8 July 2009

Emily woke even earlier today, at 5.45. She was babbling away in her room and I thought I heard her say 'Emily poo'. She never does one at that time of day but surprise, surprise, this time she had. It's the first time she seems to have been aware she has done one. I'm not about to start toilet training her yet, though. Not until at least 2 years old. I haven't even got a potty or trainer seat yet, though all my friends have.

I was glad to find that it was a dull day again, though it was nonetheless very warm and sticky. During the morning there was the odd shower, but we went to meet Jill and Sophia at Kyu Shiba Riyku anyway. The girls had a whale of a time running around on the grass and playing with the water fountain.

They also discovered a female turtle laying eggs in a hole she had scraped on a grassy bank. The eggs were very large for such a small creature - almost the size of a hen's egg - and there were several in the bottom of the hole. In fact, they weren't much smaller than the eggs we watched a metre-long sea turtle laying in Borneo, though she lay nearly 70. I hoped our children's squealing and proximity hadn't put the poor creature off, as she began to fill in the muddy hole.

7 July 2009

Emily woke early again, at 6.20, and when I took her into our room she was wide awake straight away and would not let me rest, so I reluctantly got up.


We ventured out into the searing heat for a trial of a Music Together class, held at a Lutheran church in Roppongi. Emily didn't enjoy it, perhaps because it was a small room with about a dozen adults and as many children, and we spent 45 minutes singing and moving around. She only perked up a bit from her sullen state when props and musical instruments were brought out. The rest of the time she was looking out of the window and trying to open the door.


We played briefly in Robot Park next door afterwards, as I felt too guilty to take Emily straight home without much chance to play. There is a series of ever longer and higher slides all accessed via a walkway and stairs. She went straight past the others to the highest, a helter skelter, but chickened out of using it.


Emily had her first afternoon in daycare since we got back. I was worried that she would have forgotten Pokke and be as upset as she was the first few times she went, but when we got there she walked straight in and started playing. I don't think she even cried when I disappeared. On picking up, she wasn't looking out for me as before, and had to be pulled away from the toys to come to me. She then said 'Emily shoe' and was ready to leave.


Apparently Tokyo is now the most expensive place to live, or rather, for a company to send an expat to. That's somewhat different, since they use a 'basket of goods' comparison, and probably include a lot of goods that I don't buy. In any case, as Nick is paid in yen there is no issue with exchange rates, which is what has mainly been the cause of the increase in the cost of sending an expat here.

5 July 2009

We had arranged to go to the Embassy to see Tracey, James and Lottie, as it had been several months since we were there. An Aussie couple, Megan and Hugh, and their two daughters were there as well. All the children played nicely inside and out in the garden. Before eating we went across to the pool. Nick took Emily in but she got very upset, probably because she had already been up for 5 hours, and was very hungry, but also because the water was actually quite cold.

As Emily scoffed her food, Tracey kindly knocked up lunch for us adults - a good thing too as we hadn't given thought to where we'd eat. We finally left at 2.30 so that we could get Emily asleep in the buggy, but we saw Ryan, Sharon and Taylor in the pool so stopped for 10 minutes to chat to them. We made our excuses and were about to leave when we realised Emily had done a poo.

In the end she only napped for half an hour, but that was enough for us to get the tube to Kiyosumi. It was the first time I had risked Emily napping on a train, but she was oblivious to the noise, although after nearly 7 hours and lots of play she must have been exhausted.
We were pleased with our discovery of yet another great garden, and this one right next to a park and only a few hundred yards from the Sumida river. Kiyosumi is really lovely; it has similar features to Rikugien, Korakuen and Kyu Shiba Rikyu (lake, trained pine trees, maples and cherries), but they are all subtly different and have their own charm. Inside there was a big arrangement of bamboo branches festooned with colourful wishes, for Tanabata festival. I added one to the collection.

Emily was raring to go though we had to restrain her while we traversed the many stepping stones around the lake edge. She loved the huge koi and turtles.

My evening run was a lot better than last week's, though it was very humid so I as glad I had taken a wet flannel to cool myself off with.

4 July 2009

As usual I disappeared off for the morning to my Japanese lesson. We covered an awful lot, because we are drawing near the end of the course and had fallen behind (probably due to all the interruptions from our two resident pedants). I did struggle to keep up, and they were using a lot of vocabulary they must have done while I was away 5 weeks. But nonetheless I do enjoy being in the learning environment, and the language is very interesting if frustrating sometimes.

In the afternoon the three of us walked up to the Nature Studies Centre, as I had enjoyed our visit during the week and we hadn't been as a family for a long time. This time I was better prepared for the conditions there - good thing too as it was even wetter and muddier. Emily walked pretty much the whole way around before flagging at the final stage. She was really funny with all her talking. This last few days has seen the verbal floodgates open wide and she must be picking up a dozen new words a day or so, plus linking pairs of words (usually possessive, such as 'Daddy shoe', 'Mummy hair').

On the walk to the park we heard our first cicada of the summer, so in a matter of days we will have their chirruping as a continous background.

Back at home, Nick gave Emily an impromptu guitar lesson. I really hope that she wants to take it up, as it is an instrument I would love to be able to play. There'll be no parental pressure though!

Erna came round for the evening shift and Nick and I went out to TY Harbor. It turned out to be a huge dining room in a converted warehouse on the waterfront. The popular restaurant also has its own brewery, so we first ordered sampler sets. I liked the wheat beer best and had another glass. The food was really good, if a bit pricey. I was a bit disappointed not to get any potato with my fish, but the piece of mahi mahi I got was so big that I didn't really need it, and the accompanying mango and papaya salsa was gorgeous. For once I resisted the urge to have the chocolate dessert, as I am often disappointed and wish I'd had one of the others on offer, but this time I made the wrong choice as Nick had it and it was sublime.

3 July 2009

Since my return I seem to be working through all my old bugbears about facets of life here. Today it is plastic bags. There's a love affair with packaging here and it makes me realise that we are quite enlightened back home. The staff in the shops I frequent are no longer surprised when I tell them I don't need a carrier bag, but it took a long time for it to sink in and I expect they think I am a weird foreigner. I saw a man today carrying one tiny item in a carrier bag, even though he was wearing utility trousers with lots of pockets. I really wanted to tell him off. There's no point hoping the stores will lead the way because at the end of the day each carrier is a bit of advertising for them. My main supermarket used to stamp a card for me if I used my own bags but they withdrew that scheme some time ago.

On the other hand, it is great to see dog owners cleaning up behind their pets and to know that Emily is not likely to end up with toxaemia when she plays in the parks. At home they could do well to follow Japan's lead on that issue.

Our morning outing was to Hon Shiba, where Emily had fun in the sandpit among hordes of children from nearby nurseries. One of the boys seemed obsessed with her blonde hair and kept stroking it. We went to Azabu park with Julia in the afternoon. Emily and Charlize (Emily calls her 'Lalize') enjoyed climbing the steps and using the whizzy slide (I like that one too, as it is composed of thin tubes of metal that roll you down the long curving sweep very rapidly). I was delighted to see Emily climb up the steps unaided, as she has never done anything like that before, and the steps were quite deep. She also knew she had done something special and smiled her secret smile to me.

After half an hour we moved on to Appi jidokan for another hour's playtime. I was surprised by how quiet it was in there, but I think a lot of expats have already gone home for the summer. They were decorating the alcove with bamboo branches hung with homemade paper decorations for Tanabata - Star Festival - on July 7th.

2 July 2009

Emily woke at 5.30 and I couldn't settle her, so I took her into our room. It was futile really, because she always thinks it is fun to play on our bed, so we lay there until seven with her trying out various positions on the pillows and saying 'Mummy bed' and me with eyes closed but one hand hovering over her in case she got too close to the edge. Given that it is the rainy season ('tsuyu') it was no surprise to find steady rain when we rose. For the first time in ages - perhaps since Emily started walking - we did not go out to play in the morning, though we did have to pop out to the shops. The morning went quite quickly under the circumstances, but I don't want to repeat the experience too often.

Emily was playing 'Mummy bed' and when I went into the room she was just spitting something out of her mouth and making a face. I thought she had found a rogue squashed raisin or something from the kitchen floor and thought nothing more of it until I noticed a bad odour in the air. I realised that she had done a poo, and then with horror, that she must have eaten a little bit of it, as some had squished out of her nappy and onto the bed. After brushing her teeth and changing her, I had to strip the whole bed and soak everything at 60C in the bath. Yuck.

Apaprently experienceing no ill effects, when Nick made his usual lunchtime call, Emily kept chuckling, which I think really helped to lift his spirits, and she said 'byebye' on cue for once. After he had hung up she then said 'byebye Daddy'.

The afternoon's plan to try out the outdoor pool at Meguro with Jo, Bettina and Jill had to be shelved due to the rain, so I suggested Skip Kids, which seemed a popular choice. I was the first to arrive, and as soon as she was through the door Emily was off and went straight for the ball pit. On previous visits she has clung to me for a while, until she knows where I am sitting and feels confident that I am not going to sneak off. I was amazed that it was very quiet there, since it was a wet day. We were the only ones there apart from a couple of other Japanese mums and kids. J, B and J turned up in due course, and we had a pleasant couple of hours, chatting and playing with the children.

On the way home I noticed, for the first time in months, the ugly swathes of wires that are ubiquitous in Japanese streets. It really is a terrible eyesore.

At bathtime, Emily got worried when the squid fell into the water (since I put batteries in it and demonstrated how it can whizz around in the water she has been scared of it). I swear she said 'I get out' as she tried to climb over the side of the bath. Her speech has been improving leaps and bounds but it is too much to hope that she understands the use of personal pronouns, so I must have misheard.

1 July 2009

Rain had been forecast, but though it had obviously been wet overnight, the day passed without further precipitation. That was just as well, because I had arranged to meet Victoria at the Centre for Nature Studies in Shirokanedai. I hadn't been there for months, and she had never been, so it seemed a good venue for our first proper playdate, now that Soraya was walking well.

It may not have been sunny, but that didn't mean that it wasn't hot, though it was probably the humidity which made me sweat as I walked up there. I was relieved to find that I wasn't greeted by clouds of biting mozzies, as I have been in that place so many times before (it being quite damp under the mature trees there - ideal for breeding the little blighters). Another problem was soon to trouble me though: after the overnight rain the path was very muddy and dotted with puddles. I had had the foresight to bring Emily's boots, but her pale trousers were soon splattered all over as she fell down in the mud. Soraya was wearing white pumps, so she came off even worse.

We both got dirty too, when they were too tired to walk and had to be carried. It was a nice hour we had though. The lake area had been tidied up and a new bridge or two put in. The wild flowers looked lovely and there were plenty of beetles, ants and waterboatmen for Emily to spot.

I curtailed Emily's nap so that we could head off to the TMG meeting, this time at Kodomo no Shiro (Children's Castle) in Omotesando. On the train there was a woman in a mac and scarf using a fan, which seemed ridiculous. Generally, Japanese people appear to be genetically different in their tolerance of heat and humidity, as they often wear more than one layer on days when I am overheated in a vest top, and never seem to sweat (though most do carry a small flannel especially for mopping up sweat). Emily loved the playhall, packed with kids right up to about 6 or 7 years old who were running riot all over the play equipment. She tried to climb up with them a few times but I had to whisk her away as she would have been bowled over by their rough antics. The turnout for the meeting was woeful - just me, Jill and a new coordinator, Hiroko, plus one mum. But it was so busy there that there may have been others we didn't spot.

I am having to readjust to an old bugbear of mine - lazy Japanese people who take the lift when there is a perfectly good elevator nearby. These able-bodied people should be ashamed when they see me with the stroller having to wait because they were too lazy to step onto an escalator. Grrr.

Emily hardly ate any tea, even though I ate with her yet again. Maybe it is her emerging teeth troubling her. Her latest craze, and very sweet, is to climb up onto 'Mummy bed' and tuck herself and monkey under the covers.