Texas tykes

We are HERE.  THIS is Tokyo.  It's surprisingly everything I expected, while being most unexpected at the same time.

Our journey from Seattle was remarkably uneventful.  I almost wish there was some story to mark the beginning of this journey, something to seal the memory of arriving in this beautiful patchwork quilt country.  Perhaps business class seats--with a five course meal, fully reclining seats, and every movie you can imagine at your fingertips--softens the blow of a 10-hour flight with two Texas tykes.

From start to finish we were in transit for 24 hours.  We had two humans waving the white flag on the last hour stretch from the airport to our apartment.  Melia and Jace were tired too.

So far there hasn't been a moment where I felt overwhelmed, scared, or unsure about my environment.  It feels safe.  More safe than any place I have called home in the US.  Moms here leave their designer purses hanging from the fence around the park.  Men leave their suitcases outside of the bathroom in the airport.  Parents let their children Jace's age, perhaps younger, walk the streets and subways alone. That last part makes me feel like if a 6 year old can deal with this, I can figure it out too.

The first day here was beautiful.  In the 70s we took the streets to find a park.  Ajiro Park was only three blocks away, so off we went!  It's called the dirt park by the locals, and that did not disappoint.  Both of the kids were covered in black residue and scrapped knees on our walk home, they loved every bit of it.

The day started at 4:30 AM, when the sun rises.  How on earth these kids are ready for their day at 4:30AM is beyond me.  But by 5AM I had had two cups of coffee and busted out paint and playdoh, so we are well on our way to our day.

I found a local "kid friendly" restaurant in my google searches for dinner.  It was called "eat more greens" and it was vegetarian... which was fine... except it's not quite what we know (which is why we're here, right?!).  Jace got a gorgonzola pizza that had apples and honey on it.  Why not?  In between the coffee and honey pizza we consumed a whole lot of sushi and rice balls from 7-Eleven.  Raw fish from a convenience store, and it's the best sushi I have ever (EVER!) had.

And that wraps up our first couple days.

I'm sure once I get subway passes my simple, uneventful explorations might open up a bit.  Until then, hang tight to our trilling ice cream and park adventures...  Hopefully I'll get better at this whole blogging thang.