Jetlag is fun! Brain fully awake from 4am. In Japan thou doest not make noise when others may be sleeping! Trying to tell an over-excited Maylin to be quiet at 5am, trying to pack up the pull out bed so we had space to move, trying to open the biggest suitcase to get clothes out… Yes it was a noisy morning, and I apologize to the people who may or may not be occupying the apartment below us, I really hope there was nobody there. We had set our sights on Denny’s (yes, THAT Denny’s) for our first Japanese breakfast, as it promised both Western and Japanese options. They didn’t open until 7am, so the rest of our 7Eleven snacks were devoured before we could get on our way.
It is a wet morning in Tokyo! Joe and Téa went down to – you guessed it – 7Eleven for a couple of umbrellas, as we packed only two proper rain jackets with plans to pick up a couple more once here. We had an easy 15 minute walk to find Denny’s, with seeing the “golden poop” (the Asahi Beer Hall decoration) once we got onto the first bridge.
Denny’s staff spoke very little English, but made up for it with large enthusiasm and printed English menus. Ordered through a tablet at our table, and got our drinks at the open Drink Bar. Iced coffees and teas, all unsweetened, espresso drinks from a machine, and a Coke freestyle dispenser for pop, orange juice and Maylin’s new favourite, Calpis. The milky, sour and super sweet beverage was not my favourite, and definitely not something I’ll suggest she try for breakfast again…
We ordered Maylin only the Drink Bar for kids, as she would have my “side order” of French toast for breakfast, and I would (in theory) have the rest. That did not happen. She jumped on the tiny banana slices in yogurt that arrived first, then ate her French toast, then wanted my French fries and part of my eggs. Tomorrow she’s getting her own breakfast! Joe had the grilled salmon set, with a tiny slice of dry salmon, shredded daikon radish, a bowl of rice (we forgot to sprinkle the dried seaweed on top for extra flavour), a miso soup (that I got to drink, thank you Joe!) and a bowl of salad. Téa enjoyed her grilled cheese sandwich and her staple orange juice.
Oh, and the cutest thing happened at breakfast! A Japanese older gentleman, obviously a regular, came over to our table with the wet wipes from the drink bar, after noticing that we hadn’t grabbed any for our kids. He was such a sweetheart for showing us how it’s done in Japan in the kindest way possible. He returned a few moments later with candy gifts for the girls, souvenir style chocolate balls wrapped in panda and lucky cat wrappers. Super cute, and making us wish we had listened to all the suggestions to bring tiny Canadian souvenirs to gift in lieu of tips around the country. We didn’t know, but we know now, although it’s too late for this trip.
We didn’t have far to go for our next stop, which was the Cultural Tourist Information in Asakusa, located right next door to Denny’s. We were picking up Joe’s new Japanese sim card, and the girls collected their first decorative souvenir stamp for their book. Hopefully it will be full of pretty stamps by the time we leave Japan! We climbed the stairs all the way to the 7th floor, however the viewing platform was closed due to rain, and the blackout curtains made this purely a cultural visit, with no views seen. They did have a really cool wooden 3D map of Tokyo, and we could point out where we are staying and which bridge we crossed to get there.
After finding a subway station and getting Joe and Téa their IC cards, we found a tiny little store carrying personal care and household items and picked up a few necessities for the apartment. The rain on our walk home was torrential, apparently we’re being hit by the end parts of a typhoon, and nobody wanted to come with me as I walked to – you probably guessed it again – 7Eleven for more snacks. I was starving by now, only having had half of a Japanese portion of breakfast (by the way, Canadian portion sizes are about 3, if not 4, times bigger than a Japanese portion), so I grabbed everything in sight! I ended up buying four bags of salty snacks, two more packs of sandwiches, more unsweetened cold tea, a mango smoothie for the girls (you grab a cup of fruits and yogurt cubes from the freezer, and get to run the smoothie robot after you pay), three hot items (pork bun and fried chicken), kinako mochi (soft but chewy rice flour balls in roasted soy bean flour – so good!), caramel pudding and I’ve already forgotten the rest. Lesson learned: only shop when full. Oh well. It’s a lesson I’ll probably learn many more times before I die.
At this point it’s 11am, we’re all soaked to the bone, having walked over 7000 steps “just” to go for breakfast and a few basic items for our stay. We’re back in the apartment, we snack on my 7Eleven haul, and I decide it would be best if everyone grabs a nap. I am NOT having further dinner restaurant meltdowns, and I WANT a proper dinner tonight, with my own portion, thank you very much! The girls and I lay down in the bed (remember, the other one is now a very small couch) and pull the sliding door shut. They REFUSE to calm down. I sleep for a good hour and a half, until Joe comes and decides he’s worked enough for the day and wants to nap. I get up and he says “just go to 7Eleven for some of the microwave dinners”. Yeah right! We’re in Japan, for crying out loud! Give me my FOOD! So I roll out of bed, reply to some messages while the girls are doing “quiet things” to not wake up first mom, now dad. When I see droopy eyelids and know it’s approaching 10 hours since we woke up, and dinner is still 4 hours away, I try again: Go take a nap! Maylin finds another 6 or 7 reasons to get back out of bed, but finally goes down. Téa is snoring on the couch in the livingroom, and I am finally catching up on our travel log. At 5pm, the rain will stop (or so the weatherman says), and we can go out for a real dinner, in a real restaurant, and probably, hopefully, have a proper night’s sleep tonight. And not disturb the downstairs neighbours in the middle of the night again…
(Later that night…) I woke the girls up at 5.45pm for our 6.30pm dinner reservations. Cranky only describes half of the situation! Dinner was only a short walk away, complicated by the need to get more cash from 7Eleven (it’s random and impossible to tell in advance which places are cashless and which ones are cash only). We show up at a beautiful little traditional Kaiseki spot called Mineya, and it’s full on traditional, beautifully crafted and composed small dishes. So incredibly delicious!! Of course the girls ate very little, being beyond tired and only tempted by (Téa) fried chicken (of which she ate maybe 1/3) and (Maylin) a rice ball (of which she only ate half). Joe and I feasted (and I mean thoroughly enjoyed) dish after dish after dish of regional and seasonal small bites. Have you ever heard of a fish called Alfonsino? Yeah, me neither!
After dinner we found a small grocery store with a little more selection and varied products than our by now beloved 7Eleven, and were able to grab some further necessities for the apartment. Like ice cream! Coolish comes in a pouch much like baby food does at home, but my oh my is it delicious! Melon, vanilla or chocolate, take your pick! Great way to get little girls to stay up a bit longer! At the end of the day, I crashed into bed the minute we got back, while the girls and Joe stayed up and watched a movie, they had napped all afternoon, after all…