Alive and kicking...

Hi there!
I've been out of action for a while. Got bogged down by this "laryngotracheal bronchitis" (croup) thing. Yeah, what the hell is that anyway? I'm fine now. Nothing that a few trips to the clinic and prescription meds can't fix.
Here's a short video of me and dad celebrating my recovery with a well-earned custard pudding.
Enjoy!

PS: Stay tuned for some Christmas stuff... I have a long list for Santa this year. He better use his heavy-duty sleigh!

Visit from Andy & the gang from Singapore

On Sunday the 2nd, dad's friend Andy from university came to Japan with his family. They live in Singapore. I hear it's hot and humid there, but very clean and lots of fun! We all had dinner at a local "Hot Springs Town", where we wore "yukatas" and sat on tatami mats to eat. I took advantage of the situation to run around the room and give mom some exercise too.

I also made some new friends, Germaine and Kristele. They're both very nice and we played hide and seek after dinner. Kristele held my hand when walking back to the car.... I think she likes me!

I can't wait to see them again, hopefully in Singapore. I really want to see that Merlion thingy. You can catch a few more photos of all of us here: http://www.kamatori.net/andy.htm

Pam's Visit (Mom's friend)

Last weekend... we went to Odaiba to meet up with Pam, one of mom's colleagues from her days at Macquarie university in Sydney. She was in Japan to give a talk at a local university. Pam comes from Thailand. I don't know where that is, but it sounds great. They have elephants there! Speaking of which, Pam gave me a nice silk elephant which is proudly on display with my other stuffed toys. I already like her!

Kasai Rinkai Koen ("Kasai Seaside Park")

Last weekend... mom, dad and I went to the Kasai Seaside Park, just a few stops on the Keiyo line from our place. What a huge park! It has everything... a big ferris wheel, an aquarium, a small train running through it, a ferry terminal to take boat rides, etc... Of course, we took a ride on the train. I then rode the dolphin ride (in the water) with mom and we had a spin on the big ferris wheel.
We also fed the ducks, but the damn pigeons kept stealing their food. Where's a shotgun when you need one, eh? We finished off the day by having a nice dinner at the Rain Forest Café in Ikspiari (Disney).

Trip to Cairns

Cairns, Queensland (Australia)
Last week, Mom, Dad & I packed our bags and went for a quick holiday to Cairns in northern Australia. It was great! I enjoyed every minute. We went to the zoo where I fed some ducks and kangaroos and saw lots of other animals like emus, crocodiles, wombats, parrots, etc... We also did lots of shopping and visited Cairns' night markets. On our last day, we met some of Dad's friends at the airport before coming back to Japan.

Back in Japan...
On the Sunday after we got back, I went to our local Daiei store and had fun in the playground. The Thomas train ride was especially fun.

Visit to Toyota MegaWEB & all the fun cars

On Saturday November 3rd...
I went to the Toyota MegaWEB showroom in Odaiba (Tokyo). I thought I hit the jackpot! All these brand new cars for me to try out, including the Toyota Formula One car. Needless to say that I had lots 'o' fun.
I also had lunch near there with mom & dad and took a spin (literally!) in the huge ferris wheel.
Can't wait to go back.

"Tower of Terror"
This is a new one for me and dad. He lifts me up as high as his arms will take me and then let me drop, not free-fall though, otherwise I wouldn't be here talking about it. I love doing it over and over and over again. I hear dad often saying "OK, last one", which I counter with "One more". I seem to win out most of the time. I'll have to look up the expression "sore back", but so far, that has not affected my fun.

K. International Visit and Soccer in the Park

On Saturday October 27th...
I went to the annual school festival at K. International School in Tokyo. Mom and Dad are thinking of sending me there next year, so I thought I'd check the place out first.
The place was packed. Not much room for running around. The event was fun, but the typhoon-like rain put a tad of a damper on the whole thing.
Mom and dad did meet other parents with kiddies there and managed to spot me some potential new friends. Apparently, there are kids from 50 different countries that go to the school, so I can make friends with kids from different places & learn lots of cool stuff, all in English of course.
I will let you know later if

On Sunday October 28th...
(Grandma's birthday)
We went to a local park for an afternoon picnic. Had lots of fun with mom and dad. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.
You can watch me play soccer here.

Day-care hairstyle...

Day-care Hairstyle
This is what happened when the teachers tried to turn us all into girls at the day-care. Despite looking silly, it was all good fun. Although mom and dad had to look twice to find me.

WWF "Body Slams"
I think this is now becoming a tradition every evening at home. Basically, I count 1-2-3 and take a big leap and land on daddy, who willfully participates by lying down on his back. I'm not sure, but I may have knocked the wind out of him when I jumped while he wasn't looking.
Ooops!

The flu shot...

Trip to the doctor's office...
It's that time of the year again to get the influenza vaccine. I wish there wasn't such a time of the year. I went to the doctor's office with mom & dad. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one to suffer because dad agreed to get his flu shot at the same time as me. He got his own membership card for the kids' clinic, bonus.
The exam with the stethoscope went well and so did the part where I have to open my mouth and say "Aaaah", which I'm getting good at, barely gag now. Unfortunately, I stopped having fun when the needle went into my arm. That was not cool at all.
Anyways, I eventually stopped crying and got a free band-aid from the pretty nurse. I hope I don't have to go through that again for a while.

Latest words... I like saying "Ike Sensei suki-suki", which means I really like my teacher, Ms. Ikeda. My dad thinks I like her only because she's cute. But, that has nothing to do with it. She's nice and draws An Pan Man on my hands.

A visit to the Urayasu Traffic Park

Hi there! It's been a few days, but I'm still here!

On the weekend...
On Saturday, I visited the Urayasu Traffic Park with mom & dad. It's a place where kids (like me) can experience driving and learning about traffic rules, without the actual dangers of the Tokyo traffic. I drove a London Bus, rode a bicycle and enjoyed a car ride powered by dad's legs. The park also has a few animals including a couple of wallabies and goats, which were quite friendly. Can't wait to go back.
On Sunday, I went out to Ikspiari for dinner with mom and dad, and also did a few laps on the Mickey monorail, which I pretend to drive.

New words....
I am now quite comfortable with the whole "please" and "thank you" routine. I find I get much better results with mom & dad that way. Apparently it's polite, although I still don't know what "polite" means yet.

An Pan Man Puzzle

Hi there. Me again!
Although I knew this already, this morning I made sure to tell mom & dad that I shouldn't put my feet on the table. I also gave them a demonstration of the actual actions that I should and shouldn't do. I think they were happy about it.
Last night, I completed my "An Pan Man" puzzle by myself, several times as a matter of fact. Everyone was proud. The fact that it only has 8 pieces had no impact on everyone's excitement.

At the day-care... I walked with Aika-chan yesterday. I think she likes me. Although Nene-chan and Aiimi-chan might be jealous. I have to be discreet.
I also raised my hand when the teacher called my name, first time (apparently). I think I'm also supposed to say "Hai", but one thing at a time please.

New word: "Evil", I heard my dad say it when he was changing my nappy.

Talk to you later!

Starting out with my blog...

Today... October 17, 2007
I played the "Thomas the Tank" engine game with mom & dad on the Japanese site. I really wanted our train to lose so I can say "zan-nen", my new favourite Japanese word.
I noticed that dad was wearing new track pants and promptly reminded him with "Daddy new pants". He didn't think I would notice, but he can't get anything past me.

New words: "kuma" (bear)