31 January 2011

After a morning playdate with Mia at Akabanebashi jidokan, I took Emily to Kyu Shiba Rikyu in the afternoon. On the way in there was a display of huge peonies, some in little straw shelters, and I wished I had taken the camera. Light from the lake was dappling on the underside of trees like nature's mirrorball. There was ice on the surface in places and Emily really enjoyed throwing stones onto it and seeing them scatter across the frozen water with a clatter.

30 January 2011

We took a trip to Tamagawa as Nick is keen to get some shots of Fuji with the new camera. It was really chilly, though almost balmy in sunshine, but that soon disappeared as cloud began to roll in. We'd left the buggy at home, and Emily managed well, walking to the station, and then up onto and along the wooded ridge above the river. There were great views across to the closest mountains, and Fuji (for a while, anyway). It was nice to have a cloudscape for once, instead of unremitting blue sky, but it did thwart Nick's main aim.

We spent a short while at the hilltop playground, on the slide, climbing frame and rocking dog.

We had a little race across the grass and at the end Emily pushed Nick quite aggressively several times; we were not at all sure why and she wouldn't say. One thing was for sure, she was very hungry and also complained of being chilly, so we decided to make haste and get some lunch. There are only two restaurants round there that we know of and they were both busy by the time we got there. We took a seat outside the second, as they had thoughtfully laid out fleecy cushions and blankets for waiting customers (or perhaps it was for the benefit of smokers). We were soon invited inside anyway, and managed to find a couple of dishes to fill up on.

Before we made a move homeward we popped up to the nearby shrine

which we have passed many times but never visited before, and discovered a well-placed viewing balcony that provided a wonderful panorama of the mountains. Fuji was hidden but gradually shed its cloud cover to revel itself briefly.

I wonder if Nick and I will get to climb again in July after all? I feel less sure of the transfer happening with every passing day.

The sky looked heavy, and lo and behold, when we emerged from the train in Shirokane it was snowing lightly. Emily was delighted, and by the time we had walked to the apartment it was a proper snow shower, though short-lived - just half an hour. She loved the flakes settling on our hair and eyelashes, and immediately took Goki out onto the balcony to show him.

In the evening, I upgraded my run to 75 minutes and decided to add a further 5 minutes each week until I am running for two hours. Nick said he couldn't understand why I would use up so much of our valuable weekend time together but if I can manage it I feel I should, for the sake of my health, my weight and my ability to keep up with Emily. Also, I still harbour a hope of doing a marathon one day and maintaining a mid-distance run regularly will stand me in good stead if I find the right opportunity comes along. On the scales I came in at 63.2kg, but have been lacking self-restraint all week so it was no surprise to go up a pound and a half. As I am eating early with Emily more often now, I find that by 9pm I am very peckish again. That is the main danger time as I begin nibbling on whatever is available, and usually carbohydrate. I need to make a new rule for myself to adhere to, to avoid that; recognising the risk and distracting myself at the time of weakness is also part of it.

29 January 2011

It's not that long since our last foray out for the evening, but we splashed out and asked Erna to babysit again. Our choice this time was Bagus bar in Akasaka. Nick had been there recently after work with colleagues and wanted to revisit as they have dart boards and a pool table. I was a little unsure about it as the boards are electronic, but actually it was good fun. It was somewhat frustrating that we could only have 10 rounds of three darts each per game though, as we soon found that that was not enough to get down from 501; we switched to 301 but as the system allowed you to go out without doubling we realised that we were not getting very good value for money, at about 1.50 per game. After some mediocre and pricey grub we moved on to the pool table. I was confident at first, as I had done quite well at the darts, but Nick's eye was in and he beat me in all three games. It was good to wield a cue again though. Now I have a fancy to go ten pin bowling, but we need other people to make it a fun evening. If we move back to London it could be a long time before we settle and find a babysitter we trust, so I want to make the most of Erna while we can.

27 January 2011

I'm not going to mention every time Emily writes her name, but as it is still a novelty, she did it again twice today; once on the aquadoodle sheet and once with a pen on a sheet of paper so that she could take it to show to her teachers tomorrow. Maybe they will encourage it more if they see what she can do, especially when all the other children are napping and she can have some quiet time to concentrate.

I do so wish we knew what the next few months hold, because if we are not going back to the UK before summer then I really think we ought to be moving her to a preschool environment where she can receive a higher standard of English and maths learning. Ui is a pleasant and fun environment for her but maybe it is time to step things up a gear (not that I have any intention of being a pushy parent, I hasten to add).

26 January 2011

We had a very busy day: a visit to Appi jidokan, then lunch with Nick, then on to Midtown Park. We finished at Charlize's place, where the girls were doing ballet moves (in tutus and ballet pumps too) rather well. Julia is trying to rearrange the ballet lesson so that it is on Monday mornings and if she can then I think Emily would quite enjoy it, having seen her in action today.

At home, I gave her a present I had been holding back: a Thomas aquadoodle sheet. Almost immediately she wrote an 'E' and then with very little encouragement and no assistance she went on to complete her name. This is a milestone I have been anticipating with much pleasure (and impatience). A pretty good effort too, for the first time.

Nick got his bonus letter and it was rather disappointing, though if his boss is to be believed, he did better than most, year-on-year. The Japan office has performed abysmally so perhaps he was not lying about the bonus pool being severely depleted. I won't bang on about it though, as it is hardly a popular topic right now! His salary converts well into sterling at current rates, but it is the bonus that makes his incredibly tough hours and stress worth it, and a good income is necessary in the most expensive city in the world. Still, I know that there are plenty of more deserving people who work just as hard for much less reward. Well, we have a useful addition to our home-buying fund, if we can only get back to the UK and put it to use.

24 January 2011

Tracy and the children are leaving Japan on Thursday, so I'd asked them over for a final playdate and lunch. The girls played quite well alongside each other, and 13-month Rudy pointed at numerous objects and repeatedly said 'this' again and again. I wonder how long it will be before we see them again?

After they had left we rushed over to Hamamatsucho as I'd agreed to meet Steph and a new coordinator there to do some TMG paperwork. That didn't last long, so Emily and I played a while in the jidokan afterwards before walking home, encompassing a short play in Shiba Koen. I noticed another classic bit of Japlish while in the playroom: a pair of tiny kids shoes with a logo saying 'naive naughty nakedness'! What the ****???

After her bath, Emily wrote several recognisable letter 'M's in the steam on the mirror, and seemed so pleased with herself that I am hopeful she will manage her whole name very soon.

23 January 2011

Nick had been dying to get some photos of Fuji-san using his new camera, so we settled on a day out to Enoshima. Unfortunately, there was some thin high cloud around before we even left home, and by the time we got off the Shonan monorail the majestic snow-covered peak had all but disappeared for the day.



We went for an early lunch at a new restaurant which had great views over the beach and to the island. In the past, food options at the seaside resort had been decidedly second-rate so I was pleased there was now a decent eatery. Nick had noticed a sign advertising boat trips and we thought the price was reasonable for a half hour ride to the other side of the island so we booked it. The young, friendly guy led us a few hundred yards down the riverbank to a smart speedboat.

After cautiously slow progress out to the mouth of the river, he opened the throttle once in the sea, and we sped round to the open bay. Emily seemed to enjoy the experience.

On the way back the driver unexpectedly offered Nick a chance to handle the boat for five minutes or so. Perhaps it was a reward for Nick's Japanese ability - I expect he had been dreading spending half an hour with a family of foreigners he couldn't chat to, and must have been relieved to find his customer could talk to him. On enquiry we learned that a boat like that would set us back around 10 million yen (currently equating to about 80,000 quid), so any dreams we had suddenly formulated of buying one soon dissipated!



Once on dry land we walked over the causeway to Enoshima island. As ever, it was packed up the one street, which is lined with food stalls and tacky gift shops. We walked up the steps as far as the first temple and washed some more money, then wandered back down again. By now we were very hungry again so we decided to make our way back slowly, and stop off at another new cafe/restaurant we had noticed earlier by the mooring place, Diego By The River. This proved an excellent choice and we filled our faces with dessert. We rather over-ordered because Emily's fruit pancake turned out to be a gigantic and scrumptious concoction that we could have shared between us.



On the way back to the station we couldn't resist buying Emily an addition to her train set. This was a cute little Enoden train, plus a miniature of Enoshima island, complete with its shapely tower and a red torii (shrine gate), but the icing on the cake was a model daibutsu (the big Buddha of Hase). If we go back home this will be one item no future friend of hers will ever duplicate!



For my weekly run I felt that as I have been comfortably managing a full hour it was time to increase the time to 70 minutes. I completed this without trouble, apart from a bit of a calf niggle that developed towards the end. On my way I saw many more other runners than usual and put this down to practice for next month's international marathon (which Oli is taking part in). At home I got a reading of 62.9kg, which I was happy with, after a week with many slip-ups.

16 January 2011

On a bitterly cold day, we made a trip to Inokashira park with Julia, Charlize and Serafina (Cliff was flying off for another job interview so could not come). I wished we had gone there before, as it took less than an hour, and with only one change of trains, to get to Kichijoji station. From there it was a short and pleasant stroll to the park, via a street lined with hippy type boutiques and eateries. At the end of the path was a small lake set in deciduous woodland.

Julia had tickets for a show at a nearby art museum, the animated film being a very famous one called 'Tonari no Totoro', which Charlize had seen but Emily had not. The creator was Miyazaki, who made Spirited Away. We spent half an hour crossing the park and finding our way to the Ghibli museum, which was a folly in a vaguely European style filled with odd Japanese animation characters in various arrangements and some rotating in zoetropes. Upstairs there was also a huge furry 16-legged stripey 'cat bus' which was very reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat. Kids could play on it but it was very busy and there was a queue. As Julia was off feeding Serafina somewhere, I was watching over Charlize, and she decided she wanted to have a play on the cat. I was very surprised that Emily didn't want to. I realised afterwards that she was envious of the attention I had to give my charge, but at the time it was very frustrating that she just shrank away and refused to join in; I left Nick to deal with it while I waited with Charlize then watched her while she had her five minute slot on the bus.

Once Julia found us we left in search of food, as the other reason for Emily's meltdown was hunger. It was hard to find any restaurants that were not already full or too small for all of us and our two big strollers. We spent 20 minutes walking in the freezing cold in vain before we eventually settled on a Chinese place that was large and empty. The food was surprisingly good though Emily only ate rice and a bit of egg and prawn.

It was so cold that I would happily have turned for home then, but having eaten (and in Charlize's case, napped), the kids got a second wind and insisted on going to the small zoo abutting the park that we had already mentioned to them. First we headed for the petting area, where dozens of guineau pigs were available for holding and stroking. Just as the last opportunity, Emily was again strangely reticent with the animal on her lap and held it very half-heartedly, only stroking it when I encouraged her. I thought she would leap at the chance, as she spent ages pursuing Florence to stroke her, when home in the summer. Hopefully that means we won't get pressured to buy a rabbit or hamster when she is older!

Aside from a lonely and very old elephant, most animals here were small or medium-sized. Some were exhibiting distressed behaviour though the large troop of monkeys seemed happy enough. I can never understand why the Japanese are so cruel to their zoo inmates when they profess to be animal-lovers and make such a fuss of their horrid yappy pooches.

Beyond the little zoo was a fairground, with half a dozen rides that were perfect for preschoolers. Nick rode a shinkansen, a carousel and a tea-cup ride with Emily and Charlize. I declined to join them - these days I even get dizzy on a swing. We managed to extract them without trying out every single attraction, on the promise that we would stop off at the playground on the way out. It was so perishingly cold that we had to call it a day after 10 minutes, though the girls didn't seem to be overly bothered about the temperature.


On the way back to the station we called in at a funky cafe that had several retro-style hanging coccoon type chairs. Emily and Charlize loved them, naturally, and sat side-by-side in one while they ate their snacks.

My evening run was amazingly good, considering I had not drunk enough water or eaten any high energy foods. I did a full hour again and made my mind up to do a half marathon by the end of 2011 (hopefully Macclesfield in the autumn if we are living back in the UK by then). Post-run, my weight was down to 62.5kg (9st 12lb) - the lowest reading yet!

15 January 2011

While I attended Japanese class, Nick took Emily to Shiba Koen, where she practised on her scooter and played baseball.

In the afternoon I took over and looked after Emily while Nick went out for a couple of hours. We chilled out

and made some cupcakes and she got to wear her new apron for the first time.

10 January 2011

It was a very welcome national holiday (coming of age day), and we spent a few hours at Oedo Onsen Monogatari in Odaiba. This is an 'Old Edo Tokyo' themed venue with multiple hot baths, both indoor and out. The geothermally heated water is piped up from deep below. On entry we chose from a selection of yukata then changed into them. They had run out of jinbei trousers for kids but Emily seemed happy with the top only (for which they waived the usual charge). On the other side of the changing room was an area made to look like an old street scene at night, so the high ceiling was painted black and there were lots of gaily-coloured lanterns. We went straight into the onsen. It's such a shame that we had to part from Nick - it was separate bathing, as usual. Emily and I went in through the curtain and stripped off in the changing room, then passed through to the vast bathroom, where a couple of hundred naked women and children were washing or immersing themselves in baths of various temperatures. I was really relieved that they had some baths at a lower temperature so that Emily could go in. We stayed in the cooler bath and she seemed to be really enjoying herself.

Back out in the 'street', we bought lunch from one of the many faux restaurants. Emily was happy with a bowl of fat white udon noodles and some of Nick's pickled ginger.

After we'd filled up we moved on to the outside section, donning bulky down jackets to keep out the chill. Here there was a very large canal-style footbath, set among pebble paths and plants.

Our objective, however, was the 'doctor fish' bath. I had heard about these from other intrepid gaijin and thought that with a possible move home looming I had better grit my teeth and try this unique experience. These small black fish actually like to eat the dead skin from peoples' feet! A friend had told me that it was weird and a little unpleasant at first, so I was feeling nervous. Nick put his feet into the pool first and immediately let out an exclamation, which made me even more scared. His feet were covered in the little black bodies.

I found the courage somehow to go ahead and plunged my feet in. Straight away they began nibbling at my skin and I did find it both unpleasant and also very tickly.

My whole body was rigid with trepidation. Poor Emily was getting upset because she could see that I was fearful. I managed to convince her that my reaction was purely bcause it was tickling me so much, which was not entirely untrue. It took a good five minutes for me to relax a bit and stop nervously guffawing, to the amusement of the other two customers. By the end of the 15 minute slot I had got used to it, but Emily was agitating to leave. When we withdrew our feet they were indeed a lot smoother and felt pleasantly tingly.

I went back into the main womens' bath while Emily stayed with Nick. This time I tried out all the baths: jacuzzi, mineral, rotemburo, one with bubbles so fine the water looks totally cloudy. i went to collect Emily from Nick's care so she could come back into the cooler bath she liked, and so that he could have another soak.

On our way home, pausing to stock up at Peacock, we had yet another meltdown. I refuse to allow a 3 year old child to dictate what we are doing. I hate to see her in such a state though. Of course all was OK once we were home but this is turning into a daily event.

Later I went for a much-needed stress-relieving one hour run. It was absolutely bitter outside and almost hurt to breathe in, but I settled into it and was soon quite comfortable. The scales rewarded me with a drop to 63.1kg.

9 January 2011

I had my first hangover in ages. We were supposed to be ice skating with the Julia and co but I called her and postponed until the afternoon.

The temporary Midtown rink was predictably crowded. They had special kids' double-bladed skates for hire. Emily seemed to quite like the experience but I'm not sure if she will want to try again. Maybe she will if we go on a weekday when it is quiet. It was very expensive though, considering I barely spent half an hour on the ice, and if I go without Nick I won't get any chance at all to skate on my own.


Emily had a meltdown on the way home. She refused to go in the buggy if Nick was pushing. I did not want to give in and push her, as she wished, so I gave her ultimatum to walk or ride. She ended up walking all the way home from Roppongi - maybe a mile and a half. It took a whole hour and though it was very cold I could not go fast enough to stay warm. Emily whinged and cried periodically but eventually we made it. She was absolutely fine once indoors, of course.


I was not surprised to find the scales put me back up at 63.6kg, since I had eaten and drunk heavily and foregone my run. Not terrible, though.

8 January 2011

Today it is the first year we can't celebrate Grandad's birthday. He would have been 95. I wonder if Grandma will notice the date and remember, or maybe she will be blissfully in the dark and have forgotten he has gone.


I noticed for the first time today that it is still quite light at 5pm.

Brigida came over to babysit and Nick and I went out for dinner in Azabu, to Eat More Greens. We ate many dishes of fab and wholesome veggie food. I think Nick was surprised by how much he enjoyed a meat-free evening out. We managed to get through two bottles of wine and had more booze (sake) at home with a DVD. Not sure why we were so unrestrained as neither of us drinks the amount we used to!

7 January 2011

Nick forwarded an email from Komaki-san about transferring to London at the end of March. Perhaps as a self-defence mechanism, I feel quite sceptical. It is exactly a year since he came home and said out of the blue that the boss wanted to move him back and I wasted ages trawling the net looking at possible places to live and checking out house prices.

4 January 2011

Barring a relapse, Emily has worn her last nappy. She has been dry 95% of mornings so I am hopeful there won't be any accidents, but have a waterproof sheet on the bed in any case.

3 January 2011

It was a bright but rather chilly day so we elected to have an indoor option, having already agreed to spending the day with Julia and family. Before playtime we had lunch at Sizzler (I know I have said I should not go there any more but it is ideal for the kids). Afterwards the dads took the girls to Kid-O-Kid play centre and us mums went for a browse in the sales at Next and Top Shop. Although I mainly bought things for Emily in the end, it satisfied my urge for retail therapy.

2 January 2011

It was a chilly day, though as normal for a Tokyo winter's day it was bright and sunny. We took the bus to Atago Hills to make a hatsumode shrine visit.

Well, as it was packed, Nick queued up to ring the gong and make a prayer, but Emily and I just stayed by the pond and watched the many colourful carp.

At the shrine there is a famous set of 86 steps which are precipitously steep. We all walked down them then trudged back up. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone had died falling down there as it really is dangerous.

I managed to run for a full hour in the evening. It was not my best performance but I was glad to have ground it out. Getting on the scales afterwards I came in at 62.8kg, which is exactly 10 stone. It was a pleasant surprise after a couple of weeks of eating whatever I like, and a good way to begin 2011.

1 January 2010

After the present drought, the deluge began: we gave Emily her dolls' house, the beautiful clothes Gail had sent, some playdough and also her scooter. Later she went outside for a practise with Nick and did OK though apparently had trouble turning it.

Mid-afternoon, we togged up and walked over to Jo's apartment for a party. The streets were really quiet, like Christmas Day at home.

It was just us and Bettina, Steve and their two kids. The gathering was very convivial and relaxed and the children did not fight. The food all worked out well and there was just the right amount.

At bathtime, Emily's weariness showed through and she retired from the tub early in tears.

We eventually left at 8.15 and got a taxi home.