17 September 2010

Emily had a nightmare around midnight, saying that she had seen a spider's web. I took her out to see Nick in the living room and they had a bleary-eyed chat, then I took her to the toilet before settling her back to bed. When she woke in the morning, she had a dry nappy again.


Out and about, I can't help noticing the gradual introduction of autumn clothing, even though it is still 30C, such as long thick socks and furry ankle boots. This is either a case of sheep mentality, as it is officially autumn, or fashion victims who can't wait to parade the latest trends.


Now it is dark at 6pm. I always thought Tokyo was around the same latitude as Rome, but on closer inspection we found that it is actually a lot further south than that, being on a par with Malta and Gibraltar, so it is not surprising that our days are so much shorter than the UK.

Roland Buerk has been filing reports from Pakistan this last week or so. Obviously Japan is too much of a backwater, even with all the recent political machinations (another correspondent based elsewhere in Asia reported on the DPJ leadership challenge). No more chats in the buff with Roly in the ski resort onsen for Nick. I wonder if his wife and kids are going to go with him. Not a place I would want to raise a child right now. Or maybe it is only a temporary assignment.

I felt really buoyant today. I think it was a combination of exercise, wearing a new, more youthful top (bought at Arndale under Jill's advice - not my typical style but I'm quite taken with it) and having an iPod accompaniment as I went about my day. It may be Nick's toy, but I shall get more use and I'm enjoying loading up a library of CD tracks onto it; a bit of a labour of love.

The doctor was slightly concerned about my blood pressure, so she suggested that I use the monitor at the sport centre to track it for a while. It came in at 131/82, which is much better than my usual borderline level; I put it down to listening to music as I travelled there.