Hello from Tokyo...

We've got the waving down a treat now!

Happy in the evening

Isla used to be unsettled in the evening, so Charlie only got to see her after work when she was crying and moody. This seems to have changed and she is HAPPY in the evenings, she starts looking at the door after dinner and starts bouncing as soon as he comes in.

Moving tomorrow

We are moving into our new place tomorrow - very excited! Rental furniture until our stuff arrives mid-month, we have no idea what it will look like. From today we will be offline until the Internet is hooked up, and Easter is not a holiday here - so have a GREAT Easter weekend and we will speak to you and post pics when we are moved in.

The bed is our current bed - at least a super-king. It is going to be tough to sleep having to TOUCH each other again!

Long Weekend

This weekend was a long weekend, one of the many national holidays - vernal equinox, a day for the admiration of nature and love of living things - was on Monday. We had a GREAT long weekend.

Saturday we had a walk to Midtown Park and spent an hour in the fancy supermarket sampling all the things they were demonstrating cooking in there. On the way back Isla had a go on the swings and Charlie took her on the slide, I think they were both a bit shocked by the speed! In the afternoon we headed to our new area to check out a park with a baseball stadium, driving range and a big museum in. Fingers crossed we will be moving in on 1st April. The sun was shining and it was a great day for a walk.

On Sunday we headed to Yokohama, Charlie played rugby in an over 35s tournament, he scored two tries and they won the tournament - yey!!

On Monday we went for a walk in Ueno park, the cherry blossoms are just starting to come out. We will have to head back next week to see them in their full glory. We did see a tea ceremony going on which was cool.

Seven and a bit months

Only odd socks and cardigan made for a four month old - you'd be crying too wouldn't you?

On Sunday for Mother's Day Charlie and Isla took me for lunch in (hopefully) the area we will live, then we went to the St Patrick's Day Parade in Omotosando. Was surprised at the size of it, a lot of Irish folk here in Tokyo, and some Japanese people pretending to be Irish!

Isla is getting pretty good at standing up, she is getting a bit ahead of herself as she has not mastered crawling yet - this shot is just before the earthquake on our balcony. It kind of felt like there was a train under the building!

Midtown Park is a short walk away, it is really new - in fact they still seem to be landscaping it. Very peaceful, this is the park with all the dogs being pushed in prams. Isla LOVED the swings!

Our Toilet. We actually rejected one flat as it had an ordinary toilet in it!

Just cute. Thats all.

Dinner

Gyoza, Salad and Octopus Sashimi - YUM!

Question: Will we die of mercury poisoning before we get bored of eating sushi for every meal?

The contents of my kitchen

.... and yes I do not know what it all is. Though I feel quite proud of myself for asking where the soy sauce is in Japanese.

Strange things we have seen....

... a lady carrying a rooster in her sweater as a pet

... lipgloss for babies

... all the seats in a shopping centre taken by sleeping men at lunchtime

... the runners either having the best gear that money can buy, or they have the full work suit and shoes running like Forest Gump

... more people with prams for dogs than prams for kids in Midtown Park

I am sure there will be more to follow. Watch this space.

We are here...

Well we are here - after the 10 hour flight from Vancouver (which we somehow thought would be 8) and an hour delay we got to the apartment on Sunday evening. Nice place, at least twice as big as our London flat and with two bedrooms, so bliss!

We have had a very busy week, Charlie has had to work and I have been viewing apartments and trying out playgroups with Isla. Found a free children's centre around the corner so have been popping in there for an hour to give Isla some different toys to play with - she must be so bored of the few we have with us.

Finally saw some places I liked and Charlie and I went back today to see them - we like two of them a lot so just trying to decide which to take - in the Jingumae area so very fashion-y, cool shops and close to the action. We spent the day today just wandering and soaking up the atmosphere in the pouring rain (after it was 19 degrees and sunny yesterday too!)

PS - Please note Isla's nice Japan Airlines pram after they mislaid hers - they did find it though!

Almost a week in Canada

Before we arrived in Tokyo we spent almost a week in Canada visiting with Charlie's family and friends. We had a fantastic week -

* Charlie saw two ice hockey matches

* We had lunch at Charlie Don't Surf in White Rock - in the glorious sunshine

* Charlie, Isla & I saw the semi-final of the men's curling (Canada won - yey!)

* Saw Canada beat Germany in the Five Point with Steve and Patricia and Mark and Mary

* We hung out with the fantastic Patricia and Steve and they practiced on Isla as they are about to become parents

* We went to Curt's bar to watch the Canada-Russia ice hockey match with Jordan and Maria

* Lynn had a wonderful party or "open house" for friends and family and Canada beat Slovakia - yey!

We also wandered around downtown and soaked up the atmosphere - the whole city was a sea of red, it made me excited for the 2012 Olympics - I hope Londoners get as enthusiastic and patriotic as the Canadians.

All in all a fabulous trip - very busy and very very fun!

Welcome....

...to our new blog. I thought this would be a better way to stay in contact now we are in Japan as it is hard to e-mail everyone!