And another month almost flew by in total silence

Blog silence, that is. My God, I am really crap at this blogging thing. It's seems I've blincked and a month has gone by and NADA from my side. It's not that I have nothing to write about. In fact, quite the contrary, I have too much to blog about in this wonderful land of far-far away, but I just cannot seem to achieve much of the old "putting it on paper" or, in this case, on the keyboard.

Anyway, September is a big month as in 1) is the bday of Mr M; 2) is the bday of my Dad and my brother; 3) I am going with Bibu to good old Argentina (also known as the 'antipodes' around here) for a couple of weeks. I am very much looking forward to spending some time with my family and my antipodean friends. I am not looking forward too much on the 32 hour (yes, you read correctly, 32 hour) trip to get there. Oh, and did I mention that it will be just me and Bibu travelling? Mr M will stay and save his holidays for our trip back home to BXL at the end of the year (also, the flight ticket? Not very cheap)

So in a week's time, Bibu and I will be travelling to Buenos Aires via London (I have some miles in BA and with this trip they will go 'o-hoooo! Buba-buba-buba!!!') Taking into account that Bibu has inherited Mr M's restlessness (in Argentina, we say people like him 'have an ant in their ass') and my stubbornness (is that a word?) I am foreseeing a veeery pleaseant and quiet trip.......hehehe...........

To palliate the 7 hours we have to spend at Heathrow, I've booked ourselves into the Yotel, which is a sort of pod hotel where you can spend from 4 hours to a whole night. We're arriving into Terminal 5 and the pod is on T4, so hopefully we'll get there without much ado.

So, where was I? Ah, yes, I entitled this post in reference to how I dont' write enough in this blog and now I am going through a tangent again. Aw, well, that's me. Lady Tangent (doesn't sound as cool as Lady Ga-Ga, but hey, give it time)

And on that note....

Earthquakes move you

It's almost been a month since my last post and that makes me think that a) this business of being a full time mum and expat parasite is not all that relaxed and time-freeing as I thought and b) I have been trying to get my voice back -and listen to it- in the midst of a lot of noise.

Plus, I am a lazy ass.

Anyway, sometimes in Japan you don't even have to move your ass as per your own will. An earthquake will do it for you, ha! The occurrence of earthquakes in Japan was not high on the wish list of "those Japan things I know". Almost two months (and three earthquakes later) I've come to see that they are an almost daily feature and part of everyday life here.

A few days ago I felt my third earthquake in the space of two weeks. This one had its epicentre in Chiba, which is sort of a suburb of Tokyo (as in quite close to Tokyo) It was a 4 in the Richter scale, and nothing really 'moved', but the feeling is always the same: it is as if you are living over a very busy subway station. Bibu was napping in his room and didn't feel a thing.

The strongest so far (touching wood as I type this) was the first one, during which I think I was this close to having a panic attack. On that occasion, Mr M, Bibu and I all went under the table, as it is recommended over here and waited for the shock to pass, which could have been between 20 to 30 seconds, but which lasted an eternity for us.

At that moment we realised how ill prepared we were for the event of, you know, ehem, a real big earthquake and the possibility of having to evacuate the building or something. We have in the apartment a box with water and food rations and a strange device to use in the event of having to get out of the apartment via a window (as if) It's like a pole with a steel rope and a thing to attach it to oneself. Mind you, if this pole thing is ever necessary I don't think I would be in the sort of mental state to correctly use this thing, but never mind (touching more wood here)

The strangest thing though, is that nobody here paid much importance to that first earthquake. I mean, the local newspapers barely mentioned it and Mr M told me nobody spoke much about it in the office. For me, I think I aged 20 years in 20 seconds. Since then, every now and then I feel certain tremors and I don't know if I am particularly sensitive or if I am imagining things. Earthquakes are indeed a strange thing.

Anyway, our blatant "earthquake unpreparedness" made me start on my new quest, which is getting some kit ready for an eventual evacuation. Among the recommended stuff are (besides water and food) a flashlight, can opener, plastic sheet, wet wipes, wireless radio, first aid kit and essential documentation. In short, everything you would need to live without a house for a couple of days. I have now placed a backpack next to the apartment door and ready to go and every now and then add a new survival element to the list. Let's hope we never have to use it.

One month on

Exactly one month ago, Mr M's parents drove me and Bibu to Zaventem airport, pushed the trolley carrying our two huge, slightly overweight suitcases, had coffee with us on the airport café, and waved goodbye to us as we made our way past security.

One month on and I now know my way around the neighbourhood, where the supermarkets are, where the metro station is. I know the shortest way to Roppongi Hills and that if you need toiletries you have to buy them in the drugstores. I have found a good replacement formula for Bibu and have gone once to the movies (Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince, cince you ask). We have now two brand new bicycles, a rice cooker, an iron and an iron table, a vacuum cleaner, an electric piano and an expresso machine. Our furniture is all courtesy of IKEA and we rather like it. I am already thinking were we will put it once we come back to Brussels.

We have gone to brunch once with our nice neighbours from the 3rd floor and Bibu and their son have had a "playdate" together. I have visited 4 pre-schools and Bibu has started today with part-time daycare, with much success. Mr M has started his Japanese lessons at the office and he's really enjoying it.

We have gone to Kamakura, Yokohama and walked across the Shinjuku-gyoen and Yoyogi park. WE already have our residence cards and our re-entry passes. I have already collected 4 "pokemons" or charms from vending machines and I have to watch it or it wil become a full blown addiction, hehe.

I have learnt how to make sauce Teriyaki from scratch and am still struggling with the chopsticks. I keep saying "arigato" to anyone and for anything and have no clue what they're saying to me when I pay at the till.

One month on and the weather is still very hot and humid, much like the Argentinean summers.

One month on, I miss the life in Brussels, but I like it here too, specially now that I will have some time for me again. I dont' miss working (i.e. being tied to a schedule) but I miss the buzz and wonder what my colleagues are up to.

One month on, I would say quite a lot has happened to us. And this is just the beggining.

Japanese weird food: green cake

It's green, it's sweet and it comes from my most beloved shop in Japan: MUJI. Introducing: the spinach cake!






Once you get past the green colour, it actually tastes really good. Great to go along your (green) tea. Ñam!

Veredict: approved

Hole in the ground toilet: this is not TOTO!

One of the things that strickes foreigners who first visit Japan, are the TOTO toilets, present in most public restrooms and hotels. The TOTOS are sort of computerised toilets with integrated bidet and bottom "massage" functions. We have three of those at home (TOTOs, not bottoms, but now that I think of it, we are three so we even have three of those, too). Anyway, will talk about the TOTOs at large on some other entry, not today.

Today is about what they call here "Japanese traditional toilets", a.k.a hole in the ground toilet. They are still present in most public parks and other oldish public toilets. In Argentina we used to call these "French toilets" and, I've found out that the French call them "Turkish toilets".

At least the Japanese own up to their holes in the ground with pride, ha!

Baby parafernalia in Tokyo, part 1

When you have kids, you suddenly become all too familiar with the pros and cons of the most unfathomable products. Moving from Brussels to Tokyo, the first things I tried to source was not frites or moules, not even beer. No, Sir, priority number one is to find diapers of the "that will work fine yet not set us back a fortune" kind.

At home (Brussels is and will be what I call "home" in this blog, by the way, just so that you, erm, know it) Bibu dons the P ones (don't make me say the brand, please!) Yes, they are not the cheapest, but they thoroughly pass the "piss at midnight" test, which the cheapos dont'. Daytime is another story, I have been using some private label ones and they work just great.

Anyway, now that we've moved to Tokyo, the quest was on to try to find the Japanese version of the P ones and find a local brand cheapo one for daytime. The first few days, we bought the P ones, which typicaly will set you back some 1,650 Yen (about 12.5 EUR) for a pack of 38 units (our Bibu weights now about 12 kilos) But, dear reader, in one of my frequent excursions around the 'hood, I've hit the jackpot: local brand pack of 40 for (drums please) 880 Yen!!! (about 6.6 EUR) Isn't that a great deal or what! They look something like this:

Yes, I know, the things that make me feel like an accomplished person these days. But anyway, isn't that a great deal or whatttt??? They have survived the daytime "piss and poo" rituals and will be tested on the "piss at midnight" test soon, when the P branded ones run out. Will report on that.

Now, on to formula. No, not talking about the formula for happiness or richness, just baby formula. You know, fake milk for babies. Bibu is now just under 14 months and has two fake milk drinks a day. I brought with me his favoured N brand from Switzerland (again, do not make me say the brand) but that is almost finished. So after running a quick internet research, I bought a Japanese brand which is apparently favoured by Western babies:

Well, I obviously didn't check the price on the shelf, as this cutie is actually 2,635 Yen (almost 20 EUR) bought in the same shop as the great deal diapers.

I can only say that I see Bibu drinking proper normal cow's milk in the very very short term..... That or the good deal with the diapers will compensate the outrageous price tag of the formula.

Bibu the chick magnet (sort of)

You know the famous popular belief that babies and small children attract women in the street? Well, with Bibu it's taking a twist to the bizarre.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to check out the Roppongi Hills complex, which is relatively close to our place. We left and already I was missing the appartments air conditioning. My God it's boiling hot in here! Anyway, we arrived in said Roppongi Hills place, all vey nice and modern but a tad complicated to get around with a stroller and an increasingly impatient 1 year old. Seeing that things would quickly turn nasty if I didn't release Bibu from the stroller at least for a little while to let him stretch his legs, we made our way through the maze of elevators and semi-mezzanine floors to the "Mori Park" next to the Asahi TV station building.

Bibu was walking around in the park, wearing his hideous "combat sandals" (he apparently threw one of his nice sandals in the street the other day and we only found out the following day) when two women holding small ugly dogs à la Paris Hilton came by walking in the opposite direction. Bibu instantly fixed his stare on the chihuahuas and that's when I heard it: "Ah, such a cute baby"!!! This said with what I can only describe as a man's voice. So, indeed, there it was Mr Transexual walking his chihuahua, aptly named "Paris". We had the typical nice exchange with Bibu hesitating to pet the dog's head or not and Mr T reassuring us that "Paris" wouldn't hurt a bug. Bibu remained scotched to the spot and after a bit more hesitation and nervous smiles (mine) and much use of expressions such as "cute", "nice boy", etc (Mr T's) we all continued our ways through the park.

A few minutes later, now resolutely on the way back home after Bibu entered full blown metldown, I decided to take a quick tour around a book & CD shop in one of the corners, to check the prices of the imported magazines. On the way out, Mr T and friend (who was an actual woman, I presume) were sipping a latte or sililar Starbuckean concoction and of course they spotted us immediately and screamed "How cute, you're following uuuussssss!" to the top of their lungs.

Yep, that Bibu is a chick magnet I say! :-)