15 August 2009

In trepidation I attended Japanese class. My fears were justified, as I have slipped so far behind. Mind you, there were only a couple of familiar faces. New to class were a Korean girl and a Chinese guy, who could both speak quite a bit of Japanese. In fact, she was able to hold a conversation with the teacher, and I wondered why she was coming to lessons at all. It only served to make me feel even more useless.

I made my excuses at noon and rushed off to Shinagawa station, where I was meeting Jill and her friend Anna for our night away in Kanagawa. We splashed out on 'green car' seats, which are spacious and comfortable, though they do cost half as much again. But the fare for the hour's journey was very reasonable anyway. We nattered away and ate our lunch, and soon pulled in to Zushi station, at the coast. Anna doesn't have any children, so it made it easier to avoid talking about the kids!

It was a scorching day - perhaps 35C - but the humidity was thankfully low. We walked slowly down to the beach, which we found to be heaving with Japanese taking a rare day off to play. In any case, we were heading around the bay for the harbour, as Anna had suggested a boat trip. I felt for 6-month pregnant Jill, as we walked quite a distance in the blazing sun with only a mild breeze to take the edge off the oven-like heat. I can usually get away with unprotected sun exposure (though I know I shouldn't), but after only half an hour I could see strong marks where my T-shirt had been.

We finally tracked down the boat company's desk and booked onto the trip. Their launch was a fair size and mainly covered; once we got moving it was lovely to be in the fresh air and under shade.



We moved slowly out into the bay through many sailing boats, canoes and jetskiis, passing by some outlying rocks on which a large red torii (a sort of shrine gate) had been erected.



Once into open water the young captain opened the throttle and we surged forward excitingly, making quick progress southwards towards Enoshima island.



As we neared the famous attraction we saw that the rocks around the seaward base of the island were swarming with people. I remembered reading that there were lots of shrine caves and could see that there were walkways allowing easy access into the caverns.



Having viewed Enoshima we turned for home, speeding back along a mile or so off the shore. Some sail boats looked very attractive in the light of the sun as it started its slow descent towards evening.



We had noticed some nice looking cafes on our way to the marina, and made our way back to one for a coffee and some dainty cakes. Next to the cafe was a small piece of beach, and we decided to have a quick dip before we returned to the station. We found the dark volcanic sand to be very pleasant under our feet, and the water temperature was surprisingly comfortable. I wished I had packed my swimwear after all as there was no-one to see me anyway, the crowds all being on the main beach some way off.

After a long paddle we walked back to the station (our accommodation for the night was a further 15 minutes up the line in Kinugasa). We were running a bit late and jumped into a cab, as Jill had negotiated for dinner to be held back until 6.30 and it was already past that. The taxi ride took an eternity, winding around narrow back lanes up into the wooded hills beyond the town. Just as darkness began to fall we finally arrived at the guesthouse. It was extremely traditional, and like a lot I have stayed in, rather run down. It seemed to be staffed by just a trio of elderly women in aprons. I think we were the only guests, and possibly the only foreigners they had accommodated. We were shown to our room, which looked out over the hills and town back to the coast. It was reasonable enough for the price we were paying, though a bit grubby in places.


We changed into yukata while the women scuttled off to cook the meal. Dinner was served in another guest room down the corridor, which allowed them to make up our futons while we ate. The food was decent: very good tempura and the usual array of tiny dishes of unrecognisable vegetable matter and some thick slabs of sashimi. We sat and chatted for quite a while before we realised that we were probably holding them up from clearing the table, and repaired to our room which was now set up as sleeping quarters.

As always, there was a communal bath, and we trooped off down there for a quick dip. The room was lined with white tiles and there were just a few rocks around the bath to make it look a bit natural. Jill and I found the water too hot to do more than put our lower legs in, but Anna managed to submerge herself for a while. High summer is not the best time to appreciate a lingering dip in scalding water. We sat and talked there for a while, listening to the cicadas and other night noises outside.


It was only about 9pm, but poor Jill was flagging and immediately lay down. I had promised to show Anna a shooting star, as she had never seen one before. The Perseids annual shower was just past its peak, but I thought we stood a good chance as we were out of the town and the sky was clear. The two of us ventured back down to the lobby, only to find everything shut up for the night. Luckily one of the old ladies was around and Anna, who can speak some Japanese, managed to convey our desire to stargaze. The woman came out with us onto the steps outside to look, and even turned out the outside lights for us. We were rewarded for our trouble within a few minutes by a magnificent meteor that streaked across directly above for a whole second, and we all happened to be looking the right way at once. Anna and I stayed out for a further 10 minutes or so but failed to see another.

14 August 2009

Emily's fourth visit to the nursery. She cried as I put her down but went in to the playroom and didn't even notice me leave. When I returned three hours later, several kids were lined up behind the gate like hopeful puppies at Battersea; Emily cried a little when she saw that it was me, but soon recovered.

It has come to my notice that many Japanese, especially older women, wear synthetic fibres even in this heat. Do they not have any sweat glands?! It makes me feel ill to even think about wearing nylon at 35C.

13 August 2009

I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting a bit concerned as we had another earthquake at 8am, which lasted more than a minute, though perhaps a little less strong than the other two this week. Tokyo sits on the boundary of three Tectonic plates and is widely believed to be due for a very big tremor any time. There is also a separate risk from another zone a hundred and fifty miles south west, which is the one responsible for this cluster of quakes. We have an emergency bag in the hall cupboard and 20 litres of water outside the front door, but I feel woefully ill-prepared all the same. There's only so much I can carry in addition to Emily, should I need to evacuate, though I'm sure I would have super-human strength with all the adrenalin.

In the afternoon we met Minako and Haru at Meguro pool. It was very busy, with quite a few dads there since it is O-Bon week (Buddhist festival of ancestors). Emily had been getting a bit grouchy, but as soon as Haru came she perked up and was chasing him and laughing. Yet another boyfriend!

12 August 2009

For once the humidity dropped and although it was about 28C it actually felt tolerable. I only mopped my face with my sweatcloth a couple of times all day, and didn't have to change my clothes for the afternoon, as a measure!

Despite the comfortable conditions, I had already planned a playdate with Jill at Skip Kids. She had also invited Minako with 2-year old Haru. They were at the party on Saturday and she seemed really nice. We spent a couple of hours there and the kids had lots of fun. Minako lived in London from 1990-95, but her English is still very good after all this time. It will be nice to get to know her better.

11 August 2009

Bracing ourselves for the onset of an approaching typhoon, instead we were surprised to be woken at 5am by the violent shakings of another earthquake. Nick said that this one was of a similar intensity to the Sunday evening tremor, but lasted longer. I'm sure I am not the only one, but even while it is happening I feel a frisson of excitement, although I expect that is caused by the flow of adrenalin. I think it took about 20 minutes for the thumping in my chest to completely subside afterwards though. Emily was oblivious, naturally. The JMA website confirmed it as a level 6 off the west of Izu peninsula, about 100 miles from Tokyo. They use their own scale so it is hard to know what the corresponding Richter number is.

Emily was back in nursery again in the afternoon. She cried again as I handed her over to one of the assistants, but apparently quickly recovered and was in a great mood for the three hours. I took myself off to Akachan Honpo baby store, where I had a stress-free shopping experience for once.

9 August 2009

We walked over to Hon Shiba park in blazing heat with little wind, where we splashed about in the fountain pool. After only half an hour we left as Emily was quite grouchy. Maybe it was just the heat getting to her, as I know I feel very grumpy if I am too hot.

After lunch we went to Meguro pool, as I was keen to take Nick to see what fun we have there. By now it was very overcast and threatening a storm, but that that didn't materialise. Nonetheless there were about 20 children there, playing in the rather cool water, and Emily played happily for 40 mins or so.

At home I realised that Emily was singing. Her attempt at 'Twinkle Twinkle' was recognisable. She didn't use the right syllables most of the time but it was the correct tune and some words were distinguishable.

After dark I went out for my run, despite it still being 30C and very airless. It went surprisingly well. I ran my longest route in reverse, which felt very strange, and it also meant that the steep hill came halfway instead of at the beginning. Why is it that the crossings are always showing green when you secretly wish they would be red? Thank goodness for a wet cloth to mop my bright red face.

Near the end of the run I noticed several garage shutters rattling hard, and it did cross my mind that there might be an earthquake since there was no wind to produce such an effect. However, I didn't feel anything at all so I continued running. When I got home Nick said there had been one and that it was quite heart in mouth at one point. I felt almost disappointed not to have felt it, though that's easy to say in retrospect. To illustrate the violence of the force, I'd left a large pan half full of water on the stove and it had sloshed all over the stove top and onto the floor.

8 August 2009

Nick came in at 2.30am, and was drunk and rude. I reacted to it at the time, but later relented because it was the booze talking. At 3 I wondered why he hadn't come to bed and found him on the loo slumped against the wall and fast asleep! He doesn't drink that much anymore so he's not used to a big session. I knew he would suffer for it anyway, but it turned it into a bit of a lost weekend as he stayed in bed until lunchtime and we ended up staying at home in the afternoon. Bang went my Japanese class as I ended up taking Emily to Appi for a play. I have now missed so many classes that I will have to drop out and hope that they run that level course again soon.

Later on we spruced up and headed over to Jill's apartment for Sophia's 2nd birthday party/their leaving do/fireworks viewing combined. This was a new experience for us as it involved keeping Emily up an hour and a half later than usual. However, she was really bright and lively all evening. At first she was wary of all the strange men (Jim's work colleagues as well as a few other families), but she got stuck into Sophia's toys and then sat down with the other three kids for tea, and she was quite relaxed after that.

There were so many things for her to look at from their balcony too: helicopters, aeroplanes, boats, lorries and even an airship.

At 7pm the hour and a half of fireworks began, out in Tokyo Bay, near Odaiba. Jill's place is on the 47th floor so we had an amazing view from their balcony. How could I have doubted that Emily woud love them? She had a huge grin on her face and started babbling 'bang' and listing all the colours (not necessarily correctly) and copying us all as we 'oohed' and 'aahed'. After some while the lure of the toys was too strong and she drifted off to play again.

We left just as the grand finale began, deliberately planned so that we could get back to the station before the hundreds of thousands who were in the area to see the show began leaving too. It was already busy by the time we got on the train so it was the right thing to do, though remembering last year I'm sure we missed a spectacle. Emily managed to stay awake until we got home and even seemed affronted to be bundled straight off to bed without playing first, though she was flat out in less than 5 minutes.