8 October 08

Mum, Emily and I went for lunch at Paul with Nick. Emily made her usual mess of the table, crumpling up the placemat and liberally scattering crumbs and babyfood around the floor. We've been going quite regularly while the weather was too hot and humid, so they should be used to it by now.


Afterwards we went up to the 24th floor with Nick to look at the view. It had become overcast, but it was still possible to see several miles out over the city.

Continuing up the Namboku line, we went to see Rikugien garden. As we came above ground the heavens opened, so we dived into the nearest cafe for shelter and a nap for Emily. By the time we emerged it had petered out into light drizzle, which continued for the rest of the afternoon. I'd left the stroller at home and had Emily in the backpack carrier so that we could walk all paths. As always, the garden was enchanting. Every time I take someone new there I see it as though for the first time, through their eyes. We stopped for a while in the shelter by the natural pool, and Mum noticed that it was populated with crayfish, whether by accident or design I don't know. There were quite a few in there, some as long as 6 inches.

After all that rain it had become slippery, and unfortunately Mum lost her footing and went over on the mud, despite her walking pole. Typically, she was wearing a cream linen jacket, which was thankfully the only casualty.

For dinner I managed to rustle up some Japanese dishes for her final meal here; nothing too challenging though, as we'd had our fair share of (for us) exotic food in Hokkaido!