3 April 2009

After breakfast we played at Hon Shiba park in bright sunshine. This time the trains running right next to the park lost their fascination after the first ten or so had gone by. It must be hard to maintain the excitement in the face of so many. I think it is high time I dug out Emily's sunhat as it felt really strong even at 10am. She wasn't so keen on the pirate ship this time but was very adventurous, wandering off exploring. She kept trying to open the door to the hoikuen (nursery) opposite the park, as she could see the small children inside. She loved leaning over the side of the fountain pool fishing out leaves and getting wet arms.

Back at home she was only too happy to come out on the balcony and 'help' me with the gardening. I'd bought a miniature flowering tree (not sure if it is a cherry as there is no mention of sakura on the attached label) from an itinerant seller outside Zojoji and she thoughtfully relieved it of some of its heavy burden of blossom!

After lunch I took her to a kids modelling agency in Hiroo, called Sugar & Spice. Lots of expats have their kids registered there. They have a very pokey office (real estate prices must be sky high in this exclusive part of the city) crammed with desks and people. Emily failed to smile for the sample photos despite plenty of enticement from the staff, so I hope her fun personality shines through when prospective photographers are scanning their gallery of hopefuls. We'll see. It may be fun, and will hopefully make us a few quid over the years, which we'll ringfence to go towards something for Emily.

After we'd finished there we joined hordes of kids in nearby Arisugawa park and shared an icecream. The upper section of the park, especially the playground, was heaving with children along with their immaculately-groomed mums or Philipino nannies. Emily wouldn't have had a look in on the swings and slides with so many bigger children around anyway, so I stayed away and took her to the water feature, which I knew she'd be fascinated by. The grassy knoll in the clearing next to it was covered in plastic picnic mats and people chilling out under the pretty sakura trees, and seeing them knocking back beer or wine in the sunshine had me looking forward to a tipple later.