Ueno Park...once more...with feeling

Ueno Park in Tokyo has always been Theo's favorite hangout, not only because of the wide open spaces but also because of the various free attractions that it has to offer. Among the attractions that he's always crazy about are the pigeons that seem to flock quite readily at the slightest sign of food. Feeding the pigeons, however, has become prohibited in the park. Once in a while, however, a kind Samaritan would pour a bagful of bread crumbs and dash quickly before the park police notices.

We went to the park yesterday and some photos that we'd like to share are shown below.


We arrived at around 2 pm, and despite a sumptuous lunch, Theo still appears hungry and had room to spare for some barbecue-flavored potato chips. Yum...yum...


The pigeon scientist and naturalist is busily studying his subjects.


It was tiring after a while, though, esp. after not being able to catch any of the pigeons despite tremendous efforts in wooing them. Theo, frustrated and all, takes a well-deserved breather.


We went to another shrine within Ueno Park after the pigeon study; Theo looks down as he prepares to negotiate the stone steps leading to the shrine.


Aren't those fluffy cheeks so kissable?

Back to Yanaka

One of my first few posts in this blog was made almost 3 years ago, on July 25, 2004, when Theo was still at 18 weeks of gestation inside Mommy D. Mommy D and I were still living in Yanaka (near Nippori Station) at that time.

Both photos (the one above and in the link) were taken at the same place, in the famous Yanaka Cemetery, which, surprisingly, has a children's playground in its midst. Not like in other countries, Japanese cemeteries hardly contain dead bodies. They are often used to enshrine the ashes of loved ones. Thus, these places aren't as scary as those portrayed in Hollywood movies.


To reach this destination, we took the highway bus (instead of the Tsukuba Express), and then went down at Ueno Station to take the Yamanote Line for Nippori. The photo above was taken near Ueno Station, where Theo enjoyed the early morning stroll.


This is another photo taken at the playground. Theo enjoyed the slide so much, we could no longer count the number of times he went up and slid down.


From the Yanaka Cemetery, we proceeded to the nearby Nezu Shrine where there was an ongoing festival (Tsutsuji Matsuri). Tsutsuji is a kind of flower that blossoms in spring. Unfortunately, because of the unusually warm winter this year, the flowers didn't fully bloom or weren't as beautiful as they should be. There were fewer people who went there than in the previous years, probably because of this.


This photo and the one below were also taken yesterday at the Nezu Shrine. For Theo to face the camera, Mommy D had to coax him by saying that there are ants on my head. Theo is so curious about ants that he will stop anything that he's doing if you tell him that there are ants around. We couldn't fool him too long though but it was long enough to take this shot with the shrine entrance behind him


Theo loves to play with peddles, much to his mother's chagrin because it often always means dirty hands and fingernails. Kids are kids, no matter what!

Springtime!

The cherry blossoms were in their full glory when the Association of Filipino Scholars in Tsukuba held their Hanami party last Saturday.


Of course, almost everyone was there, including Theo who can't suppress his curiosity over the one-month-old infant of a friend.


Theo was very popular among the Filipinos and other foreigners who came to the party because he was so sweet to them and also because of his cute antics. The photo above was taken by our friend Buena.


Theo inspects the bicycles parked beneath the sakura trees.


We passed by the university on our way back home and Theo enjoyed the installation art near the Art Library.

Ooooooops!

Theo is in a very playful mood just after bathing and before Mommy D dresses him up. Notice a few scars left on his tummy because of chickenpox. We expect them to completely disappear after a few more weeks.


Theo received a few presents from our friends such as the apron that he's wearing above. However, when he wears this, it has to go with the shoes and bonnet. He always looks for and wears all three when he wants to clown around.