21 September 08

Nick had a bit of a hangover after a work 'away day' in Odawara. While on our regular Skype call to Adlington, there was an earth tremor. It felt about a 3, with a sudden vertical jolt, though it was short-lived. Graham sounded most disappointed to have to experience it by proxy. It was good to see Gail, as she and David were visiting; made me realise even more that Emily resembles her closely and I bet if we compared her with a baby photo of Gail they'd be very similar.

The advantage of Emily not napping from 11am the day before was that she slept more than 12 hours for the first time in ages. It was great not to be disturbed during the night, but as Nick came in at 11 and wanted to tell me about his day, the gain was lost by being up later than usual.

Later, we took the train to Nippori, the place where we first stayed on our big trip two years ago. As then it was raining heavily. We needed to find lunch but there weren't that many options. Then we spotted small sign for a place called 'Couscous' on the 4th floor of grimy block housing a pachinko parlour and an internet cafe. It turned out to be a great choice - the dingy, poky hallway and grotty lift were not representative. It was a nice little Tunisian restaurant with lots of golden brocade and tassles and looked quite new. There were only two other diners, who weren't smoking, thankfully. We took seats on the carpeted area on a dais by the window, with round leather cushions and a low table; ideal for Emily to crawl around.

We had a very tasty north-African lunch. Emily got a freebie pistachio pudding, though after I'd given her a couple of spoons I began to wonder if there might be uncooked egg in it. The man was watching so it was hard to eat it instead without him noticing, and I didn't want him to think us ungrateful.

We wandered round Yanaka cemetery in the rain. It was quite busy as it was some sort of Buddhist festival time. People were renewing flowers on graves and lighting incense. There were loads of crows so Emily was very excited.



Before heading home we went to a strange little cafe. Nick ordered chocolate icecream on a bed of crushed ice with coffee underneath. Nice but difficult for those with sensitive teeth. The owner gave Emily an icecream cornet to eat. It is hard to say 'no' to a fait accompli. If only they would ask if it is OK first.

I had an well overdue run in torrential rain. Never mind cats and dogs - it was lions and wolves! I'd not have been surprised to see Noah's Ark floating past. I got totally drenched and was squelching by the end, but enjoyed it.