You've been in Tokyo for too long when you..... (part I)

1. Instinctively keep to the left when walking on the street/ riding an escalator/ riding a bike (and continue doing so in Belgium....)
2. Forget to lock the bike when doing the shopping and leave it unlocked for hours at a time
3. Cannot imagine stepping outside during the summer without a parasol or enormous cotton hat
4. Know the Hibiya line like the palm of your hand.
5. Know which is the right exit -and can find it- in Shinjuku station.
6. Own at least one brow-sweat-mopping-towel-thingy (and are not afraid of using it)
7. TOTO toilets hold no secrets for you.
8. Manage to eat soba without spraying your clothes with sauce.
9. Don't worry when the delivery guys have been while you were out, as you know they'll be back tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after that, until they find you)
10. You feel bad about leaving minuscule crumbs on the floor after you've had a pic-nic

Kaizen my b***s!

Back when I started to work, ages ago in 1996, I worked for a big automotive company (whose founder said "you can have the car in any colour as long as it's black") There was a lot of hoo-ha about the Japanese efficency maximising methods, I believe it's called "kaizen" or such. Anyway, today I am wondering if there is any concept that can be called "the reverse of kaizen" (I couldn't find it in Wikipedia) because today.......

......was one of those days....

Yesterday afternoon, I was giving Bibu his bath when I heard my cell phone ring. Thinking it would be Mr M reporting from the battlefield (a.k.a. Shangai) where he is all week on a business trip, I took the trouble of taking Bibu fast out of the water and I run to the kitchen to take the call, but, alas, too late. I checked the number to call Mr M back but saw that it was a local Tokyo number. Funny how the first thought on my mind was: "this cannot be the idiots from Nearby Posh Gym AGAIN".

Surely enought, IT WAS.

Lady from Nearby Posh Gym leaving message in barely understandable Engrish (fair enough, I am the one who doesn't speak the native tongue) said that August and September had not been paid yet and could I pay them in cash next time I go to gym? Of course, darling, although wasn't it the idea that after filling my direct debit form FOR THE FOURTH TIME in two months these amounts would debit themselves automatically each month?

My first reaction upon hearing the message was to find out how could I cancel my membership, go there, pay the  pending months and tell them to (EXPLETIVE OF THE THIRD KIND). Upon talking with the ever chilled out Mr M this morning, he said something along the lines of "don't do it, it's conveniently located, you like the ballet classes, etc". Damn, he had a point. Grr........ so I today decided to put my very best "meek and with Gandhi-like patience gaijin" impersonation and pay Nearby Posh Gym a visit.

After checking in and nobody at the front desk telling me anything, I went to my hippo-ballet class as usual. Afterwards, feeling all saintly and fresh from the nice shower (they do have the nicest bathroom and locker area, these Nearby Posh Gym dorks) I grinned and waited for the best. Surely enough, the problem was the one it always is: bank says signature on the debit form does not match signature registered on the bank. The last time we had to fill in the form, Mr M himself went there to fill it in (our bank account here is on his name) and still there is a problem.

First girl at front desk who tried to help me did not get a single word from English. Second girl apparently did, but still could not give me a clear explanation of what the problem is and how it can be fixed. When she presented me with the FIFTH direct debit form to be filled in, I had to restrain myself from attacking her with an ax. Luckily, there was a Hungarian lady there who spoke perfect Japanese and offered to do the translation.

In the end, after more looking into papers and realising that there is a differnce between asking to "write your name" and "sign" (maybe because there is no such difference in Japanese?) girl said they were still waiting for confirmation from the bank that the form we had filled last time was approved. WTF??

I wonder, people of Nearby Posh Gym, wouldn't it be better, if you know that these particular bank is so anal about checking signatures, that you ask your customers to go DIRECTLY to the bank, sort the form out and then RETURN to the gym? Or maybe that's too revolutionary a thought.........mmmmmmm

In the end, I paid August and September in cash and left with the promise that from October onwards, each installment will be debited from my account.

I bet all my life savings that in a few weeks I'll receive another call from nearby Posh Gym asking me please to come fill in the form again. Betting in Japan is illegal, so there you go.

Kaizen, schmitzen.

Morning detours: Shimokitazawa

So today I went to Shimokitazawa, or "Shimokita",as it is known among le cool Tokyo. It is apparently very popular with students for its second hand clothes shops and variety of little cafes and bars and generally relaxed vibe.

To get there, I took the Keio Inokashira line from Shibuya. It's just one stop on the express train, so very easy to get to. I took the North/ South exit which immediately pours into an array of narrow streets crisscrossing the whole neighbourhood.

Most shops open only at 11:00 and some even later. I arrived around 10:30, so I walked around the area for a bit. There are plenty of nice cafes and bars that surely must come to life at night. There is the ubiquitous Starbucks as well, but in general the feeling is of being in a small cute town "à la Japonaise".

Shopping-wise, besides the big Daimaru Peacock supermarket in front of the station, which harbours a UNIQLO and a big bookshop, and the MUJI close to the West exit, the main attraction in Shimokita are the second hand clothes shops and a variety of bazaar like shops, much like the OUTLET but with a country: romantic style. I was looking for a vintage posters shop, which a friend had recommended, but could not find it and at 12:30 I called it a day and decide to head back to pick up Bibu from daycare.

Should definitely be back with Mr M to check it out in the evening. One of these days....

No sleep till Tokyo!

We're back.

And jet-lagged as hell.

Arrived yesterday morning in Narita, after a 20-hour-no-sleep-trip-with-bouncy-two-year-old-boy. The trip in itself was OK, as in no delays and all the luggage arrived at the same time as us (which is not usually the case) but flying alone with Bibu is certainly a health hazard. The first leg of the trip, BXL-Helsinki, went very well and he even played in a civilized way with two Japanese little girls. All laughs and smiles and "cute" looks from fellow passengers.

Once landed in Helsinki, things descended well below standards, with Bibu lying on the floor of the terminal while we were queueing for migrations and refusing to stand up and walk, or any other petition from my side; Bibu asking for one thing then wanting another and finally erupting into theatrical sobs when he didn'y get his way.

Ommm..............

The 10-hour flight Helsinki-Tokyo went in the same spirit, with a progressively super-tired Bibu who refused to sleep (or let his poor mother sleep). By now the looks of our fellow passengers were not so cute anymore.... More ommmmm...............

But well, we survived. And now onto the jet-lag! We finally arrived home around lunchtime, all sweaty so straight into the shower and then to sleep. We managed 4 solid hours but at least on my side the zombie-like feeling is still very palpable. That was probably aided by darling Bibu waking up at 1am last night and refusing to go back to sleep until 4:30am, when we recognised defeat and brought him to sleep in our bed. I think Mr M's initial delight and happiness at seing us again yesterday evening was put to the test during this early morning scream-athon session.

I cancelled my Japanese lesson of today as I was in no way capable of holding any attention for more than 30 seconds without wanting to lay down. Bibu is currently sleeping his nap, so we'll see how it goes tonight. I am hoping for the best but bracing myself for another horrid night.

Tomorrow, thank God, our cleaning lady comes and around lunchtime Mr M's brother and friend arrive from Brussels. They'll be staying for about a month, so hopefully plenty of opportunities for Mr M and I to go out just the two of us, something that has not happened in ages.

Post about out two weeks in BXL comming soon.

Brussels, here we come!

Tomorrow, we all leave for Brussels, hooray! Cannot being to tell you how excited I am to escape the roasting Tokyo summer for two weeks (seasoned expats confirm my fears that in August it will get even warmer) I'll worry about that in two weeks. For the moment, I am preparing myself to enjoy the Belgian summer in all it's wet and chilly glory. Just checked the weather forecast and it averages a nice 25 degrees for the few days to come. Sweet.

The social agenda is in full swing. It's already quite full, what with cathcing up with friends, meeting new babies of said friends that happened to pop up of their mum's insides recently and spending time with Mr M's family, who no doubt will be charmed by non-stop-talking Bibu. Some shopping is also on the cards -we're in the middle of the sales season, after all- but mostly it will be about having a nice time and living la dolce vita in Belgio.

Ah..... like all things one looks forward to, I know it will be over so fast....!

What will surely feel very long will be the actual trip there. Bibu and I booked our tickets over a month ago and are flying via Helsinki (cheapest we could find, hope the Finnish volcano is also taking summer holidays) Mr M, in true Mr M nature (i.e: why do things with plenty of time if you can do them at the last minute?) Only booked his ticket two days ago, managed to use his miles but will travel on a different airline, departing from a different terminal. His flight leaves two hours earlier than ours, but I've decided that we'll all take the Narita Express together. I really dont' feel like taking a taxi alone with Bibu, dragging our monster suitcase + baby stroller + wriggly two-year-old boy on my own. As usual, I am not expecting much sleep and relaxation during the flight, but I shall have plenty of that once in Belgium (I hope)

Right, I should start packing now. See you in BXLs!

Up Tokyo Tower

So, what to do in Tokyo with a two-year-old on a typical "will it rain, won't it rain" kind of day? Well, the original plan was to go to the Epson Acquarium in Shinagawa, but found that it was closed on Tuesdays, so a no go. After some frenetically searching through the pages of "Japan with Kids", it appeared that Bibu and I would be seeing some fish, although not the "ballenas" and "tiburones" he wanted to see.

Tokyo Tower does indeed have a small acquarium. Very small and rather on the sad side, in the sense that the bigger fish are enclosed in a pool just big enough to fit them and nothing else. I even witnessed one fish eating another, so not sure about the care these little ones are getting.

Anyway, you don't need to pay the entrance to the observatorium to visit the acquarium, which is in the ground floor of the tower itself. There is also a bouncy castle kind of playground on the 4th floor and a few fast-food  restaurants on the second. But getting to Tokyo Tower and not visiting the observatorium would be kind of stupid, so up we went and had a look around.

It was good for a rainy day, but again, a bit shabby in Tokyo standards.

One year on

On a day like today, exactly one year ago, Bibu and I took a plane to join Mr M here in Tokyo. A couple of days before that, I went to Rock Werchter and saw The Killers live, which remains as 'my best rock festival experience' so far. It was a lovely sunny day, we ate mosselen with fries and a glass (or two) of champagne, as you do.

Three days later, I arrived with 13-month-old, barely walking Bibu to a very hot and humid Tokyo. Hot and humid, just like it is now. Among my first impressions of living in Tokyo were the incredible amounts of insects that take over the city in the summer: the constant background noise of the cicadas, the gigantic cockroaches, the   enormous stag-beetles, mosquitoes and spiders....

The first few weeks were spent roaming around the neighbourhood, getting to know the supermarkets and trying to make some sense of the labels in Japanese. We arrived into an empty apartment building, everybody was at their home countries and there was virtually nobody to talk with, bar some small talk here and there with other mums in the park. Bibu slept quite a lot, a bit in the morning and a bit in the afternoon, so our trips outside were short and not too far away from the house. For the first couple of months, I didn't dare to go outside before 4:30pm, it was too hot. I remember one afternoon that we went walking up to Roppongi Hills and that seemed like so far away (it only takes me 15 minutes now). Yep, we've come a long way.

It's also been over a year that I am not working, as in "not working in an office". Although I am a little bit more organised today, have a cleaning lady that comes once a week and Bibu goes every morning to school, I still feel like this housewife thing is definitely more tiring and boring than the office stuff. Being with Bibu and getting to see him grow up before my eyes, not missing any step, is really the best part of it. The rest seems like a constant cycle of washing up/ loading and unloading washing machines and dishwashers/ picking up toys from the ground, vacuuming crumbs/ cooking/ shopping for food/ thinking about what to cook/ preparing lunch boxes, etc. Did I do all these things before, while I was working? It seems I did, and still went to work and had Bibu and had a social life. So what is it now that it feels like my day is filled with these chores? Poor time management, probably. Also, I spend loads of time with the PC. We might not have a TV set, but still we spend lots of time in front of a screen, wasting time most of the time.

But hey, a year ago, I had no clue about Japanese. Now I can manage to tell taxi-drivers where I want to go, where they need to turn and where to stop. I even understand when some smiley old grandma asks me how old Bibu is. I am yet to tackle small talk or a more elevated exchange with shop assistants than "thank you" and "I don't need a bag", but well, Super Sensei constantly praises my progress and I dont' think it's only because of my cookie bribery tactics (although they must help, hehe)

One year on, one year to go. Never in my wildest dreams thought I would be living in Japan, but I am. This time last year was "the end of the world as I knew it". The not working situation, the being far away from my Brussels friends and family and twice as far away and half a day ahead of my family in Argentina makes it a bit hard, but getting to see our Bibu grow up from wobbly walker to non-stop-trilingual boy is a privilege and joy not many people have. I clink my glass to myself and drink to another great year in the Land of the Rising Sun.