W 2.5-3y

 

3/21/24 2y 7mo

I keep on thinking how wonderful this age is. Yes, there are those tantrums here and there, but overall, this is the best age. W understands what we say, and he says things too...often time surprising us with new phrases. Sometimes he can be so sweet and generous. 🥰 I will miss this stage!

3/27/24 2y7mo

Cute phrases:

"Do you want to join us?"

"My belly button hurts"

"The banana in my tummy in there" 

Singing choochoo train song on repeat. Saying 3 dollars instead of "Y" When counting in Chinese, always skipping 11. When asked who he wants to pray for, he'll say "For W and Tuda."

4/24/24

When I try to get W in the morning now, he says "Go away!" "I don't want mommy!" It's because I have been a bad mom and not getting him in the mornings. Only ab has been getting him because I've been waking up late. 

W was trying to stand on the ledge half way up the bathtub and he slipped, fell, and hit his chin. He got a deep laceration on his chin, about a cm, but deep enough where I could see fat. Not wanting to go to urgent care or ER at night, I rinsed it with water and put steristrip on it. Unfortunately, the steri strip didn't stay well due to curvature of his chin and cheek and because he fell face forward in the sand and go the strip dirty. The strip fell off after 3 days with the laceration still gaping. I tried reapplying the steri strip and then put stretchy foam bandage on the steri strip and that did the trick to keep it on for 10 days from accident. When we finally took it off, the wound was healed and there was just a very small pink scar at the chin line.

5/25/24 

W is just finishing up his first year of school. We love his school and so does he. He has become quite an artist with all the art he brings back from school and also quite a chatterbox, frequently talking about his classmates. He likes to use scissors, but he hasn't figured out how to hold a pen correctly. 

5/30/24

W came to visit us when J was born. The presence of a 2 yo made everything much more lively, busy, and loud. He wanted to touch everything. 

W imitated J's hiccups.

Regarding J: "I want to take this home"

"I want to cover it."

6/6/24

When W does something silly to delay going to sleep, AB can't help but laugh and causes more delays. 

6/16/24

W developed a chalazion on his left lower eyelid statting 5/25. Was it because he is prone to it or due to sand getting in his eye, we will never know. We did warm compress inconsistently because he didn't like it...max 100 seconds each time. And then when J was born, we went maybe a week without addressing it and it got really big. Also developed a stye in the upper lid. Consulted my pedi ophthalmology friend and they said to do warm compress 4 times a day, 10 min, and also apply maxitrol (antibiotic/steriod ointment) for 2 weeks. A little fearful because of the steroid and potential risk of glaucoma. Thankfully the stye started expressing and after a week, the chalazion came to a head and started expressing a bit too. Now a little more than 2 weeks, it's much better, but there is still a residual red bump where the chalazion was and a pimple where the stye was.  

W has been very sweet with J. He wants to feed baby, burp baby, and put baby down. But transitioning to a new full time school (Christchurch) has been tough for him. First week he was sad to go because he missed his old school and friends. And then he stopped napping sometimes. Those days are rhe hardest because anything would set him off into a tantrum. 

6/30/24 almost 3y

Now j is 1 month, W has started some bad habits. Probably related to new siblings and school. He will want very particular things and if he doesn't get them, he will fixate and cry and tantrum. He's been dragging out bedtime. He will want one more book, and sit on the potty forever. Then want to wipe himself and with a square piece of TP. If not square, will repeated try to get one and waste tp. And when AB switched out the empty roll, he wanted the "small" tp roll back even though none are left. Another time he flushed, but then wiped, and got upset he couldn't flush his used tp with his poop. He wants to put on his sleep sack himself. Another day wanted me to put him in the crib instead of ab. And then wanted to wipe with a square paper towel, not a regular towel. These things drag on sleep so much..not sure how to address. 

7/19/24 almost 3y

W wants to be a firefighter or pilot when he grows up. He doesn't want to be a doctor anymore (which he wanted 2 days ago). He says he doesn't want to be a doctor because he is not sick. 

7/24/24

W just started his new school faith lutheran! We were a little anxious how it would go, but so far W likes it! It has more of a family/warm feel than the 2nd school he went to (Christchurch). More like his first school Westbury. We will always have find memories of Ms. Taffet!

Teacher Toni's description of him: 

W has been doing great on his first two days. He eats a little bit not too much. He is making friends and having loads of fun. He has not napped the past two days but he has been quiet. He informs me when he needs to use restroom and he is very independent. I also love his red hair. Glad he is a part of my class.

Haha! So funny she put the red hair in there! 

7/26/24

W picked out a Bible from the bookshelf.  He laid it on its side and tried to stand on it.  He asked "I stand alone on the word of God, the Bible?".

8/19/24

There have been more times when W says he doesn't want mommy or mommy go away or baba to get him out of the car/drop off. It's been hurtful and sad. Ab reassures me w still loves me, but it's hard to not think that he doesn't. It's because I've been more focused on baby j, so I haven't been doing as much bedtime reading or getting him when he wakes. It's so sad. I cried intermittently for a whole day. It happened before, but now it's really quite a lot. I almost feel like an outsider. 

Funny quotes:

AB: what can you fix?

W: Tuda, batteries, baba, dian feng shan.

Ab: Are you pooping or are you done?

W: I'm pretending to play

W: Go this way! (Making Ab and my brother go down the ramp instead of stairs)

W: Only peepee and poopoo in the potty. No toys in the potty. 

W: You are not a doctor, baba

W: to google: "How do you say bread in chinese?"

W: They are going to fix the fire hydrant! With tape!

On zoom, there's a person with their video off:

W: "Somebody hiding there"

W: "Mommy, you are so cute!"

At HEB: 

W: "This one for Wesley"

Sunday school teacher: "He has the most gentle soul."

W: "I have a question for you" ...then continues to stand there for a moment because he forgot his question. 

Ab: what are you doing?

W: I'm just rough housing. 

After watching my friend pump milk:

W: Mommy you are going to pump some milk

Ab: W, you are so cute!

W: I'm not cute

Ab: If you are not cute, what are you?

W: I'm a happy face

Ab: We are almost out of ice cream

W: We have to get some more from HEB

Ab reading book on vaccinations

W: "I don't want to get polio"  "I don't like measles"

W: Mommy, close your shirt! I see your belly! (Bc I'm pregnant)

W: baba, do you have a penis?

Grandma: you are a big brother now!

W: I'm not big, I'm still a baby

W: Baba, what did you do at work today? Do you play at work?

W: I'm going to go to HEB and work tomorrow.

Ab: Oh what are you going to do at work?

W: I'm going to play

W: I'm going to drive myself. And then go to Ariah's house, and play the bubbles outside. ...I don't know how to go, baba

W: You are so beautiful, mama! (Regarding a dress I'm wearing)

W: 3, 2, 1, time out! 

: Don't say no. ima throw you out 

Ab: who said that?

W: Ms. Jackie.

W: I pee peed! 

Ab: Outstanding!

W: I did not stand.

After doing some yoga together:

AB: I'm going to do the corpse pose.

W: Baba, wake up! 

W: Baba, when I'm big I can drive a car!

AB: you have to be 16!

W: Baba, are you 16?

The other day, W was singing the b-i-b-l-e song, and took one of the children bible books and put it on the ground, asked AB "I can stand on it?" As he put a foot on it. 🤣

W's new catch phrase: save it for to-rro-mow!

Ab: what music do you want to hear?

W: waterbottle music

Ab: uh...ok google, play waterbottle music

Google: *starts playing Hollywood music*

W playing with a bottle: 

W: a little penis can fit in there. A big penis will break it. 

*AB laughing*

Yw: I don't think it will break it, it'll get stuck.

W: It will get stuck and then it will be an emergency. The ambulance will come and cut it. Like paper. 

*AB laughing hysterically*

Hurricane Beryl and Baby2 (1month)

 

YW's mom left Friday July 5.  At first, we were just worried about getting through our first weekend alone, until Wesley's school would reopen on Monday.  LIttle did we know, we would need to watch both of them alone for 9 days, since Wesley's school would be closed all following week, due to a hurricane power outage.  How we survived:

1. Shift schedule overnight. YW would feed J around 9PM and again sometime between midnight and 2AM.  Then drop him off outside AB's room.  This way, YW could sleep a long stretch afterwards.  AB could sleep a long stretch from 9PM to hopefully 3AM.  We could catch up on additional sleep during Wesley's naptime, which thankfully was still 2-3 hours in the afternoon.

2. Playdates with our friends.  We stayed overnight at J/S house, so those new toys entertained Wesley for 2 days.  Also, playdates with EH, where their large number of toys entertained Wesley for 2 days.  Another day, Wesley went to our neighbor's house. Other days, we took Wesley to the park playground, church, or he was able to entertain himself at home.

3. Wesley's behavior improved significantly.  We think this was due to several factors:

a) Time getting used to baby J

b) Sometimes Wesley's behavior is better when fewer adults are present.  He no longer sees someone rush to respond to baby crying, or sees crying as an effective way to get attention.

c) He has been sleeping better: longer naps at home and quieter environment at nap time.  

d) We have tried to be more empathetic when he is frustrated.  We notice he calms down more when hearing "I'm sorry" and sensing empathy.  He tends to escalate temper when we are frustrated, authoritarian and/or argue.

Baobao 2y to 2.5 years.

 8/30/23

We decided to put Baobao in daycare. It's a Mother's Day Put program at the Day school at Westbury Methodist. It's 9-1p Tuesday to Thursday, but there is extended care before (7:30a) and after (to 6p), so works for our schedule. We are a little apprehensive because he's still so small, especially for his school year. 

He can put a 10 piece puzzle and the ABC puzzle together. He likes to try to sing songs like baba black sheep, ABC, happy birthday, Bingo, twinkle twinkle little star. Very cute when he tries to sing or talks to himself! He will try to sing and even tell AB to shhhh if AB tries to sing the same song too. He likes hearing stories from the curious George book. 

He's definitely in his terrible twos stage. Everything needs to be a particular way and done a certain way. He wants to walk himself everywhere or climb up himself. He doesn't want to be carried places. He wants to walk upstairs himself to go read. He will get fixated on certain pages of stories or certain picture in the book like "dudu" (a girls belly button), "poopoo" in the grandparent book when I joked there the frog had poop on it's butt. Also happy birthday sign on the find and seek book. 

His favorite song is Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer.

9/1/23

Beach trip #2 at Surfside! Baobao once again was the baby that enjoyed the beach the most. He would stay in the water and on the beach the whole day of he could. He tried to lie down and the waves would splash on his face.

9/14/23

Baobao started school! Well, last week was supposed to be first day, but got sent home after 15min because he had "pink eye" maybe...he did NOT have pink eye. Prob more like a stye. I would know. But the nurse didn't believe me. Sighs...required a doctor's note. So AB ended up working from home with Baobao. 

This week, when we asked him if he it was fun, he would say "Fun!" He would say some weird things though, like: "Baobao pushed ah yi, ta fall down, ta shen qi" (Baobao pushed auntie, she fell down, she angry). Not sure if this really happened... and then today he would very surprisingly and frequently point out this elephant stamp on his arm. When asked who did it, he would say ah Yi, but then later said himself. He seems to love school. He didn't even say goodbye to me when I dropped him off at school. 

He doesn't seem to eat at school though. Not sure if it's because he doesn't like the cold food (there's no microwave).

9/17/23

Baobao likes to point out the parents of his friends and say his friend's name. 

9/22/23

We went to San Diego. This time Baobao is much better on the trip. Didn't sleep much before, but he was well entertained with new toys and watching the Mario movie. 

10/2/23

Baobao is talking a lot more (not repeating us):

"Cut finger"

"Go ahead"

When asked what he did at the playground, he said: Huahua ti (slide), and qi ma (ride horse).

"Baby sleeping"

Zhan qi lai (get up). Ah Yi xia Lai (auntie come down).

Shui gou le (slept enough). 

He wants to do everything himself. And then gets upset when he can't. He wants to drink from adult cup. He can catch a little bit. He asks to watch baseball. He pretended his Peter Rabbit is sitting on the toilet (using his cup holder) "Tu-da la chou chou." So funny to see him pretend like pretending he's talking on the phone or eating things. He can sing the ABC's and he likes to sing along with other songs in the Baobao learns Chinese book (twinkle little star, mama hao, row your boat, etc). 

However, on our trip to San Diego and Seattle, he has had trouble sleeping. 2 nights he woke up at 3a, and few nights he refused to go to sleep. This makes us never want to travel. Strange it was all ok when we went to the beach, but that was just a few days and the first few days of travel were fine for him at the Airbnb. For nap time, we would put him to sleep, but then he would poop. And at night, he would cry and cry. 

"So cute!" Regarding a dog he saw in the park.

He likes to follow other kids around that are slightly older than him.  He kind of played with friend AW's kid at St Edwards park.

10/31/23

Today Wes went trick or treating as a baby Yoda. I was princess Leia and AB was Darth Vader. Many people said he was cute 🥰. He's probably confused why so many people giving him small things wrapped in plastic. 

He seems to really enjoy school. They do so many activities, especially painting and sensory things. There's always a theme each week. Only thing is he doesn't eat much there.

11/10/23 2y2mo

AB says Baobao's terrible twos are better now because he can express more. I'm still skeptical. But I suppose he is a little better. A little better at understanding what's going on and expressing himself. Now he seems to understand a little about time and a little about after this, you can have this. 

12/8/23 2y3mo

So we successfully dropped off Baobao for a week with my parents while AB and I went to Japan! It was really nice to be child-free. Man...all those child-less people - enjoy the time you have! Wish they could experience what it's like with a child, and then they can appreciate how wonderful child-free time is - but alas, that's not how life works. 

Other recent developments: 
-Baobao is able to rock climb up 9ft by himself. I'm quiet impressed. 
-He had his first performance: Christmas program at his school Westbury Methodist. 
-He went 2 whole days without napping. It worries us because we enjoy having alone time for 3 hrs a day. Really hope he doesn't stop napping. Thankfully he will sing for 2 hours. 
-He's able to count a little bit and recognizes a few letters. Not much though. 
-He will ask us some questions and remember things from a while ago. Like when I mentioned we are going to bouncy house, he remembered. Or one time out of the blue, he said airplane - mom and dad take airplane to Japan. 

12/23/23 2y4mo

We went to a rockets game and Baobao was so fascinated with the mascot Clutch. He really wanted to give him a high-five so he pushed through the people sitting in our row, quickly gave Clutch a high-five, and immediately turned around to come back to me without giving Clutch a second thought. He was very determined. 

1/9/24 2y4mo

Baobao is saying more things. Like "Put Tuda over here" and "Mama woke up!" (Chinese). He recently started saying "because..."  I wonder if he even knows what because means. When our friend B and M came over the other day, he was so sweet with M and wanted her to play with him all the time. 

But when he doesn't get a good nap like when he goes to daycare, then he gets frustrated easily and wants impossible or unreasonable things. Ah, so many time outs those days. 

1/15/24 2y5mo

First time Baobao successfully put on his pants without my help! (I just indicated to him which is back and there is a right hole and a left hole, one for each feet). 

1/31/24 2y5mo

First time Baobao said he didn't like someone (Naomi). We asked why if she pushed him down, and he said no. We asked if she took a toy, and he said, "she took a zebra." 

"Daddy, wear Baobao's shoes"

Jesus loves me song

2/6/23 2y5mo

We feel like these are the big milestones: 

4mo sleep through the night

13-14mo: one nap

26mo: talking more and communicating well, can negotiate

Also we did potty training a week ago and Baobao did so well so far! He had one accident the first day when he was eating breakfast, one at church on day 3, and hasn't had an accident till today he went to school and was playing too hard and didn't get to the potty on time (though he did pee mostly in the potty). So proud of this little guy! We followed the 3 day pdf that our friend sent, and it was great! Although we did keep the potty in the living room and we still used pull ups for naps and diaper for sleep at night. It really helped that he was already potty trained for poop (bc my parents thought he could do it when we visited in Nov), and we could tell when he was pooping so we could rush him to the potty. I did try putting him in underwear a month ago but he just peed in his pants while we were baking, so we it only lasted a few hours and I put him back in diapers. This time it helped that I had 2 of his friends over on Day 1 of training and one has just been potty training, so she was also going to potty.  And then everytime Baobao went to the potty, he got a standing ovation from everyone. Stickers also helped eat time. I was so impressed the first day, he even went to the potty himself on his own without even telling me (pulling down his own pants). 

I'm Chinese: "when we get to church, don't need Tuda"

Songs w likes to sing: Jesus loves me, old McDonald's (but gets stuck at old McDonald's has a farm), ABC (but says m o po Po p), twinkle twinkle little star, baba black sheep, open shut, ring around the Rosie, deep in the heart of Texas, skidamarinki, jingle bells. 

2/17/24 2y6mo

W is eating better. We start the meals with his favorite foods like Frenchies fried onions, and then he's willing to eat other prepared foods. Now he even asks to start eating sometimes. W also says he doesn't like certain things or certain people because they are scary or take his toys. We've moved his nap back to 2p. 

We made the decision to start him at a new school (Faith Lutheran teacher ratio 10:1) in the fall during newborn period for #2. Though we love his current school (Westbury Methodist, good teacher ratio 7:1, current class 6:2), the other one is closer, has lunch, fewer holidays, and opens later on Fridays. Also current school ext care shortening to 5:30p. 

Potty training has been going pretty well (needed to do it for him to attend new school - be 3 yo and potty trained). He has had a few accidents here and there esp when playing, but overall, he's doing well. Lately he would talk about his school, but we still don't know whether to trust what he says. 

2/19/24 2y6mo

W can spell his name! Nainai taught him.

Nainai: We are impressed with the progress Wesley has made in language since he started to put together words a few months ago. We noticed yesterday he chose to use a string of appropriate words very quickly. When the Choo Choo train had a piece detached again, even after I tried once to repair it, he said I can fix it. And he did. He first asked to have rubberband from Alan. He said I want some of them. Alan gave him less than he wants, he said I want all of them. That was very quick thinking. He dashed to mud room to wash hands

 I followed him behind, and in seconds, he was standing on the stool and reaching for the soap. I said he could wait for help, he said, very confidently, I want to wash hands by myself. And, for the record, he can spell Wesley when he is almost 2 and 1/2 years old

.

Funny things about Baobao:

*Doing the wave a full 5 seconds after everyone else did it.

*Telling us to "go ahead" when he didn't want to eat dinner yet. 

*When our friend was looking for her son, Baobao said, "he's here!" Whole pointing to him.

*Ab was doing beep beep sound and laughing, and Baobao said "that's funny!"

*His favorite song on the radio is "Cruel Summer" by T swift, and he'll sing along

The other day he said "I love it!" Regarding vinegar.

Baobao said, "You ok baba?"

Baba: "I'm ok! Are you ok Baobao?"

Baobao: "No."

AB: "Silly Baobao!"

Baobao: "Silly baba!"

YW: "If you're good tomorrow, we can go on a train."

Baobao: "All aboard!"

He discovered his pockets and he filled them with acorns. 

Yw: where is little brother?

Baobao: in Baobao's ear!

Baobao: "Wesley drive!"

Pretend phone conversation with AB (2y4mo):

Baobao: "Hello baba!?" 

AB: "Hello Baobao!"

Baobao: "Are you busy?"

AB: "no I'm not busy, are you busy?"

Baobao: "Yes."

AB: "what are you doing?"

Baobao: "I'm eating." 

AB: "what are you eating?"

Baobao: "orange"

AB: "who gave you the orange"

Baobao: "baba. Bye bye see you later!"

Baobao: "here come another poopoo!" "Big poopoo today"

When W sat in baby rocker, AB asked: 

This is for didi

W: no, this is for W.

AB: but didi need to use it, is it ok?

W: We can share

2023 Highlights

* Playing HCCFL after COVID hiatus and now we have Baobao. 

*Rodeo first time with Baobao

*Going to brother's college graduation and JS's wedding in Vancouver.

*Brother visiting and KP visiting

*Labor day long weekend trip to Surfside 

*Baobao starting school 3 days a week and loving it

*San Diego for Alan's conference and friends

*Baobao going trick-or-treating for the first time

*Visiting Japan (Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto) while parents took care of Baobao in Seattle.

*Teaching 6th graders at church

*Expecting another kid in June 2024

Japan: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto

 Guide we used: 

Japan
Guide: https://www.justonecookbook.com/ultimate-travel-guide-to-tokyo

Tokyo:
Day1
Made it with 2 hr delay in flight due to mechanical maintenance.
One of the first surprises was how quiet everything was. The subway, the bus, the stations - no one talked or made any noise. Also there are so many signs and directions everywhere. Everything is so clear, precise, and orderly. So much safety built in like emergency stop button for subway and arrows directing which side people should go up or down.
Hamaya: 

Special shisosio soba. Special oyster and clam oil sio ramen.

 

Our place was small, but it was very efficient use of space and very clean. It had a bidet! - nice to sit on a warm toilet haha!

Day 2
We had jetlag, so woke up at 4a and laid in bed. We decided to go to fish market. Got there too late for the auction (end 6:30a), but we got to eat some really fresh sushi at the restaurant area here:
https://maps.google.com/?cid=11798204809531068420&entry=gps

Sushi dai was completely booked when we got there, but this restaurant had no line! We had the chef choice 10 nigiri/sushi (4,950 yen) and donburi (rice with uni, fatty tuna, and roe 5,500 yen). My favorite was the uni (sea urchin) and otoro (fatty tuna belly) and Alan's was the salmon roe. The roe was a little too salty and fishy for me. The sardine was also a bit too fishy. And sadly my nose was a little stuffed so my sense of taste wasn't the best. Yet, it was still very delicious. Mmmmm, the uni was so creamy and melt in my mouth. We never had sushi for breakfast before, but that was awesome!

To Senso-Ji temple:
Front gate lantern is 1500lb.
Hozo-mon gate, also for storage of treasures for the Senso-Ji temple.
Lantern at gate is 900lb. "Thunder gate and incense vat". People will apply the smoke to body part needing healing.

Through Nakamise-dori street with small shops, traditional items.

 
Doves are messengers of goddess compassion.

Omikuji: pray, and pull out answer from one of the drawers.

Tokyo skytree:
Tallest stand-alone tower in the world.
450m observation hall. Going up to 350m is sufficient. Upper deck too hot and not much different.
Buildings far as the eye can see: and not just small buildings, but big ones too!.... It's amazing to see the most populus city in the world from high up.
Tokyo: 38 mill
Shanghai: 25 mill
New York: 19 mill
Clear day so we could see Mt. Fuji!

Ueno park:
We had lunch at ueno park Shinobazuno pond. There's a big food street/area outside of the park called Ameyoko market so we got take out there. But also someone was selling grilled squid near the pond. It was pleasant to eat by the pond. We then walked through the park to the art museum and reflection fountain. Didn't feel like going to the museum or zoo in the park. The leaves seemed like they were mostly done changing color too. Maybe spring with flowers would be prettier, but it was still a pleasant stroll.

Sanbaka restaurant dinner: 5 course:
1)
-Ohitashi and komatsuna (greens) and chrysanthemum flowers.
-Shungiku, mustard green with sesame dressing, and fish.
-Meat and potatoes (traditional Japanese food).

2) Yellowtail, sea bass, and snapper sashimi.

3) Tuna marinated in soy sauce on lotus root, cooked with sake. Topped with asparagus greens. Too salty overall.

4) Chawanmushi: Egg custard with dashi (soup stock), bonito, clam, seaweed. Yummy, like a soup.

5) Fermented soy beans, mascarpone cheese, nato. Kind of bland.

Akihabara:
So confused what's pop-up space and ensemble stars store??!!
Reminded me of time square, but it was all about anime!

A lot of claw machines, sell electronics. Not pictured: a lot of maid cafes (people dressed up)

Making Ramen

Cat cafe. Ah didn't get to go to Owl Cafe (real owls!)

Day 3:
Meiji Jingu:
Commemorate emperor Meiji and empress Shoken. Where they are buried.
1868 Meiji Restoration proclaimed Charter Path in Five Articles as new guidelines for building Japan as Japan changed from isolation policy of Edo Era to more Eastern influences. The Oath emphasized importance of making decisions based on general discussion, pursuing one's calling, uniting hearts to develop the nation, break harmful practices and gather knowledge from all over the world.

Chrysanthemum festival display

Bonsai Chrysanthemum display

Wine vs sake
Emperor tried incorporating western culture such as cutting his topknot, donning western clothing, and enjoyed wine.

 
Sake given up to dieties every year.

Shinjuku Gyoen national garden:
Previously belonged to the Edo Naito family, then transfered to the Imperial family. Has English landscape, French formal, and Traditional Japanese garden styles. 1949 opened as national garden.

 
Greenhouse: preserve seeds, orchids, Jacob's ladder.

Chrysanthemum festival still on display! Their national flower.

 
Tried to go to East gardens of imperial palace but found it was closed on Fridays! Google maps failed us! Also we tried booking Imperial palace tour 1 Mo in advance when it opened, but even 30min after website opened, it was all booked!

Shibuya crossing: largest crossing in the world!

It was raining, so not as big a spectacle

Sushi Tomi:
Nigiri set 2500 yen. Great sushi! Hole in the wall, traditional sit on mat if you go upstairs. We came at 5p and had the whole upstairs (small area) to ourselves. AB tried sake too.

Day 4: Hakone

Known for: onsen-manju (red bean bun), kamaboko (fish cake), Manju: flour bun with filling, red bean bread (anpan) from Yanagi Bakery. Didn't get to see Odawara castle and Yanagiya Bakery 柳屋ベーカリnearby. Wood mosaic.

We took Metro to Tokyo station, got the shinkansen (bullet train) pass at a machine. We got bento lunches for breakfast on the train. 

The bullet train was so fast and smooth! And there was a good clear view of Mt Fuji. Stopped at Otowara station, Hakone. Bought hakone free pass so all transport in Hakone is free for 2 days for 5000 yen (only 2 or 3 days options available) - turns out some buses still aren't included in the pass. We took train to Hakone-Yomoto station (can't get on the express train with Hakone pass), then another 40min train to Gora. That was such a steep ride, requiring multiple track changes.

Gora:
Open air museum 

Silliness

Free hot spring foot soak

Picasso exhibit: Jacqueline portraits. Married when he was 80, she was 34.

Took cablecar to Sounzan, but then found it out was too windy so the Ropeway was closed! Ah wish they told us when we were in Gora before we squeezed into a cablecar and slowly made our way up the mountain to Sounzan! We decided to take the alternative route to Owakudani: take bus to K and then walk up 30min to Owakudani. We had to wait 45 min for the bus be there first one was too full and the line too long. Thankfully when we walked, it only took 15min and we passed so many cars (traffic).

Owakudani:
We were so fortunate that when we got there, the clouds cleared and we got the most beautiful view of Mt Fuji! Thank God! Beautiful creation! 

Sulfer fumes coming out of the Owakudani volcano:

  
The black eggs up there were interesting... But they tasted like regular eggs. The shells turn black because they cook them in the volcano and the sulfur changes the egg shell black.

Most delicious black curry bun on left (maybe worked up an appetite walking up mt). R: black sulfur eggs.

These eggs are supposed to add 7 more years to my life. :D

We walked and then took the bus down to lake Ashi.

Lake Ashi:
The lake itself was pretty, but nothing special. The fun part was taking the pirate ship to the Southeast shore. 

I took too long in the gift shop and walked along the ancient forest trail. But then it was too late so we took the express R bus back to Halone-Yomoto station, train back to odawara, and then bullet train back to Tokyo. Had a nice meal at Casual Tappen (teppenyaki place). 

Day 5 Kyoto: Matcha capital, eat desserts.

Imperial palace and Garden:
Previously capital of Japan for 500+ years until 1869 Emperor Meiji moved it to Tokyo.
Kan-in-no-miya residence, now visitor center: lived here during Edo period. Kujo pond and tea ceremony house.

Imperial palace was destroyed by so many fires. And emperor had to live with noble families.
Can visit the palace for free on certain days via the seishomon gate (for servants). 

Carriage porch for courtiers. 

Waiting Rooms

New carriage porch (now emperor needs a bigger one for carriage and has to enter from south per tradition).

Shinshinden (Hall for state ceremonies), where emperora were enthroned.

Shukoden (Hall of the sacred mirror): mirror for enthronement ceremony kept.

Seiryoden (Hall for rites and rituals): also where emperor lived for a bit.

Kogosho: imperial meetings

Oikeniwa Garden: so serene.

Otsunegpten- imperial residential palace.

Couldn't get into Ruriki-on temple bc we didn't have reservation. But maple walk beautiful.

Jisho-ji temple:
Beautiful maples 

So many yummy snacks on the walk there. 

Philosophers path on the way to Nanzen-ji temple. 

Koun-ji temple with sunset in background.

Too late to go into Nanzenji temple. But pretty to look at from the outside. 

Took train to Fushimi Inari Taisha:
So many beautiful red gates-1000 of them!  Built in 1633 with no nails. 1/2 mile hike up hill, then 1 hr to top (we didn't go to top). At night the gates were lit, made for interesting experience. Names of businesses that sponsored the gate on back. Initially dedicated to Inari, god of crop and business and fox statues bc messenger of Inari. 

Day 6
Kinkaku-ji temple
Getting there was confusing. From the Kitaoji stop of the northsouth subway line, you have to go to blue platform underground to catch the bus (203, 204, or 205) to the temple. Follow the signs for bus and blue platform. We got to the temple before 9a and there was already a line to go in.

These statues reminded me of the offering statues in Zelda

Most important rock zen garden.

Smaller than I expected. Only 15 rocks. Why in the formation? No one knows...

Took trains not on our pass to get to Ashalawara.
Sooooo crowded. 

The street in front had a ton of stalls and restaurants, but there were so many people, every one of them required a wait. 

Yudofu takemura: fortunately only waited 2 min to be seated because someone just happened to leave. 

Tofu is their specialty

We found one tofu place a little less conspicuous on that street, and managed to be seated with 2min wait. We enjoyed a milticourse tofu meal. Interesting! We boiled our own tofu for 3 min. Ate tofu in lemon with miso. Had fried tofu ball (with wood ear, other things in it). Are another form of fried saucy tofu. And then enjoyed veggie tempura.

Arashiyama bamboo forest:

The forest itself was waaaaaay too crowded. Def try to go before 9 or else it's too crazy and hard to enjoy/take good pics. People mountain people sea.

Didn't get to ride in this train that Xiao recommended: Open train from ashi forest. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3965.html

Arashiyama Monkey Park
Macaque monkeys, 200 in the park. You have to walk 20min uphill, but it's worth it! The monkeys are out in the open, and you can go inside to feed them.

 
Interesting facts:
Their faces, butts, and breasts are red because of blood vessels, but the babies have lighter faces. They amhave sharp canines, but babies have no teeth, and later their baby teeth get replaced. They have cool 5th finger that help them grab tree branches. They can store food in their cheek pouches like chipmunks. Staring at them is an act of aggression.
They eat soil to help with intestinal diseases.
There were some baby monkeys that were so cute! Hard to feed them because the bigger monkeys chased them away.

We checked out Nishika Market. Wow, so many stalls and food stalls! It was really hopping. We are a lot of random foods here and there like octopus balls, wagyu beef, grilled scallop, fried crab, matcha ice cream and mochi. Mochi was sooooo soft.
Of note the market closes at 5p...I think?

We then went to Gion district, didn't really see any geishas, and everything was very commercialized, but it's still fun to walk through the lantern street. The lanterns at Yasaka-jinja shrine was pretty, and there were people ringing the giant rope bells. But it was a relatively small temple.

We then went to eat conveyer belt sushi. It was AB's first time and he was very intrigued. We were stuffed!

Day 7
Kiyomizu-dera

Beautiful temple with a massive cemetery southwest of it.

 
There's a beautiful pogoda.

The temple itself has interesting architecture, being built onto a cliff. The autumn leaves made the whole place really brilliant.

Fushimi Inari Shrine

 

We decided to go climb Mt Inari. Wow, sooooo many red gates. It prob took an hour to climb to the top, and then another half hour down. Phew...it was kind of tiring. Throngs of people and kind of hard to get a good picture without people.  Wish I had known there is a route back down towards bamboo forest. We went off path at Fushimi Inari Taisha and found our way to Kobogataki Falls, and then a bamboo forest farther south. Fun to wander away from the crowds. 

Fukakusa Ramen Toriton 

Yummy! A bit salty. 

Byodo-in

Beautiful temple surrounded by water with nice museum detailing interior decoration and meaning. 

Gohan-ya: Izakaya $$
Online it said there's a set menu, but turned out no set menu and everything in Japanese. There was one server who spoke some English, so we asked for his recommendation, and then picked a few off the menu with Google translate camera. Should have stuck with picking off the pictures on Google. The ones we picked off the menu were so-so: radish greens salad, dried squid. The oden soup was pretty good. The recommendations were really good: sashimi (yellow tail, red snapper, flounder, salmon, tuna, 10 piece), grilled mackerel that was marinated in miso for a day.
Funny part was we didn't have a good idea of the price bc we asked for recommendations, and I estimated about 10,000 yen. When we got the receipt, I thought it said 29,000...we were so surprised but accepted it was our last fancy meal. Then turned out I missed the first number, so it was actually 8,290. Went from most expensive meal to prob the best deal. We were stuffed!

Day 8
The Osaka station is sooooo crazy. Walking for 10min, and we are still in the station. Also like Tokyo and Kyoto station, tons of shops and restaurants.

We had time for a brief stop at Osaka Castle (open too late for us to go in 9am):