27 February 2010

Emily was pleased as Punch with her new Peppa Pig backpack and T-shirt, and soon mastered putting the pack on herself. We didn't have very long to wait at Haneda airport; just enough time for refreshments in the cafe right opposite the take-off spot on the runway. Once aloft, we punched through the thick, low cloud over Tokyo and were soon treated to an awesome view of Fuji, its cone thrusting up through a sea of clouds.



The flight to Hiroshima was only an hour and a quarter, and we were soon landing. Though it is called 'Hiroshima International', it is one of many white elephant airports around the country and only sees a handful of flights a day, nearly all domestic. After a quick lunch in the terminal we were soon on the road, and Emily went to sleep after twenty minutes of chattering incessantly. Despite being near the famous bomb-blasted city, our goal was Tomonoura, a quaint village on the coast of the Inland Sea, the body of water between western Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku islands. This sea is home to over three thousand islands and is very picturesque.

In one town we had to stop at a level crossing as the lights had just started to flash and the warning sound was being given. We were astonished and alarmed to see a woman on a bicycle with two kids in front and back seats ignore the warnings and duck the first descending gate to pedal across. By the time she got to the other side the second barrier had come down and then she got the cycle wheels stuck on the tracks. It was rapidly becoming a scary situation, but luckily for her there was a lot of lead time between the gates coming down and the train passing; someone somewhere must have had manual control of the barrier because the one by her was then raised a little so she could get out. She laughed nervously once clear; I felt like I wanted to slap her for taking such a stupid risk. It was not that surprising though. People here are given very mixed messages about risk-taking, with a paternalistic state that issues countless safety warnings but puts cartoons where there should be a modicum of respect, like police boxes and fire engines; witness this pink rabbit safety barrier, which is not an unusual sight.





We found Tomonoura to be a fiendish place to drive, with little passing space for the heavy two-way traffic and also really busy with pedestrians sharing the narrow roads through the old village. I was glad that it was Nick driving, though he was having flashbacks to the dented door on Christmas Day. After some trouble locating the free car park, with Emily awake and agitated, we finally got there and gratefully piled out. Along the quayside we found lots of fish drying on racks, including some gross baby octopus coated in miso sauce.



The owner of these offered us a nibble of one, which Emily shied away from; Nick tried it but he had too masticate it hard. I'm afraid I declined her kind offer too.


Wooded Sensuijima island, where we were to stay overnight, lay a few hundred metres across the water.



Between was a smaller islet topped by a famous two-tiered pagoda with a torii down by the water.

We wandered around the village briefly and had refreshments in a 300 year old house, where they made fresh caramel in a pan over a gas stove for Nick's macchiato . Around the town, Emily was attracting tons of attention, for the first time in ages. Hardly surprising since I only saw one other foreigner the whole time we were there. With the sun fading and the temperatures dropping fast, we rode the miniature pirate boat over to the island, which only took about three minutes to Emily's disappointment. Our accommodation was a kokuminshukusha: a national hotel. Like all of the hotels around the area it was a very ugly building, but inside it had been refurbished quite nicely, and our room was a decent size and with a balcony and a separate tub looking out over the sea, sandy beach and a small island 300m away.

We dumped our stuff then wandered on the beach.


It was feeling chilly by now as the sun was setting, so we didn't stay out there for long. We had booked a private session in the communal bath on the top floor. It would have been a great time to be there if there was a good sunset but it was too cloudy. Emily had to be coaxed to go under the shower and then into the bath, but I inched her in on my lap and she quite liked it, though it was 40C and she soon turned pink.

The name of the dining room might raise a small snigger unless you know that FU in Japanese is always pronounced 'foo'.




Dinner was not as big or interesting as we had thought we would be getting. Nick thought he had asked for the works (kaiseki) but there must have been a misunderstanding. We got braised head of bream, sashimi, various small dishes of vegetable matter and tempura. I had to fill up on rice. Emily wouldn't try anything and just ate the raisin rolls and fruit I had luckily brought. After the meal we were treated to a surprise session of Taiko drumming: something I had always wanted to see in the flesh and hadn't as yet. It was very entertaining; somehow primitive and very stirring. Emily was transfixed while they played their couple of brief but exhausting routines. Despite the excitement she was asleep at 9 and we sat in the entrance lobby of our room talking a while before retiring at 10.

25 February 2010

On another balmy spring day, while Emily was in nursery I tried out a new hairdresser in Azabu, recommended by Jo and run by Aussies. I enjoyed being able to communicate what I wanted for once. Vladimir (not your usual Antipodean name!) really took my wishes on board and did me proud. Nick has been saying that I ought to go for a softer fringe, and it really did look better, though I worry that I won't be able to recreate it at home.


As I sat outside Tully's having a coffee, Emily and the other nursery kids came past on a little walk. I spotted them coming just in time and hid behind my magazine. Emily hadn't had a nap, so perhaps she was tired, as she was standing in the 'pink chariot'. It was very sweet seeing them going for their stroll around the neighbourhood, and attracting lots of attention from passers-by.

24 February 2010

It feels like Spring has sprung, with temperatures in the high teens. It is really hazy though - looks almost like those pictures of Beijing sheathed in pollution. I could barely see Nick's office from our place, only a little over a mile away.

Emily was completely crazy today, in a good way. She was almost literally bouncing off the walls, throwing herself off the sofa onto the beanbag repeatedly. Once or twice the exuberance turned to tears but she was good fun, if tiring. After a good run around at Hon Shiba, she should have been very hungry, but she turned her nose up at the beef stew that she has eaten many times before. I only have a narrow repertoire of dishes that I make for her, so I had better be brave and try a few new things.

Later we met Julia and Charlize at Skip Kids. Despite their high energy, the first thing they both did was stand in front of the TV, so I spent quite a lot of time climbing and sliding down the chute, and 'swimming' in the ballpit, to wear them out a bit. They have four little punchbags at the top of the softplay area and I really enjoyed punching them. It took me straight back to kung fu, and I yearned to get back into martial arts. I was trying to teach Emily how to do it, as I really want her to learn karate or kung fu once she is about 3 years old. It is such a good form of all-round exercise, and also teaches good posture and how the body fits together.

After her bath, Emily noticed my swimsuit hanging to dry in the bathroom. She insisted on trying it on, and it was quite a funny sight to behold.

22 February 2010

Poor Nick called from his hotel late at night sounding almost comatose, and as I had just finished a very stressful and frustrating breakfast with Emily I'm afraid I gave him short shrift.


It annoys me that Japanese pedestrians are very deferential and don't seem to realise they have priority on zebra crossings. They often wait until the road is clear (in which case, why have crossings at all?), or if they do have the temerity to step out and make a car wait they are very apologetic; today I saw a woman bow twice to a waiting taxi (scum of the earth!) as she scurried across. They nearly always trot over so as to minimise the inconvenience to the driver. I always make a point of asserting my right to cross, but it can be quite scary, especially if I have Emily with me.

21 February 2010

Nick was off to Narita early for his flight to London. He will be back Friday evening so most of the week will feel pretty much as normal, now that he is home so late every night, but Sunday yawned before us. Luckily, Julia had asked us to go along to the gymnastics class that Charlize attends, so I signed up for the free trial.

There were about 30 kids under three in the Tiny Tots 'I Can' class, held in a school gym hall near Arisugawa park. We all warmed up a bit and then they split us into three groups. First, we went over to the large trampoline and sat the kids around the edge. American Mr Lee, the brains behind the outfit, got us to give them turns bouncing. Emily was nervous about going over to him and holding his hands as she bounced tentatively a few times. The second time around she held my hands and tried to do a bounce, sit and stand motion. I think she liked it but was a bit too shy to get much out of it the first time.

After ten minutes or so we moved on to the next station, where an obstacle course had been set up. There were low and high bars to walk across, a small trampoline, bars to hang from and soft blocks to climb and do forward rolls down. Emily had relaxed now and really enjoyed this section.


Lastly, we played with footballs, kicking, and throwing and catching, though it was hard to get the girls to do what the instructor asked as they just wanted to run around and squeal. The three quarters of an hour class was over very quickly. I am quite tempted to sign her up for a course, but it starts at 9.30 Sundays, which would be a bit of a struggle to manage, and also because at current rates it works out at nearly 20 pounds for only 45 minutes. Ouch!


After the class we went over to the playground in Arisugawa park for a while; it was a warm, sunny morning so it was packed there. Julia asked if we would like to join them for lunch in Azabu Juban somewhere, so I thought we might as well tag along. Unfortunately, Emily was not interested in the Japanese meal of fish and rice at all, though the fish was very moist and tasty. She rarely goes for plain steamed rice. Charlize, by comparison, wolfed nearly all of Julia's lunch. I felt quite stressed out, and we left as soon as we'd all finished eating. I managed to get Emily to eat an onigiri on the way home and not for the first time wondered why she would eat rice in that form but not from a dish.

We had a quiet afternoon around home. I plucked up the courage to try the trike for a second time. Emily was keen, but as soon as we went down to the car park to practise she started making a fuss and just wanted me to push her. I tried my best to teach her how to peddle, but I think the trike is just too heavy for her to move by herself yet. Instead, I got her to steer, with some success. However, it was all very frustrating and stressful so the session was over after only quarter of an hour.

20 February 2010

The afternoon saw us visiting James and Tracey in their new house for Lottie's birthday party. With Tracey 'going local' at the embassy, having exhausted her assignment term, they had to move off the compound, and had found themselves a nice little house over in Yoyogi Uehara. We were part of a select gathering with just Emily, Tim and Taylor invited to share in the celebrations. It would have been a bit crazy with any more, to be honest. We hadn't seen Taylor in over a year and were amazed at this cute little chap with lovely long blond ringlets (a bit like Nick's cousin Robbie sported recently).

The four children had a rare old time playing, and then it was time for birthday tea. Emily ate way too much cake but then, so did I! I don't know how Tracey had managed to cater for us all with Lottie and baby Rudy to look after, though her mother-in-law Carol was also staying which helped somewhat.

19 February 2010

When we turned up at nursery to pick them up, Emily and Isy had Pooh and Mickey toys on the change mat; they were wearing plastic gloves and pretending to change them. They were so engrossed that they didn't rush over to us as they usually do. As we prepared to leave, Isy kept trying to put Emily's and Tim's socks and shoes on, and was then running around after Emily to help with her coat. Of course I am really pleased with Emily's verbal skills, but she is lagging Isy in a big way when it comes to physical ability. But then, who ever saw a 5-year old being dressed by its mother? It will happen, and it is only when I see Isy doing her stuff that I get fed up waiting for Emily to catch on.

18 February 2010

In the evening, Kate called unexpectedly to give us the news that Gran passed away. Despite her recent stroke it still took me aback. I suppose you think they are going to keep on soldiering on forever. Poor Nick was very cut up when I told him. What made it much worse for him was that as he was going to be in the UK next week he had planned to go and visit her. She was a wonderful woman, not at all inwardly-focused like so many elderly people, and always with an anecdote to tell. I'd heard them all many times but still liked to listen to her tales.


I wanted to note down a few reminders of some of the most-repeated stories, though even as I do so I worry that the details are already blurry and incomplete:

Her sister saying that 'you think everyone is nice; you'd even say Hitler was nice'.
Jack Bilbo, a gangster boyfriend in London, who wrote a book called 'I carried a gun for Al Capone'.
Working for a Jewish tailor who used to have her walk up 30 steps with armsfuls of clothes.
A young German airman who had crashed in London and was crying, was led away by a kind onlooker with an arm round the shoulder and a cup of tea offered.
Being referred to as the 'smasher with the pedigrees' (I think they were daschunds but not sure).
Her bad-tempered husband who would threaten violence to door-to-door callers.
Our 'Liza (her mother) - 'she's a wrong 'un' (not sure who said that).
The Welsh bluebeard of the family - Harris? - who wore his hat at a rakish angle and was an itinerant preacher? Apparently had 6 wives!

18 February 2010

After several very trying days, Emily was very cheery and cooperative from the word go. First things she said were 'Mummy's name is Alison, Daddy's name is Nicholas, my name Emily Robinson, I am 2 years old, Isy is two years old too'.

We were due to go with Jo and Bettina and children over to Odaiba, so that we could introduce Isy to Mamatoko kids cafe. Emily and I joined up with Jo, Isy and Cooper in Shibaura and we rode the monorail across to the island together. As the mall doesn't open until 11am we hung out in the cavernous new Starbucks for a while first. The girls looked really grown up having their drink and snack on the big chairs.

They were totally crazy together. It was so sweet the way they were interacting, but I did worry how the other cafe users were taking their ceaseless running around and excited squealing. Once the doors into the mall were thrown open we swiftly made our way to the more child-friendly Mamatoko, with Bettina and Tim arriving just as we did so.

The three of them had a lovely time playing for a while, then we decided to bite the bullet and have lunch. I am used to Emily not eating well when out now, so she didn't do any worse than I expected. I think that as soon as they had enough to satisfy their hunger they just wanted to carry on having fun, even to the extent of refusing icecream and chocolate sauce! Predictably, there were many protestations as we prised them away to start making our way home. Emily and I went back on the monorail on our own as Jo wanted to shop a little. We made it back to the apartment at 2.30, and I put Emily straight to bed. Inevitably, it was a very late evening because she didn't wake until 4pm.

17 February 2010

It was my turn for a stint as coordinator for a TMG playgroup meeting, and I managed to cock it up. I had chosen to hold it at the jidokan at Hamamatsucho, but had foolishly assumed it would be OK without checking first. When I arrived I was informed that there was a private babysitting session in the playroom and we could not go in. Mums started turning up for the meeting and I could not think what to do apart from apologise profusely and hope no-one had come too far. It was too cold for a park and anyway some of the babies were only tiny. Just when I was beginning to depair, one of the women in the office there who knew about TMG came over and told us that there was another jidokan nearby. We all trooped off there in convoy and after a couple of false starts found the place. Though it looked quite run-down, the playroom was very well-equipped. In fact, though it was only a small room it had a better stock of toys than the original venue, and all the electronic toys even worked, which they rarely do. In case there were stragglers I left Emily playing happily and made the trip back to the first jidokan, three times meeting a mum on the way and having to escort them to the new one. So it turned out OK in the end, but made me and TMG look bad to begin with.


Not content with an exciting morning, I had also arranged to go to Skip Kids in the afternoon with Julia. By the time we got there it was 4.30, and we were first to arrive. Julia and Charlize came a little later, with Rachel and Ashling, and Kara also came with Teo. We stayed a couple of hours and even then the children didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, none of them ate much tea there. On our return home I had to give Emily some more food. We had a 'picnic 'with some of the toys to make it a bit more fun and encourage her to eat.

15 February 2010

After checking out we played in the snow while we waited for the minibus to take us down to the bus station.

I was quite surprised but pleased when Emily fell asleep on my lap shortly after the bus set off; I hadn't been looking forward to the ride at all. At Nagano station we woke her up (which didn't go down at all well), rammed our luggage into the lockers there and went to find some lunch. In the end we sold out and ate at Starbucks, but Emily annoyed us both by over-employing her latest refrain of 'I don't like it', which she says before she has even tried the food. I think she really means 'I don't want it', but whichever, it really gets me cross, and also worried about what I can manage to get her to eat.

Outside it was very cold and sleeting a little. With Emily in the carrier on my back we walked a mile or so up the long straight road to Zenkoji, a very old and famous temple.

It houses the oldest Buddha image in Japan, so the Dalai Lama visits there when he comes to the country. I was very glad to get Emily down once we got to the massive temple gate with its two stern Nio (guardian gods of thunder and lightning). It was so cold that I didn't feel like hanging around the extensive complex for very long. Inside, people were making a small offering to a wooden Buddha carving, rubbing various parts of his body then their own. It is said that he will take on your troubles if you rub the corresponding part. I am an unbeliever but you never know, so I chucked in a coin and rubbed his belly on the offchance that he could work some magic and help Mother Nature along a bit.

Emily liked holding my umbrella and seemed oblivious to the chill as she tottered around in the slush outside with it.

There was a row of Jizo statues - six, as always - which were a lot larger than average though still decked out in red caps and bibs.

The Asama shinkansen service whisked us back to Tokyo.

Emily was very good most of the way, considering we had to share two seats between the three of us. I sat on the floor a lot of the time and was happy to do so if it staved off any upset.

14 February 2010

After my successful lesson I had booked a further one for the next morning, and I was able to leave Emily with Nick this time. Again, it was a gorgeously sunny day and the mountains and trees with their pure white dusting looked pretty against the blue sky: what ski types call a 'bluebird day'. My companion from Saturday, Neet, was joining the class again, and there were also two guys and another woman. Our instructor this time was Greg, from Scotland.

We walked across to the Sakka area and straight away rode the chairlift to the top of the green run. I could tell immediately that the snow was a lot harder and more slippery. The sun would eventually soften the snow, but in the meantime I lost some of my new-found confidence as it was a lot harder to control my turns, with the outer ski sliding across the icy surface. One of the men, a young Aussie, was nowhere near the same level as the rest of us (which is saying something!) and on his very first attempt he rocketed down the slope out of control, seemingly unable to get into a snowplough or turn into the hill to stop himself. Greg swooped effortlessly down after him to pick up the pieces as he crashed spectacularly. In the end, just like the day before, the rest of us did not benefit from our teacher sufficiently because there was one person needing a lot of hand-holding. We pretty much carried on without them, though taking the odd bit of advice as and when we could to help us improve. By around 11am the snow had softened a lot and then I suddenly made a great leap forward and was swishing down the hill comfortably. I am sure that everything I had been taught went out of the window but I think the main thing was that I felt relaxed and was enjoying it, while hopefully not posing a danger to myself or anyone else.

We made about 6 or 7 passes down the couple of green runs there, stopping now and then to re-group and take in the view. I got chatting to the other chap, Henry, also a Brit living in Tokyo. It turned out that he was the Japan correspondent for The Economist! I must say that living an expat life you do meet some really interesting people. He was a charming guy and very nice to talk to.

Twelve o'clock came round far too quickly, just as I was really getting into my stride. It would have been good to carry on skiing after the lesson finished, but I owed it to Nick and Emily to return to meet them. They had spent a couple of hours playing in the snow with Bettina, Steve and Tim. The tobogganing looked fun.

We all had lunch in the veggie cafe again before getting a lift back to Double Black. Bettina, Steve and Tim now headed back to Tokyo; we were staying a further 24 hours. It was Nick's turn to hit the slopes for the afternoon; I stayed with Emily so she could nap. I woke her up in time to grab a lift to the goldola station for a ride. She was very stroppy and being tiresome, apart from while we were on the 10 minute ride that took us high up onto the mountainside. A Japanese man who shared our goldola car struck up a conversation and informed me in good English that it was his 70th birthday. I suppose that if you have skied all your life then it is perfectly feasible to carry on with the sport into old age, though it does put quite a strain on certain muscle groups. The views from the gondola station were fantastic, even now the sun was fading fast.

When we alighted back at the bottom Nick was there to meet us. We took the minibus back to the hotel and hung out for a couple of hours, first taking advantage of the free gluwein on offer outside.

The hotel was full for dinner so we were lucky to wangle a table, having failed to mention to them that we wanted to eat there again. I don't think that Emily would have waited until 8 o'clock for her meal! After our not-very-romantic Valentine's dinner we put up the occupied sign on the door of the onsen bathroom and had fun in there together for half an hour. Emily liked spraying us with the shower and stacking up the little wooden stools and bowls. We went to bed at the same time as her, but again I had trouble getting off to sleep after my big meal.

13 February 2010

Emily and I tucked into a substantial breakfast then I rushed around like a headless chicken getting all our winter gear ready for our morning outing. The Evergreen minibus picked us up at nine and took us to their base next to the slopes at Happo ski resort. We checked the children in for daycare, and met up with Jo, Olly and Isy, who were also hanging out with us for the morning (Cooper was staying back at their chalet with one of their friends so that Jo could also get in a spot of skiing).

In the daycare, Tim and Isy didn't make any fuss but Emily immediately turned into a bawling limpet and had to be peeled off me, so I could dash off to join my ski lesson, making me feel really guilty. Jo and Bettina went skiing with Olly; Steve had stayed back at Double Black to try to get some rest as he was still feeling ill.

There were only three of us in the novice class, taken by Canadian instructor Chantelle. We rode in the minibus over to Sakka area and collected our lift passes then stepped into our skis and set off down a very gentle incline so that Chantelle could gauge our ability. At the chairlift, she surprised us by telling us to leave our poles behind. We felt very nervous without them, though we soon realised that we didn't actually need them, and in fact when we picked them back up for the last run they seemed an encumbrance. The top of the green run looked awfully steep to me, but the softness of the snow helped me overcome my fear as I could feel my skis biting and not skidding too much. Also, I felt that even if I did fall it wasn't going to hurt much. Somehow we made it down, with our teacher assessing us as we went. I got on very well with Neet, who is a Danish woman married to a second generation Italian Brit and living in China. She and I were of a similar ability and waited patiently as the third pupil got down to the bottom, with a lot of help from Chantelle.

In all, we made the trip down the run about five times, improving steadily, until Neet and I were pretty much making parallel turns. The other lady wasn't faring so well, and it seemed to us that we spent a lot of time waiting for her, and that she was effectively getting a private lesson as she needed so much help. But the main thing was that I was really enjoying it, and with a suitable gradient this time I found that my legs didn't ache much at all as I didn't need to hold a snowplough position so often or so long. It was a glorious morning with strong sunshine helping to soften the runs. Regrettably I had forgotten to take my camera to capture the wonderful views.

All too soon it was time to finish and head back to Evergreen. Emily got upset when I turned up but soon cheered up. We all had some lunch in the veggie cafe next door, but none of the kids ate very well. I called the hotel and they soon came to pick us up. Nick had arrived while we were out and had gone off to get his gear and start his afternoon skiing session. I took Emily up to the room for her nap and barely managed to keep my eyes open while she slumbered. Afterwards, Tim and Emily played happily in the kids room and were easily entertained by the selection of DVDs I'd taken. Tim was very taken with Peppa Pig and was soon snorting frequently. Nick showed up at 4.30 and we all played until teatime. We had arranged to have dinner with the Lutz family, and the hotel kindly went over and collected them in the minibus. It ended up being a meal in shifts, as the children quickly tired of eating and wanted to play upstairs.

At 9pm it was high time our visitors set off to their accommodation, and the rest of us all retired for the night. The hotel was playing host to 30 US navy people for dinner, who now took over the lounge and restaurant. Amazingly, though they stayed until the small hours we hardly heard a peep. Nick and Emily went out like a light, but I lay awake for hours as I had rather gratuitously eaten a rich dessert too close to bedtime.

12 February 2010

Thanks to meticulous forward planning, Emily and I were ready in plenty of time for our journey to Hakuba, where I intended to find out once and for all if I could ski. As I had sent the heaviest luggage ahead by courier I could manage the carrier and one bag easily (Japan is blessed with an excellent network of private courier companies -takkyubin - who will move just about anything around the country overnight for a very reasonable fee). At Tokyo station we hooked up with Bettina, Steve and Tim. They had all been ill and looked very under the weather so I was amazed they had made it, but I think they were very overdue for a break and determined not to miss it.

Again, the shinkansen ride was over very quickly and without any major breakdowns on Emily's part; Tim screamed the last 10 minutes or so but otherwise no hitches. In Nagano we transferred to the bus for the final hour. There was more snow in the city than last time and it was snowing as we travelled, so that boded well for the ski resort. Emily got really fed up on the bus and I was convinced she would be sick. It was hideously overheated and did not have opening windows, so I had to fan her the whole way. After the longest time we finally pulled in at Happo bus terminal, where we were greeted by Sean from the hotel, who ushered us to the minibus and took our bags.

Soon we were in the warmth of Double Black and being welcomed by the very friendly staff. After a quick lunch we went off to our rooms and settled the kids down for their naps. After their reviving sleeps we all went for a short stroll outside in the snow. Emily was obsessed by the icicles and insisted on snapping off every one she could reach.

I had to get down to the equipment rental place so we soon had to go back in and wait for the minibus. At the rental shop the young Japanese guy who helped kit me out was very impressed with Emily's rendition of 'ooki no kuri no ki no shita de' and got her to repeat it for the car park attendant as we went back out for the ride home. In the playroom we entertained them with some DVDs I had brought, then, only too glad to have an early night, we all ate tea together. Afterwards Bettina and I took the children for a play in the communal bath. As before, the onsen water was still far too hot, but we had fun with the showers. By 9pm all were asleep, except me. I went back down to the lounge for a glass of wine and some quiet reading, but I was flagging by ten.

11 February 2010

As Nick got home late on his birthday we celebrated it next day, as it was a public holiday. Mind you, it was a really grotty day, so we ended up staying indoors until it was about to get dark, at which point cabin fever set in and guilt about Emily not getting fresh air forced us out for a quick walk up to Kamezuka park. Apart from a couple of dog-walkers it was empty. Emily walked all the way there and seemed happy enough pottering around despite it being bitterly cold and damp. In fact when we tried to take her home she got in a strop, but we'd had enough of being chilled to the bone. In any case, we wanted a nice early night and I had plans to cook a special birthday steak dinner for Nick. Emily wolfed two portions of black forest gateau, and I was glad that I hadn't laced it with too much booze!

9 February 2010

Fi tried to Skype me but we couldn't manage to hold a connection for more than 30 seconds or so for some reason. It was very frustrating, as she was holding Charlie, and Fern was trying to talk to me. It brought home to me that 8 months has already passed since we were home. I suppose that it has gone quickly, but seeing the little one reminded me that I have yet to cuddle my new nephew.

7 February 2010

I wanted Nick to have a decent lie-in, so in the morning I took Emily to Onarimon park/playground. It was so windy as we left home that I feared she would hate it there and refuse to play, but on exiting the station I found that there was not as much wind there and it was quite warm in the sunshine, so we ended up staying more than an hour. It was the first time I had been there, and I thought it had a good variety of play equipment, though after half an hour she just wanted to collect sticks and leaves anyway.

After lunch we went to Isy's birthday party, which they held at their apartment.

The children played quite nicely together, though there were a few battles over popular toys. It is hard for a 2 year old not to get possessive when her territory is invaded, even by friends. Jo put on a good spread (don't know how she does it with Isy and Cooper to juggle) and she had made a large cake in the shape of Lisa (for non-parents, Lisa and Gaspard are cartoon dog characters). Stop-press: apparently Olly made the cake after her first attempt failed, and she decorated it.

Things got a bit fraught when Isy opened the Hello Kitty dolls' house that I got jointly with Bettina and she pushed the other children away when they wanted to touch it.

It was time to leave anyway, and we took that as a signal that we ought to make tracks.

6 February 2010

After a couple of lessons where I actually felt like I was able to keep up, in this week's Japanese class I was back to feeling slow and lacking confidence. Other people just seem to have a much better vocabulary than me, and it is hard to identify what a sentence is about with one or two key words missing.


In the afternoon there was a freezing and strong wind. We had planned to take Emily to Hon Shiba but she got very upset as soon as we went outside (still scared of wind after she got blown over in a typhoon ages ago), so we changed our minds and took her to play indoors at Appi instead. She had a great time, especially in the play kitchen. She gave Nick a plate with a piece of toy cake and said 'Happy Birthday Daddy': I have been teaching her to sing it ready for his special day.


In the evening Erna came and Nick and I went out for dinner. We tried out a Turkish restaurant in Nagatacho. The food was really tasty, though there was not much atmosphere with only ours and two other tables occupied (that area is the political district of Tokyo and very quiet at weekends). On returning, Erna said that Emily had woken while we were out but she went in and was able to settle her quite quickly. I don't think Emily was fully aware as she didn't mention it at all afterwards.

4 February 2010

It was inclement outside, so Emily and I had a quiet day at home, only broken by a quick trip to have lunch with Nick. After her nap she lined all her toys up in the cot and said 'get the camera, Mummy'!

3 February 2010

Julia and I had planned to spend the day in Odaiba, and I had also invited Bettina along. But on the day, Julia had to cry off as she and Charlize had had a very bad night. After a ride on the monorail round the edge of the bay and over Rainbow Bridge, Emily and I met Bettina and Tim at the mums and kids cafe, Mamatoko, in Aquacity. I had been wanting to go there since it opened a few months ago, as it is a buffet-style cafe with a semi-supervised play area.

After being briefly transfixed by a TV showing episodes of Chuggington with Japanese narration, Emily and Tim eagerly explored the various toys there, with Emily particularly taken with the play kitchen. After a while we managed to drag them away for some lunch. Though disappointed, I wasn't that surprised that Emily ate poorly as she is going through another phase of reluctant eating (possibly due to teething) and rarely eats well when we are out anyway.

The dreaded nap time came round, and Bettina and I loaded the two of them into their strollers and walked round behind the artificially-created beach, during which time they jabbered away to each other as we chatted. After half an hour there was no sign of either of them giving in to the sandman; we did circuits around the outside of the shopping mall and eventually after an hour they both dropped off. While they slept we shopped in ToysRUs, something I would not consider doing with a tired toddler as one of us would end up in tears for sure. They woke just as we completed our purchases, and we whisked them off to Starbucks for a snack before they could register that they were in toy heaven.

Parting with our companions, Emily and I retraced our steps on the monorail and carried on to Julia's, for a pre-planned tea. Cliff was away on yet another business trip and she needed a little evening company. The girls had lots of fun, though neither of them ate much dinner as they were to excited. Bathtime was curtailed because the water was too hot for Emily and she got upset. After reading some bedtime stories, it was time to rush Emily off home for a very late bedtime. It had certainly been a chilly day, and outside I found that it had started sleeting and snowing; some hailstones fell as I trotted briskly back. Emily wasn't in bed until 9pm, but was still genki and wanting to play.

1 February 2010

After a bitterly cold and overcast day, it was no surprise to see it snowing hard around 8pm, the first in Tokyo in nearly a year though elsewhere in the country they have had their usual heavy falls. Not for nothing is this the ski capital of Asia. The precipitation carried on until after I had gone to bed by which time it was a couple of inches deep on the quieter roads. On waking next day there was only a coating on rooves and cars though; most roads were clear bar the odd pile where it had been swept up.