The Rise and Fall of...The Great Thunder Gate

On my trip to Japan in 2010, I came across a new fad (at the time). The nanoblock. These were all the rage in Japan, and I have to admit that I was quite attracted to the idea. I mean, what guy doesn't like Lego. And this is Lego, but NANO-scale. Ok... perhaps not quite nano-scale. But small. This one is of the Kaminarimon, or Thunder Gate that sits out the front of Senso-ji in Asakusa, in Tokyo.

It was a great opportunity to have some fun with L-kun, who also loves Lego. Hmmm - it's not hard to see from this photo who's the supervisor, and who's the worker.

Like any good engineering project, it all depends on getting the foundations right.... I somehow thought I could imagine how the ancient Pharohs felt when they first embarked on the construction of their great pyramids... 

Slowly, but surely - bit by bit... the structure grew. 

And just like Max, who had a forest grow in his room, and the walls and ceiling became the world all around, so my Shogi board found a new magical life, to transport me away...

After a few more nights of sneaking a few minutes to add more to my great gate... I was starting to get closer to completion. Only then did thoughts start to rise through my sub-conscious, what happens when I've finished? Will I find happiness and meaning? Will the gods be pleased?

Ok - the flash may have been a bit strong, but the roof was finished. This was the critical part... from which the enitre world would hang.

Da-dah! Completed... my Thunder Gate could start'a'thunderin'. I felt satisfied indeed, for it was good... and the gods were smiling down upon the works of man.... but such is the hubris of man, that he often doesn't realise when he should have quit when he is ahead. 

Indeed - little did I know that fate had another plan for my great Thunder Gate. It was smitten by the thundering hand of my lovely L-kun. It could have been an accident - or some form of righteous retribution - but what I do know was that one night, about a week after I finished it there was an almighty crash. Ok - nanoblocks aren't prone to cataclysmic sounds... but you get the idea... When I came running into the lounge, I let out a "NOOOOOOOooooooo!"... which ended drowned in a pitiful sobbing...

There lay my monument... in ruins. And there it has remained. A crushed spirit. A hollow dream. But one day, it will be re-built.

My First Bike...L-kun Finds His Cycle Legs

L-kun recently got his first bike as a present from his Aussie Grandparents... with a little help from Mum and Dad. A 40cm bike from Cyclops (a local brand of bikes). Hopefully the name, Fracture is good luck rather than bad.

L-kun has been quite excited about getting a bike, and T-chan took him out for his first bike ride the other day (with our handy little Lumix FS7 cam).

He seemed to get the hang of it fairly quickly though. The good thing about these bikes is that he's still got a fair bit of adjustment for anticipated size increase... but scarily, it wasn't too big at all.

And it wouldn't be called learning how to ride a bike if there wasn't just a little falling off the bike as well. I'm not sure why the cheeky smile however... maybe to reinforce the idea that he meant to fall off, rather than it being by accident. I'm sure it won't be the last stack... not by a long way.

Still, no damage done... and smiles lasted all day long (and indeed he went out for a second ride later in the day). I wonder how long the training wheels will stay on... that will be a fun experience teaching him to ride without trainers.

Thanks for the birthday present Grandpa and Grandma!

Train Sets... Not Just For Kids...

Now... this isn't quite my normal post with lots of gratuitous photos of L-kun... oh no. This one is for the big boys. Actually,  I have to admit that one of L-kun's toys that I spend the most time on is actually our train set.

We bought this (Imaginarium Mountain Pass Train Set) for Christmas over a year ago, and it gets a good working out. And with around 100 pieces, there's plenty of variety - and to be honest we haven't had the track set up "properly" since about Boxing Day. It may surprise you, but we tend not to get branded toys for L-kun... so no Thomas the Tank Engine toys here. 

The down side of that is that the trains lack a little pizazz - but the upside is that we get to avoid the evil commercial excesses of the children's toy industrial complex. That and L-kun learns (hopefully) that you can have just as much fun without the hoopla that goes with our overly peer moderated world. That... and these are considerably cheaper (at about 75AUD on sale at Toys R .... well, you know where...). Well - that was the plan at least. The reality is that we're just as taken in by the branding as every other parent.

Actually, we have a bit of an association with trains in our family... but the interest never really stuck with me. Until now that is. Not that I love trains per se....

...But rather, I just enjoy coming up with new track designs that are the most complicated I can make with the track parts that I (I mean L-kun of course)  have. It's like solving a new puzzle each time. This track setup took me a long time to get it just right. I hadn't made a new track layout for a few months (with L-kun in Japan) so I was quite rusty. Frustruated I worked on the design for what seemed like a couple of hours (I sure hope it wasn't). L-kun may not have been that impressed in the morning, but I was pumping the air constantly after the last piece fell into place. T-chan must wonder what sort of boy-man she married.

Sometimes I even let L-kun play with the trains as well... sometimes. Toot toot, everyone!