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On the day before another one of my birthdays, I found myself transferring between the Kokubunji-Seibu, JR Chuo and JR Yamanote Lines to get to Ueno Station and spend the day looking at the “The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci - The Universal Genius At Work” exhibit at the National Museum which was punctuated through the showing of The Annunciation. I’m gonna do the typical “half-ass” review and say that it was magnificent and head on to what I really want to talk about; the babies riding the Tokyo train-system this weekend. Before I get into the pulp of things; I just wanted to say that I was inspired after reading this funny little thing by - a very interesting writer - J. Robert Lennon (and decided to do something of a similar fashion).

Blankly stared at the young lady standing next to me after she allowed him and his father - who was carrying him at the time - to take her seat while his father kept smelling his hair - (At least I hope it was his father). The blank stares continued despite the young lady’s efforts in trying to make him crack a smile with the funny faces she pulled for him (’him‘ as in the baby, not the father - the mother was standing behind the two of us!).

Obviously wanted to spend more time in Disneyland, she kept flashing around her Mickey-Mouse-Pen-With-A-Flashlight-on-its-tip announcing to us lonely fools on the train who are too grown-up (among other things) to be enchanted by the ‘Magic Kingdom’ and all the wonders it has to offer.

Had a big, round head and red cheeks. While he sat on his mother’s lap, stealing whatever attention his older sister had by being so cute, he stuck his foot towards his mother’s hands in a gesture to make her tickle him. When she did, he laughed whole-heartedly. He alternated feet after each fit of laughter to maximize the experience.

Kept singing Nursery Rhymes in English. Loudly. I imagine this probably made most of the people within earshot feel intimidated by the intelligence of a multilingual Japanese baby girl and wonder where the future of Japan was heading.

Wore the same jacket as his mother, but in a different size. He didn’t seem to be phased out by the fact that he was wearing the same jacket a female was wearing. Poor Kid, I just hope that this habit of dressing like his mother doesn’t continue into his childhood, puberty and/or adulthood.

In a fit of anger out of the lack of attention she was getting from her parents, she took of her shoes and threw them violently onto the floor of the train and said what roughly translates to, “But I want my colouring-book now!”. Sweating profusely out of sheer embarrassment, her mother caved in and gave her the colouring-book her daughter wanted. As a gesture of gratitude, the girl agreed to allow her mother to put the “fallen shoes” back onto her feet.