3 November 2009

After a drab Monday, we woke to a bright but extremely cold day. In the last few days the temperature has dropped more than 10C and I have actually had to begin wearing more than one layer! It's the first time I recall seeing my breath since spring.

We made a fairly leisurely start as Nick was in sore need of a lie-in. The Tsukuba Express line is mainly elevated, so during the journey to our destination, about 50 miles north of Tokyo, we had fantastic views of the mountains to the west of the capital, including magnificent snow-capped Fuji. Isolated Tsukuba mountain beckoned as we rushed towards it across Kanto plain.

Before making our way to the peak, we stopped for an early lunch in the mall above the station. Tsukuba is a very family-friendly city, and everything feels new and fresh. The technology-orientated university probably attracts a lot of young families; the place seemed over-run with children. The bus to the base of the mountain took twice as long as when I used it before (on the TMG night away in May), primarily because there was a lot of traffic, it being a national holiday. Luckily, as hoped, Emily dropped off and slept on my shoulder as we crept along at snail's pace, and after 70 minutes we finally got off, at which point she woke.

Alighting at the stop near the shrine we pushed through the crowds to the cable car station, only having time for a cursory look over the rather attractive shrine and environs as we were now behind the ambitious schedule I had worked out.

As we rode up the funicular rail to the saddle between the twin peaks of Tsukuba-san we passed through forest that gradually became more autumnal as we climbed. On arrival I was surprised to see vestiges of snowfall lying around in some sheltered spots.

There was a sizeable queue for the return trip, which made me worry that there would be similar lines for the ropeway a few hundred metres away, so we did not tarry for long, despite a wonderful view to the north across ranks of forested hills.

The path leading to the top of the higher summit was muddy and rough, so Emily made slow progress. In the end we had to carry her as it was dangerously slippery in places. We found the jumble of boulders that makes up the peak to be crowded, and as the rocks have been smoothed by centuries of visitors to the small shrine there it was even more perilous. We managed to push our way through precariously to a spot where we could drink in the views back to the south and west; the sun was beginning to set and Fuji was silhouetted nicely against the orange sky. Tokyo looked insignificant at that distance and it was hard to believe it is the biggest conurbation on the planet.

Dropping quickly down to the ropeway station we found that the queue wasn't too bad and in quarter of an hour we were boarding the large gondola that would return us to the flanks of the mountain. At one point we crested a small rise and then the land suddenly dropped away, so I felt momentarily scared, but Emily seemed to really enjoy it. The shadow of the car flitted along against the sunset-lit woods below.

Feeling the wintry pinch of cold down at the bottom we grabbed a stick of dango ( sticky balls of rice-paste coated in sweet and sour sauce then barbequed) to ward off the cold, then boarded the shuttle bus for the return to Tsukuba station.

The ride back only took 50 minutes and it got dark soon after we set off. Emily was fretting a lot and wouldn't settle, then all of a sudden threw up all over my leg and the seat. Maybe it was the motion of the bus as we turned down the twisting mountain road, or the greasy tempura lunch we'd had. She did say 'tummy' once or twice beforehand but I didn't realise what she was telling me, and even if I had I'm not sure what I could have done. The other passengers were mainly dozing, thankfully, as it smelled awful even after we'd cleaned up as best we could. Luckily I had packed a change of clothes for Emily, and I had two tops so I could change, but I had to put up with stinky jeans all the way home. Once she'd been sick Emily was as genki as usual, and very excited to see the rising full moon peeping out from behind a hill. We were fortunate that a rapid service was about to depart for Tokyo; the ride passed quite quickly and we were soon home.

I was glad that I had prepared our evening meals ahead, because I only had half an hour before I was due to go out again, for a charity quiz in Ebisu. Anna had told me about the monthly quiz they were hosting at their Footnik bar and I had been itching to go but normally unable because it is always a Tuesday and Nick is never home in time; thanks to the public holiday he was around to take care of Emily so I could attend. I had put it out to TMG members to see if we could form a team, but only Steph and Bettina had expressed interest. Then Steph called to say she wouldn't be able to make it after all. Bettina rang to ask if her friend Sheila could come, so we still had our team of three: named in a hurry, we were 'Mums & Chum'. Naff I know, but all I could come up with under pressure.

I enjoyed the evening as it really was just like being in a pub back home (complete with draft London Pride and chunky chips), but the cigarette smoke was a reminder of how awful it used to be in bars in the UK. As always, I found that everyone else also knew the answers I knew and some must have a head full of trivia to get some of the obscure questions right. There was a whole round on Halloween and one on important November dates (eg. what is Nov 14th in India?). Everyone spent the music round with the answers on the tip of their tongue; I was completely a fish out of water for the spot the celebrities in costume round. When they said the final round was events in the news I rubbed my hands, since I read the Economist from cover to cover every week, but sadly it was not serious news items they were enquiring about and we ended up mainly guessing. The organisers were relying on neighbouring teams to mark each round, and I felt that our markers were rather severe in their judgement whereas we were quite generous to the team we checked, who were the eventual winners to boot. Still, a fun night and would like to go regularly if I could justify the cost of a babysitter.