Japan

Well, pre-flight nerves or not, 3 weeks ago we got on a plane and set off on my birthday holiday to the beautiful country of Japan. Exciting though the prospect was, I had spent the last 3 months worrying about it. I'm not one of nature's natural travellers and, if you had asked me the day before departure if I wanted to stay at home, I would have jumped at the chance. 3 weeks on, I am SO glad that we went. Japan turned out to be brilliant: stunning scenery; beautiful, calm, polite, helpful people; yummy food (although vegan and gluten free was something of an issue); and public baths and toilet seats to die for! 

The following series of posts are here as part of my diary. Feel free to read and comment if you would like to, but they are here mainly for my own benefit, so there is absolutely no pressure to do so. :O)

With the neighbours all set up for house, greenhouse and houseplant sitting, we set off for Heathrow airport on Wednesday 26th March. We parked the car in the long stay carpark at Terminal 2 and headed for departures. Problem number 1 arose when we scanned the departure board and realised that our flight wasn't on it. I asked R if he was sure that it was Terminal 2 that we needed, and a quick check revealed that our plane departed from Terminal 4! No problem, we had left in plenty of time (another of my anxieties is missing the plane - it actually happened once in Barcelona, when R decided that we didn't need the recommended 2 hours for check in, security checks etc. It turns out that you do!), and a quick hop on the Elizabeth line later, we were where we needed to be.

Our China Eastern flight was split into 2 parts: Heathrow to Shanghai, then, after a 3 hour wait, Shanghai to Tokyo. Flight number one passed without incident. The inflight entertainment was undeniably a tad dull, with a poor selection of films, but I was prepared with library books, sock knitting and an Audible book on my phone. The food provided was actually rather nice. I had been given the choice of vegan or gluten free meal (the combination of the 2 wasn't an option), and I went with vegan on the basis that GF may well have been meat/fish based. The curry and rice for dinner was fine, as was the breakfast/lunch, although I did have to pick around the pasta for that one!

As we were coming into land at Shanghai, we were struck by an announcement informing us to reveal to the airport staff if we were suffering from any symptoms, ranging from a runny nose to diarrhoea. We even had our temperature scanned when we disembarked. After the events of the last few years, it seemed a tad hypocritical! 

R spent the 3 hour stopover napping at our departure gate, whilst I worked on my sock knitting. After waiting for over 2 hours, our gate suddenly changed and we all dutifully headed to an alternative at the other end of the airport. It was while we were sitting here that we checked our boarding cards and realised that they hadn't seated us together. We had paid extra to be sure of adjacent seats, and the thought of flying whilst sitting next to a stranger was spiking my levels of adrenaline. Luckily, once on board our little airbus, we explained the situation and a very kind man swapped with me so that R and I were together.

Panic over, it seemed almost an irrelevance when it turned out that they didn't have our requested meal on board. I wasn't particularly hungry anyway, and the staff managed to cobble together some rice and vegetables for us, and that, together with a couple of packets of peanuts for protein, tided us over nicely. With the number of people suffering from nut allergies, however, it still surprises me when they hand out peanuts on a plane. As it turned out, the lack of ordered food was the least of my problems, as the flight suddenly hit a patch of turbulence. It was quite bad; the flight attendants stopped serving the food and sat down on the floor. As I was burying my head in R's shoulder, I forgot to hold onto my tray and it went flying across the aisle, scattering what little food we had. At least scrabbling to pick it all up distracted me from the plane bouncing around! I was very glad when we finally landed at Tokyo Narita airport. Security cleared and baggage collected, our man with a van drove us into central Tokyo and to our destination - the Ginza Creston Hotel.

Here, problem number 2 soon reared its head. We checked in and headed wearily for our booked room. R opened the door ......... and the smell of cigarette smoke hit us like a sledgehammer. He entered the room to turn on the aircon, whilst I sat on the landing, refusing to enter. We headed back down to reception. Here R turned decidedly sheepish when it became apparent that he had accidentally booked a smoking room. According to the chap at reception, a non-smoking room would be available from noon the following day, but there was nothing to be had before that. R suggested that perhaps the aircon had managed to clear the worst of it and we took the lift back to our floor. The door opened and the smell still hit us like a wall. It was the first night of our holiday, anything that entered that room - us, our suitcase, coats, clothing etc. would smell like an ashtray for the remaining 2 weeks. I was exhausted from the travel and weeks of anxiety, and hungry from the lack of food, so I did what any sensible woman in that situation would do - I sat in the corridor outside the room and burst into tears! R consoled me as best he could, but it was late and our options were limited. I ate one of my emergency GF sandwiches and headed back down to Reception. Here, I informed the man that, whilst I knew that the blame lay squarely on us, there was no way that I was going to spend the night in that room, and I intended to sleep on one of the comfy looking armchairs in the foyer. R had joined me at this point, but I don't think that either he or the hotel staff believed me until I had unzipped my case and headed to the foyer toilets, clutching my little toiletry bag. Miraculously, when I emerged 10 minutes later, an alternative room had been found and we were soon heading up in the lift to our 38th floor non-smoking room. It was clean, it had a nice view and, more importantly, it was smoke-free. I was soon in the Japanese nightwear provided (I actually packed 2 pairs of PJs for the trip and didn't have to wear either of them) and went out like a light.

We awoke the following morning, confused as to what day it was. I expected it to be Thursday but we had actually spent that travelling, and it was in fact Friday 28th. A quick shower freshened us up nicely and it was then that we had our first experience with a Japanese toilet! R went first, so he was prepared when it was my turn. He is now the proud possessor of a recording on his phone of me squealing and then laughing hysterically as the toilet squirted water where no toilet had squirted water before. He has even threatened to make the recording his ring tone! After the initial shock, both the water jet and the heated seat were surprisingly pleasant, and throughout the holiday, when given a choice between a Japanese style toilet and a Western one, we invariably opted for the Japanese one. R has now expressed a desire to have one fitted at home!

Breakfast at the hotel was a set menu of American or Japanese. American was eggs, sausages and a bread roll (I suppose I could have eaten the plate!) and the Japanese was a selection of seaweed salads, pickled fruit and vegetables, congee (a type of rice porridge), miso soup and fish stew. We opted for the Japanese and asked for the fish stew to be excluded. When the waiter brought the food, he explained that he had replaced the fish stew with some omelette cubes instead. Not wanting to appear rude, we ate them. We also ate the fishy tasting miso. I feel that we inadvertently consumed rather a lot of this during the holiday; the ubiquitous dashi sauce often containing fish. I also consumed more gluten in the form of soy sauce than was good for my poor old gut.

After breakfast, we had to effectively check out of our room, whilst they transferred us to the original alternative room that was going to become available at noon. We left all our cases in situ and the staff transferred them across whilst we were out for the day.

We headed for the nearest Metro station, stopping en route to get some cash (there was a slight problem with finding a card which worked and we're still not sure what the issue was) and a local SIM for R's phone, so that we wouldn't get hit with roaming charges whilst away. Problems solved and cash in hand, we bought metro tickets to take us to Senso-Ji, Tokyo's ancient Buddhist temple. We had a slight issue on the metro, where we got thoroughly distracted booking tickets for the bullet train to Kyoto and watching videos of a local micro-pig cafe - yes, you read that right. We have visited a cat cafe in Cambodia, but this one had actual mini pigs mingling with the customers! We missed our stop several times, micro-pigging backwards and forwards along the same length of track. Finally concentrating, we emerged triumphant into the Tokyo sunshine.

The Senso-Ji temple complex boast magnificent gates, a hall and a 5 story pagoda. It is the most widely visited religious site in the world, with over 30m visitors annually. I had been prepared for crowds in Tokyo, especially as it was the beginning of the cherry blossom season. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised; I've been in far busier places in India and even sometimes in London!

Having wasted most of the morning arranging SIMs, ready cash, and getting distracted on the metro, we were more than a little peckish. The Happy Cow App led us to a cafe near the waterfront and here we struck gold food-wise. Miracle of miracles, we had stumbled upon a completely vegan and gluten free restaurant! 2 lunch plates of fava bean/pea nuggets with curry, tempura, rice and salad, followed by a chocolate waffle and doughnut to share and we were ready to explore

As we were near the waterfront, we walked along, admiring the cherry trees and marvelling at the girls dressed in kimonos posing for selfies by the cherry blossom. Renting kimonos and having your hair and makeup done to match seemed to be a very big thing. Girls of all nationalities clicked along in ninja socks and flip flop type shoes, dressed to the nines and having their photos taken. I couldn't see the attraction myself, but each to their own.

We also saw the Tokyo Skytree - the World's tallest tower at 634m - and the Asahi Beer Hall and Asahi Flame,  colloquially referred to as 'Poo Building' and 'The Golden Turd'!

Heading to the temple, we had our fortune told. For 100 Yen (about 50p), you shake a wooden box until a stick appears bearing a number. You then match the number to a drawer containing paper fortunes. If your fortune is good, you keep it, if bad, you can dispel the bad luck by folding the fortune and tying it to the adjacent rails. Ours wasn't bad and we kept it.

As well as admiring the gates, the pagoda, a man dressed as a Samurai warrior with natty shoes, more kimono clad girls and mass incense burning, we also stopped to watch a man throwing bread into the air for some starlings to catch mid flight, and admired a statue of an old 'social worker' - reading the plaque, it actually sounded like she had worked as a midwife. I took her photo as she had such a lovely face. 

Wanting to hang around until the evening to see the pagoda lit up, we decided to take a quick, touristy rickshaw ride around the Old Quarter, pulled by our intrepid guide, Anton. It was great fun; he was very knowledgeable and allowed us to take photos of his ninja footwear!

Once dark, we bought a matcha latte and walked the streets of the Old Quarter, admiring the Temple lit up. After a large lunch, we made do with a drink and a few snacks for dinner - edamame beans, pea shoots and smashed pickled cucumber hit the spot nicely. R had a beer and I enjoyed a yuzu sour.

Then it was back to the hotel where we bumped into an obvious prostitute and her sheepish-looking client in the hotel lift - we got chatting on the way up to our floor and she was very nice - and then spent the rest of the evening watching the zombie film 'Resident Evil' on our hotel room TV, merely because it was the only programme that we could find that was in English!

That's all for today. More posts will follow on soon, as I put our holiday highs (and lows!) down whilst they are fresh in my memory.

Toodle pip for now. x

In for 4, Hold for 7, Out for 8.

Well, it's certainly been a while since my last post! To be honest, I sort of lost the enthusiasm for it, and the only reason that I am posting now is because I want to clear my camera! As I've said before, however, this blog serves as my online diary and I do like to look back at all the places we have visited and things we have done. Without it, and with my memory like a sieve, I haven't a hope of remembering things, so I will continue blogging, however infrequently.

We are planning to go on holiday this spring - remember the scary birthday ending in a zero? - and I'm already starting to stress about it. I'm not one of nature's natural travellers and, being of an anxious disposish, can catastrophise for England about all the potential disasters. I enjoy it once I'm there, and I love having been to places and seen things, it's just the getting there that's the issue. The thing is ............I hate flying. I think I get it from my mother (aren't things always supposed to be the mother's fault?!). She was terrified, which come to think of it was odd given that she'd never actually been on a plane. The thought terrified her so much that holidays were always accomplished by coach. Neither of my parents were able to drive, so a car was out of the question. It might have been because I so rarely went in a car that coach journeys made me so horribly travel sick. We're not talking just nausea here ........... I look back and pity my poor fellow travellers! Anyway, I didn't go on a plane until my last year at uni. It was then that I realised that my fear of heights was made much worse at 30,000 ft!

Wanting to see some of the world, however, I force myself to fly. I sit there, refusing to look out of the window and pretending that I am on a train. I also try not to go to the loo - the noise that it makes when you flush it reminds me that it's not the 10.15 to London Paddington. So, I sit there, legs crossed, with my nose in a book. It's usually okay for short flights but this one is a bit longer. Alcohol may be needed and I'll no doubt have to pull my big girl pants up (or down!) and brave the facilities.

I also worry about: getting to the airport on time (I like to think that this isn't an irrational fear as we have in our time missed both a ferry to Ireland and a return flight from Barcelona!); having our bags stolen (again, wallet in Athens and bag - including passports - in Seville!); forgetting something vital (not so far, but there's always a first time!), and, being both vegan and gluten free, there being nothing for me to eat (this hasn't happened yet but it's been touch and go in a few places and it's a good job that, barring the obvious dietary restrictions, I'm not picky!). Actually, with regards to the last one, we were once asked to swap seats with another family on a flight to the USA (I can't recall the reason). We obliged but they forgot to swap our requested meat-free meals and, by the time we all realised, the passengers we had swapped with had scoffed the only bits of non-animal related food on the entire plane. It was a low point, not least because the flight attendants were unapologetic, rude and incredibly unhelpful - I'm looking at you United Airlines! I'm sure that the list is longer but that's enough to keep me occupied in the wee small hours. I'm sure it will all be fine, she says through gritted teeth whilst doing breathing exercises. Is anyone else like this or is it just me? All suggestions for an anxiety free life would be gratefully received. In the meantime, does anyone have a brown paper bag?!

Anyway, here are the happies from the last couple of months. There are a few crafting endeavours, lots of walking (there aren't photos of them all and, frankly, I'll be amazed if I'm able to recall which ones the pictures are actually of!), and the odd theatre trip.

I liked this charity shop jigsaw puzzle - I seem to be addicted to the ones depicting 1950's nostalgia. Sadly, there were 2 pieces missing.

January's 2025 RSPB Garden Bird Watch. Sorry, the robin is a little blurry; he wouldn't keep still enough!

I think that this was a walk along Watership Down:

My cropped Kerr Sweater. I am now on the colourwork of the first sleeve but have since been distracted by a pair of socks and a crochet blanket!

A friendly goat on the walk near Barbury Castle in Wiltshire:

Waving from the castle ramparts:

This was a very good production, with David Tennant playing Macbeth.

Not such a good production. It was an amateur opera company and the best that could be said was that it was a night out.

The 2000 year old yew in Farringdon church yard on the Chawton circular walk. At this point, it is more support than actual tree.

Mini-skein purchases at the Unravel yarn festival in Farnham:

We saw Lucy Porter's show a couple of years ago and recalled it being a bit lacklustre. We gave her the benefit of the doubt and tried again with her new show. I think we may give her a miss next time!

Ed Byrne, on the other hand, was absolutely brilliant. Despite the rather dark subject matter - his younger brother died of liver failure during the pandemic - it was hilarious as well as tragic. As the show name implies 'comedy = tragedy + time'. Go and see him if his show comes to your area.

There were 2 jays in the garden. Again, I failed to capture an in focus shot!

A trip to Snowshill Manor and Garden with my friend, C. The owner, Charles Paget Wade, was an eccentric who amassed an enormous collection of items that interested him - mostly handmade. The collection is held in the manor whilst Charles and his wife lived in the adjoining cottage.

Finally, a trip to the Corn Exchange to see a production of Bram Stoker's Dracula - complete with musical accompaniment. It was excellent

Well, that's all for the moment. The sun has come out, despite it being chilly, so I'm off to do a bit of gardening and check on my seeds. Then it will be back to the hyperventilating, after all, that worrying won't do itself!

Toodle pip for now. x

Now we are ..............

Happy New Year and I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. For the first time in a few years we actually had Christmas at home. L had managed to sort out bunny sitters, so hopped (!) on a train and arrived here at 3:45 on Christmas Eve. E drove from Bristol and arrived later that evening, so we all celebrated en famille, which was lovely.

Presents this year were done by Secret Santa. L arranged the draw and, with a maximum limit of £20 and only one present to buy, Christmas was quite a frugal affair. I did cheat a little and did the girls a stocking as well - having my babies home for Christmas again, I couldn't resist! L's partner, V, had been given my name and I received a beautiful handmade project bag, embroidered with my name and a daffodil. L had also sneaked me an extra present - a skein of West Yorkshire Spinners' Christmas yarn in the colour 'Nutcracker', bought in Scotland over the summer and saved for the festivities. The skein fit the project bag beautifully and is sitting waiting patiently for me to cast on a pair of socks.

As well as Christmas, we have also celebrated 3 birthdays. R's came first in mid-December. As it conveniently fell on a Saturday this year, we went away for the weekend to Stratford-upon-Avon. I had booked one night's stay at the Swan's Nest Hotel in the centre. It was very conveniently located, overlooking the theatre and a few minutes walk across the bridge and into the centre. Our room was fine, and if the hotel itself seemed a little, shall we say, weary, they did a fine vegan, gluten-free breakfast, so it was a win in our book.

Arriving at lunch time, we parked and checked in, before wandering into the centre in search of food. What I hadn't realised at the time of booking was that it was the weekend of the Christmas market. The streets were quite busy, but the stalls lent a festive atmosphere and added to the occasion. Lunch was a 'Ghost of Christmas' panini and a rose latte (R had an Americano and a vegan burrito) here:

Then we nosied round the market stalls and took a walk along the river to pay our respects to Shakespeare at his grave in the Holy Trinity Church. Here, we had a wonderful surprise. I think I have mentioned before that R doesn't think that the Christmas period has started until he hears Handel's 'Messiah'. By happy chance, there was a concert of that very piece being held at the church that evening. Whilst we had other plans, we were lucky enough to be able to sit and listen to the highlights in the last rehearsal before the concert. It was perfect!

Dinner was an Indian meal at 'Thespians', before the main event - a performance of 'Twelfth Night' at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, with Sam West playing Malvolio. 5 minutes into the performance a manager took to the stage. She announced that they were having a few technical problems and begged for our patience whilst they sorted it out. Having been to 'The Taming of the Shrew' at The Globe recently, where one of the actors appeared to spill a drink on a member of the audience at the start (it was actually another actor and part of the play!), I was initially sceptical about this 'technical issue'. More fool me, for they were indeed having problems, with the wall of the set refusing to rise enough. 10 minutes later, all was fixed and we were off. I loved it. Sam West stole the show in his natty, cross-gartered yellow stockings and the rest of the cast were superb as well.

After breakfast the following morning, we took a walk along the river. Just as we passed the church, the bells started to ring for the Sunday service. It was a heavenly moment. We sat on a bench, listening to the church bells (love me a church bell!) and watching the swans and the rowers go by.

After our walk, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to Charlecote Park - a National Trust 16th century house and deer park, about 4 miles east of Stratford. The young males were practising for the rutting season.

They even had a kitchen! :O)

Back to Christmas Day, and we went for a post-breakfast walk to nearby Bagnor. We paused for a photo and a Christmas chocolate to restore our energy at the top of the hill. I'm not entirely sure what E is doing with her feet!

Boxing Day saw us taking another walk, this time around Peasemore and Leckhamstead. 

The 27th was spent in town, finally sorting out a few change of address issues with E's old Building Society account. They don't make it easy!

Next it was my birthday. One of those scary ones ending in a zero! Actually, getting older doesn't bother me at all. I've lost too many friends before their time to see another birthday as anything other than a privilege and I wore my shiny badge with pride. R had initially booked me a giraffe feeding experience after seeing Mary Berry do it on a recent TV programme. It would have been lovely. The only problem was, the booking was a bit last minute and there was only room for one. In effect, it would just have been me whilst the others looked on. In addition, it was booked for early in the morning ....... and it was at Longleat, which is quite a drive away. E is never the best at getting up before the crack of noon on a non-work day, so I made an executive decision and, whilst being very grateful for the thought, I called it off. Instead we waited for E to rise, before heading to a little local gem:

I loved it all - the plants, the birds, the free-ranging 2 toed sloth called Cinnamon, and best of all the armadillo, whose digging ability kept us entranced.

The girls bought me a voucher for an afternoon tea for 2 at the One Aldwych hotel in Covent Garden. It is based on a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme and they are apparently known for their vegan, GF menu. I shall book it for later in the year.

R bought me a Moomin jigsaw puzzle, a new fermentation jar for my kimchi, after the last one broke falling out of a cupboard, and 2 books: Ferdia Lennon's 'Glorious Exploits' and a travel book for a holiday later in the year. I was very spoiled. Dinner at a local Thai restaurant finished off a lovely day.

E's birthday in the new year completed our celebrations. She and L are off to experience one of the Dinosnore sleepovers at the Natural History Museum later this month.

A couple more happies of 2024: Jaffa Balls made to the Happy Pear recipe. I like to persuade myself that they are healthy, despite the chocolate coating!

....... and 2 jigsaws. The car one was a complete delight and we have kept it to do again another day. The other one went straight back to the charity shop after completion. A sea of pale blue snow does not make for a relaxing puzzle experience. It took quite a while!

Well, that's all for this post and 2024. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful 2025. Is it just me who can't believe that it's a quarter of a century since the Millennium? Tempus certainly does Fugit.

Toodle pip for now. x