Out and About: Shinagawa Aquarium and Park

 It is broiling hot.  "Feels like 101" hot.  It will be hot like this until September, I expect.  It is also a four day weekend with the Olympics starting and VVIPs in town and not really a time for the parents to take a trip out of town, no matter how much the boys might want to return to Shimoda.  So.  What to do aside from the pool? 

I thought about taking the kiddos to check out Sporu, a big sports complex, but the surfing lessons were booked through the end of August (Japanese people love to plan!) and a walk to work and back left me drenched.  Idea postponed until fall. 

So, we opted for the Shinagawa Aquarium.  Last year we weren't doing things indoors ... but as this COVID thing has dragged on and 3/5 of us are vaccinated ... now things like the aquarium are still new. 

It's very manageable (2 hours is fine) and affordable (adult ticket about $13).  A perfect half day activity.  And, amazingly, all three children (who now span elementary, middle and high school) enjoyed it (though of course they whined about leaving the house and then made a beeline for the exit once they saw it. *sigh.)

The website showed a cafe and a restaurant, so I figured we'd get lunch there.  I was a little confused when we were walking up at 11:45 and all the couples, families and friend groups were at big picnic tables with their bento box lunches.  We kept walking down to the entrance -- only to find the cafe only sold coffee, ice cream, soda, and Japanese sandwiches (anko bean paste and butter, anyone?), and the restaurant had a line of 20 people.  SO, back to a "taco rice" food truck and the picnic tables it was.  Note to self: next time to bring our own lunch.  

The web tickets worked fine (yay), and they also sold day of tickets at the door (unusual in these COVID times, but maybe since it was such a manageable size, the turnover is high enough -- it certainly wasn't overcrowded).  Various websites mentioned the possibility of a fish foot spa, but the online ticket sales had a ticket to get your own pearl out of an oyster so I selected that option.  

The small one was too tired by the time we walked through to actually then wait our turn for the oyster pearl thing, so since that ticket is valid through the end of the year - and the oldest said it was fun enough to go back - I'll try and remember where in my wallet I put those tickets for safe keeping.  

On the way home, we walked by Shinagawa Children's Park.  A blog I like has apparently highly recommended it - not sure how I missed that!  But, remember at the top I said it was a "feels like 101" day, so needless to say after one ride each on the rope swing and stopping a few minutes to watch a middle school baseball game (the boys really miss sports teams ... the Japanese teams are all going, but the expat English ones and school ones were more COVID conservative), we went on our merry way.  Another thing to check out in the spring or fall - or next summer if the water park area opens up if a post-COVID world ever comes.  

And, in small signs that perhaps normal life is coming back, this neighborhood street near the train station looked decked out for a summer festival.  The matsuri my neighborhood used to have were pretty fun - I bet some neighborhoods now are really looking forward to having some again. 

Travelogue: Shimoda

 We're hardly taking any trips right now (thank you, COVID).  Others are more adventurous, but the thought of a kiddo getting a normal cold while we're somewhere else, in this hyper sensitive environment, causes me some second thoughts, especially about flying with the necessary airplane temperature checks.  Luckily, we found another family with two boys similar ages to ours, so we went skiing with them in February and to Shimoda in July.  

Shimoda is a well-known beach area on the Izu Peninsula - first gaining popularity in the 1970s for a domestic honeymoon spot (search in Japanese for "Shimoda romantic hotel" seems it may still be!).  Little coves all along the way make for different beach experiences.  

We rented an AirBnB near Kisami beach, well known for beginner surfing waves.  No, we didn't try.  But we did buy two body boards and had loads of fun jumping waves.  Every now and then was a pretty big one -- the boys and I each at various points didn't time a jump properly and got a little pummeled, but the undertoe wasn't too bad and we popped right back up.  The little kids, though, stuck to the waters edge and an area where a stream emptied into the ocean.  Our AirBnB host commented Sotoura beach was probably better for younger kids as it only has very gentle waves.

Since our children are creatures of habit, the lunch/dinners I didn't cook at home we ate at the White Beach Cafe, steps off of the beach, with pizzas, pastas and few other items.  Quite tasty - and even better they would let a family open a tab, so the kids could go over and order by themselves, with us settling up at the end of the day.  I'm sure other delicious eats exist, but why leave the 500 meter beeline from the house to the beach when there's something great along the way?  

What we didn't do in Shimoda was visit the museum where Commodore Perry negotiated the first US-Japan treaty.  (He landed in Yokohama in 1853, but then had a second visit in 1854 to ink the deal.  Wikipedia crash course here.)  A monk at the temple where the negotiation took place gave my language class a fantastic presentation - but the boys were having so much fun on the beach, messing around with the other kids, I didn't want to be "that mom" who spoiled the fun.  Especially since it was about a 4 hour drive and easy to return to.  So, I guess that means we have to go back!