Japanory

A New Car!

7^th March 2008

As you may have read here, Tim's Landrover died in spectacular fashion. (I didn't get the technical facts right, apparently, but never mind; the end result was the same).

He managed to find a breakers yard – very rare here – and the manager came and somehow drove the clanking heap of junk away, enveloped in clouds of black smoke. This was quite a sight! You just do not see old, knackered vehicles on the roads here at all. Even lorries carrying rubble are polished and chromed to mirror-like perfection.

I have a little runaround Toyota (Corolla in the UK) for the school run and stuff. Poor Tim has been reduced to fighting the rush hour metro squeeze. A long and uncomfortable journey involving a train change which requires a nearly 1km walk between stations. Now he may know how I felt doing the school run <evil cackle!>

So he's been looking at getting another car and I just figured he'd get another Landrover, as he's always been such a geek about them. But he's got cross with them and all the work they entail. Instead, he's been looking at "ordinary cars". It's against his (and my) nature to buy a brand new car. I used to be in car sales so know the depreciation as soon as they are driven off the forecourt. Such a waste of money. However, the secondhand car market here is extremely difficult to track down. Japanese like brand new cars.

One day he phoned me to ask "Do you like Celicas?"

Silly question – he knows darn well I love Celicas.

"Yes, you know I do. Why?"

"Well, someone here at work is leaving early and wants to sell his". (Why on earth would anyone want to leave Tokyo early?) OK, I guess that's not the point really…

Tim continued, "It's a convertible, are you OK with that?"

"WHAAAAA?! Yes, of COURSE I'm OK with that. When can we get it?"

So we got the gorgeous Celica and I now pose around with the lid down. Lots of non-car people at school think it's some kind of supercar and I get a lot of envious looks (and probably snippy comments behind my back) but who cares? It's gorgeous! And apparently very rare in the UK. We think we may ship it back when we leave here.

Oh and the GPS speaks English too. That's quite a strange change after a year or so of getting directions in Japanese. "Slight right turn" "Traffic congestion ahead"… usually when I'm already stuck in the jam anyway.

March 2008 – Day to Day Life and Manicures

Generally life goes along the same way as usual. Here's a summary of my day to day life so I don't need to bother you with it again and can concentrate on "special" events or occurrences.

School run:
Juggle after school activities so I remember what time to collect Rhiannon on particular days:
Ikebana lesson on Monday mornings:
Coffee on Tuesdays with my good friends:
Work work work – often until the early hours of the morning:
Shopping trips – grocery and Carole-time treats.
And so on…

We rarely go out in the evenings.

Sometimes I have my hair done.

Very occasionally I treat myself to a facial, but stopped going there when the lady told me I needed Botox... and it wasn't something the salon offered so wasn't a sales spiel at all. Not happy about that and complained to the manager who laughed and said "isn't she wonderful?!". Erm, no, bye!

And my new "thing" is to go for a manicure, something I've never done before. I consider my nails to be my best feature (yeah, that's all!) and they grow very long and strong. I used to paint my own until my eyesight got too aged to do them neatly. The school mum's rave about gel nails, but I've heard they ruin your real nails so refuse to try them.

Whilst in Hawaii I discovered nail art and soon found out this is a very Japanese skill and, having never been one for French Tips or neutral nails, I embrace this funky fashion. It took a while to find a salon who worked the way I like. They are always amazed that my nails are my own and sometimes try to take them off! This makes for a great ice-breaker in a language-challenged environment. They are ready to do something avant-garde and "not kawaii!".I usually go for black & white but can't find a pic of them.

Once again, it's the little things in Japan that make all the difference: when it's time to pay, the lovely girls get my purse and money out of my bag for me so I don't smudge the varnish.

I was so sad when this shop closed down a year or so later and I haven't found another such good one since.

Customer Service Above and Beyond

We had a phone call from the water authority. They had taken the trouble to find someone who spoke English in order to call us.

They were concerned about a sudden increase in water consumption during December and January and were worried in case there was something wrong with the water meter or perhaps a leak somewhere. Should they send someone out to take a look for us?

We explained that we'd had many visitors over this period and therefore, yes, water consumption would have been increased substantially. They understood and thanked us!

Another little bit of Japanese culture that is just amazing.

A Magic Floor

Sunday 2^nd March 2008

We went to a different shopping mall over at Odaiba. Nothing much to see in the way of shops (for us) but it was a beautiful building. The area is called Pallette Town and the mall, Venus Fort. The interior architecture was lovely, like wandering around an old European town. Restaurants are nice too.

  On the walk over there were spotted (well, couldn't miss it really) the enormous ferris wheel with its multi-coloured gondolas.

And this fabulous sign – "Beam me up, Scottie!"

In Venus Fort there was a "magic floor" which responded to the pressure of people walking on it. We had a wonderful time – the picture changed from time to time, sometimes there were bubbles to "pop" or balls and butterflies to chase. At one point it changed to look like a pond with fish swimming in it. Rhiannon leapt off in alarm, so realistic did it appear!

Outside the mall was a giant "baby bouncer" thing. Naturally Rhiannon wanted to have a go but ended up really hating it as the helpers bounced her too high.

There was also an amusement arcade nearby, so a fair bit of money was thrown away in pursuit of trying unsuccessfully to get something from "The Claw" machines.

Recycling - Tokyo-style

February 2011

Just wanted to pop this in while thinking about it (we're currently de-cluttering ready to move across the world, so this is relevant, but not chronologically necessary).

The rubbish collections here are remarkable. There are no public waste bins on the streets; everyone takes their garbage home with them. Roads and pavements are spotless. Absolutely no litter at all. People (usually women) go out early in the morning to sweep away any specks of dust that may have collected outside their home or shop.

Attention to detail is incredible.

In the autumn, they are out there almost constantly, sweeping away leaves.

I don't.

But I do have a waste disposal unit in the kitchen - aka the Kitchen Monster. It needs feeding regularly. I have no idea what happens to whatever goes down there, but it's pretty scary and extremely effective.

The only bins you will see are the bottle and can bins next to vending machines. And occasionally there are bins outside conbeni (convenience stores).

Oh yes, and cigarette "stations" with large, water-filled ash buckets where smokers congregate so their cigarette butts don't mess up the streets.

Signs at these stations show the Japanese view of litter. Although these signs indicate a bias against smokers, this is one of the few countries in the world where you can still smoke in a restaurant.

We don't have wheelie bins but use translucent white bin bags. They are translucent so the collectors can see if you're sticking to the rules. Each year, we are issued with a pamphlet showing how and when to put our rubbish out. If we don't comply, the bag is left behind for the whole neighbourhood to see!

On the relevant day, the refuse needs to be put out by 8am. You're not meant to leave the food waste overnight due to feral cats, giant Jungle crows and the occasional tanuki (google it!!) The bags then need to be covered with a blue nylon net to prevent these creatures getting in. However, the crows are very clever and I've seen one lift the corner of the net while his mates attack the thin bags with their enormous beaks.

Here are our Rubbish Recycling Rules: as you can see, almost everything has been accounted for.

Tuesday & Friday

Food waste
Paper scraps
Clothes
Flowers
Rubber
Leather
Dirty food containers
Dirty PET bottles (PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate, the plastic from which they are made)
Cooking oil/fat
Plastic products that are not food containers or packaging

Wednesday

Plastic packaging
Clean food containers
Plastic tubes
Plastic bottles (not PET)
CD's
Videos
Toys
PET bottle lids

Wednesday in a separate bundle (has to be flat and bound with special tape or string)

Newspapers
Magazines
Cardboard
Paper packs (milk / juice cartons)

Thursday

Food tins
Drink cans / bottles
PET bottles – not lids

Saturday

Glass bottles
Ceramics
Pans
Lightbulbs
Small appliances
Razors, knives etc

When I lived in the UK we only had our rubbish collected every other week. Papers were also collected once a fortnight and the bin we had to put them in was about the size of a supermarket shopping basket. If we put out more paper recycling we had a visit from the council threatening to charge us "Business Rates"! Outrageous.

I think this puts the UK to shame.

 

Guam – Some Extra Photos of Wildlife

As I had 'flu and wasn't firing on very many cylinders at all there aren't the usual number of photos of my holiday.

But here are a few random ones so you can get an impression of Guam's wildlife.

We couldn't really travel off the beaten track at all because almost all of Guam is a US air base or something, so most of the island is out of bounds. Numerous establishments catering for the forces surrounded the hotel and town – places like strip clubs, topless bars and so on. Not something I particularly wanted to explain to my child.

And guess what happened when we went back through airport security on the way home? Yup! You've guessed it – yet another full search. We were not amused and vowed not to visit anywhere owned by the USA again.

Anyway, here are the extra photos:

I have NO idea what this was. I notice this little pile of sticks and it was moving! I presume some sort of caterpillar or other bug walking along the slightly larger, darker piece of wood.

 

A wader of some sort at Talofofo Falls

 

A butterfly - you really needed to know that, didn't you?!

 

A small green crab - I nearly fell in the sea trying to take this photo!

When we finally arrived home, we found one of Rhiannon's spherical goldfish had died and was in the process of being eaten by its tank-mate. Surprisingly, she wasn't as upset as expected but more fascinated by the hole that the other fish had made in its belly!

Guam – a Short and Very Incomplete WWII History

After the attack on Pearl Harbour in World War II, Guam was wrested from the Americans by the Japanese in 1941. The Americans seized it back in 1944. It was chosen as a target because of its size and proximity to relevant places in the Pacific campaign – it would make the ideal base.

Before the Americans arrived, a dreadful event occurred: (The local people on Guam are called Chamorros)

From Guampedia "On July 15 and 16, 1944, with the American forces approaching Guam near the end of the Japanese occupation of the island in World War II, Japanese soldiers massacred nearly fifty Chamorro men and women from Merizo in two separate confrontations in caves in the Tinta and Faha areas just outside the village of Merizo."

Then the Americans landed on the island. It was a hard battle. Rain and thick jungle made conditions difficult for the Americans, but they were determined and prevailed. As was normal for the Japanese soldiers, they did not surrender and almost all were killed. However, a few escaped into the jungle where they hid out for many years. One famously survived for 28 years. Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi lived alone in a cave until January 24, 1972 when he was discovered by hunters.

Talofofo is a village located in the southern part of Guam and it was near here that the Chamorros were herded into caves and killed.

When we arrived, the area was completely deserted apart from some very large free-ranging and rather unfriendly pigs and piglets.

A chairlift takes you above the treetops down to the fresh-water falls below. Someone told us that during the massacre these waterfalls were red with blood.

Today they were rather beautiful. We could walk around on a very wobbly bridge.

Nearby was a small museum which showed tableaus through time from the days of the ancient Chamorro until World War II. Rhiannon was both fascinated and horrified – remember at this point she was only 6 years old and wasn't aware of war, let alone its associated atrocities.

We did see Yokio's cave but I didn't feel good about taking photographs of it for some reason. The picture at the top of this post is from Wikipedia.

Guam

Friday 8^th February 2008 – Friday 15^th February 2008

Once again we were pulled over by the US security heavies for a full check, just like in Hawaii. This was getting ridiculous and Tim complained loudly. Naturally it made no difference at all but at least he didn't get arrested. Apparently it's all "completely random, sir"… err, don't think so!

As I have 'flu I don't really recall much of this holiday.

I do know that if I didn't have 'flu I would have found Guam to be the most boring place in the world.

As it was, I found myself a hammock next to the pool, plugged myself into my MP3 player and listened to my Japanese language course. And promptly fell asleep. Tim and Rhiannon played happily in the almost empty pool and didn't think to wake me up. So I got very sunburned on the first day.

Obviously I wasn't up to much those first couple of days so we ate in the hotel and I fell asleep in bed while Tim and Rhiannon watched TV. They are on their ideal holiday!

The beach was really tiny – about four feet from sea to edge and none of us fancied going in it as there was a lot of weed and potential jellyfish around. Both Tim and I had been stung by a Portuguese Man o'War in the past (on very separate occasions) and didn't want to repeat the exceedingly painful experience with unknown nasties.

A double-decker tram / bus shuttled between the hotels and "town" so on subsequent days and nights we took this to find other restaurants. These comprised TGIF and the Outback. And that was about it. Oh, we did try a Japanese restaurant one night but it was so appalling that we all felt rather sick. The tram was fun though. Open-topped, it whizzed along the road with Rhiannon standing up and me shouting "duck" to get her head down just in time as we passed under Frangipani trees. She thought this was hysterically funny. We gathered fallen Frangipani flowers to decorate and scent the rather drab hotel room.

We hired a car for a few days just to get around a bit more. Some nice views, beautiful turquoise sea.

This is called Bear Rock

To Rhiannon's delight, we discovered a sort of upside-down lighthouse. It was set into a massive bomb crater in the sea and you climbed down the spiral staircase to a viewing gallery to see the most gorgeous reef fish that obligingly came to the windows so I could take pictures of them.

The bomb crater thing gives an insight to the darker side of Guam which I'll write about in the next post.

On Holidays & Visitors - a Bit of a Rant

February 2008

We were warned before we moved here that people would see us as a chance for a free holiday and that all kinds of distant friends would come out of the woodwork and visit. Sadly, the people I would dearly love to have come and visit are unable to due to lack of finances.

Tim only gets a set number of days leave per year. Rhiannon has set school holidays, of course. And we only have a limited amount of money to spend on holidays, as has everyone.

Our summer holidays are reserved for going to the UK in order to a) escape from the melting heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer; b) to stock up on stuff we can't get here and c) use up the ridiculously long school break – over 8 weeks!

Christmas holidays have already settled into my Mum coming over here. As a fairly recent widow, I cannot bear to leave her on her own over Christmas and she's never been invited to spend it at my brother's.

That leaves the school's Easter holidays (about 3 weeks) and the February and October one week half terms.

Tim's parents keep saying they will come over to visit, then not committing to a date.They only want to come when Rhiannon is off school. So the Easter holidays are reserved for them. But once again, they cancelled their plans at the last moment.

A friend of mine – an ex work colleague from years ago – invited herself and her daughter over, for a week in April. Unfortunately, her child's school holidays don't coincide with Rhiannon's break so this will not be as much fun as hoped. But there's a weekend in the middle of it, so the girls can spend some quality time together.

And it took a while to get all the dates confirmed, otherwise we would have taken some proper holiday time at Easter.

So that leaves us only the one week half term breaks to get some much needed R&R for ourselves.

Japan is a surprisingly long way from everywhere. We don't want to spend hours on a plane for just a week's holiday, so look for closer options. We rather fancy Saipan or Pulau, but can't sort out the flights in time, so we get a last minute trip to Guam. It's only three hours away.

We never do package tours, but book it all separately. This time there are no self-catering options available so we have to plump for a hotel. Later, we discovered that most of the rest of the school are going to Guam as well, but will be staying at another hotel some distance away. While I am sure Rhiannon would like to play with her friends, I am very relieved I won't be forced to socialise with any of the parents. Yes, I am an unsociable cow at times.

I want, and desperately need, proper peace and quiet as I have been working my butt of recently, and with all the hoohah over the past few weeks I just want to kick back in the sun, read endless books and relax properly with no computer, dreadlines or email.

 

Then I get 'flu.

Bloody typical.

SNOW!

Sunday 3^rd February 2008

Oh my god! It's snowing!!! Proper snow. In Tokyo! How exciting!!!

As you can tell by my overuse of exclamation marks!!! Isn't it pretty?

The cat was not impressed. He went out to do his business, looked at his paws in disgust and promptly came back inside again, miaowing at me as if I'd deliberately made it snow in order to spoil his day.

It was snowing hard. And the flakes kept getting onto my camera lens. It was strange to see blossom covered in snow.

And just down the road are grapefruits on a tree. Very peculiar in the snow!

After coming home poorly from school on Friday, yet making a miraculous recovery yesterday, Rhiannon was a bit lethargic today.

I thought she was just tired and wanted to watch TV as she's a bit addicted to the box. She had no temperature; therefore, I was insistent that we all went for a walk in Shinjuku-gyoen. Fresh air and fun in the snow is far better than being stuck inside a stuffy house. So we bundled up and went out.

It was beautiful.

Tim and Rhiannon built an enormous snowman! Judging by the reaction of the other people in the park, snow in Tokyo is rather rare and they were all very impressed by our snowman.

After building it, we trotted over to the shelter in the distance to warm up with a tasty can of hot chocolate from the ubiquitous vending machine. I turned back to see "our" snowman being appropriated by everyone! They popped their own hat or scarf on it and then posed for a photo beside it.

Then we realised that Rhiannon was actually not-very-well-at-all. So we hurried back home.

She ended up with some sort of 'flu and was off school for the rest of the week.

Bad mum moment.

A Busy Friday for a Mum

Friday 1^st February

Today was a busy one!

It started off with getting Rhiannon to her stupid o'clock gymnastics class. We will never, ever do morning classes again. It's hard enough to get Rhiannon out of the house on a normal day, but to get her to school for 7.40 in the morning is horrendous. Actually, she loves the class, it's me that loathes mornings.

After this, her class group is holding one of their assemblies, so I go to have a much-needed coffee before it starts. All the children did extremely well, showing no signs of nervousness at all when they have to stand up in front of the entire school and the mums and dads. Unfortunately, my camera isn't good at taking photos in the big hall. Once the assembly is over, and all the other attendees has left, the parents of the class involved get to take photos of their kids and have a little cuddle. Rhiannon is a bit weepy, for some reason, but trots off like a good girl when it's time to say goodbye.

Then we had a Class Mum Coffee Morning – so over to another Starbucks for a get-to-know-you chat and more latte for me.

While I'm in that area – Shibuya – I went for a wander around Tokyu Hands after coffee. Well, I had to get rid of the caffeine buzz somehow! And Tokyu Hands is the best place for that. Such a fascinating, yet confusing store.

I got home just after lunch time and had settled down to work when I had a call from school to say that Rhiannon was unwell and with the nurse. So another drive back to school – if I'd gone to another shop, I'd have saved myself a double trip. I even remembered to send a text message to her violin teacher to let him know she wouldn't be coming to her lesson after school.

Rhiannon's running a bit of a temperature and is very quiet, which would explain the weepiness after assembly, but she didn't say she felt ill then. I tucked her up on the sofa, dosed with the ever-useful Calpol (imported from the UK – medicines are pretty much impossible to get here) and she had an early night.

She was much better the next day. Of course.

Asakusa & Tree Bondage

January 2008

Mum wanted to go on a quick trip back to Asakusa as she remembered there were lots of fabric shops in the alleys around the temple. At home, she has an entire room full of pretty materials and uses them to make all kinds of appliqué things such as pictures and cushion covers. She also makes three dimensional creatures – she once made a dainty white dragon that ended up on the Christmas tree in Buckingham Palace. Not entirely sure how that happened, but she is very good at whatever art or craft she turns her hand to. So she wanted to try and find some off cuts of Japanese kimono fabric. She did and was very happy.

Whilst there, we discovered a rather fabulous stationery shop: not your standard stationery, this contained lots of Japanese woodblock prints, reams of washi paper and some pre-framed blank paper ready for calligraphy. Mum spent ages in there and bought some of the latter to experiment with her botanical watercolours.

It was a bit too busy for me so I came outside to snap a couple of photos while I waited for her.

Then I spotted this incredibly intricately roped tree.

What on earth was that all about? It certainly wasn't anything to do with Bonsai. Yes, they do manipulate large trees into stylised shapes too, as you can see through the ropes. But this rope wasn't moving the branches anywhere. The branches were trapped in a kind of roped cage. Tree bondage? Very strange. It took me a very long time to find out the answer.But what an incredible work of art!

Can you work out what it is for? (the answer is below)

 

 

Further below...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep scrolling!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is called yukitsuri. Yuki means snow and tsuri means suspension. It's to protect the branches of the tree from breaking off under the weight of snow. Something we don't get much of in Tokyo (so far!)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

While we were buying new goldfish...Tim decided that he really wanted to keep tropical fish!

So we ended up coming home with yet another fish tank, complete with heater and everything. This is now getting out of hand. Luckily my upbringing means I am not fazed by this at all - Dad kept fish so I know what to do with them.

A few guppies, a pair of Honey Gouramis, a couple of Corydoras and, of course, the compulsory Neon Tetras.

I think that was it at this particular time. There were more to come... especially as the guppies had babies within a day or two of getting them in the tank!

 

And Then There Were None – Goldfish, that is.

January 2008

Over a period of a week the little goldfish died, one by one. I found a revolting parasite on the first dead one and identified it through the power of Google as a Branchiura Argulus – fish louse.

I won't inflict a picture of this monstrous thing on you but I took the picture to our local fish shop (found accidentally after our trip to D2 last week) and they gave me medicine for the water but it proved too little too late.

Poor Rhiannon was distraught. So I gave in, sterilised the tank and a week later she chose a couple of fresh, new goldfish from a proper shop. These were the ugliest looking things I'd ever seen in my life, but according to Rhiannon they had "cute eyes".

To me they looked like they'd swallowed a golf ball, they were that spherical. They are called Ping and Pong…

I have researched until my eyes have crossed, but I cannot discover what breed they are at all.

 

These are not the actual goldfish - just a picture to illustrate this post...

Scooping for Goldfish

December 2007 / January 2008

Oh I dunno! Sometime then.

While Mum was here we went to a strange shopping mall over in Odaiba where one floor was set out like an old Chinese market. Yes, I know we're in Japan, but hey! Anything goes here!!

While Mum and I wandered around the stalls, Rhiannon stayed with Tim. She always does this because she knows that if she wants anything, he will buy it for her. I say no – and mean it. He says no for a while, and then gives in. They found a quaint game where you can scoop for goldfish… by the time Mum and I had found them, Rhiannon had already got going. <Insert expletives here as required> Just what we need - fish - and nowhere to put them.

This is the game: hundreds of small goldfish swim around in a shallow bath. The game is to scoop as many as possible out using a flat scoop made from rice paper. Rice paper, as I'm sure you are aware, dissolves very quickly.

However, Rhiannon was soon the extremely proud owner of 5 tiny goldfish in a plastic bag.

That rather cut short our day-out as we now had to rush home and find them somewhere to live.

In the car on the way home the bag started to leak. Of course.

Back home the only thing I could do was bung the poor things into a basin of ordinary tap water and hope for the best. Then we shot off to a place called D2 which is like a garden centre. And on our last visit we noticed they had fish tanks. 

We got a small fish tank, some food and all the gubbins to go with it and returned home to find one of the fish had already gone belly up.

Oh joy.

 

(and no, they didn't look as good as this!)

 

Mount Takao & Fuji - photos

6th January 2008

Still backtracking. Found some more photos which I'd like to share with you.

We took another trip to Mount Takao. The weather was stunning. It was very busy as many people make a sort of pilgrimage to this sacred shrine. They buy new charms for the coming year which get replaced next New Year.

Some shrine details:

 

From the top of Mount Takao we could see Mount Fuji in the far distance. It was a stunning view. Everyone else thought so too as you can see from the crowds of photographers.

 

This is my favourite picture of Fuji-san

Yet More Visitors…And I'm Not a Happy Bunny

See, this is the problem with writing a blog so far in the past – I get dates confused. Anyway. Having checked various diaries, bits of paper and so on, I've got this post to put in, out of sync again.

18^th January 2008 – 23^rd January 2008

Tim invited his friend, and friend's girlfriend to visit. It's all timed so that they return to the UK just before Mum comes back here from Borneo.

A week or so before they are due to arrive, Tim casually dropped into conversation that a couple of other extra friends will also be joining them… "oh, I thought I'd mentioned it". Errrr NO! But I guess I should not have been surprised as this lot always do everything together.

I'll call them D1 and D2 (or Thing 1 and Thing 2 as we've recently been re-reading The Cat in the Hat). So that's four people coming to stay, when I was only expecting two. I am not happy about this at all. But what can I do but deal with it?

I won't be going on any day trips with them as there is no way we can all fit into the car and I will, of course, need to be on hand for the school run.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 share the twin bedroom next to ours. You have never heard snoring like it in your life, I can promise you. One of them always ends up going downstairs in the middle of the night with no regard to the rest of us by trying to be silent. I am greeted by the sight first thing in the morning.

None of them eat anything other than "safe", semi-vegetarian British food. Therefore, I refuse to cook: besides, with the prices here, I can't afford to buy expensive British food for all of them. They eat McDonalds all the time.

While here, they barely spoke directly to me, although the volume at which they speak is decibels above normal volume. And the conversations are beyond inane. I just kept out the way because with all of them sitting in the living room, there was no room for me.

Talk about being excluded in my own home. Humph.

When they returned to the UK only one of them said thank you to me for "putting up with them"...

A Gratuitous Photo of my Daft Cat

This is Raymi.

Asleep on the dining table with his face in a bowl of tangerines.

Daft creature.

That cannot be comfortable!

 

And I've just noticed he's lying on an antique obi I'd just bought and hadn't got around to hanging!

The Adventurer Returns!

Friday 25^th January 2008

Tim went to collect Mum from the airport after her jungle adventure. Because I had the school run to do, he had to take the increasingly decrepit Landrover mentioned here. Not a stylish way to collect his mother-in-law! But better than nothing.

As he pulled into the driveway of our house, we heard – from inside the house – an ear-splitting screech followed by a massive clunk. At first, I thought he'd hit the other car, but no – a piston had sheared off completely and shattered a path right down through the engine (or something like that - I can't be bothered to check now). The Landrover was no more. It had ceased to be, expired, was bereft of life and a now very ex-Landrover. Oh dear. But what incredibly lucky timing! If that had happened at any other time today, goodness knows what would have happened – I may have had to drive on a motorway! The horror!!

Mum asked Tim to put her suitcase into the kitchen. What an odd request, I thought. Then I remembered where she'd been – and having lived in the jungle myself, know how migrants can sneak into bags and cases. When I returned from my South American travels, I was so shocked by something gruesome I found in my camera case I lobbed it right out of the third floor window and collected it several days later when thankfully the gigantic grub had disappeared.

Sure enough, "things" escaped from the case – we sprayed them all with insect killer and hoped for the best. Then shook the empty case outside and left it there for a few hours to de-louse itself.

Mum had had a fabulous time and stated that this was one of her best ever trips. Which, considering all the places and things she's seen and done, was high praise indeed. She regaled us with hilarious stories of her travel companions, food and discoveries. She had found a potentially unknown-to-science orchid. Which meant the very eminent botanist hosting the exploration didn't know it, so she painted it – she's a botanical artist – and sent the details away to Kew for identification in due course. It turned out to be known-to-science, but incredibly rare. Shame, we'd been working out Latin names for it.

She stayed with us until 31^st January and we fitted short shopping trips in between the school run. We spent a lot of time laughing at the little dogs here, in their pushchairs and outfits. Hardly any dog is seen outside without clothes on and it's rare to see anything larger than a poodle. She was in fits of laughter after seeing a group of four dachshunds, fully clothed and wearing sunglasses. yes, you read that correctly - there are cool shades for dogs! Leads that flash in the dark. And one event she still talks about today is seeing a group of primped fluffballs wearing frilly dresses prancing along the street; a dachsund - unfettered by clothing for once - passed them by, turned and barked at them as if to say "honestly, have you seen that state of yourselves? Have you no doggy pride?!"

Then, one day while we were walking and talking about these creatures she said "now, that's what I call a real dog". I turned to see what she meant and was absolutely smitten by a beautiful medium-sized red foxy-looking dog with a curly tail. It was gorgeous, and yes, it looked like a REAL dog. I had to find out what breed it was but my Japanese isn't up to asking that sort of question... I will have to search through Google. And so an obsession began...

Anyway, Mum's getting to grips with Tokyo now, so is able to get around on her own, leaving me to work and deal with Rhiannon.

However, she did give me a bit of a scare one evening when she didn't return home when expected. I had no idea where to go to look for her, she had no mobile phone (and wouldn't use it even if she had one) and I wasn't entirely sure how she would get back if she really was lost. It was dark and well past dinner time when she sauntered in.

I was able to say "Do you know what time it is???!!! Where on earth have you been? I was worried sick!" Oh, how the tables have turned!

She'd returned up a different road and found herself an artist's department store. About six floors of pure heaven to her and therefore had lost track of time.

Too many "what if" scenarios this week!

On the morning she returned to the UK, I went for a relaxing facial – I think I definitely deserved it this month!

Tattoo in Japan – part 3 (I think)

January 10^th 2008

So it's time to get my cover-up mentioned here finished once and for all. The ground work was done with some colouring in of the main arm piece and now it's time to finish it all off in one go.

I've decided to add a bit to it so that it runs over my shoulder and across my back. I like the curlicues the tattoo artist has put into to the design so this will be continued to include a name…

Oh no! The first rule of getting a tattoo is not to ink a name into your skin. After all, who knows the future? Obviously someone should never have the name of their partner, favourite rock band or celebrity tattooed on them – how crass.

But this is to be my daughter's name. Whatever happens in the future, she will always be my darling daughter. The text is somewhat disguised, too.

Another 4 or 5 hours under the needle passes in a flash – the conversation, as ever is stimulating and completely fascinating. He chooses music he knows I like too, so we discuss bands, history, politics… everything, you name it, we've probably chatted about it.

Because it's a cover-up he doesn't photograph it to include in his album but sent me the photos anyway.

Time to Start 2008

With a couple of free weeks…

On Monday 7^th January we all went to take Mum to the airport to catch her plane for her Borneo adventure. It was a fairly early flight to we parked and went into the airport for a rather nice breakfast. There's not a lot to do in Narita airport – you certainly can't spend hours browsing the shops like Heathrow and most other airports. It's quite dull and disappointing really.

Rhiannon started back at school the next day and I went for my Tuesday coffee morning and a much needed catch-up and relaxing chat with The Girls. After school was a Japanese New Year Festival, complete with warm sake (which was alcohol free – what was the point of that? It's vile, anyway!). Rhiannon doesn't like the dragon – it terrified the life out of her on her first day of school last year and she hasn't fully recovered. So we didn't stay long.

Then it was back to work for me – juggling everything with school runs, after-school clubs and so on as usual.

It was lovely to have some time to myself, even though I was putting myself under a heap of pressure to get all my articles written before Mum returned.

But there was another trip to the tattooist in the middle of those two weeks – more about that in the next post!

Frantic Speeding up of Blogging Commences…

January 2011

I'm horribly and acutely aware that I am so far behind with this blog that it is very unlikely to be finished before we leave Japan – which is actually in April… YIKES! Yup, not long now! (I'll keep you guessing as to what happens in April for as long as I can…)

However, I have so much I want to record that I am going to continue as best and as fast as I can. I may publish two posts a day, so please check back at the previous posts in case you missed something!

Do I need to mention that the amount of packing and organisation I am also trying to fit in is astronomical? I am reserving my nervous breakdown until about June – I think that will be a good time to come down from it all, don't you think?

 

When people came to visit us, we mostly did the same site-seeing trips with them, so I'll ignore those rather than repeat myself. I'll put links to previous posts instead - if I remember. At some point I will incorporate all the published Tokyo Tales articles into the posts too – some are already in here, but most are not. This is what I plan to do, but life does have a wayof interfering...

Sometimes I do wonder if what I'm doing here is worthwhile though – a slight confidence crisis arises in me from time to time - not often, it's true - but obviously while I'm writing this post at a ridiculous hour in the night/morning. I see people visiting Japanory, but very few make any comments. But I am aware that this is not a "normal" blog so doesn't really invite comment and discussion.

Japanory is more like a "travelblog", which suits me fine and what I intended. I don't particularly feel a need to comment on every facet of my life and thoughts.

As far as I can tell, the commenting crowd tend to discuss posts on more day-to-day commentaries, or deliberately controversial or business-type blogs. And the ever growing mass of "Mummy Blogs". I don't consider myself to be a Mummy blogger - I just happen to be a Mum who blogs - it's not my raison d'être. Perhaps I've missed a trick, but I don't think so in my case.

Actually, "worthwhile" isn't the right word – I'm not doing this for fame, recognition or money (although the latter would be very nice!). I'm not competing with anyone to compare how many readers I have or how well I have "pimped" my blog.

I believe I am over-thinking things right now - and it probably doesn't help that I tend write these posts between midnight and 2am...! Which is the only time I get to myself.

I'm really doing this for my own benefit as a record of a very special time in my and my family's life. Rhiannon in particular loves to see herself on the internet (diva in the making!) and I think in years to come, when she's older and our 4 ½ years in Tokyo is a distant memory, she will appreciate the details and information I've put here.

Also, I know that people planning trips to Japan and/or Tokyo find this blog useful. I know I had a lot of interest from readers of the Tokyo Tales articles who planned trips here. These people tend to email me, which is great.

So I hope that you will continue to read Japanory and I'd love it if you could click the "Become a Fan" and / or "Like" button over there on the left (pretty please!). I don't know why there are two Facebook buttons - I have no idea if they do the same thing or no. I can't test them out myself!

I'm having a needy moment - I need to feel that it's not just me and a few friends reading this - I would quite like a little motivation in the midst of the chaos that surrounds my life at the moment.

And if you do want to get in touch with me please either leave a comment or feel free to email me at [email protected]

Thanks for reading and I'll get cracking on the rest of the posts now.

Welcome to Yesterday

1^st January 2008

As well as setting foot on Fuji-san, we wandered around Lake Kawaguchi for a few moments – it was bitterly cold, so we didn't stay outside for very long.

To be honest, there wasn't much to see so we pulled over at a large car park by an information centre and spotted this fabulously named hotel!

I was in stitches – where on earth did they get the idea for that name from? And even funnier was a sign saying "Hotel Yesterday is closed today".

 

In the information centre were a few vending machines and lots of leaflets about things to do in the area, but sadly they were all in Japanese so, although we collected a number, we have no idea what they mean. The pictures were pretty though.

We got tins of hot coffee and hot chocolate from the vending machines and for the first time, tried a food vending machine - there were no other options as "Yesterday" was closed.

It was rather good, although none of us fancied anything with chicken in it – after all, we have no idea how these things work (possible microwaves, but I'm not sure). So better safe than sorry. We had chips and a shared a big box of noodles which warmed us up beautifully.

And then it was time to head home, with a couple of stops en route to photograph the scenery. A lovely change from concrete.

Mount Fuji

1^st January 2008

Yes! I've finally made it to another year – I really don't know if I will get Japanory up to date, but I will continue to try...

What a way to spend New Year's Day – a trip to the magnificent Fuji-san.

As Japan's highest mountain at 3776 metres, Mount Fuji dwarfs every other mountain in the country. It is the iconic symbol of Japan and a sacred and beloved landmark with its almost symmetrical cone looming so high that on a clear day it can be seen from many miles away including Tokyo.

Although Fuji has been dormant for over 300 years, the mountain is a potentially dangerous volcano which, if it erupts, would cause an enormous amount of damage to the surrounding area and Japan as a whole. For now though, it seems calm. The last eruption started on 16^th December 1707 and continued until January 1708. Until this eruption the symmetrical shape of Fuji was about as perfect as a volcano could be, but this eruption created a new crater with a second peak half way down one side.

Due to the altitude, the climate near the top of Fuji-san is very cold and the peak is covered with snow and several months of the year.

Most cultures since time immemorial have worshipped spectacular mountains as sacred places and the homes of gods and Fuji-san is no exception. For many years the only people allowed to climb the sacrosanct mountain were monks, and women were completely forbidden to set foot on a mountain at all. This changed in 1860 when the first British diplomat in Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock, was reluctantly given permission to climb Fuji. The ban on women climbing was lifted in 1872 after the wife of a British diplomat climbed a mountain in 1867. However she was not the first female to make the ascent. In 1832 a 24 year-old Japanese woman was given unprecedented permission to climb by a sect who worshipped Fujisan as a divinity in itself. She had to disguise herself as a man to show deference to the taboo.

Nowadays anyone can climb Fuji if they so wish although it is not an ascent to be made lightly. The official climbing season is in July and August and during these two months the mountain is usually snow free and the mountain huts are open and stocked with oxygen cylinders. There is a saying that "you are wise to climb Fuji once, but a fool to climb it twice". Approximately a quarter of a million people climb the mountain each year, which when you consider they all climb it during just two months, makes it rather a busy place. Apparently the favoured time to climb is around the O'bon festival in August when some of the passes actually have long queues of people patiently waiting their chance to move on. There is a Torii gate near the summit showing you that apart from nearing your goal, you are on sacred ground.

I have absolutely no intention of climbing it. I don't do "uphill" walking if I can possibly avoid it.

Once you see the shape of Fuji you can understand why it has been depicted so many times in so many forms, and you also gain an insight into why much of the art in Japan is stylised. Fuji-san is the perfect real-life example of a stylised mountain. If you ask a child to draw a volcano or mountain the shape corresponds perfectly to Mount Fuji.

We were delighted to see some substantial snow there – it made it all very picturesque. Shame about the clouds covering the top. Mum hadn't come prepared for a snowy trip so wore all her clothes and borrowed a hat, gloves and scarf from me.

On the drive up, we found a place to stop and go for a walk through some woodlands. Snow dappled the ground, icicles in a tiny cave and intriguing ice crystals that had formed in the fallen leaves and soil. Rhiannon hasn't had much experience of snow, so had a marvellous time although we had to put a dampener on her enthusiastic snowball throwing. It hurt!

 

The views were amazing. I don't know what lake this was but five lakes surround the area - Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Motosu, Saiko, Lake Shoji, Lake Yamanaka, so I guess it was one of those… The feathery plants are my latest love – Japanese Pampas Grass, aka Susuki. It's considered a weed, but I adore its grace and delicacy.

We drove up the winding road for as far as we could before the road was closed at 2020 metres.

According to the car's thermometer the temperature was -10C. A small car park was full and people milled around. There was a terrible stench in the air which turned out to be a mixture of this sweetcorn seller's wares and the most dreadful toilet in Japan. It was literally a hole in the ground and rather overused – I nearly dropped my camera down there, ugh.

 

And here's the standard photo to prove we were there - and cold - Tim is wearing his summer trousers! Then it was back into the snug warmth of the car to head back down the mountain to find some less stinky food.

A Christmas Round-Up and My Adventurous Mother

End of December 2007 (finally!)

Mum's arrival was a little late this year as she has plans to venture further afield in January.

Always a great traveller, she's going on a botanical exploration trip to the jungles of Borneo! As we're halfway there, it makes sense that she starts her holiday from here, rather than make the appallingly long trip from the UK. She'll get more out of it as she won't be anywhere near as travel-weary and jet-lagged as she would be after travelling from London. So she will travel to Borneo from here, then return to us later in January to recover, before heading back home to England. This caused her a few headaches with regards to packing – as well as "Tokyo clothes" she had to bring her jungle-wear too. The airlines had just decreed a new rule of only one suitcase, which makes it impossible for Mum to cope with – she's 71. So she called the airline and basically told them she was bringing two and that was that.

We shook off her jet-lag with an exhilarating walk around Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park. Rhiannon recently visited Meiji Shrine on a school trip so she was insistent on teaching us how to do all the rituals correctly. Don't stand on the big beam of wood in the doorway – very important! Wash your hands and mouth with water from the communal stone trough, light some incense, throw some coins into a big box and say a little prayer.

All the leaves from the gingko trees have fallen to create an incredible yellow carpet. And with the beautiful sunny and dry weather Tokyo enjoys during the winter, this is the perfect antidote to Britain's dark, damp and dismal December. The colour is much brighter than the photos show.

Christmas was as usual – present opening, leg of lamb roast for lunch – and a Christmas pudding this year, followed by Mum and I heading off for what will become our annual Christmas trip to Ginza.

On Boxing Day we went somewhere for a walk. I can't remember where it was and I've given my books away now, so it will remain a mystery (unless anyone recognises the photos?) We're a little disappointed at the walks here – all are "domesticated" and seem quite sterile. Anyway, there was a cute little shrine there, and this lovely stone trough. Look at the gorgeous bamboo spout, but boy, was the water cold! Once again, Rhiannon was happy to demonstrate her knowledge of the religion here to her Nana and we had to do all the rituals with her.

Some fish were in a pool and Rhiannon sent us all away so she could sing to them again in private. Strange child! Unfortunately, my picture of this amusing moment didn't come out.

We didn't bother with New Year this year. Just went to bed as normal – and that's the way it's stayed ever since. It's just another day; I've done all the partying I want to in my life and I don't want to be hungover with a child and my Mum to deal with the next day.

And on to 2008!! Phew!!!

First Anniversary

22^nd November 2007

(Hell's bells - this post got lost amongst a heap I did recently and I forgot to press the Publish button. DUH!)

So, we've been here exactly a year now. Tim keeps asking "do you remember what we were doing one year ago today?"

Frankly, no! I've been so busy that I can barely remember what I did last week, let alone a year ago.

Naturally I remember the excitement and thrill of moving to Tokyo. I also remember the slight sense of disappointment upon seeing the rather dull buildings here, when I expected to see dramatically designed tower blocks similar to Hong Kong.

My freelance writing work has gone from strength to strength, so this is very satisfactory.

Of course, there's been a steep learning curve involved in day to day life, but unlike many people, I am extremely self-sufficient, well-used to travelling in unusual countries and more than happy to be in a very foreign country. In fact, I'm so loathe to ask for help that our liaison officer contacted me once to find out if I was OK because I hadn't asked her loads of questions! It seems that most other "spouses" are extremely needy and want everything handed to them on a plate.

Actually, it's not that I'm opposed to asking for help – far from it – it just doesn't even occur to me most of the time. I just get on with it.

Tim is thoroughly enjoying his new job and accompanying responsibilities; Rhiannon is settling in fine, with just a few school hiccups. But I'm confident this is just the fact that it's school, rather than THIS school. She doesn't particularly miss her friends in the UK and is making lots more here.

In fact, I've made more new friends in one year here in Tokyo than I did in the entire 6 years I lived in Northampton. Of course, this is a lot to do with the expat culture, which in such a foreign land as Japan, is very close. Sometimes too close – ie cliquey – but that bitchy little side of people has no bearing on my life, that's for sure!

I am aware that I am writing this in long-distant hindsight with rose-tinted spectacles. Obviously there were day to day pressures and not-such-good times, but they were obviously of little importance as I can't remember them at the moment!

So, with the exception of losing my lovely cat, Inti, I've had a wonderful first year.

Christmas Party Season

December 2007

We are not great party goers, but there are two we must attend for work reasons. And another I choose to attend at lunchtime because I adore the lady holding it.

So on 6^th December I had a real Christmas lunch with turkey, sprouts and all the trimmings. How wonderful! Goodness knows where the sprouts came from as I haven't seen them in the shops here. And there was Christmas pudding too! (I bought mine from Nissin a few weeks ago when they first hit the shelves so I didn't miss out for our Christmas dinner like last year. I also later found sprouts - they cost about £1 each!)

Our host is a long-term member of the "trailing spouse" community and has lived in many countries; including Japan some years ago. She regaled us with tales of trying to find lard so her cook could be taught to make pastries and Christmas pud for the visiting dignitaries of the time. Apparently the look of horrified disgust on the butcher's face was well worth the trouble of trying to explain precisely what lard was. And here it's perfectly normal to eat some very peculiar things indeed!

The next event was a kids' Christmas party which was very well attended. An enormous decorated tree was in danger of being pulled over by hoards of over-excited children so another room was opened up for them to charge around in. Dinner was served, but hardly any of the children ate anything – luckily we hungry parents didn't let the delicious titbits go to waste.

Strawberries are a traditional Christmas food here and the chefs had turned them into little Santas by slicing the pointed end off, squirting some cream on (for the head & beard), popping the end back on – the hat – and adding little eyes. Very cute… and very tasty. Strange to eat strawberries in December, but that's when they are in season here so taste incredible.

A lady magician gave an excellent show that Rhiannon couldn't stop talking about. Especially as she was asked to come on "stage" and assist with one of the trick. The magician was so good even I couldn't work out how she did that particular trick.

Then Santa paid a visit! Oh the excitement!! Dragging an enormous sack with him full of presents too! The children waited incredibly patiently for their name to be called and each one got their gift. I think the photo says it all, really!

A few days later it was time for the adults Christmas party at the same place. People got very dressed up for this, some even wearing full length gowns.I didn't. I did buy some "posh frocks" before we left the UK last year, but it turned out I lost a bit of weight in the stressful run-up to our move... and quickly put it back on again when we got here. Nothing fits me anymore. And naturally, there is no way I can buy anything here - it's hard enough to find clothes to fit me in the UK.

This time we all sat at large round tables with an incredible amount of food available. There were the most enormous turkeys I've ever seen, done to perfection with all the trimmings and more. Later we had a ceremonial dimming of lights for the flaming pudding to be shown off and after that, a quiz. Hah! Luckily we were at a table with some extremely clever people as the questions were very hard, and included some tricky questions purely for scholars or native Japanese. Our table won! The prize was a hamper of British food which then had to be shared between about 15 of us. I remember there was also a teddy, which as the only parents at that table, the others kindly donated to us.

Finally, we were told that whoever was sitting on a chair that had a ribbon tied around it got to take the table's flower arrangement home with them. I won that! So it was a very lovely evening and a great start to the Christmas season.Two full Christmas dinners, as well!

The flowers lasted long enough for Mum to see them when she arrived on 20^th December.

Some random photos of funny signs

December 2007

I could fill an entire blog with funny signs I've seen in Japan, but I will restrict them to when they appear in my monthly photo folder.

We saw this wall of white. Just there, on the street, doing nothing in particular apart from inviting people to draw on it!

How polite is this notice?

Can you imagine this in the UK? And yes, all the crayons were put back in the pot.

 

And now we know where Superman lives!

 

And this sign is one I see every day.

It's just up from the school and I have NO idea what it's referring to. It's at the top of some steps leading down under the road so must relate to whatever's at the bottom.

I sent it into the Daily Telegraph for inclusion into their "Sign Language" place and to my great surprise was actually included! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/signlanguage/4978119/Sign-Language-week-39.html?image=17

Thanks to Facebook - I found out it had been published by a friend in America who read a British newspaper online and sent me the link here in Japan!

Christmas Concert - mark 2

Friday 7^th December 2007

I have been so looking forward to this after seeing the wonderful performance just after we arrived here!

However, this year there is a change of format. It is to be held at the school's other campus (for years 4 and up) which is about an hour's drive away. We have been told, yes, told, by the school that all children MUST attend and that there is absolutely no parking at the school. Hackles rise...

OK. We assume that the new venue is larger so the show will be even better than before.

Oh dear. How wrong could we be?

It was not a good evening.

Firstly, we caught a cab – after all, no parking, right? And no Metro. Then the cabbie got lost making us fairly late, but still arrived just before the concert started. He refunded us half the fare, so not too bad.

Once in the enormous hall, there were very few seats left. Rhiannon had to go to the front with her classmates, while Tim and I found a place right at the very back. The large centre columns of seats were reserved. Who for, I wondered? It turned out to be completely full of governors and sponsors. The parents had to make do with the smaller side seats. Humph.

Anyway, we looked forward to seeing our girl on stage singing some carols or something.

Again, this did not happen. All that was on stage was the school's large orchestra, various school choirs and that was it. When it came to Rhiannon's year to sing something, all they did was stand up by their seats, turn around to face us and regale us with one of the most dismal and depressing carols ever written – "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Various dreadful readings, some awful musical stuff and that was it. Pitiful – but extraordinarily lengthy.

It was the most boring event I've ever attended and quite obviously only a showcase for the music department. The majority of children weren't included in the service unless they happened to be in a choir or orchestra. It was evident that this was a money-making exercise to raise contributions from the sponsors.

I didn't meet one, single parent who enjoyed the show. Even the ones whose children performed on stage were seriously disappointed.

Aikido - Proud Mum Moment.

8^th December 2007 (and 3^rd December)

Yeah, I got the posts out of sync, sorry!

Because Rhiannon has been taking two classes a week in Aikido, we have the pleasure of going to two "watching days". These more than make up for the dismal Christmas Concert (which you will hear about tomorrow... sorry!) as they are fantastic fun! The teachers are hysterically funny and the children clearly enjoy themselves very much indeed.

Proudly we saw Rhiannon achieve her yellow belt – 9^th kyu in this particular dojo. She is immensely pleased with herself and it's good to see the hard work recognised by changing the belt colour.

This doesn't happen in many dojos – most remain on a white belt until they make it to 1^st Dan ie black belt. But children, especially as young as this, need to see the change and progression. And the coloured belts make this possible, it gives them something to work towards.

 

And down he goes!

 

The ceremony of Receiving The Belt

 

Group Photo

 

She wouldn't change out of her Aikido kit! Doesn't she look pleased with herself?

Tattoo in Japan - and a Side Trip to Bolivia

Thursday 15^th November 2007

It's time for another visit to my lovely tattoo artist.

We'll be finishing the cover-up in January, but in the meantime there is a design I've wanted as a tattoo for a very long time. You'd better get some of the "back story".

Let me take you away from Tokyo for a while...

Way back in 1996, when I was young(ish), free and single I backpacked around the western coast of South America for about 4 months. It was my second visit to this, my favourite country in the world. My first visit was a month in the jungles of Venezuela in '94.

After visiting Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, The Galapagos and Peru, I finally ended up in Bolivia where I paid a visit to the amazing ruins of Tiahuanaco.

While there, I had, what can only be described as a spiritual experience. I cannot put it into words - it's all a bit weird - but it was a fantastic place and the entire trip was one of the best times of my life.

Fast forward to December 1999. I was working in the delightful city of Florence, Italy; living in a romantic old, typical Florentine apartment overlooking the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore - the Duomo.

One day, I passed a sign advertising an exhibition of objet d'art from Tiahuanaco! Of course I went. And still felt the same spiritual connection to the place.

I spotted a smooth stone recovered from the area, and on it was a spiral design that caught my attention immediately.

Scrabbling around in my handbag for a note book, I scribbled the design down and kept it with me for the next 8 years - through two major house moves, meeting Tim, childbirth and of course, to Tokyo.

Luckily, my tattoo guy was able to translate my dire drawing into the perfect tattoo.

The spiral represents the spiral of life - according to my Aymaran guide at Tiahuanaco - although many other meanings are attached to it.

I just love it. And I love the way it's been interpreted as a gentle piece of skin art.

It's on the base of my neck.

 

 

Japanese Symbols and a Brilliantly Timed Flashback

November 2007

I went to a little antique shop in Azabu Juban for a look-see.

They had a lot of very reasonably priced articles as well as some completely incredible and very old antiques – some dating as far back as the very early Edo era 1615-1868, possibly even the Azuchi-Momoyama period 1568-1615. With prices that had too many 0's to count. These were museum quality and therefore behind glass.

The cheaper items were obviously meant for daily use and many had a little damage or could be considered "seconds" with kiln marks or mis-painted patterns.

A couple of elderly ladies were in the shop and were happy to show me around, but spoke no English. I was in a phase of trying to identify certain extremely stylised symbols incorporated into the porcelain. We got on well with items such as "sakura" – cherry blossom, "ume" – plum blossom, "tsuru" – crane and "koi"… well, I think you know that one!

With some hysterical sign language they explained a pattern based on octopus tentacles, "tako-karakusa". (Further research tells me this is actually now considered to be a plant called the Octopus Vine). And taught me a load of Japanese names for other common symbols too.

We had a great time, and they wanted to learn the English for these words, so we went around the shop with me doing the teaching – as far as I could recognise the pictures. "This is a crane, this one is a plover, here's bamboo and pine. Oh, this is a cloud." When we came to koi, they were surprised and delighted that we use that word in English too. They diligently made notes and we had a wonderful time.

Then we came a bit unstuck. The symbol on a pretty plate was quite clearly a chrysanthemum. As Japan's national flower this appears regularly and is very recognisable.

"Aha", said I, "This is a chrysanthemum"… producing very blank looks and a lot of discussion between them. They obviously had never heard the word before in their lives. I recalled Mum mentioning a confusion when discussing the national flower with some Japanese people at an art exhibition. Again, the word was unrecognisable to them.

Suddenly from the depths of my mind came a vision of a bilious yellow perfume set from the 1970's (my parents owned a pharmacy where I spent a lot of time as a child). It had the same symbol on it. What was it called?? I wracked my distant memory and somehow it popped back.

Oh yes… "Kiku!" I exclaimed rather triumphantly.

"Ahhhh, Kiku!" they said, somewhat relieved. Then one of them trotted behind the counter, returning with an electronic translating machine commonly used here (see my previous post about how many kanji they have to learn!)

They typed in "kiku" and jumped back in horror at the word in English. Valiantly they tried to pronounce it, but all those consonants together proved too much for them.

 

You see, the Japanese language, whether written or spoken, has a vowel between each consonant. My last name is pronounced "Harretto Mobb-us".

You can understand why chrysanthemum was a little too much for them with five consonants in a row!

Japanese Kanji

November 9^th 2007

Today I went on a little course to gain some insight into the beautiful Japanese lettering, kanji.

It appears I cannot learn a language unless I can see the words written down. For example, with hard-won O levels in French & German, a smattering a Latin and an evening crash course in Latin American Spanish, I can read quite a bit of these languages, even though I can't speak them anymore. It also means I can work out some Italian and Dutch words, according to their roots.

However, this method is obviously not going to work in Japan!

Even though it was absolutely fascinating, I was hoping to be able to learn how to read the words, but the course centred on the evolution of the characters and their individual meanings rather than their pronunciation.

This site shows the sort of things I learned today.

Since then I've picked up a few more but don't necessarily know the sound AND the meaning, usually one or the other.

So I know that this 出口 means exit – very useful in the enormous underground car parks or train stations. Another useful one is 東京 meaning Tokyo.

This 分 means "minutes" and we worked that one out from various food cooking instructions. Don't know the sound – we call it the "jellyfish", so "boil for 7 jellyfishes" is now a standard comment here.

山 is "mountain" so I presume (for most of the time) that it's pronounced "yama" as in Fuji-yama. But I fully realise that this is doing the Japanese language, both written and spoken, a huge disservice. It seems that all the individual symbols have numerous meanings and sounds depending on the other kanji around them.

北 means north – and I also learned east and west but can't find the characters in my symbols list – sorry! We weren't taught south as apparently it was too complicated. Feel free to Google to learn for yourself!

There are more than 60,000 kanji. Children have to learn 1,006 kanji before they reach the end of primary school! Can you imagine?! To be able to read most books and newspapers you'd need to know 1,945 kanji.

The Japanese government have a kanji proficiency test for scholars. Apparently the highest score has been 6,000. So what's happened to the other 54,000? Does anyone know them?

Oh, and as well as kanji, there are hiragana and katakana to learn!

Katakana is used for foreign words, so my name looks like this: キャロル ハレット モッブス

On my meishi – business card - my name appears as above, most of my address is written in kanji because it's "original" Japanese, while "House" is written thus ハウス

I don't stand a chance, do I?!

Children’s Hall and Children’s Castle

November 2007

Each ward in Tokyo has a place called the Children's Hall. Entrance is free and is an activity based centre where children of all ages can join in various activities. For example, there is a music room where children can experiment with all kinds of instruments; a few arts and crafts areas where a different project is available on a daily basis. These are wonderful places. And, as I say FREE!

As an aside, entrance fees to all attractions, museums and so on here are extremely cheap if not free. When we go back to the UK during the summer we are astounded at the outrageous prices charged to gain entry to theme parks etc.

Although the areas are supervised, the children are encouraged and expected to just get on with it rather than be hovered over by their parents. Parent who hover and fuss over their kids are viewed as a bit odd, to be honest!

I highly approve of this. The first time Rhiannon went there she made something from wood (I can't recall what) but she was expected to use a hammer and saw – at the age of five. And this wasn't considered a problem for the health and safety brigade. This is the way kids should learn. I really think, in general, we pamper "our" (ie British) children too much these days.

Children's Castle is pretty much the same set up. It's called Kodomo-no-Shiro. As well as the activities on separate floors there is a large climbing gym, a computer playroom and a teen corner with table tennis. There's also a swimming pool. Children's Hall is more geared to younger children.

When we go now (2010), I sit in the rather sparse canteen and drink tins of coffee and do some research, study or read while Rhiannon runs all over the 6 floors partaking in whatever activity takes her fancy and making friends on the way.

The school had a little trip to the Children's Hall this month and learned a bit about another culture. I admit, my memory is not working this far on, and I can't recall which culture was being taught then. Anyway, she had a great time.

We still like going there.

Although I do get a bit bored after more than three hours sitting on uncomfortable chairs.

But it's free! Did I already say that?

A Cocktail Tasting Competition

Sometime in November 2007

Strangely enough I didn't remember this event until I looked at some old forum posts I'd recorded and have just discovered on my PC!

We went to a "do" which was a cocktail invention and tasting evening. It was a good night.

I drank 6 cocktails in five minutes - it must have been a tough day because it certainly wasn't a speed drinking contest!

The creators of these lethal mixes wouldn't tell us what was in them, but most tasted pretty foul. Perhaps that's why I drank them so quickly?

We then had to vote on our favourite – mine was something called an Edo Jidai and, rather scarily, was invented by a chemist…

Hic!

Hawaii – the end of the holiday

Saturday 27th October 2007

Most of our time in Hawaii was actually spent on the beach near the house with a few trips to various shopping malls for food and a look around.

So here are a few final photos of Rhiannon enjoying the surf! No, she didn't venture much further in to be honest! The waves just a few feet out were incredibly strong and even I found it hard to swim through them.

Travelling back through the airport, guess what? Yup, we were hauled over for yet another full search and interrogation. Not impressed.

With the dateline confusion, we left on Saturday and arrived on Sunday even though it's only a 7 hour flight.

Everyone had to go back to work and school on the Monday so we made a note not to do that again! Especially as Rhiannon was still on Hawaii Time and woke up at 3am - meaning I had to as well...

We must give ourselves a day to recover and unpack in future.

Sealife Park – Oahu, Hawaii

This was a trip especially for Rhiannon. Utterly obsessed with life in the oceans, she had seen signs for the Sealife Park and desperately wanted to go.

However, for me, it was deeply distressing. I completely detest the idea of dolphins (and most other animals, to be honest) being kept in captivity and forced to perform for the public. Seeing dolphins in places like this actually distresses me to the point of tears. The things we sacrifice for our children, though.

I refuse to go to zoos. Wildlife parks are a little better and the only "zoo" I have ever truly enjoyed was my hero, Gerald Durrell's, Conservation Trust in Jersey.

I kept my ideals to myself as much as possible so as not to spoil her day and took a few photos for her to remember.

While we were waiting for the "show" to start, Rhiannon went down to the horribly small tank to see the dolphins up close. One of them noticed her through the glass and came to take a closer look. She was thrilled although rather scared by the sheer size of it.

She was very pleased to have seen the creatures up close and personal, as it were.

I was just pleased to leave.

Hawaii – Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

Another trip to another beach. Well, isn't that what Hawaii is all about?

http://www.threebestbeaches.com/uspac/hawaii/2008/12/hanauma-bay-nature-preserve-oahu-hawaii.html

This one is a specially created nature reserve (or Preserve, as it's called) and you do have to pay to get to it. From high up on the cliff the curved beach is magnificent. Apparently the bay was created from the crater of an ancient volcano that collapsed. Judging by the size of the bay that volcano was enormous.

Before being allowed onto the beach we had to watch a film about the nature there and how to protect it. Then we climbed down the path to the beach and found ourselves a nice spot amongst the crowds. A small café provided refreshments throughout the day and we had a lovely time in the warm, shallow, wave-free waters looking at all the pretty fish and doing a spot of snorkelling.

Once we had enough of the sand, we climbed back up the cliff and sat in the picnic area at the top of the cliff for a while with a drink. Suddenly a movement in a nearby hedge caught my eye. It was a mongoose! Then another one. Soon a whole band of them were darting in and out of the hedges. They appeared to be gathering nesting material rather than pinching scraps from the picnickers.

 

They kept me entertained for longer than the fish and I had to be dragged away in order to head back to the house.

Surfing in Hawaii

No, not me! I was enjoying lying in the soft white sand taking photos of the bucket & spade and laughing at Tim and Rhiannon's attempts.(For some reason my camera went all weird with these photos - perhaps the salt got to it. It recovered well though).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the waves were pretty strong and after one particularly spectacular wipe-out, Tim discovered his wedding ring had been snatched by the sea. Rhiannon was very upset – she seemed to think that meant we weren't married anymore! So later that day we went & bought him another one. Not as nice as the original, sadly, but there we go.

 

And this is how surfing should be done.

Sight-Seeing in Hawaii

Driving around, just seeing what's to be seen. Mostly photos in this post.

This is a beach...

 

This is another beach. But not just any old beach - this was where That Scene from the film "From Here to Eternity" was filmed!

 

This is supposed to link to the scene from the film but I have no idea if it works as the post I see just shows a big yellow box...

The sea was really rough (so the waves in the film were accurate!) but I was thrilled to see turtles bobbing around in the waves.

 

A road...

 

Some greenery

 

A lookout point where there was a blowhole - impossible to catch on film!

That'll do for now. More tomorrow!

 

 

Picking Pearls at the Polynesian Cultural Centre

After dinner, we had to do some shopping of course!

Something that really caught my eye was a stall near the exit where you could choose an oyster for a few dollars, have it opened with due ceremony, and keep the pearl guaranteed to be inside. This turned out to be horribly addictive! I can highly recommend it – but do exercise restraint – having the pearls set can turn out to be rather expensive… It's called Maui Divers Pick a Pearl.

As the blurb from the website says – "the excitement starts when you select an oyster from an assortment presented to you. Anticipation builds during the ritual Aloha blessing of the chosen oyster. Then, the magical moment: a luminescent jewel emerges when the oyster is opened before you." Even though I knew it to be a given that there would be a pearl inside, Rhiannon was completely entranced.

The sales people were extremely skilled too – when you get your first pearl, you're offered a draw ticket, which amazingly enough entitles you to another FREE oyster. YIPPEEEE!! Only this next oyster contains TWO pearls ('coincidentally' in matching colours to the first pearl) and obviously intended for earrings.

And so it continued… we ended up having to set 11 pearls. No, I don't know when to stop! All my pearls were black and Rhiannon's were peachy pink.

As Rhiannon doesn't have her ears pierced, I pocketed the twin peach pearls with the intention of having them set in a necklace for her as a surprise. I knew that the shopping mall in town had a stall which did this so managed to set them before the holiday finished. When I presented the necklace to her at Christmas she was so thrilled she actually cried! Awww!

Hawaii - part 2

One of our big day trips was to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This is a sort of theme park without the roller-coasters that showcases the various cultures that make up Polynesia – New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, Hawaii, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and others.

Very much geared towards children as well as adults, there were plenty of activities for Rhiannon to enjoy. The "countries" are set out in "villages" and you follow a trail to each one. Once at the "village" there are people there dressed in their traditional clothing and showcasing their culture and skills. For example, in the New Zealand village, we learned how to whirl balls on ropes around without knocking herself out. Poi balls – these were great fun and we bought a pair home with us which we still play with. We also played a game with sticks which was originally used to help hand-eye co-ordination for warriors. 

Rhiannon also had the opportunity to "fish" at one point on the route – using a bent paperclip on a length of string baited with a ball of stale bread. Being Rhiannon, she actually caught one! The tiny tiddler managed to get trapped in the loop of the paper clip – apparently nobody had ever caught a fish here before! Let's hope Rhiannon's luck continues like this throughout her life.

I was intrigued to discover that this lavish place was created by Scientologists  Mormons – in fact one could take a special train to their church some distance away. We didn't.

A colourful display was put on in the afternoon with watercraft full of people "from" the relevant countries sailing up the river. Lots of music, dancing and all in all the day out was a fascinating and vibrant experience. (More babble after a load of pictures of the parade)

We had dinner there too (well, it was all included in the rather high price). The hall was enormous and we had to eat at a set time; it seemed like thousands of Americans were there too. We were placed at a long table with a number of other people, ate pretty bland food and watched a show from a great distance.

All the people we met were absolutely astounded to meet Brits in Hawaii. It's a heck of a trip to make from the UK, but not so bad from Japan.

Hawaii! – Part 1

Saturday 20^th October – Sunday 28^th October

I'm humming the "Hawaii 5-0" theme tune while I ponder how to document this trip. I've decided to just post lots of photos rather than ramble on as usual. This is mainly because there's a lot I can't actually remember about where we went and the names of places, sorry!

Tim booked a little house by the sea on the island of Oahu and hired a car which turned out to be a massive whale of a vehicle, soft on suspension and given to turning corners like an articulated lorry with a hangover.

Getting to Hawaii was – erm – interesting. We left late on Saturday afternoon and arrived on Saturday morning due to that wonderfully weird invention of The Dateline. Try explaining that to a just 6 year old girl?! I don't even get it myself.

On arrival we were hauled by airport security in for a full search which totally freaked Rhiannon out and made Tim extremely cross. We were the only ones to be subjected to this indignity – in a glass room in full view of all the other travellers. I should hasten to add, this was NOT a full naked body type search; we were just left hanging around in a fishtank awaiting the arrival of a large, terrifying female security officer to go over us with her whatever-detector. She was deeply unpleasant and immune to Rhiannon's fearful tears. Not a good start.

I forgot Hawaii was American...

Finally out of the airport hell, we found our way to the house which was delightful and only a few yards from a perfect white sandy beach.

We began to relax.

 

 

The Birthday Party

Sunday 14^th October 2007

Well, the day of The Birthday Party has arrived!

We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning putting the decorations are up – and they looked very feeble to be frank. The room was a lot bigger that we recalled when making the decorations. Ah well, hopefully the kids will be occupied enough not to notice. A friend has agreed to do the catering for us, so that's a huge weight off my mind. We bought an enormous birthday cake from Costco. (Rhiannon's actual birthday was on 12^th so she had a home baked one then).

We pop out for lunch then return to greet the screaming  hoards. Before they arrive, Rhiannon insists on dressing up as a mermaid and being face-painted before anyone else arrives. It was a bit of a rush job in the cramped bathroom there but the newly 6 year old was happy with it. No competitions will ever be won with my face-painting skills though. But the kids love it!

I set up my face-painting table next to the music system and am prepared with my mandatory bottle of champagne. After all, it's my 24 hours of hard labour that gave Rhiannon her birthday so I deserve a treat too. I figure I will probably spend about an hour painting faces then go and help out and enjoy the rest of the entertainment. I could not have been more wrong.

The children begin to arrive. Most of the parents drop them and scarper as soon as possible – understandable! But a couple of dear friends stayed and helped out. Little did I know that if it wasn't for Deb and Peggy the party would have been a total disaster.

Why? Well, it seemed that ALL the children wanted very complex face-painting, and it all had to be done NOW. I think there were about 30 kids there. I didn't get to move from my station for pretty much the entire 3 or 4 hours the party went on for. The boys weren't too tricky – they all wanted Spiderman or Batman, but the girls were more discerning and wanted fancy patterns. Not only that, it turned out they popped off to the bathroom after a while, washed it off and came back for another "look". Meanwhile, my champagne was going down very nicely indeed… and this also meant my face-painting skills and care went down proportionately. Some of the later Batmen looked more like racoons. And let's not mention the state of my drunken attempts of Spiderman… carnage!

Tim was a total star, organising all the children into the different activities. His painting of Ariel for "Pin the Shell Necklace on the Mermaid" was a huge hit – apart from the fact that many of the little ones couldn't quite reach high enough on the board so it became "Pin the Shell on Ariel's Boob or Belly Button" for them instead! Deb and Peggy ensured that the kids were fed and watered, taken to the bathroom when required and generally held it all together while I remained rooted to my seat surrounded by a demanding crowd, while getting steadily legless on my bottle of champers. Then someone produced another bottle of champagne and the face painting deteriorated even more dramatically.

I don't remember much after that…

Something that I DO remember however, is the rudeness of one particular mother. You may recall that someone didn't RSVP? Well, she turned up – with not just one child, but the invited child's younger sibling too.

Tongue loosened by the excess of alcohol, I remarked I wasn't expecting her or her TWO children as she hadn't replied to the invitation.

Her response? "Oh, I never bother to RSVP in case something better comes up" !!!!!

I was dumbstruck (for a change) and mindful of young ears listening in, kept my counsel (also for a change). I just said "Oh, well. Erm... there aren't enough party bags for your two, sorry".

Again, the utter rudeness of her response astounded me "That's OK, we don't need any of that sort of crap anyway". <Insert many swear words here>

I would have loved to have had words with her, AND to ensure her children didn't receive "crap" in the form of party bags, but Rhiannon ended up giving the bags out at the end of the party so the two children received them and two children with nice parents had to go without. A slightly sour end to an apparently fabulous party.

What a shame I missed most of it. But I will never, ever offer to face paint at a party ever again. Four solid hours in a chair… oh, my aching back. And a pounding head from the champagne and noise.

Next year we will have a SMALL party. And I will only invite POLITE people.

Apart from Work, Work, Work…

October 2007

Although I am incredibly busy with work, I do manage to make time to attend a couple of classes. Not language training, sadly – this requires too many hours for me to commit to.

Of course I continue with my Ikebana. I've got the bit between my teeth now and am really enjoying myself. Finally, I can make flowers look pretty in the vase!

Also, I went to a Cloisonné enamelling class which was rather fun and left me with a very amateur pendant and a small, rather attractive but ultimately useless pill box; and a yearning to get my own kiln!

Another "class" I went on was a field trip to an antique Imari porcelain shop. Well, I say "shop" but after meeting the group at Shibuya station (a miracle in itself!) several changes of Metro followed by a bus journey and a long walk, we ended up climbing a couple of flights of stairs in an anonymous tower block to a room containing a fine selection of small items.

The other members of the small group were all American and snapped up some interesting (to them) cups. They were made for the export market and if you held the cup to the light, the gently carved face of a geisha shone through the translucent china. They were marked "Made in Occupied Japan". Ouch!

The others pretty much swept the shelves clear, grabbing everything they could – especially the most expensive stuff. But for relatively little outlay, I managed to snag a nice little cup with paintings of Susuki - Japanese pampas grass - which is a favourite theme of mine, a nice rice bowl with circular emblems and a dinky little plate with unusual markings.

I am pleased with my little collection and even more so when the owner of the shop told the leader that out of all the buys, mine were the best and classiest choices.

Me smug? Yeah, a little bit!