We got a box in the mail! And what should it have in it?
This awesome University of Oregon Duck hat. William's Mummi Kay and Eno Brad are both UO grads. They live in Eugene, and have taken pains to introduce William to the track and field program there, and we've gone on the campus once for the American Track and Field finals. We watched the worlds that were held in Korea on TV here. We saw the competitors we saw there competing.
They've sent him a UO running outfit you see in many of the photos. But William is excited because he can now compete with Dougie Anthony (Hallie's middle child) who has a sock monkey hat.
Hallie wanted to go out on her birthday. So, even though it was a Tuesday night, we found sitters and went! We all loaded into Hallie's van. It was awesome. We are all Mabori Kaigan people, so it was like a bus route on the way to the restaurant.
We went to Rosshie's. He uses avocado in all his dishes. It is like California fusion food here in Japan. He works at SRF, and this is his weekend gig. He opened special for us. He has frogs everywhere... all stuffed animals and the like. Cute theme.
Home made salsa, wasabi guacamole and spicy guac. Nummy!
Jason and Tim waiting to sit down.
He has several big collections. He does coffee on the weekends. He's on the beach in Nobi, and the view is killer. He has a deck, as well.
We stayed inside. Jaye, Allie, Hallie, Eric, Jason, Melissa, Tim and Gabe all getting ready to eat.
They're only looking at the drinks menu. He had a set menu for us.
Hallie and Eric.
These avocados are huge. We'd been talking earlier of a flying squirrel that was huge. We'd told the photographer of that, he should have used a thumb to show size!
Hallie got a Japanese cartoon character hat for her birthday. She's so cute! I wish I looked like this at 40!
The best part? We were only to pay for our drinks. Hallie treated all of us. Wow. We were honored, delighted, and stuffed. The menu was: chips and dips, quesadillas with a spicy chicken, buffalo chicken, shredded beef flautas, chicken with green chiles enchiladas, and beef and bean enchiladas. Burp. It was delicious, and hit the spot of my Mexican Food need!
Starbucks won't let you have a birthday party on their premises. But, if you arrive with all the packages, and quickly set-up, and everyone buys a tea or coffee, unless you disturb others, they won't kick you out.
Hallie was turning 40, and a way to get together was to have coffee. Too many folks have kids who nap around noon, and therefore 9 am was best. Hallie's great friend here (and a friend of ours, you will recognize her eldest child and her from the skiing in Hakuba blog), Jennifer, said she'd do the hard part of the party. Her youngest, Carter, is a very nice and cute kid. I just love him!
She made these cake pops. They were phenomenal and so pretty. Her presentation was gorgeous! And those roses on that card are celery stalk stamped. How crafty!
I wrapped 40 gifts. Hallie and I have been a part of a birthday dinner club. We would do lunch or dinner together, and the others would buy the birthday girl's dinner. No gifts. Until... we had a few items that we weren't going to use. We started giving those to whoever wanted them, birthday girl got first choice. So, I wrapped up my crap! I suppose it would have been easier to take it to Second Hand Rose, but this was funner. For time purposes, we had the kids open these for her. We took our own trash bag and kept the debris to a minimum.
Hallie loves Hello Kitty. Jennifer suggested Hello 40 as a theme. FUN! The bow is lavender because old ladies here in Japan dye their hair this color! So no pink or red bow! Lavender it was!
Jennifer got Hallie a tiara. That is Jaye Sullivan in the background. Camera hog! She is a HOOT! I love our friends here!
Jennifer did a Hello Kitty theme, the lady byond her, Gretchen, did an "F" word theme and bought five things that started with F. I had advertised the party as the 'F-Word' party. :) What a cute idea!
She got coupons for free babysitting services (those are valuable), Starbucks gift cards, and fun alcohol of various sorts. Good gifts (as opposed to things laying around my house).
I had fun, and I am glad to have such a wonderful friend like Hallie here in Japan. She is the type of friend that has your back! And mine is a big back! :)
Finding Kidzania was fairly easy. Take the 1a exit, and cross the road to the left of you. You should see part way down (at the next light) this orange color. This is La La Port. It is a mall that Kidzania is in.
Next time I am going to go shopping here! Who knew? But, as the adult, you must remain in Kidzania as a guardian on duty. I would recommend Kidzania to a confident 6-10 year old. Otherwise, you'd have to be right there. If you leave without your kid (I wanted to put my coat in a locker), you set off alarms. Both kids were able to go their separate ways and have a ton of fun.
Inside are sign posts. You want to go to the north dock (north part of the mall) on the third floor.
We stopped for a snack. Ice cream always does the trick.
I had to take a picture of this. It is ice cream with sweetened black beans, mochi balls, and green tea sauce. SO Japanese with Japanese tastes!
This is the waiting area for getting into Kidzania Tokyo.
This is the exit store. We all know what this is for! They only take real money, not the money the kids earn (Kidzos).
This is the view from the entrance, where they scan your reservation, put radio frequency ID bracelets on you (your child cannot leave if you do not), and give you $50 Kidzos.
One of the jobs is pilot. And there are stewardesses as well. If you ask for a reservation, they'll put a sticker on your job card, and a time. You CANNOT do any other activities until you've done that one. Obviously, pilot is a big line.
So, William chose surgeon first.
He got his training.
They asked him (in English) if the reality of the surgery would make him queasy. They didn't use those words, but he said, "No!"
Adults cannot go in, but there are windows to watch through. I was impressed with how incredibly real it was. I mean, this is the real deal! The instruments, the training video were the real McCoy. I met a lady who was the Kidzania rep. She said that the Japanese took it seriously. Different companies sponsor different professions. The Japanese have taken it to a remarkable height of reality.
Here he is using the foot control to cauterize as he cuts out the gall bladder. His pay was $8 Kidzos.
Of course, you could be an optician, or a nurse. NICU? :)
William wanted to climb up a building and fix something. Part of the training was to drive around the town in a rig. Several of the professions do this. Ambulance, fire truck, deliveries (Black Cat, it's like UPS), etc. I guess it makes the job last longer!
Most of the jobs they made them wear a hat and jacket. William liked his blue hairnet. You get a hairnet for the time you're in there to protect you from hat ickies. If he'd started this job fist, he would have had a white one.
He climbed up the building, stepped onto the balcony, and fixed a window. He got another $8 Kidzos.
The little kids stopping and going in to deliver packages was too cute!
William is studying the map for what to do next. There are places you can make pizza, buns, that sort of thing. So your kid can eat. William refused to do anything that costed money.
This is the card. Lots of kids used string to tie it around their necks for easy keeping.
It costs to drive a car. Being a gas attendant or mechanic gets you money. I told William that I thought it would be cool to drive one of those little cars!
This guy spoke excellent English, and did all of the instruction in English. When he asked the Japanese kids if they would understand English, they all said they did. I am told they understand Japanese speaking English better than a native English speaker speaking English.
All of the staff are trained in English. Some don't know more than the script, and some might hand you a card or book with English translation. But, you can figure all of it out! SUPER COOL! And, I am grateful for this. He took a picture for them to take home.
Also was their best picture. The Sony cameras were cleaned between times. Nice cameras, too! They'd gotten a composition lesson at the beginning.
This is the Kidzos store. You work all night and get enough for a pencil. Seriously. Isn't this real life or not? :) Thanks for all your work, here's your pittance to spend.
The fire department rushes to this fire, and then puts it out.
After it is out, they go around in the firetruck, and 2 kids get to announce 'please move over, fire truck coming through' above the siren. The last firetruck of the night, it was 2 American kids. :)
Stefan thought the Docomo store would be where he could buy a cell phone. I think they program them, and 'sell them.' Maybe I should have done this... oh. No adults allowed.
Stefan and William did only one job together. As musicians, they played drums and bongos. We have a DVD of their performance.
William was EXCELLENT as a radio announcer. He reads aloud very well. We got a CD of that.
A travel agency. BTW, you can buy food inside to eat while you wait for your kids.
And at the end, there are photos to buy. I kept hearing songs re-played at certain times past the hour on the clock. I decided those were subtle cues for beginnings, endings and when the photogs should be done. A small icon is on the sticker put on your card for the jobs where an official photographer is on duty.
Friday night, 10:30pm. Solid people on the train. We didn't get a seat until 30 minutes into the 50 minute trip. The first few subway trains, we had seats. This was the direct home. I get tired of never getting a seat. After a long day on your feet, it is onerous to have to stand yet more.
