The Museum of Science and Nature & The Museum of Modern Western Art in Ueno Park, Tokyo

The girls and I took a field trip! Instead of staying inside on a rainy day, we decided to head up to Tokyo and visit two wonderful museums in Ueno park. It's quite a long train ride from our house - 70 minutes - but my girls have become train pros. They had to stand almost the entire time, but were quiet and well-behaved. While standing there in the train, watching all the Japanese houses go by, I couldn't help but be proud of my girls. They have so effortlessly made Japan their home for the past 2 years. Makes me feel a bit sentimental....

Anyway... First up was the National Museum of Science and Nature. You'll know you've arrived at the right place when you see a giant whale - suspended as if he's swimming alongside the museum - to the left of the building. Japan may be expensive to travel through, with all the tolls and train fares, but museums are ridiculously cheap! Both the girls were free, and my ticket cost a whopping 600 yen (roughly $6.00).

Photo source: Wikipedia

We had been to this museum once before, with my husband in tow, but somehow we missed a large portion of it. My girls would have particularly enjoyed their dinosaur displays, so I knew I wanted to take them back for a second visit. The dinosaurs were the first thing they asked to see, so that's where we headed as soon as we arrived. My oldest was a little scared to walk into the room when she saw how large the bones were. But she quickly overcame her fears and told me later that it was her proudest moment of the day. She was really glad she went in to have a closer look. The favorite of all the dinosaurs? T-Rex, of course!

We then headed over into another part of the museum that included lots of extinct ice-age animals, and displays about the very first human beings. We had just recently watched the second episode of Cosmos, so the girls were excited to link the two together. Their comment about early humans? "We were REALLY hairy."

We walked through a few more animal exhibits, then headed to the bathroom before leaving the museum. I was in the bathroom stall and the girls were *supposed* to be washing their hands, when I hear something start beeping. It sounded like some sort of... alarm... beeping. When I come out of the stall, both girls are looking like deer in headlights. I glance over to the wall, and there is a light beeping above what I can only assume is an emergency button (who knows when it's in Japanese). We walked out of the bathroom and down the hall, and bumped into two Japanese security guards running towards the women's bathroom. Thankfully, I know enough Japanese that I was able to say, "Excuse me! I'm sorry!" and I pointed to the kids. The guards smiled at me, looked relieved, and said, "Daijoobu desu," or "It's okay." My girls were embarrassed, and apologized to me several times. Guess I can't blame them if they can't read what the signs or buttons say in the first place....

We left the science museum and went to find a place to have some lunch. We spotted a Starbucks across the middle of the park, and my oldest said it would be a perfect place. :) I had packed some sandwiches for the girls, so I ordered something for myself, and got them a cookie and juices.

Gah, I love those kids.

 And even though it was starting to rain harder, we couldn't help but try to get a picture with the first sakura trees of the season. Pretty soon, Ueno park will be filled with sakura blossoms.

I asked the girls if they wanted to see one more museum - the National Museum of Modern Western Art - since it was right next door, and even though we'd already spent a couple of hours touring the science museum, they enthusiastically said yes.

Photo source: Wikipedia

We had a quick review over appropriate art museum behavior, and dived right in. Again, this museum was very inexpensive. The girls were free, and I paid 420 yen (roughly $4.20). There were a lot of artists that I had never heard of, but there were also some paintings by Monet, Renoir, and Picasso.

Loved this little girl. Felt like she was looking right at me.

The girls liked looking at this one closely (tons of small strokes) and then backing up to see the big picture.

And while the girls were enthused for about 10 minutes, it didn't last long. The picture above of my daughter looking at the Picasso will fool you. Right after I took this, she asked if I could take her home because "the art museum is boring." Just keepin' it real, people.

We left the museum and got back on the train for another 70-minute ride home. Lucky for her, my oldest grabbed a seat soon after we got on. And, she has integrated so seamlessly into Japanese culture that she fell asleep like every other person sitting on the train. She even spent about 25 minutes slumped over on the man beside her... and he snored through the whole thing. Ha!

Homeschooling sure does have its perks. :)

National Children's Castle in Shibuya

We had a modeling audition on a Monday evening in Tokyo (look for a post all about modeling in the future), and because auditions can sometimes be as little as 5 minutes, I looked for something fun to do in the area. Just a few blocks from the audition location, I found the National Children's Castle in Shibuya. Indoor entertainment is a must during summer in Japan because it is SO humid that it's unbearable to be outside for very long.

National Children's Castle looks nothing like an actual castle, but it is a multi-level play-place for children in one of the busiest parts of Tokyo. On the third-floor is a large playhouse and climbing equipment, Foosball and pool tables, building toys, and an art-studio. The fourth-floor houses a music room (with shows for kids and lots of instruments to bang around on) and a movie-rental facility with small, individual pods where kids can watch whatever they choose. [Note: we did not use the movie area because much of it was in Japanese and we couldn't figure out how to find the English movies. It was also very crowded.] The fifth-floor is very popular with a roof-top garden, jungle gym, bike area, and even pools (only in the summer). 

Here is the specific info: 

Address

5-53-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

 

Transport
Shibuya station (Yamanote, Ginza, Hanzomon lines), Miyamasuzaka (east) exit OR Omotesando station (Chiyoda, Ginza, Hanzomon lines), exits B2, B4. Keep in mind that it's an uphill walk from Shibuya station - little ones may get tired.

Hours
12.30-5.30pm Tuesday-Friday; 10am-5.30pm Weekends. Closed on Monday unless it's a national holiday. Check here for an up-to-date calendar.

Admission
Adults pay 500yen, children 3-17 are 400yen.

Specific Info for Families:
There are nursing rooms and plenty of restrooms with easy access for kids. There is no place to buy food inside (plenty of vending machines, however), but there is a family lounge area where you can bring your own snacks and meals. There is also a family-friendly cafe (Cafe Castle, open 11:00am-7:00pm) outside the main entrance.

If you're walking to the National Children's Castle, you'll know you are there when you see this out front.

The entrance is under that walkway and to the left.

This is where you will buy your ticket. Just push the button that describes your family and voila!

They wash this wall clean every day. My kids would LOVE something like this at home!

She's proud of her airplane.

If you are going to be in Shibuya, and are looking for a place for your kids to run around, definitely stop by the National Children's Castle. With the language barrier, I don't think we took full advantage of the place like we could have otherwise, but my kids still really enjoyed spending a couple of hours there. And with the summer heat wave that was plaguing Japan, it was nice for them to have a place to run around that was air-conditioned! Oh air-conditioning... what in the world did people do before you came along??

Legoland in Tokyo

My oldest daughter had a modeling audition in Tokyo the other morning, and since we were making the long trip for just a few minutes of "work," I decided to surprise the girls with a trip to Legoland before going home.

I had heard LOTS of good things about Legoland. Everyone said their kids loved it and that it was fairly easy to get to. I know some who have driven there (and prefer to drive), but we were taking the train. Legoland is in Odaiba and you need to access the monorail to reach it. Once you get into Odaiba, look for Decks mall and Legoland will be inside.

Here is some information about Legoland if you're planning a visit:

Tickets: Children age 0-2 are FREE; children age 3 and up (including adults) are 2000 yen each. You can save 700 yen each by purchasing tickets online.

You can also purchase annual passes - they are 5000 yen per person, or 18,000 yen for a family. 

Hours: Legoland is open from 10am - 9pm daily, with last admission at 7pm. Allow 2-3 hours for your visit.

Address: 
Odaiba 1-6-1 Decks Tokyo Beach Island Mall 3F,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 135-0091, Japan

 Now, for our visit....

Refueling before we tackle Legoland!

Mini-Tokyo made completely from Legos.

The whole room cycles through day and night.

Asakusa (with Fuji in the background)

Ready for our 4D mini-movie (in Japanese, of course).

This is what happened only 3 stops from our house. They were NOT happy when I woke them up....

Her purchase from Legoland (with her own modeling money!).

 What we liked:

•  Legoland had a GREAT 4D movie. I had never been to a 4D one before, and it was really cool! Not only were the visuals great, but they also used wind and mist to make you feel like you were IN the movie. The girls loved it. Every minute of it was in Japanese, but the storyline was easy to follow and it was so entertaining that the language barrier was insignificant.
• Legoland was located inside Decks mall, so after we were done, there were still other things to see. There were also other dining options than just the cafe offered inside Legoland.
• The playground was a lot of fun for the girls.

What we didn't like:

•  My girls are a bit scared of rides that seem dark (we can thank the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Disney Sea for that...) and there was a ride like that at Legoland that they refused to go on. 
• I was there by myself with 2 kids, both of which were too small to ride independently on another ride. And because the ride only had 2 seats each, I could only ride with one of them at a time. So, we skipped that one too. 
• The play/building areas weren't quite as big as I had expected.

Verdict:
We didn't buy tickets online (which would have been cheaper) because we weren't sure what time we'd be getting there that day. [When you buy tickets online, you have to choose a time slot for your arrival. And because my kids weren't able to ride two of the rides, I feel like our visit to Legoland was pretty darn expensive - between $50-$60 US Dollars for a couple of hours. I know a lot of people who are in Tokyo all the time, and they have annual passes to Legoland and love going there. But it wasn't somewhere that we absolutely loved and we probably won't be going back for a while. Should you go? Yes, at least once. However, I think opinions will vary.