30 January 2009

Dreary wet weather descended on the Kanto region and I had the lights on all day. Emily seems to be coping with the bombardment of the MMR viruses, but has succumbed to another cold, with constant streams from her nose. She woke a couple of times in the early hours unable to breathe freely, though it doesn't help that her favoured position to sleep in is lying face down on top of her monkey.


Nick had a company annual medical healthcheck, and I ｗas amazed at the level they take it to. He had to provide two stool samples, and go without food all morning in readiness for a barium meal. It's good to get a free overhaul I suppose.


Jo brought Isy over in the afternoon. Though it meant I didn't get out, I was glad really, since I had been to the closest two jidokan already this week, and the conditions were so grotty. My already ailing diet took a turn for the worst as she arrived with a couple of cakes. We had a pleasant couple of hours, and it was nice to be able to talk without breakling off to chase after a wayward toddler.

27 January 2009

After the success of our lunch at Paul we decided to risk it again. Though in a business district they do get children eating in there but don't have any high chairs; I secured Emily to her chair with my scarf and it was a great success-she ate most of a full portion of salmon quiche and chips.

Afterwards we went to Pokke play centre, and she toddled around charming the attendants there with her smiles (in Japan it is an onomatopoeic word 'nikoniko'). At the end they had their usual singalong, and after a few visits I can now join in with the actions, if not the words.

26 January 2009

Our usual weekly trip to KSpace. We really ought to upgrade from the Crawlers class to Walkers, but there's no room this term. She enjoys it anyway though. This week she was able to stagger around trying to catch the bubbles they were blowing, with a bemused look on her face when they popped at her touch.

25 January 2009

Thankfully a much brighter day. After lunch and some prevarication we went off to Shinjuku Gyoen, where we discovered a grove of white daffodils and a few winter cherries with their delicate blossoms.

The sunshine was warm but it felt decidedly cold in the lengthening afternoon shadows. Emily happily wandered about on the yellow grass and mud. As I expected, life is getting easier with the arrival of her ability to walk, although we can't cover much distance yet, obviously (especially when she wants to examine every twig and stone in minute detail).

We stopped off at IDC on the way home and ordered some curtains for our bedroom - at last! It was worth the wait though, as the material I liked had been reduced. They have cut their prices on all imported products due to the massive shift in the exchange rates. 230 yen to the pound has dropped to about 150 to the pound in the course of the last year.

Later I learned that Jill is being sent home soon. She'd suspected that her husband would be repatriated due to the current economic climate but the news has come sooner than she'd thought. My social circle is collapsing, thanks to the crunch. Expats are being sent home in their droves.

24 January 2009

First thing after breakfast we had to bundle Emily off to the hospital for her MMR jabs. In Japan they only offer measles and rubella, so we had had to request the mumps separately. It was all over quickly enough, and though Emily cried, it seemed to have been triggered by dropping her teddy bear as much as by the needles. I left Nick to finish up there and rushed off to my Japanese class. As usual, I was embarrassed to speak out loud at first but warmed to it by the end of the two hours. It is the particles (in, at, to, of etc) that throw me when under pressure. Our tutor was a very overweight young woman who was wearing a zebra-print dress that skimmed her ample thighs and displayed her large bosom to full advantage. Nick suggested that she might betrying to ensnare a rich foreigner.

After lunch we took Emily to Shibaura jidokan to play for an hour or so. She didn't seem to be suffering from any ill effects and played happily. They have some home-made skirts for the kids to dress up in, and Nick put one on Emily.


Our evening was swallowed up by trying to navigate our way through a Japanese taxes questionnaire from the accountants that was supposed to make Nick's return easier but seemed hideously complicated to me. Their form was designed for an expat with many benefits, not a local like him. I resented our precious spare time being taken up with so much irrelevant mumbo-jumbo.

23 January 2009

A definite resemblance to Nick's Gran and Mum in this photo...

We had a gathering of the escape committee for the Atami onsen overnight trip (ie. me and the three other mothers who feel brave enough to leave their little ones for 24 hours in the capable hands of their partners). We'd arranged to get together at Metropolitan Childrens Hall in Shibuya - not a venue I like, as it is old and run-down. The toys are grubby and often broken. In fact, it is scheduled to be closed down in a couple of years for lack of funds. A shame, as it is nonetheless very popular, having lots of activity rooms aimed at different ages. Why don't they charge a small entrance fee? Most people would be happy to pay a nominal amount, and with the number passing their doors they could easily make enough to upgrade and keep it open. Emily was happy enough playing, mind you. We couldn't all sit together and discuss arrangements as at any one time at least one of our kids would be on the move or getting into a precarious situation.

On my way home, I paused at Meguro station for a comfort stop. When Emily is in the buggy I have to use the disabled loos, which have room to wheel her in as well. I pressed the button of the automatic door and as it slid back was taken aback to see a man sitting there reading a paper! Either the door was faulty or he had forgotten to lock it. I didn't see anything I shouldn't, but it took quite a few seconds for the auto-door to slide back across and he must have been visible to the many commuters rushing by. Serves him right for taking up a facility for minority users.

On TV in the evening, we caught a programme that talked about pet-owners blogs. One woman was surprised to find her online doggie diary being accessed by many people, and soon had 20,000 readers; on the animal's birthday she received more than 100 congratulatory messages!Maybe Kate ought to start one about Claudius, Florence and Mathilda.

22 January 2009

I had to decline the invite to join Bettina and Jo on a trip to Ikea, as the times were unsuitable for Emily's routine. After lunch we went to Kinshicho on our own instead, and I finally got round to measuring Emily's feet and buying some shoes. This last week or so (coinciding with her walking) she has been arching her back and going rigid whenever I try to put her in the stroller. I had to balance periods in the pushchair with plenty of opportunity to play and walk around the shopping mall, which limited the amount I could achieve there, though the main objective was met at least.

21 January 2009

Today was a momentous day: Barack Obama's inauguration. A pity it was at 2am our time as I would have liked to watch as he gave his speech. At least he made it through the day without being assassinated! I hope he is as genuine as he seems, but I fear he has come to the fore at the wrong time as he is sure to fail in the face of the current economic climate, and the American people will be disillusioned after their bravery in choosing a minority candidate.


We went to meet Nick for lunch. Though it was grey we decided to stay outside as the rain was holding off, but wished we hadn't as it was rather cold. Poor Emily had to eat her lunch while strapped in the buggy, and her hands were almost purple by the time she'd finished and I could put her gloves on.


Afterwards we went to the first TMG meeting for about 6 weeks, held at Hamamatsucho jidokan. There were about 10 attendees, several new to the group. It was hard to keep watch on Emily and make small talk with strangers. There is a very nice English girl who I feel I could get on well with; her baby is 7 months but quite advanced.

20 January 2009

I'd hatched a last minute plan to get the boat to Odaiba, but though I rushed to the jetty I was a few minutes late and missed it, so decided to make do with a visit to the Shibaura jidokan nearby. While there I added another mum to my collection, this time a Japanese with passable English, who wanted to improve the basic language she picked up while living in the US for two years. I thought to myself that I would be very glad to be as proficient in Japanese as she was in English after two years exposure. Her baby was only 4 months old, so was not really interacting. I find it hard to talk with mothers whose babies are not moving at all, as my memories of that stage are so blurry now that I cannot provide much insight into their current experiences, and their little ones seem so uninteresting.

After a good start,　Emily's　attempts　at　feeding　herself　have　gone　downhill;　she　just　gouges　out　half　the　pot　and　waves　the　spoon around, or holds the pot upside down.

18 January 2009

An overcast day. After lunch we went to BIC Camera yet again, to get a microphone for our new PC. It was a matter of amazement to us that after spending so much on it, it did not have one built in. Luckily we didn't need to try Emily's patience too much as we got what we needed quickly and cheaply. We carried on to Hibiya Park so that she could spend a while tottering about. She was still crawling at times, but mainly walking, though she seemed happier holding our hands. Perhaps it was because she was wearing shoes and the ground a little uneven.

Given the dreary weather it wasn't surprising that the park was very quiet. We were given further reason to leave when we realise that Emily had done a poo. It was the first time in months that she'd done so in public: she is a creature of routine and I can almost set my watch by her daily 6pm nappy. Sorry - too much information! So we quickly tried to find a cafe where we could deal with the incident and get a coffee and snack into the bargain. Unfortunately the area is a business district, so we had to go further afield to Shimbashi to track down somewhere suitable. I normally avoid the Starbucks rip-off, Excelsior, as they don't fully segregate the smokers, but this one was cavernous and there was hardly anyone polluting the air so we stayed quite a while and chatted (something we rarely have time to do these days).

16 January 2009

As it was Bettina's birthday, Jo had invited us to her place for lunch. She made the main course and I took a very naughty baked chocolate cheesecake (a Delia recipe, of course). Bettina brought a half bottle of bubbly, which was very welcome. This was the first time I had been to Jo's apartment on Shibaura Island. It was about the same size as ours, but lighter and a bit more modern in decor.

Jo and Bettina know how frustrated I have felt by Emily's slow progress, so they were delighted when she toddled in from the hall. She is now, officially, a toddler, I think, as she is walking more than crawling. She and Tim wasted no time in exploring and rummaging through Isy's toy basket, though as always there were lots of tussles over the same toy. It was a really pleasant afternoon, and I felt a bit guilty having a nice time while Nick was slaving away.

14 January 2009

Nothing much to report, except that Emily is spending more and more time on her feet and tottering around a few steps at a time. Oh, and here's a cute picture I can't resist adding..

13 January 2009

Emily definitely spent more of her time on her feet today, especially at the jidokan in Shibaura, where she clocked up at least 20 consecutive steps. I think we are on the home strait now, but I've said that before!

12 January 2009

Another public holiday. This time it was Coming of Age Day, when all those who will attain 20 during the year dress up and visit shrines. I read that some strip down to underwear and pour water over themselves in a purification ritual. Brrr. Nick was certainly glad to have another day off, though I didn't get a lie-in as Emily woke crying at 6.30, third day in a row of early wakings.

Though a holiday, KSpace were still running classes, so Nick took Emily this time while I went and relaxed in a cafe. It sounded as though he enjoyed it, and she got filthy crawling around in the nearby park afterwards before they came to meet me.

11 January 2009

Late morning saw up making our way to Yokohama, Japan's second largest city, 20 miles away around Tokyo Bay. We met Nick's old boss from Mitsubishi in London, Mr Hashioka, and he escorted us to his company apartment where we were having lunch. He and his wife are in their late forties, and live there with their teenage son. They are true Europhiles, and have a motley collection of assorted quasi-antique furniture and ceramics from the UK. He also apparently has a fetish for hand-made English shoes (he used to go regularly to Northampton to buy them when he was in the UK) and reputedly has a collection of more than 100 pairs. They had a wonderful view from their 11th floor apartment, out into the bay and across to the newly-developed harbour area. Its Landmark Tower is the tallest building in Japan. Emily was very excited about a big wind turbine turning lazily nearby, and the seagulls that passed periodically.

After feeding Emily we all sat down to a lunch of fresh baguettes, insalate tricolore and tuna pasta. Emily was happy with a steady supply of bread and cucumber, and kept squealing with delight at their Harrod's teddy bear. Mr Hashioka explained that he would be 55 in seven years and that, as is common practice, he is then expected to take a lesser job within Mitsubishi, at a lower salary and without accommodation provided, so he was starting to worry about it. Their son stayed in his bedroom studying most of the time we were there. His father told us that he had been lazy for several years, but when he was younger he was handsome so they indulged him; now he was older they weren't so happy about his progress. He is in a Keio high school, which makes him attractive to girls, apparently! He seemed personable enough, once he put in an appearance, and was quite interested in Emily, even asking for a picture with her as we left.

10 January 2009

My long-awaited Japanese classes began. Although I feel that I have been picking up quite a bit here and there, I need regular structured learning with other people, where I can actually practise talking. The class had about 12 students, from countries as diverse as Sweden, India and Tunisia. I was the only Brit, but befriended an American woman and sat next to her. The class was a lot more full-on than the one I used to attend in Durham; back then I was by far the oldest and the others were mainly university students who were not very serious about learning Japanese as they had no real use for it. By contrast, those in my new course are all here on the ground and need to improve their language skills to make their life here easier. The Durham cohort was primarily British, and therefore very backward in speaking loud and clear in front of their classmates; other nationalities don't seem to be so reticent. When I first had to stand up and introduce myself I flushed red and actually apologised for being shy. For the first half an hour I felt as though I was out of my depth as the Japanese teacher freely mixed her own language with English and it was hard to follow. By the end of the two hours though, I felt a lot more confident that I was in the right level course and that I could hold my own among my fellow students.

After the excitement of Thursday, Emily hardly walked on her own at all on Friday. Returning home from class, Nick told me that Emily had taken a dozen or so steps, so I was relieved. I was hoping that she would 'perform' for him. After lunch we went to Hamamatsucho as we didn't have enough time left to go further afield. We went to Takeshiba Pier as we wanted to enquire about the jetfoil service to Oshima island, then braved the ice cold blast to go up to view the harbour area. We'll have to go again when it's warmer, to take in the interesting view of boats, cranes etc.

Our other objective was a visit to Kyu Shiba Rikyu garden, back near Hamamatsucho station. We'd been there once before many months ago, before Emily could even crawl. It is a small but attractive oasis among ugly buildings and rail lines. Inside the entrance was a sort of stable containing fully-fledged peonies, some almost the size of dinner plates.
They also had the triangular supports for pine trees that we'd seen at Korakuen.

As they weren't there last time, I can only assume that they are protection against breakage from the weight of snow. If only we had a bit of snow! The last two days it has felt cold enough but the precipitation has only been rain. We were almost the only visitors there and let Emily have free rein on the grassy banks. There were dozens of ducks on the small lake, sharing the water with the many ubiquitous huge carp. For the first time, Nick and I each took one of Emily's hands and walked along the path with her between us. If only we could get that momentous photo of the special moment. We both felt that events like this should be shared with family, and were guilty and sad.

8 January 2009

Hurray! Emily has finally decided that she wants to walk. From the word go today, she spent a lot of time standing, and by lunchtime she had walked right across the living room, albeit very haltingly with lots of pauses to regain her balance.

At the local park later, in almost spring-like conditions, she also walked a lot, though mainly holding onto me with one hand. She wore the borrowed trainers, and what with that and the uneven ground it must have been hard for her to get the confidence up to go it alone much, but I want her to get used to wearing footwear.

7 January 2009

I had asked Jill, newly returned from Blighty, to come to Pokke, the new jidokan in Tamachi. As Geraldine had also asked if I wanted to meet up, I asked her along too. The staff were a bit strict and told Jill to keep an eye on Sophia as she toddled off investigating, though the layout of the place makes it easy for them to go out of sight. Emily took about 7 consecutive steps and had a grin on her face as she did so. I won't get my hopes up though.


For the last couple of days I've gritted my teeth and let Emily feed herself yogurt, as her coordination seems to be much improved. She's not doing too badly, though she loses interest long before the bottom of the pot.

6 January 2009

The social circle restarted after the break, with a playdate with Bettina and Jo. At my suggestion, we went to Hamamatsucho. It was a bright day (12th day in a row with no rain in Tokyo), so we first walked over to Shiba Koen park and let the babies roam on the grass (now completely yellow and dry). Isy had got really steady with her walking in the two weeks since we saw her, and I was beside myself with frustration at Emily's tardiness. There were lots of little dogs being exercised, mainly long-haired daschunds, and once or twice they came rushing over en masse and were barking quite fiercely, leading us to snatch the babies up protectively.


It was Jo and Bettina's first visit to the jidokan there, and they were suitably impressed by the wide range of toys on offer and the general ambience of the place. Tim had his first push of a baby walker and his little face was wreathed in smiles. It was unusually busy and Emily got upset several times when bigger children took the walkers away from her. A taste of her own medicine, as she often does the same with smaller babies. She towers over many Japanese kids so people assume she is older, and are surprised to see that she can't walk.

4 January 2009

Emily woke at 5, but thankfully then went through to 7.30. However, after my late night my eyes were burning, though I didn't have much of a hangover as it hadn't been a heavy session. Needless to say, when she had her mid-morning sleep I also went back to bed for a nap.


In the afternoon we popped over to the Embassy. James' mother Carol opened the door to us - I'd forgotten that she was staying, but apparently she has no hard feelings towards Janet (his step-mother), so Nick didn't need to feel awkward about his status as Janet's relative. Lottie was very sweet and had changed quite a bit in the month since I'd seen her, though she still seems very baby-ish compared to Emily, whose features are quite mature, I think.
We drank lots of Earl Grey and had a natter, then stopped off at the playground on the way out. Tracey lent her a pair of trainers and she looked so grown up in them that it gave me a bit of a pang.

3 January 2009

A grey and chilly day for our first visit to Korakuen garden. In the entrance and dotted around, there were bulbs peeping through with cute little shelters set up to keep the frost off.

Nick spotted a phallic rock arrangement labelled the Male Stone, and nearby I saw one that had to be the Female Stone as it was a rock slab with a deep gouge running through it. The garden has a large central lake and a couple of smaller satellite ponds. Some pines were wearing strange triangular supports.

Trees were predominantly plum and maple, and there was a wisteria trellis and a rice paddy. So, like Hamarikyu, there is something of interest all year round. It's overshadowed by the Tokyo Dome theme park with its constant rumble of the very frightening-looking rollercoaster and accompanying screams. Korakuen was a good place for Emily, as there were several opportunities to crawl, the best being a bank covered in dry leaves. She was having such fun it was hard to take her away.

In the evening I went toTracy's hen party. They married quietly in Japan when she was 8 months pregnant, but are having a full wedding ceremony back in Scotland. The party was very civilised, at a restaurant on the 52nd floor of the Sumitomo Building in Shinjuku. As I made my way there, the streets were so deserted I would not have been surprised to see tumbleweed rolling past. Must be the efect of the New Year holidays. Over dinner Sharon got Tracy to play the Mr & Mrs game, having elicited responses from James previously. She didn't do very well, and I wondered how many I'd get right.

Six of the ten of us moved on to the nearby Park Hyatt bar, which by chance also happens to be on the 52nd floor. It was made famous in the film 'Lost in Translation'. I was amazed we could get in without queuing on a Saturday night, and we were given prime position by the window, with fantastic view over the nightscape. The cover charge was 2,000 yen each (about £13) and champagne cocktails were another 2,000 each, but it was a wonderful experience, to see how the other half live. The city was a mass of white lights dotted with pairs of flashing red aircraft warning lights. I finally plucked up courage to try some of the many toilet functions available on Japanese loos: soft spray and bidet spray. Both fairly pleasant, but not to my taste. I shied away from trying the massage setting though!

2 January 2009

Emily woke soon after 2am, and after half an hour of trying to settle her I brought her into bed with us. It took until gone 4 to get her to go off as she could not find a comfortable position (neither could I). She woke again at 6.30 and I realised how bad her nappy smelled, so changed her. She really bawled her head off, but stopped as soon as the clean one was on; I felt terrible for leaving it on. It would have been better to have woken her the night before. She seemed quite wakeful, so I put her on the breast so she would nod off again, though only until 7.30.

The substantial buffet breakfast was very welcome. Emily ate her cereal then happily scoffed whatever we gave her - croissant, scrambled egg, fruit and yogurt. Her appetite seems good when she can have some of our food. In the room, I got her to have a nap as she'd had such a disturbed night, then we quickly packed, checked out and walked back to the station to meet Aidan and Sachi.

We took a small local train along the coast. It was quite quaint, sharing the road with cars in places and passing within feet of houses at times. We got the odd glimpse of Mount Fuji, looking superb in the clear air. Alighting at Inamuragaseki, Emily's got her first experience of sand, which in this case was black and sparkly.

She'd been here before, back in March, but was just a wauling little bundle then. All around the grassy headland kites , pigeons and crows wheeled, and from there we could see the full majesty of Fuji.

As it was nearing lunchtime we continued along the safront to Hase, which was busy but not riduculously so given the holiday season. We had lunch in a really pokey place with only about 10 seats and tables 6 inches wide - the sort of place you can' only go to if you can speak and read Japanese as even the prices were in Kanji characters.

From there we walked on to the top of the road to see the giant Buddha bronze statue, cast in the 11th century and which has withstood tsunami and earthquakes.

Running out of time, we stopped off for coffee and waffles on the way to the station (naturally Emily helped us eat them). Travelling home, she was so tired that she dropped off on Nick's shoulder - it's rare for her to nap without being on the breast. She woke back in Tokyo when we were nearly home.

1 January 2009

Aidan and Sachi had invited us to join them at her family home down near Kamakura. We were collected from Tsujido station by Aidan and Mr Uno, who seemed quite a gruff little man at first. He took us about 300m to the hotel they had booked for us (there being no room at their house). We would happily have walked if we'd known it was that close, but no doubt he would still have insisted, since he wanted to make sure that he picked up the tab when we checked in. Extremely generous, but I still have trouble with accepting Japanese hospitality.

As he was waiting in the car, I felt under pressure to set the room up for later as fast as possible. For once it was a western room, so there was no futon for Emily to sleep on. We'd taken the travel cot, but as is typical in Japanse hotels the room wasn't blessed with any spare space. We thought there might just be room for it, though it would mean climbing over it in near darkness later, so I started assembling it. However, in the rush and under stress I managed to snap one of the geodesic poles. It didn't help my temper that the place was heated to furnace level, so we just grabbed a few necessities, opened the window as wide as it would go and rushed down to our hosts.

At their sizable detached house a couple of miles away, we were greeted effusively by Sachi's mother, brother and sister in law. We'd met her family briefly in 2007, at their wedding in California. Unfortunately they couldn't speak English any better than I speak Japanese, but somehow we managed to communicate the basics. Emily immdiately became the star attraction and was ecstatic when she saw their dachshund Purin. Plates of cheese and fruit were soon put out, and she wasted no time in helping herself. They thought it funny when she insisted on taking two of everything, as she likes to eat from alternate hands.

Soon after, Sachi's grandmother arrived, clothed in traditional dress though not full kimono and obi. I really felt frustrated at not being able to converse with them all without constant translation, and felt a bit guilty that Sachi, Aidan and Nick had to talk in English for my sake, thereby excluding the others. We sat down to some Japanese dishes while the others took care of Emily. Sachi's dad suddenly seemed a lot mellower, and I soon realised what a nice man he is. He really likes a good drink, Scotch being his thing, and said he wants to take Nick out for an evening sometime and show him the 'behind of the behind' of Japanese society, whatever that means. I was gobsmacked when he presented us with New Year gifts; for Nick, a bottle of Scotch, and for me a money envelope. I didn't realise what it was at first, and opened it in front of them. When I saw the flash of a large note I didn't know what to say (later I found that there was not one but two ichiman-en notes (at today's rates that is about £140). Sachi assured me that it is the custom to give these envelopes to one's children at New Year, but it did make me very uncomfortable all the same.

Emily tried her luck one too many times with Purin, who suddenly took exception to being hassld and snapped at her. I thought at first that she'd actually bitten her on the face. Grandma started demonstrating the tea ceremony, and I went over to watch. She kindly allowed me to have a go at the very complex series of precise moves. The resulting green tea was not as bitter as I expected; in fact, it was quite moreish and I asked for another. She is an amazing lady: aged 86 but looks 70. She puts it down to swimming every day (her daughter taught her when she was 70) and rubbing green tea on her face. There was a great painting of Fuji on wall, which grandma apparently painted twenty years ago. She also started handing me various gifts, though Sachi said she was clearing out as she doesn't want to leave lots of junk when she goes!

It was way beyond Emily's bedtime, so I got her ready. She was still very stimulated, but I took her upstairs to a makeshift bed of blankets onthe floor in Aidan's room. Then after she'd had her bottle and I'd laid her down I suddenly realised she had done a poo. I had to take her back down to the loo, which was freezing cold. In Japan, they often only heat one room and the remainder are chilly. No sooner was she settled back into her sleeping bag than I thought she'd done another, but I decided to leave it rather than undress her and take her back downstairs yet again (bad move, leading to much guilt, when she got a terrible rash next day). Eventually, with help of her beloved monkey, she went off to sleep and I was able to rejoin the fun downstairs.

We sat and drank sake and picked at snacks, but it seemed that we all felt weary, so we felt it was time to leave for the hotel at elevenish. The taxi was called, and with much trepidation I went to wake Emily. I'd never done this before, so was not sure how she'd take to being moved late in the evening. In the end, she cried out, then dropped back off on my shoulder. At the hotel, we were glad to find the room cooler. We put Emily down to sleep on towels on the floor in the small gap between bed and window, and she hardly stirred.