28 June 2010

Renate had advertised a TMG outing to the splash area over in Odaiba, and although we were on the island the day before I felt that Emily would welcome the chance to splash in clean water, as the sea off the beach is awful so she hadn't been able to get wet then. I had mentioned the trip to Becky and she brought another Brit, Caroline, along as well, so that made four of us in total. We walked from our meeting point at Tamachi to the pier in Shibaura, and I was pleased to see that they all enjoyed the boat ride across as much as I'd hoped when I suggested it. It was an extremely hot and humid day and we were all suffering a lot as we walked for quarter of an hour to the pirate boat playground. How my heart sank when the water feature came into view and I realised that it was coned off for maintenance. It wasn't my trip, but I still somehow felt responsible as a TMG coordinator, though Renate could not possibly have known it would be out of action.

We quickly polished off our picnics and then packed up, as I had suggested that we get back across to Tamachi on the light railway and splash at Hon Shiba instead. After getting of the blissfully cooled train we had a further ten minute walk in the heat of the day and we were all very relieved to find the pools there available; we were soon cooling our feet happily as the kids got stuck in. Emily got on very well with Renate's daughter Shayla, who is a year older than her. After the group broke up I took the two of them over the road to the playground behind Pokke and the Emily and Shayla played well there for another half an hour before we set off for home. Not a moment too soon as it began to rain. As evening came it was to turn into a bit of a thunderstorm, which had Emily very nervous. I thought I had managed to instill excitement at the thought of lightning and thunder, as Nick and I are both avid storm watchers. I suspect the curse of Peppa Pig has struck again, as PP is afraid when there is a storm in one episode.

Nick took the first of two stages of the Superisory Analyst exam today and unfortunately missed the pass mark by 4%. We now have to give some serious thought as to where that leaves him, and us as a family. He isn't actually interested in becoming an SA, but it seems a good thing to have on his CV and may open a lot of alternative career paths in many locations.

27 June 2010

Nick was set to study all day so we went across to Odaiba with Charlize, Cliff and Roy. The girls got gradually plastered in the sandy mud on the manmade beach there.

I took the kite and as it was quite breezy I finally managed to get it aloft, with a little bit of help to get started from Cliff.

We adjourned to Sizzler for lunch, and again, as I sat on the deck there surveying the magnificent view over the city and the bay I thought that things aren't so bad here, though there are also some great views to be had from riverfront eateries along the Thames.

Emily and Charlize played by the shore for half an hour, at which time Emily did a huge and overdue number two after a few false starts. That meant that we missed the launch back over to Shibaura, but Cliff pointed out that there was another boat about to depart for Hinode pier so we quickly got tickets and went on board. The trip lasted a bit longer than expected as I think it did a detour so that passengers could have a deko at a moored US frigate, complete with stars and stripes proudly flapping and armed guards on display.

24 June 2010

It was circa 28C today but thankfully fairly dry. We are getting off fairly lightly with heat and humidity so far this year.

I felt very weary after staying up the previous night to see England's last World Cup game in the group stages. They looked confident and skillful in the first 20 minutes, and Defoe finally got one in, but the remaining hour was nail-biting as Slovenia got more possession and made a few attempts on goal. Rooney was hopeless and his head just wasn't right. He was subbed off later on. The final whistle finally blew and we lived to fight another day. Amazingly, the US scored a goal in the last minute of extra time that saw them make it too.

We had a quiet morning over at Hon Shiba with Jo, Isy and Cooper. The girls had a bit of a splash then played in the sand. Isy has apparently decided that she doesn't want to wear nappies any more. Fun times ahead for Jo! I am so nervous about training Emily when we get back from the trip, but I can't see her ever deciding not to wear nappies like that. She relies on them too much now.


We stayed in during the afternoon. I inflated the pool on the balcony and Emily played in there for about ten minutes but then said she was cold, even though I had added hot water to make it a bit warmer.


It is hard to occupy her for a whole afternoon on our own. After we had read lots of books and tried a few puzzles, we made banana muffins together.

I have decided to limit to Emily to two Peppa Pig episodes before bathtime, since she gets upset when I turn off regardless of how many I let her watch.

As we were about to turn in at 11.30, Emily woke with a nightmare, saying 'there's a spider in my bed trying to eat me'. We got her calmed down but there was no way she was going to go back to sleep in her room again, so we had to have her in with us all night. That is the second night in a row she has dreamed about spiders, and I also think now that the screaming episode last week was a nightmare, so we could have saved ourselves a dash to the hospital.

22 June 2010

Emily is two and a half today! She measures in at 100cm; subject to verification at the clinic while we are home that puts her above the 99th centile for her age. She can recite numbers up to 30, apart from missing out 15. But it is quite a step up to be able to actually count. She can go up to 3 items so far. And finally she has mastered jumping off steps two-footed, which has been a long time coming. Her communication skills are definitely much further advanced than her physical abilities.

21 June 2010

I had decided that Emily and I would join a TMG outing to Disney Sea, and asked Lydia and Mia to join us, since the girls are getting along so well. We were supposed to be meeting up with the others in the group but the girls had been in strollers for a full hour by the time we arrived and wanted to get on into the resort, so we did not wait for the coordinator. They perked up as soon as they saw the Mickey Mouse monorail, with its Mickey shaped windows.


We rode round past DisneyLand to DisneySea. On exiting we were first faced with a huge globe fountain.



I have to say that the whole place is an amazing conception on a grandiose scale, though it all leaves me a bit cold. The inner harbour area was gearing up for the Tinkerbell Spring parade and we ended up having our eardrums blasted by high decibel music which had Mia crying and Emily looking fed up. I am mystified how anyone could like all that cheezy mush with its garish costumery and phoney smiles.

We hurried away as fast as possible and eventually tracked down the area with rides and attractions for small kids. Lydia lost it when we tried to enter the rollercoaster because she was turned away due to her pregnancy, but I am so glad we didn't get on it as afterwards I saw it properly and I'm sure that it would have scared me and Emily. We moved on to another ride and queued for quarter of an hour in blazing sun for a ride that lasted for at most two minutes.


It is many years since I last went to a theme park and I had forgotten about the tedium of queuing up. You would think that on a Monday it would be fairly quiet; I would hate to think how bad it would be at the weekend, and in neighbouring DisneyLand, which is the more popular attraction. The ride lurched round as if on a storm-tossed boat, with the car spinning frequently into the bargain. I felt a bit seasick and I think Emily did too. She certainly didn't laugh. We decided to try our luck indoors in Triton's Kingdom, which it seemed was designed for younger children. This was a vast, dark cavern - at least providing respite from heat and burning sun - filled with nautically-themed glowing accessories.

Neither of the girls seemed very taken with the darkness. There was a series of rope walkways which was rather uninspiring and a small and meagrely-equipped softplay area. Emily and Mia quite liked the water fountains in the shape of various sea creatures and managed to get quite wet.


We moved on quickly back outside and went in search of food in the American-style Port Island section. We had some rather good fish burgers, though Emily only ate the bun and some fries. After Mia had had a bit of a nap in the stroller, we rode an elevated train a short way - again it was disappointing as we had to wait and were only on it for a couple of minutes. From there we were hoping to board a 'steamer' for a boat trip, but found the next one was not for nearly an hour. We waited out the time back in the darkness, and I decided to take Emily on one of the rides to kill time. They all had wait times of at least 15 minutes. Emily was a bit fretful as we shuffled along in the line until it was time to climb into our 'kelp cups'. Again, this short ride had me feeling nauseous as it spun quite fast in places. When I was young I used to be able to go on all these rides without ill effect; I don't know what has happened to me since then but I find anything involving spinning particularly bad.


Back outside we made our way to the pier, where we joined yet another queue for a boat ride. Once again we waited for far longer than the trip lasted, as we were only on board five minutes, passing the Arabian Coast area and 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea


before pulling up in the Venetian-style harbour. We gradually worked our way to the exit, with frequent stops to look at people dressed in character costumes (which Emily was afraid of) and to browse the souvenir stalls.


Getting home was a very stressful end to a stressful day, as we managed to hit Tokyo station at exactly 5pm. Lydia had mentioned that there was a convenient bus back so we made our way to the bus stop, only to find that there were several flights of stairs to negotiate. Emily was very tiresome as she kept running off and I totally lost it at one point, very close to tears. At the end I manhandled her and the buggy up about 30 steps, and in high-20s heat I was streaming with sweat after that. The bus started out quiet but soon collected many rush-hour passengers. As we had the strollers with us, I sat on the lower level with both of them furled, trying not to bash the many people standing around me. Lydia sat on the back seat with the girls, since Emily had insisted on sitting there (as she always does on a bus). It was hard getting off the packed bus with a folded buggy and Emily freaking out and needing to be picked up. I don't know which of us was more tired after that but I was very glad to hit the hay that night.

20 June 2010

Nick was studying all day as his exam is only a week away now. I took Emily to Tracy's for a playdate with Lottie. It was really hot and very humid so by the time I got there I was drenched in sweat and very thirsty. Probably the most sticky day yet of the year. The girls got on very well, even though it has been 4 months since we saw them. Lottie seems to have developed mentally in the same direction as Emily, and it helps a lot that she likes Thomas too. I have to say that James is very good with kids. He filled up two large plastic tubs for them out on the bamboo-enclosed patio and they played a little, but then Emily wimped out in the cold water. He had them in stitches 'dancing on the ceiling', which involved holding them upside down with feet on the ceiling. I was pleased that Emily did justice to the lunch that Tracy prepared, as most kids don't eat well at someone else's house.

We called in to see Charlize in the afternoon, where they had naked water play in her inflatable pool, but again Emily was not comfortable in the cold water and soon got out. Julia had some new bubble blowers that made a funny noise and had the two cracking up. The two blondies looked very cute snuggled up in matching towels afterwards.



I approached my weekly run in an apprehensive frame of mind due to the conditions, and my run was indeed terrible due to the high humidity. I did manage a full hour though. My achilles is very uncomfortable after regular stress from high-impact aerobics and I felt a bit worried about Fuji, so may have to skip the class for the next two weeks.

19 June 2010

On a warm but gusty day, we went to Yokohama to meet Aidan's wife, Sachi, and their new(ish) baby Eryssa. He was back at home in California but she had come home to introduce the baby to her family. The four month old was very cute, as mixed race Japanese kids often are (forgot the camera, so no pics).

I knew that Emily was due for a poo and no sooner had we got to Sizzler and loaded up our plates than she was saying 'I want to go home'. I knew that signalled an imminent event, so I took her off to the loos. They had a special cubicle with a full-sized and a kids' sized toilet side by side, which I thought would really tickle her, so we sat down next to each other and she did seem amused. But I think the backlog was too uncomfortable for her and she then began to get upset and insisted on having her nappy back on. After a while we returned to the table. Only ten minutes later she was getting agitated again so this time Nick took her while I tucked into my massive plateful of delicious salads. They returned after five minutes with nothing to report. Finally she did seem to be ready so I took her again. She got very upset when I tried to get her to sit on the mini-loo, so I let her soil the nappy. We were all cleaned up and about to wash our hands when I realised she had done some more, so we queued up again to go in the special booth and went through the whole process again. The situation is very exasperating and worrying. I can't see how we are going to go about training with things the way they are, so will consult a professional back at home.

After the meal we strolled over to Leaf mall where we parted with our guests. Nick took Emily for a long-promised play in Kid-O-Kid while I had a coffee break. Though a big concession with a hundred or more seats, Starbucks was packed so I had to take my drink outside, where the warm blast felled whole lines of parked bicycles. Nick went way over the allotted hour as Emily refused to leave and was having such a good time.

17 June 2010

Temperatures were still around 28C, maybe even higher, but overnight the humidity had dropped so it was just about bearable, even when I walked more than half an hour uphill to take Emily to Midtown, where we met Jo and Bettina. The children spent an hour playing in the fountains before we had to part, as we were due at the office for lunch with Nick.

16 June 2010

Expected rain did not materialise, however it was horribly humid and about 28C. A real reminder of what is to come and makes me so pleased that we will miss most of it. I was coordinator for a TMG meeting at Hamamatsucho jidokan so was glad I had decided to hold it indoors. It was a good turnout with about 15 showing up, and all seemed to get on very well and mingle nicely. Both Lydia and Becky attended, and I also met another Brit who had arrived in Tokyo only two weeks ago with a 27-month old daughter.


Worryingly, Emily has recently shown a fear of using potties or toilets, after doing most poos on one for the last few months. As soon as we got to the jidokan she said 'I want to go home', and I knew that a poo was imminent as she has taken to saying that whenever one is due. I took her off to the loo, where they have special toilets only 6 inches off the floor for kids, but she got upset and refused to go on it. Again, we had it all in her nappy, and I am worried that she has developed a reliance on them that will be hard to break. I feel now that I ought to have gone ahead and trained her earlier, when she was more inclined to sit on the potty. The problem almost certainly stems from her sluggish bowel habits as the first poo is always firm and no doubt difficult to pass. I shall consult the doctor when we go home.


After the meeting I suggested to Lydia that we have a picnic in Kyu Shiba Rikyu, as she had not been there yet, and we also invited along the newbie Brit, Nicole. We snatched our lunch in the shady seating area under the wisteria trellis in between chasing our girls as they wandered further afield, seemingly uninterested in eating much. We all roamed around the garden for a while before the others had to leave. There was a beautiful patch of white and purple irises in flower down by the edge of the water and I wished I had taken my camera. It was becoming unbearably sticky so Emily and I had an iced drink at Tully's then headed for home, where we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out.

14 June 2010

The rainy season is upon us, or so the weather pundits have announced. Certainly, the day was very miserable, with light but persistent rain falling throughout; I used my cape while taking Emily out but ended up wet on the inside too, which must have been down to sweat as it did feel somewhat humid though not particularly warm.


We met Lydia and Mia in the morning and returned to the playroom in Akabanebashi. As it was wet there were quite a few kids in there this time. After a while a lady came in to announce that they were holding a crafts session in the next room. Everyone else trooped off there but Emily got quite upset at the thought of leaving the toys and said 'I don't want to do it' so we stayed on our own. Lydia and Mia came in after ten minutes to show us what they were making, and then Emily showed willing so we went too. We had great fun putting beads into bendy plastic piping to make rattles, and also made a pretty hanging plaque that involved using felt pens: something Emily is not usually allowed to get her hands on!


After lunch we went over to Julia's. Emily played with Charlize and a couple of other toddlers who had also called round. I felt a bit fed up as the other two mums there had both also had second babies at the same time as Julia, so there was lots of discussion about juggling babies and toddlers.


We had a bit of a crisis in the night. As Nick and I were preparing to turn in at 11.30 Emily began screaming. She sounded like she was in pain, though at first I had thought she might have had a nightmare. Cuddling her did not stem the tide so eventually we took her out of her room and once in the lights of the living room she calmed down straight away. We went out onto the balcony and she was commenting on the red flashing lights on tall buildings and talking about planes. After a while I took her back and tried to settle her with a few lullabies but then she said that she wanted to go back into the living room and started squealing all over again. We decided to take her into our room and that seemed to appease her, but she refused to lie down and got upset when I said that we were all going to sleep. We asked her if something hurt and she said 'yes' but would not elucidate further. I gave her a dose of Calpol and she quietened down then, but still refused to consider going to sleep. In the end we decided that we had better get her checked out and at one o'clock went out to the main road and flagged down a taxi to the hospital. There were a few people there so we had to wait a short while, then saw a doctor followed soon after by a paediatrician. Neither could find anything of any concern and Emily had been behaving normally ever since the medicine, though groggy with tiredness, so we got a taxi back home and finally all went to bed together at 2.30.

13 June 2010

Nick was studying all day as his exam is very soon now, so I took Emily to Hon Shiba. Cliff and Roy brought Charlize; the girls enjoyed decorating sandcastles with leaves, flowers and stones, and also made plenty of use of the splash pools, with much screaming.

After lunch I took Emily to Ebisu on the bus. We walked up the hill to Garden Place, where we found that they had a display of windmills, with corresponding coloured flower displays.

We shared a delicious smoothie then went across the tracks to the playground until it was time to make the return trip home.

For my evening run, I managed to keep going for an hour this week, and even felt quite comfortable after the first ten minutes, though due to the heat and moisture I was keeping a slower pace perhaps. I crossed over Rainbow Bridge just as dusk turned to dark and the cityscape was lighting up. It was so exciting, though I could have done without the exhaust fumes. The wind was really strong up there, which took the edge off the humidity.

12 June 2010

A return to Kasai Rinkai Koen, the large park on the north side of Tokyo Bay. It was a scorcher of a day, but by the waterfront it was very blowy so felt tolerable, though the wind made it harder to remember to take care against burning. As we had missed out on the big wheel last time, we made straight for it on arrival. My poor head for heights got the better of me, so I used the buggy as an excuse to stay below while Nick took Emily up for a ride, though I'm sure it would have been safe to leave it for a while. Apparently it is 117m high, and the tallest in Japan. Surely it can't be much lower than the London Eye? It certainly loomed large overhead, as I watched the two of them ascend in one of the 68 gondolas. I have attached a couple of the photos Nick took to record the ride.

We sought out some shade in a nearby shelter to eat an early lunch, but the whole time Emily had her eye on an ice cream vending machine (great invention, but I dread to think of the electricity needed to keep so many ices frozen in 30C+ temperatures) and after picking at a few bits of sandwich and some of our bento boxes, she wasted no time in slurping one down.

Afterwards we took a ride on the land train as we had likewise had to skip that the first time we were there. This was made up like a little steam train with carriages, but actually ran on a road round the park. I think Emily was feeling a bit sleepy, as she often does after lunch now she doesn't nap, so she didn't display the required amount of enthusiasm, though when we rode along next to the water she perked up and commented on the boats and overhead planes.


Finally we made our way to the man-made beach, where the onshore wind was very strong and took the edge off the ferocious heat. Emily and I went in first for a paddle in the bath-warm water

then Nick and I changed places. She decided to lie down in the shallows and had great fun.

We spent an hour or so there before packing up and heading for home, with Emily very cranky by now.

11 June 2010

I seem to be suffering from retail fever this week. After my splurge on Tuesday in Odaiba, I went to Akachan Honpo in Gotanda with no real purpose in mind and on the way in saw that Uniqlo had opened a huge new store so went in for a browse. I didn't have much time so will have to go again soon as there were many fairly cheap things I'd like to try. Julia had asked me to get something for her and I had to ask an assistant; between her pigeon English and my basic Japanese we still had trouble so called Julia who soon sorted it out. I spotted some trousers with a Japlish logo on the backside saying 'I am continuously loving it'. Hardly appropriate for a toddler!


Emily and I were doing well until bedtime, when she announced that she was still hungry and asked for snacks. It was clear that she was not going to go to bed without something so I had to give her some bran flakes then brush her teeth again. She still would not get into bed and asked for more, at which point I really lost it and stormed out of the room slamming the door, so by the time I came back with a bit more food she was hysterical and had managed to bang her head on the wall in her convulsions too. I felt instantly wracked with guilt for my extreme reaction, but it was rather tiresome.

This week the Asahi channel has been screening a recent BBC series by Iain Stewart about the elemental forces that have shaped human development, and I feel somewhat bereft now it has finished. Well, at least the World Cup starts today, though unfortunately none of the England matches is on at a decent hour here.

10 June 2010

We had our regular Thursday playdate at Midtown in hot sunshine. After meeting Jo and Bettina outside Starbucks, with the kids going nuts together, we thought we had better go on to the park for the sake of the other customers. Once there we had to go our separate ways for a while, until one of them noticed that the fountains were on. After that we stayed put for half an hour while they got very wet indeed and we finally had a chance for a chat.




I bought a great picnic from the fab Dean & Deluca (must go again soon without Emily so I can check out all the yummy stuff in their deli) and walked over to meet Nick for lunch, his office being close by. Emily was a bit subdued for some reason and Nick was not very well, having had a high temperature last night and this morning dosed up with Lemsip.


In the afternoon there was a scheduled fire alarm and smoke detector test session so I hadn't made any plans. Though he came before 2pm we stayed in all afternoon and had fun making sheds and garages for Emily's trains and vehicles out of old cardboard boxes.

9 June 2010

My planned TMG outing to Odaiba was off due to the weather, which was wet and cool; no point in a boat ride or picnic.


Instead I asked Lydia if she wanted a playdate. I took her to the jidokan near Shiba Koen. I felt a little embarrassed as we were not allowed to use the playroom at first. We had to sit in the reading area while as kindergarten group used the room. Eventually, as we were about to leave in search of somewhere better for our restless children, they said we could go in. Emily and Mia played alongside each other for two hours and were very reluctant to go home even then as there were so many good toys there.


Later, I took Emily to Hon Shiba and again she mainly played in the sand and enjoyed fetching endless buckets of water from the tap.

7 June 2010

I took Emily up to Kamezuka in blazing sun, where she played happily in the sand pit for an hour, eschewing any suggestions to explore in the shade.


After lunch we went over to Julia's to see week-old Serafina, already back at birth weight of 4.3kg and looking more like a month old. Julia's Dad, Roy, had arrived a few days before and took the girls out onto the balcony to water the plants so we had half an hour to go over all the ins and outs of the birth and aftermath.

6 June 2010

It's weird to think that Dad is three quarters of a century old today!

After our family day out, Nick had no choice but to spend the day studying. I couldn't think what to do with Emily but luckily Bettina called and said that they were going to Asukayama park and asked us to join them. I gladly seized the chance and Emily and I met them up there around 11am. She and Tim did justice to the extensive playground and then we managed to persuade them to sit down briefly for a picnic. Emily made me cross as she kept getting up and didn't seem keen to eat much at all.

We moved on down to the splash pools area, which was heaving with kids in the summer heat.

After an hour or so Bettina and co had to go home, but Emily and I stayed longer. I wanted to go home then as it was very tiring being a hot day and being 'on duty' so long, but Emily asked if she could go back to the playground. I agreed to ten minutes but that ended up being about 40 minutes. At the end she wanted to go on the spinning cage and really loved it, though there were lots of bigger kids on there.

She was very weary though, and threw a screaming fit when I prised her away. That didn't help my blood pressure much, trying to cope with it on full display to so many other parents, and I couldn't help shouting at her at first before I calmed down. Finally she settled down a bit and we rode the little monorail down the hill to get our train home.

Just as we approached home she dropped off in the buggy, and I transferred her to bed when we got back. After an hour I thought it best to wake her, but that was a big mistake as she was completely hysterical for ages. Eventually she calmed down when I put on Finding Nemo, but once she had watched the last half hour (I always skip the rest as there are too many scary bits) she reverted to sobbing uncontrollably for some time. At that point I had to tell her that I was about to go out for the evening with Jo and Bettina (a belated birthday celebration at TY Harbour restaurant). I stayed just long enough to get her tea down her and was pleased that when I left she did not cry as I didn't want poor Nick to have to deal with that on his own.

I had a lovely evening with my friends and we enjoyed our outside waterfront table in the cool night air. The food was gorgeous, as always, and Jo and I washed it down with a bottle though I felt a bit guilty that Bettina couldn't have any.

5 June 2010

Every time we pass through Ofuna station Emily is desperate to catch a glimpse of the 'white lady' (Kannon-sama, Goddess of Mercy) so I suggested to Nick that we actually make a point of going to see the statue.

It is only a couple of minutes from the station, in very attractive grounds on a little hill covered in bamboo and trees. There are some nice herb beds and an attractive lawned area directly in front of the statue. I was surprised to learn that the 25 metre statue was only completed in 1960, which would explain why it is in such pristine condition, though I gather that it is painted regularly. Emily seemed nervous about going inside when we found an entrance round the back. It has a small chamber which apparently contains stones from ground zero at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After hanging out there a while we carried on down the line one stop to Kita Kamakura. This area was capital of Japan about 800 years ago for a century or two and boasts many amazing temples and the Daibutsu. We stopped for cold soba (buckwheat) noodles with sansai (wild vegetables) at a small establishment just outside the station that was run by a few of the ubiquitous old ladies. Emily did quite well capturing noodles with her chopsticks but then she managed to upset my bowl just before I had finished and I ended up with a lap full of the broth (thankfully cold). It was so hot that my shorts soon dried off though.

Over the rail tracks was the Engakuji temple complex and we spent a good hour or more wandering round in its pleasant woody setting. The hydrangeas are now in season and I particularly like the lace-cap varieties.

Up a series of steps we viewed Ogane, a huge bell dating back to about 13oo.

Emily was really tired by now and getting grouchy, but we managed to keep her awake and she explored the grounds, collecting many nature samples along the way.

4 June 2010

After nursery, Jo, Isy and Cooper came for tea. The nursery taxi brought the two girls home and we let them play for a while before attempting to eat tea. I was not at all offended that Isy only picked at her food, as Emily is exactly the same if we eat at someone else's home.

They had fun playing in the bath, with Cooper joining in as well, before Jo took them off home and I settled Emily.

3 June 2010

Jo and I took the girls across on the monorail to Odaiba where we met Bettina and Tim at Starbucks. When we arrived the outside seating area with the fantastic bay views was nearly full but we baggsed the last table, and one by one the other tables emptied. Surely nothing to do with our raucous children?! The kids were soon sated and ran up and down the walkway along the front of the mall, gradually going further and further away until I ended up having to chase after them repeatedly and shepherd them back to base. It was already very hot and the sun felt really strong.


We soon had enough of the chase and loaded them into the pushchairs for the short walk round the edge of the water to the pirate boat playground, where the others hadn't been before. The children played around that for some time then we had a picnic in welcome shade. None of them ate very well as they were too excited to stay put. Emily knew all about the water feature close by and was pestering to go in so we got them changed and they had a great time in the shallow water. It is just a pity that there are no trees near it to cast some shadows and despite suncream I was scared that Emily would be scorched in the glare.


We walked back to the mall and Isy soon dropped off. Emily and Tim were still lively as we went round ToysRUs, then she and I headed for the boat pier while the others stayed in Aquacity a bit longer. We had a lovely ride back to Shibaura, as always, and not for the first time I pondered that there are many merits to Tokyo with a child to offset the usual grumbles that I have suffered for so long.

2 June 2010

The weather seems very settled now, with clear skies and temperatures around 25C. So far it is not too sticky either as the wind is coming from the north. At this rate I may make it to our departure date (now booked - hooray!) of July 14th without getting too hot and bothered. It will be hard for us all being away from Nick for four weeks but at least he can spend his weekends sleeping, and Skype helps a lot.

While Emily explored Amishiro park I put in a quick call to Julia, who was still in hospital. Baby Serafina weighed in at a whopping 4.3kg, though she was only the same length as 3.5kg Emily so must be very heavy boned. Apparently labour was all over in 3 hours but very painful afterwards thanks to 'Slasher Sakamoto' - no detail necessary!


We carried on for picnic lunch with Nick, which we had near the office as it was such a lovely day. After some downtime back at home I took Emily to Hon Shiba for a long play and a splash in the pools there. We had a much better day with no fighting, and she went to bed without complaint or tears despite being very weary. Definitely the way forward.

Lots of interesting news this week. Prime Minister Hatoyama resigned after less than 9 months in office. The main reason given was his failure to live up to an election pledge to get the Americans off Okinawa, but I think he had to go as much because of a funding scandal; his ratings dropped drastically in recent months on both issues. Then we heard about a shooting incident back home in Cumbria; the final body count totalled 13 including the gunman. If that was the US there would be renewed calls for every American to be allowed to carry arms in self defence, but in Britain I think it is more likely to go the other way and lead to stricter controls than ever. And then there was the shooting by Israeli forces of members of a 'peace flotilla' which was trying to break their blockade of Gaza. Much international opprobium was heaped on them but of course as long as America gives them such a long leash nothing will change.