Category: Family
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Timing is Everything 2
Day 25 – Monday, 22 April 2024 In the morning, Annabelle and I set out to secure a vital need – a large suitcase to bring home all the Pokémon plushies, unnecessary clothing and other components of our expanded set of possessions acquired since we arrived. We found it, and also the local branch of…
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In Lights
Day 24 – Sunday, 21 April 2024 Age is just a number, sure. So is the period of time, in hours, it takes me these days to recover from a night clubbing until 4am. That’s quite a big number, that one. I had some serious pillow dribbling to do before anything involving daylight could be…
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In Utero
Day 23 – Saturday, 20 April 2024 Anna and I head out without the boys into a lovely sunny morning and walk through the Shinjuku Gyoen garden, paying the 500 yen entry fee. The park is beautiful, and not too crowded, groups dotted around doing Saturday morning things, painting watercolours and attending a pre-school sports…
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High in Tokyo
Day 22 – Friday, 19 April 2024 Much of the day taken up with a visit to the Tokyo Skytree, the capital’s tallest building and highest vantage point for views over the city. The true size of Tokyo is grasped and many photos taken. Much fun is had over the saturation advertising of the resident…
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Evaporating Weirdness
Day 21 – Thursday, 18 April 2024 I have to finish this. Memories are slipping away. I think that one reason I’ve found it harder to write these closing scenes is that one significant driver of my desire to record my experiences is noticeably lessening. Another is purely the dynamics of group travel. My diaries…
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To Tokyo
Day 20 – Wednesday, 17 April 2024 A short walk by the shore of Yamanakako, eastwards from our temporary dwelling on the north side of the lake. Across the water, a sizeable tourist-carrying boat shaped like a Swan put this old Hobbitomane immediately in mind of Alqualondë. The direction was chosen partly because we had,…
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Fuji-san
Day 19 – Tuesday, 16 April 2024 From Tateshina, after a walk in the morning, down to Lake Yamanaka, and our breath taken away by the iconic sight of Mt Fuji. Words really do fail. It stands, alone and astonishing, like one’s first sight of Saturn through a telescope – miraculous, impossible but so obviously…
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Serious Woodwork, Old & New
Day 18 – Monday, 15 April 2024 Finally, a day which didn’t involve driving until one or other member of the family got snappish and said something brusque and ungenerous to another. I’d like to say that we sacked the fool who planned the last couple but, in truth, he just got lucky. A shortish…
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On the Road
Day 17 – Sunday, 14 April 2024 Up the next morning in Nara, remarkably not too long after Annabelle, so we set out together for the before-the-boys-are-conscious exploration. A ramble up and down the arcades of Nara’s funky town. A needed toilet break for me led to a conversation with a local, of many years’…
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On the Bridges
Day 16 – Saturday, 13 April 2024 The first of two days of driving. Silly days, really. Four and a half hours doesn’t seem like much when it’s just a blue line on Google Maps. It’s a lot on the actual road. For those of us in the front seat, with driving and/or navigating to…