma insisted we take the kids to the 5th Avenue FAO Schwarz. The last time I went there was when the store was going through some financial difficulties so the store was scaled down and seemed sparse, from how I remember it. I was pleasantly [...]
Posts under ‘Places’
An Afternoon at Akasaka Sacas 赤坂サカス
Until April 19th, there is a cute little carousel and replica SL train for kids (and adults) to ride at Akasaka Sacas. Apart from this event, the Akasaka Sacas complex itself doesn’t have as much space for kids to run around and explore as say Tokyo Midtown or Roppongi Hills. If you are in the [...]
Kids’ NY Outings
Fifth Avenue is always appealing to shoppers visiting NYC since all the designer shops can be found on this long avenue that runs Uptown to Downtown. Fortunately for shoppers with children, there are lots of appealing places for the younger ones too. In the 57th street area you can find the Central Park Zoo, FAO [...]
February in New York
It snowed twice in February. The kids and I enjoyed it since we were indoors and didn’t have to trek out anywhere. I can’t remember the last time I shoveled snow so doing that was actually quite a novelty again, too. Though I’m grateful I don’t need to do that multiple times every winter!
The Sky Court
The Sky Court play area on the 5th floor of the Kawasaki Be department store is closed. They are renovating the building and have already opened the first 3 floors. I’m not sure if they will keep the sky court, but hopefully they will. It was a good place to let the kids run and [...]
Little Skaters and More….
Ota Festival, Heiwajima Park This was a nice festival for the kids because there were various little attractions. There were food and shop stalls of course. In addition there was a small petting zoo area where the kids could see sheep, a young calf, goats, hamsters and guinea pigs. Another highlight were skateboard ramps set. [...]
By the River
When I used to watch Japanese TV dramas that Yuki would rent back in NY, the dramas often had scenes of uniform-clad school kids walking home from school along a path that looked like it was on top of a long, grassy hill. Now I see where they were walking. In every town in Tokyo [...]
Hoikuen 保育園, Tokyo’s Public Nursery School
Last year, in reference to preschools, I kept hearing the words yochien and hoikuen thrown around amongst mothers. I had no idea what they were talking about and I wasn’t really looking forward to the whole application process, figuring it’d just be a headache with all the Japanese paperwork involved. Yochien is private nursery school [...]
Tokyo Summers
It feels like summer is practically over already. Although afternoons are still really humid, the evening breeze feels slightly cooler these days. I would have liked to take more trips to the beach but we only really have Sundays when we can all go, and not every Sunday was a good beach weather day. But [...]
First Time in Fukushima
About a 3-hour drive north of Tokyo is Fukushima Prefecture. We took a little overnight trip out there, but I can’t recall the name of where we were exactly! It’s a quaint fishing town along the Pacific, in the southern area of Hamadori.