12 April 08

Nick had been away overnight in Atami at a works party, and was feeling decidedly worse for wear. Such a pity, as Tracy and James had asked us to join them for lunch in Yoyogi park. So I left Nick to sleep the hangover off and set off with Emily to meet them at Harajuku. This time I decided to use the stairs rather than risk breaking the rules and taking the pram on the escalator, so I tested out my Japanese and asked a man to help me carry it up. Not sure that he understood what I said but I suppose he must have guessed what I wanted. The others were running a bit late, so I had plenty of time to take in the people who hang out at the park entrance at weekends. There were some punks and goths, a girl dressed head to toe in pink lace and a young guy advertising free hugs. I'm not sure of his motivation, but he got just as many from men as women.

Tracy and James had with them her sister, Stephanie, and Bettina also came along with baby Tim and her husband, Steve. The restaurant in Yoyogi park is actually rather good: no-smoking, with tables outside as well, and a decent menu at fair prices. Emily had been feeding indifferently since we got up, and also vomiting quite a lot of it back up, so as soon as we sat down I had to feed her before I could tuck into my mackerel 'set' (usually comprises the main dish plus rice, pickles and miso soup). We chewed the fat for a while; James and Steve were really nice guys and I'm sure that Nick will like them when they do eventually meet.


Before we headed for home, we strolled along to the shrine. As usual there were several weddings going on.

All of the babies were getting a bit fretful, so the three of us whizzed them around in a sort of pram waltz. All the same, Emily clearly needed feeding before I could risk going back on the Yamanote, so we popped along to the cafe for a quick drink before we made our goodbyes and left. A pleasant afternoon, only marred by Nick's absence.

When I got home our new sofa had been delivered. The apartment really does feel a lot more homely now that we have furniture!