Singapore highlights

In no particular order:

- Gardens by the Bay, especially the Cloud Forest Dome.

- The heat. Somehow, I actively enjoyed the heat in Singapore more than that in Japan. It was not as humid in Singapore compared to much of our time in Japan. That probably had a lot to do with it.

- Chinatown - architecture, wandering around, the markets, sugarcane juice with lime, mango roll, crispy fried tofu.

- Food - La Pau Sat and Immigrants. Roti and iced teh. Iced milo. Mangosteens.

- The Night Safari.

- Seeing the contrasts - the glitzy international city of finance compared to the suburbs.

Tokyo highlights

In no particular order:

- The river cruise, followed by Hamarikyu gardens, especially the tea-house and the chat with the friendly Japanese and American businessmen there.

- Tokyo Disneyland, which I enjoyed for my own sake (and far more than I expected), as well as enjoying the delight of the 4 y.o.

- The sense of achievement in pretty much figuring out the metro system. The app X. found helped immensely.

- The part sign language, part English and part Japanese conversation I had in the supermarket with two local women, trying to figure out whether the laundry detergent I was holding was suitable for a top-loading machine.

- Yakitori from a tiny place near the station near our accommodation.

- The Mori Art Museum and Tokyo observation deck.

- Chirashi sashimi after our walk through the Yanaka area - and, on that walk, a conversation with a man whose mother had been born in the area.

Song of the Baby

I made up a song. Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes in the company of a small child will recognise it.

It is to be sung to a G&S-style tune, ie melodramatic and mock-operatic, in a minor key. If I ever get the chance, I might post the tune (which I have probably unintentionally ripped off from somewhere).

It amused all of my travelling companions. The funniest reaction was that of the 4 y.o. She asked me to sing it three or four times, by which point she had it memorised. When we were singing it together later, she confided to me (in relation to the first verse): "B, sometimes I'm a bit like that."

I told her I'd noticed. I also said that actually, everybody was a bit like that sometimes!

X. also played me a Rhys Muldoon song which has a similar theme and a VERY similar ending. But Muldoon's is much better.

The Song of the Baby

I don't want to go to sleep!
I don't want to go to sleep!
There are exciting things afoot, there are exciting things afoot,
I don't want to go to sleep.

You are being mean to me!
You are being mean to me!
By feeding me when I'm hungry, by feeding me when I'm hungry,
You are being mean to me.

I want to go and explore!
I want to go and explore!
Under the table and through the door, under the table and through the door,
I want to go and explore.

That thing fits nicely in my mouth!
That thing fits nicely in my mouth!
Why are you taking it away? why are you taking it away?
That thing fits nicely in my mouth.

Why are you washing my face?
Why are you washing my face?
I was saving that for later, I was saving that for later,
Why are you washing my face?

You are cruel for holding me!
You are cruel for holding me!
I'm going to scream and scream so everybody knows,
You are cruel for holding me.

I don't want to
...
go to sleep!
I ...
don't want to go
...
to sleep!
There are
... exciting
...
things
...
afoot,
...
...
there are exciting things
...
afoot,
...
I
...
don't
...
...
want to
...
...
...
go
...
...
...
...
...
[snore]

The trains (don't always) run on time

I have been enjoying the fact that the trains really do run to timetable here - well, mostly enjoying; we've missed a couple of connections because of change times that don't take account of the speed of kids, but that's life.

Today, however, we were on what might have been the only delayed train in Japan.

We're in Hiroshima (having canned the planned hiking/onsen trip due to difficult travel and bad walking weather) and wanted to head to Miyajima today.

We caught a train in the afternoon.

The man across the aisle from us spoke into a dictaphone shortly after sitting down. He checked his watch as he did so. He also looked kind of irritated. I imagine he keeps a diary of his movements. His entry from that train trip probably goes something like the following (NB: times and number of entries are approximate, as I was neither making a note of the times myself nor recording when/how many times he spoke into his dictaphone. I also have no real idea what the announcements said.):

"2014-7-7 16:54 Embarked upon train to Iwakuni. Found seat. Across the aisle is a strange and noisy gaijin group. Two kids! The little one made a lot of noise and the adults just seemed to encourage him! Train due to depart 16:56. This is 5 minutes late. I am not impressed."

"2014-7-7 16:56 Train has departed."

"2014-7-7 17:03 Train appears to be waiting at Yokagawa for longer than it should. This is what happens when trains are permitted to run late in the first place. Gaijin still loud and annoying. The older child is now being permitted to make her little brother scream. I am not impressed."

"2014-7-7 17:10 Train has stopped between Yokagawa and Nishihiroshima. The driver apologised for the delay. There is some mechanical problem with the train. They are persevering."

"2014-7-7 17:24 Train has finally crawled into Nishihiroshima. We have now been sitting here for some time."

"2014-7-7 17:58 Train has been crawling between stations and stopping for some time at each one. We have just left Miyauchi-Kushido. The gaijin disembarked at that stop but only after the train had waited at the station for some time. They are probably too stupid to read even the Romaji signs."

In other words, we got off a train about an hour after we got on it, two stops before our stop, to cross the tracks and get straight on a train headed back to Hiroshima. (A trip which took the appropriate 20 or so minutes.) However, at the station we were aiming for, we still would have needed to take a ferry and then walk to see the Itsukushina Shrine and Torii gate, our ultimate goal - and then do it all in reverse. And we had two tired and hungry kids and weren't sure whether it was just our train or something systemic. The experience made me think of Italy.

Nevertheless, it felt like a pointless couple of hours.

We'll try again tomorrow. On the tram.

Naoshima

Yesterday, we headed out of Kurashiki to Naoshima (three trains and a ferry), home of the Benesse Art Site. It had come highly recommended by friends.

As we have found so often in Japan, the people at the bike rental place were enormously helpful. We had been a bit skeptical about whether there would be a bike with a child carrier, but in the event, there was one with both a child seat on the back and a baby seat on the front. Perfect for our most confident (and strongest) cyclist, P. It even had battery assist. (Although, to be honest, he probably would have beat me and X. up the hills with both kids and without battery assist.)

After lunch, described in a previous post, we headed out of Miyanoura to look at art.

The Chichu Museum was our first stop. It is very minimalist, with quite brutalist architecture. There are only a few artworks in there, but each is in a specially designed space and lit (where lighting is required) by artificial light.

The display of Monets is phenomenal (and reflected in the garden with lily pond outside). The work by James Turrell called "Open Field" is amazing and surreal.

But the highlight for me was the Walter de Maria work. This consists of an enormous polished marble globe in the centre of a large hall. It sits halfway up a flight of seamless concrete steps. Around the walls are golden-painted angular wooden columns, placed in groups of three and at various orientations.

The light comes in through hidden skylights around the edges of the room, is caught by the columns and reflected off the globe.

An attendant stands outside warning everyone to be quiet inside (the hall is very echo-y) and not to touch the globe. The attendant who was there when we went in the first time had curly hair, a big smile and a friendly manner. When we went back the second time (it had been cloudy when we first arrived, but it was sunny by the time we were ready to leave and we wanted to observe the difference), she had switched places and was inside the hall. She took a great deal of delight from our pleasure in the work, particularly the 4 y.o.'s enjoyment.

After the Chichu, we went riding further, checking out other parts of the island and whatever outdoor art we could find. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

My one complaint about the day is that the train that met the ferry left within about 5 minutes after the ferry got in. With two kids, that was never going to be possible. However, the station attendants were able to give us a restaurant recommendation so our waiting time was not wasted.

Impressions of Japanese architecture

Keeping in mind I haven't yet been to Tokyo...

(1) Brutalism really took hold here!

(2) The art deco influence is apparent from time to time, often only in parts, those parts often being stained glass.

(3) The Mondrian-style painted building we saw from a train was cool (not sure where we were).

(4) I get the impression that, for the most part, the aesthetic value of the exterior of a building is not enormously important - apart from the garden. Even the older/older-style buildings are not particularly interesting from the outside, although more appealing than many modern buildings. There are a few notable exceptions to all of this.

(5) Brutalism rates a second mention here.

(6) Many modern homes look like kit homes. There is a significant degree of uniformity.

(7) That said, to my eye, the town planning often seems a bit higgledy-piggledy in terms of building placement, both as to where buildings are placed (tall and ugly apartment blocks amongst much lower, often more traditional-style housing) and orientation vis-a-vis other buildings (at odd angles, windows overlooking gardens, etc).

(8) GARDENS! Many people have a garden, if only pots on a balcony or the street. They are often food gardens. (In the more rural areas, there are large vegie gardens, and everyone seems to have their own rice paddy, if only a small one.)

Kurashiki = food heaven

As a general rule, my favourite parts of any trip often end up being the serendipitous, at least partly unplanned, moments.

Kurashiki has been no exception.

We're staying here because it seemed a good base for a couple of day trips (Naoshima and Hiroshima). Okayama would have been a bit more convenient, but we were pointed in this direction by the guide book and the lack of suitable accommodation in Okayama - once we got more than a certain distance from the station, we figured we might as well take that extra 15 minute train trip.

We are so glad we did.

We are in a traditional ryokan - and I'm quite positive we've already made some serious etiquette slips, but everyone is nevertheless being very nice to us (the fact that the 4 y.o. says "konnichiwa" and "arigato" very nicely doesn't hurt).

And we had the most fabulous meal on our first night here.

We literally followed our noses, stopping at a yakitori restaurant called Torikei - when trying to find something else - because it just smelled so good. Nobody spoke any English, so we asked for omakase. It was superb. From the bacon-wrapped quail eggs on skewers to the chicken wings to the sashimi, combined with the element of surprise, it was one of my favourite meals of the trip so far.

The waitress seemed delighted with our delight at each dish, highly amused at (and patient with) our attempts to communicate and charmed by the kids (as so many people are), and that added immensely to our enjoyment.

The pics on the bottom of this post are from Torikei. We might just end up there again tomorrow night...

In the afternoon, we had also picked up some of the local specialty snacks - tiny pancakes wrapped around adzuki bean paste. Yum!

Then, this morning, we had breakfast at our ryokan. Rice, miso soup, egg, grilled salmon, tofu, various pickles and accompaniments - it was a great way to start the day.

Today's lunch at Naoshima (ok, not Kurashiki, but I'm taking blogger's licence here) made it three in a row. We hired our bikes and asked at the rental place for a lunch recommendation. We ended up eating the freshest sashimi I have ever had, with sea bream caught by one of the owners (presumably that morning, but the language barrier made it difficult to ask). The miso soup stock was made from hand-collected prehistoric-looking shellfish. The owners let us in to their adjoining gallery for free, which contained a life-sized model of an elephant made out of hay, and gave the kids free toys from a lucky dip.

All of that put us in the right frame of mind and body to go riding around the island in search of art. More on which in a later post.