From February 14th to the 20th my sister, Katie,  her husband, Steve, and their two little angels, Edward and Evelyn came to see us in Tokyo.

We had a jam-packed few days showing of the best of Tokyo, and we become something of experts in “quick, where is the nearest play park, the kids need to expel some energy!” In fact, we even joked about setting up Tokyoparkfinder.jp as we become such experts. Turns out, when you have kids that love a good park to entertain, Tokyo is an excellent city for that. They are everywhere! You turn a corner and bam, steam train with a park next to it. Why? No idea, as certainly Japan isn’t exactly known for it’s high child numbers (or steam railways at that).

We started most mornings with a park or two before moving on to some of the other sites in Tokyo. Ueno Zoo was a hit, as it always is. Ueno Zoo is one of my favourite places in Tokyo! It is always so nice to be around the animals, in the sunshine, enjoying the combination of nature and urban sprawl. We also checked out the large shrine in Asagawa. It was a tourist heaven, with a large photogenic shrine and more souvenirs than you could shake a stick at. The kids were, naturally, not as interested in the history of the shrine or Buddha, but they really got into the blue and pink chocolate coated bananas and red bean paste pancakes. Win.

The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building was also a big hit. Although Mount Fuji was shy and hiding away in the haze, you can really see the size and significance of Tokyo. The city only ends once you reach the mountains on one side and Pacific Ocean on the other. Smack-bang central in all of the choas is Nakano, our new home. You can see some of the local buildings, like the Sun Plaza and it’s many shimmering bells. Wow, we really do live in central Tokyo! It was great to be able to show this to the fam, in addition to our small but slightl-bigger-than-before apartment we now live in. My favourite moment was when Katie came round the corner looking for the door into the next room. Nope. This is it!

We also enjoyed a day out at Disney Land (intense) and the amazing TeamLab Planets immersive art installation. It was an epic and beautiful show! I’ll write a separate blog on both of those…overall we had a full-on and wonderful few days. I loved showing my family around our new home and hope I get to do it again soon!