Sign at top of Mt. Takao
Scott and Girls on Mt. Takao
On Saturday, November 6th, we decided to take the girls to Mt. Takao. This is a smaller mountain that has trails, a shrine, a Monkey Park, shops, restaurants and a gorgeous view from the top. We mapped it out by train, which was about an hour ride, and decided that our kids would probably be REALLY tired when we were done, and therefore, an hour and a half car ride would be the better option. What we didn’t account for was traffic- it took us nearly 2 hours to get there, with the girls ansy and fighting in the back seat for the first hour. By the time we got there, it was about 9:45 and the place was starting to pack it in. One thing you (we) always have to keep in mind is that the later you are the busier it gets- so we try really hard to get to places right when they open, so we have less crowd and crazy to deal with.
The first thing we did was take the Cable car up. I am told this is one of the steepest cable car rides in all of Japan.
Cable Car Tracks
It was neat, and the girls thought it was quite cool. The cable car takes you up about ½ way, and then there are multiple trails to choose from once you get there. There is also the Monkey park, which we of course, went to. I thought it would be a place where we could go in with the monkeys, but lo and behold, it was just like going to a zoo- the monkeys were inside there “area” and we could watch them go about their business. There was also a Japanese man giving a presentation the whole time, with people laughing, etc…but, since we do not speak Japanese, we had no idea what was so funny!
After the Monkey Park, we continued to walk up the paved trail- thinking this would be the easiest for the girls. It was still a good walk, as it was of course, uphill, with a lot of stairs. There were shops and restaurants all the way up to the shrine, and again at the top of the hill. We ended up eating some kind of soy sauce dough balls (no idea what they were, but they tasted ok), and then found a Ramen restaurant to have lunch at. I think the Japanese who worked there needed a good laugh, because, of all the places they put us, they chose a traditional Tamimat- this is a table, with nothing dug out for feed- so essentially, you sit with your legs criss crossed the entire time…and to top it off, out girls HAD to sit by each other…so it was Scott and I squished in this tiny area, legs crossed, bumping into each other the entire meal! We both had numb legs, aching hips…man, we are too old to be sitting like a 1st grader!!
Our girls love Ramen, but they love it PLAIN. I tried to look up on my iPhone how to say Plain in Japanese, but has zero luck- it just isn’t a word in Japanese…I know now that there are similar words, but at the time, no clue. So, Maya is having a conniption because her Ramen is going to come with egg, vegetables, meat, etc. in it- nothing crazy or terrible- she just likes only noodles! In order to make peace (and make her stop pitching a fit), I ended up taking all of her stuff and putting it in my bowl…the things you do for your kids!
Eating Ramen on Tatami Mats
By the time we got to the top of Mt. Takao, it was starting to pack up- we had some ice cream, took some photos and decided to take the dirt trails back. We took trail #3, which was awesome- small, with no rail- meaning, the edge of the mountain was right by you—which meant for nervous everyone. The girls really enjoyed it though- that was the type of hiking that I think we would all like to do more regularly (maybe without the drastic drop offs!). We ended up holding both girls hands for a good portion of the hike back down- just to be safe. This trail was a lot less crowded and definitely made the day more enjoyable!
Fishing Restaurant
On Friday, October 12th, Scott and I went out to dinner with some of his staff from work. They took us to a Japanese Fishing restaurant- no idea what the actual name of it was, but it is a place where you fish for your own dinner, and then tell them how to cook it! In the middle of the restaurant there is a boat, with a “moat” around it. There are seats in the boat, in which the people just lean over and try to fish, there are “rooms” with glass side windows and open top, so they just lean over and fish…and then there are separate rooms (like ours), in which you have to come out to the boat area to fish. I am not sure what kind of fish they had in there (I know Seabream, and they had sharks too- which were for “pets” only, they told us- we were not allowed to try to catch one!), but it was a ton of fun. They give you little shrimp as bait and you just fish until you catch one. Scott ended up hooking one, pulling his fish up, having it wiggle off and then actually catching his hook on the light fixture above him! Kind of funny! We both did actually catch fish- he caught a seabream, and I caught some big, flat fish that was completely delicious when filleted and fried! When you catch your fish, they come over and ask your name, and then sing a song- aaahhhh Leigh-san….and then a song about your fish, in which you have to clap a certain way- it was really quite entertaining! It is a place however, that I don’t know if you could go to if you didn’t have someone who knew Japanese with you- the menu was all Japanese, and it didn’t seem like there was a lot of English spoken by anyone! That night, I tried quite a few things I have never eaten before- shrimp balls (not actual shrimp balls, but they were weird, white dumpling looking things that were delicious), some kind of egg soup (not a fan), tempura (have had before, but this was much better)…Tony, one of Scott’s co-workers, told me I had to stop asking what things were and just try them…so that is the motto I used the rest of the night- I think that is a much better way to go about it!
Days with my Girls
The past two weeks, my kids have had a lot of school off. Because they are on separate school calendars, they have different Holidays, school conference days, etc. Three weeks ago, Maya had 5th Disease- it is a weird little virus that you don’t know you have until you look like you have been slapped in the face many times (very pink cheeks)…then it turns into a rash, and with each person, the severity is different. Maya had some headaches and the slapped cheeks, and a mild rash. She missed only one day of school. Last week, Hanna had 3 days off of school, as a mid-fall school break. It actually was tied into a 1 day Japanese holiday, called “Culture Day”, so on that day, Scott was home as well. This past week, Maya had W, Th, F off- Wednesday and Thursday were school conference days, and Friday was just wrapped in to make it a long weekend. Hanna also ended up catching the 5th disease, but it was much worse rash wise for her- I kept her home 2 days, as her rash made her face swell up a bit, and was really itchy and bumpy all over her body. Poor kid- I was going to send her to school on the second day, and she looked in the mirror and started BAWLING, saying she looked like a clown, and everyone was going to make fun of her! So, I let her stay home with me that day too!
I had the opportunity both weeks to spend one full day just doing fun stuff with each girl. Hanna and I went to Yoyogi park to play, went to the Meiji Shrine Autumn festival (in conjunction with Culture day- there were floats, food booths, music booths, etc), and I took her to her favorite place in Tokyo to eat…..wait for it….McDonald’s! Ugh. We had such a nice day together! This past week, Maya and I had a full day set aside just for us- we met up with some friends and went Biking in Yoyogi Park, then she got to pick where to go eat….TGI Fridays!!, and then we went with the same friends to Karaoke for a bit before picking up Hanna. We had a great day. All I could think about was how fun it was to set the time aside to just spend quality time together- not doing laundry, running to the grocery store, etc….just enjoy each other’s company. I am a lucky mom.
Next week is Thanksgiving, so we are gearing up for that, as well as our trip to Hong Kong. Then the Christmas season begins and it will be a crazy month of December for us! Happy Thanksgiving!!
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