13 October 08

It was yet another public holiday and we'd arranged to meet Nick's old Nomura colleague, Wako, and her family for lunch and a visit to Baji Koen park. Her boys are Yuto (1.5) and Haruto (3). Both she and her husband had great English and were really nice, making for a pleasant lunch. We sat outside at an Italian restaurant. After having her lunch, Emily crawled around getting very dirty trousers and eating leaves, requiring much vigilance.

They gave us a lift to the park (wouldn't hear of us walking) and it was quite a squash with all of us in one car, albeit a large one. We couldn't do up our belts and there was no way of securing Emily other than clutching her tight, so we were glad it was only 5 minutes away. In the car park, Haruto was throwing stones, and one hit a Merc. They didn't notice and we just pretended not to have seen it.

Before the park, we found that there was a festival going on outside, so we went for a wander along the stalls first. There were some pigs, and chicks for children to pet. I was scared they'd be crushed by eager little hands. The fete had a slow food theme - the holiday is dedicated to sports and healthy living.

The park is small but nice. There's a sandy horse training track round the outside; inside is fairly untamed with a play area and a little lake with fountains and swans.

There was also a mini-Fuji pile of earth, about 10 feet high, that was very popular. I would have loved to join in, and made a mental note for about two years' time when Emily can play there and Mummy can join in.

We thought we would have to leave without sight of a horse, but on our way out we found that there were some horseback acrobats practising on the track. They were pretty good too. It was Emily's first sight of a horse and she enjoyed it.