Please, February, end once and for all!

Yes, indeed, please. Just go away. You have brought us.....

1) stomac flu. All three of us had it on your first week back from Argentina. Nothing to feel more at home than a good old gut-spilling bug to begin the Chinese new year in top form. The worst I've felt in years.... Made me realise how great is to have good health and how trully minor things like a stomac bug can ruin your life

2) more sickness for Bibu, as in 6 days of continuous high fever courtesy of an ear and throat infection. Lovely....

3) depressing weather... I'm done with the cold, ok?

4) depressing reading: Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" is a great book, but surely not for February, right?

5) Mr M being away on a business trip for 10 days (also, said business trip was to Belgium, so big envy vibes going on) Add point 5 to all previous points and you get the picture.

So, I won't me missing you, dear February 2011. Bye.

A first in Tokyo

Bibu is playing next to me on the sofa (yes, the yellow one) and watching his 51651752175626 episode of Thomas the Tank Engine. He (Bibu, not Thomas) has been sick since Monday evening, when a low fever started. When the low fever turned into 40 degrees yesterday evening, I called the doctor and made an appointment for this morning.

As I suspected, he had an ear infection. It's been his first ear infection since we live in Tokyo. He used to have them very often in Brussels, what with the chilly and damp weather being the ideal weather for them. Oh, well, it's good to know at least what it was. Being the stoic and hyperactive kid he is, it was hard to even tell he was sick, apart from the readings in the thermometer.

So, with the exception of this morning, when we went out for a grand total of an hour to go to the doctor, we have been confined inside the appartment for the last three days. Mr M being in Belgium until today didn't make things any easier. Thank God he's back.

So, the casa de Detoured is a bit like a cabin these days. Bibu has the fever and I have the cabin fever.

It was a weekend of....

Finally visiting the DAIEI close to Toritsu Daigaku, sharing a sugar-glazed doughnut with Bibu at Stabucks, missing the pony ride in Himonya park for a few minutes, attending a proper for-grown-ups-only housewarming party that our ex next door neighbours threw in their quite lovely  new appartment in Roppongi, going for a long lunch in Nakameguro followed by walk to the park and some super delicious cheesecake and pancakes at Daikanyama with one of the mums from Bibu's school and his son.

In short, I ate a lot of sugary, evil things. But oh, so good....mmmmm!

Mr M away in the grey country (a.k.a. Belgium) since last Tuesday and back next Thursday. Doing it all on your own for 10 days in a row is hard, hard, hard. Again, my respect to single parents worldwide. It's now 19:30 and I am very tempted to jump under the duvet and call it a day, but it just feels wrong. Will hang on with chopsticks under my eyelids if necessary until.......mmmm, maybe 21:00 or something. Much, much better!

Ciao, bellos!

Setsubun and Chinese New Year

So, today is the Chinese New Year! Happy New Year to all ! (again). Good that I have not yet acted on any of my New Year Resolutions, pfew! :-)

It's also time for Setsubun here in Japan. For some strange reason, this bizarre chasing-demon-out celebration holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it's because it is all so..... magical and silly in a way. But also optimistic, full of new hope for the upcoming spring and new beginnings.

Roasted soya beans

Literaly, Setsubun means "division of the seasons" and it marks the end of the winter according to the lunar calendar. It usually falls either on February 3 or 4 (which is a bit early for ending the winter if you ask me, but well). On the evening of Setsubun, one must throw roasted soybeans inside and outside the house while repeating "Fortune in, devils out"! so as to invite good luck inside the house and chase the bad luck out.Typically, the oldest male of the house has to wear a demon (Oni) mask and the children chase him while throwing roasted soybeans at him.You are also supposed to eat the same number of soybeans as your age. Needless to say, Bibu has already failed at this point, as he has already eaten his roasted soybean bag that he got at school. I ate a few ones, but cannot remember how many....wonder if there is room for liberalism in this point.

Another practice from recent years it to eat a "Ehoo-maki" or giant sushi-roll filled with shiitake mushroom, cucumber, eel and so on. For good luck, one must eat it facing the "happy direction" while keeping quiet. I asked my Japanese teacher yesterday about this "happy direction" and she mentioned it changes every year and this year it is "south-south-west", as determined by the monks of the main shinto shrine in Japan.

So today I went for a walk in Jiyugaoka and bought a couple of these Ehoo-makis for Bibu and for me (Mr M has an office get-together tonight so will miss on the Setsubun fun. My maki is a traditional one and for Bibu I got one filled with tonkatsu. not very setsubun-ish but he will definitely eat that one. Mr M has more or less figured out the "happy direction" from our dining room, so we will be facing it at dinner. Not too confident that we will achieve the "eating it while keeping quiet" bit, but hopefully that's not the crucial point, hehe.