PART 2 - Elvina Bay

On Saturday night, I went to sleep on a plane leaving Narita, and woke up on Sunday morning in Sydney. Sunday was all about getting here to Elvina Bay which is water access only – car hire, Woolworths then water taxi. Finally to the house up the inclinator (cliff lift to the rest of us!) Then, later in the afternoon, M arrived with his two youngest children who will be staying here a week. Since then it’s been jobs and its good to sit down. The first meeting went well I think, although to be honest, I’m exhausted – mostly from the build-up both to the move and the meeting. They think I’m funny apparently, which is good. His daughter (12) is hugely into fashion and labels and seemingly very unimpressed by the second hand Audi we bought yesterday and the rented house, which has ‘old people furniture’. His son (7) is just so happy to see his dad and thanked me for keeping him company in Japan. He asked if I could be his stepmother, which was very sweet, but felt like a test so I said I would like to be friends if that was ok to start off.

After a day’s skiving, they went back to school today, which meant a 6.30 taxi to the main wharf and sandwiches packed last night. I’m feeling slightly shell shocked by the whole overnight lifestyle transformation but keeping a very open mind – easier to do when I’m sitting in on the jetty with my feet in the water as I write this! I’m on my own today so had a big walk in the national park behind the house and cleaned the house. I’m slightly obsessed with spiders, having found s funnel-nest right next to the front door on the first day and a black wiggly thing in my bed the same day. I’m sure Ill get over it. Either that or permanent gloves!

Next challenge is to find a boat to get practising as we’re going for our boat-driving license next week. Before that, a few days in Melbourne with my dear friend Nic and her three boys. Hopefully I’ll feel a bit more settled when I get back.

Lunch with the girls

How I miss that! Had a bit of a taste of it though today with Yuka and Emi from M's office. A special for me as it was to an amazing fish restaurant. Yes most restaurants here are amazing, and with a set lunch at around 1,200 yen (about 8 quid) a person, it makes it very affordable to eat out during the day.

This fish restaurant was particularly special. Like most restaurants, it had a simple offering - marinated fish cooked over hot coals, although there was a choice of fish, marinated in different ways. I had haka from Hokkaido which was delicious.

The restaurant is in Evisu, opposite the statue at the front of the station, opposite Family Mart and sandwiched between Soft Bank and a dentist. There is a door going downstairs, usually with a queue on it (go at 1130 or after 1330 to avoid the rush). There is no English menu and nobody speaks English but don't be put off - have anything!

From there you can wander to Daikenyama for more shopping!

Alphabet Foundation

I've been a bit lapse of late and the reason is that I've been lending a hand to M's charity, the Alphabet Foundation, which he set up with his long term friend Peter. Peter spent some time in the refugee camps on the Thai/ Burmese border and came back vowing to do something about the lack of educational support for kids in camps throughout SE Asia.

To mark the official opening, the Alphabet Foundation have teamed up with a number of Australian big name artists, sports and television personalities who have created individual art pieces based on the letters of the alphabet. These will be sold at a silent auction which will be held at Art Sydney next weekend.

Some of the paintings are political, and reference the regimes under which the refugees live. Others, like the sculpture by 'V' by Vince Frost or 'F is for Frog' by Cash Brown, were based on the artists own childhood. There are a couple of newsworthy paintings too - including 'X marks the spot', a collaboration between artist Adam Cullen and a Roger Rogerson, where the latter has pretty much admitted a crime he was held responsible for in the court of public opinion but let off in the early '80's. M has also done a painting and has got lots of press for it too.

One of the artists, the now NSW Minister for Arts, Peter Garrett, was the lead singer in the brilliant band 'Midnight Oil'. He hasn't changed a bit... wish I could say the same!

In hot water

This place is a bit of a secret. So secret in fact that since visiting back in October last year, I haven't been able to find even its website. I'm mentioning it now because my dear friend R is visiting next Spring and this is exactly the kind of place she would love.

There are gazillions of onsen (hot springs) throughout Japan which make the most of the country's volcanic activity. Onsen are baths, many of which are public areas but are often run as part of a traditional hotel or ryokan.

We've visited a few onsen since living here, but none have lived up to my first experience. I came to Japan for a long weekend and spent 2 nights at Senjyuan in the Gunma Prefecture, about 3 hours from Tokyo. Its set in a river valley, and designed by an award winning architect, although the website makes no mention of it. Rather unusually, each bedroom has its own outdoor onsen, where you can sit and watch monkeys and snow capped mountains and experience what it must have been like way back when. You are given a yukata to wander about in and eat a traditional ryokan meal in your own private dining room. The food was gobsmackingly amazing and afterwards, with all that hot water, I slept for 12 hours. It is expensive (they all are, but seriously worth it).

Shawn

'I'm a simple girl, easy going' I said once to M when we first got (back) together. He repeats this to me now with a snigger in his voice and I realise that whilst he's referring to a different kind of maintenance, the fact is that I do need regular upkeep. In London, a six week trim with Michael and highlights (you mean that it wasn't natural?!) with Hong, and regular visits to the gorgeous Kristy, kept me mowed and sanded, despite my Birkenstock and lack of slap. Six months down the line, the breakdown in my maintenance programme is beginning to show around the edges.

Tokyo has more hairdressers than any place on earth. I don't know if this is a fact but I cannot imagine anywhere having more - they are there on every corner, on every floor, at any time of day or night. Tokyo-ites flick gleaming locks and I am the only one I know who doesn't blow dry or who scrunches her hair up in a knot permanently. Kate Moss may sport the dirty blonde lock-chick roots, but she ain't here and I'm single handedly doing it for her. I have no excuse other than fear. Fear of bleach in the hands of a raven haired nation. And the fear is strong and has rendered me to a look that M described as 'Camilla Parker Bowles'.

There is something about being a foreigner that makes you feel immune, like your not part of society and therefore doesn't really matter what you look like. Rightly or wrongly, despite being in the most polished nation on earth, my standards had fallen and I was looking a right old state!

Last weekend I met Mo, a friend of M's from Sydney and she gave me the courage, and the phone number, to book an appointment at Gold. This morning I met Vladimir who, having just got back from a night long karaoke session, sliced through my tresses with gay abandon (in more ways than one). Surprisingly, I didn't wince when large chunks of hair fell about my feet, repairing the damage of a summer of swimming and sunshine. The installing of layers has given me a new bounce. I left the salon looking in shop windows at a girl wearing boots and jeans and for once, I felt I looked like I fitted. I have bouncy, flicky, short hair like a Japanese girl.

Bendy like Bikram

I'm a big sports fiend and in London, a regular at the infamous Rikki BB's wonderful aerobics classes. I also love yoga and have tried, not always successfully, to do some every day. On arrival in Tokyo, I found classes and schools in bikram and hatha, but found that instruction in another language, as well as being double the size and less than half as bendy as the rest of the class, is slightly off putting. I finally found a school called Yogajaya which has great classes in English, with guest teachers. The level is high and I have been challenged which I have really enjoyed. It isn't cheap, although there are discounts for bulk purchases, and its slightly annoying to pay a hire fee for a mat (bring your own, Japanese mats are shorter) but I have also supplemented a couple of weekly classes by downloading classes from the Internet site MyYoga, which has a monthly subscription.

Nothing yet beats my Rikki fix so its no wonder people struggle to leave London.

Inspired presumably by Carrie's wearing of one in the SATC movie, so many friends have asked me to pick them up a kimono. I have so far failed but not without trying. On weekends and holidays, girls are wear traditional dress frequently - it always makes me laugh when their gabbing on a mobile or smoking a fag whilst wearing one! The beautiful formal dresses with all the accessories, including the little wooden platform shoes, are worn for ceremonies and I think are purchased made to measure, rather than in the Japanese equivalent of M&S.

Yukatas however, are sported by men and women as lounge wear, in the same way westerners wear tracksuits. When visiting an onsen, one is usually provided, complete with sash and overjacket for warmth, to hang about in within the hotel and wear to the traditional dinner that is usually eaten. There are loads of tourist shops selling these but I've never been tempted, and at home, I prefer to wear my own traditional dress of leggings and t shirt. If I were to change my mind however, I'd go directly to Hirocoledge. Their designs are funky and they use chusen, which is a dyeing method originating from the Meiji Period (1868-1912), which makes the patterns reversible.

They also have some other cool stuff too, like bags and cushions in the same big, bold graphic patterns. Bear in mind the right wear to wear it (right over left), otherwise its funereal (a bit like leaving chopsticks stuck into rice). You wouldn't want to get that wrong!

Gizmos for Clare

Few quick ones, especially for Clare, because I know she likes a gadget at the moment!

Firstly, a watch that gives you train information. The Yamanote watch is supplied with up to date info on the Yamanote line (a bit like the circle). Trains ALWAYS run on time though so not really sure why you’d need one.

Next we have the car park under the Tokyo Hands store. Here is our lovely Audi which is about to go through what looks like a single garage door but is in fact a carosel. It will sit there and be moved up and down as people come and go. When we are ready, its number will be called and it will appear behind the doors. We’ll then use the turntable to get it out of the tiny entrance.

Finally, if you don’t make it home, get yourself one of these table top pillows. These are sold seriously for people to get 40 winks at the office which is extremely common. Sometimes working men don't make it home during the week.

I said typhoo not typhoon!

Excuse my absence. We were in Sydney finding a lovely place to live. We did, although it's not quite in Sydney, but more on that later... As I write, the trees on both sides of the kitchen are whipping about. Japan and right now, Tokyo is experiencing a cyclone - the first typhoon to hit land in decades. After bucket loads of rain during the night (50cm apparently), the skies have cleared to beautiful blue and we have just the wind with which to contend.

As you would expect, Japan braced itself for the onslaught with military precision. Warnings were issued and instructions to fill baths with water, and stock up on goods that didn't need cooking. Naturally we got whipped up with the excitement and lashed down the roof terrace, brought the bikes inside (including the motorbike) and moved the car right under the porch. We also watched the extended news last night for information on what we might expect. Always rather amusing - I think I've mentioned previously about the English voice over news which can never quite match the sex of the newsreader to the voice, despite having a selection of both from which to choose.

At the time, the storm was over Osaka in the South West. The bulletin cut to the eye of the storm where a reporter was standing with an umbrella. "Nearly took it out my hand" he said... "the leaves are moving and when the wind blows, the boats in the harbour rock"... and "there is nobody around". This appeared to be the biggest news, although there had been some damage - cut to 3 chimney bricks fallen down.. and some people have 'voluntarily' evacuated their homes ... cut to shot of about 20 people neatly lying under yellow blankets asleep in a hall (why were they asleep at 7pm? Im not sure, maybe exhaustion!) Back to the studio....

In true Japanese style, we plan for the worst. We are shown some colourful footage of what might happen - footage of natural disasters around the world, the floods in India where people are being airlifted, some large waves in the UK, mud slides etc. Over all this, the voice over says "be careful of mud slides... be careful of flooding". We end with a shot of a woman in a wind tunnel experiencing 100 mph. I have no idea why, given the winds are only forecast to reach 70 mph.

Anyway, when I woke up this morning, I was alive and was able to let out the bathwater I had saved from last night, just in case. Apparently there are a couple of trees down and some trains are not running but that's about it. The big gusts are still here but there's nothing like wind to push away stagnant energy so I'm off again - along with my neighbours who are obsessive leaf sweepers - seems a bit pointless right now though but it's not stopping them.