Ok, this is my second blog of the day. It’s gone midnight here and we have just returned from our evening with Sayaka’s family. Present at the meal along with Sayaka, Mark and myself were Sayaka’s Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-Law, Nephew (3 1/2) and Niece (< 1 year):

The evening was very pleasant and lots of laughs were had – I did my best to remember my five Japanese phrases. Mark was kept busy doing his excellent translation between Japanese and English. Our meal was Sukayiki (see photos 1 and 2). To quote from Wikipedia, “It consists of thinly sliced beef and/or tofu slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin. Before being eaten, the ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs”. Photo 3 shows Masaki adding the thinly sliced beef to the pot. Continue reading →

Day 1 began at Tokyo Narita airport. The 12 hour flight went ok and I actually managed to grab about four hours sleep. More importantly, though, the raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes that Mo had given me to take for Mark were still intact (and I hadn’t eaten any)!

I met up with Mark and we took an hour’s train to central Tokyo, where we then found our accommodation for the night. Our first stop after that was for lunch (see photo 1). We ate Tonkatsu – breaded pork with cabbage, miso soup, rice and mayonnaise dip. Very tasty indeed.

We wandered around for a while after that, before I had to go for a nap as I was feeling really quite jet lagged. After a couple of hours rest, we went back out. First stop – the largest electrical store in Tokyo (see photo 2). Nine floors of electrical goods as far as the eye can see – very impressive. If you need a computer mouse, this is the place to come – check out photo 3: an entire aisle dedicated to the little (non-fluffy) hand-held vermin device. Continue reading →