Hiro has been away for the past few days which has resulted in a break from cooking - one substantial lunch time meal outside, yoghurt and apples and who needs to cook! :)
Wed. I organised to meet a friend and her two year old daughter on south bound train at the local train station (they live a little further north so I waited and jumped on the same train they were on). We had a lovely time at the park in Ueno where there are many of Tokyo's most prestigious museums and galleries. In the afternoon I took a train to Narita to meet a friend, who was transiting overnight, for dinner and caught the last train back. The 'last train' is very important when living in Japan. Anyone who is out in the evening always knows the time of their last train home. Often there is a mini stampede at Shinjuku station in particular for the last train home - missing it means spending the night in a capsule hotel or a karaoke bar. (A couple of years ago Hiro fell asleep on the train and ended up at the terminal station with no trains back.....easily done..)
Yesterday I cycled to meet another friend for lunch at a local Indian restaurant. For some reason, lunch time menus here are often 1/2 or 1/3 - sometimes more, cheaper than dinner time.
And today I went to meet a friend at the National Cancer Centre before going to the gyoza place in Shimbashi that Hiro and I went to the other day. She is a truly remarkable person - she's been here for ... a long time perhaps close to 20 years? ... has perfect Japanese, four children, and has been fighting cancer for the past 8 or so. It's always a delight to meet her - her grace and positive spirit are both humbling and inspiring. She has just changed medicine regimes but was quite well enough to walk the distance back to Shimbashi for gyoza. This is her web page.
http://sugio.blogspot.com/
Hiro is back tonight so some cooking might be in order!
