17 May 2010

We went to Haru's house in Naka Meguro to celebrate his recent 3rd birthday. We were the only foreigners, but the other mums were very friendly and some spoke a little English. Anyway, it was a good chance for me to practise my Japanese in a relaxed unpressured environment.

Emily was in ecstasy as Haru has a huge Thomas track set with many of the trains to run round it.

It really is a huge global brand, though Japan is a natural place for it to thrive with the nation's obsession with trains. After play and food we adjourned to a nearby small park; very pleasant, with grass to sit on and attractive trees, plus a small playground. Emily hadn't eaten very much lunch and gladly tucked into the basket of snacks Minako had packed.

It was a bit of a schlep back home from there. On Minako's advice I took a community bus to Shibuya, which took ages in rush hour traffic, and then we rode the Yamanote home. Emily was very grumpy by the time we arrived back and the bath ended quickly in floods of tears.