Day 38, monday: Imperial Gardens

Today we tootled around the Imperial Gardens. We gave up "seeing the park" and simply strolled, allowing the boys to pick up twigs and crush leaves along the way. Malcolm now insists on walking and often doesn't even want to hold either of our hands, so the pace was very slow.

The huge walls and moat surrounding the emperor's home.

We finally found all of Japan's joggers and runners: the grounds were packed with men, women, and even children out for their morning runs.

At the park, there were obviously large patches of green that the boys enjoyed:

It turned into a rainy day, so we headed to Hakuhinkan Toy Park. It's really just a 5 story toy store, but it was fun. Malcolm and Archer weren't too sure what to make of all the remote control and battery operated dogs they had. Then we strolled through the ritzy shopping neighborhood of Ginza. Both boys fell asleep as we walked, so we were ACTUALLY ABLE TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE COFFEE! Wow.

That night for dinner we attempted to find a restaurant in one of our guide books that had good shabu-shabu. In the rain, Shinjuku's unlabled streets became even more difficult to navigate. After weaving in and out of the same 4 blocks several times, we instead went into a place that had a large menu for us to choose from. It turns out we chose the equivalent of Japanese tapas. Small plates of tasty things, but it was a little difficult to satisfy the boys. Of course, we chose something that involved cooking at our table -- a tasty pot of broth, veggies, and chicken. We kept telling Archer it was "Just like Grandma Franny's chicken noodle soup!" to encourage him to eat.