Tami’s Hair Adventures
Tami has recently gotten more and more interested in styling her hair. She used to never let anyone touch her hair, not much less brush it after a bath because she says it is painful. So I learned to brush her hair slowly and softer, with much patience needed. When she was a baby he hair grew and they had soft curls on the ends. It was so pretty. I remember I used to put her hair in two buns one each side, just like Chun-li’s. Not only did it make her look neat and tidy, it also made her feel fresh all day, with her hair out of the way. My favorite part is when I undo the buns and her hair has these beautiful locks of curls all around, making her look so pretty!
We had to cut her hair because it became too long to maintain and she had also the misfortune of getting lice, due to the hot and humid weather in the Philippines. So she had Dora hair. Her dad though loves her long hair and now that we are in Japan, we are finally able to grow her hair long.
Now she would ask me to braid her hair and I do different kinds of braids for her too. She sits still and she lets me do it, although she does complain sometimes if it hurts her. Look how pretty she is!
I also bought a curling iron and the first one who got to try it is not even me, it was Tami! She loved it! She was still and she made it through the whole thing with no burns too! Here is how she looked. Remember though to not use the iron on your kids’ hair frequently. One alternative is to just put them in buns for a time being. Kids’ hair strands are soft and thin and versatile, so it won’t take long before you can undo the locks and enjoy her curls.
Tami also has a wide array of hair accessories and a lot more that she has lost over time. Among our favorites are the following:
To more hair adventures with Tami!
The Ueno Zoo Experience
Ueno Zoo, Japan’s first and most famous zoo, is located right in the Ueno Park, a 5 to 7 minute walk from the Ueno Station. It is part of the Shitamachi, or the Old Tokyo. Yes, Tokyo, the one you would normally envision as populated with high-rise buildings, skyscrapers and urbanized structures has its other side too. There is a part of Tokyo, the downtown area, called the Shitamachi, that still looks plebian and whose ambience is still rural as it can be. Downtown would usually mean the commercial district of a city but in Japan, the Shitamachi is located below the Imperial Palace, thus the term.
Because it is old Tokyo, the prices are considerably way cheaper than urban cities and malls. Right before you enter Ueno Zoo, there are food stalls of French Fries for 300 yen, ice cream (pretty good, by the way) for the same amount and pizza for 600 yen. There is also an amusement rides area for the kids and you only pay 100 yen for a ride! Anywhere else it would be 300 yen per ride. Ueno Park in itself has so much for tourists to see and because it is Tokyo, foreigners are everywhere. Signs are also translated in English, which is favorable for us.
So after a pit stop (we ate while the kids ate popcorn while feeding the pigeons) we proceeded to Ueno Zoo. Entrance is free from children 12 and below and for adults it is 600 yen per head. It is open 9:30AM to 5:00PM Tuesdays thru Sundays and is closed on Mondays (and Tuesdays too if Monday is a public holiday). The Zoo’s anniversary is every March 20, Greenery Day is May 4 and Tokyo Citizens’ Day is October 1 and on these days the admission is for free. There are also a nursing room, strollers for rent, lockers for rent and monorail to the Children’s Zoo (petting zoo). Wheelchairs are for free.
The first stop was of course, the Giant Panda. The Giant Panda is a symbol of friendship of Japan and China. Unfortunately, just a few days before our visit, the baby panda that was just a few weeks old died. An unfortunate event seeing that the species is endangered. There are mourning altars all over the zoo for people who offered flowers and prayers. The adorable giant panda that was in their viewing deck that day looked so cuddly and playful, I wanted to get one myself. Wishful thinking! We had to hurry though (I wished we could’ve stayed a little longer) as the line was getting full so we decided we will just visit it again on our way out of the zoo later on. We looked at the gorillas next. All I could remember was the unbearable heat that day so we took another pit stop. Water seemed so delicious for us we kept buying from the vending machine. We then saw the seals, and then the bears, tigers and the elephants.
The petting zoo was where I wanted to bring the kids so we rode the monorail (the first monorail in Japan) for 150 yen (adults) and 80 yen for (kids) to the other side of the zoo. Clara and Tami absolutely loved petting the goats and the sheep! What is a zoo if it doesn’t have a petting area, right? There were a flock of chickens there too and it think they were going for a farm feel by that. After disinfecting and washing our hands, we explored some more. We also got our very own cuddly panda stuffed toy as our souvenir.
We took a look at the 5-storey pagoda, and then took another pit stop, meaning more water. Hydration is the key to survive the hot weather! The pagoda along with a tea ceremony house, are the remains of the Tokugawa Shogunate as this zoo was part of it. After bidding the Giant Panda farewell, we were ready to head home.
Daddy’s Fishes
For Fathers’ Day, it was quite unplanned by the way; we decided to get a fish tank. Since we live in a three bedroom, two-story house and we pay a lot for the monthly rent, we made it a point that we comply to the landlord’s rules specifically, no writings on the walls, no paintings on the walls, no dogs allowed, etc. My husband though is a dog lover and in his last duty station, he had a Rottweiler, Sadie and he would run with her almost everyday. So since we cant have dogs, then we opted to get fishes.
We got two goldfishes, one is named Ranch and the other one is Sophia. Tami and her Dad named them. We also got a yellow loach named Hannah.
We also had to get the essentials for this hobby: tank, filter, stones, some decorations and a whole lot of water, ladies and gentlemen. My husband cleans the tank every two to three days.
The next day, his friend gave him a bigger tank with filter set. He also has this pump that helped him drain the water out when cleaning and he also gave us a kit that made sure the tank’s temperature would be ‘friendly’ for the fishes. His friend, being a fish enthusiast, also gave us a chlorine killer, feeder fishes and the like.
Since we had another tank, we decided to get some more fishes. He really wanted to get the Arowana, which cost a lot and needed to be in a big tank since it grows way big. I got a koi and then he got two Paroon sharks and he also got a wicked-looking Bichir fish.
He had some angelfish but they died the next day, much to our dismay. They were nice to play with because they respond to stimuli and liked to follow your fingers.
He also regularly buys feeder fishes for the Bichir.
Recently we added three cute little goldfish to the collection. Also, we got an algae eater to clean the tank. We added some essentials like filtering refills and glassing wiper.
Here are some pictures of our fishes. Enjoy!
Tami especially loves to feed them. My husband spends a lot of time with them as much as he can. Just like my garden soothes me, I am sure his fishes give him this certain calm as well. It does need to be maintained every week for cleaning. Feeding could be every other day, not necessarily everyday. One this is for sure, the fish/pet craze doesn’t end here. Stay tuned!
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