Felix's Rugby

Now that the summer holidays have ended the Japanese rugby club that Felix attends has restarted. They are now playing contact rugby so each week they have technique sessions and then play a match. They share the astro pitch with about 40 kids and 15 coaches so there is not much space to play but the boys still enjoy the opportunity to bash hell out of each other. I think they are getting to the point where they need to play against some other teams.

Where does the time go!

So I'm writing this almost 4 weeks into the school term. Can't believe where the time's gone!

Key things that we've done which might be of interest to anyone reading this:

We had a business visitor from the UK - David Walton was the chap who was my boss 15 years ago, and who put in a good word for me to get me a job here. He's now 'big cheese' for the Asia Pacific meeting. He came over for his biennial meeting, and Ross and I were invited to entertain him with KK (MD of the Japanese company), KK's wife, and a chap called Gary from Hawaii / USA / Hong Kong. Anyway, no expense spared!!! We went to this amazing Japanese restaurant called Nadaman (on the 14th floor of Odakyo Departo for future reference). This restaurant is reputed to be the best sushi restaurant in the whole of Japan (Oh God! I thought when I sat down and they told me this - I've managed to avoid sushi thusfar!!). It was amazing - we had about 10 courses of the most amazingly presented and really delicious food: a beautifully laid out tray of orange roe on daimon (japanese radish), some special mushrooms, and strange green olive-looking beans, followed by sashimi (raw fish), then tempura, then salad, then some eggy custard stuff with some fish in, then steak (very rare with delicious gravy), then some miso-ish soup, then a plate of various types of sushi, then pudding - fruity stuff and bean-jammy stuff, served with beer, various types of tea, and the most delicious sake served in beautiful glasses (which I've subsequently seen and have requested as a birthday pressy from my luurvly husband!)

The following day, after a day of meetings with David, which was really interesting for me who sits somewhat on the periphery of the big picture stuff, the Shinjuku office and David all went out for beers and Karaoke - I officially love karaoke and we had a blast!!!

The following Friday, Sasha arrived. She came alone, and we were a bit worried about whether she's manage to find herself around, but she did amazingly well - after showing her how to find her way back to our house from Shibuya, she was able to explore by herself. On the Sunday, we took her to baseball (I think Ross will post some pics!) which was great fun (we sat behind this avid fan of the Giants who gave the kids loads of the orange memorabilia and showed them what you had to do when a home-run was scored!). Then we (with the exception of Sash) went on this roller-coaster - Neve had to stand on tip-toe to convince them she was the right height!. It was seriously scary - we got to 80mph on the first dip - I glanced accross at Neve and thought she was going to freak - but she said she loved it in the end!

Sash went to Kyoto for two days, and had a great time

On the Friday, I took the day off, and introduced Sash to ex-pat mum's coffee mornings, then a trip with 3 other mums to Kappabashi - a district in Tokyo where restuaranteurs go to buy their stuff - so there are shops for how to deck out your shop as a chinese, an american diner, and any other type of thing, and also many shops selling plastic food (they all display food in restaurants!) We also bought loads of lovely pottery, and Sash bought us these beautiful pics as a thank you / b-day pres.

The kids have settled really well into school. Neve is really friendly with Fiona and Lydia - the three of them have been writing a book since the start of term. Fiona's dad is a journalist (according to Neve!) so has managed to secure them a book deal (!). Fiona is writing the book, Neve is the illustrator, and Lydia is the researcher. Neve has written the 'blurb' and the 'about the authors' section (she wrote them in bed and left them on her bedside table - how cute is that!). Felix is still thick with Flynn, and has befriended a boy who lives locally which is great.

On Saturday, we took Sasha to a Charity Wine Tasting - which was a very good 'ex-pat taster' - held on the roof garden on a £10,000 a month block of apartments, overlooking many skyscrapers! Lots of hob-nobbing... then waking up the next day thinking "Oh god, what did I say to xyz", and sash nicked a bottle of wine - which seemed fine at the time, but which, the next morning, seemed like a BAD idea!!!

We're going to Beijing! We'd booked half term off a long time ago, but didn't know where to go. After deliberating, chatting to various people, and doing a bit of phoning around, we soon worked out that Hawaii was too expensive, we want to get out of Japan... long story short we've booked flights to Beijing - there are a number of ex-pats who've lived in Beijing for a while and who've given us lots of advice and books. So we found a cheap(ish - not quite easyjet!) travel agent and booked. Slight problem -Japan is very low-tech when it comes to payment, and Barclaycard are very inflexibile when it comes to living abroad, so I ended up having to withdraw over £1,000 in cash from numerous accounts, then walk through Kabukicho (not the best area of Shinjuku!) carrying a large bundle of cash, and pay this way!!

Bank Holiday Monday in Tokyo

Monday 20th Sept was national holiday in Japan and also Sasha's last day staying with us. Unfortunetely the kids still had to go to school. Sasha and I set out at 0700 to drop Felix at school for cricket practise, then we jumped on train to Ryogoku, home of Ryogoku Kokugikan. This is National Sumo stadium. There are only three tournaments a year in January, May and September so we were really lucky to find one on whilst Sasha was here. By going early we guaranteed getting the cheap tickets at £15, ring side seats cost around £150 each! As we got off the train we started to see a steady stream of Sumo heading for the staduim. They are easy to spot as they are a little larger than the regular Japanese, they wear kimono and carry a Dick Whittington style handbag.

Once we had tickets we waited for Julie to arrive having dropped Neve off at school. In the morning the lower ranks compete which means the stadium is hardly occupied. We tried to get in to the ground floor to get really close to the Dohyo (Ring) but we got directed up to the circle. Here we could take seat right at the front rather than seat at the back to which our ticket entitled us.

We watched a few hours of bouts. We didn't stay till the end of the day when the top ranking sumo compete but it was still good fun. Next till we will come back with the kids and watch the action at the end of the day.


These are the posh seats. You remove your shoes and seat 4 people to each square




Flags of major sumo and the drum tower



'Fat Boys' on way to work!



This is Dohyo with Shrine like roof and ropes on each corner for each season. Around it sit the 5 judges and the next 4 sumo to compete. The referee stands in the ring with the Sumo

At lunchtime we headed for Roppongi and a restaurant call Gonpacho. This restaurant was the inspiration for the restaurant in the Kill Bill fight scene with the Crazy 88. If you have never seen the Kill Bill movies then you won't know what I am talking about.

Follow link to see the scene. Note the movie in an 18 and there is plenty of blood in this scene. Not for children and those of nervous disposition. You have been warned. Felix, if you follow this link I will dock one weeks pocket money!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u96fB_aoVdk


We had really good set menu Japanese food. First time we could take Sasha to Japanese restarent as no kids with us today.

Uma Thurmans boots (well almost, they are from an official Kill Bill press pack)





Trip to Odaiba

On Sunday we took Sasha to Odaiba. This is reclaimed land in Tokyo bay and is reached via the Rainbow bridge.

Odaiba has lots of different types of entertainment and is a poular destination for families and couples.

Having taken the train across the bridge, we started with a picnic on the man made beach. This is lovely sandy beach with boardwalk behind it. No one is allowed to swim but paddling is acceptable. We're not sure why swimming is banned but the kids say it's because there are jellyfish and stingrays!

Then we went for a walk along the boardwalk passing the replica Statue of Liberty and then headed into the pet shop. In Japan petshops are very different to UK. Firstly they sell dogs in the shops. Most of the dogs are of the small, fluffy cute type, not many people have the space to keep a big dog and the areas to exercise then are limited. The prices are unbelievable, typical price for rodent sized dog would be £2000!The Japanese treat their dogs like fashion accessories/dollies. The shops are full of dog clothes, hats, sunglasses, bags, buggies, dog sushi, dog cakes, O2 tanks, nail varnish, hair salons. The list is endless.

We then showed Sasha the Venus Fort shopping centre which is a replica of Venician streets (no water) and includes a very realistic sky effect ceiling. The light is reduced as the day goes by, check out the sunset picture. Lots of very expensive shops that we mostly avoided. We did however find a very strange shop that sold all sorts of odd relics such as buffalo heads, skulls, bugs in plastic, spooky costumes. The kids loved it. For the petrol heads there is a Historic car museum within the shopping centre. It is not large but includes a choice collection of around 25 vehicles including a split screen VW van. We gave this a miss with Sasha.

We also wandered into the Toyota Megaweb which is a flaghip show room for all the latest Toyota models plus some other interesting stuff like driving simulators and race cars.

As the sun was setting we began the walk back across the Rainbow bridge. This is one of my favourite trips in Tokyo. There is a footpath all the way across the bridge from which you get the most stunning view of Tokyo especially at night.

Yomiura Giants

One of the things we said we must do whilst we are in Japan is watch a baseball match. The Japanese are big into baseball, something they got from the Americans after WWII. So when Sasha, a softball player, suggested we go to baseball whilst she was here we jumped at the chance.

A short conversation with a friend at work got us a recommendation to see the Yomiura Giants, not only the best team in Tokyo but the only ones with an enclosed, air conditioned Stadium know as the Tokyo Dome AKA the 'Egg'.

Just to add some technical info at this point. The roof is inflatable and held up by air pressure. The whole building in poistively pressured. So that the building remains air tight you enter through revolving doors. Afterwards they opened the fire exits so everyone could leave quickly. The draft was amazing as you left. Each door had attendants who I am sure are there to catch any small children or old biddies that get blown off their feet.

The matched we booked to see was the Giants vs. Hiroshima Carp.
There was lots of singing each time the Giants came into bat. Mostly the song went 'Lets go, Lets go [insert name of player'. Yes it was English. The programme was in Japanese so the only players we could read the names of were the foreigners. After a while we worked out that we could use the binoculars to read the players names off the back of their shirts.

This Japanese guy sat in front of us decided that our kids needed to be educated in how to watch the game. He returned from the Fan shop with lots of bits and pieces including small orange towels that you whirled around above your head when a home run was scored. Very generous! We also bought mini plastic bats that you thump together rather than clapping.

At was at this point that I spotted an 'award winning' piece of Japanese innovation. They take pretty Japanese girls, strap 20L beer kegs to their backs and send then out to serve beer to the crowd. You don't have to get out of your seat. Tough job though. They spend the whole match running about the stands. Bear in mind that the seating is steeply banked so that they are either going up or down hill.

mittsu beeru o kudasai

After the match finished we emerged from the stadium into the Amuzement park outside. Directly in front of us was the roller coaster. Well it would have been rude not to have a go. Sasha opted out and headed for the shops whilst the rest of use joined the short queue (it was a bargain just 1000 JPY for a serious roler coaster ride). The height restriction was 130cm, we knew Neve was only 128 as she was measured at the school medical that morning. Neve soon figured out that a ride on the roller coaster was at stake, hair suitably puffed up and heels just lifted slightly off the ground she was soon certified as 130 cm.

Now most roller coaster rides have big manly, terrifiying names like Nemesis and Oblivion. Not in Japan, this roller coaster is called .... Thunder Dolphin. What image do you now have in your mind!

Anyway I shan't attempt to describe the ride.

Instead follow link to some footage someone took from their video phone. It will give you a good idea of what the ride was like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27-1xQryRE

We thought the kids might be totally traumatised by the experience but they both enjoyed it. We now have Fuji Q Highland in our sights. This is a bigger ride near to Mt Fuji.

...a few bits we forgot

On a couple of the nights on our holidays, we'd bought some fireworks - hanabi - the Japanese are really into their fireworks, and also do really cheap kits for the kids - a bit like sparklers, but in different colours, with some which are more like the 'showery' type of fireworks. So we bought a variety kit for the kids, and on a couple of the evenings we had BBQs, the kids (and me) did some sparklers. So here are the last pics left on the camera:

Time To Go Home

So on the last day we saw our last really clear view of the mountains (as you can see from the pictures) we packed up and headed back to Tokyo. The journey was fine. We stayed in the air-conned car until the kids needed a pee, and then whoosh, the furnace of Tokyo hit in again.

All was fine in our flat, except that Ross started to feel very unwell and went to bed (the next day to be diagnosed with tonsillitis, given penicillin and having two days off work) - we were so lucky that this hit him now rather than during our holiday - washing in the river would not have been such fun!!

Last Day of the holidays!

So, when you're in the mountains, and you have one day to go, and you want a relaxing day, what do you do? You go to the beach! So we looked on the map, and figured that the Sea of Japan was probably not far away.

So we drove the hour North, and reach the Sea. As it turned out, the point where the road met the sea was an industrial town of very little beauty. However, we drove a couple of minutes outside the main town, and found a spot where there seemed to be a few cars parked, so we parked up, ate our lunch (bought from the Kombini) and watched, and it was apparent that a few people were swimming. So, replete with kombini noodles, we put on our swimmers and headed to the beach. It was a pebbly beach, but the sea was really clear, and the temperature was lovely. We stayed in the water for about two hours - the kids had goggles and saw the most beautiful fish - yellow and black stripey ones, red and black fish, and many little brown ones. When the sun started to go down, we thought we'd better go, and headed out of the water.

We got back into Hakuba, and ate out in our fave restaurant again.

What a lovely holiday all round!