Japanory

Holding a Child’s Birthday Party at Home

Sunday 12^th October 2008

Tips for holding a child's birthday party at your home? DON'T DO IT!

After Rhiannon's successful and huge party last year, we've downscaled dramatically for her 7^th birthday. We've decided to only have a handful of girls here at home, with old-fashioned party games and food.

Never again! There were tears, tantrums, arguments, bitchiness and it was all horrible, loud and stressful.

Little girls are unbelievably mean. Rhiannon has been getting a bit of aggro at school due to her cute haircut, of all things. Actually, it's not just the little girls that are mean – I've actually had a couple of mothers complain to me about Rhiannon's neat bob. Why? Because their daughters now want their hair cut in the same style and the mothers don't want to chop their darling's tresses. How ridiculous.

Mind you – check out the expression on Rhiannon's face in this photo – there's some serious attitude surfacing already, it's not funny!

Anyway, I made a mermaid birthday cake and chopped Barbie's hair into a bob just like Rhiannon's! It was a big hit, although the photo perspective makes the mermaid's bum look a bit big.

I was very glad when it was over. Goodness only knows what we will do for next year's party because I am never, ever holding one at home again – unless I can move her birthday to the summer and have a pool party or have a house with a massive garden so they can go outside and run riot. Neither of these is likely to happen though.

From Sashimi to Jimmy Choo

Tuesday 23^rd September – Friday 3^rd October 2008

My fabulous friend, Naz, arrives for a holiday. We met many moons ago when we both worked at the BBC, hit it off straightaway as we both have the same work ethic and outlook on life, and have thankfully stayed friends ever since. She is bubbly, confident, attractive and completely bonkers with a heart of gold! It's brilliant to finally have a visitor I love coming to stay.

We do the usual trips: Mount Takao, Hakone for the black eggs, Yoyogi park and Shinjuku Gyoen where we fed the turtles and giant koi in the lakes.

I also introduced Naz to the coffee morning girls and Yoko joins us for a walk around Omotesando.

Yoko reserved us a seat at a rather special sushi restaurant, a 'proper' one – not a tourist one. You can tell it's a good restaurant because they don't have the disposable cheap pale wood chopsticks that you have to snap apart before using. The chopsticks were smart, made from mid-coloured smooth wood and when we had finished our meal, they were cleaned and handed to us as a gift.

It never fails to amaze me how much food Naz can put away yet still remain willowy slim. Yoko and Naz order a set dish of sushi with rice, but I can't eat 12 pieces of sushi as well as a huge bowl of rice so I chose a small set menu of sashimi with rice. We sit at the counter in front of the display cabinet. Right in from of me is an enormous sea snail thing, still alive, on its 'back' – not sliding around the cabinet. I'm not squeamish, but certainly didn't want to eat it! The fish was the most delicious, melt-in-the-mouth sashimi I have ever had – before or since. (The restaurant is no longer there, sadly.)

There was an intriguing slab of a very dark meat that I thought may be horse. So Yoko (being the only Japanese speaker) asked what it was. The chef looked rather anxious for a moment before replying, "Whale".

Oh!

From the chef's expression I presumed he was expecting uproar from the two gaijins in his restaurant. Now, I do not condone the killing of whales, but I am certainly not about to kick up a fuss about another culture's cuisine – there are far more animal-killing problems in the world. The sickening dolphin slaughter here for one, the killing and torturing of numerous endangered species for so-called medical purposes, and many, many more. Check out Whales, Whaling, Dolphin Hunts and Japan for more information on the industry here.

Anyway, I ordered a few slices of whale. I didn't kill the animal, it was already done. And I wanted to try it because I'm like that – a bit of bravado. I've eaten all kinds of weird things – guinea pig in Peru, llama in Bolivia, bug stew in Venezuela, and besides, many people think eating raw fish is disgusting… And yes, I would have eaten it if it was horse, too.

It wasn't nice, to be honest. Partly knowing I was eating whale and partly because the texture was rather heavy I found it quite unpleasant. It was very rich and afterwards I felt a little queasy.

But a new experience as often as possible is my motto.

After our interesting lunch we wandered down Omotesando looking in the shops. While I'm a handbag and jewellery addict, Naz is a shoe addict. And Jimmy Choo's shop was right there. It's quite daunting to enter designer shops in the UK - not sure why, but it is. Over here, it's absolutely fine. So Yoko and I forced Naz inside. I drooled over shoes I could never possess - they're too small and narrow for a start, and I can't wear heels.

But we 'forced' Naz to buy a pair! Well, we persuaded her to hand over her credit card after she found the most delicious pair of super-sexy shoes with vertiginous heels, in her size and actually cheaper than she would find in the UK.

What a souvenir!

England Here We Come!

Tuesday 15^th July – Tuesday 12^th August 2008

It's time for our annual trip back to the UK.

We're all flying out together, but Tim will be returning to Japan a couple of weeks before us. However, I have a cunning plan for those last days that I cannot tell Rhiannon about in case it doesn't happen. More about this later…

I am not particularly looking forward to this trip though. For some reason I've developed a not entirely irrational fear of driving in the UK again after several "road rage" stories in the press. Driving here is so polite and Zen-like that I don't think I could handle the aggression in Britain.I also feel the need for a proper holiday after not having one since last year. The trip to the UK doesn't feel like a real holiday.

Other things that are bothering me about going back to the UK are the rules regarding driving: Rhiannon MUST have a booster seat - which means we will have to get one as soon as we arrive, but we can't take her with us as we don't have one... Gah! The price of petrol seems to have gone through the roof: here it's the eqiuvalent of about a quarter of the UK price. Apparently speed cameras are everywhere and are out to get all drivers. Perhaps I read the wrong papers, but it seems the UK is going slightly crazy at the moment. Hopefully the Health and Safety brigade haven't banned clotted cream...

Tim's parents have decided to emigrate to the USA to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. This has been on the cards for a little while - not long, but not a sudden decision, either. We tell them well in advance when we will be in the UK as they hadn't settled on their moving date and we hope to see them before they go. Especially as they haven't been to visit us after many promises fallen through.

They left the UK a week before we arrived. Tim was stoic, but that's got to hurt.

We arrived on Mum's birthday, much to her delight. Jetlag isn't too bad – we go to bed very early and wake at about 6am for the first couple of days. A quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on British goodies and have fish and chips for dinner. Heaven!

A weird thought shot through my brain for a moment; "Goodness, there are a lot of gaijin here!" Hah! The other very noticable sight was how large the Brits are and how incredibly untidy they (and I suppose we) look compared to the Japanese.

My best friend drives down from Wales for a few days – I should call her my sister really; she isn't, but we've known each other for over 40 years and she feels like my sister. The two of us made our regular pilgrimage to Lainston House for a catch-up gossip and to pretend we are very posh for a few hours.

On the Saturday my brother and his family come over and we all head off to celebrate Mum's birthday at our favourite lovely riverside pub, The Mayfly.

Actually, most of the first couple of weeks mirrors exactly what we did last year!

This time, however, my boss took me for a manic drive across country to an extremely smart house for a business lunch. I've spent ages trying to recall the name and even longer searching for clues on the internet but it escapes me for now. Anyway, it was very nice.

On the Sunday we took a trip to The Hawk Conservancy Trust. I love this place, especially when wonderfully ugly vultures wander around!

Then we drove down to Devon for the rest of our holiday. We're spending longer there this time to get some sort of proper holiday. Apart from totally re-doing the kitchen and windows and doors...

Breakfast in Bed

Monday 30^th June 2008

It's the first day of the Summer Holidays. Tim's gone to work and Rhiannon allowed me to sleep in!

She woke me up with breakfast in bed. How sweet! It was tea and toast.
 
I took a sip of tea. It tasted a bit odd, but I thought it was just me being half asleep. I woke up a bit more and noticed a greasy film lurking over the top of the tea.

Rhiannon was looking anxiously at me. Then she said "Can you taste the special ingredient?"...

"Mmmm, yes dear, what is it?"

"Cheese!"

What??? "Err, ah yes, but why darling?"

"Well, I know you love tea and you like cheese too"

Can't argue with that logic, can you? (I discovered much later Cheesy Tea was something she'd heard on Spongebob Squarepants – or as he's known in Japan, "Spongey-bobby Something-impossible-to-pronounce-let-alone-spell")
  
I moved onto the toast – it was a mixture of marmite and golden syrup...

Luckily she didn't stick around to make sure I ate and drank the toast and tea.

 

In case you are wondering about the safety of Rhiannon (aged 6) boiling a kettle of water – she didn't have to. As electricity in Japan runs at only 100V it would take about a week for an electric kettle to boil. Instead, we have one of these rather fabulous contraptions which dispenses hot water at the press of a button.

A Girls’ Night Out

June 2008

The Tuesday Coffee Morning Girls have decided we need a well-deserved night out on the town. What fun!

Peggy chose the restaurant – a wonderful fish place. To get there, though, was a bit of an adventure. All four of us met in Shibuya then walked. And walked; luckily this is Peggy's stomping ground so knew where we were going. We eventually found ourselves in an old street that, from first impressions, looked quite historical and attractive. Until you realised there were several groups of gaijin men around. Peggy then announced that we were just up the road from a series of the infamous Love Hotels! Never mind; not interested.

We entered a tiny, cramped restaurant that apparently has a fabulous reputation. Sadly, I cannot remember the name now. It is usual here to ask the chef to serve whatever's best on the menu, or a set meal – which is the same thing really.

We started with sashimi that was the best I've ever tasted. The chef gamely tried to tell us what the various fish were, but even though we had our Japanese friend with us, it was hard to translate. It didn't really matter as it was all delicious and melted in the mouth. We had real wasabi too. It came as a fresh root and a small pottery dish with spikes inside. Thank goodness Yoko was with us as she knew what to do and expertly grated the sinus-clearing green condiment.

The restaurant was so small and so cramped that we were sitting almost on top of the neighbouring tables. As is common in Japanese restaurants, all the dishes get delivered to the table as soon as they are cooked. Soon we had to balance plates precariously around us while we ate dish after delectable dish.

Once finished, we extricated ourselves from the overcrowded eatery and headed off somewhere else. Next stop was a very posh bar high above the Shibuya streets. This was where we discovered that Deb was terrified of heights, so we poured a drink down her and left – the place had glass walls, not a good choice from someone with altophobia (apparently this is a word…).

We found another bar – you can't call them pubs as they have a very different 'flavour' and style.

I don't remember much else, apart from Deb and Yoko heading home while Peggy and I were having a deep conversation about the trials and tribulations our children are going through at school (there's bullying - I don't want to write about it just yet). We decided to find somewhere other than the street to talk and quickly found a basement bar which had only just opened, so it was empty.

I got home at 5am and watched the sun come up.

This is something I haven't done for years!

A Magical Writing Job

May 2008

My name has been passed to someone who runs a magazine here and she wants me to write an article on English pubs. And I will get paid in real Yen money!

We make contact and I write the article. I asked some friends to proofread it for me as I find it impossible to step back far enough to proof my own work. Once done, and with some excellent editing and advice from an internet friend, I nervously sent off the article.

Sometime later – it's a quarterly magazine, I believe – I received a copy of a very thick magazine through the post. The editor had thoughtfully bookmarked my article with a thank you letter.

My article has been turned into a four page spread!

The magazine is called "Owl Post" and is a Harry Potter fan magazine. My article has been translated into Japanese (but you can just make out my name on the first page) and formatted into proper vertical, right to left Japanese. I think it looks incredible, even though I have no idea what it says compared to my original English version.

I don't mind as I got a huge kick from this layout.

High Dining

Sunday 4^th May 2008

 
Some jobs have perks.

Tim's job doesn't.

However, his genial personality brought us all one today. Someone has been given a free pass to a member's only club in Roppongi Hills and has invited us all to join them.

Roppongi Hills is a massive complex of complex navigation. It contains shops, apartments, offices, cinemas, museums and restaurants galore all set in different areas and buildings. The restaurant we're going to today is somewhere near the very top of the main tower, called the Mori Tower, after the famous architect.

Getting to the 50-whatever floor was exciting in itself. The exclusive lift had lights in the floor and ceiling that changed colour as we rose higher and higher.

The food was incredible and the views outstanding. I'd love to become used to this sort of life.

We were very lucky to have experienced this.

April Visitors

Wednesday 9^th – Thursday 17^th April 2008

My friend and her just-about-pre-teen daughter arrived. Tim kindly collected them from the airport so they didn't have to negotiate the train and Shinjuku station.

Rhiannon's back at school but there's plenty of time for the two girls to play together in the afternoons / evenings. Rhiannon just adores having an older girl around and E plays very patiently with her. For the duration, we've put them into the same bedroom, so little sleep is had by Rhiannon. But it's only for a week.

We did the usual trips:

Asakusa; where for the first time, I noticed this stunning mikoshi in the Metro station. A mikoshi is a portable shrine that's carried through the streets during the numerous festivals.

A trip to a sushi conveyor belt restaurant. Rhiannon is dreadful in these places – she grabs everything she likes the look of but never eats them. So now I've given up getting my own dishes and eat the ones she rejects. But not the red salmon egg ones, they are disgusting! Very pretty, but not for me. It's like eating fishy eyeballs.

We also went to Fuji-san. There was a lot of snow on the mountain although the roads were clear. As you can see the girls had a lot of fun. And posed everywhere in true Japanese fashion.

 

Another trip to Meiji Jingu and Yoygi Park where Rhiannon noticed thousands of tadpoles in the manmade lake, just waiting to be caught. It's funny how things we take for granted in our family are considered extremely odd by others. E was very squeamish about catching the wriggly creatures and had never done this before. But she wasn't about to be outdone by a six year old and soon got into it.

 

 

We finished off their brief visit with dinner at the fabulous Jidaiya restaurant where we introduced them to the joys of cooking your own suki-yaki.

Kappabashi Shopping Trip

9^th March 2008

Yeah, another one!

I just love this area and the prices are so reasonable compared to the heart of Tokyo. Peggy and I tend to go together as we have almost identical tastes.

We both went for the same bowl (the one Raymi is sleeping in here) but there was only one left in the shop. I deferred to her as she was the one who found it first – just! But she asked the shopkeeper if he had another one in stock.

"Oh yes. of course".

But 'in stock' meant he had to send a runner to his store room several streets away. We waited nearly half an hour – I was going to have to buy it now, wasn't I?

When he returned the two bowls were different blues – one was darker than the other. Secretly I hoped that Peggy would want the darker one so I could have the one she'd found in the shop. She did! So we were both very happy.

We also found a lacquer store where we'd heard the owner didn't like serving gaijin. But we were determined to visit. The reason being we had seen some very cute bento boxes and wanted to get our daughters one each. These aren't small enough for packed-lunch-bento-boxes, but more suited to general meals.

Obviously the person who told us about the grumpy shopkeeper was an awkward gaijin customer (plenty of those around…) as we had absolutely no problems with her at all and came away with one of these gorgeous creations.

As you can see it separates into compartments – rice or soup in the bottom and other foods in the upper layers.

Rhiannon loved it.

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.

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"...

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.

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!!!

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.

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!

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.

Party Planning

Late September 2007

Rhiannon's birthday always catches me by surprise, which is ridiculous really. The date of her birth is obviously etched into my psyche - 12^th October. But planning for it has been left until the last minute this year.

The only reason I can think for this appalling memory lapse is that the new school term started only a few weeks ago and with all the new things I have to learn / do / organise / pay for, the fact that a certain little girl's birthday is looming gets squeezed out of my mind.

That is, until she starts asking how long it is until her party. What party? Heck!

The school have a policy of mixing all the children up each year, so she's no longer in a class with any her friends. There are four classes per year group. I'm not sure I approve, but can understand the reasoning from an adult point of view: the expat community is extremely fluid and the school takes the view that separating friends helps children adapt to when they eventually move away. From a child's point of view, however, this is disastrous.

So we decide to go all out this year and invite her entire class, plus her friends from reception year. That's a lot of kids!

In the UK, we had soft-play areas where all the stress of party-planning was removed. The children could run riot for a couple of hours, then the venue provided food for them. Not here though. There aren't any soft-play areas, no readily available child-friendly halls or restaurants prepared to put up with thirty 5 and 6 year olds; just nowhere (that I could find) to hold a party.

Under NO circumstances am I having the party at home. Even the mere thought of that sends me rocking into the corner.

It's too late in the year to hold a party outside - it's not that cold, but it is typhoon season so the weather is unpredictable.

What to do?

Tim came to the rescue, as ever, what a brainwave! We'd hire the big hall at his workplace. Perfect!

Invitations are quickly sent out with instructions to RSVP. It's vital to get the RSVP so that a) I know how many goodie bags to make and b) security to get to the hall needs to be sorted out. (OK, perhaps these points should have been reversed…!)

Rhiannon's very much into the "Under Sea" thing so Tim and I decide to decorate the hall with streamers of seaweed, shiny fish and other stuff on the walls to make it less "officey". I delegate much of the design work to him as I have loads of work on and he's a fantastic artist. We pop over to take photos in order to plan further. It's a BIG room.

Having so many children potentially coming we decide to have stations of activity and rotate the kids between them. Some crafty things, I will face-paint, pin the necklace on Ariel, and a couple of other activities I can't remember now.

Party Day is set for Sunday 14^th October. So just over two weeks to sort it out. YIKES!

O-bon - a Festival

Sometime in late August 2007

Shortly after returning to Japan we went with some friends to an O-bon festival.

 

It was a treat for all the senses with the sight of refined and charming dancers, haunting melodies and strident drumming entertaining our ears. Our noses and mouths were full of with the heavy scent of burning incense and delicious local food. All combined to make for an extremely memorable evening.

O-bon is a family orientated festival held in the months of July or August depending on the region. This centuries old Buddhist ceremony is a memorial festival to honour ones ancestors. O-bon is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons and families try their hardest to get together.

The belief is that each year during O-bon, the spirits of our ancestors returned to this world in order to visit relatives. Lanterns are hung in front of houses to guide the spirits home, families gather at the graveyard to reminisce about lost loved ones and food offerings are made at temples and small altars within the home. These home altars are very common and can be purchased from the most department stores or specialist shops. The altar is decorated with flowers and tiny paper lanterns which are lit on the first day of the festival and on the last day these little lanterns are lit at the graveside to guide the spirits back.

During O-bon special folk dances called bon-odori are held all over Japan. The one we went to was held in a park square with a large fountain as the centrepiece. The fountain was lit by multicoloured changing lights and at one end of the square a tall platform was erected on which taiko drummers performed. Above our heads were streamers of red lanterns and around the circumference of the Park were stalls selling all kinds of food, drink and most importantly, kakigori (shaved ice). It was extremely hot even though it was evening.

 

Many people gathered around the fountain, most of whom were wearing light cotton summer kimono called yukata. Some groups of ladies were wearing what appeared to be a uniform with matching yukata and obis. They carried fans which were tucked into the back of the obi when not being used.

 

 

Music started with the pounding rhythm of a number of large taiko drums.

Each region has a specific local dance and the way in which the dance is performed differs throughout the country. Typically the people line up in a circle and move around either the stage or in this case the fountain. The dances apparently tell stories of the area's history, geography or specialisation, so some dances may show the movements of miners, rice picking or rivers and mountains.

 

 

What was depicted by the dancers we watched is a mystery, but the hand gestures and gentle movements were incredibly elegant and beautiful. Often fans were used in the dance which served to emphasise the gracefulness of the moves. Everybody joined in including my daughter and her friends who were accepted with a smile and a helping hand. What amazed me most was how all members of society joined in, from elderly gentlemen to leather-clad youths, each knowing the precise and intricate choreography of each dance.

This spectacle was repeated over and over again, the music and steps changing occasionally, until finally a compère arrived on stage to sing special O-bon songs and announce the end of the ceremony.

It was a moving, beautiful and spectacular event.

Things We Did in England - Part 2

At the end of July we hired a car and drove down to Devon for a change of scene.

Luckily, I have a base there and so we stayed in Exeter and did touristy things. We visited a beach on the north coast (brrrr!), hiked on Dartmoor (my spiritual home) and met up with Devon friends.

Near the house is a river and Rhiannon was delighted to see this bundle of super-cute ducklings. There is also a swans' nest but the cygnets are large now and begging for food with their parents. Rhiannon called them "swanlets" which I think is far nicer and very endearing.

We finalised the shopping expedition and stocked up on kid's  clothes; a nice winter coat for school, socks, tights and so on that are impossible to find in Japan. Sainsbury's was also ransacked and I treated myself to a huge pot of real Clotted Cream and stuffed myself daft on scones and meringues slathered with this delicious taste of "home". (I grew up in Devon, in case you were wondering!) 

Another memorable trip was to the Miniature Pony Centre where Rhiannon had a wonderful time patting and hugging the dinky foals and riding around a ring. She seems a natural horse-rider so in the future perhaps we'll take this further. I haven't ridden for years; quite fancy a hack. One pony was fat and tiny and had a dreadful trot - how I laughed to see Rhiannon bobbing around like a demented toy! It reminded me of the wonderful Thelwell drawings.

 

 

Then it was time to get Tim back to Hampshire ready for his trek back to Japan. Naturally, Rhiannon was sad and tearful about this - she's very much a Daddy's girl - but we'll be heading back ourselves soon enough. Once again, he made me promise to return too! Bless him - as if I'd give him up to stay in England - crazy thought. The fate of his friends is obviously very much at the forefront of his mind.

Rather than allow Rhiannon to dwell on his leaving, I take it upon myself to drive all the way back down to Devon the day following his departure. What a nightmare! It was a very stressful trip with a whinging child and aggressive British drivers.

Back at our Exeter home, I let her run off some steam at the local park, got some fish and chips and, when she was finally in bed I relished the absolute peace and quiet of a Devon night.

Knowing my total lack of any sense of direction Tim bought a GPS before he left, so I programmed in a trip to somewhere I remembered going as a kid - Becky Falls.

OMG! I had totally forgotten about the Devon roads! Sooooo narrow, with enormous hedges on either side with the chance of turning a corner and meeting either a local car at top speed, a flock of sheep in the road or a huge tractor. To think I used to bomb confidentally around these roads as a teen is terrifying to remember.

Becky Falls has changed a lot in… erm… thirty odd years and is now a complete "experience". We had a fantastic time and made a note to take Tim next year. There are beautiful walks around the area with a small quiz to encourage reluctant children to continue walking; they have to collect stamps hidden around the trail in order to receive a small prize at the gift shop.

 
 
Tim called to let us know he'd got home OK. Our helper had been living in to look after Raymi (the cat) and Tim reported all was well apart from Raymi's ears which were bitten raw from mosquitoes. He also said he'd got some outings planned for our return - wonder what that could be?

We spent some time with my Devon friends and had a lovely time.

Then another horrible drive back to Mum's for a last bit of gardening, and to return the hire car before making our way to Hellish Heathrow and back to Japan.

 

 

 

Things We Did in England - Part 1

July 2007

Mum's birthday was brilliant! We all went to The Mayfly - a pub right on the River Test. A stunning setting and fabulous food. Penny (my farmer friend from Wales) walked in and promptly met someone she knew from the tiny town near her farm! What a small world. It gets better - Mum's cousin is a retired vicar or something and lives in the same area in Wales. Turned out they all knew each other!

After an enormous lunch we walked around the common while the kids ran, paddled in the stream and attempted to catch tiddlers. In time honoured fashion we took some bread in order to feed the ducks but actually fed the enormous trout that live in the river. We played Pooh-Sticks. For ages! Simple, childhood memories and fantastic weather made for a wonderful day. I know Mum really enjoyed having everyone together again.

 

 
  

I did a LOT of gardening for Mum. She's finding it hard to keep on top of the amount of work required in her large garden and doesn't have the strength to complete many tasks. I pruned, hacked, dug, and spent an inordinate amount of time waging war on the bindweed that is beginning to take over. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

However, I didn't enjoy the surprise of the light evenings. I'd totally forgotten about them! In Japan it gets dark at 7pm in the summer and about 6pm in the winter. Lovely! Rhiannon's logic is - if it's not dark, then it can't possibly be bedtime.

 

Penny and I spent an evening catching up on life, the universe and everything at Lainston House - which is where Tim and I got married last year. We pledge to continue this tradition as it's a wonderful place.

Penny and me at my wedding:

 
 

On another day, I reluctantly accompanied Tim and Rhiannon to Paultons Park. As you already know from my previous post about Disneyland, I do not like these overpriced places. And boy, are they expensive in the UK?! I was horrified at the costs of everything. Japan is supposed to be expensive, but we spent far more in the UK than we do here. For one thing, entry fees to most places here, such as museums, gardens and so on are minimal. And drinks etc are usually vending machine prices - 120yen max (approx .50p at that time) rather than £5 for a coffee. Outrageous. But again, the weather was fair and as you can see, I managed to crack a smile for the camera!

 
 

Tim took Rhiannon swimming while I had a business meeting with the woman I write for (mentioned in this post).

She appointed me as the monthly Gardening writer - I was thrilled! But I wasn't allowed to write under my own name, so have to come up with a pseudonym, "in case anyone complains"... WTF?! Ah well, whatever, it's a job of sorts. It's a shame I can't add it to my portfolio. Therefore Rose Henfrey was "born". Henfrey is a family name from eons ago - Arthur Henfrey was a reknowned botanist with connections to Charles Darwin (which could explain a lot about my interests) and, although I haven't found the connection to our family, many of my ancestors carried his name.

So, yes, if you read and enjoyed any of Rose Henfrey's garden articles, thank you - that was me! If you Google "Rose Henfrey" you can read some old articles I wrote.
I can reveal my pseudonym now as I was recently and abruptly dropped from this position - my favourite of all the regular columns I wrote. The pretext was something along the lines of a change is good... Are you sensing a tinge of bitterness?! You'd be right!

Anyway, moving on! I accomplished a lot of shopping ready for Tim to take back with him; Winchester is good for some of that, but most will be bought in Exeter, especially the kid's clothes. We visited hyper-markets and had a whale of a time! "oooh look, Chocolate Hob Nobs!!!" "mmm, brown bread". We feasted and over-indulged on all kinds of British staples.

And yes, we got our bacon sarnies and fish and chips. Heaven! It's funny the food items we missed but didn't realise until we saw them again.

 

 

Summer Holidays 2007

School finished at midday on Friday 29^th June and Rhiannon isn't due back until Tuesday 28^th August. Good grief! That's far too long!

A couple of playdates have been arranged for the first couple of weeks. I have a class booked (although I have no recollection of what subject this was) and then we are flying back to the UK for a month, leaving on 11^th July 2007. Well, Rhiannon and I will stay a month or so, Tim has to return before us for work.

We'll stay with my Mum in Hampshire for some of the time, with the rest of our holiday spent in Devon. We'll arrive in time for her birthday and have a small family get together planned.

I have a very long shopping list. I need to buy clothes and shoes, neither of which I can possibly find over here - I have enough difficulty finding things to fit in the UK. I stocked up on "fancy" clothes before we left but have put on weight so they don't fit. Also, I haven't been to that many glam do's so I need more everyday clothes. Rhiannon also needs new clothes - she does keep doing this growing thing! Children's clothes here are outrageously expensive. And there seems to be nothing apart from designer togs.

We also plan to stock up on good old British tea, which is impossible to find here (for a reasonable quantity and price). We need loads as we drink loads.

Other things we are dreaming about are: real bread, cereals, a bacon sarnie, fish and chips and decent apples. Well, the latter is just me - the apples here are revolting - tasteless fluff. I want a Cox's Orange Pippin and a Bramley Apple Pie. (Forgetting that neither is in season during the summer, but Mum has several apple trees, one of which is an ancient Bramley and she's promised me she has frozen some for me).

 

Oh, and I am planning on bringing back a suitcase full of Green & Black's chocolate!

It's a 12 hour flight: arrive 2 hours before, 1 hour to get to the airport, gawd knows how long to get through the imbecilic Heathrow terminal 3 immigration system ( 2 desks for UK Nationals, 18 for "Foreigners") and an hour to get to Mum's.

It turned out to be 19 hours door to door, so that's 3 hours just to get OUT of Heathrow airport. Ridiculous.

Jetlag wasn't too bad. We arrived at Mum's in time for tea (!) and managed to stay awake until 9pm. But I did wake at 5am. This went on for a couple of days then I was fine.

Flowing Noodles and Taiko

Saturday 2^nd June 2007

My calendar entry for this day just says "BBQ - take food and drink". Luckily my photos reminded me more about the event.

It was held on a sunny day, held and attended by most of the families at Tim's workplace. The kids had free run of the playground, the adults had free run at the icy lager and sausages. There are a few children of Rhiannon's age so she had a fabulous time. And they are at an age where they all wear pink!

Something that I've noticed here - whenever a photo is taken of a Japanese person, the photographee holds two fingers up in a V sign - the peace version, not the other one so prevalent in the UK… It hasn't taken long for Rhiannon and the other children to pick up on this pose! Note the famous drink - Pocari Sweat! Great name, harmless taste and not too many chemicals to set Rhiannon off on one of her post additive hyper sessions.

Games had been set up for the children to play. One of which was a Japanese special called "Nagashi Somen" or "Flowing Somen". Somen are a type of noodle served cold during these hot summer months. The flowing part comes from the fun part… a thick bamboo tube is set up on a slight slant and iced water is poured down it - along with the noodles. The game is to catch the noodles with chopsticks before they fall into the drain. This isn't just a children's game, by the way, some restaurants do this and recently a new Nagashi Somen record distance was set with the tube running for 2,500 metres!

Then we were treated to an amazing Taiko performance. Drums touch a very deep part of my soul and, although I don't have the co-ordination to drum myself, I more than appreciate the beat. Drum performances of any kind always set the hairs on the back of my neck up. Sometimes they move me to tears. Weird, I know! Taiko isn't just drumming - it's an athletic performance art with stylised movements and poses. Mesmerising!

The Sound of One Hand Clapping…

Friday 25^th May 2007

Heirinji Zen Temple (lots of photos)

I have been gently coerced by important people into joining a trip to the Heirinji Zen Temple.

The trip is organised by a group called "Elizabeth Kai" which is part of the Japan-British Society. "Elizabeth Kai" is a ladies only group. To quote from the Japan-British Society website, "Lady members of the Japan-British Society may join the Elizabeth-Kai, which presents a varied programme of cultural events and outings, and provides many opportunities for Japanese and British ladies to meet informally and share mutual interests. There are more than 200 members divided into seven groups, each of which organises its own detailed programme, whilst major events of the year, especially the annual tea party given by the wife of the British Ambassador, are open to ladies from all these groups."

OK. I'll see how it goes, and besides, I want to see something other than the screen on my PC, the walls of my house and also distract myself from the ever-nightmarish school-run-parking-fiasco - I've delegated that to Tim today.

I have to make my own way by metro via umpteen line changes to the meeting place somewhere out in the sticks. By some lucky chance I actually do find it! The rest of the group are easy to find as are all gaijin in Japan. Quickly I realise that I am at least half the other members' age and far below their intellectual status. But this matters not, and I am welcomed with open arms and swift acceptance by a large group of absolutely charming and lively ladies.

As we reach the gate of the magnificent temple, the heavens opened. Torrential rain pelted us, preventing our trip around the beautiful, lush gardens. Such a shame; I was really looking forward to seeing a real Zen garden. As this was an organised visit, we were greeted by a black robed monk for our special tour of the temple and handed a small package. Upon later inspection, this contained a pamphlet (in Japanese) about the Temple with a single page of English information inserted into it. And a delightful orange charm displaying a discreet symbol of this temple. Rather puzzlingly, the packet also contains a few sheets of tiny stickers of Kanji phrases. I still haven't worked out what these are for.

Heirinji Zen Temple is one of the only temples that doesn't have shops or stalls selling these charms, so this is an extremely special gift.

The reason the Temple isn't commercialised is because it is primarily a teaching monastery. It is a Rinzai Zen monastery. In this tradition, the Zen master trains his monks by assigning them each a Kōan as a focus of meditation. A Kōan is one of those "unanswerable" Zen questions. We were told that the famous Kōan, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" originated at this very temple.

The temple was first built in 1375 but was burned down during a feudal war between 1573 and 1592. It was rebuilt in 1663 and has remained a centre of peacefulness ever since. And it is peaceful. It's hard to put into words the sense of tranquillity this beautiful place invokes.

From what I saw of the gardens, there would be plenty of opportunity for meditative communing with nature in Japanese terms. The trees are a mix of rich greens and deep red Acers, all clipped into attractive, yet natural shapes. Enormous stone lanterns peep from behind bushes and large ponds containing vivid Koi are dotted around. But all the time the rain is doing a great impression of a monsoon.

 

After our tour of the workings of the temple, we are led into a large hall for a lesson on meditation. The room is light and airy with floor to ceiling windows down the two long sides, looking out over the gardens. What a view! At the front of the hall sits a jovial looking monk who speaks good English. Chairs for "non-kneelers" are set up down the centre of the hall. I take one of these - my legs are too long to be sitting on the floor and my back "went" shortly after Rhiannon was born and hasn't ever recovered. As the youngest there, I felt a little guilty to see ladies in their eighties nimbly kneel on the floor.

Our Zen master explained how to meditate and told us that normally he would sound a bell or chant to help us but today the sound of the rain would be our focus as it was supplied by nature and therefore far more powerful.

I can't meditate. But it was a good experience.

Once this had finished the Zen master happily took well considered questions from the ladies and then our visit was over.

But there was still one more treat in store. Lunch!

The monks supply the food for an authentic Zen restaurant nearby and we were to be treated there.

The entrance to the deceptively tiny restaurant was stunning as you can see from the photo.

A couple of tables were set up downstairs for those not able to sit at the traditional Japanese tables upstairs - meaning you kneel on the floor. I stayed downstairs… until I realised that everyone - except one lady aged 95 with no English - had gone upstairs. Ah well, sod my back, I'll join the experience and see how I do.

Surprisingly large upstairs, long, low - very low - tables were set up and everyone was kneeling at them. I needed help so moved to a space with a wall behind to my back at least would be supported. But the wall was made of straw and I was terrified of breaking it. Oh, but I was fidgety! However the food was exquisite. Each red lacquer tray was laid out with care: beautiful bowls contained tasty vegan delicacies, most of which I didn't recognise but thoroughly enjoyed.

Zen and the art of good food.

Conversation was lively, entertaining and intellectual.

Somehow I managed to get up afterwards, again embarrassed by the nimble octogenarians, but they were all too refined to notice my difficulties.

A truly wonderful day trip.

Sea Cucumbers, TV & a Sushi Walk...

Monday 7^th -Wednesday 9^th May 2007

A non-photo-prompted post!

Tim's flown to Seoul (South Korea) on business. Rhiannon always plays up when he's away, so I'm not looking forward to the next couple of days. Mind you she plays up while he's at home too; it's just 100 times worse when he's away.

Luckily she's got a school trip to Shinagawa Aquarium planned for the Monday as well as Aikido after school so hopefully she will be exhausted enough to go to bed early. She is hugely fascinated by any kind of aquatic creature so this trip was a massive success. She got to walk through a glass tunnel under "the sea". But the highlight of her visit was the set of touching tanks. Her favourite creature was a large starfish that she held which entwined its legs around her hand. She believes it was hugging her, bless her! She also stroked a sea cucumber which "felt soooo soft and velvety, just like Nana's coat"!

Nana's coat is now affectionately referred to as the sea cucumber coat. It's OK, she understands and laughs. One day I'll write a book about my Dad and his ever changing menagerie. It's hard to explain our outlook unless you personally know me and my upbringing.

Anyway, I was wrong about her being tired and wanting an early night. She's the sort of kid that get more hyper the more tired she is, so Monday evening was fraught, to say the least.

But once she'd finally finished tantrumming, in bed and staying there, I finally had control of the TV remote.

Recently we got some sort of special box and satellite dish with a package of TV programs. After an hour, I finally worked out roughly how to use it. Most of the channels are "greyed out" which means I can't view them. These are all the ones with decent films on. Not fair to be shown what I can't watch. Other English language options include a few American stations showing things I don't recognise and Animal Planet, National Geographic and The History Channel. The History Channel is only in Japanese, showing Japanese history. I eventually watched an old episode of Sex and the City. It makes nice change from Tim's usual choice of programmes entitled temptingly as "How to Build a Submarine" or "100 Most Deadly Plane Crashes". With the amount of flying he does, you'd think the latter type of viewing would be off the list, wouldn't you?

On Wednesday, I agreed to help escort Rhiannon's class on another trip. This time they were walking from school to a local sushi bar in Omotesando as part of their Japanese lesson. Even though there are only about 16 kids in her class, they seem to triple in number once outside the classroom. Ugh. Walking with a group of 5 year olds… Rhiannon objected jealously to me talking to any other child and threw a complete wobbly when another kid held my hand…"That's MY Mummy, not yours. Let her GO!"

Somehow, we got them to their destination safely and retired for a much needed coffee before the return shenanigans. Rhiannon loved taking food from the conveyor belt but didn't eat a thing.

Then I made the day worse by having a playdate here. The invitee was a right little madam and it was bloody hard work with two strong characters trying to get one up on each other all afternoon and evening.

I was very glad when the madam's father came to collect her, albeit over an hour later than we'd agreed.

Finally Tim returned home! With presents! (OK, he's not quite THAT thoughtful and romantic - I told him he had to bring presents) We got Korean chopstick sets which are made of metal rather than wood. Very beautiful.

A stressful couple of days. But at least I got to see some girly TV for a change. And a present :-)

Vending Machines in Tokyo

May 2007

Another photo-prompted post.

Not far from our home is a play area for kids. It's known as "The 100 Yen Park" because that's how much it costs to get in (in May 2007 that's about forty pence).

I don't know its official name but it's a magical place.

Children here are treated very differently from those in the UK. They are actively encouraged to "do their own thing". For a start, they have to make their own way to school from the age of six.

The park is set out like an adventure area in a natural setting. Woodland to explore, rope webs to negotiate, hills to climb, very long slides wind down a steep hill and there are sculptures to clamber over. Zip lines for older children and dedicated areas for the little ones.

Children are persuaded to work out problems on their own, to be independent from a very young age and to experiment - even if this may mean hurting themselves ever so slightly in the process. The odd bump and scraped knee isn't the end of the world and nobody would ever think of suing. I heartily approve of this. But Health and Safety UK style would have an absolute fit here!!!

Tables and benches surround the play area where parents can sit and chat while their offspring run off a heap of energy without Mum or Dad helicoptering around them all the time. Heaven! I take my work there to do while Rhiannon makes friends with whoever she can find. At her age, there is no language barrier. If / when she falls over, the gate-keeper comes trotting out with a plaster before I can reach her. No fuss, just a matter of fact "There you are. All sorted; now go back and play".

Refreshments come from the ubiquitous Japanese vending machines. Depending on the time of year you can have tins of hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate and every possible cold drink you can imagine - and many you can't. Cucumber flavoured Coca Cola? Not for me!

Sometime during May, the machines change to only serving cold drinks. If you fancy hot coffee… tough. It's not available. But iced coffee isn't too bad.

Just outside the park is an entire bank of vending machines as you can see. Some sell ice creams and another dispenses hot food.

 

I have no idea how the hot food one works - microwaves, I guess - but I haven't dared try it yet.

There are limits to my Health and Safety embargo…

Golden Week 2007

May 2007

Golden Week is a week of public holidays in Japan. This is a very busy time and one does not want to travel anywhere unless absolutely necessary. Unless you are a hard-working Japanese person who has no other holidays to look forward to. The public holidays making up Golden Week are; Showa Day on the 29th of April, Constitution Day on the 3rd May, Greenery Day on 4th May and Children's Day on the 5th. Or something like that - as far as I can tell, public holidays here are pretty flexible and can take in extra days to make this week easier to manage.

The British School in Tokyo don't recognise it as a holiday, so it's school run as usual - apart from the lack of traffic. And the British Embassy only closes for a couple of days, so Tim has a bit of work before some time off.

I'm getting into a nice little routine now. Each Tuesday, after the kids have been dropped off at school, Peggy, Yoko, Deborah and I meet for coffee and chat at Starbucks near Omotesando. It's a lovely custom and I really enjoy the opportunity to chat to adults and learn about the different cultures and interest of Peggy (Indonesian) and Yoko (Japanese). Deb is a Brit, like me. Our kids have regular playdates too. We've chosen Tuesdays for our regular meet because one of my favourite shops is closed on that day, therefore saving me a lot of money!

Sometimes we wander around Omotesando after coffee. This is a particularly upmarket shopping street in Tokyo with all the designer shops lined up one after the other: Chanel, Gucci, Celine, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, et al. As well as Kiddyland - a cornucopia of mayhem. It's a children's toy store and is always heaving with teens looking for the latest kawaii trend. The other main attraction here is Oriental Bazaar - a Mecca for all tourists to Japan. Once you've been here a while, you realise it's pretty much all overpriced tat but for now, it's a fascinating place full of typical Japanese gifts. I've bought a couple of antique obi from there which hang on my walls and it's an ideal place to find English books about Japanese culture.

The shop I love best is FujiTori which is the one that's closed on Tuesdays… I've spent quite a few hours in there chatting to the charming owner who seems impressed with my choices and recently acquired knowledge (through avid reading) on all kinds of Japanese arts and crafts. He compliments me on my "black eyes", meaning I see beauty in the Japanese way and understand the culture. No wonder I spend so much in there!

Baking and Playing

Thursday 26^th April 2007

The school's annual Spring fair is on Saturday and because I'm still trying to find my feet with the PTA/Fair Organisers et al, I agree to make some cakes for the Cake Stall.

I love baking, so this didn't initially fill me with dread. Until I tried to find the basic ingredients for a cake...

Self-raising flour doesn't appear to exist. So I grabbed some plain flour and baking powder and googled for amounts to use. Butter is horrendously expensive. But I refuse to inflict disgusting margarine on anyone. Cocoa was found in the end - it was with the baking ingredients rather than beverages.

Little paper cake cases required a trip to yet another shop. Tokyo Hands is the best place for stuff like this and at the same time I bought some small cellophane bags (as instructed by The School) to package the cakes nicely. I'm all set to cook.

My enormous KitchenAid red mixer came with me from the UK but this requires a step-down transformer to use. Japanese electricity is 100 volts while the UK is 240 volts. It's a bit of a struggle to use with little workspace but once set-up it all works just fine.

I think I made about 48 little chocolate cakes. Then I realised the oven is in Fahrenheit and not Centigrade. Another search to find the conversion and pop the first batch in. As I'm not yet used to this oven yet, I checked on the cakes some minutes before they were due to be done. ALL BURNED! What a waste. So I was doubly careful with the next batch and pulled them out early to find the bases were over done while the tops were barely cooked. I was very cross.

I hate this cooker. So the cake stall had to do without my contribution. I'm sure this was noted by the co-ordinators…

 

After school, Rhiannon and I are both invited for a playdate at Yoko's. Her daughter, Natalie, is adorable, very sweet and quiet - the polar opposite of Rhiannon. And I'm looking forward to getting to know Yoko better. While the children played, Yoko offered me a glass of champagne she'd bought especially. I love this lady already! We had a wonderful chat; I admired her collection of very English porcelain and played with her funny dog which looks like a black Dougal from The Magic Roundabout.

Yoko felt peckish and raided her fridge for snacks. Now, she'd been living in the UK for a few years and had been missing Japanese food so had stocked up on her favourites, which she kindly offered to share with me. Unfortunately, these didn't appeal. Inch long baby squids, complete with eyes really didn't encourage my appetite.

Then she brought out a pot of Natto. She explained to me that this stuff is very good "for the skin and for beauty". As all the Japanese people I've seen are very young looking and beautiful, I agreed to try it.

Natto is fermented soy beans. It stinks and looks vile - all gloopy and, frankly, looks totally inedible.

I tried it.

It stinks, it's disgustingly gloopy, tastes vile and is totally inedible.

I will remain wrinkled.

In Which We Find a Fabulous Japanese Restaurant

Monday 23^rd April 2007 (yet again!)

Back at home I did the standard new visitor things. Feed them tea, show them their room, explain the earthquake drill and make more tea. Then we did the work bit; installed a new database uploaded the data and gave it a trial run. All OK.

I went to collect Rhiannon from school while 'T' took a shower and sorted out her stuff.

Once Tim arrived home, 'T' and I headed off to find somewhere to eat and gossip. Now, as I don't go out that often, I don't really know all the good restaurants. Apart from the place I went with the school mums, where we were fed batter-covered chicken gristle (not recommended) and a sushi bar, I didn't know any Japanese restaurants.

We set off for Akasaka as there are loads of eateries there and were confident we'd find something. 'T' is a bit of a foodie so I was under a little pressure to find somewhere good.

Up one street we went and only found Western restaurants or very Japanese places where we had no hope of understanding the menu. This is frankly a little scary as some Japanese food is known to be, erm…, unusual to our unrefined Western palates. It was also very busy with "salarymen" out on their regular jollies. Pachinko parlours deafened passersby when the doors opened and are garlanded with neon-coloured fake flowers and other decorations. There are also numerous hostess bars…

Down another street. This one housed only sushi bars and we wanted something a bit more substantial… and cooked.

Then into the unknown. The next street was a bit darker than the others but a mysterious man was carrying a framed stall that was making a gentle, yet intriguing tinkling sound. So we followed him to see what was on his cart. It was festooned with delicate glass windchimes and the sound and sight was enchanting.

Continuing up this street, we spotted a beautiful old wooden house with the much welcome sign, "English Menu"! Perfect. It was a Japanese restaurant in a fabulous setting with an English menu.

Except… we could not find out how to get in!

There was no door to be seen. We went back and forth around the building. Looked for stairs in case the entrance was up a level. Nothing. Through the windows we could see people inside eating, but how did they get there? How frustrating - so near, yet so nowhere close to finding a way in. After several circuits, we noticed a closed tiny sliding door. Could that be it? Surely not - it was only about a metre high. 'T' dared me to try it, so I did. Eureka! It was the entrance! How very authentic.

Inside we were greeted warmly and invited to remove our shoes which we left by the door. There were separate rooms off a short, dark wood corridor. It all looked extremely old and authentic. We were ushered into a room where for a dreaded moment I thought we would be expected to sit on the floor as the tables were very low. But no, under the table was a hollowed out floor enabling us to sit more comfortably. Thank goodness.

Decorated with many ancient (looking) artefacts, the ambience was perfect.

 We ordered from the set menu and had the most delicious meal ever; lots and lots of courses including sashimi, sukiyaki and miso. We drunk lager from heavy, rough pottery mugs and dessert was a disturbingly grey ice-cream. Tasty, but still grey.

The toilet was surprisingly modern, but the old custom of putting on "toilet slippers" was used - these are communal wooden open-toed clogs.

As we left, just about able to walk after the copious amounts of food we'd consumed, the host lifted a floorboard by the miniature door and gave us a gift of some tins of drink. I think they were soba-pop. The drink was grey, like the ice-cream, but nowhere near as tasty. We didn't keep them.

Would you like to know what this fantastic restaurant is called? Yes?

It's called Jidaiya and now has an English website.

I can highly recommend Jidaiya if you're ever in Tokyo. Just mind your head when you go in!

 

Izakaya Friday

Friday 20^th April 2007

Mum left for the UK yesterday and we have only a couple of days free before our next visitor descends upon us. Something others have warned us about is becoming realised - when you live in a different country, people will use you as a freebie holiday home. People who have only been acquaintances now become "dear friends" and ask to be invited. Ah well.

Rhiannon has a busy day ahead at school. The school photographer is due and she's going on a trip to Kodomo-no-kuni - Children's Land. As far as I can tell, it's a large park with a little petting zoo. She wasn't very forthcoming about it really and we keep meaning to re-visit. I've added it to my list of things to do again!

As for Tim and I - we have a rare night out together planned!

I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago Tim agreed I could join the ranks of the true expat wife and get myself a "helper". This is the local term for a cleaner, babysitter and basically all-round helper. Some lucky mum's have a helper all day, every day. They collect the kids from school, cook and clean for them, and generally be wonderful. How I wish our finances were in the league of the expat bankers, but they aren't, so I will content myself to having her here for a couple of hours a week to do my ironing. I hate ironing.

Merle is adorable and I want to keep her with me forever. Rhiannon loves her too, so we are happy to have her babysit while we go out. We haven't ever really had a babysitter before so this is all fairly new to us all. When we were in the UK, my parents were too far away to help out and Tim's parents - although close - let us down at the last moment so many times we gave up asking.

So with great excitement (on my part - Tim gets to go out more than me… mutter, moan!) we head off to an arranged meal with the parents of children in Rhiannon's class. Although I went out earlier in the year, this is the first time Dads have been invited.

The venue is Andy's Izakaya, an establishment much loved by Westerners as it is quite pub-like and the menu is in English! Our directions were vague - "It's across the road from Bic Camera in an arch under the train tracks"…

What we didn't realise was Bic Camera is massive and the road splits into several branches. The train tracks are part of an enormous interchange and each arch contains a restaurant. And none of the signs say "Andy's Izakaya" - all are in Japanese, of course. I tried phoning some of the mum's whose numbers I had on my phone but nobody replied. After half an hour of looking, Tim was getting cross and was about to demand we go home when he spotted the telephone number on a door which corresponded with the directions we were given. Hurrah!

Inside it was heaving. I've never seen such a large number of people crammed into one restaurant.

Because we were so late, the meal had already started and we were unable to sit next to each other. Tim got lucky and was placed between several rather "merry" ladies.

The food was excellent. And we tried shochu, a rather naughty alcoholic beverage that is served with grapefruit. Can't stand grapefruit, so I had it neat. It's rather like tequila… I think.

As the less determined party-goers left, there was room to move around and finally chat to people. We stayed to the very end and I became close friends with two lovely ladies, Yoko and Amy. I seem to get on far better with the non-Brits here. Yoko is, of course, Japanese and Amy is Singaporean. Both are bubbly, frank, intelligent and great fun.

We must have got home somehow but I have no recollection of that!

Aikido and Ceramics… NOT at the same time!

Monday 16^th April 2007

Rhiannon goes back to school today (yay!) and is due to have her very first Aikido lesson after school.

There are loads of extra-curricular activities at the British School in Tokyo and Rhiannon is eager to try as many as possible. I'm very happy for her to give everything a go if she wants because I never had the chance to try anything due to where I grew up (deepest, darkest Devon in England) where there were no opportunities at all. And besides, I have a lot more work coming in and could really use the child-free extra hour or so at the end of a school day… Rhiannon is a rather demanding child and is, quite frankly, exhausting. (Understatement!)

Although there are lots of activities, sadly none are available for five year old reception year kids. Apart from Aikido. So I signed her up last term and today will be her first lesson. The Dojo is at school so I have no need to ferry her around and just have to pick her up at 4.30pm.

Once the school run is completed, Mum and I catch the metro to Kappabashi. I love Kappabashi where there are numerous kitchenware shops and, my favourite, ceramic shops. Although I've been there a few times already, this is Mum's first visit.

I should have realised. If I like something it will be the complete opposite to Mum's taste and vice versa.The pottery here is, to me, beautiful, edgy, rustic at times, decorated in a quirky manner and fairly modern. I swiftly realised Mum was not impressed at all. So I abandoned my plan of visiting all the "plate" shops and looked at some of the others in the area.

We discovered a shop selling many styles of glass bottles and jars ready for personalisation. Shops selling signs and others selling uniforms. There were also lots of personal shrine shops which were rather incredible if a little mystifying. I didn't feel too comfortable taking photos of those.

 

There was also a tiny shop selling all kinds of coffee making equipment. Not just pots and filters, but some Heath Robinson-esque contraptions too. Fascinating!

We were both intrigued by the many shops selling fake food. Outside most restaurants here are plastic replicas of the meals served inside. This is obviously where they buy their models. We wondered if the plastic foods are made to order depending on the restaurant's request or if the chef cooks to match the model.

 

Kappabashi's charms were soon over for Mum so we walked over to Asakusa so she could look around there. She loved this area when she visited at Christmas and wanted to nose around a stationery shop at the top end of the temple and to look around the many alleyways selling fabrics and kimonos.

I stayed a while until I got bored, and then left her there, confident that she was finally at home enough in Tokyo to be able to find her own way back to our house.

With just enough time for a cup of tea and a quick check of emails and so on, I relished the snatched moment of total peace before heading off to collect Rhiannon from Aikido.

As with any new activity, I was anxious as to find out whether she enjoyed it or not. She's very much a girly girl but incredibly active which needed an outlet. Hopefully, Aikido will prove to be this outlet. The Sensei assured me the mix of girls and boys was pretty even.

Nervously, I waited in the school's lobby for her to come up the stairs from the gym. Other children dressed in their white kit were coming up but Rhiannon was last as usual. Then I heard her…

Did I mention she is loud as well as over-active? There is no off-switch on her. And no volume control.

Anyway, she obviously saw me before I noticed her and she yelled up the stairs,
"Muuu-uuum!!!! I had SUCH a wonderful time! Aikido is brilliant! I got to throw a grown-up man right across the room and he hit the wall with a big SPLAT!!!!"

Aikido was obviously a huge success. I am very happy.

But then she decided to practise her newly learned moves on me... OUCH!

 

 Be afraid!

Weddings Galore!

Sunday 15^th April 2007

Today is our very first wedding anniversary. A whole year!

A wonderful day with a rather upsetting end. Read on…

We've booked to go for a nice meal at the New Otani Hotel. Rather posh and it gives us a chance to get dressed up a little. We will have teppanyaki at the Sekishin-tei restaurant set in the beautiful grounds of this lovely hotel.

Before we head over there, we take a trip to the Meiji Jingu (shrine) over in Yoyogi Park. This is a wonderful and large Shinto shrine dedicated to the former Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. To get to the main buildings we walked through the largest torii gates I've ever seen and continued through a forest before reaching the shrine area.

Just outside the entrance doors a huge tree is surrounded by a frame completely covered with small wooden plaques. Each of these plaques is a wish written by a visitor and hung around the tree in the hope the wish will be granted. Many are written in English.

Through the door is the vast shrine complex. To our surprise and great delight we saw a wedding ceremony is going on. It was enchanting. I think getting married at Meiji Jingu is on a par to tying the knot at St Pauls' Cathedral in London.

The bride was beautiful in her white hooded wedding kimono; a splash of colour was added by an attendant leading them on their promenade holding a giant red parasol. Guests followed in a line behind the couple. All were very smartly attired. Most of the women at the head of the line - and therefore I believe they were immediate family - wore formal black kimono. Some of the younger members of the entourage wore brightly coloured kimono and so did a little girl who looked gorgeous. I simply adore this traditional clothing; the embroidery work that goes into the design is incredible and the obi is a masterpiece of textile art. After the brief ceremony, the bride and groom emerged from the building looking very happy. A member of staff helped the bride with her ornate white robe - her hood was now down displaying striking hair ornaments.

It was time to drag ourselves away from this perfect slice of Japanese culturural tradition to get ready for our anniversary meal. We arrived at the hotel with plenty of time for us to browse around the stunning gardens. An enormous red jasper rock stands guard at the entrance and other spectacular stones are scattered throughout the garden. I like stones. I can't explain why; I just find them absolutely fascinating and grounding and always seem to find (at least) one to have as a souvenir from most places I've visited. A lot of stones reside in my home.

Massive koi swim lazily in the shallow lake. For some reason, Rhiannon has decided that fish like being sung to and that we are not allowed to watch or listen to this. Luckily my camera has a zoom to allow me to capture the scene even though I can't hear what she is singing to them. Both fish and child look like they are enjoying this moment.

Kimono adoration continues. This hotel seems to be the place to have photographs taken when fully dressed up. Lots of colourful robes are on display with young ladies posing prettily in the classic Japanese setting.

The gardens are large and we decide to leave the rest of the exploration until after our meal. Teppanyaki is a cooking method - you sit in front of a large hotplate and your food is cooked in front of you. As well as being delicious, it's a feast for the eyes too as you can watch the master at work; preparing, chopping and cooking in a slick and professional fashion.

We clambered onto the chairs around the counter and ordered the set menu. These are always recommended as the chef will choose only the best, freshest and in-season food for you. Japanese food generally has lots of courses comprising small amounts. Perfect! We had giant prawns, Kobe beef (incredible, mouth-watering, tender perfection!) lots of unusual vegetables, garlic rice and miso soup. Poor Mum struggled with her chopsticks as her hands are now twisted with arthritis but refused the offer of a fork and gamely battled ahead. One of the best meals I've ever had.

Replete and happy, we left the restaurant for a continued exploration of the grounds. Lots of lanterns are scattered throughout the garden and my little poseur of a girl insisted on having her photo taken with one. Eventually after a last song for the koi, we head into the hotel to see what's on offer inside.

And would you know it - another wedding is in progress! This time, the bride has chosen a Western style "do" complete with white meringue dress. I particularly love the circular shapes the view from above afforded us, with the seating arrangements and the little pergola.

And then Shops!

This hotel is one of those fancy ones that has shops in it. Goody! The shopping arcade is full of appealing shops but as Tim and Rhiannon aren't interested, so Mum and I restrain ourselves from visiting every single one of the hundred or so shops.

But I can't resist my newly discovered admiration of Japanese porcelain. I've always had a preference for blue and white china and the Japanese designs are so simple yet extremely artistic. Always perfectly balanced, intriguing and full of symbolism - another of my penchants. I am very close to becoming obsessed with Japanese ceramics. As it's my anniversary - and Tim never buys me presents - I rather rashly decided to treat myself to a set of five small plates. They are a wavy oval shape and handpainted with a mountain scene with houses and trees picked out in gold. They weren't cheap, but absolutely gorgeous, an unusual shape, plus a full set in perfect condition and around 200 years old. The sales assistant offered to package them up for me so they'd be safe "on the plane". By this time I was getting grumpy vibes from Tim, and Rhiannon was started to whinge, so I declined saying we didn't have far to carry them and weren't going on a plane any time soon. She wrapped them in layers of soft paper.

Very pleased with our day out and my new purchase we set off for home. Throughout the metro journeys I hugged my plates carefully and avoided anyone bumping them. Finally home, I placed the bag on the shelf inside the front door and took off my shoes.

The bag fell off the shelf and three out of the five plates smashed.

Over two hundred years they had survived, through earthquakes, wars and general life only to be destroyed by my idiotic self.

Devastated, I took myself upstairs to cry at my stupidity. I couldn't even blame anyone else for it - perhaps this was worse! I came down a bit later to find mum gamely gluing them back together with superglue!

Heartbroken.
They now live at the back of a cabinet as I am unable to look at them without feeling a pang.

Hakone - A Birthday Trip

Tuesday 3^rd April 2007

It's my birthday today. I don't get a cake, but I do get to eat black eggs!

Tim's taken a couple of weeks off work so we can get out and about with Mum and explore some other parts of Japan. Lots of trips out of Tokyo are planned.

Today we went to Hakone, a popular day-trip destination less than 100 kilometres from Tokyo. Hakone is famous for its onsen, or hot springs, as well as being a site of natural beauty and real countryside.

Now, about onsen. I would love to visit one of these public hot springs but I am not allowed. Why? Well, I have tattoos which are well and truly banned. Incidentally, I am also not allowed to go to swimming pools and gyms, neither of which I am bothered about. Why are tattooed people forbidden from onsen? It stems from the banning of members of the yakuza - mafia-type gangs - who are covered in beautifully worked ink. Even though, by dint of being female and gaijin I cannot possibly be a member, my ink disallows me from baring myself to the Japanese world. Ah well.

We went by car and the journey took around two hours along toll roads that are easy to navigate with numerous well-equipped service stations. These service areas are great. Banks of vending machines dispensing every kind of drink and even hot food. Clean and vast toilets with a choice of cubicle - Japanese, Western, and even double cubicles with a normal sized convenience and a kid-sized one! Plenty of dogs to watch - there are even facilities for them with dog runs and water bowls. A huge shop contained something very rare and most welcome - a bakery. How I've missed decent baked goods! We stock up on plenty of rolls, doughnuts, Danish pastries and other items to eat en route.

Once at our destination we didn't really have plan but soon realised that the main attractions are lakes and mountains. Unfortunately the weather turned nasty and we were engulfed in a thick dank fog. So none of my photos are good, sorry.

Lake Ashi was our first stop where we took a boat trip around the vast lake. To our amazement we spotted three colourful 'pirate' ships; replicas of British ships complete with masts and figureheads looming out of the mists. We also saw what appeared to be a paddle steamer. What a shame we were on the only 'ordinary' boat on the lake. They were all tourist boats ferrying people back and forth to various destinations. Apparently you can see Mount Fuji from here, but the fog meant we could barely see the other side of the lake. On one side of the lake is the entrance to one of the most photographed shrines in Japan with its picturesque bright red torii gates placed in the water.

Returning to shore and our car we were lured by signs leading to something called "The Great Boiling Valley". With a name like that, we just had to visit! Following these signs led us up a mountain called Owakudani which is a volcanic hotspot full of bubbling sulphurous springs and fumaroles. A number of cable cars or ropeways were taking people some of the way but we drove and parked in the convenient car park near the top before walking the rest of the way.

 

This fascinating sign greeted us at the exit from the car park before walking up the mountain.

 

We decided to brave the dangers and headed up the path through the pungent air where we came to an area of boiling pools of milky blue-green water. Around one of the pools large metal boxes were immersed in the hot water. Leading up to this was a pulley system bringing boxes of eggs up from the town at the base of the mountain. These eggs were then plunged into the boiling water and sold in bags at a nearby kiosk. Although they are normal chicken eggs their shells are turned black by the chemicals in the water. These black eggs are extremely famous here and according to Japanese legend they increase your lifespan; for each black egg you eat another seven years is added to your life.

Another typically translated sign: I think it apologises in advance if there are no eggs available.

 

Solid wooden tables surround the kiosk, each one encircled by dozens of people bashing the eggs and peeling off the shells.

A sign nearby showed that we had climbed to 1050m above sea-level.

We ate lots of eggs and very delicious they were too. Good to know we'll live longer for eating them - with the number we've eaten we're probably going to be immortal.

Delusions of Nigella...

March 2007

I wish I could be one of those wonderful people who can happily throw a perfect meal together, look glamorous and entertain like a "grown-up". Like Nigella Lawson.

In my head, I can do it, but in real life, I just find it an appalling trial. I'm not a natural socialite and cooking just doesn't work out the way it should: but I blame this cooker which only seems to cook from the bottom up. Stuff burns on the base before the top is cooked.

Anyway, so many people have been lovely to us since our arrival, inviting us out, showing us around and entertaining us that I decide that we will have a "do" at our house.

I sent invites to loads of people, expecting about two thirds to come, but they ALL say yes! Panic immediately sets in. I try to calm myself by planning exactly what I will serve and write a shopping list. It bodes well that I actually remember to take this list to the shop, as I usually leave it behind.

Realising I didn't have enough crockery I made a quick dash to Oriental Bazaar and bought some attractive, cheap, yet beautiful dishes and plates.

Planning and preparing the menu was my personal nightmare, but for once it all went well. Some items I created in advance and froze while some I had to make in the morning. By some miracle, it all worked out well with no disasters! It would be tempting fate to repeat this. Besides, I do find it all very stressful.

For once my edible offerings were fit for human consumption! Homemade breadsticks – about 200 of them as it turned out (I sent people home with them at the end of the afternoon!), teeny savoury scones, smoked salmon and bagels, dips and chips. And the strawberries dipped in chocolate were a massive hit; so easy to do but they used up a lot of precious chocolate.

There were so many people that most had to sit on the floor or stand around the table. Everyone very kindly bought gifts – a fabulous tradition here: the first time you go to someone's house, you take a little gift. I got lots of bottles of wine, bunches of flowers and potted orchids. How delightful!

People came with children and babies. Rhiannon was in her element with a handsome older boy to play with. He's an absolute charmer and is very good with the little ones. I played with the newborns and my stress levels dropped away. I had a lovely time talking to well-travelled, intellectual people.

But I still don't think I'll do another one for some considerable time. And I am certainly no Nigella.

In Which I Go Out For Dinner

7^th February 2007

It appears that a ritual with this school is that the mums regularly organise girls' nights out. How lovely!

I haven't been out much these days. Well, by "these days" I mean about 5 years. Since moving to Northampton and having a child, I've become rather a hermit due to circumstances such as nowhere to go, nobody to go with, and no babysitter. It looks like life is finally about to change: I love being back in a city!

So, this night-out has been planned. I'm going. Tim is staying at home with Rhiannon who is most put out that Mummy is actually going somewhere without her...

The restaurant has been booked for around 20 ladies and directions given, but apparently "it's quite hard to find unless you can read Japanese". Interesting.

But all was well. A couple of ladies I recognised were standing outside the building to direct lost gaijin.

The interior of the Toriyoshi Restaurant was exceptionally sophisticated yet somehow traditional. I was escorted through to the reserved room where most people were already seated. I was looking forward to chatting properly with some of the other mothers from Rhiannon's class. But something was amiss...

The long table was occupied mostly at one end only, at the other, empty end sat M who immediately collared me to sit with her. I couldn't refuse; besides, her true personality hadn't revealed itself to me by this stage. But I should have noticed the alignment of people, i.e. everyone else was sitting away from her... and I was effectively barred from chatting to anyone else.

However, food and drink was soon served so I metaphorically shrugged and tucked in. This was my very first taste of Japanese food! I'm embarrassed to admit that even though we've been here over two months, it's true.

The set menu had been pre-booked and the food just kept on coming and coming. Just about coping with my chopsticks, I tasted my first sashimi – and found it to be absolutely delicious, and drank various different types of sake. M told me all sorts of in-depth information about the different types of sake, but unfortunately I cannot remember a word of it.

I also had something called silken tofu, which was not delicious. I didn't like it, the taste wasn't pleasant and the texture was repulsive to me, which was just as well as I couldn't pick it up with chopsticks at all: it has the consistency of soft blancmange.

The only time the other ladies took notice of M was when a shabu-shabu arrived. Maria is apparently an expert on all things Japanese so she cooked it for us. It's basically a pot of boiling liquid on top of a burner where you cook your own food, a mix of meat, vegetables, tofu and other items. The mushrooms were more like the kind of fungi found growing on rotten trees in the UK, but tasted fine.

Then a big bowl of something odd arrived. At first glance it looked like chips, but on closer inspection was something covered in batter. It looked appetising so I grabbed some but when I bit into one I couldn't believe what I was eating! It was deep-fried tendons!! Yes, the triangular pieces of gristle from a chicken. However, the batter tasted scrumptious, so I just ate that and left the rest.

Meanwhile the sake had been substituted for champagne and even though I didn't get to know any of the other ladies it was a very good night. From what I remember...!

A Very Expensive Lunch and Singing to the Fish...

We left the Palace as quickly as possible as we were all in desperate need of toilets!

Eventually we found them at an area decorated with several water sculptures and glorified fountains, which didn’t help our predicament while queueing for the loos. After answering the call of nature we played amongst them for a while and pondered what to do next.

It was lunchtime and we needed food. Tim mentioned a nice hotel he’d stayed in on a previous visit, so we headed there.

The New Otani was certainly spectacular, but we were unfortunately too late for lunch at most of the restaurants, of which there were many. After some lengthy searching over several floors, we discovered a Chinese restaurant that was prepared to serve us and we gratefully settled down. Mum has not eaten Chinese food for years after developing an allergy to monosodium glutamate, so we were a little apprehensive, and she just chose soup.

Rhiannon surprised us immensely by being extremely proficient at using chopsticks. She’s never held them before, but she was determined not to let that beat her and persevered with great success. We were amazed and proud of her tenacity.

The resultant bill was beyond astronomical and we made a note to eat there again only on extremely special occasions. I was already planning on choosing this hotel for our first wedding anniversary celebration!

After lunch we went into the extensive and beautiful gardens. Mum and I were delighted to see lots of lovely ladies dressed in stunningly gorgeous kimono daintily stepping over the rocks that traversed the ponds.

An enormous red jasper stone stood in splendour on one side of the garden. I adore stones, so   communed with this lovely old rock for a while. Then I spotted the most bizarre bonsai or miniature garden I have ever seen. It was an upended log studded with large toadstools. Amazing!

Mum was flagging a bit by now, so we didn't explore the whole garden and resolved to visit again at Easter when she returns.

Once again, Rhiannon insisted on singing to the Koi. I have no idea where this idea of hers came from, but it is very sweet. We have to keep our distance while she performs, but my camera has a zoom lens! Of course, the fish all gather around her expecting food: but she believes it is her “magic singing” bringing them to her.

 

IT'S CHRIIIISTMAASSSSSS!!!

Our first Christmas in Tokyo started early, as can be expected with an over-excited 5 year old.

But not with the happy sounds one would normally hear. Rhiannon marched into our room at 5.30am, crying her eyes out!

Between her sobbing she cried "Santa hasn't been to see me and I have been good, mostly". 

Bless her, she was so bleary that she'd stepped right over her stocking without noticing it. So I took her back to her room to "see if Santa had hidden it" (rather amazed I was on the ball at that time in the morning...)

Cue one very happy child!

After breakfast, the doorbell rang. We'd forgotten that it was a normal working day here, and the postman was delivering. Along with a number of Christmas cards, he brought a large and heavy parcel from Tim.

How wonderful! He'd got me a breadmaker!! Now, this isn't normally something I would get happy about receiving for Christmas, and ordinarily would contribute to considering divorce proceedings. But bread here tastes horrible and costs around £3 for half a dozen slices, so it was a welcome gift.

This was a well-travelled breadmaker apparently. It was ordered from the States as the electricity here is only 100V rather than the 240V in the UK (which is why I hadn't shipped mine from there). American electrical goods work here, whereas UK machines need a huge, clumsy transformer. But I digress: the breadmaker had travelled to Jamaica (a computer operator error, I guess, as Jamaica is just above Japan on the standard list of countries), then back to Kentucky and then up the coast to Alaska where it got stuck in a snowstorm. But fortuitously arrived on Christmas Day.

Lunch was a success. Apart from the lack of Christmas pudding and the fact that the mysterious "cakes" I'd brought were completely disgusting! I think they were made from rice and contained red-bean paste. An acquired taste, that none of us will acquire any time soon.

Standard after-lunch constitutional around the gardens again, then for more exploring up the little alleyways surrounding our house. We discovered a tiny shrine not far away, which is very picturesque.

What a lovely day, wonderful gifts, lovely family and no miserable British weather. In the evening, once Rhiannon had finally been packed off to bed, we were able to relax with a good film and no boring BBC TV repeats.

Heaven!

18th December 2006 or thereabouts...

Grumpiness...

Oh, I can’t wait for school to start! Rhiannon is becoming stir crazy and driving me up the wall. She doesn’t like walking anywhere (can't say I blame her there, to be honest!); she doesn’t want to do this or that, just stay in playing PC games, watching TV or worse, playing Barbies’! Of course, with Mum here, I am obliged to show her the sights, and, with Tim at work, this means my whinging daughter has to come too. Counting the days to the start of the school term in January...

In emails to friends, my words were “She is being a right royal pain in the ass”, so, even though I cannot remember exactly what she was doing, she was obviously being rather annoying.

I can’t even escape to the PC in the evenings as Tim’s on there all night while I entertain Mum until she finally goes to bed at midnight. Whatever happened to her jetlag?

Still, Mum’s been wonderful – her stamina is as incredible as usual and I end up totally exhausted after traipsing around showing her the few places we've  discovered so far. We went to Tokyo Hands a couple of times, where Mum was in her element with all the craft stuff. I also bought a few more Christmas decorations to show willing: I'm a bit "Bah, Humbug!" about Christmas.

And she kindly bought me a whole load of houseplants so I'm finally beginning to feel that this house is home now. Getting them back was interesting on the Metro and we had to have one large tree delivered. I’m still not entirely sure how I managed to do that with no Japanese language skills at all. But sure enough, it arrived later that day - how wonderful!

At this point I still had no idea what we are going to have for Christmas dinner! None of us fancied the epic trek to Nissin, and the local supermarket doesn’t stock any meat larger than a chicken leg.

Then, a revelation! On one of our exploratory trips around Shibuya, we discovered that the department stores have food halls in their basements! Usually running over 2 floors, with one floor housing a supermarket while the other has all kinds of unusual and tasty looking ready meals.

The supermarket we found was like Harrods Food Hall on steroids. It had the most amazing items on sale and we managed to find, of all things, Marmite!

Meat is still extremely expensive but we did find a nice big chicken, so that’s what we will be having for Christmas Day. It was the only recognisable and affordable thing. Half a kilo of stewing steak was £20... so I'd better make sure I make THE most fabulous stew! Luckily we don't like turkey, anyway.

 

We spent more time gazing at the unusual foods on display than actual shopping. Some of the fish was incredible and the veggies totally mindblowing in their unusualness. And as for the mushrooms... well, they look like the things Mum always said not to eat in her garden because they're poisonous.

 

 

A giant fish-head gazing up at us through its dead eyes made us jump. I guess it was a tuna but the size just blew me away – easily the size of two human adult heads. There was also a slice of fish that cost approximately £500 for something the size of a lamb chop. Again, I have no idea what it was, but the price was seriously impressive.

Also incredible were the number and size of “gift fruit” – melons the size of footballs selling for £100. Apples twice the size of the ones we’re used to in Britain for £10 each and luscious peaches of similar proportions and prices. Each were lovingly wrapped and presented.

We bought the “ordinary” ones.

Sadly we were unable to find a Christmas Pudding, so we will forgo that tradition this year, and instead buy a typically Japanese Christmas Cake instead. A beautiful (yet very un-Christmassy) confection of cream, sponge and strawberries.

 

We've also got blue crisps (!) and something completely unknown as an experiment. I don't know whether it's sweet or savoury so that should be fun. They are little pink cakey looking items, tastefully decorated.

I feel slightly more relaxed now that I know what we are going to eat for our first Christmas dinner in Japan.

 

An International Supermarket!

It's amazing how something so mundane can become exciting and adventurous!

Some friends took us to an international supermarket called Nissin where we are assured we will be able to get all kinds of necessary groceries. Hooray!!

However, this involved numerous and complex changes on the Metro and a lot of walking. Not very practical.

The first floor is a general supermarket, and the top floor is just full to the brim with alcohol: I have never seen so many bottles of booze in one place - not even at the parties I used to attend in my 'youth'!

We managed to buy some recognisable items, including some small joints of meat and cereals, so we are now set for the next week or so. I have to pretend to mum that we eat properly, of course!

But the struggle to carry all the shopping bags home was totally exhausting, so I can't see us doing that very often. We literally walked miles.

Last Week of November – roughly!

Tim has gone away on business and our luggage still hasn’t arrived! We know that it reached Japan on 31^st October, so it’s just being held up in customs.

What is slightly worrying is that I am beginning to like not having loads of stuff around and, although I do miss my books, I could easily live in this minimalist way. For those of you who actually know me, you will find this extremely hard to believe. Rest assured, I am back to my normal, cluttered self!

Rhiannon has been playing computer games (educational, of course!) and hasn’t missed TV at all. But she is anxious about her toys, "I hope nobody plays with my toys before they get delivered to me", she frets.

She hasn’t got a place in school until the new term starts in January so we are able to spend some time together exploring and so on. It’s hard to know where to go when we don’t actually have anyone who can show us. Tim is busy settling into work and we don’t know any other families with children.

Rhiannon’s school in the UK kindly gave us some workbooks so my intention was to do some home tuition in the meantime. So we have been playing “schools”, but she doesn’t understand quite grasp the intention and wants to be the teacher while I play the child.

Instead, we spend a lot of time searching for food. Me = hunter-gatherer!

The supermarket is within walking distance, but not quite close enough to make it easy to carry enough shopping for more than a couple of days. But Rhiannon and I do enjoy looking at the wares even if we have no idea what they are or how to eat them.  I'm sure I've seen krill in packets and some small white worms, with eyes! These are the same things we have found in the cat food… Oddly, none of the cat food contains meat – just fish. I was under the impression that cats HAD to have meat. Anyway, Inti and Raymi aren’t too impressed, but they’ll eat when they are hungry enough.

We have also found "Asparagus Biscuits", hmmm, and various green items that appear to be green tea flavoured. Not very appetising.

No 'real' meat (that's affordable) and many things that look like bits of an animal us Westerners just don't recognise anymore. And as for the mushrooms! My word, I never knew there were so many edible types. I am sure some of them are the things my mother said never to touch!

All the food we like is expensive; for example, a loaf of sliced bread (the only type available) costs about £3 for 8 slices! So I have ordered a breadmaker from the States. I couldn't bring any electronic goods with me as the voltage here is just 100V so nothing would work without a transformer. Also saw a slice of fish, about the size of a small beef steak. It was the equivalent of £75! Wow!!

I've even taken to haunting expat food websites and for a while I was actually believing it might be nice to spend £60 to have some teabags sent to me!

Even though there are lots of Christmas lights up and trees twinkling with fairy lights everywhere, Christmas isn't celebrated here and the day itself is a normal working day. Piped Christmas Carols entertain us in the stores but they are 'poppy' rather than choral.

One of our frequent expeditions is to find Christmas decorations and general bits and pieces. I was terribly organised and sent my cards before we left the UK and also bought Rhiannon's gifts - which haven't arrived yet... But we need a tree and some extra decorations.

We've also been doing a lot of walking. I cannot believe just how many stairs there are in the Metro stations and some of the distances to walk between changes are incredible. The Japanese must be very fit. I am just exhausted.

A lot of this is to do with getting very lost most of the time, but we always get home eventually.

 

Our First (Very) Full Day

The following day was a Public Holiday so some friends could take us sightseeing. They showed us how to use the Metro and we quickly got the hang of getting around, but the stations themselves are challenging. Finding the right exit was initially done by trial and error - usually error - but luckily we discovered the many maps with "you are here" written in English. Also gratifying was the way that many people took pity on these poor gaijin looking lost and many times we were approached with offers of help.

Having lived in London for many years, I am used to the crowds and navigating underground railways, but Tim and Rhiannon were wide-eyed at it all. We find the Metro incredibly cheap, immaculately clean and exceptionally efficient. The large pot plants that adorn the stations amaze and cheer us, and our most used phrase about nearly all aspects of Tokyo is, "can you imagine this in the UK?!" The plants would be stolen and / or vandalised within minutes.

Despite spending her entire life deep in the suburbs of an East Midlands town, Rhiannon seems to be a natural city-girl and experienced no qualms about the crowds or the Metro, which was advantageous because our first excursion was to Shibuya; what a baptism of fire! The busiest place in Tokyo on a normal day: on a Public Holiday it was incredible. Hachiko crossing was a sea of people ambling across at less than normal walking speed.

As a blue-eyed blondie, Rhiannon gets masses of attention when we are out and about. We hear "kawaii!" (cute!) a lot and someone even told her she looked like "a doll"! She was not amused. Initially, she became cross and embarrassed about it all but soon started to enjoy the interest with a shy smile.

Our next excursion was to Asakusa, which gave us a taste of a slightly more traditional Japan, with its rows of wooden stalls leading to the Sensoji Temple. Again it was incredibly busy so we didn't stay long - just enough time to get a taste for the area and to see the famous Philippe Starck Asahi Brewery building with its golden 'flame', or 'golden poo', as it was soon christened... The building to the left represents a glass of golden beer with a foaming head.

On the way home we made our first foray to our local supermarket. We have been blessed with a nearby Marusho and didn't discover the expat essentials of Costco and Nissin for several weeks. Rhiannon expressed a desire for fish-fingers and baked beans, bless her! The look on her face was an absolute picture when she saw the extensive fish displays in Marusho. Fish fingers were quickly forgotten and she decided she wanted an octopus and some of the "pretty jewels" (glistening red salmon eggs). I had to refuse as I have no idea how to deal with an octopus and we finally settled on chicken and vegetables for the time being.

I decided to buy something unfamiliar on each shopping trip, but this hasn't been successful. The baps I bought were filled with azuki - red bean paste, which was a surprise, and not a taste we are accustomed to. Rhiannon chose something she thought were packets of sherbet that turned out to be furikake, a mix of seaweed and seeds. Surprisingly, she didn't like it - such English tastes will soon change, I'm sure.