Wind!
I don't know about you, but I love a blustery day. When the air is damp and warmish and the wind gusts almost violently, blowing stuff around and whipping the treetops, it makes me feel a little crazy. In a good way, an alive way. (Did I write about this already? I know I was telling someone) And there is something really cool about wind gusting through bamboo. It makes a great rushing sound and the bamboo bends and sways dramatically. Awesome. That really made me believe that spring is coming for real.
And Sunday. Sunday was a warm, sunny, lovely day. Helen & I and the kids took a trip out to Mitaka, on the outskirts of Tokyo, to go to the Ghibli Museum. On the way, tho, is a great park called Inokashira Koen. It has a lake with swan boats, two zoos, lots of ducks, and much to see.
Some guy brought a couple ferrets in his backpack, and he was letting them run around on the fence. He let us play with them. Now, of course, we want a ferret. They were the sweetest ferrets, too, not crazy or stinky or anything like their reputation. The guy fed one of them vanilla ice cream from a carton.
There were many pockets of musicians hanging out, playing both traditional and modern instruments.
I thought Helen coordinated well with the bamboo.
Pretty blossoming trees!
The zoo had a lot of waterfowl. Among my favorites are the Mandarin ducks.
Swan in action. He was having a splashy bath in the middle of the pond.
Black swans!
Foxes are cute.
After a couple hours wandering the park and drinking beer, we walked over to the Ghibli Museum. For those of you who don't know, this is the animation studio that puts out the work of Miyazaki Hayao, the guy who brought us such artistic masterpieces as Laputa, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. You have to buy tickets in advance, for a certain day and time, so they can keep the numbers out of control. (You have to get them at Lawson's, from a machine, and we couldn't have done it without Helen.) It's a really neat building, kind of Victorian Mechanized Hi-Tech. There are neat exhibits on (mind-scambling) model animation and a cinema in which you can see a short un-released Miyazaki film. We saw a touching romance between a water spider and a water-strider. There is also, probably the kids' favorite, a life-size Cat Bus. It's basically a gigantic stuffed animal, shaped like the Neko Bus and filled with stuffed soot-balls (if you've seen the movies, you'll know what I'm talking about), that kids get to climb around on for 5 minutes. I, personally, was jealous. I wanted to do it, too. There was also a cool Wallace and Gromit temporary exhibit. Sadly, you can't take pictures inside, but there are a bunch on this website.
An almost life-size Totoro greets you in the 'ticket booth' - where you can't buy tickets. I really would love a life-size Totoro. He's big and soft and cushy and warm and would make a wonderful bed/pet.
A life-size Laputa robot in the roof garden.
A block from Laputa.
An impulse, a desire for a real Totoro, and probably the couple beers we drank in the park drove me to buy stuffed Totoros for me (the biggest one) and the kids at the gift shop. I also bought a soot-ball keychain.
See more pictures of the pretty pretty park and the museum here.
After the museum closed, we met Jeff in Shibuya for dinner. (He was on his way back from Hawaii, where he had all kinds of adventures. He'll have get his own blog if you want to hear about those.) We went to a swell izakaya Helen recommended. Good food, and I tried a grapefruit sour with shochu. Yum. Dangerous.
On the train on the way home, we spotted this waif, dressed like she was ready for a rousing game of Candyland. (those are cakes and other sweet treats on her dress).
Then there was Hip-Hop Girl, demonstrating some dance moves to her friend on the platform.
Next stop: House Party. This past weekend was Macky's birthday, but he was out of town with the Mojos. So we are having the party on this coming Saturday night.
And Sunday. Sunday was a warm, sunny, lovely day. Helen & I and the kids took a trip out to Mitaka, on the outskirts of Tokyo, to go to the Ghibli Museum. On the way, tho, is a great park called Inokashira Koen. It has a lake with swan boats, two zoos, lots of ducks, and much to see.
Some guy brought a couple ferrets in his backpack, and he was letting them run around on the fence. He let us play with them. Now, of course, we want a ferret. They were the sweetest ferrets, too, not crazy or stinky or anything like their reputation. The guy fed one of them vanilla ice cream from a carton.
There were many pockets of musicians hanging out, playing both traditional and modern instruments.
I thought Helen coordinated well with the bamboo.
Pretty blossoming trees!
The zoo had a lot of waterfowl. Among my favorites are the Mandarin ducks.
Swan in action. He was having a splashy bath in the middle of the pond.
Black swans!
Foxes are cute.
After a couple hours wandering the park and drinking beer, we walked over to the Ghibli Museum. For those of you who don't know, this is the animation studio that puts out the work of Miyazaki Hayao, the guy who brought us such artistic masterpieces as Laputa, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. You have to buy tickets in advance, for a certain day and time, so they can keep the numbers out of control. (You have to get them at Lawson's, from a machine, and we couldn't have done it without Helen.) It's a really neat building, kind of Victorian Mechanized Hi-Tech. There are neat exhibits on (mind-scambling) model animation and a cinema in which you can see a short un-released Miyazaki film. We saw a touching romance between a water spider and a water-strider. There is also, probably the kids' favorite, a life-size Cat Bus. It's basically a gigantic stuffed animal, shaped like the Neko Bus and filled with stuffed soot-balls (if you've seen the movies, you'll know what I'm talking about), that kids get to climb around on for 5 minutes. I, personally, was jealous. I wanted to do it, too. There was also a cool Wallace and Gromit temporary exhibit. Sadly, you can't take pictures inside, but there are a bunch on this website.
An almost life-size Totoro greets you in the 'ticket booth' - where you can't buy tickets. I really would love a life-size Totoro. He's big and soft and cushy and warm and would make a wonderful bed/pet.
A life-size Laputa robot in the roof garden.
A block from Laputa.
An impulse, a desire for a real Totoro, and probably the couple beers we drank in the park drove me to buy stuffed Totoros for me (the biggest one) and the kids at the gift shop. I also bought a soot-ball keychain.
See more pictures of the pretty pretty park and the museum here.
After the museum closed, we met Jeff in Shibuya for dinner. (He was on his way back from Hawaii, where he had all kinds of adventures. He'll have get his own blog if you want to hear about those.) We went to a swell izakaya Helen recommended. Good food, and I tried a grapefruit sour with shochu. Yum. Dangerous.
On the train on the way home, we spotted this waif, dressed like she was ready for a rousing game of Candyland. (those are cakes and other sweet treats on her dress).
Then there was Hip-Hop Girl, demonstrating some dance moves to her friend on the platform.
Next stop: House Party. This past weekend was Macky's birthday, but he was out of town with the Mojos. So we are having the party on this coming Saturday night.
posted by Sandi at 8:17 AM
1 Comments:
'twas a fun day...but have to say i was completely knackered by the end of it....went home & crashed.
and you know that scary pink lady? got off the train, got on my bus home. AND SHE WAS ON MY BUS! not only that, she got off the stop before me.
SCARY PINK LADY LIVES IN MY HOOD!!!!!!
think i might have to stalk her, and find out if her house is equally pink, floral & scary...
and thanks for the pineapple, jeff. everyone at work loved it! and, yeah, when you are you going to get your own blog and share your vern stories?!
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