June 13th, the fourth day in Tokyo

L. didn’t sleep well last night. She woke up many times, because her legs were so itchy and painful from all the mosquito bites. Her legs look bad. There must be at least twenty bite marks. Big, red, swollen bite marks. She looks tired and I feel so sorry for her. She woke up early, I. is still sleeping. I make L. some plain rice – all she wants to eat – and warm oat milk.  

Julien leaves the house around 8:00. Today the project he works for will be held. He will be out all day and come home late. After this has finished, he will not be working much for the next two weeks. I can’t wait to have him with us. I don’t mind exploring Tokyo alone with the children, but in the end it’s much better when we are all together. More fun. Besides, I’m so focussed on the children that I don’t take many photos when I’m alone with them. They need lots of attention. 

Last night, I made a plan for today and I decided to take them to Mori Art Museum. I feel a bit lonely without Julien and I literally miss the extra pair of hands. Therefore, I decided to make the best of this day. Visit a museum and explore another indoor playground after, in Ebisu. 

Mori Art Museum is in Roppongi, on the 53rd floor of Mori Tower, Roppongi Hills. I love this art museum. I never leave Tokyo without visiting it. It’s a small museum, on top of Mori Tower, the 53rd floor. It has amazing, progressive artists. Sometimes group shows, other times solo shows. Most shows have an obvious or less present link to architecture and design, often questioning current topics. At the main entrance of Mori Tower, all the way down, you’ll find one of the huge spider sculptures of Louis Bourgeois. 

Football at Little Darlings Coffee

We leave the house around 9:30 and take the train to Nogizaka Station. From there I search for a coffee shop that my friend recommended, with a green grass field where children can play. It’s not far, and as usually it is well connected, but I still manage to get lost. There are lots of hills and I’m pushing the heavy stroller with both children. When I finally arrive at Little Darlings Coffee, I’m grumpy and hangry. 

I order coffee and a sweet. There isn’t much to eat at the coffee shop, but at least the cookie gets me happy again. I sit in the open door of the cafe. Outside, there is indeed, quite literally, a field of green and well maintained grass. There is also no protection from the sun and it’s already hot. Some foreigners are playing football with their children. They seem to live in Tokyo, you can kind of see that. Roppongi and the surrounding, are popular areas for foreigners to live. All the embassies are there. 

L. and I. join the football players in the field. The children don’t seem too happy about that, they are much older than them. The parents are really sweet and give them one of their extra balls to play with. I go put hats on their heads. They already look sweaty. 

Mori Art Museum with Theaster Gates

From Little Darling Coffee to Mori Art Museum is a 25 minute walk. There is no public transport available. I love walking, but I have to admit, I’m tired from the past three days. Especially because of the heavy stroller. I try to convince L. to walk, but tired from the rough night and from playing football in the burning sun, she prefers to sit on the board. I walk towards Roppongi. It’s 11:00 in the morning now and I. falls asleep, while we are our way.

Roppongi Hills is an impressive place. A city within a city. A massive hill, with at the centre, the 54-story skyscraper Mori Tower. Inside, you’ll find everything you will ever need and much more. There are shops, restaurants, apartments and offices. Behind Mori Tower, you have Mori Gardens, which is quite nice. On top of Mori Tower, you also find an observation deck, but I never go there. I did it once, but you can also watch the city from the 53rd floor, where the museum is. Especially with small children. If you want to go on top of the Mori Tower, you pay quite some Yens for a similar experience, yet outside. 

“I. sleeps, L. is totally bored by it and I’m deeply impressed.”

In Mori Art Museum, there is a beautiful solo exhibition by Chicago based artist Theaster Gates. He spent quite some time in Japan, learning Japanese crafts and implementing his skills into his art. A hybrid of Japanese and black American culture. 

I. sleeps, L. is totally bored by it and I’m deeply impressed. A massive, wooden cross hangs at the start of the exhibition. In another room, an installation paying an homage to gospel music and church organs. There are beautiful ceramics, inspired by Japanese and African crafts. It’s so deep and different. L. is a bit of a pain, complaining, but I’m trying to enjoy and absorb as much as possible. 

When I went last year, also alone, I couldn’t see anything. L. started running around, trying to touch works and I had to leave after 5 minutes, carrying her through the museum, to the exit. She was screaming and I was trying to protect I., who was on my belly in the carrier, from her angry fists and feet. At least compared to last year, travelling with her became much easier. 

In the last room there is great music, an installation of a bar and a rock made out of disco balls. L. approves. The final room is like an ode to black history, with a library filled with black literature and other works by black authors from all over the world. I. wakes up there. 

Conbini Onigiri <3 

I want to take the train to Ebisu. There is a direct connection from Roppongi, but finding the subway entrance is quite a challenge at Roppongi Hills. Everything is so massive. The children are hungry and both complain. I’m outside, racing around, trying to find the right entrance to go down. I go inside again and take an elevator down. I end up in the parking lot. I go back up and search more. Finally, I find a small sign that leads to an elevator outside, that brings me down to the right subway station. 

At Ebisu station, I immediately buy my starving kids some onigiri. I. eats wakame, seaweed, onigiri and loves it. L. eats half. She has ume, sour plum, onigiri, but it’s from a more fancy shop than the average convenience store, so it looks a bit different. I. finishes hers too. I am super hungry, but I don’t want to eat onigiri from a convenience store. I need a good meal. I decide to take them to Hemp, a vegan restaurant that was recommended to me by a friend. It’s not far from Ebisu station, and I want to try it. We find it hidden on the 8th floor of a building. I would have never find this place without a recommendation. 

Hemp Cafe, vegan food and natural wine 

Hemp turns out amazing. Besides a great menu, with lots of tasty dishes, they also serve natural wine. I treat myself to one of those. I want to eat their vegan bibimbap – according to my friend it’s amazing -, but they don’t serve it at lunch. I order a vegan burrito with vegan cheese. And fried potatoes for the children. The staff is so kind to me and the children. It’s not too busy. I’m a bit late again and the remaining people seem to have finished their food. One of the staff takes L. to the bar/kitchen and lets her help prepare her own drink. She enjoys preparing the drink, but she doesn’t like the result. It’s a fresh apple juice, with soda water and cinnamon. It’s super good, but a bit too spicy for her. The food is amazing. I’m sorry, I’m really not good at taking photos of food. I always forget and only realise after I finished eating my food. But if was up to me, I would visit only vegan restaurants during this trip. I won’t, so I save them for moments like these, when I’m alone with the children. 

Well fed and a bit rested, we leave the restaurant. Before taking them to the indoor playground, I want to visit my favourite shop in Tokyo: Osawa Camera. Osawa Camera is a 3 minute walk from Ebisu Station. It’s a beautiful, small camera shop, with a passionate and kind owner. You can develop film and buy analog and digital vintage camera’s. The children wait outside, while I bring my film away. 

An indoor playground 

I buy a coffee at Joe Talk Coffee on our way to the indoor playground. Another 10-minute walk according to Google Maps, but uphill and therefore time and muscle consuming. L. and I. get a popsicle from the convenience store. I drink my coffee, before starting to push the load uphill. Somehow, I got lost again. I wasn’t watching my phone, which is impossible while pushing a stroller uphill, but instead followed my apparently not so good intuition. Eventually, we find the place, a sweet community centre, full of children’s activities. This one is not only for people living around Ebisu. It’s for anyone. You have to register at a reception desk first. While I register, L. joins a craft table where some kids of her age and older are making DIY summer play windmills. 

When L. finishes hers, we take the elevator up to the playground. It is small and for young children. L. is the oldest, but she really enjoys it. There is a Waldorf dollhouse she plays with, a wooden kitchen with many attributes and there are lots of Japanese children’s books. A mother is reading to her child, a 3-year old girl, and at some point L. sits with them listening to the stories. People are always surprised when they realise she can speak Japanese. 

At the same time I. makes contact with another 1-year old, whose mother turns out to have grown up in the United States. She is married to an American, but lives in Japan. Another women joins the conversation, she is half Australian, half Japanese and married to a Japanese man. We talk about being and living in Japan with children together. 

Sometimes, when I look at myself from above, I still can’t imagine I’m looking at myself. In a children’s playground, talking with other mothers, about being a parent. For a long time, I thought I could never become like that. But maybe I was being more narrow minded before I became a mother. I have one thing in common with all these women, it connects us all. 

NHK and Japanese curry with two tired kids 

Around 17:00 we leave the playground and move slowly towards home. At home, I let L. watch the Japanese children programs from NHK, the Japanese national TV. The girls watch, while I cook dinner. I feel like a Japanese family. Julien is missing of course, but maybe that would have been normal if we were a Japanese family. There is a lot of dancing and singing and role play on the television. I don’t think you need to understand Japanese to enjoy the NHK young children shows. I., who normally has no interest in screens at all, is even intrigued and dances along with the puppets on the big screen. It’s cute. 

I make a Japanese curry, with carrots, potatoes and tofu and brown rice, which I bought at the organic supermarket the day before. Japanese curry tastes good and is kids friendly. At the organic supermarket, they have vegan curry powder! It has a soft, warm taste, not too strong, but just enough for me to enjoy it too. 

We eat the three of us. L. hardly eats the curry, which she normally loves. I offer her a boiled egg, but she doesn’t want that either. Plain rice? Yes, but she takes two bites. She must be tired and I know I shouldn’t worry, but I’m a bit worried. It’s nothing new, but now that we have I., who loves eating, it’s even more remarkable how little L. eats. 

We take a bath all together and I put lots of oil, that is supposed to reduce the itching, on the warm, red spots of L.’ legs. I also give her paracetamol, hoping that it will make her feel less itchy tonight. She needs a night of good sleep.