Let's see what the Tokyo area is really like from a "bird's eye" view.....
This would be from a Flamingo's point of view, not up in the air, but a little above the ground!
Check out the lushness of the country.
There is green anywhere there isn't cement.
A lot of the "greenery" is farm land.
Japanese know how to grow fruits and vegetables better than anyone in the world.
This "bird" is viewing how clean Tokyo is compared to Manilla. Maybe we have a sparrow's point of view now?
It is refreshing to be back in a country where cleanliness is a priority.
You never find litter on the sidewalks because people have pride in how they keep their city clean.
This view is from a bird who needs a mask. Yep, we get the nasty air from China whenever we are "downwind" from them. It's not cool to be a neighbor to China.
This bird found something very interesting!
Two cranes on top of a high rise? Are you serious? What are they doing? How did they get up there?We'll have to find out.....
They are tearing this building down one floor at a time. Interesting!
Let's see what other things we can see from this great view....
Well, lookie here! We have trees and shrubs growing on a roof!!
What do you know, more trees?!?!
We not only have trees, but we have a track and a swimming pool on a roof. Wow!! People are even on it!
We find plants growing on part of a roof and more plants growing on a.....
balcony, and
even more plants growing on the outside of a wall! Talk about great nesting places!!
When I see this view, I can't help but think of the scene in Mary Poppins where Burt is jumping over the roof tops of London singing Chim Chim Cheree. The rooftops are close enough that you could jump from roof to roof, right? At least they get out of yard work!
We next find.......
clothes lines on roofs. It's kind of a bummer that the clothes lines are covered with those green cages. What's a bird to do??
Well, I suppose a bird is to fly on to the next spot of green way over there on that roof top or........
go check out some garbage. It is garbage day and the
garbage truck is on it's way! Quick, before the garbage is gone!!
So if a bird misses the garbage, he's probably glad this missed him too!.......
A black cat! And, yes, they love to eat birds. At least that is what I learned when I was 5 years old from watching Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat! "Dat mean ol' puddy cat."
A bird has lots of places to take a bird bath!
I suppose birds find their was to the city fishing pond!
A bird could land in some kid's lunch since the sign doesn't forbid birds!
It seems as though birds aren't wanted here.
If all else fails, go play with the kids on the toys! I'm pretty sure I have found the remains of birds on playground equipment before!
Birds do hang out on the monkey bars. We've all seen the leftovers, right? Sometimes a bird would like to have some grass under his feet.......
I wonder if the mommy birds bring their baby birds here to play?
A horse could be a huge temptation for any bird!
as well as this horse!
These could be fun for birds too!
Wow! More toys! The trees are the best though.
A bird would love to go to this beautiful peaceful place.
These cute men are fishing in this man-made pond.
So beautiful
Flowers are blooming beautifully everywhere and
the fountains are bubbling in rhythm! So fun!
Let's now see what a pigeon's eye view is....besides the ground!
Pretty cute kids!
This St. Bernard puppy is on the adorable list right next to the kids. I'm pretty sure this puppy would love the company of a pigeon! Ha! Ha!
This view takes the cake.......
Sisters holding hands. There's nothing better! The younger one is not too excited about getting her picture taken though.
I wonder if birds believe in the caste system because if they do, the birds that hang around here have it pretty sweet!
This area is called Ginza. A shopper's paradise. It has every designer store you can imagine with prices exceeding your expectations. (In other words, double your expectations.)
Check out the window at Wako! Pretty cool!
This is part of the Ginza shopping district.
Here is the infamous Mikimoto pearls,
This is the first Apple store in Japan, right in the heart of Ginza.
Louis Vuitton, Bulgaria, and a high end department store called Matsuya Ginza line this street.
I'll bet there are a few high flying birds that probably hang out here. They have it real sweet!
Such great nesting places!
We have interesting architectural buildings.......
in all shapes and sizes......
including a rare sight to behold! A telephone booth! Wow! That's cool! Of course, they are kept very clean.
Ok, so birds don't have it so bad in the city, there are trees every now and then! The streets are rather quiet because it is around 7:30 in the morning. Store don't open until 10:00 a.m.
You can find trees along most any street. Thank goodness!
Check it out all of you gym rats! You can still work out at Gold's Gym when you come to Tokyo!
Or you can just forget about the work out and stick with the shopping.
Check out these mannequins!
These mannequins definitely sold me on the outfits!
Every once in a while you can find a baby store. So cute!
Buildings under construction or remodeling are common sights. The mold and rust that is so prevalent around here is one of the main reasons for lots of upkeep.
You can find buildings built out of glass as well as stone, cement, brick, tile, and metal!
You can find stores that will sell you just about everything you would ever want, including specialty fans.
You can buy pianos in this awesome store!
Girls, Burberry will never die. (Years ago when we went to NYC, my 3 daughters were "done" seeing people with their plaid Burberry everything.)
People everywhere now that it is a little later in the morning.
Any grabbers for the floor??
These beautiful flowers are blooming everywhere in many different colors.
These hydrangeas are just starting to blossom. So pretty!!
We will now be moving inside to check out the food for the week!
This is an organic food restaurant. What are they serving?
You are first served a delicious array of salads.
Next you are served your first entree which is veggies with a few chunks of chicken. Yummy!
The next dish is pork slices with veggies and a dipping sauce. Again yummy!
Here we have sweet onions deep fried in bread crumbs with a delicious red sauce.
Moving on to a Thai Restaurant that is to die for! We decided to check them out at lunch and this is some of what we found.
Beef with rice and a fried, soft yolk egg. So good!
A relative to Pad Thai but waaaaaaay better!
Move over Cup Noodles!!
This next section is for any and all girls from the age of 2 - 12.
Hello Kitty was in a store. Grandpa and I wanted to go in a talk to her, but the line was waaaaaay toooooooo long. We did get a picture through!
I know there are some little girls in my family who love Hello Kitty!
Now let's check out something we all love to go to; a farmer's market!
Here it is!
A Tokyo farmers market. Just a tad different from an American farmers market. Let's check it out!
Not only is it in the heart of the city, this farmer's market has a tile floor!
There are all kinds of fruits and veggies,
Booths with people giving out taste testers.
Things neatly packaged and displayed.
Bonsai anyone?
Or how about a beautiful bouquet?
These pineapple were awesome!
This is a ginger booth! You can buy homemade ginger ale or you can buy the fresh ginger.
This cute little lady was selling carrot juice.
These ladies run a citrus farm and sell their produce on the weekends.
These little trucks come into the farmer's market and set up to sell food or drink. They are so cute!
No, this isn't a real cow. I know you were confused for a moment. This truck had Brazilians in it selling different kinds of cooked cheeses.
We've had some visitors.......
These wonderful ladies are friends of mine from 30 years ago. I taught them English for a number of years and we are back at it again. For our class, we decided to go to lunch at our favorite Thai restaurant. Everyone loved it! My friends from left to right: Shigeko, me, Saeko, Midori, and Fumiko.
My long time ago friend, Keeko, who who served as a sister missionary here in Tokyo years ago is living here until next month! It was so good to see her. She is an awesome woman. I am lucky to know her. (We won't talk about my ridiculous hair during this rainy, humid season. It is pretty much on it's own.)
Lisa came to visit us. It was so fun to have here. I've known her since she was a little girl. She and Jeff are good friends too.
This is Lisa's mom, Etsuko, who came to our home 2 days after Lisa came. She hosted a seminar for women and asked me to speak. She sure did....., and I tried to get out of it, but she wouldn't let me. It would have been pretty easy if only I could have given it in English. With Japanese as the language of choice around here, I had to speak in Japanese. I couldn't have done it without a few people who helped me translate my talk - Hideko, Taylor, Kiyomi,Yuki, Yumi, and Etsuko. They became my lifesavers and I am so grateful to them for helping me. There is no way I could have done it without them.
This is where the meeting was held.
This is a pretty cool place!
My dear friend Seiko came to visit me. She saved me many years ago when we lived here and she helped me so much with the language, the culture, and anything else that I needed. I call her my "life saver" too! I took her to our favorite Thai restaurant for dinner.
I'm pretty sure this just became Seiko's favorite restaurant too. We had green curry, coconut soup, soft shelled crab, and cooked fish with veggies on top. So delicious.
We ate everything down to the last bite of Coconut Tapioca with a small scoop of Mango Ice Cream. Ya, it sounds incredible and it tastes even better. Sooooo good! Sorry for not taking the picture before we downed it.
This is a neighbor/friend from 25 years ago and her son who was one of Brittney's good friends as they were growing up. It is so fun seeing people after 20 years. It was so fun to have them in our home. So much changes with the children, but not a whole lot changes with the adults.
When Kent was in Hong Kong the other day, he got to see Sister Camrie Smith who is from Bountiful and a good friend of ours. She is doing awesome! (This is for you Jennifer Smith - Camrie's mom.)
This concludes this week's blog. We hope each of you well, happy, and enjoying the warmth of summer. Please know how much we love you.
Until we meet again......
Love,
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Uncle Kent and Grandma Barb
Kent and Barb
