1 April 2009

After a visit to our local playground, awash with cherry flowers,

I found yet another little one close to home - this one also only 5 minutes walk. I suppose that as so few kids in Tokyo have a garden the authorities provide lots of neighbourhood places for them to play outside. As we were about to leave, a pair of tabby cats wandered in. Usually the cats here are very nervous, but these tolerated us getting close enough to stroke them. Perhaps it was because they were so fat that they couldn't be bothered to move, although when Emily's attentions became too much they eventually had to. I'm not sure where she got the idea, but she offered one a handful of leaves to eat - maybe from feeding grass to the cow recently.

After yet another curtailed nap (what's the alternative? no afternoon plans?), we rushed over to Shibaura as we were very late for Teo's birthday party. Kara had planned a picnic, but as it was wet she held it at her apartment-cum-gallery. It is a very sparse room 5 metres high, with bare concrete walls on which contemporarty artists hang their works. I don't know how she manages, being a single mum with her own business (and a very unreliable source of income at that), and sharing their living space with the odd exhibition. There were about ten mums and babies at the party, most Japanese and one from Kazakhstan (but with perfect English and married to a German). Emily was most taken with the view she had of Rainbow Bridge, and got excited every time she saw a monorail train go across.