Yet more trains (and some lovely scenery)

Big wheels, little boy

Poo in nappy again this morning :0(

Today we headed up to Kyoto on the Shinkansen and then took a local train to Arashiyama. Here we were treated with a magnificent steam engine in the forecourt of a museum - a piano and steam locomotive museum none the less - we never got to the bottom of why steam locos and pianos were in the same museum - although there were more trains and they were more interesting by far, in fact looking back on it I think there was only one piano - and that was an organ - there were lots of busts of composers though - Mozart, Schubert etc.

We got ourselves a quick lunch - the most average meal I've ever had in Japan - microwaved rice with 2 tiny ebis and a smattering of minutely chopped veggies. I suppose it filled a gap but I was disappointed to discover that you can get bad food here.

Sagano Romantic Train

Sagano Romantic Train Man?

We then got a cute little diesel train, the "Sagano Romantic Train", along the valley of the Hozu river - this was a cute tourist train - we were in a carriage with no sides and where you could see underfoot. The scenery was beautiful - steep forested hills with a blue green river at the bottom. Japan is full of scenery like this but it is very difficult trying to access it - mainly because it is so heavily wooded and steep. We all really enjoyed it and were disappointed when it came to an end. Tom worked his charm at the end station though and got another special ticket and was even up for posing with a guard's hat with a guard (I have it on good authority that Bob has worn the same hat!).

Driver Tom

We then walked through rice paddies to get the local train back to the start. We could have got a wooden boat back through the 'rapids' but they looked really tame and it was pretty expensive to do so - getting the JR train back is free!

Once back, Matt took Tom to see a massive model railway. They timed it badly as about 70 kindergarten pupils turned up at the same time. We call them ants - because they are so small and tend to go round in swarms. Matt got talking to one of the teachers, these ants were 4 & 5 and most of them no bigger than Tom. Here, Tom is big for his age (at home, he is small for his age) - a difference from when he was a baby when he was small for his age (Japanese babies tend to be surprisingly fat). Matt and Tom spent a good 30 mins in there - apparently Tom was transfixed by it - they had a couple of shinkansen, plenty of local trains, a building on fire, a temple, a huge engine shed and many many more features including a bridge going over it so you could look down on it and a sky that changed from daytime to nightime. The boys had a good time and I had a lovely half hour sit down by myself.

Too much train spotting for a day

Once Matt finally dragged Tom away from it, we got the local train back to Kyoto and then the Thunderbird to Shin Osaka - the Thunderbird was my favourite train last time we came here and Tom knows it by sight. Tom liked it so much that he promptly fell asleep on me after 10 mins and he stayed asleep as we got off and wondered through Shin Osaka station - including looking in a shop dedicated to Shinkansen goodies. We got Tom a Dr Yellow umbrella here - why?  because we spent all of today and yesterday carrying around a cheap 100 Yen umbrella expecting it to rain (it never did) and today we accidentally left it on Kyoto station. We figured we needed one small enough to put in one of our bags and the Dr Yellow one fitted the bill.

Tom woke up just as we headed for the Shinkansen home, meaning he was a real fidget, so we went straight to the park to play football and then went for dinner at our local fast food outlet - Sukiya - for gyudon - mine came with 3 cheeses on it (thought it worth a go but not really sure it worked) whilst Tom had a special children's meal of curry and rice. The price for the 3 of us - 1,060 Yen. That's £7, who said Japan is expensive?

Today's purchases: A Sagano Romantic Train T-shirt and a Dr Yellow Umbrella

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Location:Arashiyama

Mambo

Soiled nappy today:0(

Today we headed into Osaka to go to the aquarium. We decided to try out another train today - The Super Hakuto - a rather fetching express train with a big blue nose and the biggest driver cab you have ever seen. The good thing about the express train is that most of the route is over land (ie not in tunnels) so there is loads to see AND you can see directly into the driver's cab and so see them at work.

Now the thing I love most about Japanese railways is the way the drivers work. First of all they are very smart in their uniform - including a peaked cap and most importantly pristine white gloves. They have a system where they check paperwork clipped to the dashboard which they do with a pointy finger and a flourish of the arm, but best of all is when they acknowledge signals. They do this by pointing at them: thumb pointing directly upwards and index finger pointing at the signal - they don't just point though, they make a choreographed movement with their arm - they raise their arm to their head, and then depending on the individual they can make a beautifully smooth arc with their arm whilst pointing or as in today a quick jerky movement shooting their arm outwards but lingering with the point (and anything in between). I personally love watching this and give marks out of 10 to each driver -awarding more for smoothness. Unfortunately we weren't allocated seats in the front coach today, but we both took turns to take Tom there to watch, he was transfixed as was I - I even took some video to illustrate the point. By the end of the journey Tom was doing the point too.

Twilight Express

This all meant that the journey to Osaka passed by quite quickly. When we got to Osaka station Matt noticed that the Twilight Express was in (Japan's answer to the Orient Express) which goes from Osaka to Sapporo (capital of the Northern island of Hokkido) in 24 hours. We went to the platform to look. It certainly is a very lovely train and the first class coaches looked very luxurious. The end coach has a private apartment in it with 2 single beds - wow that must be great - although I think if it was me I would be too excited to sleep!

We then headed to Osaka-Ko for the aquarium. First stop though was lunch, we were in Osaka so it could only be one thing: Takoyaki - we were starving so we stopped at the first place serving it and dug in - a cheap lunch too - only 300 Yen for a serving (£2.50) the beer we had with it cost more! Tom dug in too - demolishing 3 of them. Guess what - I forgot to photograph them too!

Tom and his special ticket

When we were finished we finally got to the aquarium. Once we had paid our entrance fee we found out that their star attraction - the Whale Shark wasn't on show as they were putting in a new shoal of 30,000 sardines and wanted them settled before releasing the whale shark on them. We were very disappointed as the whale shark was half the reason for going there. However, we all had a good time. We had job slowing Tom down - as soon as he saw one tank he would shout "next tank - come on Mummy". Anyway it was better than I remembered - plenty to see: otters, sea otters, dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, turtles as well as lots and lots of fish. The big tank was still very impressive even though the whale shark was missing and our second favourite fish - the sunfish (Mambo in Japanese) was there looking splendid. Tom decided it was his favourite too. We spent a good 1.5 hours there and it went very quickly.

The area outside of the aquarium has been developed considerably since our last visit over 5 years ago - a huge shopping centre has appeared so we went inside searching for tea and a bun. Unfortunately although there was a big food court we couldn't find anything like that so we had an ice cream instead. Then a quick visit to a 100 Yen shop and back to the train station for our trip home. This time we got the Shinkansen back to Himeji and popped into the shopping mall to get dinner (chicken cutlet, an omurice (rice wrapped up in an omelette) a croquette and a number of salads - we've been lacking vegetables recently) on the way out of the station a ticket inspector stopped us to admire Tom's shirt - he was wearing his Ajax top and gave Tom a special children's ticket - Tom was very proud.

Then it was back on the Shinkansen - this time the Rail Star and a posh compartment within it for the long 8 minute journey back to Aioi.

Oh and today's purchases: a Shinkansen picnic blanket, a Shinkansen sticker book (we can't help ourselves!) and a mini sun fish.

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Location:Osaka

More new friends

Bathing our feet

Another poo in the toilet this morning - yahoo! Although it was under duress: I refused to put on Mr Tumble (his favourite tv show) until he did one - third time lucky we finally got there.

Today we had arranged to meet up with some old friends of Matt from his time in Kobe: Michiko and Colin with their 4 year old twins Ewan and Miya. Last time we saw them was in 2005 in Victoria (Canada - where they live) how all our lives have changed since then. We hadn't changed though - just found it difficult to finish conversations with the little ones around. Ewan and Miya are over a year older than Tom but are tiny for their age meaning they were all the same height and weight which was great. They also seemed to have similar temperaments to Tom meaning they got on well.

We got the white train to Shin Kobe then walked to the rope way where we met them all. We got a cable car up to Mt Rokko which looks down over the city. This was Tom's first experience of a cable car and he enjoyed it - it seems to be that being in the sky looking down is always fun.

Washing hands / collecting stones?

We got to the top where Tom had a bit of a moment but once he calmed down he was fine and before too long he was giggling as we started down the hill on foot. We had been told that there was a hot foot bath on the descent - the other 3 who can all speak and read Japanese all missed the sign, I think that because I can't read or speak the language my senses are heightened and I notice more - if there is an image I immediately look at it and try to work out what any words will be saying. Anyway I called them all back and we decided the foot bath was nearby and to investigate. It was really lucky we did because it clouded over and started to rain. The foot bath was located at the back of some greenhouses and had a roof over it. So we soaked our feet and watched the rain come down.

What is under that bridge?

Once the children became too fidgety and all of us a bit wet from splashing etc we went into a cafe for a drink and a bun. By the time we had finished the clouds had disappeared and we had bright sunshine again. In the cafe Ewan had got some toys out - guess what he had - a number of Shinkansens which he happily shared with Tom.  The children definitely bonded during this time and went off to explore the inside of the greenhouse by themselves - it had a little stream running through it with lots of bridges and stepping stones to play on. It was a delight to watch them. At some stage Tom and Miya decided each other were OK and were holding hands - how sweet.

Tom's been adopted

When we left to carry on the descent Ewan, Tom and Miya were holding hands - it really was very cute. We found a patch of level green further down the hill so got the ball out for a spot of footie / catch / a new ball in hat game. Without realising it lunchtime had come and gone - it was 1.30 so instead of continuing on down on foot (the original plan) we got the cable car from the midway station back down to the start.

Tom and Miya - young love?

We found ourselves a Kushikatsu restaurant (fried things on sticks) Matt had a tonkatsu whilst I had a plate of things on sticks - a magical mystery tour of food because as they all had batter and sauces on them I didn't know what any of them were. I gave Tom first dibs - he went for a piece of salmon - lucky boy. I also had a tiny sausage - that went to Tom, a piece of pumpkin (also went to Tom) an ebi (managed to keep that to myself this time), some more fish, an asparagus, a piece of beef, some boiled eggs, some konnyaku (devil's tongue - a very hard speckled jelly), and some other things which I couldn't identify.

A motley crew including 3 tired children after a happy day

Once we finished lunch the kids went mad for a little while which ended when Tom fell over and bumped his head. He then lost his sense of humour and came over tired. This meant we said our goodbyes. We hastily went to Daiei (a supermarket) to pick up the ingredients for a curry tonight and got the next Shinkansen back to Aioi. During this time the clouds gathered and when we arrived in Aioi we were greeted with torrential rain. We hung back until it eased up a little (we didn't have any coats or umbrellas with us) and then ran home. Tom went straight to bed - at his request, giving us time to process photos etc. Once Tom was awake again the storm had ended and we had clear blue skies again. So the boys went to play football whilst I made curry.


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Location:Kobe

Another day, another bridge

A Tom Seat

We all had good sleeps last night but unfortunately I woke up exhausted, no idea why but I never really got going - back to feeling jet lagged again (that burnt out eye feeling that you get) which wasn't good and it impacted on the day as I think Tom picked up on it.  He got told off more and sulked more. Sorry everyone.

Anyway today we went to Iwakuni (south west of Hiroshima) by White Train and the Rail Star (the Rail Star was definitely to Tom's liking as there was a nice padded fat arm rest between the seats that he clambered onto and made into his special seat). Iwakuni is home to the Kintaikyo bridge - a bridge that was built in 1673 (although it got blown away in a typhoon in 1950 and rebuilt in 2003). Originally it was built with no nails but this version wasn't. Even so it was a thing of splendour - 5 steep wooden arches spanning a very clear river in a very picturesque location.

Lumpy Bridge

It took some persuading to get Tom to walk across it free hand but he did manage some. When we got to the other side we thought Tom might like a paddle in the river. Not to be, but he was happy throwing stones in it instead. Matt and I enjoyed a paddle though.

We took many photos of it and then decided to explore the park - which had lots of historical buildings in it and a huge fountain complex. Unfortunately the fountains weren't on (we must be out of season, but it would have been lovely as it was a very hot day again today). However we did find a drinking water fountain which Tom took a shine to, in fact he soaked himself with it meaning he had to have a change of outfit (either that or expose his chicken poxed white tummy to all present - not too pleasant as I'm sure you can imagine)

Once we dragged him away from there we went in search of lunch and ended up buying some snacks: mochi on sticks, chicken karaage on sticks, and a croquette each - an oyster one for me and a yakiniku (beef) one for Matt. Tom ate some of everything, but under duress. The place we bought it from was an ice cream store selling countless number of soft ice cream flavours so we got one each which we shared with Tom - he perked up at this point - funny that!

I'm a bridge!

By now we had almost run out of time (we had a very important appointment to keep today) so we walked back across the bridge and took some more photos (typical now Tom wanted to stay and play in the water!) and got the bus back to Shin Iwakuni station. Here we got what Tom calls the blue train back to Aioi. This is a Kodama meaning it stops at all Shinkansen stations so it was a slower ride back. We had trouble keeping Tom occupied on the way back - meaning he was naughty and got told off a lot. As we pulled up at Aioi (2 hours after setting off) we discovered there was a children's play area in the front coach - poo! Not sure what it consisted of (Matt - it's an exact mock up of the driver's cab, meaning that kids can pretend they're driving the train they're on. What a fantastic idea), but we really wish we knew about it and now want to ride that train again to find out!

Blue Train

As I said earlier, we had a very important appointment to make as we had it on very good authority that a certain Dr Yellow would be passing through Aioi at 16.50 today, so we hung about at the station waiting for it (another little boy of 2, half Japanese and half Australian - here visiting grand parents and also Dr Yellow mad joined us) it was a long wait but he came - he was going flat out but for once Tom wasn't scared, he was very happy and spent the next half hour talking about it. Phew - another thing we can tick off the list - of course now he wants to see a slow or stopped Dr Yellow so we can't rest yet!

After that we went to the park for a spot of football and then headed to our local Ramen restaurant for a couple of bowls and 16 Gyoza (they were on special - 8 for 88 Yen - that's only 65 pence what a bargain). Although I took my camera with the intention of photographing it I forgot - will try to remember next time.

Came back and put a very tired Tom to bed.

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Location:Iwakuni

Dragon Boats

Dragon Boat (Ladies)

Wow what a day - Tom's in bed now and we can't wait until we can head upstairs ourselves.

So the Pampers were better than the other brand of nappy but he still leaked a little - but with the waterproof sheet in place it wasn't as bad as the night before.  Unfortunately, he soiled his nappy this morning so no opportunity for a poo on the loo and a sticker this morning.

Today was dragon boat racing day and what a glorious day for it - blue sky, no clouds and hot, hot, hot. Weather forecast said 24, but we reckon it must have been 30 ish - it was roasting.

Working hard

We set off down to Port Park around 10am. When we got to the covered shopping street we saw some food stalls, everyone was heading that way so we decided to follow them. We weren't prepared for the sheer number of stalls - there were hundreds.







Most of them were selling snacks:

Colourful Food Stalls

+ Takoyaki (octopus pancake balls)
+ Karaage
+ Yakitori (grilled marinated chicken on sticks)
+ Horumon (grilled cow intestine)
+ Sausages on sticks
+ Mochi on sticks
+ Okonomiyaki
+ Hashimaki (Okonomiyaki wrapped round chopsticks)
+ Ikayaki (grilled squid on sticks)
+ Yakisoba (a type of fried noodles)
+ Sweet potatoes on a stick
+ Chips
+ Pineapple on sticks
+ Candy covered bananas on sticks
+ Toffee apples
+ Taiyaki (fish-shaped cakes filled with red bean paste)
+ Castella (small sponge cakes baked in various shaped moulds)
+ Kakigohri (ground ice flavoured with ultra-sweet syrups)

Cheeky

And many more that I can't remember. We were in 7th heaven and couldn't wait for lunch time. Not all of them were food stalls. There were stalls selling toys (mainly toy guns), stalls where you could do some fishing (real fish - but very small), other fishing stalls - plastic fish for children, but mainly food. Don't think their food safety laws are as stringent as here, as we saw at least one stall holder cooking with a cigarette in his mouth!

We decided to go to the water front to see what was going on. We found a space no worries and watched a couple of races - the course wasn't that long, however they had to paddle to the end, then round a pole and back to the start which made it interesting. This being Japan, every team took it very seriously making it good viewing. Tom said it was too noisy (there was a lot of drumming going on) but he took it in his stride.

Kimonos

Samurai

After a while he requested a go on the funny slide so we went to some stalls and got some Takoyaki and Chicken Karaage and made our way to the park. The park was a little busier than previous times but it didn't phase Tom too much and he had a good play whilst Matt and I had good nosh (Tom had had a massive breakfast and so wasn't too interested). After a while we made our way back to the waterfront to watch some more racing and eat a sausage on a stick and drink a cup of ground ice with some horribly sickly sweet syrup on it, then we headed up the main street to view other entertainment. We came across a production of Samurai soldiers and ninjas playing out a fight. Their costumes were amazing, but their acting and swords were quite mediocre (pathetic - Matt). A ninja, however, gave Tom a shuriken (throwing star) which he liked. I found 2 ladies in kimonos and took a sly photo and we saw a dancing troupe. If we had stayed on this main street for the whole day I think we would have seen a bit of every aspect of Japanese culture. However, by now Tom was looking very tired so we headed on to a shop to buy some dinner (our plans for a big lunch were thwarted by the fact it was sooooo hot). We put Tom in a trolley (trollies here are very different to the UK - they are more like pushchairs with space for a basket - Tom doesn't care though, as long as he doesn't have to walk he is happy) found him another football to replace the lost one from yesterday and got some Yakitori, ebi chilli and sushi for dinner (too hot to cook). Oh AND we saw some Dr Yellow trainers - not sure we will be able to help ourselves - I think our Christmas shopping might commence soon!

Festivalled Out

Matt carried a very tired little boy back to the apartment on his shoulders, he went straight to bed in just his nappy whilst Matt and I processed the dozens of photos and video we took. Once Tom was up we had a game of football before dinner. One thing to say about Tom - his eating has been good. Obviously the food here is very different to home - but he has tried everything we have given him, albeit we have to nag him to eat everything up, he generally does eat up. He has discovered a real love of ebi (prawns) since getting here which is great but they are our favourites too and now we are getting less of them (I guess we must love him)

We all caught the sun today - Matt and I have various pink areas - I'm hoping mine will go brown over night as they aren't too bad. We will see what happens to Matt. Tom had slight rosy arms - nothing to worry about. We were all wearing factor 50 sun cream, just that either we didn't apply it early enough or missed bits out.

Dr Yellow is due to zoom through Aioi Shinkansen station tomorrow we have booked tickets to be back in time for it - hopefully there won't be a problem with the line like there was last week...

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Location:Aioi

Bridges

Another poo in the toilet - are we getting there? It looks like Tom will only be toilet trained whilst on holiday!

Seto Ohashi Bridge

Today our rail passes commenced so we (Ok - Matt) booked a Shinkansen to Okayama and the on to Kojima which is where the Seto Ohashi Bridge stretches for about 20 miles between Honshu and Shikoku using any little islands in the way as stepping stones across the Setonikai (Inland Sea). There is also a bridge museum in Kojima housed in a funky building where you can climb over its roof.

Banking

We got to Kojima went straight to Tourist Info to find out that the bridge museum has closed and the bus to the viewpoint of the bridge goes once an hour (5 minutes ago) Poo - not a good start. So we wandered around the station area went into a baby shop looking for nappies - these seem to be hard to find over here making me think that they use reusables here. We bought some in Himeji earlier in the week but we could only find pull ups - really thin pull-ups. Tom wore one for the first time last night and woke up in a wet patch - not great as we have no way to clean the futon he is lying on. So sheets went in the washing machine first thing. We looked at the selection of nappies in the baby shop - all were pull ups. However we did manage to find a waterproof backed sheet a quarter the size of his bed and bought that hoping it will stop the leakages going into the futon.

We found a Dr Yellow rain coat and Shinkansen umbrella in the store but they were quite expensive so stayed there. Tom unfortunately had a bit of a moment in the store meaning we left quickly and had to have words with him sat on the harbour wall - turns out he was hungry - if only he would say rather than cry!

Clambering

We then went for a look around an electrics store. They had a nappy section including Pampers and some proper nappies not just pull ups - so we made a mental note and decided to go back there to buy them before leaving.

Funny Bridge

By the time we had finished there it was time to get the bus to Washuzan - the observation point. When we got there it seemed really deserted and we wondered if we had done the right thing. We walked up the road and found the observation area - it was beautiful, unfortunately it was really hazy so we couldn't see too far in the distance but the haze added a certain mystique to the area giving it a ghostlike atmosphere. To our relief there was a tourist shop and restaurant up there (we were all beginning to get hungry) got to the restaurant to find all the good tables full - not sure where everyone had come from. We all had a really good lunch: Katsudon ( pork schnitzel on rice) for Matt and Tendon (a selection of tempora and rice)) for me. Tom ate a bit of everything and said "my want ebi" in a very loud voice to me luckily I had two or I would have been very upset. We keep meaning to take photos of our lunches and dinners when we go out as Japanese food is always so beautifully presented but are always mega hungry when it arrives that we forget. Must try harder next week.

More clambering

  We went to the shop, got some postcards and Tom got his stamp, then we went down to get the bus back to Kojima. We got off near the museum building as we were hoping the a park that used to be in front of it would still be there - it was. The park had recreations of lots of different bridges for children to climb over: wooden ones, concrete ones, curvy ones, pointy ones, wobble wobble ones, small ones, tall ones and a rope and pulley bridge. Although Tom wasn't carefree playing on them he gave them his best shot and had a good time. It was a fantastic place for children.

We then walked back to the station we found another park on the way with a water feature which Tom HAD to play in. Initially he marched in soaking his boots - so I pulled them and his socks off and he had a nice play.

We then went back to the station and got a train across the Seto Ohashi Bridge - just like being in a train in the sky, it was a great view. We got to the first station in Shikoku got off, found a stamp (to prove we had been there) then got on the next train back. Tom admitted that he was now tired so I told him to sleep on me which to our amazement he did - he got a good 20 mins waking when we had to transfer trains. Of course he was transferring on to a Shinkansen so he perked up in no time and had a lovely time as the carriage was empty - meaning we allowed him to wonder around trying out all the different seats - very exciting for a three year old!

Can't get my shorts wet!

We got back to Aioi - Tom demanded we play football with him which we did until he kicked it under the gate of a building - oops - we will have to get him a new one tomorrow. Aioi has become alive this weekend. It is their annual Dragon Boat racing weekend this weekend. today was a massive firework ceremony (went on from 7.30 to 9.00) we saw hundreds of people making their way down, lots of girls and women were wearing kimonos and some men yukatas which looked really good. I hope they wear them to the races again tomorrow as I would love to get some photos of them. Tom surprisingly hardly noticed the fireworks - they certainly put on a show and with the surrounding mountains the sound reverberated somewhat. Anyway it was a good day.

At last - this is how I'm meant to travel!

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Location:Kojima

New Friends

Himeji Castle with its wrapping on

Another poo in the toilet this morning :0)

Today we had arranged to meet up with Arline, one of Matt's translator friends in Himeji - she's over for the conference as well and was visiting one of her clients/friends in Himeji. Both Tom and I have met Arline before - in Spain in 2010 - when Tom was 18 months old. We kept telling Tom this and although I don't think he can remember he gave Arline a huge running hug when she found us in the station. (Took her and us quite by surprise).

Her friends, The Matsumotos had a big car and a booster seat which was good because it was raining today. It wasn't much - just spitting rain but the walk up to Himeji castle is long enough that we would have got wet and hot (although it was raining, it was still quite warm, meaning we become boil in the bag sweaty numbers if we wear anoraks).

Tom and a fish

The Matsumotos seemed really nice (although they don't speak much English but you can get a good sense of a person without being able to speak their language). They drove us up to the castle. We walked through the grounds and explored the buildings at the bottom of the complex. Tom had a moment when we arrived (too hot in his waterproof suit maybe?) but after a kind lady gave him a sweetie he cheered up and in fact led us around the buildings. Now every Japanese castle I've been to has a collection of empty rooms and this was no exception - Tom picked up on it "No beds in the rooms" I'm assuming this is because everyone slept on futons which were kept in cupboards so there was no furniture in the rooms.

The main castle is currently undergoing a massive restoration - they are taking off and restoring all the roofing tiles and redoing all the plasterwork - a huge task that will take 3 years. They have built another building over the castle - keeping it dry for the work. However, rather than close the castle, they have created a couple of viewing platforms within this building meaning that visitors can watch the workmen - this was really good and in fact I found it more interesting than just seeing the castle anyway.

Work in progress

Once we were done in the castle, we got Tom his stamp (most places of interest in Japan have a commemorative ink stamp which you can collect. This being Japan they aren't vandalised meaning they can be set up pretty much anywhere. We thought it would be good to collect them for Tom as a memory jog / memento of his visit) we then all got back in the car and headed to a restaurant for lunch. It was an Italian restaurant so Matt had pasta and I had pizza so Tom had a choice - guess what he decided pizza was best! The food was good, Tom ate well. He began to get bored so I got a couple of things out for him to play with - his most favourite being the 50p magnetic drawing pad I got him before we left ( these have been a godsend - his main play thing on the plane and since we got here - I wish we had bought his big one with us now but I thought it too big and cumbersome).

Tom and his new best friend

Suddenly Tom decided that he was going to get to know his new friend and went to see Mr Matsumoto. Mr Matsumoto is the head of an Elementary school and you could tell - he was completely at ease with him and they were both giggling and being silly for a good hour and a half! So much so that Tom got all sweaty from playing so hard. It was lovely to see him so at ease. I hope that he is like that with Hiromi as well when he sees her.

Mr Matsumoto has been to the UK a number of times as he set up a school exchange with a school in Gateshead - I was impressed the kids that exchange are only 11/12 - Japan is very different from Europe. He said the hardest thing for both sets of kids is the change in food - MacDonalds is all they have in common.

The Matsumotos and Arlene - a fab lunch

Before we knew it it was 4.30 - we had been there for 3 hours. The Matsumotos drove us back to Himeji station where we got ourselves some Japanese ready meals for dinner and some fab looking buns for breakfast tomorrow. We then boarded the train back to Aioi, had dinner, bath & bed. Another happy day.





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Location:Himeji

Onsen Day

Managed another OK night's sleep last night. Tom slept through, Matt and I kept waking up - but that's nothing new - we do that in Telford. I still haven't quite got used to sleeping on the floor yet and wake up aching every morning. Matt's ok and Tom hasn't seemed to notice there isn't a mattress on his bed. Even more weirdly, he hasn't noticed that his pillow is full of beans rather than foam or feathers - believe me it is quite a different feeling - so much so that Matt refuses to use one - and he's the Japanophile!

Anyway we didn't get going until about 8.30 and unfortunately Tom soiled his nappy whilst gooning about meaning we didn't get the opportunity to use the sticker bribe to get him to use the toilet.

The new pyjamas

After much deliberation about what to do today we finally settled on staying in Aioi and visiting its onsen (spa). So we caught the bus back down to Peron Castle armed with towels. Matt took Tom in with him so I had a lovely relaxing time. My side had about 3 or 4 old ladies in it - all of whom were using the sauna and cold bath so I had the run of the baths: a jacuzzi, a purple bath, an outdoor bath and some bubble beds (well that's what I call them - narrow bits of bath divided up with metal rails so they fit one lady at a time and full of bubbles - coming at you from all angles - feels great). Luckily, having been to a number of onsens I know more or less what to do but it is still a little nerve-wracking walking into somewhere naked and unable to read any of the signs and notices. Anyway no-one glared at me so I think I did OK - also I wasn't the biggest lady there, which was comforting for me.

Anyway I truly relaxed and even found time to blow dry my hair (first time since the Gala Dinner in Cosford). I met Tom and Matt back in reception - they had had a good time - apparently Tom felt completely at ease and was quite excited - especially with the outside bath - especially as you could see the inlet and boats from it. Apparently he charmed quite a few of the men there.

Once we had all cooled down and drunk some cold water, we headed out for some lunch and found a restaurant specialising in Okinomiyaki so decided to go for that. They also did some snacks: deep fried mochi filled with cheese - wow, what is there not to like about that? All 3 of us gobbled them down in no time at all.

We then stopped by the park we played in yesterday for some sliding and swinging and football before heading to the shops to pick up some rice for dinner tonight. On the way home all 3 of us lost energy (too much relaxing in the onsen - my legs felt like lead and it was a real effort to move them). Matt ended up carrying Tom home who then went straight to sleep.

We gave Tom an hour's nap and got him up, but we had real trouble waking him up and he continued to snooze for the next hour. Dinner of Hayashi Rice (beef stew) perked him up and he was fine afterwards but glad to go back to bed.

A good day: Tom was very well behaved today: Matt said he was a pleasure to be with in the onsen which was fab (also no remarks about his scabby back which was good) and he ate all 3 of his meals without us nagging him which was lovely.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Aioi

Exploring

Two little daikons

We had success last night. Tom didn't cry and we had a job waking him at 8am! We both faired better as well - sleeping for longer than we were awake AND we didn't go to bed until after 10pm.

This morning we had another poo in the toilet - so happy. Yesterday we bought him some really funky transportation stickers (no Dr Yellow this time I'm afraid) and told him he would only get them if he pooed in the toilet. This morning he happily went to the loo to try and had success on his second attempt - we were all very proud. He got his sticker and wore it with pride for the rest of the day. Let's hope the sticker bribe doesn't wear off too quickly.

Today we decided to stay in Aioi and do some exploring. Our end of town is very quiet - we figured there must be more to it. So we got a bus down to Port Park not really knowing what to expect. At first we thought it was miles and miles away, but the driver took us through every residential area in the town until we finally got there - turns out it was only about a mile away - oh hum. Port Park is on the coast - Aioi is at the bottom of an inlet in the Inland Sea. Here there are ship builders (Matt knows one of them from his patent work) and a nice patch of green and promenade alongside the shore which we walked down (not a whimper from the lad which was surprising as it was quite breezy). Aioi is very proud of one thing - its Dragon Boat racing, which it holds over one weekend every year - everything in the town is geared towards this (murals, drain covers etc) and it just so happens it is this coming weekend, so we are planning to go and watch them. Alongside the promenade was a statue of a Dragon Boat which we posed alongside for the customary photo.

Drinking Doctor Yellow

We carried along the promenade until we got to Peron Castle which is an Onsen (spa). Came across a farmers market so looked at the produce, guessing what things were and got some info on the Onsen for a visit later in our stay. Opposite this was a retail park so we had a look round - one of the stores was a huge supermarket full of wonderful looking things (especially the deli counter - full of sushi, tempura, croquettes and things on sticks) whilst nosing around I came across a children's carton of drink with a certain Dr Yellow on it - couldn't believe it, as soon as Tom saw it he had to have it and as soon as we got out of the store, he ripped open the straw and drank it in one breath - we still aren't 100% sure what it was other than a milky drink of sorts.

We then found a park with a funky slide in it - made from rollers meaning you go quite fast and get a bottom massage as you go along. Tom called it a silly slide but loved it, as did Matt and I (we are both kids at heart). Our stomachs began to rumble so we headed back into town to a Co-Op we had seen. We had lunch: Katsu Curry for Matt and Tempura Udon Teishoku (set lunch with a bowl of udon soup and ebi tempura and rice (definitely a Slimming World green day). We then explored the shop - wow it was massive! I think you could buy pretty much anything there AND it had a 100 Yen shop in it. We found a baby carriage thing for Tom to sit in so we could look around without Tom causing annoyance / breakages etc. He's a bit put off at the moment as he has suddenly realised that although he isn't allowed to touch things I do - so he keeps telling me off!

Watching the white trains

We bought some food for dinner: ebi, noodles, edamame and gyoza and headed home. Tom went to bed for a nap then we went back to the station to watch the Shinkansen speeding through Aioi at full speed. Tom was a little scared but very curious.

Then home, dinner, shower, bath and bed.

Today's purchase: Shinkansen pyjamas - which include Dr Yellow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Aioi

My Best Friend

My best friend!

First things first, today Tom pooed in the toilet - yahoooooo!

Another OK-ish night - Tom woke up crying at midnight, I failed to settle him so moved in again. It was 2.30 before he fell asleep again but he didn't disturb me and I managed a couple more hours.
Right then, today we arranged to go to Kobe to meet up with one of Matt's translator friends. So we set off on the local train - took 1hr 15mins (this time will be reduced to 25 mins once our rail passes start and we can use the Shinkansen - yahoo)

We met Richard in the Muji restaurant just above Bornelund - a soft play area (we didn't go in today as it is very expensive and we had other things to do today). However next to the restaurant was a kids shop with lots of sample toys for children to play with so after some shyness Tom got stuck in. We then went for lunch which wasn't great as Tom was more intent on going back to the shop to play and was a little stubborn eating things, although we got there in the end. We of course then had to go back to the shop for more playing before we said goodbye to Richard and set off to Harbourland in the Port area of Kobe.

Still a bit jet-lagged

Luckily we came across a free bus half way there which we scrambled on. Our main reason for going to Harbourland was to visit a certain little shop - Donguri Garden which has lots of Totoro and Jiji Kiki (Studio Ghibli) items. Some items were a good £100, but we found the odd thing we liked and came away not too poor! We then went for a sit overlooking the sea watching boats come and go. Next stop was supposed to be Daiei, a favourite department store, but it had gone so we went to its replacement - not as good, but we managed to do some shopping - mainly for dinner tonight: regular sushi, inari sushi (rice coverd in sweeten tofu) and maki sushi (Californian rolls) with some cold soba noodles which we swiftly took home on the train.

Now on the train Tom had to sit on me as it was full. He played, then he wriggled and fidgeted beyond belief. I asked him if he was tired "my not twyred" came back the reply - a minute later he was zonked out! He was so tired that he didn't wake up when we got off the train, walked down and up steps up onto another platform, sat in the waiting room and boarded another train! He only woke up an hour later when we arrived back in Aioi - very sweaty and a little disorientated!

After some time to come to, we went for a game of football at the local park - met another 3 year old boy called Tomoki who had also gone with his football. We tried to get them to play with each other but Tomoki seemed quite suspicious of us and refused (makes a change for it not to be Tom being the awkward one)

Then a quick walk to the convenience store for dinner drinks: milk for Tom and beer for us, then dinner, SHOWER (Tom's first without protest) and bath before bed for Tom, work for Matt and blogging for me. Going to try to stay up till 10 today - we will see...

Today's purchase: Dr Yellow plasters for Tom's poorly heel

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Location:Kobe

Himeji

It was a bit of an up and down sleep last night. I was out like a light almost immediately but was woken up by Tom crying at 11. We couldn't settle him so I moved my futon into his room and slept with him. It worked. Although he was awake for the next 2 hours he didn't disturb me - and then he slept through till morning. My deep sleep was over for the night though and I dozed for the remainder of the night. Matt didn't get to sleep until after the crying incident but then did well.

Anyway we all felt a little better in the morningWe decided, after seeing how empty our apartment was, that we would need to go shopping today, so we went into Himeji for the day. First stop was a 100 Yen shop for a football for Tom and then we headed to the castle gardens for a kick about - wow it is hot! We all had to put hats and suncream on. We then headed back to Himeji Station as Matt had found out that it was very likely that a certain Dr Yellow would be passing through and we thought a certain little boy would like to see him. Can you believe it - we got to the station to find out that their had been an incident earlier on in the day and there were delays of up to 80 minutes - that never happens in Japan!!!!!! We hung around for a little while but then decided it was a lost cause and went to find lunch in the department store (department stores are very different in Japan - generally the top floor is dedicated to restaurants and there will be quite a selection of them - each specialising in something different and each of them displaying their dishes by food models in their windows (very handy if you don't speak or read the lingo as you can go with the waitress outside and point to what you want). We ended up in a Katsu restaurant (specialising in Items that have been covered in panko crumbs and fried). Pork Katsu with egg for me and an ebi plate for Matt - all very delicious.

We then went back to the 100 yen shop to stock up on bits (some cushions to sit on the floor with as we have no chairs), a washing line, a mug so Matt can drink tea (funny - I didn't think of that when packing), a battery operated light for the bedrooms (for some reason there are no lights in the bedrooms) and so on. All these plus more came to under £20 - oh how we love 100 yen shops, ( oh if you are wondering 100 Yen is about 80 pence).

We then went on the hunt for nappies (difficult to find over here - I guess they don't use disposables here) and then home. Tom had a nap on our return (under protest but he was asleep within minutes) then we went for another wonder around before heading to our nearest restaurant for dinner:
Okonomiyaki. A tiny neighbourhood restaurant - these are the best restaurants in Japan but you have to be able to speak and read Japanese to use them - and they are also usually very cheap which is a bonus - you haven't experienced Japan properly until you use these - I always feel sorry for regular tourists who are missing out on this experience. The 3 of us shared 2 okinomiyakis - one with soba the other regular. Tom ate his without too much fuss and Matt caught up with the local gossip.

Then home, Tom went to bed, I hit a wall around 8.30 and followed suit.

Today's purchase: Doctor Yellow cup

Location:Himeji

The long flight

Ready for the off

Oh yes it was a very long flight - a necessary evil for trips to Japan. Tom was so well behaved though that I can't complain - just wish we could take a leaf out of his book and sleep some of the way!

So, the taxi arrived dead on time (6.15) we bundled everything in and made our way to the airport. At the airport everything went well - we got checked easily (Totoro was given a special priority tag) and we managed to exercise Tom by making him run round quite a bit. It obviously isn't a popular time to fly as Birmingham Airport was the quietest I have ever seen it!

However, having said that our flight to Charles de Gaulle was full. We did get a little nervous at one stage because we got quite badly delayed - someone didn't turn up for the flight so they had to go through the luggage hold to remove their luggage, delaying us by a good half hour - not good when you have a short connection in one of the worst airports! However we were lucky in that our flight to Osaka took off from the same terminal where we landed, meaning we got our flight with no problems.

We were very lucky in that the Osaka flight wasn't very full - we had 6 seats for the 3 of us which meant I could make a nest for Tom and he could lay out. Perfect - I wish all flights were like that! Tom actually fell asleep on take off (he has done that a number of times now) so once the seatbelt signs got turned off we lay him down and after 30mins of fighting it (or rather being distracted by things) he finally submitted and fell asleep - he was out cold for 2 hours.

A light snooze on the flight

Once awake he had his dinner, played a bit (almost broke his Daddy's iPad by dropping it on the floor on purpose which didn't go down well (false alarm - it is working fine now), read etc. when he started getting whiny again I lay him down again and within 40 mins he was asleep - and then stayed asleep until 40 mins before landing - not bad in fact some of the flight crew were impressed by just how much he did sleep - must say it made our flight easier, however neither Matt nor I managed to get any sleep.

We landed in Osaka on time, got through immigration and customs without getting stopped (first time ever for Matt) and then got what seemed like the longest ever train trip to our flat via Osaka (change trains), Himeji (change trains and Yoshinoya for Gyudon lunch and Aboshi (pick up keys). We found our little house without too much trouble. It certainly is little and has little furniture (a low down table, fridge freezer, tv and single bed), however we don't need much and it is certainly convenient for the train station.

We dumped our stuff, made up the futons, put Tom down for a nap and then lay down ourselves - it felt really good, but we didn't manage any sleep as we expected. Isn't jet lag just horrible!

After a couple of hours we gave up, had showers and baths and went for a look around our part of town. It is very sleepy but then it is Sunday. Had a look round the local convenience stores and ended up having dinner in a ramen restaurant although we didn't have ramen, opting for fried rice, gyoza and kara-age chicken instead - yummy!

We then headed home, put Tom to bed and then followed ourselves shortly after - about 7.30 (well it had been a long, long day,)

Today's Purchase: Dr Yellow Toothbrush

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Location:Birmingham to Aioi and everywhere in between

Rolling rolling rolling - Tom takes to his wheels

Not too much to say about this weekend. We had planned to visit Shelm and Bob at their caravan, but Tom's chicken pox hadn't cleared up and Bob wasn't feeling too well so we cancelled.

On the plus side it was good weather so we decided to go out both days. On Saturday we parked in Telford Town Park and walked (Tom cycled) down the Silkin Way to Coalport - a whole 4.5 miles! He didn't whine once and then when we got to the pub at the end he demanded that we play football with him - he certainly isn't ill any more!

We got 2 buses back to the car park and then home.

Sunday we went to Haughmond Hill to walk / cycle the Geotrail. this passed without incident - we all had a good time. Matt's of the thinking now that we get Tom a proper push bike when we get home as his legs are getting a little too long for the balance bike now...

Best Friend Leia

Very elegant!

So I quickly repacked our bags and bundled Tom into the car.  We met at Dunham Massey - a National Trust place.  We arrived at the same time, Leia had her scooter so I got Tom's bike out and away they went.  Although they were both a little shy to start with, they soon warmed up and away they went.  The estate was lovely and huge.  We went to the formal gardens where Leia and Tom had to park there vehicles and do a trail.  We started off following the trail, but concentration wasn't the best and anyway, playing 'Chase Leia' was far more interesting and off they went - running around finding places to hide.

Posing

We followed ambling behind them - Tom even ran across a bridge with no sides crossing a lake?!  I tell you there is something about Tom and older women - he will do anything for them.

Anyway it started to rain so we decided to get something to eat, then we hit the gardens again.  Tom was getting tired though as he kept crying over nothing.  He and Leia swapped vehicles for a while but Leia didn't like Tom's bike and we had more tears when Leia demanded her scooter back.  We decided to call it a day and go back to Karen's home.  I thought Tom would fall asleep in the car, but surprisingly he didn't and there was no way I was going to convince him to sleep once we got there - a different house full of different toys and things to discover - he found a new lease of life and off he went.

Lover's Walk?

We decided to stay overnight - Karen had to work for the day, so it made sense for me to stay with Tom and Leia, especially as they were getting on so well.  We had a bad night - Tom tossed and turned all night complaining that his winkle was hurting and he was too hot and so on.  Tom wasn't looking good at all in the morning, so I decided to go take them somewhere sparse of population.  I decided to take them to a park - we had it to ourselves.  I discovered the problem of looking after two children - whatever one wanted to do the other didn't - so negotiation was the order of the day.

They seem happy...

Leia would only play football on the pavement because it "doesn't work on grass" whilst Tom wanted to play on the grass.  Leia wanted to play on the swings etc even though they were wet with rain - whilst Tom didn't want to get 'wetty'.  Oh well, through negotiations and bribes I got there and they did have a good time.

After Leia repeatedly telling me she was hungry and all my snacks gone, I decided to take them home for lunch.  They then played in the garden in the sun (?!) and then inside - Leia tried to convince Tom to dress up - he wouldn't but he was happy to wear high heels!

Riding

Anyway Karen came home at 4 and we made our escape to try to beat the traffic - I got lost as usual leaving Manchester - I have never got to grips with the inner city roads there - did a couple of circuits of the University before finding my way out but once on the road I made good time.

High heels

Once home we had a quick dinner, then Matt put Tom to bed whilst I rushed to the shops to do the weekly shop and came home to make cakes - this week was a very big challenge - looking after Tom full time and getting my cake orders done.  Not something I want to be repeated very often - especially after having a very bad night's sleep a day spent looking after 2 children and long drive, not a recipe for a happy Nik!

In bed with Sophie

The rest of the week was spent looking after Tom

and making cakes and getting stressed!  My birthday happened amongst this - but it didn't really register.  Luckily, Sophie, one of Tom's friends also got Chicken Pox so we spent a long time with her and Sammie her Mum which was quite good - I discovered that it is much easier to look after a child you know than one you don't - also I had more patience once I had a good night's sleep.