I thought this might interest my Room 3 readers! Japanese kids have these hoods under their chairs at school in case of emergency. They have to put them on to go home when an earthquake hits, to keep their heads safe from falling debris.
A blog about life in a work of art in the heart of Tokyo. With a baby.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Aftershocks
Grant took a video during the first big aftershock. We have the news on TV in the background, and he was on Skype to his mum. In some ways I'm glad we don't have big shelves, because the earthquake was very silent in our apartment. Nothing but the windows rattled.
I thought this might interest my Room 3 readers! Japanese kids have these hoods under their chairs at school in case of emergency. They have to put them on to go home when an earthquake hits, to keep their heads safe from falling debris.
I thought this might interest my Room 3 readers! Japanese kids have these hoods under their chairs at school in case of emergency. They have to put them on to go home when an earthquake hits, to keep their heads safe from falling debris.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Earthquake(s)
On Friday afternoon, March 11th there was a huge earthquake in northern Japan. Thankfully we were very far from the epicentre, but the earthquake felt strong enough to make me want to sit down with Elliott in the Beco.
Grant and I were visiting the front office with Elliott when the earthquake struck. Since there are no shelves in the lofts, the office staff have their wine glasses hanging from a rack over the kitchen. We all ran out of the office onto the street as the glasses started smashing! Elliott was awake in the office, but soon after we ran onto the street he fell asleep in the Beco. My guess is he was soothed by the rocking motion!
After everything had calmed down, we went back up to our loft to see if everything was all right. The water in a pot we had left on the stove had splashed out, which makes sense because the earthquake felt like the ground was shaking up and down, not side to side. Some of our things had fallen off a stool and off the bathroom sink:
But nothing was broken so we were really lucky. As we were looking around our apartment for damage an equally large aftershock hit. It was eery seeing all our belongings swing back and forth from the ceiling! I wonder if Arakawa + Gins had considered earthquakes when they designed the lofts. From experience, it seems quite silly to have things hanging from the ceiling in an earthquake-prone country... We used to have our clothes hanging from bars in the square room, but I asked Grant to move them to a wire in the bathroom instead. It was too scary having our clothes rock back and forth over my head as I lay awake during aftershocks!!
Grant recently interviewed the architect who helped design the lofts, and he said that the lofts are made of such dense concrete that they are really strong against earthquakes. The windows were shaking during the two we were in, so I can't imagine how scary it must have been for people in regular apartments!
After the aftershock subsided Grant and I went across the road to McDonald's to get some late lunch. When we walked in there were only two other customers, which is very unusual for our location. When we went up to order, we were told that the gas had been shut off and we could only order drinks and desserts. We got a coffee each and sat down, and soon after that people started pouring in as usual. They opened the grills and we got our lunch!
We were sitting next to two junior high school kids in McDonald's, and I thought it was interesting that they were watching the news on TV with their cell phone. A sign of the times!
On the way home from McDonald's I noticed there was a LOT more traffic than usual. I didn't know then, but all the trains in Tokyo had been stopped and people had to stay overnight at their offices. I think there was more traffic than usual as people went to pick up their family members from work.
Although trains weren't running, busses were. There was an amazing line-up for the bus outside our loft well into the night. This usually never happens!
We spent a lot of time in front of the TV. I think Elliott picked up on the gravity of the situation, because he was up in the middle of the night for about an hour trying to tell us what he thought about it!
There were lots of aftershocks all of last night and today, and we just felt the earthquake up in Fukushima before I started writing this. Elliott didn't nap from 2pm until 10pm, and had a huge crying spell just before the TV announced the Fukushima earthquake was about to start. (How do they know the earthquake is going to happen before it does, I wonder...?) I wonder if babies are like dogs, they can predict when an earthquake is about to happen :-P
Just so you know we're all safe and sound, here is a photo of our loft right after the big earthquake happened on Friday:
Grant and I were visiting the front office with Elliott when the earthquake struck. Since there are no shelves in the lofts, the office staff have their wine glasses hanging from a rack over the kitchen. We all ran out of the office onto the street as the glasses started smashing! Elliott was awake in the office, but soon after we ran onto the street he fell asleep in the Beco. My guess is he was soothed by the rocking motion!
After everything had calmed down, we went back up to our loft to see if everything was all right. The water in a pot we had left on the stove had splashed out, which makes sense because the earthquake felt like the ground was shaking up and down, not side to side. Some of our things had fallen off a stool and off the bathroom sink:
But nothing was broken so we were really lucky. As we were looking around our apartment for damage an equally large aftershock hit. It was eery seeing all our belongings swing back and forth from the ceiling! I wonder if Arakawa + Gins had considered earthquakes when they designed the lofts. From experience, it seems quite silly to have things hanging from the ceiling in an earthquake-prone country... We used to have our clothes hanging from bars in the square room, but I asked Grant to move them to a wire in the bathroom instead. It was too scary having our clothes rock back and forth over my head as I lay awake during aftershocks!!
Grant recently interviewed the architect who helped design the lofts, and he said that the lofts are made of such dense concrete that they are really strong against earthquakes. The windows were shaking during the two we were in, so I can't imagine how scary it must have been for people in regular apartments!
After the aftershock subsided Grant and I went across the road to McDonald's to get some late lunch. When we walked in there were only two other customers, which is very unusual for our location. When we went up to order, we were told that the gas had been shut off and we could only order drinks and desserts. We got a coffee each and sat down, and soon after that people started pouring in as usual. They opened the grills and we got our lunch!
We were sitting next to two junior high school kids in McDonald's, and I thought it was interesting that they were watching the news on TV with their cell phone. A sign of the times!
On the way home from McDonald's I noticed there was a LOT more traffic than usual. I didn't know then, but all the trains in Tokyo had been stopped and people had to stay overnight at their offices. I think there was more traffic than usual as people went to pick up their family members from work.
Although trains weren't running, busses were. There was an amazing line-up for the bus outside our loft well into the night. This usually never happens!
We spent a lot of time in front of the TV. I think Elliott picked up on the gravity of the situation, because he was up in the middle of the night for about an hour trying to tell us what he thought about it!
There were lots of aftershocks all of last night and today, and we just felt the earthquake up in Fukushima before I started writing this. Elliott didn't nap from 2pm until 10pm, and had a huge crying spell just before the TV announced the Fukushima earthquake was about to start. (How do they know the earthquake is going to happen before it does, I wonder...?) I wonder if babies are like dogs, they can predict when an earthquake is about to happen :-P
Just so you know we're all safe and sound, here is a photo of our loft right after the big earthquake happened on Friday:
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Babies cuddling babies
Today Elliott and I were supposed to go to Roppongi to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the Mamas Club showing at Toho Cinemas. Elliott has the sniffles at the moment though, so we stayed home instead. I loved the Narnia series as a girl, so I'm quite sad to have missed it.
Elliott was looking a little better this afternoon, so I took him and Grant to Coppice in Kichijoji for some play time and dinner. Elliott doesn't "play" as such just yet, but he loves meeting new babies. We just sat in the play area they have on the third floor and watched the other more mobile babies for a while, and then the most outgoing little two year old showed up and beelined straight for Elliott. It was so cute! I said hello and made Elliott bow hello too. After that the little boy walked up to Elliott and gave him a big hug! Elliott broke out into the hugest grin as if to say "Hello new friend! So glad to meet you". It was perhaps the most adorable thing I have ever seen. My heart melted. The little boy seemed to really like Elliott, and came back to touch his arm or leg every so often as if to say "I haven't forgotten you little friend, I'm just really busy running around building things over there with those blocks". Every time the boy came back Elliott smiled. I really must make sure he meets lots of babies and stays this social!
The third floor of Coppice has a really nice children's area, and the changing room and nursing room are very colourful. Elliott and I were the only ones in the communal nursing room which I thought would mean he would be able to concentrate on drinking. Not so! He kept looking at the colourful pictures on the wall and then at me and laughing. It was very cute, but I was counting on the milk to knock him out so he would be asleep on the bus home. A bit of jiggling in the Beco soon got him asleep though.
All in all it has a been a good day. I hope Elliott doesn't have the sniffles for too much longer though!
Elliott was looking a little better this afternoon, so I took him and Grant to Coppice in Kichijoji for some play time and dinner. Elliott doesn't "play" as such just yet, but he loves meeting new babies. We just sat in the play area they have on the third floor and watched the other more mobile babies for a while, and then the most outgoing little two year old showed up and beelined straight for Elliott. It was so cute! I said hello and made Elliott bow hello too. After that the little boy walked up to Elliott and gave him a big hug! Elliott broke out into the hugest grin as if to say "Hello new friend! So glad to meet you". It was perhaps the most adorable thing I have ever seen. My heart melted. The little boy seemed to really like Elliott, and came back to touch his arm or leg every so often as if to say "I haven't forgotten you little friend, I'm just really busy running around building things over there with those blocks". Every time the boy came back Elliott smiled. I really must make sure he meets lots of babies and stays this social!
The third floor of Coppice has a really nice children's area, and the changing room and nursing room are very colourful. Elliott and I were the only ones in the communal nursing room which I thought would mean he would be able to concentrate on drinking. Not so! He kept looking at the colourful pictures on the wall and then at me and laughing. It was very cute, but I was counting on the milk to knock him out so he would be asleep on the bus home. A bit of jiggling in the Beco soon got him asleep though.
All in all it has a been a good day. I hope Elliott doesn't have the sniffles for too much longer though!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Everyday life
I am writing this as Elliott naps in my futon. Such a simple sentence, but actually it's a minor miracle!
I felt very lonely and displaced when we first arrived in Mitaka. I think if Grant's research had been based in Osaka I would have felt at home and there wouldn't have been an adjustment period, but here it took a few weeks to feel "at home". A big part of why I feel comfortable here now is that I have been meeting lots of lovely (English-speaking) ladies from the Tokyo Moms group on Facebook as well as from the Tokyo Mothers Group website. I'm so glad to know the women I met from those two resources!
One of the outings I got to go to with the Tokyo Mums was a lunch at Le Petit Bedon in Daikanyama. The food was sooooo good! Normally it is not a very baby-friendly restaurant, but one of the mothers knows the owner and he set up a temporary changing station in the toilet for us. It was great! Elliott loved meeting the other babies. There is an elevator down to the restaurant (it's at basement level) so you probably could take a baby in a stroller at a regular time.
While meeting the ladies and their babies has been wonderful, it has meant that Elliott didn't really have a routine for the last month. We live about a 20 minute bus ride from any of the nearby train stations, and to get to central Tokyo it takes at least an hour. That means that Elliott has almost exclusively been napping in my Beco, because we're out morning to evening. I don't mind this, because he zonks out in the Beco for hours... his longest nap was six hours!! And it's so cute the way his little hands hang onto my jersey as he's sleeping. But I do feel bad that he was almost completely incapable of sleeping on his own anymore... Today we are at home, and because napping in the Beco taught me Elliott's sleep cues really well I was able to catch him at the best time to put him to sleep. The first time didn't really work, he was up and out of bed within 30 minutes. Right now though, he has been asleep for just over an hour and is still going strong! He grumbled a little bit at the beginning, but I shushed him from outside the oshoji and now he is deeply asleep. Success!!
We had to take Elliott to the doctor yesterday, and thanks to my new friend E I was recommended a very nice doctor at Musashisakai station. The doctor is Japanese-speaking, and he was lovely! Very matter-of-fact, but I appreciated that. He asked Grant and me about ourselves and joked with us a little bit, which I liked. We might never need to see him again, so I'm grateful that he took the time to get to know us a little just in case we had to come back for something unforeseen. I thought I would put the information for the doctor in this blog, in case another young family ever comes to live in the Reversible Destiny Lofts and finds my blog!
The clinic is called 武居小児科医院 (Takesue Kids Clinic) and the address is 武蔵野市境南町2-8-17 (Musashino-shi, Kyounan-cho). The phone number is 0422-32-4152. The clinic is a really short walk from the station. You go past the Mizuho Bank, cross the street at the light and then cross again to the Sankus convenience store. It is a couple of buildings past the convenience store, on the 2nd floor. There's an elevator to go up, and the sign is quite easy to see from the lights.
Elliott really is a very portable baby. We have been taking him out for dinner quite a bit, because I don't want to pass up the chance to eat as much yummy Japanese food as possible while we're here! We took him to a kaiten-zushi restaurant the other day, and he woke up while I was eating. I took him to the take-out waiting area and fed him a bit, but then I got hungry so I carried him back to the counter and ate my dinner while he finished off his! I snapped this picture at the kaiten-zushi place. I am so impressed with the idea. It's very hard to forget your umbrella when it's sitting with you all through your meal!
And just in case you're not quite sure what kaiten-zushi is, here's a picture of the revolving sushi restaurant:
The front office kindly organised a welcome party for us last Friday, and Elliott had a great time! I think he really loves to meet new people, and even though he usually can't stay up longer than two hours he sat and talked to the other residents of our loft for four hours! The food was incredible at the party. Everyone cooked something for us to try, and it was all delicious!
Although Grant is still the head chef in our household, I am in charge of housework at the loft. A clotheshorse came with the loft when we moved in, so technically I could hang laundry to dry outside on the balcony. It seemed so much easier to use our super duper washing machine though. The washing machine in the loft automatically washes and dries clothes, you just push a button and a couple of hours later the laundry is all done!
This machine made laundry so easy that I really started to rely on it. However, I started to notice that Elliott wasn't fitting his clothes well anymore. I assumed it was because he is STILL putting on a pound a week (!!!), but then I came across two onesies that came together in a boxed gift set - one I had only washed in Toronto and one I had washed and dried using the machine at our loft. The comparison speaks for itself:
I'm either going to have to buy 18 month old size clothing and carry on using the dryer, or I'll have to start hanging what he already wears out on the balcony!
Wow, this nap has lasted nearly an hour and a half. I'm off to see if I can eat lunch before Elliott wakes up. Bye dear readers!
I felt very lonely and displaced when we first arrived in Mitaka. I think if Grant's research had been based in Osaka I would have felt at home and there wouldn't have been an adjustment period, but here it took a few weeks to feel "at home". A big part of why I feel comfortable here now is that I have been meeting lots of lovely (English-speaking) ladies from the Tokyo Moms group on Facebook as well as from the Tokyo Mothers Group website. I'm so glad to know the women I met from those two resources!
One of the outings I got to go to with the Tokyo Mums was a lunch at Le Petit Bedon in Daikanyama. The food was sooooo good! Normally it is not a very baby-friendly restaurant, but one of the mothers knows the owner and he set up a temporary changing station in the toilet for us. It was great! Elliott loved meeting the other babies. There is an elevator down to the restaurant (it's at basement level) so you probably could take a baby in a stroller at a regular time.
While meeting the ladies and their babies has been wonderful, it has meant that Elliott didn't really have a routine for the last month. We live about a 20 minute bus ride from any of the nearby train stations, and to get to central Tokyo it takes at least an hour. That means that Elliott has almost exclusively been napping in my Beco, because we're out morning to evening. I don't mind this, because he zonks out in the Beco for hours... his longest nap was six hours!! And it's so cute the way his little hands hang onto my jersey as he's sleeping. But I do feel bad that he was almost completely incapable of sleeping on his own anymore... Today we are at home, and because napping in the Beco taught me Elliott's sleep cues really well I was able to catch him at the best time to put him to sleep. The first time didn't really work, he was up and out of bed within 30 minutes. Right now though, he has been asleep for just over an hour and is still going strong! He grumbled a little bit at the beginning, but I shushed him from outside the oshoji and now he is deeply asleep. Success!!
We had to take Elliott to the doctor yesterday, and thanks to my new friend E I was recommended a very nice doctor at Musashisakai station. The doctor is Japanese-speaking, and he was lovely! Very matter-of-fact, but I appreciated that. He asked Grant and me about ourselves and joked with us a little bit, which I liked. We might never need to see him again, so I'm grateful that he took the time to get to know us a little just in case we had to come back for something unforeseen. I thought I would put the information for the doctor in this blog, in case another young family ever comes to live in the Reversible Destiny Lofts and finds my blog!
The clinic is called 武居小児科医院 (Takesue Kids Clinic) and the address is 武蔵野市境南町2-8-17 (Musashino-shi, Kyounan-cho). The phone number is 0422-32-4152. The clinic is a really short walk from the station. You go past the Mizuho Bank, cross the street at the light and then cross again to the Sankus convenience store. It is a couple of buildings past the convenience store, on the 2nd floor. There's an elevator to go up, and the sign is quite easy to see from the lights.
Elliott really is a very portable baby. We have been taking him out for dinner quite a bit, because I don't want to pass up the chance to eat as much yummy Japanese food as possible while we're here! We took him to a kaiten-zushi restaurant the other day, and he woke up while I was eating. I took him to the take-out waiting area and fed him a bit, but then I got hungry so I carried him back to the counter and ate my dinner while he finished off his! I snapped this picture at the kaiten-zushi place. I am so impressed with the idea. It's very hard to forget your umbrella when it's sitting with you all through your meal!
And just in case you're not quite sure what kaiten-zushi is, here's a picture of the revolving sushi restaurant:
The front office kindly organised a welcome party for us last Friday, and Elliott had a great time! I think he really loves to meet new people, and even though he usually can't stay up longer than two hours he sat and talked to the other residents of our loft for four hours! The food was incredible at the party. Everyone cooked something for us to try, and it was all delicious!
Although Grant is still the head chef in our household, I am in charge of housework at the loft. A clotheshorse came with the loft when we moved in, so technically I could hang laundry to dry outside on the balcony. It seemed so much easier to use our super duper washing machine though. The washing machine in the loft automatically washes and dries clothes, you just push a button and a couple of hours later the laundry is all done!
This machine made laundry so easy that I really started to rely on it. However, I started to notice that Elliott wasn't fitting his clothes well anymore. I assumed it was because he is STILL putting on a pound a week (!!!), but then I came across two onesies that came together in a boxed gift set - one I had only washed in Toronto and one I had washed and dried using the machine at our loft. The comparison speaks for itself:
I'm either going to have to buy 18 month old size clothing and carry on using the dryer, or I'll have to start hanging what he already wears out on the balcony!
Wow, this nap has lasted nearly an hour and a half. I'm off to see if I can eat lunch before Elliott wakes up. Bye dear readers!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Everyday activities (2)
I often forget to give Elliott tummy time, and the back of his head is rapidly becoming flatter and flatter... They say this evens out when babies become more active at 6 months or so, and I'm hoping that's true for Elliott! I made a nice cushioned area for Elliott to play on, but when Grant was in charge of play time the other day he decided to give Elliott a new experience by putting him down directly on the bumpy floor. Looks cold to me!!
The other day I needed to charge my cell phone, so Grant kindly went and got the cable and plugged it in for me. When I asked where he'd plugged it in, he took me to the square room to show me my cell phone hanging on the wall! Most of the plugs and light switches in the loft are in odd places. I like that the switch in the square room is at shin level, because I can turn the light on with my foot when I have Elliott in my arms. I wonder if Arakawa + Gins had parents in mind when they were deciding the light switch height?!
The other day I needed to charge my cell phone, so Grant kindly went and got the cable and plugged it in for me. When I asked where he'd plugged it in, he took me to the square room to show me my cell phone hanging on the wall! Most of the plugs and light switches in the loft are in odd places. I like that the switch in the square room is at shin level, because I can turn the light on with my foot when I have Elliott in my arms. I wonder if Arakawa + Gins had parents in mind when they were deciding the light switch height?!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Feeding
Lately I've been using the round room to feed Elliott when he isn't sleepy. We have a bean bag in there that the front office gave us, and I can get the perfect angle so that my leg is supporting Elliott's weight. He's a very big baby now, so it's nice to have somewhere comfortable to nurse him! I also get to watch TV, although Elliott is getting old enough to know what TV is and gets distracted if the volume is up too high.
Elliott's grandmother often asks if we are giving him extra fluids, because I think she's worried he will dehydrate in winter. Soon after Elliott was born I asked our midwife about this, and she said that in the past women supplemented milk with water, but these days they say that breast milk is all the baby needs. We were at Akachan Honpo the other day and I was surprised to see not only ion water for babies, but roasted barley tea:
Roasted green tea:
And they also sold these little tiny bottles for giving your baby juice!
The teas were decaffeinated and were recommended for one month onwards. The juice bottles didn't have a recommended age written on them, but just their existence was surprising to me! In Canada I think they only recommend that you give babies juice once they are already old enough to drink out of a cup.
Elliott's grandmother often asks if we are giving him extra fluids, because I think she's worried he will dehydrate in winter. Soon after Elliott was born I asked our midwife about this, and she said that in the past women supplemented milk with water, but these days they say that breast milk is all the baby needs. We were at Akachan Honpo the other day and I was surprised to see not only ion water for babies, but roasted barley tea:
Roasted green tea:
And they also sold these little tiny bottles for giving your baby juice!
The teas were decaffeinated and were recommended for one month onwards. The juice bottles didn't have a recommended age written on them, but just their existence was surprising to me! In Canada I think they only recommend that you give babies juice once they are already old enough to drink out of a cup.
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