Happy whatever

We survived a dreadful holiday- Christmas! I don't believe in Jesus Christ, so I don't celebrate his birthday. But what am I supposed to tell my child- Santa doesn't come to our house because we're Buddhists? Taiyo obviously knows what Santa looks like, but he doesn't question about his functions yet. We only celebrate commercialized Christmas in Japan, so we'd support our economy by buying gifts, but somehow I learned of possible existence of Santa Claus at early age. My first impression was that he won't come to our house because we have no chimney. But then my best freind gave me a passage from Bible and she told me if I read it every day Santa Claus would come. He still didn't come. Many years later I learned that she was a Jehova's witness. I was almost recruited for some Christmas presents! Growing up, I didn't always get a presnet for Christmas, but that was ok. New Year was much more exciting when kids collect some cash from family. So anyway, I don't really do Christmas and I'm grateful of not having heavy gift obligations but do feel left out when the holiday actually comes around. We become holiday orphans! But we had nice mellow one gathering with other orphans around shabu shabu on Christmas Eve, and hanging out at a Jewish household on Christmas day. On Christmas day when Taiyo woke up from his nap, I gave him a present- two little remote-controlled robots. This was a big hit.

On Monday we went to see the Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center. The area was still super crowded with tourists. This is really a beautiful sight I hardly miss all these years. Windows at Sacks was disappointing, but decorations on some buildings along Fifth avenue, especially at Fendi, were stunning. After walking around in crowds, I was mentally exhausted and wanted to have a nice dinner. We came across Shinbashi on 48th street near Fifth Avenue. It seemed too chi-chi for us, but the restaurant was pretty empty and I was sick of walking around. This restaurant has been around for a long time, and seems to have a solid reputation for providing "better Japanese food." They probably attract more business customers on regular weekdays. They didn't seem too family friendly, but I was surprised to see two other tables with a baby and a toddler.

They were quite well prepared- offered us a high chair, which we should've taken because Taiyo toppled his seat twice. A waitress promptly brought him a paper cup with a cover and a straw, and a blue set of a plastic plate and utencils. Menu is pricey; most entrees are $20 - $40, but there was a great set menu as "pre-theater dinner." For $20, we got a tempura bowl, mini-chirashi sushi bowl, chawan-mushi(savory steamed custard), a salad, soup, and beer. Everything was delicious and just done right. We also had homemade crab shumai, but these ($3 a piece!) didn't impress us. Taiyo chugged down two shrimp tempura quickly, had some rice and soup then decided to go get acquainted with the staff, who were mostly young Japanese girls. Taiyo's favorite kind. So he went right into the server's station area and made some friends. Then he went running around screaming to embarass me and the maitre-d. Service was very nice and efficiant. Recommended if you're in for a treat.