April 2014

April 30, 2014

Went for my first run in a week. It’s hard to judge when to start back after a cold, but I’m impatient to get going again after our holiday. Ran for thirty minutes at a slow, steady pace and felt okay throughout. I carried water in case of a coughing spell, but didn’t need it…I had the house to myself for a whole day, something that hasn’t happened in ages. Adam was out at his workspace in King’s Cross, Nova goes straight to a drama class after school on Wednesdays, and it was Lyra’s week to go home with Alex.

Revelled in the quiet and relative freedom, although much of the time was eaten up with household stuff. I did spend a couple of hours in the garden, enjoying the unexpectedly warm afternoon. They’re predicting a shift in wind to bring cool weather from the north, but it seems to be late in arriving.

Carrot lovage soup and swiss chard crostini for dinner, making use of garden produce…

April 29, 2014

Went for a coffee with Katie after drop off. She and Howard have decided to sell up and move to Scotland, which is sad news for us. They are such nice people, and little Greta is one of Lyra’s special friends… Sigh…I’d only been home a few minutes, when Anne’s carer came by wanting me to let her into their place. Anne was home on her own, but unable to work the intercom. I went in with her, and had a visit. John had gone to the doctors, and with the tube strike, Joyce was delayed in getting to work.

I don’t like the idea of Anne being left on her own. Even just trying to answer the door resulted in some chaos — phone off the hook and beeping loudly, intercom dangling from the wall, chair knocked over, stair lift alarm ringing… It’s a wonder she didn’t have a fall…

Made my first ever rice pudding. We have a lot of milk to use up, and I was prompted by this dreadful rice pudding we saw on MasterChef the other night — it had set so hard, you could turn the dish upside down. Added some bay, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg to the milk — it was deemed a success by all the family…

April 28, 2014

Carolyn off this morning. Always feel a bit sad to see her go. She can be a bit gruff, but her heart is in the right place, and she’s been amazingly generous to us…That said, I did feel more relaxed now that the house was our own again. Not for long… I’d arranged to have the carpets and furniture steamcleaned, which required a full-on advance hoovering, plus a lot of furniture shifting and lifting in preparation. A bit of a hassle, but they came up really nicely.

Adam and Lyra headed off to an Arsenal match at dinner time. They are meeting Dan and Alex, and Gerald and Alice for dad-daughter evening at the football. Exciting… I had a quiet evening in with Nova. Risi e bisi and a cold glass of dry white wine (for me!) for dinner. Definitely feeling better, but that flurry of housework had tuckered me out.

Watched a couple of episodes of Master Chef, followed by Crimewatch, where they re-enact crimes and appeal for witnesses to come forth. “I had no idea this kind of thing went on in London,” Nova remarked, to my surprise. On the one hand, I’m glad we live in such a quiet and safe part of the city that crime hasn’t intruded at all into her consciousness. On the other, she’s increasingly travelling about London on her own, and while I don’t want her feeling intimidated, I do want her to be aware of the potential risks…

April 27, 2014

Went for Sunday lunch at Nick and Jane’s. It’s been too long since we’ve seen them. Jane had her first book published — a children’s novel called The Executioner’s Daughter. Both Nova and I read and really enjoyed it.Frea and Lyra shy at first, but soon were playing together like old mates. Their birthdays are nine months apart — in fact, Frea is born on June 13, so is one day younger than Isobel. They are the second family I’ve known whose birthdays are weirdly in sync with my family — dad and Frea on 13 June, Nick and I on 18 September, Jane on 22 Oct and mum on the 21st…

Lovely food and a bit of white wine. Kept things modest, befitting a Sunday mid-afternoon meal. I was sad to hear the news that our friends Pete and Liana have separated. Their relationship really struggled from the time they emigrated to New Zealand, but it feels like something that should never have happened…

Took the kids for a run round Haggerston Park afterwards, where I caught a bit of a chill sitting and watching them play. By the time we got home, I was shivery and headachy, and took to my bed for a bit.

None of us fancied dinner — it was a crackers and cheese kind of evening…

April 26, 2014

I think the cold may have peaked in terms of how sick I feel. Now it’s mainly a matter of coughing…Adam and Lyra made muffins and smoothies for breakfast, and we invited Carolyn up to join us. The smoothie, was particularly delicious — yogurt, banana, raspberries and cranberry juice.

Adam took the kids down to Doron and Antonia’s for the afternoon. I did some housework and put in a couple of good hours in the garden, which was satisfying. Even though I’m still not feeling great, I get incredibly frustrated at just moping about…

Took Carolyn out to dinner at Kiplings, which was busier than I’ve ever seen it. I’ve wondered for years how they could stay in business with so little custom, and hoped the takeaway business was booming at least. We had a mix of our standbys — rogan jhosh, samosas, naan bread, saag aloo — and a few new things, like Goan fish curry, cabbage chotti and grilled paneer. All pretty tasty. The kitchen waxes and wanes there, but seems to be in a good phase…

April 25, 2014

Woke up feeling terrible… That wretched cold really has a grip. My head is pounding and packed with phlegm, my throat hurts, my eyes burn, and I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck…Managed to bake the bread, which had been rising overnight in the fridge. It had gone a little flabby and oozed into wide flat discs when released from the bannetons, but it baked properly and has a lovely taste.

Though I couldn’t have felt less like it, we’d agreed to help Pete move some sofas around. This was a three stage process. First, we had to shift their unwieldy old moth eaten sofa out of the diningroom, down the garden and hoist it over the high fence onto the footpath.

The last bit was the trickiest. We eventually got it poised on the rickety fence, then after checking the coast was clear, gave it a good shove to launch it over. The damn thing landed with a crash, then started rolling noisily down the steep slope. Fortunately it snagged on something, otherwise it would have totalled the car parked at the bottom…

We hoisted the nasty thing onto the roof rack of Pete’s car, and returned the house for stage two. This involved lowering a heavy leather sofa out the livingroom window to the patio below and back into the diningroom window.

Sofa #1 ready for the tip

We managed to get it poised on its tipping point, and then attempted to maneuvre it to the ground. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow the sofa slipped and plunged to the left, striking my arm a glancing blow before hitting Adam on the head, bending his neck backwards. He fell to the ground, crying “My neck! My neck!”

I couldn’t see him behind the sofa, which was now resting precariously on the patio table, but after a few anxious moments he stood up and claimed to be okay. Shoving the damn thing through the lower window was child’s play after that, and we went home for some lunch.

Nick turned up to help with stage three — hoisting the enormous, plastic-wrapped, and now wet, new couch over the fence into the garden from where it had been left on the path. It was better with four people, though some well meaning “help from a couple of the old dears in the street increased the danger level at one point. Staggered up the slippery wet path with the thing and eventually managed to heave/drag it through the upstairs window… Phew!

Lyra’s school had an exhibition of all the holiday homework projects in the infants’ hall. She’d done a lovely collage of different areas she’d like to explore, including deserts, jungles, outer space, Japan, and minion beach. When we got to the Year Two section, her poster wasn’t on the wall. It was included on a table of models and scrolls, still all rolled up.

She was pretty upset, but equally alarmed when Adam and I identified a blank bit of wall and started scavenging for blue tack to hang it with. “You’re not allowed! No one can touch the projects!” she yelped.

Back home, I crawled into bed and slept for a couple of hours. Adam made a batch of celeriac soup to go with the fresh bread for dinner. We had tickets to a circus performance at Jackson’s Lane with Carolyn. I wasn’t overly keen, but it was really good. It was called Strike, and explored the office environment through acrobatics and trapeze.

April 24, 2014

I’m coming down with a cold…:-( It feels like my soft palette has been charbroiled. It’s hot, hard, swollen and aches when I poke it with my tongue. I have next to no energy for things which is frustrating, as there’s plenty to do…I did manage to get a batch of bread underway. My starter quite sullen, but I’m hopeful I can revive it.

I invited Carolyn for join us for dinner, which was to be soup and bread — or if the bread wasn’t ready, banh mi sandwiches. Ended up having the banh mi, which were nice, not that I can taste anything properly. Haven’t had those for a while…

April 23, 2014

Had a broken night’s sleep, waking at 2:30 then again at 4:30. Didn’t manage to get to sleep after that, and ended up reading a few chapters of my Murakami novel, 1Q84. I’ve been making a dedicated effort on it, and have just finished the first book. It’s a real tome, but gripping too…Both girls we up early as well. Lyra was fully dressed and ready to go by about 6:30am and Nova had lots of time to fuss with her make-up and hair before it was time to leave. Which was why I was surprised when the school called to report that she’d missed registration and hadn’t signed the late book either. Naturally, I called to follow up. The registration officer got quite shirty with me about confirming that she’d arrived safely, but eventually agreed to check she was in class.

Went for a short run after dropping Lyra off. I didn’t have much energy for it, but I wanted to re-establish the habit. I’ve got the tickly beginnings of a sore throat as well — hope that doesn’t develop any further…:-(

Alex round for dinner after school, then the usual double swimming routine. It was after 9pm when we sat down with Carolyn to crack the lovely bottle of duty-free whisky she brought. That should help with the sleeping problems…;-)

April 22, 2014

Woke at 2:30am but managed to get back to sleep again within half an hour, then slept through until the alarm went off at 6:30am. Nova was already up and showering for the third time to wash out the remaining nit lotion that was making her hair look greasy.Despite the minimal food stocks, I was able to put together a bento for Lyra’s lunch. Weaning her off her Japanese diet gradually… I’ve noticed that I don’t tire of eating Japanese food. There’s enough variety and a sufficient range of flavours to keep me interested.

I suppose if I had to quibble, we didn’t come across a lot of fresh fruit in the two weeks we were there, but I could have remedied that enough with a trip to a grocery store. I do remember imported fruit being incredibly expensive when we lived there — $50 melons, and that sort of thing — which meant we mainly ate satsumas and persimmons.

Felt surprisingly well for most of the day — pretty much normal in fact — but hit a bit of an energy slump after dinner. Got the homework and bedtime routine out of the way then settled down to watch the finale of True Detective, which I taped while were away. Gripping stuff, largely watched with my fingers half covering my eyes. Don’t really know why I do that, but it seems to reduce the tension a little bit…;-)

April 21, 2014

Our wake-up call came at 5:45am… Fortunately, I’m feeling a lot better than yesterday — I hate flying when I feel sick, it’s bad enough at full strength…We’d barely unpacked, so it was no trouble being in the lobby at 6:30 to meet our taxi. Fifteen minute drive to the airport, right along the edge of our old neighbourhood. There were actually signs pointing to Anamori Inari, where our house was.

I can see how much the area has changed — after all, it’s just a stone’s throw from Haneda, which has been totally transformed into an international airport. I’m disappointed we didn’t get a chance to visit the old neighbourhood, but it would have been sad as well. I sort of lost my impetus after Masao told us the house had been knocked down ten years ago.

Ate our last weird pastry and did some duty free shopping — an expensive bottle of sake, a few more bits and pieces, some snacks for the plane (after the starvation rations on the way out).

No window seats this time, as a result of checking in so late. We had two pairs of aisle/middle seats, which is better in some ways — easier to get the girls out for toilet visits.

I prefer flying west. A prolonged day is easier to go with than a fake night. I watched five movies, ate and drank what I was given, and hung out with Lyra, who Nova had refused to sit with. I watched:

• Enough Said (poor James Gandolfini)
• Le Weekend (very annoying aging British couple in Paris)
• Inside Llewyn Davis (Coen brothers, excellent)
• Out of the Furnace (Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson, but still crap)
• Nebraska (Wade and Ed need to see this one)

British weather made for a bumpy descent, but customs was smooth, and we hooked straight up with our taxi. Carolyn was in the house when we got back — she’s been in London for about a week now. Had a brief visit, then tackled the unpacking and laundry. Unfortunately there’s not much drying space — it’s too damp to consider putting laundry outside. It’ll be days before I’m on top of it…:-(

Dinner was a slice of bread and cheese with a cup of tea in front of MasterChef. We were all feeling pretty wiped out by this point. The girls gave up half way through, while Adam and I managed to soldier through nearly to the end before falling asleep on the sofa…

April 20, 2014

Our last day in Japan…:-( While it feels like a short holiday, we’ve managed to pack a lot in. Pasc’s friend finally called while we were packing our bags. He and his wife were away the last few days, so wouldn’t have been able to see them in any case.We gave the gift we’d brought for them to the Okamuras instead, which set off an enthusiastic and prolonged bowing session. The old gal apologised yet again for booting us out of the bath, said something to Miyako-san I imagine was along the lines of “I can’t believe we had to kick these fine people out of the bath for that rude bunch…”

Miyako-san walked us to the station. Lots of hugging and promises to return to the Karatachi if we ever find ourselves in Kyoto again. Hung out at Kyoto station for a while, drinking Mister Coffee and eating cronuts — which are all the rage in NY apparently.

Kyoto Station is quite the building. I rode the nine-storey outdoor escalator to roof terrace, which had impressive views over the city. Halfway down, there was a stage on which a Japanese girl group was chirping and bopping away. They seemed to be taping Kyoto Pop Idol from what I could tell…

It’s Easter Sunday, and I managed to pick up some chocolates (Godiva!) for the girls before we boarded the shinkansen back to Tokyo. I presented them on the train, where they were promptly demolished after the ekibens.

One last delicious ekiben for £5

And what the same £5 would buy you at a British train station

We’d planned to leave our bags in a luggage locker for a few hours while we visited the Studio Ghibli museum, but when we got down there all the lockers had been sealed as a security measure before Obama’s visit next week. Fortunately, they were still accepting bags at the left luggage counter today…

Unencumbered at last, we hopped on the Chuo line and rode out to the suburb where the Ghibli Museum is located. It was a lovely 1km walk from the station, carefully signposted with little totoros every 20m or so.

We’d bought tickets for 4pm, but when we presented them to the ticket lady, she sucked in her breath and indicated that we should follow her. With a sense of foreboding, we trailed behind her to a little side booth, where she located an English-speaking colleague.

This woman explained that we had actually bought tickets for the Fujiko F Fujio museum in Kawasaki. She then questioned us about whether we’d tried to buy tickets in the UK (we had), how long ago (six weeks), and our ticket-buying efforts in Japan. Convinced by our sincerity and Lyra’s stricken face, she allowed us to buy some special reserve day tickets. (Given how difficult it is to get tickets to this place, buying those wrong tickets was probably the only way we would have seen the inside of this place…)

The museum itself was pretty cool — a history of animation and a fascinating recreation of the creative process and sources of inspiration. It reminded me a bit of Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence in Istanbul.

Caught the train back to Tokyo station, grabbed our bags and headed down to our hotel in Kamata. The original plan was to spend the afternoon in our old neighbourhood, Anamori Inari, but it was dark by this point and it didn’t seem worth the trouble.

Once we checked into our no-frills, airport hotel, we headed out for something to eat. Ended up at the Hama Sushi, a no-frills conveyor belt sushi chain. It took us a while to get the hang of it, and ended up committing a few faux pas while we were learning — like eating other peoples’ special orders that were being conveyed to their table, while ignoring our own — but it was good fun, and very good value. A nice end to our holiday…

April 19, 2014

Happy anniversary, mum and dad…
It’s our final day in Kyoto day… Today’s recovered Japanese word was samui, as in “Samui, desu ne, Miyako-san? when ventured outside in our dresses. I hope we don’t regret that decision…Found the best coffee shop so far, right next to the big Inari shrine. It had a small collection of English books on Kyoto, which I thumbed through as we ate. Maybe I shouldn’t have — there is so many things I want to do here, and we haven’t even scratched the surface…

Started the day at Kiyumizadera, which has a wonderful viewing platform that overlooks the city. Unfortunately, it was covered in scaffolding, so we didn’t linger. Wandered back down the hill along the little shopping streets buying bits and pieces and tasting sweets. The pickle on a stick vendor was my fave find…

There were a number of maiko out walking the streets — we saw three pairs of them on a relatively short walk, and saw a few the other night as well. It’s a long way from the sort of thing we’ve read in various guides: “To behold a geisha or maiko in Gion, as they make their way to work, is a very special sight indeed.“

Thanks to a wrong turn, we ended up visiting the Ryozen Kannon temple, which is a WW2 memorial dedicated to those killed on both sides of the conflict. Built in 1955, it has a very different feel to the ancient temples we’ve seen, but I’m glad we visited it.

Eventually found the Engakuin gardens we’d been aiming for, which were lovely. Stopped for lunch after that, but didn’t take enough care with our choice. The old gal running the place had obvious miked my grilled eel, and not very competently either. It was the only meh meal we’ve had the whole trip…

Wandered through Maruyama Park — where a few groups of merrymakers were squeezing the absolute last drops out of the hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, season — then on to Yasaka shrine. As always, it’s striking how some temples and shrines seem so much a part of contemporary Japan. These didn’t appear to be tourists, but regular Japanese people who were finding time to make offerings, ring bells, and tie fortunes in the middle of their daily lives.

Caught a bus up to Ginkaku-ji, or the silver pavilion, which is an understated counterpoint to to glittering Kinkakuji. Unlike Yasaka Shrine, this was very much a tourist destination, and we shuffled round in a long snake, dutifully viewing the gardens and snapping photos at the marked viewpoints.

After a warming cup of amesake (a traditional Japanese drink made from fermented rice), we took a stroll down the Philosophers walk. The weather had turned cold, and we were feeling the chill in our dresses. I opportunistically bought a scarf, which helped a bit. (Note to self, add scarf/shawl to the master packing list.)

By the time we got back to the ryokan, no one felt like venturing far afield for dinner. So it was back to the Oachu again, where we were treated like honoured guests. and given four prime seats in the centre of the bar.

On Adam’s right was a guy our age who turned out to be a friend of the owner. Apparently, he’d helped design the interior of the restaurant, and had a certain proprietary attitude towards the place. Before long, he was advising us what to order, and sharing his delicacies with us. I urged Adam to buy him a drink, which set off a spate of counter ordering. At one point, the owner sent over a round of sake as well, which suited us just fine…;-)

They also prepared us a chawanmushi, or savoury custard, which is something I adore. Our new friend then insisted we try ika no shiokara — chopped raw squid dressed with its own stomach contents. This absolutely had to be drunk with a particular type of sake. The dish was very strongly flavoured — tasty, but almost overpowering, the way some cheeses can be. I think he was a tiny bit disappointed that we ate it with every appearance of enjoyment.. “Even many Japanese people don’t like this dish,” he admitted…

At the other end of our group, Nova was politely conversing with Professor Ueno and his sidekick Ken. They were keen to join the party as well, and twice sent us special dishes — a thick Japanese omelette (delicious) and a dish of sukiyaki, after which I changed seats with Nova to thank him personally. He was very impressed with Nova, and said he’d never known a Japanese girl to express her opinions so confidently.

It turned out the good professor taught particle physics in Chicago for three years, where he picked up his conversational English. Now retired, he was working as a consultant to Mitsubishi. His connection to Ken — a low-level Mitsubishi employee was unclear. When I asked him how they had become friends, he confessed it was because Ken “can understand my soul”…

I was fully expecting a hefty bill at the end of such a great evening. However, when we finally tore ourselves away, Adam’s buddy insisted the owner give us the “special price”, and in fact, the total was the least we’d spent on our three visits.

I think it was a smart move to keep returning to the Uochu, rather than going for novelty. Developing a relationship with one restaurant made for a special experience we wouldn’t have otherwise had…

Back at the ryokan, we started the bath rotation. Lyra first, then Nova and then me. I’d just showered off and joined Nova for a soak, when the door slid open. I thought it would be Adam coming to shower, but it was the old gal. With eyes averted, she said that we had to get out now as another family had a small child they wanted to bathe before bed. In fact, it was a family we’d seen eating at the Uochu. They arrived after us, and left much earlier, not interacting with any of the Japanese customers. Not sure why they didn’t managed to get their bathing out of the way before we got home, but no point in making a big deal about it…

April 18, 2014

It rained in the night — the first rain we’ve had all the time we’ve been in Japan… Unlike our previous ryokan, there is minimal food on offer at the Okamura’s. Each afternoon, Miyako-san brings us a pot of green tea and four biscuits. And in the morning, she appears with four miniature yogurts when she hears us moving about.This means that when we finally manage to mobilise the girls, curtail Nova’s lengthy grooming rituals, pack our day bag, and extract ourselves from the protracted pantomime of miscommunication and bowing on the doorstep, we move about 50 yards then plunk ourselves down in a coffee shop for breakfast.

Today’s choice was a weird little place that offered up a baffling matrix of breakfast sets, prepared and served very slowly by a wacky little Japanese lady. I just wanted to be on the move, but the family was content to wait for weird pancakes, boiled eggs on cheese toast, and whatever else the old gal had concocted to appeal to Western tourists.

Eventually made it to the train station and caught a train to Nara, a 45 minute journey. Nara was the first capital of Japan, and like Kyoto, it has an abundance of ancient temples and gardens. Much smaller than Kyoto, it’s possible to see most of the sights on foot in a day, which is what we did.

From the train station we headed to the Kofukuji temple, with its five-story pagoda and ancient wooden buddha carving. We let the girls wander off on their own, which allowed us to enjoy the temple at a more leisurely pace.

Our next stop was the Yoshikien garden. We were tempted in by a small sign informing us that admission was free for foreigners. Very glad that we were — it was a lovely, tranquil space, with a beautiful tea house, a moss garden and a delightful network of winding paths.

Nara is famous for the wild deer that roam throughout the city. There are lots of vendors selling deer food, and numerous signs warning people that the deer can be pretty fiesty, especially if they think you might have deer wafers on your person:

Lyra has been at me all day to tell her whether it’s me who leaves the money when she loses a tooth. After hours of prevaricating, failing to change the subject and “Mummy, tell the truth!” and “I really don’t mind whatever you say, I just want to know”, I finally came clean. Lyra… was… devastated… “I know I said I wanted you to tell me,” she sobbed, “but I didn’t know how much it would hurt!” My poor little baby…

We trudged glumly round Todaiji, barely glancing at Nara’s answer to the Daibutsu. I faced a new barrage of questions about notes, what really happened to the teeth, how old Nova was when she found out, etc. I was braced for the obvious connection to the man in red, but it never came.

Over our lunch of noodles, she was already constructing a fragile structure to support her overwhelming desire to continue to believe. Because parents no longer believe in the tooth fairy themselves, they take their children’s teeth and leave money before the fairy has a chance to come… “I guess it’s a possibility,” I allowed…

Our final stop was the Kasuga Taisha shrine, which is famous for its lanterns. Hundreds of mossy old stone lanterns lined the path to the shrine, and the inner courtyard was hung with hundreds more intricately wrought bronze lanterns. They are lit only twice a year during lantern festivals, but there was a darkened room with a few lit lanterns to give you an idea of what they would look like:

We were all “templed out” by this point. As it was a couple of miles’ walk back to the station and the girls were flagging, we stopped for a cup of tea in what turned out to be a very high end tea shop. A beautiful young man in traditional dress slowly and deliberately produced four bowls of macha for us. It was a pleasure to watch his graceful, efficient movements as he warmed the bowls and whisked the tea before gliding across the room to present them solemnly to us, one bowl at a time.

Once the ceremony of tea making was over, he got out his little translation device, and quizzed us about England. He turned out to be something of a football fan, and told us how he saw Michael Owen and David Beckham in a cafe when Japan hosted the World Cup.

Back in Kyoto, we received a warm greeting we we slid open the door at our local restaurant. Unfortunately, the train ride had left Lyra feeling queasy, and she headed straight to the toilet. She barely touched her meal, and complained of feeling sick and headachy.

Adam took Lyra back to the ryokan while Nova and I finished our meal. I got chatting with the staff, using our Hello Kitty guide to Japan to supplement my vocabulary. They were very interested to learn that I’d lived in Yokohama twenty years ago, and had lots of questions, some of which I was able to understand and answer.

It’s interesting the way bits of Japanese vocabulary are slowly reappearing. I keep picturing the way bubbles slowly rise to the surface in my sourdough starter. Mamonaku, warui, atarashii, eigo no sensei deshita, tomodachi have all surfaced in the past few days…

We’re all sleeping in one room tonight to accommodate extra guests. We can’t remember whether we’re paying two rooms and are therefore being shortchanged, or paid for one room and have generously been given two — so we’ve decided not to worry about it. Miyako-san had left little gifts to acknowledge the inconvenience, so it’s likely the former…

She also very kindly drove Adam to the laundromat while we waited our turn for a bath. It got too late for Lyra, but the rest of us had a nice soak before bed…

April 17, 2014

Being back in Japan is stirring up such a mix of memories and emotions. It feels as if I’ve been transported bodily into my past and am encountering places, objects and feelings that I’ve tucked away for the last twenty-five years. It all feels remarkably vivid — maybe because things haven’t been eroded or transformed through regular handling over time. I’ve been writing postcards to several old friends who are on my mind — in a couple of cases, people I haven’t corresponded with in ages…Pascale gave us the address of an old family friend to look up in Kyoto. He was an astronomer who boarded with the family in Manchester as a student, who she visited him once in Japan as a teenager. When the phone number didn’t work, we managed to convey the situation to the old gal, who helped us find a new number. Left a message…

Caught a city bus to the northwest of Kyoto to visit Kinkakuji, the Golden Temple. The bus was packed to the gills and crawled along through the centre of town. Not ideal, but it looked like the best way to get there. Kinkakuji was packed with people, but it’s impossible to detract from its beauty.

After admiring the temple and the reflection of its gold leaf coated walls from various angles, we continued through the complex to the teahouse, where we stopped for a bowl of macha and a cake. These were no doubt meant to be sipped and nibbled contemplatively, but my three polished theirs off in a six decisive mouthfuls between them…

We caught the bus a few more stops to Ryoanji, with its famous Zen rock garden. Bungled our way gracelessly through the whole shoe/slipper pantomime. Nova seems particularly inept — it doesn’t help that she has lace-up shoes, but her “yeah, whatever…” attitude is a factor too…

Seeing that garden again felt like meeting an old friend, and finding them essentially unchanged. I remembered sitting there on more than one occasion, and although it seems unlikely, in my memory I had the place to myself. Of course, the girls prevent me from ever concentrating fully on anything. They are either chatting, or wandering off, or wanting to buy something, or fighting, or needing the loo…

Or hungry… The restaurant options were pretty limited, but we eventually found a tofu restaurant that worked for everybody. The girls had bowls of noodles, while Adam and I went for the lunch set.

Bought green tea ice cream cones afterwards, and walked to the next temple on our itinerary. Ninnaji is well off the tourist map, at least as far as non-Japanese tourists are concerned. At this time of year, the main draw is the funny little stunted cherry trees, which are relatively late blooming. Crowds of Japanese people oohing and aahing and photographing individual blossoms…

The temple itself had a beautiful wooden pagoda, and an interesting shrine whose diety is worshipped by using ladles with extra long handles to collect spring water from beneath the statue and annointing it. Lyra was all over that action…

The girls were “templed-out” as they call it, by this point. Caught another bus back to the centre of town. Lyra befriended an elderly Japanese couple, and passed the time singing versions of “Happy birthday” with them.

Spent an hour or so roaming round Gion, the historic entertainment district where geisha still entertain rich men in the remaining traditional teahouses.

This evening we ate dinner at an okinomiyaki place in Pontocho, another entertainment district that runs along the bank of the Kamogawa river. Okinomiyaki is sometimes described as Japanese pizza, but it is more accurately a savoury pancake. The name means “grilled as you like it”, and toppings and batters vary from region to region. We went for pork and cabbage, with bonito shavings, seaweed, worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise on top. With glasses of ice-cold draft Asahi to wash it down, it made a pretty excellent dinner.

Caught the private train line that stops right outside our ryokan back to Fushimi Inari. We can hear it running half the night, but the convenience is hard to beat…

April 16, 2014

That cheeky little Lyra burrowed into my futon in the night — her crazy curls tickling my nose woke me up. Slipped out of bed and made a good start on our packing. Those bags just get fuller and fuller…

Another Japanese breakfast… We sat down to what looked like a reasonable amount of food, until she started adding stuff — ended up with a nice little piece of grilled mackerel, rice, miso soup, pickles, a salad, tomato juice, simmered tofu…

Caught the shuttle bus back to the train station and took the train south to Nagoya. We had nearly an hour to transfer trains, buy our ekibens etc. It was a short leg into Kyoto, then a little commuter train a couple of stops to the neighbourhood where we are staying, just south of the centre of town.

Called the ryokan to say we’d arrived. Rather than attempting to give us directions, the mamma-san just headed over and met us at the station. Miyako-san is a cheery woman with about two words of English. She appears to live with her mother — a sweet baby Jane type character, with quite startling make-up. She speaks a bit more English, but seems pretty eccentric, so not much use on the communication front.

The Karatachi ryokan is pretty basic, with five rooms in total, a communal toilet and shared bath. It’s right next to a train line as well — we’ll see what that’s like this evening. Still, everything is spotlessly clean, and having two rooms makes a pleasant change. Miyako-san served us green tea and a biscuit, after which we headed out to visit to the local shrine, Fushimi Inari.

What an amazing place! According to Mikyako-san, it’s only been on the tourist map for the last ten years, which explains why I didn’t visit it on my previous trips to Kyoto. It’s the head shrine of Inari, the patron of rice and business.

The shrine stands at the base of Mt Inari, and behind the main building, a tunnel of thousands of closely packed torii gates that stretches for 4km to the top. These have mostly been donated by businesses looking for fortune to shine on them, or giving thanks for success.

We hiked half an hour or so to the first viewpoint, then head back down and home for a bath. There appeared to be lots of restaurants by the station, but when we ventured out again at 8pm, pretty much everything had shut. We spent a while exploring the shrine in the dark, which was very atmospheric and far less crowded. Ventured a ways up the torii path , in spite of Lyra’s anxiety that we were doing something wrong — or even worse, might get accidently locked inside for the night.

Ended up at a little place just round the corner from the ryokan. I was a bit dubious when we slid the door open and stepped inside. It was clear that none of staff, spoke english, but a woman seated at the counter intervened and we were seated at the little bar. She was helping us with the ordering as well, until someone unearthed an english menu with a couple of items on it (clearly far shorter than the Japanese version).

Everything we ate was delicious — sashimi, karaage chicken, tempura, miso soup, tomato salad. Carried on chatting with the woman next to us, who was having dinner with her family. When I complimented the woman on her english, her teenage son piped up “I speak more good then she!” “Her,” the mom corrected quietly.

This sign made me giggle:

April 15, 2014

Set the alarm for 7am. They serve breakfast early in this place and we wanted to try our private bath beforehand. In the end, only Lyra and I went for the bath option, which was plenty big enough for two to share, and had a lovely floor length window overlooking the valley.

A (Bath)Room with a View

Our room is actually more of a suite. We have:

• a sitting room with two comfy chairs and an amazing mountain view
• a large tatami room with a table for eating and cupboards holding our futons
• a hallway with closet and mini bar
• a sink room with mirror and vanity counter
• a bathroom with bath and shower
• a separate toilet, and
• a little entrance area.

Breakfast was served in another great hall, even bigger than the nightclub. Although the Yunoshinakan is enormous and the only place in Takayama or Gero with rooms available, it has felt almost empty, but the breakfast hall was bustling and loads of tables had already been used.

Japanese breakfasts are a challenge for most people, but we dived right in. We were served:

• a barely set egg that you cracked into a soy-based broth
• a little tray of steamed vegetables
• a daikon-tomato-cuke salad in ginger miso dressing
• miso soup with strange mushrooms
• a bowl of soft, creamy, custardy tofu
• a bowl of pickles, including an umeboshi plum
• a little brazier to simmer a slice of salmon with a blob of rich sauce
• rice (and seaweed strips to eat it with)
• a dish of strange stems that had been braised in something salty
• a small bowl of yogurt
• an orange slice

I didn’t manage to eat every last bite, but gave it a very good try…

We just missed the mini-bus to the train station, which meant not catching the earlier train to Takayama. When we arrived on foot, there was a crowd of people waiting. Remembering how things used to work, we found a spot that put us in pole position for the unreserved car. The journey took about an hour, following the course of the river deeper into the mountains.

Takayama had a bustling, festive feel, but the crowds weren’t as bad as I’d expected. There were food stands everywhere, selling all manner of things. We sampled the mitarashi-dango (pounded rice balls grilled on skewers), various types of rice crackers and a number of beanpaste-filled sweets.

The festival is reknowned for the beautiful yataii floats, which date from the 17th century. The individual floats are intricately carved and decorated, covered in gilt and draperies and many have marionettes suspended from the top. By day, they are displayed in the street. In the evening, they are lit with traditional lanterns and carried through the streets.

While we didn’t get to see the floats themselves in motion, there were regular processions of monks, musicians, dancers and dignitaries, some carrying idols in litters — it quite an eyeful, with everyone in traditional costume.

In between times, we strolled the beautifully preserved old town, poking into the shops and sake breweries. Did a bit of tasting too — there was a special festival sake served in fragrant wooden cups that was particularly delicious. An another place, we tried milky sake with a particularly ricey taste from the rice particles suspended in it.

Back at the train station, there was an alarming line of people waiting for the train south, but we all managed to fit on. Such a contrast to the transit situation in Britain, where there would have undoubtedly been delays, cancellations, overcrowding, and probably maintenance work scheduled for one of the two busiest weekends of the year.

Back at the hotel, we refreshed ourselves with a soak in our private bath — Adam and me first, and then the girls — before dinner. We were served a completely different — but equally impressive — menu:

• sashimi
• a sea delicacies platter (snails, baby octopus, tiny little fish)
• a salmon and fresh ginger shoot broth we cooked on individual braziers
• a grill to cook cubes of the delicious hida beef and shiitake mushrooms
• clam soup
• miso soup
• salted salmon with a couple of slices of a weird tempura-tofu-mushroom thing
• a small vegetable bowl
• a pickle plate
• rice with cherry petal shrimp
• fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream
• plum wine followed by ice cold sake

Lyra ate her whole baby octopus…

When eating a traditional Japanese meal, it is good manners to sit in a kneeling position with your feet tucked neatly under your bottom. Not an easy position to maintain for lengths of time, especially if you’re unused to sitting that way. Whenever the waitress knocked, we’d leap into the seiza position before the sliding door opened, decorously maintaining it until she left, then immediately slump back into something more comfortable.

Had another nighttime soak in the outdoor bath — once again, we had the place to ourselves. It has been the most wonderful experience staying here…

April 14, 2014

Got up at 7am and started the grand packing exercise. We’ve managed to acquire quite a few bits and pieces already, and I wanted to call the girls’ suitcases into service to avoid making the big bag too unwieldy.Took a taxi to Tokyo station, and had great fun choosing our bento boxes at Ekiben Matsuri (Train Bento Festival, a mecca for bento lovers. Apparently they have more than 170 different bentos from around the country.

No problem finding the right Shinkansen platform, thanks to the now ubiquitous excellent transport signage. While not always in English, it is very clear and well thought through. Zoomed off to Nagoya right on schedule, which took two hours. The train hadn’t even hit cruising speed before the girls were into their bento boxes.

At Nagoya, we changed to a local service to travel north into the mountains to Gero. The train ran alongside a river gorge. The cherry trees were in full bloom — that much cooler I guess.

When we reached the spa town of Gero, we caught a shuttle bus to the Yunoshimakan onsen, which was up a steep road on the edge of town. I’d had a lot of trouble finding somewhere to stay as there’s a big festival on while we’re here. The Yunoshimakan is more high-end than I was intending. Built in 1931, it is one of the oldest ryokans in Japan, a sprawling old place, reminiscent of the bathhouse in Spirited Away. I has a real aura of faded glamour. The Emperor and Empress once stayed here, and it was frequented by the the rich and famous.

At the foyer, we went through the whole gaijin slipper comedy of errors, committing every conceivable wrong — street shoes on the platform, socks on the entrance floor, slippers on the entrance floor…

We eventually managed to check-in, performed an elaborate pantomime of misunderstanding in Japlish about the rules and times of the baths, were issued our yukatas and sashes, and led through the undulating halls and multiple elevators to our room on the 11th floor.

There we were seated and served green tea and a sweet bean cake. We sorted out our things then set off to explore the public bath. As always, there were segregated, so I parted ways with Adam and took the girls for a wash.

We had the place to ourselves at first, which was a relief on one level, aside from the fact that I couldn’t quite remember what to do. There’s a whole lot of etiquette around Japanese bathing. We stripped off, took a guess on where to store our clothes, and ventured into the washing area.

I realised we’d failed to bring our washclothes, so we faked that bit, showered thoroughly and slipped into the shared pool. The water a nice temperature — hot but not too hot. I’d hoped there would be an outdoor bathing area, but there didn’t seem to be. Afterwards, we blowdried our hair, and made use of all the grooming products we could identify.

There was no Adam when we returned to the room, so we mooched around in the hall for a bit. Eventually, I managed to find my way back to reception to get another key. It’s pretty clear that while it was okay to walk from your room to the bath house, you’re not expected to appear in the lobby in your yukata…

We were all ravenous by the time dinner was served. A lovely young girl in kimono knocked then glided in, and busily arranged a dining table with beautiful placemats, various little dishes and trays.

Itadakimasu!

Tonight’s menu

Dinner was an amazing multicourse extravaganza — a feast for all the senses. It started with an amazing little cabinet that opened to reveal a series of exquisite tiny dishes arranged on its shelves. There were too many to mention but it included:

• tiny cuttlefish with sweet mustard
• quivering fresh tofu with pickle and a shaving of salted plum
• miniature skewers of sashimi
• tiny mouthfuls of vegetables in sauce

A delicious plate of sashimi followed; then shabu shabu with the renowned local beef, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu and greens. There were two types of soup — one with mysterious objects, another with baby clams — a pork dish in a rich sauce; ginger rice with tiny candied fish; grilled salted fish; vinegared rice steamed in a big leaf with a fiddlehead; cubes of meltingly tender beef that we grilled ourselves on individual braziers; pickled baby bamboo shoots; a tray of pickles… I’m probably forgetting things…

Shabu shabu ingredients, suimono, sashimi

And then dessert. Brown sugar pudding with cream; cherry sorbet; cherry mochi wrapped in yet another type of leaf; and a single strawberry. It was truly amazing…

Both girls were terrific, trying everything except the most alarming items, including a number of things I didn’t expect them to try. In fact, Lyra was a bit miffed when she was served a more child-friendly beef stew instead of the steamed sushi parcel.

When we’d eaten every last bite, the waitress whisked the empty plates and bowls away. a few moments later, the futon ninja arrived:

We headed down to the public bath again, and made sure we found the open air section this time. We stepped out into a darkened garden, lit only by stone lanterns and moonlight. The dark bathing pool stretched before us, steam rising into the night. The air was cool, but once we’d spent a few moments in the water, it felt wonderful on the skin. I’ve been holding out for this moment — natural onsens are one of my very favourite things about Japan.

“I feel like a mermaid,” Lyra said, perching naked on a rock and gazing up the full moon through the cedar trees. Then, “Which ones are Japanese, limericks or haikus?” Haiku, I told her. “I’m going to make one up about this bath,” she said happily. (If she did, she didn’t share it with me…)

Got back to the room later than Adam this time. He’d been roaming the halls while he waited, and had discovered the night club, which he said I had to see. We got the girls settled, then set off.

We were the only customers in a room the size of a football field. There may not have been any people, but there was a crazy number of sofas. Ordered an umeshu (plum wine on ice), which was delivered with a little tray of individually wrapped strange Japanese snacks. We were hardly hungry after our sumptuous dinner, but curiousity prevailed. Such a range of tastes — salty, sweet, fishy, horseradishy, sometimes all at once…;-) It was hard to believe they were all on the same tray. There was a particularly nasty scrap of rockhard dried fish that a starving cat would have turned up its nose at.

At one stage the hostess tippytoed over to ask if we cared to sing some karaoke, at 300Y a song. We declined — I think that crowd of sofas would have been a tough audience…;-)

April 13, 2014

Our last full day in Tokyo…:-( In spite of my ambitions, we got a late start, as everyone slept in a bit. Must have needed it…We’d planned to get some laundry done today, but discovered the hotel service wasn’t available on Sundays. Instead, Adam handwashed some essentials in the sink, with which we festooned the bathroom before setting out.

After coffee and a pastry at one of the little cafes on the main street, we headed for Harajuku. Spent an hour in Laforet, which had way cooler clothes than we found in Shibuya.

Used kimono street stall in Harajuku

There was one shop in particular that I really loved. I could have bought practically everything in it. Unlike most Western stores, it only had one of each item. Sometimes there were different colours, but never different sizes. I tried on a fair few things, and ended up buying a red skirt with an orange underskirt, and a cute little dotted dress, plus a pair of socks.

We walked the main drag of Harajuku, which was choked with cosplay kids and wannabee, poking into the shops. Picked up a new backpack for Nova. Lyra loved the wild clothing, but there was nothing in her size. She’s almost — but not quite — an XXS adult…

It was lunch time, but all the food options were pretty diabolical. Went into one food court where every vendor was offering ice cream versions of “real” fast food: ice cream hot dog at one place, ice cream pizza at another…

Ended up in a Starbucks on the top floor of another department store, where we queued for lunch pastries. We seem to be existing on pastries and sushi. It did have a lovely rooftop garden with great views, so it could have been worse. I’d forgotten about Japanese bread, but knew the smell instantly. It’s quite different to ours — sweeter and sort of pillowy with a distinctive scent. It’s made with milk I think…

Starbucks roof garden

Carried on exploring the back streets of Harajuku,tlooking for a kids’ clothing store I’d read about. We found much cooler shops and vibe in this area, more like the Harajuku I remembered. No success on the clothing store though…

All shopped out for the moment, we headed up Yoyogi Park to visit the Meiji shrine. I love that place — the majesty of the trees, the stately tranquility, the muted colours — natural wood and greys and greens — the beautiful rooflines, the monks gliding about… . It’s wonderful to find such an oasis of green and calm in the centre of the throbbing, frantic vortex that is Tokyo.

Lyra is fully embracing all the rituals observed at shrines and temples — carefully purifying her hands, wafting incense smoke towards her for good luck, offering coins, and jangling bells to summon kami. At Meiji Shrine, she wrote a prayer tablet while I collected another goshuin.

On to Shinjuku station to sort out our Japan rail passes. Mad crowds swired and ebbed around us — Shinjuku station likely holds the entire population of Prince George at any given time, all of whom are in an enormous hurry. We bobbed along to the south gate, queued to get our passes activated, then queued again to make Shinkansen reservations. I’d wondered if we’d be out of luck with reservations for Takayama, what with the festival, but it was fine.

We were all tired, footsore and hungry at this point, and dived into the first appealing sushi bar we found. Conveyor belt sushi, but very good quality — fresh scallops, abalone, crab, plus a number of unidentifiable items.

The kids fussed over, especially Lyra who the Japanese find very kawaii. They were well satisfied with cucumber maki, pickle maki and miso soup, with green tea ice cream for dessert. There was a nice system for making your own green tea, with two tiny scoops of matcha powder and a hot water tap.

Our last stop was the Kinokuniya bookstore, in the Takayashima department store annex. It was a regular haunt of John Maxwell’s and mine — we spent a number of weekend afternoons there. It hasn’t changed a bit — and even smelt just the same…

Did some very happy browsing, and picked up a guide to Kyoto, a manga about Japanese cuisine called Oishinbo, and a few other things. We were the last customers there, but they didn’t rush us. After we paid, the clerk personally escorted us to the ground floor as the rest of the building had closed.

Outside again, we took a moment to orient ourselves. A salaryman got up from a bench and walked over to where we were standing. I assumed he planned to offer assistance, but to my surprise, he dropped to one knee and offered Lyra a little tin of Godiva chocolate beads. He had the most alarming set of teeth, but Lyra didn’t bat an eye, bless her, thanking him politely in Japanese, and receiving his gift with both hands as she’s learned to do.

Back in Iidabashi, Adam set off on an ultimately fruitless hunt for a bank machine that would accept our cards. I got the girls bathed, combed and into bed and finished the hand laundry before he returned…

April 12, 2014

Managed to make a reasonably early start for our day’s sightseeing in Kamakura. We caught a local train to Akihabara, where we bought our breakfast coffee and pastries — I opted for the mugwort doughnut . I’m not even sure what a mugwort is (some sort of seaweed?), but there was no way I wasn’t trying that…:-)

We caught a rapid commuter train from there, and were at Kita-Kamakura within the hour. First stop, Engakuji Temple. Quite a going concern, with monks bustling about, carrying parcels and energetically carrying out maintenance. Sat for awhile watching archery practice, which was quite calming, viewed the buddha carving in the main hall, then climbed the hill to see the big bell.

Our next temple, Toku-ji, was a women’s temple, and had a tranquil, private, beautiful, slightly shabby feel. Jochi-ji again had a very different vibe — ramshackle and sprawling, with a sense of imagination and humour evident in the signs.

At the back of the grounds was a cave that used to connect the two graveyards. It was pitch black, but I got my phone torch out and we ventured cautiously in. Lyra was in front, and reached the back first, touching and then leaning against the wall. As I shone my torch on it, I noticed a dark, feathery mass right next to her head. I thought it was some kind of moss, but it seemed to be moving… Drawing in for a closer look, I realised it was a mass of some sort of terrible insects that I didn’t recognise. “Don’t touch that wall, sweetie!” I croaked, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. “Why?” she asked. “I think there’s an insect on it,” I said as we backed out of there in a hurry.

Outside, I tried to explain what I’d seen to the Japanese couple waiting to go in. “Flies?” they guessed. No, not flies. I attempted some charades along with my broken Japlish to describe the horror of the countless wriggling legs, snaky bodies, pincers etc. “Ah, geji-geji!” they gasped. The man headed in alone to investigate — there was no way his girlfriend was going in. “Hai, geji-geji!” he confirmed on his return.

Geji-geji are horrible insects, rightly feared by the Japanese. A little research back at the hotel revealed:

• geji-geji are house centipedes that eat cockroaches and spiders
• they have fifteen pairs of horribly long, wriggly legs that they can detach if necessary
• geji-geji can run at .4m/sec and jump
• they have a venomous and painful sting
• they can wrestle several insects into submission at once and beat them to death with their many legs

One is bad enough… there were dozens of them in that cave

Spent the next couple of hours hiking from Kita-Kamakura to the Daibutsu, along a stunning wooded path. Stopped in Genjiyama park en route, for a snack of konnyaku balls simmered in dashi. Not all that tasty actually, but a new food experience for the girls…

Got chatting with an elderly Japanese man whose dog had attracted Lyra’s attention. He informed us that the great shogun Minamoto Yoritomo was known to have travelled this very path. “Though of course, he would have been carried,” the old guy conceded. Can’t blame him — it was a tough 4km walk, steep and uneven.

It was good to see the old Daibutsu again after all these years. Bought green tea ice creams and contemplated his general awesomeness while we licked. Afterwards, we stopped for a further snack of garlic chips and a beer, as we were all pretty hungry.

There was just time for one more temple, Hasudera Kannon, which was once home to hundreds of poignant jizo statues. Jizo is the protector of unborn children and those who die young. Women who have lost children, or had miscarriages or terminations often put up a jizo, many of which are dressed in little bibs and knitted hats. You often see toys and little gifts left for the souls of the children at the foot of the statue.

When the temple closed, we headed back to the station to catch the train to Kawasaki. My old friend and former student Masao Harashima met us at the gates with his eighteen-year-old niece Akiko. He’d booked a fab izakaya for dinner 22nd floor of a office tower, which had astonishing views over the lights of Tokyo.

Masao has scarcely changed — “people often say that” he admitted. Turns out he’s exactly Adam’s age — all the Japanese people we met back then seemed so much younger than we were, but of course they were college kids and we’d only just graduated ourselves…

It was so good to see Masao again. I’d forgotten his sly sense of humour and fun. He and Akiko handled the ordering, which you did with a little ipad thing. Sashimi, yakitori, edamame (time about 7), octopus, dumplings, yakisoba, I don’t know what all else…

The pair of them ate very little — I’m not sure why — though they matched us drink for drink. Some form of Japanese manners I imagine, but it left you not knowing whether it was more polite to polish everything off, or if they wouldn’t stop ordering until you left the dishes untouched, which would feel rude to us…

April 11, 2014

Happy birthday, Aaron and Marni! Woke at 8am, having slept like a log and felt pretty much okay. I’ve never read anything that recommended two sleepless nights before a long-haul flight as a technique for beating jetlag, but it seems to have worked…

Our 11th-floor hotel room looks out over the raised expressway and the Tokyo Dome. The girls spotted the rollercoaster immediately, but I aim to withstand their pleas for a visit. There are so many, much more interesting ways to spend our limited time…

Not wanting to bother with the overpriced hotel buffet breakfast, we bought mystery pastries and coffees from the bakery in the lobby. They didn’t have any seating, so we took them to the plaza outside the hotel. While it looked warm and bright from indoors, the nasty, cold wind soon drove us back in.

Adam finally had success buying tickets for the Studio Ghibli museum, which has been an ongoing drama that started weeks earlier. There’s a quota for sale overseas, but that was long gone by the time we enquired. We then asked a Japanese friend if they could pick us up some, but they had no luck either. We tried enlisting the hotel’s support, searched unsuccessfully for tours that might resell tickets at a higher price, but nothing doing.

You can only buy the tickets at a Lawson’s convenience store from a special ticket machine. With help from a clerk, Adam searched for tickets on the last day of our trip, and managed to buy some! We’ll have to rejig our plans for the last day, but that’s fine…

Caught the train to Shibuya for the full-on Tokyo experience. Visited the Hatchi statue, and browsed the endless shops, including 109 — nine floors of Lolita-wear boutiques. Worth it to see the get-ups the shop girls (and some of the customers) were wearing.

We were all hungry by this point, so turned our attention to finding something to eat. When I lived in Japan, we’d occasionally come to Shibuya for the all-you-can-eat Shakeys pizza lunch. It was the first time I’d encountered what I considered “strange” pizza toppings, like corn, tuna fish, and squid. While I was surprised and pleased to see it was still going strong, something more typically Japanese was in order.

Instead, we opted for the ramen experience. This was tricky, because all the cafes have little ticket machines out front where you order your food before entering. There was no English or even romaji to work with, and I certainly can’t recognise and avoid the kanji for pig intestine. Eventually found one with blurry little photos that gave us enough to work with and made our choices.

The hostess seated us at little two-person alcoves, each containing an intriguing array of condiments and sauces. My personal favourite was the little sesame seed grinder — will definitely be picking up one of those… The portions were enormous, and only Adam finished absolutely everything, but it was cheap and filling and fun.

Next stop, Tokyu Hands. What a place — it’s my new favourite store! If we do nothing else, our trip will have been worth it. Wikipedia says it better than I could:

“Tokyu Hands focuses on hobby, home improvement and lifestyle products. At the Shibuya flagship store, products include toys, games, novelty items, gift cards, gift wrap, costumes, bicycles, travel products (such as luggage and camping gear), hobby materials, household hardware, tools, do-it-yourself kits, pet supplies, office supplies and stationery; calligraphy, painting, drawing supplies, furniture, lighting, home appliances, and storage solutions.

Also of note is the Ikebukuro location, which contains a cat cafe called Nekobukuro, or “Cat’s House”. Some 20 cats roam free in this area, though admission is not free.” [So there’s a reason to return to Japan right there…;-) ]

Treated the girls to an ice cream sundae at a “maid cafe”, a phenomenon that hadn’t yet arrived when I lived here. Oh so strange and Japanese. The girls were totally impressed with the kawaii food, kawaii waitresses and kawaii dialogue. Needless to say, they found Lyra extremely kawaii as well…

Dusk was falling by this point, and the neon coming out in full force. We moseyed back towards the station through the Friday night throng hitting Shibuya for a big night out. Nova bought a pair of sandals and Lyra picked up a cool skirt from Anap Girl — a very street mix of leopard print and ruffles that absolutely screams Tokyo. It’s a size XXS, and meant to be microscopic on an adult — but looks pretty cute on a seven-year-old too.

It was fantastic people watching — all the young people in their amazing get-ups. I could have happily stayed there sipping a drink and watching for hours. The girls were wilting though, and our best move was to head back to the hotel.

Picked up some convenience store onigiri and a salad for the girls, then headed out to a little yakitori place on the main street. Oyster yaki, leek yaki, chicken yaki, gyoza and ice-cold beer hit all sorts of spots.

I’ve been overwhelmed by how incredibly happy I feel to be back in Japan. It was a significant part of my life, and I did a lot of growing up here. Not sure why I’ve sort of “parked” the experience for the last couple of decades. I’m already scheming about how I can get myself back here again. Take up some Japan-focussed hobby maybe, like bonsai growing or kendo?

Another nice surprise is how little things that have changed. Some things that are different:

• new toilet technology: myriad buttons, squirting options, heated seats etc
• it’s so much cheaper
• workmen no longer wear cloven wellie boots
• less manga reading on the trains
• way more English signage
• maid cafes
• the Japanese are bigger than they used to be (In the 80’s, you’d see these enormous teenagers, but everyone else was petite. Now those kids are hitting middle-age, the general populace is bigger.)
• they seem less “full of themselves” (two decades of stagflation will do that to you)
• they are far less interested in “gaijin” now (I feel much less conspicuous as a Westerner, although you still don’t see all that many Caucasian faces)

April 10, 2014

When you are in the midst of the twilight zone that is a long-haul flight it’s hard to know when to break off one day and begin the next…Unable to sleep, I started watching American Hustle. It was pretty good, but I wasn’t able to focus as Lyra started feeling sick. Took her to the toilet just in time for her to explode from both ends. Nice… At least she was very tidy about it, which was a good thing as we didn’t have a change of clothes.

Swapped round with Adam so Lyra could sit with me. Another bout of sickness filled the second airsick bag I’d brought, so I sent Adam off to get more from stewardess. Happily Lyra felt better after that. She and Nova had eaten too many chocolates and biscuits they’d nicked from the stewards’ area on an empty stomach — and she’s prone to travel sickness anyway. Fell asleep with her head in my lap, and stayed there for the next few hours.

BA finally coughed up some more food in the form of breakfast — an egg lump, a little weiner, yogurt, mini pastry, orange juice and coffee. Not overly large, but definitely bigger than the lunch/dinner.

There was a sheaf of landing forms to fill in, which lept me busy until the plane landed. Haneda wasn’t an international airport when we lived here, which is a shame as it was only twenty minutes from our house. (Collecting a friend from Narita took about six hours round trip.)

We had a reasonably smooth ride through passport control — where they are fingerprinting and photographing gaijin now. Baggage reclaim and customs were likewise straightforward. Managed to extract train tickets from a complicated machine, and we were on the move again.

It was eight in the morning by now and the stations were packed with commuters rushing to work, which made the bags a hassle. Lyra was complaining of feeling sick, which didn’t help matters, but we eventually made it to Iidabashi, where I’d booked a hotel.

We weren’t able to check in until 3pm, but we dropped our bags and freshened up a bit before staggering out into the Tokyo morning. Our first stop was the local shrine — the Ushi Tenjin Kitano Jingu. took a bit of nosing about to find, but was a charming little spot. Got my first emple book signed –– so glad I remembered it.

Went for a walk afterwards in the nearby Koishikawa Korakuen gardens, which I’m pretty sure I didn’t visit when I lived here. We’ve missed the height of cherry blossom season, but it was still beautiful.

Lyra was full of manic energy, even attempting cartwheels at time to the surprise of the Japanese. The rest of us plodded along like zombies behind her. Although it’s not large, it’s designed with numerous winding paths that reveal charming little vistas, and occasionally a glimpse of the Tokyo Dome or office blocks towering in the background.

Ate lunch in a little fixed price workers cafe under the expressway — ¥500 for a small main, two sides, rice and miso soup. I chose what I thought was a hard boiled egg, only to discover when I went to peel it that it was raw. The man across from me had one too, and I watched as he cracked it over his portion of rice, seasoned it with hot pepper and tucked in.

Fortified, we caught the train to Asakusa to visit the big temple there. Very different to Iidabashi — much more upmarket with massive crowds. Wandered up the traditional shopping street, trying all the free samples on offer. There were more women in kimono than I was expecting to see — though of temple visits can be an occasion for traditional dress.

Lyra was captivated by a beautiful cat on a lead, and spent ages stroking it and feeding it little treats provided by its owner. She attracted quite a crowd of Japanese keen to take a picture.

After a couple of hours we decided to catch a taxi back to the hotel. We were all wiped out by now. Everyone dozed in the cab — for all we knew the cabbie could have done a couple of laps around the Yamanote line before dropping us off.

We all crashed out for a couple of hours, then went for dinner at a sushi bar behind the hotel. Full of groups of salarymen out getting hammered — just like they used to in the 80s’. (And smoking! — I’m so not used to that in public spaces now).

Ordered loads of nigiri sushi, sashimi, maki rolls, suimono soup, tempura, tsukemono pickles — all of which was completely delicious. The girls were very positive about the food, both tasting the raw fish, strange pickles and seaweed soup.

Headed back to the room for a lovely shower then a soak in our Japanese bath before bed. It is so incredibly good to be back in Japan…:-)

April 9, 2014

Ended up staying awake all reading and pulling together a rough itinerary. I had every intention of doing this a little sooner (duh!), but have been too busy with work. Up at 6am for to knock of the final items on the list. Our routine is a little different this time, as Carolyn will be staying in the house for part of the time we’re away.Airline procedures are so much smoother than they were before the era of online check-in, and we were through in no time. The only glitch came because we were checking only three bags for four people, which threw up some sort of flag in the system.

Once we were gate-side, I bought a few more presents to have at the ready in Japan. The Japanese are very big on exchanging gifts, and I don’t want to find myself emptyhanded should the situation arise. The trick was finding things we can keep/use ourselves if they aren’t called into service. I’ve stuffed my wallet with business cards for the same reason…

We were seated in pairs, with the girls in front and Adam behind. Completely exhausted, I managed about an hour’s sleep just after take-off. The last time I went two nights without sleep was when I flew to Canada when mum was dying. Not something I want to make a habit of…

I had a window seat, and being clear, opportunity to contemplate Russia rolling beneath us. Stretches of silvery tundra, frozen lakes, and one endless straight road. After a miniature serving of Japanese beef curry, I pulled down the window shad and settled down to watch films on my personal screen. Started with Dallas Buyers Club — an amazing performance by Matthew McConaghey. The guy has really upped his game from his rom-com days.

A few hours later we were heading into “night”. When it dawned on me that the miniature beef curry we had for lunch was meant to serve as dinner as well, I wished I’d packed some sandwiches. There was a time when I had a bagful of food for any trip we went on…

April 8, 2014

Our last day before we leave for Japan. There’s still so much still to do in spite of chipping away diligently at my lists. I was up at 6:45 after just four hours sleep to join a pre-pitch meeting for some work we are trying to win in Brighton today. Also managed to find time to launch the architecture website somehow…Took Lyra round to Lucia’s dad’s house for the afternoon so I could Skype into the pitch meeting. I had the address with me, but couldn’t find the place. I could tell that it must be really near his pub, and we went back and forth — both in the car and on foot — until it dawned on me that they must live in the pub… Duh!

Back home, I did what little prep I could, and joined the call. It went reasonably well, but think we were too honest with them. The budget is tight, the timeline ridiculous, there’s a lot of incompatible stuff to knit together, a significant change management element, and some massive unknowns — none of which they wanted to hear about.

Picked up Lyra and fed the girls. When Adam got back from Brighton around 7:30 I fed us too. Worked away at my to-do list until about midnight. I was still kind of buzzed, so I got into bed and re-read my Japan diaries. So much I don’t even remember. It prompted me to dig out my temple visiting book, which I hope I’ll have a chance to use while we’re there…

April 7, 2014

Lyra came in about an hour after I fell asleep. She’d had a nightmare and was in tears. “I was worried about waking you up because I know you have trouble getting back to sleep afterwards,” she confessed.” I want you to come in if you’re upset,” I told her, and we settled into a nice cuddle. She told me all about the dream, but I was too tired to remember any of it…Up again about 7am to work on my doc. We also had some cleaners coming round to help me kick the house into shape. Carolyn will be arriving for a visit when we are in Japan, and I want it looking its best.

I’m never comfortable with the whole cleaner dynamic. We discussed it the other day, and Adam talked me round to agreeing that it doesn’t make sense for me to spend time cleaning that could be spent writing and strategising instead.

This pair were meant to be a toe in the water and something we’d pick up again when we’re back from holiday. I just don’t like telling people to clean the soap scum out of our dirty bathtub. It makes me feel bourgeous and lazy and disapproved of. That said, the house certainly looks a lot cleaner now than I’d have managed to achieve without their help.

After lunch, Nova headed off to Brent Cross with her friend Sarah to do some shopping. She told me that she wanted to buy a bold top, but returned with a minty green teeshirt, three pairs of lacy ankle socks and travel sized deodorant and makeup wipes. Wouldn’t want to leave home without those…;-)

Inching home through the rush-hour traffic, I heard on the news that Peaches Geldof has been found dead. Only 25 years old and with two children under two years old… Drugs you’d have to imagine, though nothing is being said yet…

April 6, 2014

Feeling woefully bad this morning, to a degree that seems totally out of proportion with the amount I drank, how late we stayed up, how much fun was had, etc. Irritating, and no way I was going for a run. The rain was offputting as well. Instead, I made some muffins, pootled around with my endless to-do list, which I’m ineffectually chipping away at…I’m running the food stocks down before we go, which is making for increasingly random meals. Lunch was soup made from homemade chicken stock, frozen Christmas turkey, leftover orzo rice, a carrot and a heel of celery. Surprisingly tasty…

Adam had bought tickets for a circus performance at the Roundhouse in the afternoon. I’d questioned the wisdom of spending our last weekend day before we travel in that way, but he was determined so I caved in. La Muete is a French (Algerian?) troupe of clown acrobats. Dressed in loincloth/diapers that revealed their asses, they performed a series of alarming maneuvres with something called a Russian swing. “How could you take children to such a show?” Nova demanded when it was over.

Made a curry with leftover potatoes and frozen peas and steamed up some rice. Adam was keen to supplement it with something from Kiplings, and went off and bought a chicken curry, samosas and a naan bread. My curry was definitely better…

Master Cheffed while we ate. The girls are becoming quite sophisticated food critics. “She’s overcomplicated that dish,” Nova commented seconds before the judges reached the same conclusion. “He didn’t put enough sauce on the plate,” Lyra pointed out — a view also shared by the judges.

I’m committed to drafting a content strategy before we leave, which has been skulking in the corner of my weekend. It was almost midnight before I finally got down to tackling it. Put in a couple of hours before turning out the light…

April 5, 2014

Lyra’s piano lesson was rescheduled for this morning. Adam and I dropped her off and went for a three-mile run in the Woods. It’s so much warmer these days, which makes a big difference to how the run feels. I never carry water with me when I run, and although they’ve turned off all the water fountains on Hampstead Heath, I don’t generally don’t miss it. Pretty thirsty when we finished today…
Still running down the food supplies. Scratched together three bagels with scrambled eggs and one egg mcmuffin (with salami instead of ham) for lunch. It was the Grand National this afternoon. After a quick look at the racing sheet, Adam headed off to place our bets. I generally try to bet on the female jockeys, trainers and owners. One of my horses came third today, but the odds were so short I only made a few quid.

I’ve noticed that my cooking gets more experimental when I watch Master Chef. This afternoon I used up some lemon curd and pasteurised egg whites in a tart making frenzy. They didn’t work that well, but tasted incredibly good. I think the problem was the oven temperature. I couldn’t find a way to cook tarts and meringues at the same time in our tiny oven.

Nova headed off to the cinema this evening to see the new Divergent film with her friends Etta and Alana. Adam drove them there and made sure they all got in. It’s a 12A certificate, and apparently cinemas can be quite strict about that (or so he’s read on Mumsnet).

Went for dinner at Pete and Pasc’s — a low-key affair that had us home around midnight…

April 4, 2014

Didn’t run this morning… I’m just too tired and drank too much wine last night. It was a frustrating day workwise. I got stuck on a coding problem that proved uncrackable, at least with my rudimentary php skills.School pick-up was at 2pm. Both girls were pretty demob happy. Nova went out to lunch with her friends, and then did some work for our friend Millie at her beauty products company. How up Nova’s alley is that? Returned with a haul of nail polishes, creams and lip glosses. Millie said she was a good worker and welcome to come again.

Made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner with Lyra. She did the sauce all by herself, which was very satisfying for both of us. Tasted good too. Afterwards, we watched a double bill of Masterchef. The first six contestants were considerably better than the second six, who mainly came from the north and were described as “scary looking” by the girls.

April 3, 2014

Ended up working on a proposal with Adam until almost 2am…:-( We were both wiped out when the alarm went at 6:45am. I gave Nova a little prod to get her going then crawled back to bed for another hour’s sleep.Lyra’s school had an Easter bonnet parade today. She’s wearing Saya’s beautiful creation as she and her family have left for Japan already. I was expecting it to really stand out, but there were loads of impressive bonnets. Some were really creative, like my friend Alicia’s fried egg hat, or these babies:

Spent most of the work day on the architecture site. It’s really coming together, but there are still some fiddly little details to sort out. “Stop — you are overservicing this client!” Adam said when he saw me messing around with the umpteenth version of their exceptionally web-unfriendly logo. That can to happen when you have friends for client…

Broke off for an hour or so for a meatball-making fest. Used half of the meat to make Swedish meatballs for the girls’ dinner. Seasoned them with allspice and dill, sautéed in butter and served in a cream sauce flavoured with beef stock. The other half I turned into Italian meatballs (parmesan, oregano, garlic) to serve with pasta later this week.

Went for dinner with Patricia and John and the Bull & Last. Our treat to thank her for the portfolio pics she shot of us the other day. The food was excellent as always, but there was a glitch in the service. I think they basically lost our order, and nothing came to the table for a good half hour. When I managed to get waiter’s attention, he was terribly apologetic, and comped the starters and coffees to make amends. Worked for me…

April 2, 2014

Kevin Devito’s birthday today — one of those strange bits of information that is permanently stuck in my head, along with Jeraldine Drexel’s phone number (which I haven’t had cause to dial since 1974…)Went for a four-mile run with Adam in the woods. It’s nice to run together. While I think it made me run faster at the beginning, I was setting the pace by the end when his knee started giving him grief.

Met about fifteen people we know between the top of the path and the Archway Road. Having kids at the local school does so much to tie you into a community. Friends whose kids have left say that they really miss that…

Worked until midnight on my architecture site — I really need to get that off my plate. Once I do, I won’t have any of my own freelance work for the first time in about two years…

April 1, 2014

It’s about 20° today. It’s as if someone upstairs flipped a switch and changed the weather channel. Lyra went off to school in her blue gingham summer dress looking adorable. She’s growing so fast it’s barely long enough…I’ve gots lots of work on at the moment. Still chipping away at the company website and some draft text for another client. Applied myself for a change and got a bunch of it done.

Roasted chicken thighs with ouzo and fennel for dinner, which I served with basmati rice and orzo, and steamed green beans. Worked until about 10pm, then watched an episode of Breaking Bad on my computer in bed…