A Thursday Morning

The kid woke up around six this morning and guess who woke up as well. Oh god! Even my morning swollen eyelids haven't woken up yet. I can hardly see anything behind them.

Yesterday a good friend of mine arrived here and will stay with us for two weeks. It's fun to have company again. She will be our last over-seas guest here in Japan.

What is good about this morning: I'll have real Finnish rye bread and nice Finnish cheese for breakfast - thanks to my friend! I could also have a drink of Finnish Koskenkorva, but it isn't really my cup of tea.

Samurai Goes To Finland Again

Did you know that Airguitar World Championships are held every fall in Oulu, Finland? I was born in that town a looooong ago.

Here's Japan's own Takeshi Kongochi doing his performance in last year's competition. He is the champion of airguitarring in Japan. Here's a quote from his site:

"Takeshi Kongochi is a pioneer of air guitarist in Japan.
He has left for Finland, northern Europe, so far, so far away from Japan.
in 2004 , and in 2005 , he gets the 4th place in the world .
This is the great achievement of course.
His style , oriental , exotic , moody and imaginative,
has been breaking a machine of air guitar kids in all over the world."

A Better Person

Weekend went by quickly. I was a good mother and a wonderful wife and spent the whole weekend with my family. No bars or pubs this time... like I sat in one every moment I have free - I could say to myself: dream on!

Both on saturday and on sunday we did things the kid enjoyed doing (pool, playground, fast food, playground etc). In the evening me and M suffered from terrible withdrawl symptoms, because we ran out of 'Lost'-episodes.

What do you do when you can't watch TV shows - not that I watched TV, I just watch TV series on a computer. This is a wonderful way to give a bit false picture of myself to outside world: I can honestly say that I don't watch TV (sure sign of a better person) and still I watch TV series when ever I can.

Today, on monday, I took the kid to the Children's Hall again. He loved it, like he always does.

Cute

Did I need mayonnaise when I bought this jar today? Let me tell you: no I didn't.

This is a sign that I have lived in Japan for a long time - I buy things just because they look cute.

Eek, somebody, help me!

Learn to speak Finnish in 3 minutes

Ok folks, have you already booked your tickets to Finland? If you have, here's a site for you to practice your Finnish.

More About Days

Here's the kid is posing by a dead bug.

Today he's been a Mr Sunshine. If I only knew where bad days and good days come from, I would cancel the bad days and take those good days instead.

And don't tell me about not being able to value good days without experiencing bad ones - I know a good day when I see one, even in disguise.

Various Kinds of Days

This morning I decided to take the kid to Metropolitan Children's Hall. On our way to the train station he started loudly to object all and at the station he began his well trained and effective scream performance. When the train came and I was about to push the stroller in, he looked at a lady sitting in the train and did his notorious 'psycho' scream. That moment I turned on my heels and told the kid we are going home.

It took a while for us both to calm down and people spotted me yelling at an angry, screaming 3 years old when I walked towards home from the station. God, I hate days like this.

I had a pleasure to spend a nice and relaxing saturday night with my Japanese friends. They had booked a table at a restaurant called Gonpachi. The view from the table was fantastic, the restaurant is on the 14th floor, and the food was delicous. I even tasted a raw oyster (first time for me) and I liked it. After the dinner we had a drink at a tiny, well hidden, luxurious cocktail bar. I want more nights like that!

On a Beach

I took the kid to the Odaiba beach today before noon. One isn't supposed to swim there (some beach!) and to be honest I wouldn't propably swim there even if I was allowed to do so. Water has to be pee warm before I sink my butt in it. Or if the water is cooler than that there has to be a hot sauna close by.

All the same, the kid liked playing with sand & water( = mud).

Congratulations!

A good friend of mine in Gothenburg has had a baby. I am looking forward to hear how all went and how the new roommate is. I am also looking forward to that time when I can meet all the babies that has been born in Gothenburg since I left for Japan. That day is coming closer and closer.

Japanese Food and Swedish Books

My lovely neighbour made me a lunch today. She is a fantastic cook. I might concider hiring her as my personal Japanese cook, if I was filthy rich and she didn't have any other obligations, like family, work, and such. Oh well... I have to come up with some other plan to get delicious Japanese food on my plate once I am back in Europe.

The kid has been mellow-minded and I have been on a low energy level - that means we haven't done much of anything since my sister left. I am reading a pile of swedish books from Marianne Fredriksson. A friend of mine sent the pile to me (which I'm über-grateful for). It's fun to read in swedish, even the book that has a lot written in an half incomprehensible dialect. Jajamensan!

Ambivalence

My sister and her boyfriend are on their way back home. Now we have about two weeks time to be unproductive before our next and possibly the last over-seas guest will arrive. Then it won't be long until I'll hop on a plane to Helsinki with the kid and start looking for a flat there. I don't know what to think. It is absolutely wonderful to go back and get on with my own projects, but there'll be so many things I will miss from Tokyo. And moving causes me stress.

Beeing Busy

My sister and her boyfriend arrived here on sunday. Our family unit felt better and ready to socialize by then.

The picture was taken yesterday at Metropolitan Government Building. I was - again - separately grateful that there wasn't an earthquake during our stay on the 43rd floor. It was a clear day and we could even see Fuji-san. The picture is taken to our home's direction, but you can't see our house. It's too far away.

Summer Flu

Our family unit is going through some sort of summer flu. Vimme has been coughing for a while already and me & M been dizzy, achy and tired.

My sister is coming here tomorrow with her boyfriend for a 10 days visit. They won't be meeting a tidy flat when they step in through our front door. My cleaner lady later ego doesn't appear when I am feeling ill.

Back in Tokyo

I am back from my two's days get-away. It was a lovely trip. I felt very welcome at my friend's in-laws, who were extreamly hospitable people. I wonder if I can ever give all that good back to them. Oh well, they'll have a place to stay if they decide come to Finland.

It is a hardcore extreme sports to nerves to travel with a three years old. Still I think it was worth it. We saw some amazing fireworks (V's 1st), had delicous meals, did some great sightseeing and had a good time with our friends.

The picture is taken at Matsushima where we went for an hour's cruise to look at these beautiful Pine tree islands.

Tomorrow

I'll be off to Ishinomaki with my little monster. I told the kid that we'll ride on a Shinkansen tomorrow and stay away for two nights. He seemed to be excited. He wanted to know if we could take the Shinkansen already today. I said 'No'. I find myself saying 'No' to him all the time. Three years old's ideas aren't the most functional ones from a mother point of view.

Reason for us going to Ishinomaki is a friend of mine who invited us to join her and her family while they are having a holiday week there. I am looking forward to see another kind of Japan than just Tokyo, socializing with my friends, and breathing some fresher air - without the usual diesel flavour.

Tomorrow is also my last 30+ birthday. You can send your luxurious gifts in cash to my Finnish bank account!

Over The Bridge

Last night we crossed the Rainbow Bridge with kids. We hoped to see Asakusa's fireworks from there, but the bridge wasn't high enough to give a view that far away. And it was foggy. So no fireworks this time.

Our guests are on their way back home to Finland. Vimme is better, still coughing though. It has been a lovely, sunny day which I've mostly spent at home, indoors, just because I could.

A Report

Monday: At Asakusa, Kappa Bashi and Ueno. It was a rainy day, but the rain didn't slow us down. We took a boat from Odaiba to Asakusa, which could have been nice and relaxing - I just happened to be busy with a 3 years old's tantrum. Asakusa was an excellent place to visit on a rainy day: number of streets are covered with roof or rain shelter.

Tuesday: at Sumo Museum, Children's Hall and Akachan Honpo shop. The Museum wasn't that extraordinary, but they had a nice little shop in the same building selling Sumo items. Kids were wild at Children's Hall and 50% of them slept when we were at the shop.

Wednesday: at Shinjuku Central Park. It was a nice and sunny day. Kids played in a pool and at the play ground for a long time.

Thursday: at Kodomo-no-kuni. Same procedure as the previous day but in a bigger place. It is a great place to spend a day with a kid and worth the long train ride there and back.

Friday - today that is: I was supposed to have a lunch with my neighbour and baby sit friend's boys, but Vimme isn't well, so I cancelled everything. Now he is sleeping and I had this moment to write a report.

Geriatric Sandals

I used to think only geriatrics wear Ecco sandals. Now I own a pair of that sort. And it is actually a second pair of Eccos I have. Previous pair is dying. Pieces of their soles are grumbling all over Tokyo. They lived a full life for four years and served me well. I expect the new pair to serve me as long as the old did.

Anyway, if you (female) have been blessed with big feet and live in this city of midget feet (Tokyo), here's some good news: Ecco's Store in Ebisu sells women's shoes up to size 40.

Conclusion

The kid is better, our guests arrived safely and M is back home.

Visitors, Fever and Vandals

We'll have visitors from Finland tomorrow! I received a call last week from my friend, asking if they could come to Tokyo 'next week'! I said 'yes of course!'.

I wish people would call me more frequently asking that same question. I haven't got my full guest-dose during our stay in Japan.

M's away for his job and the kid got ache in his tummy and high fever this evening, which equals with me getting worried. But he seems to be better already, so I suppose it isn't anything serious.

Until now there has never been any problems with thiefs or vandalism here in Japan. (I mean, in our life). Yesterday I went to our bicycle cellar and saw that someone had ripped off Vimme's seat's cover and got rid of it for good. We couldn't use the bike: Vimme wasn't able to sit on the seat without the cover. I got pretty pissed off. My guess is that it was a wild kid of our fellow foreigner (most people in our house are gaijins) expressing his/her frustration on our property. Damn, why don't people look after their kids?