Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

We've had a busy couple of days. Yesterday Underwater World, a Pink Dolphin show at Dophin Lagoon, and pool play. Today, a ride on the cable car, a couple hours of play at Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, a look see (and buy) at Toys R Us, and more shopping for me at Singapore's largest shopping center, Vivo City. We knew of the Children's Garden from a family formerly residing in Tokyo, now living in Singapore, unfortunately visiting Canada this week. Part of the Botanic Gardens, the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden is an amazing outlet for discovery play. Roo was thrilled with all things including the large tree house, the waterfall cave, the interactive exhibit explaining photosynthesis, the maze created with rows of shrubbery, the large outdoor cube puzzles, and of course the hottest (actually coolest) item, water fountain play. He wasn't fond of the swinging bridge. After our play in the sun, we retreated to the aircon in a large mall. I don't often bring Roo to toys stores. Most things I order online. So, a stroll through the isles of Toys R Us was fun for all of us. We left Toys R Us with some Ben 10 figures, a playmobil firefighter, a couple transformer books, and a hair trim for Roo.

Luge & Little India

For Roo, one of the highlights of our New Zealand trip a year and half ago was the Luge & Sky ride attraction in Rotorua. The same company operates on Sentosa Island in Singapore, located conveniently near our hotel. Part toboggan, part go cart, the ride is fun for all of us. Yesterday morning we enjoyed a competitive family race, Roo first with Daddy and then with Mommy. The hot sun beating down on the sky ride dampened our enthusiasm as Roo declared "it's too hot". Walking to the monorail we gasped at a man extracting a boa constrictor from a wicker basket. In Little India we enjoyed vegetarian bites that we don't know the name of since we let the waiter decide our dishes. Roo and Ryan headed back to the hotel for a swim and I strolled around Little India. I toured the opulent Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple filled with Indian deity art. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, fierce embodiment of Shakti and the god Shiva's wife, Parvati.

Singapore Night Safari

Yesterday we escaped rainy Tokyo only to arrive in rainy Singapore. However, as the taxi driver from the airport promised, today was sultry and sunny. We filled our morning by the pool. Roo demonstrated his impressive snorkeling skills that he's been practicing in the tub at home. After the pool we moved to the beach to build an obstacle course for our few toy trucks that accompany us to destinations with sand. Late in the afternoon we visited the impressive Night Safari, the world's first wildlife park with a night view. The 45 minute tram ride allowed us to see amazing creatures in all their active nocturnal splendor. The lions and tigers were lazy but we witnessed hyenas, elephants, giraffes, tapir, ant eaters, rhinos, water buffalo, deer, bearded pigs, and a hippo on the move. Ryan carried a zonked out Roo from the taxi to the hotel room where he quickly huddled under his bed covers without opening an eye..

UFOs at Night

This came home from school today. When I asked Roo what it is, he explained "UFOs at Night". I asked what made him think to draw UFOs and he remarked "it was night" (night because the paper is black).

Workshop with MC Yogi

This weekend I attended a yoga workshop given by American Yogis, Nicholas and Amanda Giacomini. They teach at their studio in Northern California, Yoga Toes. Interestingly, Nick has recorded an album of yoga rap music titled Elephant Power. His work marries the devotional spirit of music from India with the invigorating vibe of hip hop. The first evening we learned of Ganesh, a deity with an elephant head in the hindu pantheon, revered as the remover of obstacles. The second evening focused on the mischievous monkey god, Hanuman. It was a weekend of meditation, art, vigorous flow, and dancing. Of course I can’t forget the hip hop where at times MC Yogi would break into rap and all would respond, Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah!

MC Yogi

Amanda & Nick Giacomini with Leza Lowitz, friend and Director of Sun & Moon Yoga Studio.

Daddy's Day

Ryan's card: A big face to represent Daddy, a little one to represent Roo. The markings above the mouth are whiskers. They have short hair "because they're boys". The writing on the card is hiragana. Roo explained it says "thank you papa" (arigatou chi chi). Ryan also received a family of painted rocks. One big, one middle, and one small.

Play from today

The pilot, dressed with protection in case of a crash, in his fighter jet.... The tough warrior ready to play swords with Daddy....
A snowboarding course for his toy guys in the making....

NOBU Tokyo

Last night, with a group of girlfriends, I dined at the restaurant NOBU Tokyo. I first learned of Nobu Matsuhisa when I read a book titled The Sushi Economy. Nobu san is a world renowned sushi chef known for his eclectic fusion cuisine that is influenced by his experience outside of Japan in Peru and Argentina. Apparently he’s well acquainted in the worldwide celebrity scene including Robert DeNiro and Georgio Armani. There are 21 restaurants worldwide and he travels the globe gracing each with his presence. We missed him in Tokyo by one evening, he’ll be there tonight. At our table we shared several scrumptious dishes including his signature dish, Black Cod in Miso. So delicious, it melts in your mouth! Definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in one of the world’s major cities fortunate enough to host his establishment.

School Field Trip

Monday was field trip day. Roo's class, accompanied by some parents, rode "the train in the sky" (the monorail) to Odaiba for a morning of play on the beach. The children sang songs, played in the sand, and read clues on a treasure hunt to find a chest full of toys. We took a bus to the air conditioned science museum to eat lunch in comfort and tour the museum. It was a tiring day, but fun.

Saturday's Schedule

After a morning bike ride to our family karate lesson and brunch at Suji's, Ryan and Roo crafted the agenda for what remained of Saturday. Roo dictated while Ryan wrote (I was out getting groceries):

1. Play Speedracer
2. Watch airplane movie
3. (Swimming) Pool
4. When Mommy home, put on Discovery (channel)
5. Dinner
6. Bath
7. Playtime with Daddy
8. Playtime with Mommy
9. Build Legos with right pieces
10. Go to bed.

The day is near end and we accomplished: speedracer play, watched an airplane show on Slingbox, went to the swimming pool, watched some Discovery, ate dinner, and did a few other things not on the list. The Lego's will have to wait because Roo fell asleep on the sofa and went to bed exhausted!

Today's Show

School is nearing term end and as part of their final show, Roo's class sang a favorite from one of their earlier topics of study, Egypt.

Egypt, home of the pyramids,

Egypt, gift of the Nile,

Come let's take a trip

We're going down the Nile,

The longest river in the world,

It's bound to take awhile,

We're going to see the pyramids,

Built a long long time ago,

In the valley of the kings,

And the great Pharaohs.

The children wore book costumes they made, each giving a unique title to their book complete with a drawing on the cover. Roo (the tall kid in the back) titled his Rabbit Saves the Day. (Unfortunately I had a streamer hanging in my line of sight the entire performance.)

I had a chance to photograph some of the art around the room. Here is Roo's name at the start of the year, and now at the end. Prior, he used dots to aid his writing. The second is free hand. His drawing has progressed and now people are clearly people.

Here is a quoted response when asked the question "What do you want to know about Switzerland?" (Switzerland was a topic of study one month).

Art work from the Hawaii theme study, Roo on a surf board.

Optimus Prime & Bumblebee

A snapshot from this week's after school play date....

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

Inspired by "The Science of Star Wars"

Tonight on the Discovery Channel Roo and I watched an episode from the series The Science of Star Wars titled Space Cowboys. It featured inventions by real life Han Solo wannabees, complete with hovercraft vehicles, personal flight space packs, and electromagnetic vehicles. As he often does after seeing something on television (ice hockey, croc hunters, storm chasers), Roo imitated and went to work constructing his own craft. When I mistakenly called it an aircraft, he clarified that it is for on the water and that he would be doing a test run in the tub tonight to see if it floats. Success, it floated!

Tonight's Construction

Showa Kinen Park

Sunday we had sunshine! We spent the day at the amazing Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa City. It has much to offer for both children and adults, and was surprisingly not as crowded as we expected. The open areas equate to almost 400acres. The space was originally a Japanese air base and later an American Army base. When the Army ceased operations in the late 60’s, the government built the park to commemorate the 50 years of reign of the Emperor Showa (better know outside of Japan as Hirohito). We started our day with lunch by the lake, and then moved onto the lake for a ride in the paddle boats. Next, we took a tram ride to the other end of the park to play in the Children’s Forest. This included a cool roller slide, a 1,600m² bouncing dome, a large rope hammock area for climbing, and played chase through the mounded area that at certain times of day becomes the Misty Forest. White mist appears to create a fairy tale like atmosphere for children to play fantasy or ninja. There is much we didn’t find time for, the water park, the bonsai garden, the Japanese garden, the fields of wild flowers, the reproduction farm village, croquet, or mini golf. Next time we definitely want to take advantage of the tandem bike rental. At bedtime I asked Roo to describe his favorite thing at the park. He said “when we were running pretending we were driving race cars”. This boy likes to run!

My camera ran out of batteries, but I did get this video of the bouncing dome with my mobile phone video. Roo was having fun until a dad playing chase with his daughters knocked Roo off his feet. (That is Ryan in the yellow.)

Finally, Mexican!

Or rather authentic Tex Mex. Other than the tasty homemade tortillas at the Tokyo restaurant chain Zest, we have yet to find authentic Mexican (Americanized) food. As Ryan describes, it’s usually tainted with a “fishy overtone”. Last night we wound our way around the tracks to find the restaurant Junkadelic. It was worth the effort! Even though it’s in a neighborhood away from where we usually go, in fact it was Ryan’s first time to this “part of town”, we stumbled into two familiar faces. Imagine that! In a city of 8 million people we can go to a random neighborhood on a Saturday night and run into people we know! First, at Junkadelic, a colleague of Ryan’s from work was celebrating a friend’s 40th birthday. Second, on the street, I heard my name, turned, and there was a mother from Roo’s class walking home with a friend after a girl’s night out. This rarely happened in Minneapolis so we’re still amazed when it happens here, in this ṻber city.

Yoga Bolsters

Bolsters are helpful in practicing yoga when you want to relax in a restorative pose or add support in a challenging position. Recently I purchased a couple for home. Now, I find Roo using the bolsters often whether he's resting by laying on top the long way, using it as a comfortable seat for play, or coming up with what he calls "his own yoga poses that mommy doesn't know". He does some yoga at his school and his approach at home is a combination of standard poses and his own creations.

Name of this pose, per Roo: "X pose". I'm not sure if the X is because he thinks his arms and legs make an X, or if it's an association with "Racer X" from the movie Speedracer.

Name of Pose: "Cool bolster balance on legs".

Bridge pose, in progress

Down Dog

Umeshu

Unlike Ryan, I have yet to become a fan of sake. However, I have become fond of umeshu, a Japanese plum liqueur that is made by steeping unripe ume (plum) fruits in alcohol and sugar. Both the aroma and taste of the final product is splendid. It's what I prefer to order in a restaurant, probably even more so than red wine. This time of year the grocer is stocked with bundles of unripe ume, bags of rock sugar and 35% alcohol shochu. I decided to give home brew a go and attempt to steep my own umeshu. It takes one year to fully mature. It's possible this could be my final chance. Since assembling, I've read more detailed instructions about the importance of sterilizing and completely drying the vessel in the sun. Ooops. Hopefully in one year I'll have tasty umeshu free of intruding flavors from unwanted microbes.

Three Ingredients: 1kg unripe ume plums, 1kg rock sugar, 1.8L shochu

Roo helped by adding the sugar and sorting the plums.

We'll see these guys in one year! Hopefully they will have tranformed into tasty umeshu, at which point we'll have a party because I don't think we can (or should) drink this much umeshu!

Quilts by Dianne Conroy

When I first read of Dianne Conroy's Kimono quilts in an English magazine, I immediately knew I must see her work. While I've never learned the art of quilting, I've admired the craft since I was in high school. At county fairs I like to lurk in the quilt section of the 4-H building. Ms. Conroy is an Australian living in Japan and creates amazing quilts from most often recycled kimono and yukata fabric. Once I was in her quilt room of her home ogling over her work, I knew I didn't want to leave Japan without a memento from her shop. So, I commissioned two twin size quilts. Instead of a bright kimono silk fabric quilt, I opted for the practical, very Japanese, indigo-dyed yukata fabric. A yukata is less formal than a kimono and typically worn after bathing, or in the hot summer months. Yukata are typically made of cotton instead of silk. The interior of the quilts is filled with Australian wool. I also requested a thin red strip of outline to accent, one quilt more light and one more dark, and the use of a variety of yukata prints. I'm very pleased with the result!

Seeds For Africa

This past month I've been working with two other mothers at Roo's preschool to organize a parent and teacher social event to raise money for the charity, Seeds For Africa. Specifically, the focus we chose is the fruit tree planting program. Funds raised will go towards the planting of fruit tree orchards near schools in impoverished neighborhoods in Africa. The trees not only provide beauty, help offset CO2 pollution, and minimize soil erosion, but also provide sustenance. It only takes approximately $350 USD (depending on the fx rate) to plant a fruit tree nursery of fifty trees. Through ticket sales and a silent auction, our school raised nearly $3,000 or ¥287,000!

The school's Headmaster (and Deputy Head in background) with a toast.

Me explaining the charity and trying to encourage bidding in the silent auction. I definitely witnessed, the more drinks, the higher the bids!

More beautiful flowers

in our lobby.

Birthday Party !!!

We celebrated Roo's birthday on Sunday with a party at his preschool. The children came in costume, if they wanted, and had a full afternoon of entertainment. We started with snacks and an array of welcoming songs, hiked down to the gym for an obstacle course, donned laboratory coats for Simon's science show, ate pizza, cupcakes, and finished with more song and dance. Roo had a blast!