Our inaugural guest (so far)

Dr.P is in the house – actually since this post is a few days old (as are all the ones that follow), Dr.P has been in the house for quite some time.

On her first full day, I took her to a picnic at the international school, followed by a bike ride in the park near our house, followed by dinner at the international women’s network in Tsukuba (you better believe she slept well that night!). Mom was a big hit there, once it got out that she was an English-speaking doctor.

On her second day, we went to Tokyo. We walked around Yoyogi park, had a great Thai lunch, and did some shopping. Here is a picture of the shrine in Yoyogi park:

Dr.P bought a lot of ceramics from this store that had all these beautifully patterned dishes (and the prices weren’t bad, either!). Then we set off to find this antique kimono store I’d heard about. The store wasn’t easy to find, but we did eventually find it. The kimono in there were beautiful, but pricey, ranging from $40-$600. I thought I’d have to be content with looking, when my eyes fell upon (just like love at first sight!) a corner of dark blue kimono with colored flower embroidery. Real silk. $8. I couldn’t believe it, and I was almost afraid to approach the counter, believing that this must mean $80 or even $800. But $8 it was (note: if you are coming to visit, I really believe that my price is atypical, but I think that you could get a very good used kimono for about $50 or $60). Mine isn’t perfect – the inner silk lining is a little dirty and worn in places, but since I intend to hang the kimono as decoration, it is perfect! At another store not far from there, my mom found a beautiful used kimono, too. Hers is pink, mine is blue (and these photos really don't do either of them justice):

We followed this consumer feat up with a culinary feast at this little eatery Mike knew about. Dinner was delicious, and my mom sampled some sake.

On her third day, we again went to Tokyo to meet our Japanese friends, Daisuke and Chie, and their adorable son, Nagu. We had planned to go to the zoo, but since it was pouring, we went to the Tokyo City Museum. The museum was really, really interesting – it had models of old houses, theaters, boats, carriages, etc. There were also several interactive exhibits:

And a Nagu shot, because how can one resist?
Today, we hung around Tsukuba and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park near our house. Tomorrow we go to Kyoto for a few days, so posting may be light until our return at the end of the week.