30 November 08

Seems strange not having Nick around this weekend, though I am used to being on my own most days really. Again it was a nice day, but unfortunately I couldn't take Emily to a park as I had to do a bit of urgent shopping. I decided to go to Roppongi Hills again, though we'd been only the week before. It would have been an even better day to go up the tower and get some great views, but I'm sure there will be other clear days this winter.

Sunday is the busiest say there, the place buzzing with affluent (or is that the wrong vowel?) expats and seriously-loaded Japanese. I saw one couple whose long-haired dog had dreadlocks and beads. A westerner drove by with a large Xmas tree in the front seat of his topless convertible.

Emily was very patient as I shopped, and was rewarded with a visit to the little family rest/play room they have there, where she was enchanted by a helium balloon that someone had left there. We were late leaving for home, so were able to look at all the Christmas lights that came on after dark.

29 November 08

I had been egging Nick on for ages to have a weekend away with friends, and the ideal opportunity arose with Ali being in the country for him to join her in Kyoto and re-live their time there. So, after a couple of hours with me and Emily he set off for the two hour shinkansen journey. Before he left he was able to see her tentative attempts at walking: unprompted by me the day before, she had pushed the kitchen stool across the floor a few feet. It looks awfully like a Zimmer-frame! This time she did it more confidently and several times. A small step (excuse the pun) but significant.

After lunch we set out in the warm sunshine to the jidokan at Hamamatsucho. We spent a couple of hours there, being on our own at first but gradually joined by more babies and their mums. To keep up the progress I stood her up behind a wooden walker, and was so pleased when she walked the length of the 40'+ room. She was smiling too, so I think she knew she had done something amazing. I wished I could have got a photo, but was too occupied hovering behind her in case it ran away from her and she fell.

28 November 08

We spent the afternoon at Geraldine's for an early Christmas party. She had a tree with lights, which Emily was transfixed by at first, and also a tunnel that she liked crawling through.

Us mums entered the spirit with mince pies and a glass of sparkling wine (just to be sociable, you understand). Emily joined the other, older babies in climbing the stairs several times. She was really speedy, considering she doesn't get the chance to practise very often.

As dusk fell, we trooped outside to see the Christmas lights in the enclave that they live in, which were lovely to see. I think I am going to start liking the festive season again, seeing it through Emily's eyes.

27 November 08

We hadn't seen Bettina and Jo for a couple of weeks, so were glad to catch up with them at Shibaura jidokan for two hours in the afternoon. It was grey, damp and cold outside but very warm indoors, giving Emily rosy cheeks. Bettina has gone native: she was wearing a face mask, as she has a cold, and had on socks with seperate toes.

The jidokan periodically holds measuring sessions so we took the opportunity to have the babies weighed and measured. The little ones looked adorable crawling around in just their nappies. Emily was too heavy for the first set of scales, the second set putting her at 10.4kg. That confirms what my aching back has been telling me! She is 77cm long now.

Yet again she would not take an afternoon nap, but made it through 7 hours awake without getting too upset. Nick came home relatively early as there was no London call, and just made it in time to see her in her PJs before she went down for the night. When she heard the front door open and Nick call out to her, her eyes sprang open and she grinned broadly.

26 November 08

Emily loves the new wall clock I bought for the lounge, and every time I say 'tick tock' she looks straight at it, smiles and points.

We went for our weekly lunch date with Nick, and though the shade temperature was cold it was almost balmy in the sunshine. Emily had fun and liked watching the other, older kids playing there.

After taking her back home for her lunch, we visited the little local park before my daily shopping (I have gone from pre-planning about four days' meals at a time to shopping by the day, only deciding that morning what I am making. I hate being so disorganised!).

I got her a pair of pyjamas recently and as it was so chilly in her room I put her in them for the first time. She looked so sweet in them; it made me feel a bit gooey. Lately I find that I really want to tiptoe back into her room in the evening as I miss her. Strange, since during the day I look forward to her nap so I can have a bit of time to myself.

25 November 08

The latest thing to get Emily laughing is when I say 'Golly gosh'. It cracks her up for some reason.

With reluctance, I forced myself to go to Shinjuku in the afternoon as I needed a few things and that is the only shopping area I know at all well. I didn't want to take Emily somewhere where I knew there was no scope for crawling and playing, but figured one day wouldn't hurt. Though it had rained the day before, the ground looked quite dry, so I decided to take her to Shinjuku Gyoen first for a crawl on the grass. My plan was thwarted though, as the park was closed (normally closes on Mondays but if a public holiday it closes Tuesday instead). I really must remember this closure policy before I set out anywhere.

I managed to get most of the things I went for, but Emily did get a bit fretful towards the end. She was temporarily cheered up by all the Christmas trees for sale in Tokyu Hands. After years of being a bit of a humbug around the festive season, I find my enthusiasm renewed now we have her to remind us of the more delightful aspects. I think I'll get a tree and put it out on the balcony (a one-year-old and a decorated tree do not mix well, methinks).

23 November 08

Ali had invited us to join her for late lunch in Marunouchi with her friends Goro and Nami. Luckily for me they both spoke excellent English, and had married this year after meeting each other when living in London. Nick was pleased to be able to discuss football, though Goro is unfortunately a Chelsea fan.

We went into one of the many high-rise buildings in the area and picked a floor to eat at (in Tokyo, every drab office block is home to restaurants on each floor). We certainly struck it lucky when we chose Bangkok Kitchen. It had very smart decor and lots of Thai dishes to salivate over. As we were the only customers, it being past 3pm by now, we were able to put Emily down on the floor to crawl around. While I was playing with her the maitre d' came over and held out his hands to take her; I was a bit taken aback, but handed her over. He disappeared round the corner of the bar with her and I expected to hear her wail, but there was only the odd chuckle. It was a novelty for Nick and me to be able to eat at the same time. My steamed fish with spicy lime sauce was superb - it came with plenty of chili, and also slivers of raw garlic, which had our eyes tearing. When I went to find Emily and relieve her impromptu babysitters, she actually cried when I took her!

We thought we had better give her an opportunity to play before we set off home, so Nick and I took her round the corner to the Imperial Plaza so she could crawl on the grass under the pines. While we were there a lady came past with a very active little dog, and Emily was so excited she took off in hot pursuit. Another couple came by and I spotted that they had a white rabbit in their holdall. Wonder if it was wearing a coat, like most of the pooches we saw. Of course there were also loads of crows above us, providing endless entertainment. The sun fell quickly, and the temperature dropped significantly; feeling rather chilly we dived into Hibiya station and took the Mita line home.

22 November 08

Nick and I got a bit of a lie-in as Emily didn't wake until 7.45. Poor Ali had a disturbed night - she said it wasn't being on a futon that did it, but I'm sure it contributed.

Our guest set off late morning to the lecture that her father was speaking at. It was a bright but cold day, so after lunch Nick and I decided to go to Roppongi Hills and take in the views from the observation deck at Mori Tower. It was my first time up on the 52nd floor there, and I was knicked out by the 360 panorama visible from there. We picked a good time to go, as there were no queues and we stayed long enough to see the city by day and after dark. It was spacious and there were several places for Emily to crawl around without fear of trampling. We were able to identify all the places around town that I have been to, and just as the sun set we finally saw the top of Fuji-san appearing from the swathe of cloud it had been hiding behind, as we enjoyed some delicious smoothies. My only regret was that the camera was out of juice so I couldn't record any of it. Nick put Emily right up against the glass with that massive drop below, and I could not look as she put her hands up and stared straight down!

Emerging from the express lift we found that hundreds of people were waiting to go up. Outside the Christmas lights had come on and it was such a lovely spectacle. Emily loved it, as did I.

21 November 08

Nick's good friend Ali arrived in Tokyo today, here mainly on business and to attend a syposium at which her father is speaking (he is an eminent professor in Japanese-Sino relations, I believe). After she'd settled in - she is staying with us for a few days - I walked with her to Mita as she had arranged to meet her parents there. Unfortunately she hadn't realised that Mita station has 10 exits. I offered to help find them, and hurried up the road to check some of the further afield exits. I spotted a slightly-elderly western man who seemed to be searching for someone, and rushed across the road to accost him. He must have been a bit taken aback to be addressed by a strange woman with a pram asking if he was Alison's dad. Glad to bring them together, I carried on with Emily to the Shibaura jidokan, where she happily played for an hour or so. She spent most of the time sucking on giant Lego bricks; I will get her a set, as I really liked assembling abstract objects while she chewed!

Later, as I was preparing dinner, Ali and I talked. I wasn't all that surprised that she didn't want a drink as she was very jetlagged, but out of the blue she admitted that she was in the early stages of pregnancy. She hadn't intended to mention it as she was only about 8 weeks on; perhaps being around Emily, who really likes her, loosened her tongue. Lucky she told me, as dinner was a bit of a no-go for those in a delicate condition - swordfish, followed by tiramisu made with raw eggs and booze. Nick and I are pleased as punch for her and Roddy, and keeping everything crossed that it progresses well.

20 November 08

Jean had invited some of us to her place in Osaki for a playdate. Unfortunately Jo cried off on the day as Isy was coming down with something, so I met Silvia at Tamachi and we made our way to Osaki station, where we met Jean and Momo. It had become much colder overnight, so I had Emily tucked away in the cosy-toes buggy attachment. She was not impressed with wearing a hat but amazingly it was still on when we got there.

Jean's apartment was not much larger than ours, but nicely appointed. As she is always smartly dressed I was not surprised to find that it looked like a show-flat, despite having Valerie and her many toys to accommodate. I'm not sure I could cope with a white carpet though. Emily was enjoying herself for a while, but then got tearful; however, an attempt to get her to nap failed. She found it amusing to try to bite my breast - I hope she quickly grows out of experimenting with her new teeth! We played some more and then I thought I had better get her home. For the second time this week she missed her second nap but seemed none the worse for it, eating all her tea and playing happily in the bath, though she was zonked halfway through her bottle.

19 November 08

Emily now has one and a half teeth on the top, and I found that there was one just coming through on the bottom. It's hard to find out as she doesn't like me putting my fingers in her mouth.


Though markedly chillier, it was extremely clear and sunny. Nick said he had great views from Izumi Garden Tower to Fuji-san and the mountains that way. I'd arranged to escort Silvia to her first TMG meeting, which was being held at Shirokanedai Children's Hall. I hadn't been aware of its existence, and as it is only 20 minutes from home I was keen to check it out. Silvia was hesitant about trying to get there on her own, so I offered to meet her at Tamachi and go with her, instead of walking there. I know she's only been here two months, but she really needs to be more adventurous; I find her rather wet, to be honest. She said that she never takes Reiko anywhere other than the Shibaura jidokan, which is a shame.



The Childrens' Hall was a bit shabby and grubby, to my surprise, given that it is located in one of the most salubrious neighbourhoods in Tokyo. Emily seemed happy enough though, so it goes on the list of indoor play-places for wet days. It is really close to the nice little park there too, so we can combine the two into an afternoon's entertainment.

18 November 08

We had a lunch date with Nick, and as it was very sunny and warm for November we went to the little play area outside, near his office. Emily crawled around getting grubby, and tried to climb up the slide a few times. We saw a praying mantis on the ground and had to make sure that she didn't try to grab it.

After Nick returned to work I took Emily to Shiba Koen park, stopping briefly to admire a Christmas tree beneath Tokyo Tower and some turning leaves at Zojoji temple.

At the park she got excited because there were lots of little dogs scampering around and plenty of her favourites, crows, flapping overhead.

We finished up at Hamamatsucho jidokan, where I was surprised to see Momo, Jean and some of their friends. Also, I had called Jill and she came along too. After an hour's fun, Emily would not nap, perhaps because she had been so stimulated. Though she was a bit upset on the walk home, amazingly she ate all her tea, had fun in the bath, and drank all her milk, before flaking out for more than 12 hours.

Nick so often tells me that the brown stuff is about to hit the fan, that I said he must feel like he's working at a sewage farm!

17 November 08

Monday, so it was KSpace class. The 2pm start was better than last week's 4pm, as Emily was less tired. I was a bit embarrassed, because whenever one of the men there spoke to her or even to someone else she screwed up her face and started crying. As it was three men taking the class, I had to try to distract her to prevent her from getting upset. Strange that she doesn't seem to do it with Japanese men, but they don't tend to have deep voices like Nick's.

She is still babbling like crazy; hard to believe she hasn't said a real word yet.

16 November 08

I was relieved to wake feeling only slightly hungover. It was a grey day and likely to rain, so we needed somewhere indoors to go. We hit upon the idea of going to the aquarium in Shinagawa-ku. It took us less than an hour to get there, even though we had to make a couple of detours to and from stations due to the Tokyo Womens Marathon, which was being held along the highway past Tamachi and on towards Yokohama.

The aquarium was a popular destination on a dreary Sunday, so on entering we found it awash with children. Emily was captivated with the accessible tanks, and loved the tunnel that allowed us to walk among huge rays and turtles. The miniature coral reef was teeming with gorgeously-coloured tropical fish.

With some reservations, we went to see the sealion show. Though it was amazing what they could train the animals to do, I came away feeling a bit sad. They had them balancing balls on their noses and playing hula-hoop. One of them even balanced on one flipper. Emily was just as excited by all the kiddies there as the display itself.

We were ravenous, so went to the on-site restaurant, which looked better than it was. The menu was poor and the food even more so. Nick's arrived within 2 minute of ordering, so was clearly not freshly-cooked. We had a bit of a falling-out as Emily resisted going off for a nap and I got a bit strung out. After making peace, we re-entered the aquarium and went along for the dolphin show. Again, their stunts were incredible, but it seemed so demeaning. We left via the penguins and then the seal enclosure, both of which had Emily kicking her legs.

15 November 08

TMG had organised a mums' night out, an opportunity which I leapt at. I was a bit surprised to hear that it was to be from 6 until 10pm, but since I found it so hard to stay up last time I went out it was probably a good idea. This meant that I had to leave Emily's whole evening routine to Nick; he has done most of it before, but not the whole thing on his own.

So off I went to Shibuya at the appointed hour. Leaving the station I found it to be heaving with shoppers and early revellers. The famous Hachiko Square, the multiple zebra crossing that a lot of people will have seen on Japan footage, was one mass of bodies when the lights went green. I have lived in Central London and travelled at rush hour there often, but nothing prepares you for this experience.

Arriving at the restaurant I met Stephanie, who had organised the evening; the remainder of the party turned up soon after and we were soon ordering cocktails. I took a chance and ordered one called 'Kamikaze'; thankfully it was just to my liking: vodka-based with lime. Whether it was due to the drink or my inate clumsiness, as I was passing a dish across the table I sent a carafe of sangria flying over Cindy and Steph. Luckily for me they were both wearing black, but I was still mortified. The food was fairly good - a range of dishes from right across Asia. The only thing that marred the occasion was that the people at the next table were all smoking.

We didn't stay long though, as we were due at a karaoke venue at eight. Another couple of ladies joined us there, and we were shown to our private room, which was very comfortable, with squidgy banquettes and plenty of space for us 8. We wasted no time in punching in the numbers for the tracks we fancied singing, and ordering more drinks. As we had chosen an unlimited drinks package I felt it necessary to order an umeshu (plum liqueur) on the rocks about every ten minutes, to make sure I got good value from the deal.

I was disappointed to find that I still haven't regained the lower tones that I used to be able to reach before I got pregnant. To be honest, you find yourself screeching the lyrics most of the time, especially as the booze took effect! The disappointing thing was that as so many tracks were being selected, hardly any of the ones I chose came up. My choice of 'Summer Nights' from Grease was very popular with all though.

All too soon our two hours was up, and we all wished we could stay longer. Unfortunately it was not possible to extend and we had to leave. We all vowed to do it again soon. Steph and Maia had to go home, but the rest of us weren't ready to go yet. We wandered around Shibuya trying to find a drinking hole, eventually ducking into a basement bar that was advertising 'Live & Drinks'. I really thought we would find ourselves in a strip joint but actually it was a live music venue. It was fairly quiet in there as the musicians had packed up, so we could have a bit of a natter. Strangely the place closed at 11.30 though. We decided we had better call it a night at that point and made our way home. I felt perfectly safe to take the train and walk back from Tamachi, thereby saving a big cab fare. When I got back I found that Nick was still up, watching football highlights!

14 November 08

I am starting to regret offering my services as a mentor to new TMG members. As well as wanting to 'give something back' I was hoping to maybe make some new friends (although I don't really need any more, to be truthful). After one postponement on her part, I made my way to the house of my next mentoree (is that a word?), in Higashi Gotanda. She was alright, but we didn't exactly gel. I took a couple of cakes from the patisserie and she didn't even thank me. She is new to Tokyo, but seems to have settled in just as well as I have, so I am not sure why she requested a mentor. She has already got a circle of mums that she meets regularly. We did have one thing in common - she works for Barclays Capital, though we didn't cross over as I left after 5 years in 2002, and she only started in 2003.

Trying not to be green with envy, but their house was great. It was in a lovely neighbourhood and it had two huge, beautifully-furnished reception rooms and 4 bedrooms. I need to meet some mums who are in a similar position to me (ie. not here on a generous expat package). As their 9-week old baby is not on the move, it was not baby-proofed, so I spent the whole time trying to stop Emily from wrecking the joint. Her husband, an Aussie (she is Singaporean), arrived home unexpectedly early, and I felt like a spare part. Emily had been perfectly happy in this strange place, but as soon as he put in an appearance she burst into tears. Perhaps it was disappointment when she realised it wasn't her Daddy. We were on the point of leaving anyway. Having gone upstairs to change, he returned as we were leaving,and she promptly started crying again!

12 November 08

On a damp and decidedly chilly afternoon, I took Emily to play at the jidokan in Hamamatsucho. This is definitely our favourite: it has a huge range of toys and books and Emily has a whale of a time there. She got very rosy cheeks, rushing around and crawling after toddlers (to their annoyance!). There is a giant white teddy and a huge panda there, and she kept going over to them and laying down in their lap, which was incredibly sweet. They have a great walker, a wooden steam train that choo-choos as the wheels power a bellows. I stood her behind it and she took four little steps before dropping to the safety of the floor. A group of mums came in with some similar-aged babies and she was by far the most confident and sociable. She is quite happy to be away from me as long as she can look round every now and then and check I am still there.

One of the mothers had a sweatshirt on with a good example of Japlish - it said 'multitude sentry'. Just what is that supposed to mean?

Though I always rail against it at home, it is quite nice to see some Christmas decorations going up in the shops and malls here. No doubt the desperate retailers in the UK have long since put theirs up. I'm glad we will be able to decorate at home a bit, though not until after the 22nd, of course.

10 November 08

Our first anniversary, and some gorgeous flowers arrived in the morning - nicer than my bouquet last year!

Unfortunately Emily was not going to make it a pleasant day for me. It was the first of our series of mother and baby classes at KSpace. I'd had reservations about the timing (4-4.45), and my pessimism was well-founded. Though she was tired, she would not go to sleep on the way. It is only a 25 minute walk, and I allowed an hour to ensure that she went off and napped for half an hour. I got very stressed out and admit I shouted and swore at her, making her cry, poor mite. As a consequence she was too weary to enjoy the class and only smiled once, unlike last time. We are switching to the 2pm class and I hope that will improve her participation and enjoyment.


To my shame as a wife, our anniversary meal was a pitiful pasta bake and a bought dessert. Perhaps I could have managed something more special if we hadn't been away, or is it the top of a slippery slope?


Will my brain ever return to pre-pregnancy sharpness (such as it was)? My words come out all wrong . Today I said to Emily 'let's wash our teeth'. I often come out with a word that is related, but not quite correct. I blame it on the hormones.

9 November 08

Emily has been sleeping until at least 7am most days lately, but of course, being away from home it was not surprising that she stirred at 5.30 and would not go back to sleep. So much for our hoped-for 8 hours of kip. We took it in turns to entertain her while the other snoozed under a nice cosy duvet. She enjoyed emptying Nick's wallet: starting as she means to go on!

Breakfast was OK, if not that substantial, and at least Emily ate all her porridge. From our table we looked out on a gloomy lake and brooding hills. It was drizzling a bit as we got aboard the first pirate ship of the day, the Victory, back across to Togendai at the northern end of Ashinoko. What would Nelson have made of the Japanese Hinomaru flag flying, and his ship being touted as a pirate boat?

Our objective was a ropeway ride to Owakudani (Hell Valley), on the slopes of a shapely peak. This was another cluster of steaming vents in a volcanic wasteland of stunted and blackened trees and yellow-streaked earth.

The ride up took us above some lovely tree colour, and in the distance marched blue-grey ridges layered with cloud.

It is a popular spot, and crowds were queuing to see black eggs being boiled in one of the hot springs. We didn't fancy waiting in line, so we took a little walk up a side trail for a few minutes, but it was too cold to keep Emily out for long. Again, we'd underestimated the conditions. Nick thinks I am mollycoddling her, but at least she's not buried in enough clothing for an Arctic expedition like most Japanese babies I've seen lately. I'm surprised they don't expire with heatstroke or suffocation.

Back in the cable car station a delicious smell wafted, which Nick correctly identified as baked sweet potato. We decided to treat ourselves to some later, but as we needed to feed Emily we headed upstairs to the restaurant. It was too early for lunch really (though Nick ordered a curry!), and maybe that is why Emily refused to eat. Frustrating, but understandable.

Afterwards we took the last ride down to Sounzan. The trees on this last leg were even more vivid

and across the valley we could see where a large kanji character had been marked out on the hillside for an Obon beacon. Typically, on our return the potato seller had just sold out his last batch, except for one little spud which we had to share.

We thought we had better get back across the lake, so sailed one more time on the Victory, getting off at Hakone-machi, half a mile further along the south shore. By the time we arrived it had come on to rain lightly, and we were really hungry. We couldn't find anywhere to eat without a queue, and needed to make our way back so that we could pick up the bus for the journey home. The road was virtually gridlocked, so I was panicking about the bus being stuck too. Consequently, I didn't enjoy the path back to Moto-Hakone, which passes through a famous cryotomeria grove, even though we found another baked sweet potato stand.

We grabbed a few provisions from 7-Eleven and rushed back to the pension to collect our backpack, noting as we passed that the queue at the bus stop was very long. As we parted from our friendly host he exhorted us to 'please come back'. It'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

I was now really concerned about getting home. At the bus stop, a man with a light sabre was wielding it like a cattle prod, trying to cram dozens of people onto the bus. I've no idea how they managed to get so many on one vehicle, but thankfully it meant we were at head of the line for the next one, so we got a seat and could put our rucksacks on the only luggage rack. I was pleased that we did not take same windy road back to Odawara. Emily had cheese triangles and satsuma to tide her over as she had had so little lunch. Despite my panic, we got to the station at the time we'd planned. It was exciting seeing several bullet trains rip through while we waited on the platform, Odawara being on the mainline. Darkness fell as we travelled back into Tokyo.

8 November 08

As always before a stay away from home, I was edgy and fretful before we set off for our night in Hakone. I know it winds Nick up, but I just can't help it. Anyway, we managed to get away at the time we wanted to, and were soon at Shinagawa for our shinkansen ride to Odawara, which is on the coast about 50 miles south-west of Tokyo. Again we ditched the pushchair, in favour of our fancy new baby-carrier backpack.

The high-speed bullet train whisked us there in less than half an hour; now Emily had been awake for a long time, so we set up camp in one of many coffee shops at the huge station there so that she could have a nap. The bus ride to our destination, Moto-Hakone, on the shore of Lake Ashinoko, took a little over an hour. The latter half of the route was round tortuous bends, and Emily got travel sick. She went hot, then pale, and then threw up all over me before going into a deep sleep. We were worried, and kept checking that she was still breathing! To our relief she seemed right as rain when we got to our accommodation and she woke up.

It was a small pension, the only place where we had been able to get a room at short notice in what is a very popular area for Tokyoites and in prime leaf-viewing season. Since we were paying 20,000 yen (over £100) each for the night though, we were expecting a certain level of luxury. We were therefore disappointed to find that though it was in a great lakefront location it was a slightly seedy place with cheap, stained carpet and plastic covered tables. Our room on the top floor was a good size with a large bathroom, for Japan, but no view (to be fair, we knew that before we booked) and intermittently a strong smell of drains. The owner had very good English, and was very jolly (as well he might be, fleecing his guests that much).

We wasted no time in sallying forth in search of a place to get lunch, walking along the lakeshore to some restaurants nearby. The lake is in a beautiful setting of mountains, most over 1,000 metres. The trees were a mix of cedar and deciduous trees, the latter in various stages of turning yellow and red. Unfortunately the weather, which had been a settled high for a long time, had turned grey and a bit misty, so the full brightness of the leaves was dampened, but we still appreciated the scenery.

We found a restaurant with a table on tatami mats, and pulled up a little chair for Emily, as it was way past her usual lunchtime. With a lot of coercion we got her to eat her pouch of pork risotto before we tucked into tempura on noodles and broth. Once again I wondered why they serve lovely crispy battered veggies on soup, so that it get soggy and the batter falls off. It was still very tasty, nonetheless. With her blonde hair, Emily was attracting lots of admiring glances. Two young women approached and asked hesitantly if they might touch her; they took her hand so gingerly you'd think she was made of china.

With a couple of hours of daylight left we decided to take a trip across the lake on one of the 'pirate ships' that cruise across it. We didn't stay above deck for long as there was rather a chilly breeze blowing, but did see the lower right flank of nearby Mount Fuji through the cloud before it disappeared again. It's in the middle of the picture below, but you'd have to know or you'd never guess there was a 3,600m mountain lurking there.

From the many posters we'd seen, it was frustrating to know what a fantastic view we were being deprived of. By the time we'd gone across the water and back it was close to dusk, so we made our way back to the pension to begin Emily's evening routine.

Though she was wide awake and babbling as our dinnertime approached, I took a chance and left her in the room with the monitor on, expecting her to cry. A few minutes later I crept back in, convinced the monitor wasn't working as there was no sound, only to find her fast asleep, but several feet from where I'd left her on the futon. Our meal left us full but far from happy with the quality of the food. There was a large plate of raw bonito slices - the cheapest fish you can buy, pretty much. We shared a large nabe (stew) of cabbage, tofu, mushrooms, cod and a few small scallops. It was filling but lacking any flavour. Also on offer was a huge platter of Alaskan crab legs, which the owner pressed upon us. The idea of cracking open a leg and extracting the flesh was abhorrent but I made myself try just one. Nick enjoyed the meat, but I would have liked some lemon to squeeze on to make it more palatable.

Without a communal hot tub in the place to share together, we tiptoed back into our room and ran a bath, masking the drain odour with a sachet of bath salts. Though deep, the bath was not large enough for us to get in together. We got a nice early night, at least, snuggling under our duvets at 10pm. Unfortunately Nick's mobile rang at half eleven (his mate Skid calling to tell him Arsenal had beaten Man United), and it woke Emily. She was awake for an hour or more, crawling around on the futon between our two, wanting us to play, and sitting up babbling.

7 November 08

A quiet morning followed by a playdate in the afternoon at Sharon's. Taylor was very shy and quite upset when we first went in - you would think he would be confident, being on his territory, but Emily crawled straight in and started playing with his toys while he clung to Sharon and hid his face. It took him a while to risk leaving her and join in.

Emily made a small progress step today, putting an object into a container (albeit round - hard to get wrong, unlike a square or triangle), and also dropping a ball into a chute.

6 November 08

We hadn't seen Bettina and Jo for two weeks, so were glad to escort them round the Institute for Nature Studies in Shirokanedai. Our little convoy of buggies and cute babies attracted the attention of the mainly elderly people walking round. No real sign of autumn, though the mix of trees there doesn't lend itself to vivid leaf colour.

Emily was very tired by the time we left there, and I'm afraid I gave her a breadstick to prevent her from falling asleep until we got to a cafe, as her eyes were starting to roll and her head to loll. All the parenting principles I set out with are gradually being eroded!

Isy has thrown down the gauntlet: she is seven weeks younger than Emily but already walking with assistance.

5 November 08

A momentous day in the States, with Obama winning the election. I was quite nervous as the results began to roll in, but it soon became apparent that he would take it comfortably. I was so glad that America had the courage to vote for a black man. He has a lot of charisma, and if he is half as genuine and passionate as he appears then surely great things will happen.

Emily is so sweet; I feel so full of regret that her grandmothers can't see her more often. She can't remain this cute forever!

2 November 08

Emily really likes watching us brush our teeth, and recently she has started practising with my electric brush. A good idea, now that she has a tooth.


Having returned the baby carrier to Bettina and Steve, we needed to buy one before our trip to Hakone, so our afternoon trip out was to the sportswear quarter near Jimbocho. Most shops seemed to be focusing on skiing and snowboarding, but after a frustrating time ploughing through heavy crowds we found that L-Breath stocked three carriers for us to choose from. Emily was taken with the free little teddy bear that came with the Deuter carrier, but we chose it for more practical reasons as it was the best fit for Nick.

1 November 08

A lazy day, with a sunny afternoon walk through Azabu Juban to the bright lights and glitzy shops of Roppongi Hills, stopping off on the way for a late lunch at a Thai restaurant.

Emily enjoyed playing in the family room there, but the convex mirror made her head look elongated, reminding us of how it was after the ventouse.