Dad Japan Tour '07 (Part 4)

Well, dad has now returned to the United States, but this is an update on his last few days here. Unfortunately, I was pretty busy with work during his last few weekdays here, but of course we made time to go out for some tasty food (as has probably been evident from my previous postings).

Friday evening we went to Sekai no Yamachan (I've posted about this restaurant previously). This is a restaurant known for its chicken wings. In the United States, Buffalo Wings are very popular, but not so well known in Japan. Sekai no Yamachan uses a salt/pepper sauce that is pretty tasty. Here's a video of dad trying the wings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KTs-gLpob4. By the way, in a previous blog I mentioned the buffalo wing sauce that dad brought all the way from Colorado's Jim's Wings. This is my parents and my favorite place for buffalo wings and is the place my dad refers to in the video: http://www.menusfirst.com/ftcollins/jimswings.htm.

After eating wings, we walked the entire distance from Akihabara back to our apartment--it was a pretty warm night. On the way back, we walked by the lit-up Mitsukoshi Department store my parents liked visiting last year (kind of looks like the Gallerie Lafayette in Paris).

Saturday, we did a bit of shopping, and picked up a Nintendo Wii system. They're pretty tough to come by in Japan still, so we felt pretty lucky! This is a video of Shinako defeating dad at the Wii : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj90Q7JeSMQ

For brunch on Sunday, we went again to Shinachan and my favorite restaurant for lunch in Tokyo, the New York Bar and Grill, at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, so our view from the restaurant was a little bit cloudy, but you still get the picture from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApHTnfaO81U. Because they're in season, we loaded up on delicious strawberries from the dessert bar.

Dad left to return to the United States last week. We miss him but enjoyed the visit!!

More updates soon!

Dad Japan Tour '07 (Part 3)

It has been several days since I last updated the blog. We've had a busy and fun past couple of days of my dad's visit to Tokyo.

Sunday

Sunday was a pretty, but chilly day. We spent the day driving around Tokyo and enjoying the views. For lunch we had Ramen at one of Shinachan and my favorite ramen chains, Kagetsu. The ramen has a lot of garlic and is delicious (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkqQgpXERk). After eating lunch at the restaurant, near Suidobashi Station, we visited the Yasukuni Shrine. We were hoping the cherry blossoms might start coming out, but unfortunately only a few were visible there. After that, we went over to the mall at Toyosu and enjoyed the view of Tokyo Bay (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=119RkD9TzRw). We also went to a game center that Shinachan and I like to visit sometimes, and played some games. Dad even played a basketball game (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPHLLyf9HCM ). Not too bad!!!

Monday

Monday we drove to Yokohama, which is quite near to Tokyo. The weather was amazing, and we had a great view of the city as we drove over the Yokohama Bay Bridge. We spent the day by going to Chinatown and walking around the city. We returned to Tokyo for dinner and ate at a restaurant in our neighborhood with a nostalgic Japanese 50's theme (See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAff4nBG_nI). Tasty!!

Tuesday
Unfortunately, I had to work on Tuesday!! But we finished the day nicely with some chicken in sauce my dad generously brought all the way from Jim's Chicken Wings in Fort Collins, Colorado. Delicious!!!

Wednesday
Today we spent the day at Shinachan's house. my father had not yet been to Shinachan's parent's home, and we had a lovely dinner with them. Shinachan's parents, Shinachan's sister-in-law Ayumi, her son (my nephew) Yuga (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnHaWB36lWc ), and Shinachan and I enjoyed a great lunch of Chicken, beef, and salad. Yuga is now about 6 months old, and is really energetic (See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY32ZEdwPc8 )!!!!!

A great past couple of days. More later!!!

Dad Japan Tour '07 (Part 2)

Today Shinachan and I had our parenting class at our local ward office (there are 23 Wards in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and we live in Chuo Ward, which includes Ginza, Nihonbashi, the Tsukiji Fish Market, etc.). Our class basically consisted of a video about parenting, Shiatsu massage techniques for relaxation (only taught to the men--the women's role in that session was to be massaged. How nice!),a pregnancy "experience" (See the picture) and then a midwife taught us how to wash a baby (See Video= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJKxUd4154o ). We were divided up into groups based on where we live within the ward, and it gave us a chance to meet some of the other couples that are going to have a baby. Coincidentally, all the people in our group are scheduled to have their baby around the same few days as us (the end of May). After that, Dad met up with us at the Tsukiji train station, and we walked around Ginza and went to an electronics store.

Dinner was at a restaurant that specializes in Kushi-age, which is basically deep fried sticks of meat, fish, and vegetables. Delicious (See Video= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3kOQbrPUkg)!!!

After that, we took a taxi over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Nihonbashi and enjoyed the view out to Shinjuku from a window seat.

That's all for now!! More later.

Dad Japan Tour '07 (Part 2)

Today Shinachan and I had our parenting class at our local ward office (there are 23 Wards in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and we live in Chuo Ward, which includes Ginza, Nihonbashi, the Tsukiji Fish Market, etc.). Our class basically consisted of a video about parenting, Shiatsu massage techniques for relaxation (only taught to the men--the women's role in that session was to be massaged. How nice!),a pregnancy "experience" (See the picture) and then a midwife taught us how to wash a baby. We were divided up into groups based on where we live within the ward, and it gave us a chance to meet some of the other couples that are going to have a baby. Coincidentally, all the people in our group are scheduled to have their baby around the same few days as us (the end of May).

After that, Dad met up with us at the Tsukiji train station, and we walked around Ginza and went to an electronics store.

Dinner was at a restaurant that specializes in Kushi-age, which is basically deep fried sticks of meat, fish, and vegetables. Delicious!!!

After that, we took a taxi over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Nihonbashi and enjoyed the view out to Shinjuku from a window seat.

That's all for now!! More later.

Dad Japan Tour '07

Dad (Klumpp) arrived in Japan safely on Thursday (the 15th), and we went to the airport to pick him up. Even though the plane was incredibly crowded, he was pretty "genki" when he got off the plane.

We drove back to Ningyocho, and after resting for a few minutes, Shinachan cooked up a delicious dinner of steak, omellette rice, salad, and a delicious apple custard (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4ByiXG-rw).

After that, we walked around Ningycho for a bit, and went out for an after-dinner drink at a local Spanish standing bar.

This morning, we got up EARLY!! at about 4:45 a.m. and went to watch the Tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market (http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/welcom_e.htm). It's a pretty dangerous place with all the people walking around with big knives and the little motor carts buzzing aorund everywhere, but it's also very interesting, and truly unique (See Video= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wev8EY06Jc).

This evening, I met up with Shinako and dad again after spending a long day at work, and we went out for a delicious dinner of mongolian beef at Gyukaku (http://www.gyu-kaku.com/)!! Delicious!
We capped off the day with an after-dinner drink at a local pub near our home in Ningyocho... A long day, but a nice one!

More soon!

Still no Snow in Tokyo

We're still having a warm winter in Tokyo...this has to be one of the latest points in the year at which it still hasnt snowed. My father (soon-to-be Grandpa Klumpp) is coming to Tokyo to visit us this week, so I'm hoping the weather continues to be unseasonable!

We visited Dr. Takahashi yesterday (Saturday) for one of our regular incredibly long doctor visits. We had an 11:20 a.m. appointment and didn't leave the hospital until almost four p.m. ...luckily, a Hard Rock Cafe is a short walk away at Ueno Station, where we had a tasty lunch. Still, Dr. Takahashi is a popular, but slow, doctor! Anyway, the baby is fine. But she's going to be a tall one! Right now she weighs 1565 grams (3.45 pounds) and has very long legs. Im including a picture in which you can see her head and her little hands making fists at the top of the image.

Soon-to-be Grandma and Grandpa Klumpp sent some great clothes, which arrived the other day and made the house smell nicely of Downy (thanks, mom and dad!!). Note the jean mini-skirt and jacket. Those will be nice for mom and daughter when they go out in their "pair" look. We liked the Nike socks too--maybe she'll be a high-jumper like dad and grandpa with her long legs!

Shinachan also ordered a tutu (I had to laugh at that one...even more when she ordered another one, which should arrive soon) with ballerina shoe-shaped socks, which were sent to my home in Colorado and which my parents sent along.

More Updates Soon!