Japanory

Children’s Hall and Children’s Castle

November 2007

Each ward in Tokyo has a place called the Children's Hall. Entrance is free and is an activity based centre where children of all ages can join in various activities. For example, there is a music room where children can experiment with all kinds of instruments; a few arts and crafts areas where a different project is available on a daily basis. These are wonderful places. And, as I say FREE!

As an aside, entrance fees to all attractions, museums and so on here are extremely cheap if not free. When we go back to the UK during the summer we are astounded at the outrageous prices charged to gain entry to theme parks etc.

Although the areas are supervised, the children are encouraged and expected to just get on with it rather than be hovered over by their parents. Parent who hover and fuss over their kids are viewed as a bit odd, to be honest!

I highly approve of this. The first time Rhiannon went there she made something from wood (I can't recall what) but she was expected to use a hammer and saw – at the age of five. And this wasn't considered a problem for the health and safety brigade. This is the way kids should learn. I really think, in general, we pamper "our" (ie British) children too much these days.

Children's Castle is pretty much the same set up. It's called Kodomo-no-Shiro. As well as the activities on separate floors there is a large climbing gym, a computer playroom and a teen corner with table tennis. There's also a swimming pool. Children's Hall is more geared to younger children.

When we go now (2010), I sit in the rather sparse canteen and drink tins of coffee and do some research, study or read while Rhiannon runs all over the 6 floors partaking in whatever activity takes her fancy and making friends on the way.

The school had a little trip to the Children's Hall this month and learned a bit about another culture. I admit, my memory is not working this far on, and I can't recall which culture was being taught then. Anyway, she had a great time.

We still like going there.

Although I do get a bit bored after more than three hours sitting on uncomfortable chairs.

But it's free! Did I already say that?

A Cocktail Tasting Competition

Sometime in November 2007

Strangely enough I didn't remember this event until I looked at some old forum posts I'd recorded and have just discovered on my PC!

We went to a "do" which was a cocktail invention and tasting evening. It was a good night.

I drank 6 cocktails in five minutes - it must have been a tough day because it certainly wasn't a speed drinking contest!

The creators of these lethal mixes wouldn't tell us what was in them, but most tasted pretty foul. Perhaps that's why I drank them so quickly?

We then had to vote on our favourite – mine was something called an Edo Jidai and, rather scarily, was invented by a chemist…

Hic!

Hawaii – the end of the holiday

Saturday 27th October 2007

Most of our time in Hawaii was actually spent on the beach near the house with a few trips to various shopping malls for food and a look around.

So here are a few final photos of Rhiannon enjoying the surf! No, she didn't venture much further in to be honest! The waves just a few feet out were incredibly strong and even I found it hard to swim through them.

Travelling back through the airport, guess what? Yup, we were hauled over for yet another full search and interrogation. Not impressed.

With the dateline confusion, we left on Saturday and arrived on Sunday even though it's only a 7 hour flight.

Everyone had to go back to work and school on the Monday so we made a note not to do that again! Especially as Rhiannon was still on Hawaii Time and woke up at 3am - meaning I had to as well...

We must give ourselves a day to recover and unpack in future.

Sealife Park – Oahu, Hawaii

This was a trip especially for Rhiannon. Utterly obsessed with life in the oceans, she had seen signs for the Sealife Park and desperately wanted to go.

However, for me, it was deeply distressing. I completely detest the idea of dolphins (and most other animals, to be honest) being kept in captivity and forced to perform for the public. Seeing dolphins in places like this actually distresses me to the point of tears. The things we sacrifice for our children, though.

I refuse to go to zoos. Wildlife parks are a little better and the only "zoo" I have ever truly enjoyed was my hero, Gerald Durrell's, Conservation Trust in Jersey.

I kept my ideals to myself as much as possible so as not to spoil her day and took a few photos for her to remember.

While we were waiting for the "show" to start, Rhiannon went down to the horribly small tank to see the dolphins up close. One of them noticed her through the glass and came to take a closer look. She was thrilled although rather scared by the sheer size of it.

She was very pleased to have seen the creatures up close and personal, as it were.

I was just pleased to leave.

Hawaii – Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

Another trip to another beach. Well, isn't that what Hawaii is all about?

http://www.threebestbeaches.com/uspac/hawaii/2008/12/hanauma-bay-nature-preserve-oahu-hawaii.html

This one is a specially created nature reserve (or Preserve, as it's called) and you do have to pay to get to it. From high up on the cliff the curved beach is magnificent. Apparently the bay was created from the crater of an ancient volcano that collapsed. Judging by the size of the bay that volcano was enormous.

Before being allowed onto the beach we had to watch a film about the nature there and how to protect it. Then we climbed down the path to the beach and found ourselves a nice spot amongst the crowds. A small café provided refreshments throughout the day and we had a lovely time in the warm, shallow, wave-free waters looking at all the pretty fish and doing a spot of snorkelling.

Once we had enough of the sand, we climbed back up the cliff and sat in the picnic area at the top of the cliff for a while with a drink. Suddenly a movement in a nearby hedge caught my eye. It was a mongoose! Then another one. Soon a whole band of them were darting in and out of the hedges. They appeared to be gathering nesting material rather than pinching scraps from the picnickers.

 

They kept me entertained for longer than the fish and I had to be dragged away in order to head back to the house.

Surfing in Hawaii

No, not me! I was enjoying lying in the soft white sand taking photos of the bucket & spade and laughing at Tim and Rhiannon's attempts.(For some reason my camera went all weird with these photos - perhaps the salt got to it. It recovered well though).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the waves were pretty strong and after one particularly spectacular wipe-out, Tim discovered his wedding ring had been snatched by the sea. Rhiannon was very upset – she seemed to think that meant we weren't married anymore! So later that day we went & bought him another one. Not as nice as the original, sadly, but there we go.

 

And this is how surfing should be done.

Sight-Seeing in Hawaii

Driving around, just seeing what's to be seen. Mostly photos in this post.

This is a beach...

 

This is another beach. But not just any old beach - this was where That Scene from the film "From Here to Eternity" was filmed!

 

This is supposed to link to the scene from the film but I have no idea if it works as the post I see just shows a big yellow box...

The sea was really rough (so the waves in the film were accurate!) but I was thrilled to see turtles bobbing around in the waves.

 

A road...

 

Some greenery

 

A lookout point where there was a blowhole - impossible to catch on film!

That'll do for now. More tomorrow!

 

 

Picking Pearls at the Polynesian Cultural Centre

After dinner, we had to do some shopping of course!

Something that really caught my eye was a stall near the exit where you could choose an oyster for a few dollars, have it opened with due ceremony, and keep the pearl guaranteed to be inside. This turned out to be horribly addictive! I can highly recommend it – but do exercise restraint – having the pearls set can turn out to be rather expensive… It's called Maui Divers Pick a Pearl.

As the blurb from the website says – "the excitement starts when you select an oyster from an assortment presented to you. Anticipation builds during the ritual Aloha blessing of the chosen oyster. Then, the magical moment: a luminescent jewel emerges when the oyster is opened before you." Even though I knew it to be a given that there would be a pearl inside, Rhiannon was completely entranced.

The sales people were extremely skilled too – when you get your first pearl, you're offered a draw ticket, which amazingly enough entitles you to another FREE oyster. YIPPEEEE!! Only this next oyster contains TWO pearls ('coincidentally' in matching colours to the first pearl) and obviously intended for earrings.

And so it continued… we ended up having to set 11 pearls. No, I don't know when to stop! All my pearls were black and Rhiannon's were peachy pink.

As Rhiannon doesn't have her ears pierced, I pocketed the twin peach pearls with the intention of having them set in a necklace for her as a surprise. I knew that the shopping mall in town had a stall which did this so managed to set them before the holiday finished. When I presented the necklace to her at Christmas she was so thrilled she actually cried! Awww!

Hawaii - part 2

One of our big day trips was to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This is a sort of theme park without the roller-coasters that showcases the various cultures that make up Polynesia – New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, Hawaii, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and others.

Very much geared towards children as well as adults, there were plenty of activities for Rhiannon to enjoy. The "countries" are set out in "villages" and you follow a trail to each one. Once at the "village" there are people there dressed in their traditional clothing and showcasing their culture and skills. For example, in the New Zealand village, we learned how to whirl balls on ropes around without knocking herself out. Poi balls – these were great fun and we bought a pair home with us which we still play with. We also played a game with sticks which was originally used to help hand-eye co-ordination for warriors. 

Rhiannon also had the opportunity to "fish" at one point on the route – using a bent paperclip on a length of string baited with a ball of stale bread. Being Rhiannon, she actually caught one! The tiny tiddler managed to get trapped in the loop of the paper clip – apparently nobody had ever caught a fish here before! Let's hope Rhiannon's luck continues like this throughout her life.

I was intrigued to discover that this lavish place was created by Scientologists  Mormons – in fact one could take a special train to their church some distance away. We didn't.

A colourful display was put on in the afternoon with watercraft full of people "from" the relevant countries sailing up the river. Lots of music, dancing and all in all the day out was a fascinating and vibrant experience. (More babble after a load of pictures of the parade)

We had dinner there too (well, it was all included in the rather high price). The hall was enormous and we had to eat at a set time; it seemed like thousands of Americans were there too. We were placed at a long table with a number of other people, ate pretty bland food and watched a show from a great distance.

All the people we met were absolutely astounded to meet Brits in Hawaii. It's a heck of a trip to make from the UK, but not so bad from Japan.

Hawaii! – Part 1

Saturday 20^th October – Sunday 28^th October

I'm humming the "Hawaii 5-0" theme tune while I ponder how to document this trip. I've decided to just post lots of photos rather than ramble on as usual. This is mainly because there's a lot I can't actually remember about where we went and the names of places, sorry!

Tim booked a little house by the sea on the island of Oahu and hired a car which turned out to be a massive whale of a vehicle, soft on suspension and given to turning corners like an articulated lorry with a hangover.

Getting to Hawaii was – erm – interesting. We left late on Saturday afternoon and arrived on Saturday morning due to that wonderfully weird invention of The Dateline. Try explaining that to a just 6 year old girl?! I don't even get it myself.

On arrival we were hauled by airport security in for a full search which totally freaked Rhiannon out and made Tim extremely cross. We were the only ones to be subjected to this indignity – in a glass room in full view of all the other travellers. I should hasten to add, this was NOT a full naked body type search; we were just left hanging around in a fishtank awaiting the arrival of a large, terrifying female security officer to go over us with her whatever-detector. She was deeply unpleasant and immune to Rhiannon's fearful tears. Not a good start.

I forgot Hawaii was American...

Finally out of the airport hell, we found our way to the house which was delightful and only a few yards from a perfect white sandy beach.

We began to relax.