under another sun

New Year's Day a damp and windy affair, but last night's general japery had done me good. Although alarming news first thing of an earthquake and expected tsunami in Japan, where Toby and Romy are.  Luckily the trouble was on the west coast, and they are on the east, so that at least was good. I start the year with no resolutions, and no grand plans. I don't feel I need to give myself that pressure. Lorraine drove us back to Brian and Yvonne's where I sheepishly collected my phone I'd abandoned bufoonishly the night before. We then went to the supermarket and bought a chicken, and hunkered down, ending the day with a rather delicious roast. Last night did me a great deal of good.  Chatted with Anton and mum.  Anton starting a miserablist dry January in an effort to kick start some weight loss. The night he is going to have a beer, following Stav's funeral, is the night I am giving my poetry reading in Lewes. Mum in fairly good spirits. Below our Jack in the Gre...

Lorraine and up and at 'em unusually early for a Saturday morning. We drove Betty to the Goldmans stage school where she teaches on Saturday. Lorraine and I off to buy things for me. These included lightweight mosquito and UV resistant shirts and trousers for The Great Chad Adventure. Fairly useless in store help, but Lorraine had researched it on the internet the day before thankfully. I also bought myself a rather lovely and expensive grey jacket, that fits beautifully after Lorraine led me to a shop. A fashion classic. Sober on the outside, and thanks to floral purple lining, jazzular on the inside. Just like moi . Had to steel myself to spend the money, but my wardrobe is beginning to look a tad shabby. Bumped into Claire Turner and her sister who lives in New York and had a chat with them in the street too. Claire is such a lovely person. Brighton gorgeous and sunny today. South African rugby fans here and there. I learned later they were playing Japan at the Amex Stadium (h...

Working on the book much easier now the jet lag has almost gone. To the gym at lunchtime, the place cluttered with new year resolutioners, and I had a decent but not yet maximum workout. Lorraine working at home, and I made miso soup featuring noodles and slices of lotus root for lunch, which we had bought frozen the other day. I find myself thinking about Japan more this time than I did the last. Find myself visiting the Japan Today site for Japanese news. Broadly I think the first time I visited I noticed the similarities, and this time I was slightly more aware of the differences. Lorraine also thinking about the trip lots, and both really pleased that we went.

Up slightly shambolically first thing and all crammed into Eitaro's elegant large car with Romy and Hiroko folded neatly into the back. Chasing the sunrise we made it just in time to the beach as it was growing light. A handful of driftwood bonfires on the shore and we stood near one waiting for the sun to rise. It seemed to be a little later than everyone had expected but when it rose it was redder than I have ever seen the sun, it was a beautiful moment. This witnessed the crowds melted away and we drove off with them, home for breakfast which included traditional rice cakes in a traditional soup. And a glass of good stiff sake. The TV in the corner of the room featured lots of people wearing comedy horse costumes as this is the year of the horse. Then most of us went back to bed. I found I fell asleep for a good couple of hours and having been a bit groggy first thing felt considerably better.  A slow kind of day, which was welcome, getting to know Romy-chan, Little Romy, th...

Dark night of the soul on board. Lorraine colouring in her colouring book and feeling too claustrophobic to sleep, me occasionally twitchy but mostly just bored. Looked out of the window at stars and the top of the clouds that we seemed to have skimmed over from London to the Sea of Japan. Both Lorraine and I dead beat and snuffling horribly with colds. Eventually the sun came up again and the end of the journey which I had been following on my plane tracker was nigh. I made Lorraine swap seats with me so she could see Mount Fuji rising majestically to greet us. At last we had landed, and apart from a tiresome Englishman in his late 60s who was boasting about his attractiveness to Japanese women, calling one of the English stewardesses Miss Bossy Boots, and raving on to anyone who would listen about Mt Fuji we landed and disembarked without incident. Lorraine and I marched through the foreign diseases part of the airport trying not to give ourselves away as being ill. Romy was wa...

Amateur hour Awful news about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The TV full of film of the tsumami surging across fields and towns engulfing all before it. I am worried for Hiroko and Raine who live on the east coast of Japan in Makinohara in the Shizuoka area. It seems though that because it is a long way south, it would not have been hit as the fault ran parallel to the north eastern coastline, and the tusnami went straight inland or out to sea. So as far as I can tell Makinohara, where Hiroko lives, wasn't affected by the Tsunami. Romy has not been able to contact her mother and sister yet. Facebook coming into its own with an ex-colleage posting stranded in Narita airport, and uploading photos of people sleeping on the floor. Otherwise I was more animated today thanks to the sleeping pill last night. Managed to get into the final stages of my poem The Moth Display which I have been tinkering with for about four years. Also began writing a new play, an SF spoof, which is star...

Cherry blossom and deleted time A fleeting Japanese moment this morning. Walking through the graveyard on the way to work and seeing the cherry trees plumb with pink blossom. The April page of my Japanese desk calendar given me by Hitomi has the boar sprawled under cherry blossom, with the legend "Cherry blossom viewing. Under the cherry blossoms, all drink and make merry till late in the night". Wondered what would be going on now in Japan with national reports of the cherry blossom line sweeping down the country, and felt really happy remembering how much I had enjoyed my trip there at Christmas. Although I didn't drink and make merry till late in the night, it was a very cheerful day. Young Dan, who I have always liked, had a leaving meal outside on the terrace at Riverside studios in surprisingly hot sunshine at lunchtime. And it was here I learned was that aviator shades are back in fashion again. Then back to work for the afternoon before the party continued on the ...

Sunrise in the land of the rising sun All of us up at 5:30 and soon drinking coffee and watching a national TV programme about the sun rising over Japan. After seven we piled into Hiroko's car with Haneko, the comedy-faced shitzu, and Miranda the spaniel, andset off for the nearby beach. Lots of people, some standing about a big impromptu-looking bonfire, others imbibing shots of sake against the bitter pre-dawn cold. Further along the beach were a group of drummers that I couldn`t see, but could certainly hear. There were about 15 surfers in the sea with small boards and wetsuits - even though the sea was quite calm. It was freezing enough with a coat on, in fact Hiroko retired back to the car to watch the dawn through the windscreen, God alone knows what it must have been like with hands and head in the sea. Toby Romy and I walked along a short pier out into the sea and waited for the sun. There was a low bank of cloud on the horizon and so a glimpse of the sun was slightly delay...

Touchdown in Japan Set off at the crack of dawn from Edgware. The journey to Heathrow very simple but the airport itself a wretched and Dantesque spectacle. Queues hundreds of people long, of stressed out, crying and anxious people desperately trying to get home or away for Christmas. Fortunately, having checked in online, I managed to battle through in only 45 minutes. On the other side of security things much calmer and I did a spot of shopping, and settled into the bar drinking a brace of stiff pre-flight gin and tonics, and having a few last minute chats on my mobile. Boarding was only delayed by twenty minutes. Curiously the G&Ts had worked a powerful magic, and I felt curiously chilled out. I had booked premium economy this time and the extra leg room suddenly took away the horror of claustrophobia. Curiously I had what was almost an enjoyable flight after being so stressed about it for weeks. Dozing a fair bit. I pulled open the window at one point and as I did so I saw ...

Pea soup and venison stew Fog update - according to the BA website it looks like my flight to Japan will be happening tomorrow. My flight is BA0005. I have reserved my window seat in advance and it has bags of legroom. For it is a fact that if I stare anxiously out of the window, wringing my hands and muttering prayers under my breath, this is the main contributor to the safety of all on board. Not that they thank you for it, especially the ones sitting next to you. I have Lord of the Rings on my iPod and loads of drugs so all should be well. Typically, this is the most protracted amount of fog I have ever experienced. Brings to mind London's old pea soupers in which it was impossible to see a pickpocket held in front of your face. Those were the early industrial days where smoking chimneys turned London's fog into a dense noxious smog. This inspired Monet in his painting of the Houses of Parliament, not to mention Jack the Ripper. Popped up the road to give young Klaudia and ...

Countdown to Japan Late to work, Bob called me on the train to cancel our night out tonight. Late to work again, stuck on a crawling tube train I felt utterly solitary, despite being in the centre of the city. Slogged all morning, then snuck off for a late lunchtime swim. Afterwards more chugging through copy, and racing the clock. Felt increasingly tetchy as the day progressed. And after hours grew positively irritable waiting for a few chumps to indulge in some windbaggery about Friday's pitch before I could escape. On the upside, thinking lots about Japan now. What a truly amazing life I lead, being able to fly off to Japan -- and, what's more, I will know people there when I arrive. Romy has also cleverly arranged for me to be met at the airport by a woman called Hitomi who will guide me to the bullet train. Hitomi has also asked if we can have a lunch together. This seems like a unimpeachably sound idea to me. Not everyone can claim to have a lunch date within a couple of...

Eastward Ho! Spoke to Toby, who reminded me to book my flight to Japan. The method of booking suggested by Tobe was to visualise the efficiency and organisation of Romy in my head, and before I knew it I had scored a ticket on-line. I will be joining Toby, Romy, and Hiroko (the Romster's mum) in Japan for Christmas. Romy has arranged for us to stay in Kyoto, Japan's historic capital, which will be a wonderful experience. Hoping that I will have fully regained my manly vigour by then to accommodate the immense amounts of rubbernecking that Kyoto will demand. Otherwise I spent what little energy I had on doing practical things, like scrubbing the kitchen floor, and generally cleaning and re-establishing some sort of order at home. Also went to the nearby rug shop, to collect the rug I'd ordered for my bedroom a couple of months ago. It is the colour of a new leaf. I also turned my bed upside down, as it was feeling suspiciously wobbly and screws had dropped out of it, for ...