LaLaport, again!

We were back at LaLaport yesterday (surprise, surprise!).

I had written about it before in my previous blog.

What did we discover this time?  The amazing Daimaru Food Hall.  The concept was something along the lines of the Harrod's Food Hall although a little less elaborate.  But I think Harrrod's does not have the the kind of pastries that we have here in Japan.  All those pretty cakes and other confectionaries.  I did not take as many photos as I wanted to as I did not think it would be allowed.  So where I could sneak in a quick photo or two, I did.  There was a Hong Kong dessert shop that sold also some food.  We made a note to return later for dinner, did so, but all their noodles had been sold out by then!  We did however have their little colourful balls.  I have never seen those before and was not too sure what to expect.  It turned out to be agar-agar (gelatin) with little pices of fruit in them.  The real surprise was the taste of the agar-agar.  It jolted me back to my childhood where I used to eat the exact same thing but in egg-shells. No fruit, and colouring was used.  It tasted delicious, Kai and Taiga loved them as I did when I was a kid, and I am now wondering/hunting down a recipe for it.

We went back to Itoyokado.  Unfortunately, Kai is of an age where it is no longer good to just put him into one of those automated rides, without inserting any money, and he is happy just to be sitting there.  We spent a mini fortune on the rides and some games for kids (bowling).  Is there a practice in Japan where parents pool their kids for the rides?  There was a merry-go-round for 2 kids, US$2.  A father put in his daughter and was about to start the ride when I jumped in and asked if Kai could sit in the empty seat.  He was quite taken aback although he said OK.  I gave him US$1 after the ride had started and he was rather surprised although he did not hesitate to take the money!  In Singapore, the parents would split the cost or the kids would sit the ride a couple of times and each time, a different parent would pay.  Or sometimes, the paying parent would just pull any nearby kid to join the ride without asking the other parents to pay.  Taiga, meanwhile was in the large padded area which is free!

Next to this area, is a little room where parents and kids can go in to make and bake cookies. No prior appointment necessary and a mere US$6.80. They have more than 60 different types of cookie cutters. They provide everything, the cookie dough, the cutters, the decoration bits on top of the cookies and the mini ovens to bake them. Best of all, you walk out with cookies to eat! Mmmmm!

We moved on to refullerene, which is the educational toy shop that I had mentioned before.  Very interesting stuff, although lots of it in Japanese.  Tomo got stuck in there and I had to pull him out.  It is next to Akachanhonpo.  I took the ooportunity to take pics of some of the kiddy entertainment next to Akachanhonpo.

Since we could not eat the Hong Kong noodles, we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  The avocado appetiser we had was very good.  As Tomo was Q'ing up (hey, this is Japan!) to get into California Pizza Kitchen, Kai and I took a walk to the Baby Rest Room to fix a bottle of formula for Taiga.  We walked past the atrium and noticed that there was a circle of steam rising from the floor.  Kai was curious, so we walked over.  I encouraged him to walk above the vents where the steam was rising from.  Suddenly, without warning, water shot out!  It became a fountain show, complete with changing lights and music.  This is not uncommon in many places outside of Japan, but I think in Japan, esp the Tokyo area, this is still not common. Kai had such fun, even though he was a little drenched!

On the way home, on the 3rd floor, we walked past a very nice paper/card shop called Paperium.  Clearly, most of its paper were imported.  Unfortunately, it was closed when we walked past although its manager/owner was staring at me, so I had to quickly sneak in a shot of their little card tree.

PS - Did you see in one of the pics above a big eye with a little body dangling from it? I saw it in the amusement arcade where there was a machine for fishing one of these out. I think it looks awful and scary, but according to Tomo, it is very popular in Japan.

Comments

[lily]

Wow! It looks amazing! I still haven't made my way there yet. What a great Sunday outing. I was looking into Jiyugaoka- it seems very charming. In June if everything is going fine we should celebrate our b-days by going there together (Just mama's- well and newborn). Masa bought me some St.Christophers tea and so I wanted to go to their shop- turns out it is a teahouse with an English Garden- have you been there? Seems like such a feminine area- a great place to hang out with just women.
Tomo (your Tomo) is so lucky to work there!
PS
Thanks for the pics- much better than my out-of focus shots taken by my Tomo. I will use them on my blog. Don't Kai and Tomo look so cute holding hands?

[Heidi]

Yeah, I love, love, love Jiyugaoka. Such a village feeling to it. Your husband bought you tea? And from St. Christopher's? Even though Tomo goes there almost everyday, he has never bought me tea from St. Christophers! Let's do a b'day celebration there (and it's good that you are open to breastfeeding in public cos I think Jiyugaoka is one of those places that you have to ....)!

[Gina]

Heidi, thank you so much for posting the pics of the new Lalaport!!! I wanna go there even more so now! In your first pic, was that a Banana Republic in the background? Also, making cookies with the kids sounds soo cool!Sounds like a great mall! : )

[Heidi]

Yes, that's Banana Republic. But they seem quite expensive in Japan. That or my sense of value of money has changed since having kids! And also, I was in one of their shops last week trying jeans. I tried the largest size that they sell. It was a struggle pulling it up my calves and 1/2 of my hip and bum already took up all the space that I did not bother pulling the other pants leg!!

I think you guys should do a 3-day travel in Yokohama! No point coming all the way here just for LaLaport. You should also check out Yokohama city and the safari next to Mt. Fuji. Highly recommended, esp for the kids! Let me know if you ever do this, and I'll send you my recommendations!

[Gina]

Okay thanks I would really like to head to Yokohama and I totally would ask you for all the rec's, since I know you know that good stuff, he he.

Banana Republic is sorta high in Japan eh? Ouch that doesn't sound too good for me either. I shop their outlet in the US. But even in the US, I don't pay full price unless it's marked down and on sale. LOL I'm a cheapskate here! : ) Would you believe I have never seen a BR store in Japan until I saw your picture. Very surpised, so thanks. And if you couldn't fit in the jeans Heidi, then I *know* my big ol' butt totaly couldn't fit in them. Ahhhh, bummer! : ( Thanks again : )