Kodomo No Kuni 2016 August

There`s this great children`s park at Yokohama. Kodomo No Kuni. It is huge huge huge. Summertime, the pool is packed. We didn`t choose to go to the pool. Mainly because of my fear of the kids catching any viruses. You see, our darling Gabe chooses to lick the pool water whenever he likes. And that is totally gross. And no way am I taking any chance with the peak summer season here.

Instead we opted to set up our tent at the park side, and let the kids play in the wading pool. t was hot, but we had shelter and the water was cold. Perfect. Gabe had a blast, Lucas had a blast too. And yes, he did lick the water...sigh....we ate our bentos while Gabe was trying to squirm onto daddy`s lap to get away from crawling ants. Then Lucas & I headed to the super long rolling slide, where if you put ur ass down on the whole journey, you`re bound to get a burning ass at the end. So, smart Mummy squatted this time on her feet, no burning ass, but cramped up legs.

Lucas sat, didn@t complain his ass was burning, had too much fun.

Next, we went to the playground where I was pleasantly surprised to see how much Gabe has improved in his climbing and moving skills. He can now climb up fairly stably up stairs to the slides, climb ropes and run relatively fast. Well done Gabby.

So much fun, Mummy & Daddy too little energy, sorry playtime is OVER. Kiddos KOed in car. Till next time.

Short Trip Aug 2016

During summer, most corporate workers will get some days off too, so in Japan, everywhere, and I mean everywhere, especially beach areas are fully booked months before July. And even if you manage to get vacancies, the prices per night are so ridiculously high, I feel it`s not worth paying 3 times the amount.

Daddy had a few days off from work too, so in the end we decided to head north of Tokyo to Kusatsu & Toyama. Kusatsu is a lovely mountain area especially popular during winter months for skiing. We stayed a night there just to relax and chill and enjoy the cool breeze and scenery. And visited the Snow Monkey park.

Next day we headed to Toyama and stayed in the city at ANA Crowne Plaza which was lovely. We had views of the castle from our room, the boys made themselves at home. And next day we headed to the highlight of our trip, Kurobe Dam in the mountains. It was worth the travel from Tokyo which will take 5-6 hours of driving.

Lucas was super excited to see the train and there are 3 categories to choose from. Economy, 1st class and special class. We took the 1st class first leg of the journey, where we had comfy seats and as you can tell from the pics, both kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We got off at the 2nd stop so that the boys could run around and take a dip in the natural onsen. Gabe enjoyed the most and made a hissy fit when we pulled him out to go. Thank goodness I brought extra clothes.

Needless to say, both KOed on the train journey back. Beautiful scenery, I`d love to go back again during autumn sometime.

And the seafood...yummy yummy, so fresh. Let`s go back there again!!!