17 October 2010

Nick was studying all day so I took Emily to Nikko Nikko (which is baby-speak for 'smile') playground in Shinanomachi. We approached through a long tunnel formed by an avenue of ginkgo trees. Some of the foul-smelling fruit had fallen already and it reminded me of the stench to come from these otherwise beautiful trees as they move into their fine golden autumn colour.


We met Cliff and Charlize there; lately I am seeing more of him than Julia! Tongues will wag. The small entrance fee seemed modest considering what a fantastic place it is. I do so wish we had checked it out before. We first explored a wooded hill with multiple ways to climb up - tires, ropes, stepping stones etc - and a whizzy slide that is wide enough for two small kids to ride side by side.



Next we tried out the large manmade structure with a high and long roller slide, though being a weekend the girls had to battle it out to get on the stepladders with many kids, some at least six or seven years old. We moved on to the aerial slide then the many other smaller pieces of play equipment.

A collection of Rody ponies were a big hit and we all bounced around and pretended to fall off on the huge expanse of safety surface.


Around the centre there were comfortable chairs and tables set with with fresh flowers for people to eat their picnics, which we duly did. After a couple of hours, Bettina came along with Tim. Charlize was tiring by then and she and Cliff left soon after. We stayed another hour an a half before dragging Emily and Tim away.

My evening run was good as I returned to my successful strategy of eating a light meal at 6pm and running at 9pm. My weight was also apparently down again. I really do not trust the scales as they are now saying I lost 1.5kg in 6 days. However, if the overall loss over the 5 weeks can be believed I have lost more than 3kg in that period, without too much pain.