Restaurant Recommendations in Tokyo

Wow! I love the food in Tokyo. I don’t just mean Japanese food. You could get some of the best Italian, French, Indian, Thai…you name it in Tokyo. Everyone in Tokyo is a foodie. They really care about their food; the taste, the presentation and the source of the food. They love food over there and I appreciate that!

Of course when you are travelling with children, you can’t always eat at the high end restaurants (plus it will drain your bank account quickly). Here are some kid friendly places and some high end eateries we enjoyed on our trips to Tokyo.


Shabusen

On our most recent trip to Tokyo in 2010, we had dinner twice at Shabusen. It is a chain restaurant that serves shabu shabu. The location that we visited was about a 5 minute walk from the Roppongi main intersection. The attraction of Shabusen? It is kid friendly. You can have your own room (or maybe they put you in private tatami rooms if you have kids - can't tell). Regardless, nice to be able to stretch out and not have to worry too much about the kids' behavior. You can choose from different levels of all you can eat shabu shabu (prices differ on quality of meat). It's relatively healthy, as long as you don't gorge on too much meat. It's entertaining for the kids to cook their own food. The restaurant is clean, Japanese in style and I think a good value. The cheapest all you can eat dinner is JPY 4200 per person if I remember correctly.

Katsukura
This is an amazing tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) restaurant chain. There are at least 4 branches in the Tokyo Area and 24 branches in all of Japan. It’s the best tonkatsu we have had (and I have tasted a lot since I grew up in Japan). I am recommending this place because of its excellent food and also because it is kid friendly.

We visited branches in Roppongi Hills (03) 5772-3321 and in Shinjuku (03) 5537-2891. The one in Shinjuku is a bit cramped but the one in the Hills feels more spacious (and obviously a 5-7 min walk away from where we were staying). Set meals can be ordered for about ¥1100. It comes with the choice of size and quality of pork or seafood, rice, soup, cabbage and pickles. I like this place because the kids actually like the food and also can participate in the ‘prep’. The restaurant provides small individual mortar and pestle to grind the sesame to put in the tonkatsu sauce (kids love it). You can have as many helpings as you can eat of cabbage, rice, soup and pickles. It also had a kid’s menu but it’s better to order off the adult menu (kids menu included fried burger…). On top of the food, we found the service and the wait staff to be very friendly and patient.

On our last visit to Tokyo in 2009, it seemed the Roppongi Hills location had closed. Too bad. Here is a link to the locations in the Tokyo area but it is in Japanese…

http://www.fukunaga-tf.com/katsukura/shop/kantou.html

Tsurutontan
Our first meal back in Tokyo this summer was at Tsurutontan, an udon shop. The location in Roppongi is one of many in a chain started in Osaka I believe by a Japanese celebrity. In terms of kid-friendly quotient, it’s high mainly based on the food (not on the service, which is just OK). Udon is a thick white wheat noodle often served in broth. Our girls love it! The restaurant offers something like 40+ varieties. The girls liked the tempura, meat udons. I really liked the fish roe udon. There is something for everyone and the price ranges from ¥680 to about ¥1800. It is very popular so you will have to wait long if you go at peak hours.

http://www.tsurutontan.co.jp/roppongi/index.html

Crayon House
What a find! and in the middle of chi chi Omotesando. Crayon House is a wonderful treasure trove of books, English and Japanese, for the kids. In the same building, the second floor houses natural wooden toys, and the third floor carries magazines and health related items geared towards moms. At the basement level there is a natural organic restaurant to boot. It offers a lunch buffet. The food is usually simple but it’s so nice to find a place that serves healthy meals and is kid friendly. I liked it a lot but our girls didn’t seem too impressed. My girls preferred Jonathan’s with the buzzer on the table. Who cares about the quality of food when you can push a big button and have a real live person come running to your table???

http://tokyoq.com/weekly_updates/tqoole/crayon.html



Tsunahachi
Tsunahachi is my favorite tempura restaurant. You cannot get tempura like Tsunahachi’s is the US. The stuff you eat here…is pretty bad. You will know what I mean after you’ve had tempura at Tsunahachi. It’s main branch is in Shinjuku, behind Mistukoshi and Marui department stores. I recommend sitting at the counter and it’s a fun plae to take the kids. You can watch your tempura being made right in front of you and the chef serves the freshly made tempura as soon as it is done cooking. The set meal usually comes with rice, pickles and miso clam soup. Our younger daughter loved the clam soup and could not get enough of it. She also ate lots of pickles, pretty much polishing off everyone’s. The girls both loved the shrimp tempura. Vegetarians need not despair. You can order an all veggie course.

http://210.143.110.172/locat/index.html

Ony Onigiri Cafe
The kids were jet lagged and hungry and they wanted their dinner at 9:30am and wanted to go to the bathroom. We stood in the middle of Aoyama and spotted Ony. It looked inviting and the man behind the counter was so nice. He let us use the bathroom and this was before we thought of eating there.

Onigiris are rice balls stuffed with various fillings – salmon, pickles, tuna etc…and the rice balls are wrapped in nori. Ony also serves noodles in hot soup. The girls didn’t much care for the rice balls – although I love them – but they really liked the noodle soup. We ended up ordering 3 bowls because after each bowl the girls wanted more. This is a cheap, clean and fairly tasty (for what it is) place for a casual meal in the middle of uber trendy Aoyama. After onigiri you can stop by Dean and DeLuca’s Aoyama Café and indulge in green tea and chocolate doughnuts.

http://www.ony.jp/shopinfo.htm

Sushi Zanmai
There are quite a few branches of this Tsukiji sushi restaurant. Two of them are minutes away from Roppongi Intersection, right on the main streets. If your kids like sushi – great! But you can also order grilled fish and a few other cooked items from the menu.

Jonathan’s
It has an English name but I think it is very much a Japanese creation. It’s a great place for a meal with the kids after hours spent at Kiddy Land. Jonathan’s is located at the intersection of Omotesando and Meiji Dori, on the same side as Kiddy Land, right above a fast food burger place.

The food is Japanese interpretation of Western food. Kids liked it and we liked it too. What the kids really liked were the bells/buzzers placed on each table. The wait staff comes running when you push the bell. Our kids made the wait staff work quite a bit! Great casual, clean and inexpensive option for lunch or dinner.





Napule
Napule is an Italian restaurant with a beautiful terrace overlooking Midtown park. A welcome bit of greenery and open space in Tokyo! The pizza tasted very much like Delfina’s pizza in San Francisco. It was really good. Our waitress was a super nice girl and an alumna from my high school in Tokyo to boot! Of course, she was so much younger than me! She was very cute. We had such a pleasant evening…nice temperature, nice view and great pizza. I didn’t know until after we ate there that the chef won the 2008 Naples best pizza award! The pizza really was good!!

http://metropolis.co.jp/dining/dining-diary/napule/

Erawan
Erawan, a Thai restaurant with a view at ROI building in Roppongi is a fabulous option for dinner. We all ate too much, but that’s always the problem with a buffet. You can order a la carte but it was too tempting not to go for the buffet. Plus, with kids, buffets are the way to go. No one has to wait for food, the kids are happy they get to get up from the table (often), they feel empowered choosing their own food and everyone is happy! We were all very pleased; decent food, nice ambiance and great view. My favorite dishes were the different salads and appetizers. I had so much mango for dessert. That alone made the meal worthwhile. I have to thank my sister’s friend for the recommendation…this was a good one!

http://www.gnavi.co.jp/gn/en/g038502h.htm

Wolfgang Puck
The girls got tired of Japanese food (can’t believe it!) and so we headed to Puck’s for pizza etc. This location is very close to Roppongi Crossing and there is another newer nicer one in Roppongi Hills.

Kaiten-sushi, Tsukiji Honten
Our destination was the ¥100 sushi restaurant in Shibuya. (It is no longer ¥100 but ¥120 or so but still very cheap. ¥2040 for the two of us and we ate a lot.) It is famous because of its fresh seafood procured daily from Tsukiji. There is always a long line. The restaurant also imposes a time limit. I think it also has a minimum number of plates per customer but that’s not a problem at all for my husband and me. It’s good sushi for a ridiculously low price! We went back 2 days in a row! We didn’t take the kids to this place…but I think it would be OK. Our girls are usually entertained by all the plates going around on the conveyor belt.

http://www.youlinchng.com/experiences/kaiten-sushi-experiences?navcat=62

Toraji
Based on a recommendation from a friend, our family, my sister’s family and our mom headed to Toraji, a yakiniku place, for dinner. Yakiniku is grilled meat. In general, I like it and could be a fun place for a family with kids. However, for our carnivorous family, especially my growing nephews, 7 and 5, this place turned out to disastrous. There was very little meat and what meat there was, was very fatty. Meat is so expensive in Japan not the kind of place to take our kids who wanted to polish off $100+ worth of meat. We will not go back. Adults with small appetites, feel free to check it out.

A related story, I wanted to try Inakaya, which is known as a robataya, a different sort of a grill restaurant. I get both families together and we walk to it. The place is full of character and looks really fun. Then we looked at the price list and my sister saw that 1 skewer of beef (all of 3 cubes) would cost 4700 yen! That’s like $53 for 3 cubes of meat!! Her boys, especially like meat, and they would not have been satisfied with skewers of cheaper veggies. Embarrassed but determined not to go bankrupt, we got up and left. The servers were so nice!! One of them actually took us to a nearby yakitori restaurant which serves grilled meat on skewers for a more reasonable price of $3 per skewer.

http://www.liveworkexplore.com/tokyo/residents/going-out/restaurants/korean/toraji

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/tokyo/D39024.html

Shunbou
My husband and I had an amazingly relaxing and delicious lunch at the Grand Hyatt’s Japanese restaurant, Shunbou. The atmosphere was serene (particularly so without our girls), in a sea of granite and wood. The service was impeccable. We had incredibly tender grilled beef over rice, miso soup and chawan mushi. We also got to eat lunch with a Japanese celebrity, Kiichi Nakai…OK, not at the same table, but…I could see him clearly 3 tables or so away…this restaurant is highly recommended, however…

Do not eat at Fiorentina Pastry Boutique. My husband decided to treat the girls to some patisserie at the Hyatt, wrong move. The pastries were OK and very overpriced. Not going back!

http://www.tokyo.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/restaurants/index.jsp#4336

Nobu
Dinner at Nobu Tokyo was my first Nobu experience. Although the dining room is more than half empty when we were there, we had a great time. This was Nobu’s week to be in Tokyo. I spot him across the table and he looks at us and smiles. Nice…

Our Omakase course consisted of:
• Monkfish pate with caviar in a too sweet sauce
• New style salmon sashimi with sesame oil on gelatinized seaweed bed
• Grilled scallop and bonito sashimi salad with Matsuhisa dressing
• Soft shell crab spring roll
• Fillet of Japanese beef with vegetables
• 5 pieces of sushi
• Apple compote with berries in sherbet and red wine tea sauce and Mango pudding with gelato

It was well worth JPY 12000. Umeshu, plum wine, was good too.

http://www.nobutokyo.com/e_index.php

Morimoto
We had a hard time finding the place but it was worth it. Initially we thought of having teppanyaki but opted for sushi thinking all that meat would be too heavy. It was the right choice. We sat at the sushi bar and had the best sushi ever! (The restaurant is on different levels and the lower level houses the teppanyaki dining room.)

From what I can remember:
• Tori kai (bird clam – which the chef slapped on the counter until it swelled up)
• Wild salmon and a white fish
• Toro grated in a wooden box with caviar, wasabi, sour cream, greens, crackers etc
• Chawanmushi – the best I have had with crab and lobster
• Soup
• Grilled fish – I don’t remember what – chicken burrito – that’s what it sounded like
• Plate of nigiri sushi – eel, aka kai, toro, some famous fresh shrimp from some small village
• Trio of raw tofu cream, eel with caviar, eggplant
• Dessert – I had green tea affogato and my husband had green tea mont blanc

Heavenly meal! Sadly I understand the restaurant still exists but no longer part of Morimoto’s empire.

http://www.ystable.co.jp/restaurant/omaexex/index.html

Department Stores
You can find lots of restaurants in most department stores either on the upper floors or in the basement.

Larger Parks and Amusement Parks Around Tokyo

There are many large parks and amusement parks, besides Disneyland, in and around Tokyo; perfect for day trips. Here are some we visited and liked.



Kodomono Kuni (Childen’s Land)
Kodomono Kuni located in Yokohama is an extremely large park, 240 acres right outside of Tokyo! And what a treasure it is. It is very low key, full of greenery and expansive open spaces. It is quaint, not much high tech gadgetry that one typically expects from Japan. This is where my sister and her boys and we decided to meet up with some Japanese friends and their children. It was the perfect place for a somewhat large group.

From where we were staying in Roppongi, we had to switch trains at Aoyama 1-chome to Hanzomon line and rode it all the way to Nagatsuta station where we transferred to Kodomono Kuni train.

Within Kodomono Kuni you can find a dizzying array of activities…dairy farm, swimming pool, tennis courts, rides, bike courses etc…We first made our way to the very Japanese amusement park rides where the kids enjoyed a peddle push roller coaster, helicopter and water rides. They also rode on some funny cycles.

After a simple lunch of noodles, (you can bring your own food or buy the very simple offerings of the park) we moved onto the farm area and some wide open grass area. The kids ran through some sprinklers, rolled down a hill, fed the cows and generally had a great time. We did however lose one of our boys for awhile…it is a rather large space…we did find him, just too many distractions for kids.

The park also boasted live outdoor entertainment. We watched a great magic show. Before we left around 3:30pm, the kids stopped by the playground near the entrance for some zip line fun. They also had a great time sliding down a huge cement slide. They kids were tired and so were we.

http://www.kodomonokuni.org/index2.html






Arakawa Yuenchi
If you want to travel back in time, this is the place for you and your children. Located within Tokyo in Arakawa-ku, the only public transportation access to the park is via Tokyo’s only working tram line, the Toden Arakawa Line. It’s very cute and you get to see a lot of the neighborhood.

The entrance fee to the park is almost nothing but you do have to buy tickets for the rides. When we were there in the summer of 2009, there was a prepaid card that you could buy from the vending machine at the entrance (which took 3 people from the park to work) which provided a discount and also refunded any money left on the card. It was a deal.

We were at Arakawa on a weekday and the park was nearly empty. The rides are old-fashioned but our girls had a lot of fun. There was a ferris wheel (very slow), teacup ride, a train, and a peddle push helicopter ride way above tree line. I was scared as I rode it with my younger daughter…imagining the helicopter tipping and tumbling off the tracks and smashing us below on the ground. I kept it together but I don’t necessarily want to do it again.

The most fun activity for us was fishing! There is a large stocked pond inside the park. You pay for your poles and bait. The old man manning the pond was extremely nice and so were the rest of the men fishing. One decided he wasn’t having much luck and took upon himself to help the girls put bait on their lines. He seemed to have a special kind of bait and the girls, with his coaching, out fished their dad and many of the men there. The girls caught 19 fish!! Their dad, and only with the help of the man in charge, caught 1!! We had so much fun. Highly recommended!



http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/spot/area_spot/area_spot/area_spot10.html

Hibiya Koen
Hibiya is a large park near the Imperial Palace and diagonally across from the ritzy The Peninsula Tokyo Hotel. It is a very short walk from Kasumigaseki station. Since this park neighbors the financial and government districts, the park is enjoyed by many office workers. The park is perhaps not the first place to come to mind when looking for a park for children. However, it’s a great place to visit if you are looking for a break from shopping in nearby Ginza or if you happen to be staying nearby.

We decided to make the trek to Hibiya Koen on our last morning in Tokyo. My sister had mentioned that there was a children’s playground with a zip line. And so there was. A young Japanese girl, about the same age as my older daughter, befriended my girls and they had a ball playing on the zip line.

The park itself is pretty, with lots of greenery, fountains and ponds. There is also a large open air concert space. It’s a wonderful oasis in the middle of Tokyo.

Ueno Zoo
From Roppongi, it isn’t too difficult to get to Ueno Park. Once we are on the Hibiya Line, we ride it all the way to JR Ueno station. It was an extremely hot day. Luckily the walk to Ueno from the station was pleasant. There was a shady walk on a very broad path through the park.

The zoo is somewhat old-fashioned. Nothing fancy but we were all excited to see the panda. The kids got stamps. We also saw tigers, lions, monkeys etc. We had lunch at the zoo cafeteria and it was great! Air conditioned, clean with lots of nice high chairs, kid plates and spoons and forks, kid friendly bathrooms – could not ask for a better rest stop. I was so impressed. We take the monorail across the zoo – a very short ride, break for shaved ice next to a large pond.

The walk back to the station was a mini-disaster. We were all so hot. My younger daughter, then 2, was about to fall asleep. Although the walk to the zoo from the station took us about 10 min, it took us at least 40min to find the station. We exited the zoo from the opposite side that we entered and we were given bad directions. We finally find the station but it wasn’t even the JR station that we got off at that morning. Totally frustrating. We find our back nevertheless but next time, we are heading back to the main entrance through the park.

http://www.tokyo-zoo.net/english/ueno/main.html

Neighborhood Parks in Tokyo

Although Tokyo is popularly known as a concrete jungle, you can find some fun parks and some very large ones if you know where to look. It is also important to consider the proximity to open spaces/parks when choosing your accommodation if travelling with children. We spend 3-4 weeks when we are in Tokyo and being near a park makes all the difference. Here are some neighborhood parks we personally visited and links to others. (I will list larger parks and amusement parks in another posting.) Let me know of others you like to visit!

Jidoyuen in Meiji Jingu Outer Gardens
This was one of our favorite parks! This park is located in the Meiji Jingu Outer Gardens and in Japanese is called Jidoyuen. We loved it because there were so many cool play structures for the kids – some might be considered a bit dangerous. Our then 2 year old loved the slide made of rollers. Our then 4 year old climbed up what looked a mast of a ship numerous times to ring a bell (it was high, not for anyone with a fear of heights). The kids could cross bridges made of chains and logs and monkey around on see saws etc. The park is divided into three areas, one for toddlers, one for 4-6 year olds or so and another for 6 years and up. It’s a really fun park. There is a nominal fee for admissions. I am not sure what the park is like in the summer months (we were there mid-June to mid-July) since it is attached to a beer garden.

When we went back to it last summer, June 2009, the park was closed for renovation. Hopefully it is back in operation this summer.


Arisugawa Park
Another favorite of ours. Located in the Hiroo Azabu area, the park, not surprisingly, appears to be popular with the expat families living in the area. The park boasts slides, see saw, an old-fashion jungle gym, swings and a large sand area. There is also a water faucet which translates to wet muddy clothes.

The play area is part of a larger park which is wonderfully landscaped and also has a creek running through it. Tennis courts are available for rent and the central branch of Tokyo Metropolitan Library is also housed on the park grounds.

Koji Park
We stumbled onto this park by mistake. We were looking for Arisugawa Park and found this one. This small neighborhood park is off a large street, the Gaien Nishi Dori. It is small but is feels like something you would find at a camp in the woods. It has a large play structure made of wood with a bridge. It also has a zip line of sorts. A lot of fun.

Tokyo Midtown
Tokyo Midtown’s park is a beautiful open space behind the high end Tokyo Midtown development, which houses an indoor mall, supermarket, the Ritz Carlton, etc. We went there often, whenever the kids needed to run around. It was so convenient to where we were staying. There isn’t much in terms of play structures, some swings and slides which are more art than functional playground equipment. However, there is a beautiful garden with a rather large pond and creek which the children loved. The girls and their boy cousins also enjoyed the water feature at Midtown, which was perfect for water play …we brought swimsuits and the kids had a blast getting wet and running through the water bubbling and spraying from the ground.

Roppongi Hills
The Hills also has a beautifully landscaped outdoor space but it is not a place for running around. It’s great a place to unwind and admire the Japanese garden but because the garden is on a graded slope, it is not stroller friendly. However, next to the garden is a large open space with a huge screen which beams out snippets of TV shows (marketing for one of the TV network housed in one of the Hills building). There are tables and chairs places around the open space and you will usually find moms and kids eating snacks. (There is also a cute kids clothing store which opens onto the space.)


Koganei Koen
Koganei is a large, serene and beautiful park. It is not meticulously kept, in fact it could use a lot more upkeep but it was nice to stroll under the trees and enjoy the space and greenery. The only reason we discovered this park was because we visited Edo Tokyo Tatemono-en (Tokyo Open Air Museum). Unless you are going to the museum, there isn’t any reason to go to this out of the way park.

Sakurazaka Koen
Do your kids like slides? Then this is the park for you. Located very near Roppongi Hills, this park boasts 9 slides! There is one very long roller slide and the kids had so much fun running up and down the hillside to get on and off the slide. Great place to burn off energy! The park is small and it is mostly about the slides but it is a lot fun. If you are in need of a bathroom, go across the bridge to Roppongi Hills and you will find a very clean bathroom.


Park Near Kidzania
If after visiting Kidzania and feel the need for the actual outdoors, head to the park nearby. It’s a really nice park! It has lots of fun structures and is fairly new. Most of the structures look very European.

Links to other parks:

http://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/english/park/detail_02.html

http://www.kananet.com/japanguide/link16hotelhiroo.htm

http://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/e/liv/serv/cul/faci/faci05/index.html

Getting to Tokyo

It takes a little over 10 hours flying time to Tokyo from SFO. It’s a bit shorter on the way back from Tokyo, something like 9 hours. The girls do all right on the plane. We try to keep them occupied but we, perhaps I should say my husband, try our best to get our girls to sleep on the plane. It makes a difference.

Once you land at Narita International Airport, you have two practical ways to get to Tokyo. (I don’t consider a $200+ cab ride a practical option.) You can take the Narita Express to some of the more popular and central stations (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo…). Upside of taking the train, you know exactly how long it will take you; no need to worry about traffic delays. The train leaves from below the airport terminal. You might think it is convenient but it isn’t convenient enough for our family with two young children in tow. First you have to make your way down to the train level with all your luggage and kids. Then once you arrive at your station in Tokyo, you have to find your way to your hotel. That requires that you navigate a busy crowded train station with your luggage and kids and make your way outside to find a cab. Your kids are jet lagged and so are you…this is not the way to go.

Our favorite is the Airport Limousine Bus. Once you leave baggage claim you will see the bright orange and white counters for the Limousine Bus. Choose the route with your hotel on it and wait for the bus right outside the doors. There are men who will help you with your luggage too…you don’t get that with the Narita Express. The Limousine stops at nearly all the major hotels in Tokyo. If your hotel is not on the route, pick the closest one. It is much easier to catch a cab from a hotel than from a train station. Of course the Limousine Bus will have to deal with Tokyo traffic so it may take longer than the train. But depending on where you go, the door-to-door time may be equivalent. On our last trip we took the 5:20pm Bus to Roppongi area and arrived at the ANA Intercontinental at 6:40pm. From the hotel, we took a 5 min cab ride to where we were staying. Total travel time of 1hr 30min. The Narita Express takes about 55min to central Tokyo. Consider the time it will take you to navigate the station, find a cab and get to your hotel and you are looking at about the same amount of travel time but an increased amount of frustration. Take the Airport Limousine Bus…(June 2007, 2009)

Ahh...Ski Week

So we hit the slopes again this past week. My older daughter's school was closed for the week, yes ski week, (and by the way, today too, a bit of a pain, but that's another topic.) One of the annoying things to contend with when you drive to Tahoe is the traffic. What would normally be a 3 1/2 hour trip from the Bay Area could turn into a 6 hour or worse nightmare. To avoid this scenario, my husband had the bright idea of getting up at 5am in the morning to make the trip. You think it sounds painful? well it is. We did however avoid traffic and the girls were very happy with their McDonald's pancakes for breakfast.

We were on the mountain at Squaw, with our gear on, by 10am. We had spring skiing weather. The girls improved so much over the four days we were in Tahoe. As for myself, I thought I had improved as well, when I actually made it down a black run at Northstar on our second day. But I don't think I did. On our last day at Squaw, the girls and their dad just headed downhill with no problem down a run called Exhibition (which, by the way, is coded blue on the map, but that particular section is shown as black on the signage...just so the facts are straight here...). I started down and got stuck smack in the middle of the run. My right foot just would not listen to my brain and refused to point downward. It just didn't move and it didn't move for at least 5 minutes or more. I finally tried to slide my skis down and then my foot decided to unstick itself from the parallel position it was in and pointed itself down the mountain. Just a reminder that I still lack guts when faced with a steep slope. It is actually a psychological problem I know...I made it down the black at Northstar because people have told me Northstar is not as difficult a mountain as Squaw. But as soon as I saw the black diamond next to the name of the run at Squaw, my legs froze. It just wasn't going to happen.

Thank goodness my daughters don't take after me. Although my older one had quite a scare at Squaw on our third day in Tahoe. We had an instructor for the morning that day and he thought she was ready for some hard runs. He took her down Siberia and she did fine. Someone told him the snow was good at Headwall, a black. He took her down Headwall and apparently she skied trying to avoid rocks that were showing and fell. Since it is a very steep slope, she fell quite a ways. It really frightened her. She told me she was scared and people came up to ask her if she were OK. And that did it. She didn't want to ski anything harder than Gold Coast that afternoon. Poor girl...I would have been scared too.

The next morning, our last, my husband, not wanting that to be our older daughter's last experience skiing, coaxed her into skiing an 'easier' black run, Granite Chief. She did fine but my sister who skied with them told me she was a bit teary eyed but made it down. Good for her...a better person than I.

We had fun but thank goodness I am home and don't need to put on my ski boots! Skiing is fun but again there is a lot of overhead involved. As I mentioned in my other post on skiing, there is the packing, the traffic etc. Also don't forget the potty breaks! It seemed like my younger girl, who is 5, had to go so many times! And it is a royal pain! I mean...having to take off the helmet, jacket, mittens, sweater, the bib just to go to the bathroom and then having to put them all on again. But I know we are lucky to be able to do so and it's great to see the girls proud of themselves.

Skiing is definitely a workout for someone like me but snow tubing really gave me a workout!! I was sweating! I took my girls and one of my nephews tubing and boy trudging up the hill with the kids in ski boots...now that's a workout. After an hour I was spent and smelly. For those of you who don't feel that skiing is a cardio workout, just go snow tubing with 3 kids. That'll do it.

Some tips...food on the mountain is better at Squaw than Northstar. There is no comparison. We usually ate at the Arc at Squaw (thanks to my sister's recommendation). She took us one day for lunch at Sandy's Pub at the Resort at Squaw Creek (you can ski right to it on the Squaw Creek run). The kids meal is a deal there! (Obviously it is relative but we are talking about food prices on the mountain after all.)

Buy discount ski tickets before you go. You can buy them at REI and other stores in the area. We weren't planning on skiing at Northstar this time around so when we did on our second day, we were bummed we were going to have to pay full price. Luckily, a woman in line next to my husband offered him her 'buy one get one free' voucher for ski lift tickets. You can ask for the voucher from any Shell gas station if you fill up with at least 10 gallons of gas. Nice to know. Skiing at Squaw is slightly cheaper than Northstar with young kids. Adult prices are nearly identical but Squaw only charges $10 for kids 13 and under and Northstar charges $34 for 5 and above. (Although the child's ticket is good for another day of skiing at Northstar.)

Well there you go...we all survived another ski week with no serious injuries. And it was fun!

San Francisco Outing for a Rainy Day

When the weather is icky we head up to San Francisco. There is so much to do!

One of our favorite places to go on a cold or rainy day is the Exploratorium located in the Marina (http://www.exploratorium.com/). Once we get there, it is hard to pry the girls away from all the interactive exhibits. The space is huge and it’s perfect for our active girls. There is something for everyone, educational and compelling for adults too! The one trick I have up my sleeve to quicken our exit from the Exploratorium is to mention lunch at Yank Sing, our absolute favorite dim sum restaurant.

Yank Sing is a great place for lunch with children. Once you are seated, you don’t have to wait for food. The food comes right to your table pushed on trolleys by the friendly and helpful servers. There is a huge variety of dumplings, vegetables and sweets. All you have to do is survey the food that comes by, point and choose. The girls love the place. It’s entertaining, lively and the food is delicious. The only caveat is the expense. Since you just sit there and point at what you want, you could get carried away. There are no prices displayed on the trolleys. The girls like to end their meal with sesame balls…yum, warm, sweet, somewhat crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. Yank Sing is located at One Rincon Center at 101 Spear St 415-781-1111. If you have time you can walk off lunch by crossing the street over to the Ferry Building. If you are there on a Saturday, you may catch the Farmers Market where you might just be tempted to get beautiful fresh produce, bread, fish etc. Gelato isn’t a bad idea either!

Another bad weather day outing option is the California Academy of Sciences http://www.calacademy.org/. It’s hard to see everything the Academy has to offer in one outing and it can be tiring for the children too. Some tips for your visit. If you think you are interested in the 3D movie or the planetarium, get the tickets for the showtimes you want as soon as you arrive. If you decide you don’t want to attend the shows, then just return the tickets so someone else can use them. Both are popular and the tickets go fast. (We don’t have to worry about the planetarium tickets ourselves, since my older daughter refuses to see it.) However both girls enjoyed the 3D Bugs movie that was being shown on our last visit.

The Academy boasts a Rainforest exhibit, really cool with butterflies and birds flying all around you, and fish swimming under you. It also has a beautiful Coral Reef tank…it is so large you feel like you are actually under the water. Every time we go we like to go the dive show. We enjoy watching the diver interact with the fish and answer our questions.

Besides the beautiful building, the Rainforest and the Coral Reef, my favorite feature of the Academy is the cafeteria! The Academy Café is run by Charles Phan of Slanted Door fame and Loretta Keller, owner/chef of Bizou now Coco500. (I believe she is married to Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys.) The food is good, I mean good. It is so refreshing to be able to eat good food instead of the usual kiddie fare served at zoos and children’s museums. On a sunny day, we like to get a table outside. We get fresh air and the girls can run around. It’s wonderful!

Since you are already there, an amazing free treat would be to walk across to the De Young Museum as you leave the Academy. You can go up the 144 ft tower and enjoy an expansive view from the observation floor (which is gorgeous with a floor to ceiling glass windows all around). It is incredible! On a clear day you can see the GG bridge, the ocean, downtown. I always feel like a tourist and it actually makes me feel like I went out of town. It’s transportative (ok, not a word but that’s how I feel) and I really feel like I had a chance to get away. By the way, the De Young also has a great cafeteria.

The Golden Gate Park has so many more features! We like the Japanese Tea Garden and sometimes enjoy having tea and Japanese crackers at the little rest place in the Garden. The botanical garden is great. The girls love the playground…the cement slide and the climbing structure there are really fun. The merry-go-round is nearby and when it’s open it’s nice. The Conservatory is another great place to go in the park.

Speaking of merry-go-rounds, our favorite is the one at the Yerba Buena Gardens. Check it out next time you are downtown. After the ride, play at the playground or go ice-skating. Zeum is also there.

More Than Pancakes, Raw Fish Anyone?

There is definitely more than pancakes in Amsterdam. Holland is known for cheese and the cheese is good. We picked up lots of cheese at the airport on our way out; Gouda, Edam etc. It’s also known for Indonesian food so we had to have it.

We booked a table for dinner at Sama Sebo, right near the Marriott. The restaurant is recommended in guidebooks and known for its rijsttafel (literally, rice table). The atmosphere is nice and the staff is friendly. (However there was one strange lady who kept looking over at us from another table. I couldn’t tell if she were bothered by the presence of children in the dining room or she was just weird. Thank goodness she left before our food came.) We ordered rijsttafel, which was too much food and most of it bad, except for the chicken. The food was too heavy for our taste. I personally would not recommend it but I suspect I will be in the minority on this one. The waitstaff made up for the food by being so nice to the girls. They showered our daughters with over a dozen chocolate pieces!

The Dutch are also famous for fish, such as cod, herring, salmon and mackerel. We like fish in general and looked forward to trying some. We got our first chance at the Van Gogh Museum café. The girls had hot chocolate which they liked and I had a salad with smoked fish, herring and salmon. The salad was really good. Based on this, my husband decides we should have more fish. It’s a good thought.

The next day, we stop by the supermarket to get some food and picnic next to the canal nearby. My husband, since it was his idea, led the shopping expedition and came away with cheese, bread and fish among other things. Generously, he hands me a whole herring (no head). I eyed it suspiciously and did think it looked very oily. It also had small pieces of onions on it. It seemed a bit intimidating but I generally like fish so I took a big bite and yuck! it was raw!! I eat sushi but sushi isn’t usually whole fish and oily and oniony. I’m afraid I did not swallow. I pride myself on being quite adventurous with food but I met my match. My husband could not eat it either.

To make up for the raw herring we set out to find Puccini (Puccini Bomboni Singel 184, 1016 AA Amsterdam), touted as having some of the best chocolates. The store is cute, minimalistic. I thought it would be a sit down dessert place but it is not. It just has lots of handmade chocolates! The woman at the store was not friendly, certainly not kid-friendly. She asked our girls to step away from the long table where all the chocolates were piled. The girls weren’t touching…oh well. I didn’t let that stop me and picked out 2 pieces for myself. The kids each got one and their daddy picked one. The pieces are large so a couple will suffice (plus they are expensive). I chose chocolate with hazelnut and another with walnuts. The chocolates were yummy and definitely worth the visit.

I have to mention the cafeterias on the upper floors of the department stores in Amsterdam. Great dining option with children...attractive, clean, reasonably priced and variety of food. We liked it a lot. (August 2009)