The Travelling Kid: Destinations!

CONTINUED FROM TOKYO PART ONE!

Wondering about FOOD and how the HECK to get where you’re going?

Welcome to Tokyo Part Two!

MORE!
So, here are some other places you may want to consider taking your travelling kid (s) when you visit Tokyo:

INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM: This aquarium floats high above sea level on the 10th floor of the World Import Mart Building. Although it is small, the aquarium is home to some 60,000 creatures including piranhas, dolphins and seahorses and you can catch a performing seal show or a ‘fish circus’. The complex is also home to a Planetarium and an Observatory. I’m kind of sorry we missed it. (World Import Mart Building, 10th Floor Sunshine City, 3-1-3 Higashi Ikebukuro Phone: 3989-3466/Open: Mon - Sat, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Sun, 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.)

SHINAGAWA AQUARIUM: Of course there are aquariums PLURAL…just like the science museums. This one boasts an undersea tunnel experience and a shark hall.

(http://www.aquarium.gr.jp/en/index.html)

TOKYO DISNEYLAND AND DISNEY SEA PARK: Yep, the mouse is in Japan. Supposedly the Disneyland Park is just like the ones in the US including all the fave rides like the Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain. The Sea Park is themed around various ports-of-call. Getting to the resort seems really easy and if your family members are big Disney fans you might want to go.

(http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/index_e.html)

HANAYASHIKI: Founded in 1853, this old amusement park is in Asakusa (NW of the Senso-jii Temple) It has a Ferris wheel, carousel, roller coaster, etc. It didn’t get the best review from my pal who has spent a lot of time in Tokyo, so we gave it a miss. But a lot of web sites and guidebooks recommend it…so it’s up to you.

TSUKIJI FISH MARKET: A dear friend of mine has a curious saying: “Better than a wet fish across the belly!” I have no idea what that means exactly but it comes to mind when talking about the early morning Tsukiji Fish Market. Get up at the crack of dawn and head to the edge of Tokyo Bay about 2 km south of the Imperial Palace and you can take in the one of the greatest shows on earth as around 5 million pounds of fish are delivered from all over the world. If you are stealthy, you can slip into the auctions and watch people squabbling over squid, urchins and eels. Then you can have breakfast – if you are a raw fish fan. Probably freshest sushi you will ever eat!

TOKYO TOWER: (www.tokyotower.co.jp/333/foreign/eng) This Eiffel Tower copycat was built in 1958 and was built a few meters taller than the original. We gave it a miss because everything I read about it and my pal’s review gave me pause. It is a bit of an amusement arcade complete with waxworks, souvenir shops and an aquarium. However, it’s got a LOT of things that kids would like and it boasts an observatory to look over the city and…it looks like the Eiffel Tower, so the kitsch factor is very high. I was already in such sensory overload that I saved the tower for another trip.

DAY TRIPS TO KAMAKURA AND HAKONE (MT. FUJI): Take a day trip outside of Tokyo to one of the many lovely towns surrounding Tokyo. We went to Kamakura and Hakone, but Yokohama and Nikko are also nearby. The highlight of these trips for Jacob was taking the trains and especially THE SHINKANSEN. For info on the Shinkansen Bullet Train go to my article: TRAINS, TRAINS, TRAINS!

As you can see there are SOOOOO many things to do in and around Tokyo and I am sure that I haven’t covered it all. So, here are a couple of helpful websites:

www.planettokyo.com: Their tag line is, “Because you’ll need more than a passport”. It has a lot of insider info and is well put together.

www.tokyowithkids.com: This is an “interactive online community for English speaking parents in Tokyo and all of Japan”.

www.tokyofamilies.com: This is a magazine that is a local guide to family living in Tokyo. They have uploaded the issues onto this website. It’s got a lot of great insider stuff about stuff in Tokyo for families. My pal Lili who was born there and who travels there often to visit family with her travelling kid turned me on to it.

(Also see link to Beth Reiber’s Japan at end of article)

FOOD:

Luckily, Jacob is a GREAT eater and will try anything. He even tried stuff I wouldn’t touch…however we did see eye-to-eye when presented with a very green, very slimy snail.

However, I realize that your travelling kid (s) may not be so adventurous. If they are…welcome to the land of food adventures! For those with more selective tastes, no worries, Tokyo is a very cosmopolitan city and there is every type of food available. The Japanese are VERY fond of Italian food and noodles of all sorts and what self-respecting kid doesn’t love a good noodle? Also, as

mentioned earlier in the article, the Department Stores have amazing food courts. In addition, some of the supermarkets are very up-market. Queen’s Isetan in Shinagawa Station is one of the more amazing markets I’ve been to – filled with gorgeous produce and lots of prepared food of all sorts. My husband pointed out that many people live in very small spaces in Tokyo and there is neither time nor space to cook and entertain and so markets carry a lot of ready to eat items. You will also find fun treats at the 7-11 markets and their cousin, LAWSON’s. We were always ducking into a Lawson’s for Japanese snack crackers and cookies and sandwiches and juice and milk. Tokyo has also seen an explosion of Starbucks-like coffee shops and many of them have delicious food. Lastly, you will find all sorts of food choices in the larger train stations, which usually offer Ramen or Soba shops and more.

You can find great deals (prix-fix) at lunch in some of the pricier places in town. The set priced lunch is called seto coursu or coursu and vary but can include appetizers and dessert.

Obento, boxed lunch, can be found all over town including department stores and are usually a great deal, but include some mystery items and if you don’t like fish you will probably be out of luck.

Speaking of bento boxes, a great little site about eating and drinking in Tokyo is: www.bento.com you will find a 'locate by location' link with a map, which can be very helpful in such a large city.

Speaking of that, I do have a couple of “kid-friendly plus great food” restaurant suggestions (places we loved). BUT just know that finding specific recommendations can be daunting and crossing great distances just to get to a certain restaurant may not be wisest at dinnertime with hungry kids in tow. BUT these are worthwhile:

Via Partenope: GREAT very reasonably priced, kid friendly Italian near Shinagawa Station in the Mitsubishi Building, level B1. http://partenope.jp 03.6718.2825 In fact, there are several good little restaurants in this building.

Gonpachi: Very kid-friendly, great food, inexpensive. Lots of variety including yakitori and noodles and sushi. There are several branches. We went to the one in Ginza in an arcade type building called the G-Zone 1-2-3 Ginza (03/5524.3641) www.global-dining.com

TOILETS

Now, anyone who has a copy of “Everyone Poops” on their kid’s shelves knows that what food goes in, must come out. In fact, the book was first written and published in Japan. But I digress…

If you’ve read my other articles I don’t usually have a separate section on toilets. But the toire you will find in Tokyo are ‘special’.

First of all, you will need to bring your own tissues and hand wipes. Most bathrooms do not have paper towels and you will most likely encounter more than one toilet-paperless situation.

There is a good, bad and ugly of toilets in Japan. The very, very good are so wonderful that my neighbor Judy returned from Japan and promptly ordered one of the groovy heated-seat, warm-water-jet-spray toilets. Some of the ‘good’ ones even have music and/or a urine-hitting-water tinkling sound that should get you in the mood if you weren’t ready to begin with.

The bad and ugly are very, very bad and ugly. My husband refers to them as ‘black diamonds’ (the most difficult category of ski slope for all you non-skiers). He encountered one when my son announced he had to go poo immediately when we were far from the hotel and all the restaurants were closed. We found a friendly merchant who pointed to a dark staircase and down, down the stairs my husband and son descended. They were there for a really, really long time. ‘It’ apparently was a ‘double black diamond’ – a nasty hole with even nastier surroundings and so my husband had to suspend Jacob over the hole and the process involved having to remove one shoe so that the pants weren’t in the way. The fact that my son had on some diabolically difficult to remove shoes compounded the degree of difficulty and so; my husband will always be my hero. My favorite toilet in Tokyo involved a blue fur seat (not seat cover, but SEAT) and it was up on a very high pedestal and it played music. BUT enough of the entertainment portion of this section. Here are some basics:

There are two basic types of toilet facilities – The JAPANESE STYLE and the WESTERN STYLE.

Japanese Style: Squat toilet. Basically like a mini urinal set into the floor. The user must squat over it to use it. Use your imagination to envision what might await you there. Women should avoid wearing pantyhose. I always roll up my pant legs before entering one of these puppies. Aiding a young child usually involves a lot of skill and strength.
Western Style: Good old-fashioned toilet…maybe. Can be one of those blue fur, musical, heated seat jobs as mentioned above. Sometimes can be dirtier than the squat depending on the location.

For some pix: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AD8Y-HYS/index_e.htm

And…FYI the Japan Toilet Association (yep, there is one) celebrates Toilet Day on November 10. Seems that the numbers 11/10 can be read ii-to (ire) which means “Good Toilet”. Hooray for the JTA!

Now you’ve got the what to see, where to go (literally) of Tokyo…now back to the HOW of getting to all those places.

TACKLING THE METRO

I last left you about 3,500 words ago by informing you that many of the streets remain nameless and that numbers on those nameless streets are not sequential. Add a super-sized city and a formidable metro system to that and it might at first glance give even the most intrepid traveller pause.

No worries. Really. As I said before, Tokyo is SO big – you kind of need to take a ‘divide and conquer’ approach. A pal who lived there for grad school said to treat it like a puzzle. Let’s say it’s like my son’s dinosaur puzzle with all the major extinct guys. You may not put the whole puzzle together all at once – but you can put, let’s say, the orange T-Rex section together first. Then move on to the yellow Triceratops and so on. At the end you will have a complete diorama of these friends of Godzilla – but it’s a less confusing, less painful way to complete the task.

So, here’s my attempt at breaking the pieces down. First of all, holding together all the pieces of the Tokyo puzzle is the:

YAMANOTE LINE: This train line is the BEST! It is a circle. A commuter loop that circles around central Tokyo and connects important stations like Harajuku, Ueno, Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinagawa, etc.

Locate this line on the map first. It will help you get your bearings. It’s like getting the corners of the puzzle done first and locating all the ‘like’ colors…it makes the puzzle easier to complete. You can get very close to almost any place you are going with this line and then either walk the difference or connect to anther metro line. There are 12 subway lines, run by two different companies that operate mostly inside the Yamanote circle.

Here is a very good site that explains the Yamanote Line including all the stops and what major points of interest are located there: (www.japan-guide.com/e/e2370.html) By the way – many stops are VERY close to one another (surprisingly so) and sometimes changing lines and then going the one extra stop will take you longer than walking it. For example the YURAKUCHO stop on the Yamanote line is walking distance to Ginza.

METRO 101

Here’s a little compendium of navigating the metro:

Mini example first and then details of getting tix, etc.

Let’s say you want to go to KIDDYLAND in HARAJUKU.

Locate KiddyLand on the map.
Locate the metro stops near it. (Harajuku or Meiji-Jingumae)
Follow the lines back toward a metro stop that is easy for you to get to.

In our case, our starting point was Shinagawa Station, just nearby our hotel. We saw that the Yamanote line would get us to Harajuku easily, no change of train.

BUT, for GINZA we made the mistake of not checking the Yamanote line first and took a complex train-changing itinerary that was totally unnecessary when, in fact, we could have just taken the Yamanote line to the YURAKUCHO stop (which I mentioned before is walking distance to Ginza) and walked.

Here’s a little walk-through of buying tix and getting on the metro. Wish I’d had this info before I went! (NOTE: You may also want to check out this great little video that explains the ins and outs of the metro: http://www.travelistic.com/video/show/4969/Public-Transportation)

Once you learn the ticket machines, the metro is very user friendly. REMEMBER there is more than one company involved in the metro system. You HAVE to buy tickets at the kiosk that services the line you want to take. Most of the machines are in English and Japanese. Just follow the prompts and it will tell you how much money is needed. And if you make a mistake, no worries. There is a guy at the exit of every station who will collect the extra fees needed. Here’s a little breakdown.

1.Figure out where you’re going: Look on the big overhead maps and locate the line you want. You will find the respective kiosks located just under the map. There will also be a fare table that will tell you how much your ticket should cost for your trip.

2.Buy the ticket: The prompts will take you through – but basically there are little diagrams of people and a list of fares to choose from and you put the two things together and voila! For example you’ll see a picture of: 1 adult, one child. 1 adult. 2 adults, one child, etc. (By the way, children cost less than adults.) Then you push the button that reflects the fare you located on the fare chart. Then you put in your money, push the button and voila! The metro also offers one-day passes: (http://www.tokyometro.jp/e/ticket/oneday.html).

3.Enter through automatic ticket gate: Find the entrance to your metro line and insert the tickets into the electronic entrance gate. If you are pushing a stroller, there is a manned booth and the person there will let you through.

4.Find the correct direction: (just like any metro there are 2 directions you can go) The Yamanote line is in a circle so if you go the wrong way on that line, don’t panic it makes the complete circle in an hour!

5.Exit through automatic ticket gate: Again, strollers go through gate next to the booth, which was a bonus for us because we invariably had calculated incorrectly and needed to adjust our fare there anyway.

A couple of quick notes about the metro:
Avoid the metro at commuter times. The trains get SO crowded that they actually have ‘pushers’. Yep. There are white-gloved people who get paid to push you or shall I say squish you onto the metro. You’ll only find them at the major stations and only at peak travel times.
When I was in Tokyo several years ago there was little English signage, but now there is a LOT of English signage and the metro stops have been numbered.

Don’t be afraid of getting lost. Relax. You’re on vacation and the city is virtually crime free and everyone is very helpful! The people are great, the city is great. As I said before: IT ROCKED OUR WORLD! Tokyo is truly a fabulous city in a Godzilla key chain, 186-miles-per-hour-bullet-train, raw snails, complex toilets kind of way.

Check out Beth Reiber’s Frommers Guide to Japan. We are of like mind on Tokyo and she has lots more info on the rest of Japan.
See Google map below for TOKYO Live!

Look for more on Japan as I take you along on our little side trips out of Tokyo: Kamakura, Hakone, Mt. Fuji and more.

The Travelling Kid: TOKYO! Part Two

Asakusa

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