Tag Archive for 'athletic day'

This weekend, despite being a long weekend, was kind of a quiet one. We did, however, manage to make it out to the zoo we’d been intending to visit for the last couple weeks/months.

We were planning on going on Saturday but the weather didn’t really co-operate so we went on Sunday instead. So instead of zooing, we got our haircut, which can be a full-day activity. Tamie took Layla to visit the grandparents while I stuck around here. We have differing opinions on what a haircut entails and so go to different places to get our hair cut. I’ve gone to her place a couple times and the people there are quite nice, but I can find much better things to do with three hours of my time. My haircut this time – 22 minutes, and no army-style buzz cuts. Tamie’s? Her appointment was at 1pm, and when I called her at 4:30 she said she’d just finished. Different strokes…

The zoo we went to on Sunday was a smaller, freer zoo that we’d visited once before in Yokohama. Luckily the weather (and the time of our awakening) co-operated and we were able to attend.

We got there just after lunch and saw all sorts of creatures — Layla, as usual, was curious up until the point where the animals might actually touch her at which point she freaked and wanted to be carried. There were several peacocks walking freely (when not being harassed by kids) in the zoo, all of which scared the heck out of our brave little girl.

One section of the zoo was a kind of petting zoo, with chickens, chicks and mice for kids to manhandle. Even the smallest mouse was too much for our little princess, as she panicked and climbed up on me. I was a bit surprised when Tamie put the mouse on my shoulder as I thought Layla would have a heart attack, or worse, but she actually seemed okay with it. I guess so long as it wasn’t actually on her (or her mom wasn’t evilly trying to put it on her, she was okay).

The lion roared at us, causing all sorts of people to rush over and crowd around to see what the lion was doing, almost blocking our view. Gotta love the fact that the not-so-polite, little photographers who are a head shorter than me =).

The penguins were swimming in their little pool, all except one. Tamie’s theory was that it was still a bit young and losing its baby feathers… meanwhile, the lady beside us was telling her kid it was too old and couldn’t swim at such an advanced age. I’ll side with my wife, and not just because she’d be mad if I didn’t.

After the zoo, we headed down to a sketchy part of town to get some good meat in us. Sukiyaki, a beef hotpot that is oh-so-delicious, was the meal of the evening. It seems to be only a fall/winter dish here, despite the deliciousness. As such, this was the first time in months that we had the opportunity to have some. The fact that we had to walk past kinky massage parlours to get to it was all the better.

The actual restaurant was pretty nice and we got our own room all to ourselves. The kimono-clad waitresses were more than happy to serve us, especially with Layla being cute and charming as she is starting to learn to be. As it was a meal for two, Layla was taking only the parts of our food that she wanted… or that we didn’t want. As part of our appetizer we got a chestnut, which Layla devoured in seconds. Seeing as she seemed to like it, I asked the waitress for another beer and another chestnut… she asked if she should bring two at which point Layla jumped up holding three fingers up saying “pleeeeease”. She got her three chestnuts and I got another anecdote to write in a blog. Win-win, I’d say.

After several plates of meat, we were stuffed. Layla, not so much. She still wanted dessert and she was determined to get it. Here in Japan, it’s primarily the customer’s responsibility to yell at a waiter or waitress when they want something — ie. they don’t come and check on you. Yelling “Sumimasen” (“Excuse Me”) is something I’ve been trying to teach Layla to do but she’s usually either too shy or too quiet when she does. But not tonight — the paper walls shook with her sumimasen-ing. The waitress did come and when Layla said “dessert, please” it was with apparent joy that the waitress served it. Both plates to the baby.

Today (Monday) was another lazy day thanks to the Japanese national holiday, which I’ve just learned is called “Athletic Day”. We talked to my folks back in Canada for a while – they were shocked to see how tall Layla is. I went rollerblading on my new wheels (very fitting, considering the day). I realized two things — 1. It’s much better, in every way, to rollerblade on a full set of wheels. You get a smoother ride, a better stride, better acceleration and top speed, and 2. I’m even more out of shape now than when I tried to start rollerblading a couple weeks ago — guess I should do it more than once a month. Tamie went jogging, still training for her future marathon(s). Layla went to sleep, napping for over an hour. Then we went out for coffee. So yah, pretty typical lazy day.

I’m uploading pictures as I type and hopefully by tomorrow they’ll be ready. I’ll post a link to them when they are.

For now, here’s a sampler.