Sanrio Puroland has been tugging at the girls since we clocked it in a brochure a few months ago. It's just under an hour from our place but we decided today was the day. We arrive at Tama-Centre station and right from the station platform everything is Hello Kitty themed, now we're all excited.

This station is easily bigger and busier than Chatswood station, but it sounds like Roseville Station at 11am on Wednesday - everyone is so quiet. We round the corner and see the Hello Kitty palace up in front of us, it's just a few hundred meters away but already it's starting to look bleak. With each step closer the possibility is dawning on us, could it really be closed? With just a hundred meters to go the truth is inescapable, there are workmen scurrying around, chains blocking the entrance and all the doors are closed. A row of numbers 12 13 19 20 27 are followed on the next line with some Japanese with the number 4 in it. That is a list of days in April when the park is closed :(

Today's is also Sandra's birthday, Gab was looking forward to the distraction of Hello Kitty land, Boo ceases her opportunity to push her agenda - "Come on, let's just go back to Disneyland."
 
We have lunch in the Tama-shi, then head to Odiba, until last month it was the home of the huge Gundam, now it's a shopping precinct and home of Miraikan the Technology & Innovation museum. What with Lunch, toilet breaks, and the such we don't make it to Miraikan until 3:30 in the afternoon. They have a Disney animation technology exhibition on at the moment that we can't pass up. We spend the next hour or so marvelling at the changes in animation processes over the past 80 years. Impressive stuff, it's a little more thrilling for the girls that it is for Fid and I.

We're in the Disney exhibition while the last Asimo show of the day is on, a pity to miss it. But while we wait for the girls Fid takes a spin on the UNI-CUB, Honda's Segway Uni-cycle. He's having so much fun that Boo has to have a spin when she comes out and sees him. We head upstairs and play with the puppet robots then hear the announcement that the Museum closes in 5 minutes. We've missed 90% of the place, the theme of the day.

Over to Joyopolis, the kids have it in their heads that it's a massive Sega arcade. When we get to the door and it turns out to be a SEGA theme park of attractions they're instantly disinterested -this is the power these Pokemon arcade games have amassed this week. We cross back to some other mall that had a Round 1 arcade in it and the kids play for awhile. The Hello Kitty store has the girls wrapped up for a bit too. I, on the other hand, have had a perfectly crap day of standing around waiting to do something making it to an interesting place just as it closes and, and, and - tantrum time.

Half an hour later my tantrum has everyone in a cab, 3rd this week, heading to Roppongi Hills for a Franziskaner restaurant I've found. This is the Tokyo Gab came to see, nice shopping malls, promenades, pity it's too late to hang around here, home time.