Dressing Up

Another day another train!

We decided to have a relatively local day today as we have a trip to Tokyo tomorrow, so headed off to Osaka for the day.

We got the Shinkansen to Himeji and then the Super Hakuto Express to Osaka station.  This train has a great big nose, but best of all it isn't a shinkansen so you can watch the driver - we had reserved front seats so we could sit and watch - the hour's trip went very quickly.

Lunch - stuff on sticks

The Longest Shopping Street in Japan

When we got to Osaka station the Twilight Express was in again so we stopped for a quick look again and then got ourselves on the Osaka Loop Line to Temma Station where we walked along the longest covered shopping street in Japan (Tenjinbashisuji) I think it stretches a good 10 km. I really enjoy these streets, they are full of restaurants and independent shops, no chain stores to be found here - all little family run shops and in this case the odd pachinko parlour.  There were quite a few clothes shops here so we were hoping to find some cheap boy sized shinkansen t-shirts, but it wasn't to be - found pink girlie shops but no boy shops!  Nevermind.  We stopped at a kushikatsu restaurant (stuff on sticks) and had a selection: ebi, mochi and cheese, garlic, sausage, fish sausage, fish, potato - the usual suspects really.  Tom ate up ok.

Dressing Up

We then carried on as today our plan was to visit the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living - we had found out about this via watching NHK in the UK - and seemed like it would be a fun day out.  We weren't wrong.  It was located on the two top floors of an office block (a very unlikely place - and thank god Matt can read Japanese as there was nothing anywhere in English).  The top floor was a mock up of Osaka in the 1830s - so all wooden buildings, sliding doors, minimal furniture, dogs in the alley ways, cats on the roof etc.  There were a number of festival items on display as well.  All very interesting, but the best bit was that we could all dress up in kimonos and yukatas - for free.  Well it had to be done.  I've never managed to get Tom to dress up before, but we prepared him for this last night and told him he was going to have a chance to dress as a Japanese boy and he seemed up for it.  It was almost a disaster from the onset though.  The village has a roof which has different light projected on it so that you experience a full day in 30 minutes - including fireworks at night time.  We arrived during the fireworks and Tom wanted to leave immediately.  Very strange as we had real fireworks during the dragon boat festival in Aioi last week and they didn't bother him at all.

Almost ready

Anyway once they were over he cheered up, there was a little stall with children's games for him to play with and that got him engaged.  They were basically the same toys as you would get in a living museum in the UK - I thought they would be different considering Japan was isolated from foreign influence for so long.  They included a spinning top, catch the ball on the stick, and a flippy floppy wooden thing (I remember them from my childhood but don't know what they are called - I'll ask Matt - I can't remember either).  We had a quick look round and then found the dressing up room.  A little boy was having a yukata put on when we arrived - as soon as Tom saw him he immediately wanted a go - we had a job holding him back.  He had a huge grin on his face the whole time - he loved it.  It seems to be that  if dressing up means dressing up Japanese style he's up for it - I swear he is half Japanese!  He did look gorgeous - he had his photo taken by pretty much everyone there - was hugged by girls and took it all in his stride.  At this point I will have to apologise for the quality of the photos.  Matt's camera gave up the ghost on the train ride into Osaka today - it refused to recognise that there was a lens attached, which meant it wouldn't take photos.  This meant that we were reduced to my little point and shoot - which is OK for general photos - but not as great for indoor ones - shame.  We also took some video - which Matt may upload in the next couple of days.

Japanese Family?

We were allowed the kimonos etc for 30 minutes, and took full advantage of them - didn't want to take them off - they were very comfy as well.  Can't say I would have chosen the one I was put in, but it was good enough.

Once we were done there, we went down to the next floor, where there was a recreation of a school room - Tom really enjoyed this, he seemed very at home at school - I was made teacher and gave him some homework.  We had to drag him away from it to see the rest of the museum, but had to return for another go afterwards (since when are children supposed to like school?)

The second floor had lots of big models of Osaka at different points in its history.  They were really well thought out and interesting to look at - Tom did get into them in the end as some of these moved, had buttons, went from daylight to night time etc.

My Japanese Boys

It was getting on to 3pm when we finally left. We decided to walk back to the station, but only after purchasing Tom a pair of yukata pyjamas from the shopping street - we couldn't help ourselves after seeing him all dressed up in the museum!

Tom and I then got the Super Hakuto back to Himeji (he fell asleep on me after about 10 minutes and stayed asleep until I woke him up for our stop).  Matt stayed in Osaka as he is meeting up with a friend for drinks / dinner.  Tom was obviously tired from today's exertions as normally he would demand a game of football, but he just wanted to watch Mr Tumble on the telly, have his dinner (he ate up really well) have a bath and go to bed.

Anyway a good day, I hope you enjoy the pics.

Oh, and Matt got the post for Tom - thanks Granma and Pop Pop, Tom was delighted to receive it.

A Quiet Day

Going down the silly slide in a silly fashion

We had a lovely quiet day today - just what the Dr ordered. I didn't get up until 8, went and got Tom (monster poo in nappy) and played around upstairs for a while, including a Skype chat with Matt to try to put Tom in order for the day. Tom has been saying how much he misses Daddy and that he wants to tell Daddy what he's doing. Once he was given the chance he decided the level crossing was far more interesting!

Tom hit me in my stomach this morning - nothing new there but it really hurt - something is definitely wrong with it, although I haven't lost my appetite and don't have any other ailments.   Anyway I told Tom that I had a sore tummy and he immediately put me to bed in his bed. Tucked me up, gave me every animal to hug, put the music box on, closed the door, asked if I was ok and went to our bedroom - how sweet. He was back 30 seconds later telling me to wake up - but the sentiment was there.

We had a leisurely breakfast and then a very leisurely morning pottering about the house - I tidied up and he sort of helped me. He also did some drawing including some train tracks - his first ever. He is really beginning to think about his drawings rather than just randomly scribbling which is fab, means he actually concentrates, which is nice to see.

Eating Sushi

We finally left the house at 11.45 and got the bus down to the waterfront. We walked along the waterfront to the retail park and picked up some lunch at the supermarket - some makizushi (rolled sushi) as chosen by Tom - very good choice as it had mushrooms in it, and some potato salad - strange combination I know. Tom also got his favourite Dr Yellow carton drinks. We took everything to the park and Tom grazed and played whilst I watched. He was very happy playing by himself and I was very happy to watch. After an hour some more children turned up and Tom got a bit shy, so we headed off to play goals in the football net. Currently he is football mad and will play and play until he drops. Eventually I had to call it a day - he was red in the face and very sweaty.

We walked back over the bridge to the Co-Op (him under grizzly protest but I was able to put my foot down and win today). We got provisions for today and tomorrow. I then decided to get the bus back to the house. It's a 1km walk from the Co-Op back home which is do-able but I couldn't face forcing a grizzly child to walk it especially as I now had heavy shopping - it was 190 Yen well spent.

Serious business this - learning to swing

When we got back Tom went to bed and fell asleep immediately whilst I made dinner - chicken meatballs (I think), mushrooms and rice. I got Tom up at 5, we went to the park for football. The park was the fullest it has ever been - two sets of boys practising baseball and one set of boys dressed up as ninjas with toy guns stalking each other in the neighbourhood around the park (funny, in the UK I would steer clear of boys doing the same - here I felt completely at ease). We managed to find ourselves a corner to play football but Tom was more interested in watching the boys practising baseball, he was very upset with me when I told him we were leaving, so I dragged a grizzly child back home.

Got home, had dinner - during which we had a moment and Tom almost went to bed with no dinner. He saw it my way in the end and ate up. Matt arrived home during dinner, much earlier than expected - he'd skipped the last session of the conference so he could see Tom before he went to bed - bless. So it was shower and bath with Daddy, books and bed. A very quiet day, but one we both enjoyed.

Oh - forgot to say yesterday that when I got home there was a piece of paper on the floor with Tom's name on it.  My guess was that it was from the post office saying that they had failed to deliver something to Tom.  Matt has since seen it and yes it was.  Because we don't have our name on the front door, they were unable to post it through but they are holding it at the post office for 7 days.  So Matt will try to collect it sometime this week. Thanks to the sender.

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Location:Aioi

Playing with Hiromi

Playing football with Hiromi

No poo in nappy this morning, but then again no poo all day!

Today Matt left for his conference at silly o'clock.  Tom and I had arranged to meet up with Hiromi in Kobe so we did just that.  Got our regular 9.51 Shinkansen to Shin Kobe and met Hiromi at the ticket barriers.  We had prepared Tom as much as we could showing him photos of Hiromi and explaining who she is.  It worked, he gave her a running hug in the station.

Where's the ball?

However, after that his behaviour was pretty rubbish.  He absolutely refused to walk anywhere, which meant that I ended up picking him up and carrying him.  If I wasn't with Hiromi I would have made a scene, but I find it very difficult to do that to him in public, meaning that he then realises he can get away with it and plays up more, but how do you make a scene in front of a friend who has generously given up a day to spend with you - especially someone as lovely as Hiromi, who makes such an effort.

We got the bus down to the Daimaru department store (where Tom went to the baby restaurant last time we were here) so that I could look around the food hall.  This is basically like looking round Harrods or Selfridges - but better and with more class!  The presentation of the food is outstanding, it all looked delicious especially the cakes.  Nice to see people so proud of their products.  I could spend all day gawping at it.  However, I had a wriggly toddler who was still refusing to walk with me which didn't make things easy.

Being silly

Hiromi then took us for lunch - at the restaurant where Kyoko (her daughter) works.  However, she wasn't working there today.  Hiromi made a great effort translating the menu for me.  I ordered what I thought was the most likely thing that Tom would eat (pitta bread with egg, potato salad and salad).  Unfortunately he played up again.  This time I took him to the toilet and spoke sternly to him.  It didn't work.  I then got quite cross with him - he was fidgeting, not listening to me, saying he didn't like anything, being a right pain.  Eventually I yanked him back into his seat - he didn't like it and howled - it was as if I had cut him or struck him!  Took ages to calm him down (I felt as if the whole restaurant was glaring at me), in the mean time I got upset as well - I felt so bad.  Tom was behaving really badly and I was unable to control him and I am his mother!  All together it was a little stressful.  Eventually he calmed down but I didn't force anything else on him.  He happily ate my pudding though - a milk pudding with strawberry sauce - at least he had something in his stomach!

And again!

We then headed down to Merikan Park right next door to Kobe Port Tower.  It was a really buzzing place, lots of stalls - mainly flea market type stalls, but some food, arts and crafts and a stage where various groups put on performances etc.  Hiromi paid for Tom to do some fishing which he enjoyed.  We then got the football out and played football - suddenly his feet came to life and he was able to run - funny that.  He got Hiromi playing as well.  It was pretty hot and humid so it was thirsty work.  After about 30 mins I managed to persuade him to go down to the water's edge to watch boats - which he did quite happily even though initially he thought it a poor idea.  We then played with the football for another half hour before deciding enough was enough.  Suddenly he lost the use of his legs again so I put him on my shoulders for the walk back.  Hiromi suggested we have an ice cream to help cool down, but we didn't see any and ended up in Starbucks for a frappucino instead.  I've never had one of these (obviously because I don't like anything to do with tea or coffee) but they did a mango one.  It was good - in the description it mentioned tea but I couldn't taste any - Tom and I both enjoyed it.  Oh and during this time, Tom called Hiromi 'a lady' which she really enjoyed.  He seemed very worried that he was going to be parted from her - a very good sign that he likes her and why wouldn't he?

Hiromi got in touch with Kyoko whilst at Starbucks, who decided to come and meet up with us.  This she did and Tom had a good 30 minutes of being really silly shy with her - he cuddled into me and wouldn't look at her at all.  A mention of a train seemed to cheer him up so we headed for the station.  Hiromi and Kyoko were going to a pottery exhibition in Nishi Akashi, so we all went on the train there, during this time, Kyoko and Tom bonded (phew!)  Then I headed off to the Shinkansen after saying goodbyes and thank you.  Tom really wasn't very well behaved at all, but Hiromi was lovely, and after saying her English was really bad, it really wasn't at all - it is certainly much better than Tom's!  Despite Tom's bad behaviour we did have a good time.

We got off the shinkansen at Himeji, I did some shopping for dinner, then hopped on the next one (perfect timing one was on the platform waiting for me when I got there) then back home, quick dinner (we didn't get home until after 6pm) for Tom, which he hoovered up (very hungry I think) bath and bed.  I then made myself dinner of mushrooms, mushrooms and mushrooms, sat down, had a beer and relaxed.

I wasn't particularly well today - my stomach has been hurting big time, Tom also said this morning that his tummy was hurting, which may have been the cause of his bad behaviour - although as stated he was able to run after a football fine.  We are going to have a quieter day tomorrow, let's hope that sorts him out.

Hiroshimayaki

Another poo in the nappy this morning - we are going backwards!

The A Bomb Dome

Today we decided to go to Hiroshima - not for the obvious reasons, but because their local delicacy is Hiroshimayaki - okinomiyaki with everything on - we had it last time we were here in 2006 and it was a good fooding experience.

So we got on the white train to Hiroshima - about 150 miles away which it does in 50 minutes and then the tram to the A Bomb Dome and the Peace Park. You can't come to Hiroshima and not visit this area. The museum here is fantastic, but not a place to take a 3 year old so we hung out in the park instead. The park has various monuments commemorating various groups of people who died in the bombing. The most popular is the children's monument which is very colourful, decorated with thousands of origami cranes. A child who was dying of radiation sickness in the 1950s wanted to make 1000 cranes in the hope that they would make her better - she never got there but the children in her class carried on for her and still now school children make cranes in all colours and take them to the children's monument. The whole time we were there we couldn't get near it - school groups were waiting in line to pay their respects - some were reciting poems, some sang. It is something they take very seriously - with good reason.

Running tom

There is no point trying to explain the significance of the area to Tom so we walked around and found a nice grassy area to play football with him.

When it came to lunchtime we headed straight for an Okinomiyaki restaurant that Matt had read about in a JR flyer. When we got there it was full of salarymen and very smokey (no non smoking laws here although they have got stricter on the Shinkansen - they used to have smoking carriages, but now they have rooms where people have to go to to light up. Same is true on platforms). When we arrived some men made some room for us at a table and stubbed out their cigarettes - how kind. We ordered The Tenyawanya Special, this included noodles, pork, squid, tuna, ebi, corn, egg, bean sprouts and maybe more - I can't remember. Anyway it was the biggest one they had.

Making Okinomiyaki

We weren't disappointed - all 3 of us enjoyed them. Half way through them the restaurant completely emptied and the owners started to make friends with Tom. It didn't take long and before we knew it he was running into their arms and being silly with them. They have a grand daughter so luckily were vaguely prepared for him - certainly a different experience to serving a salaryman!

Oh whilst we were waiting for lunch to arrive Tom was drawing on his magnetic pad.  Normally we have lots of squiggles and circles but this time for the first time he drew a train and it actually looked like a train - we were stunned and very pleased.

Yummy

Once we had said our goodbyes to the restaurant owners we strolled back through the Peace Park - had another game of football and rang the Peace Bell. We then dropped into a department store for a nose - apparently in 1991 the lifts there were operated by lift girls who were dressed completely in gold. Matt wanted to see if they were still there. Unfortunately no they weren't and we had to operate the lift ourselves. However, the toy area was good - ie lots of sample toys for Tom to play with so we stayed there a good while while he got his fill.

More New Friends

We then got the tram back to the train station to find out that we had just missed a train and had to wait over an hour for the next one - poo! We sat down for a long drink - it was hot today, then went to wait in the Shinkansen area where there just happened to be a huge display case with toy trains in it. Tom was happy and wouldn't be moved on so we took it in turns to stretch our legs etc. Matt then went off to find us some bento boxes to eat on the train, in the end it didn't feel long to wait.

We got a Rail Star Kodama (stops at every station) home. Tom fell asleep on me with 10 minutes and had a good 30 mins and woke up very sweaty but happy. We then ate dinner by which time we were almost home (the Kodama takes about 2 hours as it waits at most stations to be over taken by the non stop trains).

DOCTOR YELLOW ON THE PLATFORM!!!!!!

When we got to Aioi we had to wait 9 minutes on the opposite platform for the legendary Dr Yellow to arrive (the lovely Ms Ishino who has been looking after us at Aioi Station found out he was coming and let us know). Not only did he arrive, but he stopped (it was only 45 seconds but stop he did) when we got to the platform there were a huddle of other mums & dads with boys about the same age as Tom with cameras - we knew we were in the right place. Dead on time he arrived - he stopped at the end of the platform - not where we were standing so everyone had to leg it down there. But we got video footage and photos, AND the driver waved to us. All Tom could say for a couple of minutes was "Dr Yellow on the platform". So now we have definitely ticked all the boxes and Tom should have happy dreams tonight.


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Location:Hiroshima

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