Nick badly needed a lie-in, so we didn't go far in the morning, just to the local park. We were going to pick up lunch from the Israeli deli but in a fit of confidence I suggested that we might as well eat it there. Emily didn't seem too impressed at first and I was about to throw in the towel and declare it a mistake, but eventually Nick managed to get her to eat some of the meatball stew, though she was happier chomping on cucumber.
After her nap, we went to Musashi Koyama park. We had hoped to go in the splash pool but it had already closed for the year. It's a pleasant park but ridden with mozzies. Emily tried out some of the adventure equipment but most of it, like the death slide, is still too advanced for her. I can't wait for her to be a bit stronger and steadier so we can play together properly, though by then I fear I will have lost too much fitness; I am already finding that I tire very easily, even just walking with her in the buggy sometimes. She liked stroking a tabby cat we found lying on a bench, though she persists in rubbing their fur up the wrong way, which I know cats hate.
On another bench, we saw a tortoiseshell cat with similar colouring to Rosie lying prone, with an old chap sitting next to it cooling it off with a hand fan!
Back near the station a matsuri (festival) was in full swing. There were hundreds of men dressed in the ubiquitous blue patterned short cotton pyjamas, often with bandanas tied round their heads, drinking lots of beer. Kids were decked out in their sweet little yukata or jinbei (pyjamas). Several portable gilt shrines were being toted along the shopping arcade (supposed to be the longest in Japan).
Emily loved all the drums and chanting, and the highly decorated shrines. As it was already dusk, it felt like we were out really late. The nights are really starting to draw in again now. We decided to buy Emily her very own jinbei as there may be one or two more matsuri (festivals) to go to this year. She can always wear them round the apartment as PJs anyway.
In the evening I had a great run, assisted by the cooler conditions. In preparation for the Run for the Cure 10K next month, I upped the run time to 45 minutes. I changed my route to do a couple of circuits of manmade Shibaura Island. The island is ringed by a wide brick path surrounding modern apartment blocks, and is nicely landscaped. It is 1500m and I did two laps, plus getting there and back home.
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