Playdate....

Yesterday we met up with some playgroup friends. It was quite odd because usually when we have a playgroup gathering there are several families but there are not many people around at the moment, so there were just three families. That didn't matter, the group soon split into three, the kids, the dads (all Japanese) and the moms, two Brits and a Latvian. The kids played really nicely all day, no fighting and not even one crying incident! The dads chatted about... well I don't know, what ever dads chat about and the moms all caught up on anything and everything. It was good to kick back and relax for a bit.

Also had a video chat with mom, her op went ok. She is sore and groggy but doing alright, already moaning and complaining - she is even worse as a patient than she is as a nurse and that is saying something! You certainly get better quickly if my mom is nursing you, maybe she should get a job at the NHS. LOL.

Life is starting to get back to normal, the rolling blackouts seem to be easing but they are already warning that the summer will be hard as that is the highest energy consumption season (aircons). Although we get warned about the blackouts and I always prepare my day around them, we have yet to have one. I have a suspicion that it is because we have a large refrigeration company a couple of blocks away and maybe that can't have the power cut off,  just a hunch.

Daddy-ebi checks the air and water readings each day, just to make sure we are safe, apart from the initial spike around the 15th in the air and the worry about the water in Tokyo last week, the levels are fine.

Most things are available at the supermarkets, water is rationed, no yoghurt or natto - that is because of the fermentation process, because of the blackouts they are not able to ferment the products safely or something like that, we have milk but not the usual brands and not much fruit juice in cartons. There is also no microwave rice and not much choice in cup ramen but I imagine that is getting sent to the north. Prices are all over the place, a lot of the fresh veg and fruit was reduced in price - no one buying because of the radiation scare and the price of chicken has jumped up. Most of the shops have their lights on half power so it isn't as bright as normal, I wonder if people will just get used to it and this power usage can be reduced in the long term?

Our local train isn't running a full service yet but we are able to buy petrol again. There are no normal adverts on TV, instead there are community announcements and social lesson ads plus messages from famous people, advice on how to stay calm and not make the situation worse, like spreading rumours and care messages from international actors between programs on cable TV.

 So things in this area are getting back to normal - ish!