Konnichiwa

Our Trip to Tohoku: Matsushima (Part 1)

Matsushima, Miyagi

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We finally went to the tsunami-hit area. I think I mentioned before that Tomo did some volunteer work there in July.  The locals were saying to him - thank you for volunteering, but it would be just as good if not better if you brought your friends/family here to do some sight-seeing and drop some tourist money.  Tomo and I had always been curious and wanting to see first-hand the devastation and we wanted our boys to see it too. But were hesitatant to be tsunami-tourists as it seemed in bad taste to be gawking when so many were suffering. So after Tomo heard those words, he needed no further encouragement to bring us there.

We went during the long weekend in early October. Tomo had to be in Sendai for a business trip (his company lost a warehouse in Sendai to the tsunami). So the boys and I took the shinkansen by ourselves. We had quite an interesting encounter in the shinkansen. When we boarded, we could not find 3 seats together. At best, there were only 2 seats together but a salaryman had put his bag on one of the seats. So I was trying to get Taiga to sit down next to the bag and I am right behind him.  Taiga refused to be alone and we were having our little conversation in English where I was trying to get him to sit. The salaryman notices us and removes his bag. I thanked him in Japanese and told Taiga to thank him. Taiga thanked him in Japanese. And the salaryman said to Taiga - nihonjin datta (Oh, you are Japanese).  A simple phrase like "arigatou" is so telling as to where one grew up! I must say that the salaryman is quite different - he had a very nice friendly/kind smile. And he smiled often. Taiga must have felt comfortable with him right from the start. He normally clams up around strangers, but not with this salaryman. He told him that we were going to see the tsunami-area, does he know ultraman etc? He was talking non-stop about ultraman and goranger (another superhero) to the poor salaryman who is probably in his 50s.  The salaryman seemed to enjoy it and was amused.

We finally reached Sendai and met Tomo. Had a quick dinner of gyutan (cow's tongue) which Sendai is famous for and then crashed on the hotel bed.

The next morning, we headed to Ishinomaki.  On the way there, we drove past Matsushima. Matsushima is comprised of many little islands covered with pine trees (matsu=pine, shima=island).  It was quite scenic.

We also made a brief stop at Touna. The train station at Touna was flashed around the media as it was pretty much swept away by the tsunami.

I mention Touna because as we were walking around the train station (picture above of the "remains" of the train station), a man was pulling some plants off the ground. He started talking to us, saying he was pulling out herbs which is good for kids. We then asked him if he was around here when the tsunami struck.  He pointed us to about 5o to 100 m away and said his house used to be there. When the tsunami warnings came, he and his wife tried to get his elderly mum (in her 90s) out of the house to safety.  The mum initially agreed to leave the house but quickly changed her mind and decided to stay in her house. Because she did not want to leave, his wife also did not want to leave as the wife could not bear to leave the mum alone.  They were both upstairs.  He was pacing downstairs wondering what to do.  The water was flowing in to the house very quickly.  Before he could sort out what to do, the water had already almost reached the ceiling of the first floor and he was practically submerged in the water with his head sticking out (he had climbed his altar to get above the water).  He thought he was going to drown/die when the force of water tore the house away from the foundation and apart.  He then found himself floating in the open.  He said he was very lucky as near where he was floating, there was a telephone pole and there were 5 or 6 guys hanging off the top of the pole. When the rescuers finally came and got those guys off the pole, those guys told the rescuers to look for him - they had seen him floating around and they last time they saw him, he was still alive. And so the rescuers found him.  This was about 3 or 4 hours after the tsunami struck.  Many days later, the officials told him they found his wife and mum. They were still in the 2nd floor of his house but they had died. He told us that this train station, when the tsunami struck, the force of the water ripped out the metal and all the wood just floated up.  There are tracks no more. We thanked him for sharing his story and he waved us off.

Soon after, we came across this stationary train in the middle of nowhere.  

This train has not moved since the tsunami struck. Why? Because of the missing tracks! The tracks around this train are still intact but this train heads to Touma. 

As we drive around, we see tsunami tourists in tour buses and in private taxis! We saw this building which must have been a convenience store before.

 

Our Houseguests from Canada : Kamakura

Joss-sticks in a temple.

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The very weekend after we came back form Singapore, we had houseguests from Canada.  This certainly forced us to really clean our house for the first time in probably three years.  There was just too much to clean and declutter, and I think whilst we did not manage to do it to perfection, we achieved a level of decency.

Our guests were a retired couple, both musicians.  Uncle V's family (with his first wife) was Tomo's host family for a year when Tomo was studying in Canada.  He and his first wife (both teachers) built their own house on elevated land next to a lake.  Every nail was hammered in by them.  They even did the whole sewage system.  I stayed at that house a few years back and was totally impressed (and humbled).  Very nice house.  

Uncle V visited Japan a few years back, when his first marriage was about over.  This is his second wife's first trip to Japan (discounting when she came here abt 30 years back for a performance).  She was not interested in seeing the city scape.  She wanted countryside and Mt. Fuji.  So we brought them to Kamakura.  We usually bring guests to the temple with the big Buddha, but tried another temple this time round.  This temple has very nice grounds.

  

And then we visited another temple and another temple, till we had our fill of temples.  

   

Nikko - Part 3

Would I ever go back to Nikko again?  You bet. It was such a relaxing holiday.  Just looking over the lakes was bliss.  

It seems that it is not only I who feel that way.  Both the French and the Italian embassies have built summer cottages there for their ambassadors/entertaining.  The Italians have opened up their summer cottage to the public.  I was surprised at how small the main house is, considering that is where the ambassador lives in summer. The grounds were big though.  The pics below were taken at the cottage or around it.

The path leading to the cottage.

The cottage from the side.

The jetty right in front of the cottage.

The 3 boys on the jetty.

The jetty taken from the 2nd floor of the cottage.

Me and the boys inside the cottage.

Splash!

Strong little one.

A tadpole.

A brotherly moment. (I was 1 second too late.  The second before, Taiga had his whole arm around Kai.)

Boating.

Lovely isn't it?

Nikko - Part 2

Nikko is famous for the autumn foliage, so we were a bit early.  Which was great in the sense that it was empty!  We almost had the whole place to ourselves.

1 little hiccup that we had was the hotel.  We stayed in a small hotel and they apparently told Tomo (who did the reservations) that they are closed from 9.30 am until 5pm.  When they meant closed, the really meant closed.  After our little walk along the lake in front of the hotel, we retuned to the hotel at 9.35 am and found the main door locked.  We pressed the bell a few times and no one answered.  We finally called the number we had used for reservations and the manager picked up.  We asked to go in for just a minute to pick up some medicine for Kai.  They said no - we can buy the medicine at the town pharmacy.  Tomo put down.  I made Tomo call them again and say it is prescription medicine.  They said no again!  So we were totally locked out of our hotel!!! What kind of a hotel is that?   

I still can't understand why they could not just open the door and let us run in.  It is not like they are cleaning the rooms.  The whole time we stayed there, they did not make the beds or clean the toilet. They merely just threw out the trash.  Is the hotel spooked?  Do ghosts come out at certain times?  Tomo thinks that no one is present at the hotel at all during that time, for costs reasons.  Well, after asking around my colleagues, they have never heard of this and the price we paid for the room is  not exactly bargain price.  So I would never recommend that hotel.

And the lesson I have learnt from this?  Never leave the hotel arrangement to the hubby.  

Apart from that incident, we had a great time at Nikko.   The boys wanted to catch those big, scary beetles (kabuto mushi and kuwagatas).  So at the advice of the local people, we bought watermelons and lots of honey, spread them around trees and went back the next morning to inspect our find.  Nothing!  Morning after morning came up with nothing.  I bought the boys huge plastic models of the beetles instead.  I was actually quite relieved that we never caught them.  They are scary!

Apart from the autumn foliage, Nikko is famous for a certain shrine.  I was too busy to even read up on Nikko before we left, so did not know too much about the shrine.  But the shrine is very, very old.  Built in 1617.  Up in a mountain.  And it is a listed world heritage site.  Loads of foreign tourists around the shrine.  One of the things that the shrine is famous for (apart from being old) is a carving of the famous trio of monkeys - hear no evil speak no evil, see no evil.  I was a little surprised.  For whatever reason, I always thought these monkeys were from the West.  

Apart from the shrine, we went to a very interesting 3D museum.  See the pics below for yourself.

Kai framed!

  

Kai is already almost as tall as daddy!

Help!  (This pic could have been more realistic but I did not have the luxury of time to adjust with 2 active kids.)

Don't let go!  Kai trying to save daddy and Taiga.  Although daddy does not look too worried about falling.

This is actually just a painting on the floor.  So all 3 of them are on the floor and I took the pic from 1 level up.

Nikko - Part 1

During the Marine Day long weekend, we went to Nikko.

I was going through a crazily hectic period in the office, so the whole planning was done by Tomo.  I remember being exhausted.  I was  in deep sleep at the front passenger seat the moment I set foot in the car. 

When I woke up, I found myself staring at ...

 

.... the Chrysler Building ....

.... camels .... pyramids .....

Honey - look at our kids, they are gigantic!  What vitamins have you been giving them?

Look!  Our kids are taller than the trees below Eiffel Tower!

   

Oh, we are at the miniature world.  But of course, Plaza Hotel (the old one) does not exist anymore.

Strawberry Picking

We don't normally do anything very fun or unusual on the weekends.  The main objective of the last few years has been to go somewhere that (i) is not too far, so that the tired parents can sleep-in and wake up at noon, (ii) has lots of space/activities for the kids to run around or do, to tire them out so that the tired parents can sleep.  So that means that we tend to go to only Costco, Lalaport and Takashimaya (@ Futako-Tamagawa). 

Then, Lily suggested that we join her family for strawberry picking.  (Thanks Lily for inviting us along!)  We were limited to only 30 mins of eating at the strawberry farm!  Kai had fun picking and eating.  Taiga approached the whole picking with deep concentration and single-minded objective.  He certainly needed no help from me. 

The strawberries were nothing like what we buy.  But I think that is because we buy the cheap stuff.  Like USD8 a punnet.  The stuff that we ate, I think is the stuff that is usually sold for USD30 a punnet (i.e. maybe about 10 to 12 strawberries?).

The strawberries were very, very sweet.  We found out that the owners of the farm cultivated their own bees and used the honey from these bees to make the strawberries sweet.  We were told not to open this box.  That's where some of the bees are.

And next to the strawberries were these fields of yellow flowers.  Apparently, canola oil comes from these plants.

And here is a cute pose of Taiga.  (I can't resist.  It is a cute pose.)  Notice he has no shoes on?  That is because he ran right into a muddy puddle - and fell.  He is looking very pleased because he does not have to wear shoes.  He is *constantly* pulling them off.  See Mt. Fuji in the background?

 

The weather and visibility was not the greatest that day.  But can't complain, at least it did not rain.  Here is a bigger pic of Mt. Fuji in the circumstances.

Hong Kong (Part 1)

We left for Hong Kong shortly after christmas and came back a few days after new year's day.  We were there for about a week.  I usually go back to Singapore for christmas and new years, but my family decided this time to do a "family vacation".  My parents love to travel and we have been travelling a great deal since we were kids, so I guess the travel bug is still there after all these years.  Since we have 6 kids between me and my siblings (ranging from 8 years to 6 months), we needed a family friendly place.  Club Med was the initial plan, but the uncertainty of floods put a kibbosh on that.  Then my sis came up with the idea of HK Disneyland.  Which suited me totally fine as I have been wanting to go to HK for a long time.  Love their food and shopping.

Disneyland

It is small, so small that there isn't even the "It's a Small World" attraction that I thought was synonymous with Disneyland.  They are building that right now though.  No haunted mansion too, a favourite of mine.  But the size was OK if you are are going with little ones.  I spent most of my time chasing Taiga, who was wild over there.  It must have been the wide open spaces there that we do not get here in Tokyo that got him all delirious. 

The Qs were usually only about 45 mins.  I have read in the press about the mainland Chinese visitors peeing everywhere.  Did not see that.  But the press would probably soon report on 2 little Japanese boys who were peeing everywhere.  There were indeed many mainlanders.  Who liked to jump Q.  The parades were nothing to shout about.  (Catch the Electrical Parade at night if you are ever in Tokyo Disneyland.)  But the fireworks were very good.  We stayed 2 nights for the fireworks, both nights were different, both nights were brilliant.  It's different from the summer fireworks we get here in Japan, it is really more "magical" over there.

As for restaurants, the restaurant by Lee Kum Kee is nothing to shout about.  Opposite that is a restaurant by Maxim's, that is worth the Q.  (Although you can make a reservation in advance and the Q'ing time is greatly shortened.)  We liked it so much, we were there again the 2nd night.  They have stuff like spareribs in strawberry sauce, scallop cooked in lemon and scallion etc.  Very yummy, but the portions are small.

Family Time

The kids had a wild time together. 

We all stayed in a Disney hotel and requested for rooms close together.  The kids enjoyed wandering from room to room in the mornings as the adults were getting ready, playing in each other's rooms and noisily running down the corridors (thankfully, many of the hotel guests had young kids too).  Here is a pic of Kai flying from one bed to another.

  There was a little playground and they were excited to explore the play structure together.  There was once when they all went down the slide together and jammed up at the bottom.  It was rather cute. 

My parents came up with this great idea - that all the kids (grandkids, that is) get the same Disney T-shirt to commemorate our family trip there.  When the kids grow up, I think the T-shirts and the photos will be much treasured.  Being a typical Chinese family, we got the T-shirts in a bigger size and I think the kids can still wear them 2 years down the road.

(Does the above photo not remind you of APEC summits where world leaders wear the same top?)

Kai loves his cousins.  Although he sees them only once a year, he has a special attachment to them.  He seems to understand that the cousins are not the same as his friends.  Even in our daily conversations in Japan, he would talk about them.  Natalie che-che, Kieran kor-kor, Keira mei-mei and Keira mei-mei's baby sister!  (Sorry Kaelyn, before you had a name we were always calling you Keira mei-mei's baby sister already!  And it has stuck.)  Like when the Power Puff Girls come up on cartoon network, he will excitedly shout "This is Natalie che-che's favourite!"  The cousins left for Singapore first, and then we moved in to Hong Kong itself.  The pics below are Kai saying good-bye to some of the cousins, as they left Disneyland to catch their flight home.

Taiga is still too young, but hopefully he will have the same bond with his cousins in Singapore the way Kai has.

I was just discussing with Kai recently the possibility of going back to Singapore in the middle of the year so that he can see his cousins and Singapore grandparents.  He was very excited but said "But mummy, do we have to sit an aeroplane?  Kai does not want to sit on aeroplane - it is so smelly!"

Hong Kong (Part II)

Hong Kong

We stayed at the Langham Place Hotel.  Very nice place.  We chose it because it is connected to a massive shopping mall (which is easier to hang out with young kids in case of a rainy day) and through the shopping mall, there was a very easy connection to the subway station.  Again, very important when having young kids and a stroller.  I really appreciated that we did not have to carry the stroller down long flights of steps at that station.

The room was on the small side, but very nicely decorated.  It felt warm and homely, with an edge to it.  Interestingly, instead of a wall between the bedroom and the shower/bath, there is a glass panel.  The photo below was taken from the bedroom.  The sink was unusual - all glass.

And I like the elevator hallways.

Train stations

I have to say that HK is very stroller-unfriendly.  Almost all the stations had long flights of stairs.  Tsim Sha Tsui station was probably about the worst, and unfortunely we went there a lot.  But thank god for big families as we always had helping hands whenever Emperor Taiga needed to be lifted.

The barriers at the ticket gates are also very stroller-unfriendly.  They are of the type where 3 arms stick out and rotate.  So often, as we go through, we would have to tilt the stroller and keep adjusting the tilt lower until the stroller goes under and through the arms.  And as for bags hanging on the stroller, as the gates were very narrow, the bags had to be removed to go through. 

They do have 1 extra-wide gate at times for wheelchairs and strollers, but that would inevitably be like a 5 minute walk away and then we would have to do another 5 minute walk to get back to where we were which is closer to the intended exit.   The good thing is that lifts/elevators in stations are not used by the everyone, so we often easily got a lift.  The problem in Japan is that everyone likes to use those lifts even when they are young and able-bodied (usually the young fancily dressed girls and the housewives in their 40s).  Despite the signs in Japan saying to let strollers/wheelchairs go first, at some stations, I would have to wait for the lift to go up and down 3 times before I can get on.

Shopping

The shopping was amazing.  Not just the products but also the shopping experience.  We went to Lane Crawford and the way they displayed the products and the way they did the interior design and layout is very nice and sophisticated.  And something you would expect from a top-end retailer.  But, and this is actually Tomo's observation - he being in the interior design business - the top end retailers in Japan don't even compare and lag behind in terms of sophistication.  He was comparing Lane Crawford with Mitsukoshi, Matsuya and Takashimaya.  Here is a shot of the vibrant changing room at Lane Crawford (Kai insisted on posing).

 

And of course, a shot of Shanghai Tang.  The store where it's a little bit of Chinese, a little bit of Western, a little bit of the modern and a little bit of trad.

As for the clothes, let's just say we bought a lot.  Went with 1.5 suitcases, came back with 3.  All tagged as 'heavy' by the airline.  The airline was even very close to charging us overweight.

Tomo got many pieces from Lane Crawford, where thankfully they were having a sale.  I got many pieces from Shanghai Tang.  Again, they were having a sale.  Sale or not, the advantage of living in Japan and earning in yen is that whenever we travel, everywhere else is so much cheaper because (i) things in Japan are so expensive and (ii) the yen usually gets us quite a lot of the local currency. 

And it's nice to be a size M again.  In Japan, I always have to get the L and even then, it is usually a little small.

Taxis

Taxis in Japan are expensive.  HK is cheap in comparison.  So we actually cabbed a lot.  We met many drivers, nice ones, nasty ones.  I have to say, most of them were nice but 1 was especially nasty.  As we have 2 young kids, a stroller and many shopping bags, we tend to take a longer time than most to get in and get out.  A particular taxi driver did not know that I understand Cantonese (as Tomo was the one speaking in obviously foreign English).  As I was sliding across the seat to get out at the other door with a sleeping Taiga on my lap, to get out at Pacific Place, he gruffly muttered "hurry up".  The moment I stepped out, he slammed the door close and drove off - Tomo had not yet shut the boot!  Well, as long as Tomo managed to get all our shopping and stroller out. 

Most drivers were very nice though and told us to take it slow. When we left our hotel early in the morning to go to the airport, both Kai and Taiga were fast asleep and Tomo and I were holding 1 each.  The moment we arrived and the taxi stopped, the driver did not even turn back to look at us, he immediately opened the door, hopped out and put all our very heavy luggage onto a trolley for us.  Tomo and I did not have to do anything at all except to get out, carry the kids and pay him.  I was so pleased that I tipped him generously (generous by HK standards I guess, but not that much money when converted to yen!).  And later found out that Tomo also tipped him.  Never mind, he deserves it!   

Am I Japanese?

No, I am not but everyone in HK knew immediately that we are from Japan without us even saying anything and giving ourselves away.  We were walking around Tiffany's when the sales people were talking amongst themselves that we are Japanese.  I surprised them when I told them in Cantonese that I am not Japanese.  It happened so many times in the various shops (which is a bit of a surprise that they would amongst themselves point out that we are Japanese as I thought Japanese are everywhere and therefore not unusual enough to point out .... maybe they were just bored).

We were in the tube (subway) when one lady with a little child came up to ask whether we are Japanese.  Curiousity got the better of me and I asked her how did she know we are Japanese.  She said it was because of me.  She used to work for a Japanese airline as a stewardess and of the whole family, I was the giveaway - I apparently look exactly like a Japanese.

Isn't that ironical as my whole family is Japanese but not me?

Hong Kong (Part III)

 

Fated?

We were walking around and I saw a pair of Ecco shoes for Kai that I liked.  But it was not cheap (although certainly cheaper than it would be here in Japan).  After some thinking, I decided not to get it.

A few days later, when we went for a fancy lunch at the fancy IFC at Central (a recommendation by my fancy investment banker friend who used to live in HK), Kai's shoe came apart!  The sole separated quite badly and there was no way he would be able to walk around comfortably.  There were no cobblers nearby.  And the shops around were of the Chanel and Ferragamo type.  We asked around for a kid's shoe shop, but no one seemed to know of any in there.  Just as we were walking out, Tomo spied the Ecco shop.  We walked in.  And lo and behold, the shoe that we have seen before was there.  In Kai's size.  On sale. 

We bought it.

Chinese Service vs Japanese Service

This is what I like about HK (and many other countries), and essentially, what I really don't like about Japan.  Flexibility vs inflexibility,

In Japan, a restaurant would serve french fries and mash potatoes.  Order a certain meal, and it comes only with the mash.  But I want the fries.  I ask the waiter if he can switch that.  He gives a look and wanders off to a corner.  For the next 5 minutes, you see that waiter and 2 other people conferring, deep in discussion.  And they occassionally look over to me. Then he comes back and says sorry, cannot switch.  I say, what's the problem?  I can pay the difference in cost (if any!).  That takes another consultation and he will say, sorry.  Cannot.  If you want fries, you would have to order it as an additional side item.

So back to HK.  When we bought the shoes, it was buy 1 pair, 10% off. Buy 2 pairs, 20% off both pairs etc.  Which we knew, but Tomo decided he did not need anything.  So we just paid for Kai's shoes.  As we were walking out, Tomo changed his mind.  To make matters worse, the staff had changed as it was lunch time so the original guy who had served us was no longer around.  We asked the new guy that if Tomo buys a 2nd pair, whether he can revoke the sales on the Kai's shoes and then charge again with a 20% discount for both pairs. "Sure, no problem".  Absolutely no hesitation.  And he did do that and quickly too.   

The Power of Speaking the Same Language

My mum's side of the family is Cantonese so although within our household we use English, I did get some exposure to Cantonese as a kid.  My spoken Cantonese is not great (although I do understand a lot).  To my grandmother's chagrin.  She used to call me "goi moi", as in "foreign girl".

Being in a totally Cantonese environment, my spoken Cantonese improved leaps and bounds, it all just came, and I was soon haggling with the store-keepers at the night markets.

I have to say, given that everyone knew immediately that we were from Japan, we were treated in a certain touristy way.  The moment I spoke to them in Cantonese, they were surpised that I was not "one of them".  The treatment then was rather different.  Which was nice for us.

The only time when my Cantonese failed us was when we hopped into a taxi to get back to our hotel.  I know it in English as Langham Place.  The taxi driver spoke no English at all and was not familiar with any English names, only Cantonese names.  And I did not know the Cantonese name, which was totally different from the English name.  But we got back. 

Kai

Many places in Hong Kong had the dragon drawn somewhere.  In a restaurant that we went to, they had a 3-dimensional dragon wrapped around a pillar, with the head sticking out in all its glory.  Kai noticed the dragon first from that restaurant and after the meal, asked to go walk to the dragon to see it again.

Later into our trip, he noticed more dragons.  And then he asked the question.

Kai: Mummy, why are there so many dragons?

Me: Chinese people love dragons.

Kai: Why do Chinese people love dragons?

Me: * long silence * Tomo, it's about time you answered some questions!

Anyone?  Guess I have to google it later.  I have lots of cultural catching up to do.

And so when we were at Shanghai Tang and I spotted this T-shirt in the kids department, I knew I had to get it for Kai.  It was not cheap, but this is the price of connecting him to his Chinese side ......  :-)

[INSERT PHOTO LATER]

Another thing about Kai.  Tomo had bathed him and wrapped him in a towel, and was passing him off to me to put the lotion and dress him up etc.  As I was carrying Kai to the bed, I noticed that Taiga had squeezed out a large amount of the moisturizer onto the carper and was smearing it in.  Horrified, I quickly put Kai down and went after Taiga.  After the whole incident and just as I was returning to calm, Kai said to me, in a very calm voice, "Mummy, next time please don't throw Kai down OK?".

Thinking back, I think I just might have thrown him on to the bed to quickly get to Taiga!

Taiga

It is often said that travelling is good for kids as a different environment will stimulate them.  Must be true.  Taiga's personality came through more strongly when we were there.  He has a very independent spirit and is very mischievious/cheeky.  He was often running everywhere, not even checking if I am behind him.  If he notices that some stranger finds him cute, he would make eye-contact and flash that person his most charming smile. 

And his language developed.  When asking for things, even though we have not gotten to that stage to teach him this yet, he would add "please", although it sounds like "pli".  He would ask for "milk, pli".  And where he used to used only 1 syllable, he was now starting to use 2 syllables.  And it was in Hong Kong that he started calling Kai by name.  About a week after coming back, he is able to say a full "thank you" when it used to be only "ta".

It was also in HK when I realised that he is even more mischievious than I thought.  He messed up something badly in the hotel room and I knew it was him.  When I asked him "Did Taiga do this?", he flashed that mischievious smile, pointed at Kai and said "Kai!".  The cheeky little boy.

[Note: If travelling to HK from Japan, the exchange rate at Chung King Mansion at Tsim Sha Tsui - a major station/touristy area in Kowloon - is a lot better than in Japan and even the places at the HK airport.  We first heard of this place over the internet.  Many Japanese who reside in HK change their money there.  It is only 1 min walk from the station.  It is very popular, so even at the station, it is listed down so that you know where to exit.  Despite the name, it is no mansion.  It is quite rundown and backpackers stay in the rooms upstairs.  At ground level, there are many Indian money changers.]

Lake District: Holker Hall

Holker Hall is home to Lord and Lady Cavendish.  They still live there on a daily basis despite opening 1 wing of their home to the public for viewing. 

When choosing what to do in the Lake District, I was attracted to Holker Hall as they have parkland for sheep and deer - and kids could walk right up to them.  As well as an adventure playground.  And from their website, they also have an exquisite food hall, a lot of it locally grown within the grounds of Holker Hall itself or the neighbouring areas.   I was sold.  I was looking forward to their noted saltmarsh lamb (being a lamb-lover here) but unfortunately, foot and mouth disease struck some farms in the UK whilst we were in Scotland (was it big news there, even the PM had to change his holiday plans!) and the lamb was pulled off the shelves.

The grounds were certainly big.  The deer and sheep were there, all for Kai to chase.  Alas, I did not realise beforehand that there is just so much dung/poop on the grass.  From the pictures, all you see is fields of green.  Up close, all you see is poop.  Every step, one is bound to step on some poop.  For the first 10 minutes or so, I tried my best to avoid it, tip-toeing and all.  But after that, I just gave up and did not bother avoiding them.  Poop aside, we have never been that up close with so many deer and sheep before.  And to hear the sheep bleating right beside us, that's a pretty awesome experience.

The adventure playground, although in a nice setting, was small and not too adventurous. 

The courtyard cafe totally made up for that.  It was lovely weather to be sitting out in the open eating.  And the boys could move around without disturbing the other diners (too much, that is!).  The food was all pretty much local produce.  In fact, in many places in Lake District, they take pride in serving only local produce.  I had the best ginger beer ever (you can bet it is something when I take a photo of a glass bottle!).  Kai had organic apple juice and it was very good.  We could taste the apple, and not just sugary sweetness.

And then the kids fell asleep after lunch .  So there was no point going to the labyrinth, which was another attraction which I wanted them to see.  With nothing else to do since they were sleeping, Tomo and I decided to view that wing of Holker Hall which is open to the public.  That was not initially on the cards, and it was indeed a very nice surprise to see and learn what we did when we did a tour of the house.

Sure it is grand, but it has so much history to it and it is quite old and all, so it was just so unbelievable when we were told that Lord and Lady Cavendish still very much use this wing of the house in their daily lives.   In fact, this wing closes off at 4pm every day as Lord and Lady Cavendish would be using it.  The rooms look out to the formal gardens which lends a sense of grandeur to the whole thing.  Personal photographs were everywhere.  Including wedding day photos, photos of their 3 children when they were younger etc.  There was a large dining room and we were told that yes, that dining room is where they entertain their friends even till this day.

(I liked the stained glass and therefore snapped this photo - before I got yelled at as apparently no photos are allowed inside the house.)

We went up to the 2nd floor which is where  the bedrooms are.  Although the architecture of the building is grand, the interior is all old.  Which is nice to look at, and to appreciate its historical value, but to live there and use those items - it was all pretty unbelievable.   Like the bathrooms.  I am thinking - is there hot water running through  - when I see the bathrooms.  I did not ask the attendant that but the attendant said yes, these bathrooms are still used till today when guests stay over.  It was in this house that I learned 2 very interesting things:

• as a kid, when reading the literary classics, there was always mention of a "drawing room" and I always wondered what it was.  I thought it was probably old English for living room.  Well, I have just found what it is.   In the old days,  after a  dinner party, the men would stay on in the dining room, pull out their cigars etc and talk the men's talk.  The women would retreat into the room next door - as in withdraw into the room next door.  That, is the drawing room.  And no, it is not the same as a living room.
• we saw a clock that was at least 250 years old (and still ticking away).  The significance of this clock was explained to us.  Back in the old days, before the advent of trains, the people in the neighbouring area would come by the clock daily and set their watches by this clock.  Back then, it did not matter what the time in London or a neighbouring village was, for that matter.  Each locale had their own "village clock" by which everyone living around there set their watches.  It did not matter if villages went by different times.  It was only when trains were introduced did the whole of England have to be on the same time.

One of the bedrooms on the 2nd floor, it looks out not only to the formal gardens but also the fresh greenery of the parklands with the white sheep and the deer moving about.  If my bedroom had such a view, I would be in bliss!

And below are some shots of the grounds of Holker Hall.

The famous Holker Lime.  An explanation in the photo below.

The bench above is where I had an uninterrupted 20 mins of bliss - I could actually read a magazine.  (Those of you with kids and no/little help know how incredible that is!!!)  Out in the fresh air and cool breeze on top of that.  Whilst I was reading, Taiga was still sleeping in the stroller and Tomo was having the fish in a pond feed on Kai's finger.  Kai absolutely loved the fishes nibbling on his finger!  The pond is in the pic below.