Long Day

Great view of Fuji even though it was hazy

Today we went to Tokyo to see the Kurodas, some of Matt's clients, they run a high end gardening shop in Roppongi. This meant getting the 7.51am train from Aioi which took us straight to Shinagawa - the stop before Tokyo Station. This was to take just under 4 hours. We were worried about having a very fidgety boy on our hands so packed lots of extra activities for him to do and keep him quiet. We needn't have worried he was amazingly good.

We had breakfast when we got on (yummy buns we got from a Danish Bakery in Osaka yesterday) then Tom was quite happy amusing himself, watching the world go by and walking up and down the aisle. The train didn't fill up until Nagoya (half way there) - until then we were able to spread ourselves out in the carriage.

Being silly with Mr Kuroda

We got to Shinagawa on time (of course) and then took a JR line and subway to Roppongi and the Kurodas' shop. I say that Tom was good today - but he wasn't 100% good he was really bad going to the toilet today. Luckily I had some pull ups with me or I don't know what I would have done! He kept saying he needed a wee / poo but when we took him to the loo (what seemed like a hundred times) he either did nothing or a couple of drops, it was very frustrating as he asked to go to the toilet every 5 minutes once we met up with the Kurodas - not great for flow of conversation.

They took us to the same restaurant as before (apparently the inspiration for the restaurant scene in Kill Bill - having never seen it I can't tell you if it is authentic) however it seems to be the haunt of the stars as there are many pics on the wall: Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder etc, considering it is the hang out of celebraties the prices are very reasonable. I had chicken karaage and Matt ebi on rice - we both shared with Tom which he ate whilst grizzling. He was still demanding a toilet break every 5 mins which made lunch a very truncated affair.

Tom's special shinkansen bento

We returned to the Kurodas' shop for a drink - Tom demanded another wee, we went he did nothing. A minute later a poo appeared in his nappy! I had to take him into their store room to change him as their toilet was literally the size of the toilet. Mrs Kuroda lay down some bubble wrap (how sweet) and I sorted him out. he turned into a different boy once I had cleaned him up - he decided that Mr and Mrs Kuroda were fun and demanded that they play with him. He particularly liked it when Mr Kuroda lifted him up and tapped his head on the ceiling. His arms were shaking with the effort of doing it but Tom didn't care he just demanded 'really big high' again and again. Anyway there was much giggling, which was good as up until then it had all been grizzling.

My bento - not sure what all of it was, but I enjoyed it

We got the bus back to Shinagawa, where we chose our bento boxes for the journey home. Tom got a special Shinkansen one, I got one with a bit of everything and Matt went for Chinese dumplings with fried rice. We got the 16.10 back to Aioi. Tom fell asleep on me within 10 minutes and was out for the best part of an hour (I took the opportunity for a doze too). Then once past Nagoya where the train emptied considerably and we were able to spread out across 3 seats we ate our bentos. Tom ate his fine - but told us half way through that he had done a poo - he hadn't. He then said he needed a wee and started to get upset. Matt took him and he didn't, Matt was very cross but Tom really didn't seem to care. Not sure any of this toilet training is getting through to him.

Anyway we got home at 7.55 without having to get out any new activities which was good. Tom had a quick drink, bath and bed, but it was almost 9 before he went to bed. Think we will have a quiet day tomorrow.

P.S. I (Matt) took my ailing camera to a huge camera shop in Osaka yesterday, where the helpful staff managed to deduce that it was the camera, not the lens, that had failed. They then made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a new one, so I am now the proud owner of a Sony α57, which I'm already very impressed with. Great image quality, and it takes full HD video too.

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Location: Tokyo