Tokyo Day 4 (Mother Farm)

We woke up very early on the 4th day of our trip to go to the Mother Farm. I found this farm through the Internet when I searched for farms in Tokyo. Thought it look quite interesting. Left our hotel at 8.15am to catch the free shuttle bus at 10.40am from Kitmitsu Station to the Farm.

Taken at the Ikspiari mall:

 

Despite leaving early, we still missed the free shuttle bus cos we did not know we need to change train at Kisarazu station to Kitmisu Station. By the time we realised something was wrong, it was already too late.

The train stopped for a long while at Kisarazu station. Some announcements were made in Japanese but we did not know what the announcements meant. We waited for a while before we sensed that something was amiss, we quickly got off and luckily for us, the train door closed shortly and moved back to the same direction we came from. We took the escalator and crossed the platform to the other side. Then we found out we need to change train by crossing over and the next train was in 30 mins time. As we were going to the rural area, they only run 2 trains per hour. There was no way we could catch the free shuttle in time.

Luckily, I did my homework at home and noted down alternative travel means to the Farm. In the end, we went to Sanukimachi station to catch the last bus to the farm.

Finally reached the Farm around 11.30am

 



Kids were excited about the Farm.

The farm was huge. We had lunch first before heading to play.

 

 

A must for the children at Mother Farm is to take part in the piggy race. My kids raised their hands high and shouted "me me me" when they asked for volunteers for the piggy race. I was so glad both of them were chosen for the race.

Waiting for their turn:

 

Getting ready:

 

The kids were supposed to beat the piggy's backside to guide it to the finishing line. Vincy did not know she need to beat the piggy, she thought the piggy will follow her when she run, haha!

Catch Vincy in action:

 

I love the part the lady spoke to him in Japanese. Really 鸡同鸭讲！
Catch the champion in action:



Clarence was so proud of himself for winning the race. The champion with his medal:

 



We went to milk the cow after the race.



Then rabbit and guinea pig petting.

We joined the Mother Farm tour and went round the other side of the farm in a tractor train to see cows, sheep, alpaca and sheepdog training. The kids enjoyed the sheepdog training show very much. We also got a chance to feed the woolly sheep.

On board the tractor:

 

 

Mother Farm was fun. It was voted the best of our trip by Clarence.

First electric guitar trial lesson

Brought Clarence for his first electric guitar trial lesson at Academy of Rocks yesterday.

I sat in for the 30 mins lesson with him. As he already has foundation in classical guitar, the teacher commented that it was very easy to teach him and it's rare for a 8 yr old to be able to play the guitar so well. He asked Clarence if he is interested to take exams cos he thinks Clarence is the perfect candidate for exam. As expected, my son said No Exams.

Actually Clarence's classical guitar teacher has also been bugging him to take exams for classical guitar but he is just not keen in exams.

 

 

Playing to the tune of You and I both (Jason Mraz):

 

 

We signed Clarence up for electric guitar lessons and his class will start in Jan 2013.

Vincy and shoes

Went to Junction 8 the other day and saw this pair of cute Minnie Mouse shoes. Brought Vincy to try it our today. She loves Minnie Mouse.

 

Matching shoes to complement her Minnie hairband we bought in Tokyo Disneyland.
My cutie Minnie Vincy:

Saw another pair of wedge shoes there and I bought it for her cos she loves the shoes. Asked her to choose between Minnie shoes or wedges, she said both. Forced her to choose, she chose the wedges. So hiao!
Her first pair of wedges:

Tokyo Day 3

The weather forecast was very accurate, it was raining in Tokyo our on 3rd day of visit. Places of interest to cover for the day:

• National Museum of Nature and Science
• Ueno Zoo

We have never brought the kids to a museum before. This is the first museum they have been to. There are several museums in Tokyo. Mummy chose this particular one because of the dinosaur exhibits. Clarence has been asking to see dinosaur bones. And it is free admission for kids.

The museum is divided into 2 sections: Global Gallery and Japan Gallery. We only had time to cover the Global Gallery (6 floors of exhibits) as we need to go to the Ueno Zoo in the afternoon,
We were impressed with the exhibits. We visited Animals of the Earth, Evolution of Life-Solving the Mysteries of the Dinosaurs, Evolution of Life-From the Earth's Origin through Human Existence.
Some of the pictures we took there:

The exhibits in the museum were really an eye-opener.
Next stop: We walked over to the Ueno Zoo.

Admission is free for kids under 12 too, perhaps Singapore should do this too. We got a 20% discount for adult admission cos we were tourists. The Ueno Zoo is one of the oldest zoo in Tokyo and they are celebrating their 130yrs anniversary this year.

Our main motive for coming to this Zoo was to see the  Giant Pandas and Gorillas.

The cute Giant Pandas: (力力和真真）

Told our kids we don't need to go back to Singapore to see the Giant Pandas for the time being since they have seen the Pandas in Japan. Haha!

Next we met the mighty Gorilla (First time in our lives we see a real Gorilla)

This Gorilla was very near to us, only separated by a glass panel. Its back facing us:

The Gorilla looked bored in the enclosure. It was playing with its paws and staring at the sky. We got a shock on 2 instances:

• It got up suddenly and started hitting its hands on its chest making the "Woo Woo Woo" sound. 
• It got up suddenly and smashed its hands on the glass panel facing us.

We were fascinated by its action. Vincy was terrified of the huge black Gorilla. She refused to go near the enclosure and cried when the Gorilla did those actions. She kept asking us to leave.

The poor gal:

More animals:

First time seeing an Okabi (the first animal in the top pic, with zebra strip legs)

It was autumn in Tokyo so the Okabi, Giraffe and Hippo were put indoors with the heaters on.

After our Zoo visit, we went straight for dinner to replenish our energy after walking for the whole day.

After dinner, we made a last minute decision to go to Tokyo Tower.

As it has been raining for the whole day, the glass windows on the 150m main observatory was foggy so we couldn't see much view. Thus we didn't pay to go up to the special observatory. Ended up dressing as Santa, taking pictures in the tower.

 The large Christmas tree outside the tower:

 One last picture with Tokyo Tower before we called it a day.

Electric guitar

We bought an electric guitar and amplifier for Clarence last Saturday. I told him it was his Christmas gift. He has been learning classical guitar as a foundation since April. About time for him to start electric guitar. It is his dream to learn electric guitar all along. Now we are looking for teachers to teach him to play the electric guitar.

My little rocker:

 

Vincy's end year concert 2012

Vincy's had her year end concert on 1/12/2012. The mini concert was held in the school. Mummy put a little make-up for her before we sent her to school.

 

Her kangeroo outfit:

 

She was looking all around during her first performance (The lion sleeps tonight):

 

 

Her second outfit for her chinese performance (找朋友）:

The finale:

SCMS Kids Dash 2012

Collected the race packs after their gym class last Friday:

 

 

We bought a pair of running shoes for Vincy this year for the run, dun need to run in her crocs shoes anymore.

 

 

A quick snap before the kids go for their run. Mummy will wait for them at the pick up point.

 

 

Daddy took these photos while waiting with Vincy for the 750m dash.

Met up with Domi:

Daddy running with Vincy this year. Actually Vincy wanted me to run with her but I told her if I run, I will get a heart attack and die. She changed her mind after hearing it cos she did not want me to die. Haha!

Daddy took a video of Vincy when she was running:

At the finishing point:

Clarence came back with the crowd after his run:

 

The little runners:

 

Daddy and Vincy back from the run. Daddy was smart to wear red, easy to spot him in a sea of blues.

Yeah, both completed their run and got their medals, well done kids!

My fashionable gal found a new way to wear her medal: