Three in a bed
This April was special because Mothership came to visit us in Japan. She did not have the chance to do so during our first year in Tokyo so it was utterly fantastic to finally be able to show her our home here, the city in general and a few special spots around the country. This post is a hybrid of my thoughts since her visit and a few highlights from her trip.
1. The trifecta
One of the most spectacular and postcard-come-to-life moments from Mum’s trip, or probably our entire stay in Japan, or our lives was seeing:
1. Mount Fuji on a clear day (rarer than you’d think)
2. during cherry blossom in full bloom (about one week of the year)
3. with a view of Chureito Pagoda
Here are a few other photos from that day as the view was stunning.
2. Big birthdays
2019 is a year of big birthdays for me and Mum - I turned 30 and she turned 50, and neither of us looks a day over 28. As I like to plan ahead, a few years ago I decided that as a birthday a present for Mum and myself I would organise a holiday for the two of us to mark our milestone birthdays in 2019. When we moved to Japan I was a bit disappointed that this dream trip probably wouldn’t be logistically possible. Yes, I suffer from many first world problems.
It was only a few weeks after Mum’s visit that it dawned on me that her trip to Japan had been that dream holiday that I had pictured the two of us having in 2019 for our big birthdays! Except that it was far better and far more special than any trip I could have imagined. Firstly, because I am now down to seeing my mum once or twice a year and so spending time together is a luxury but also because I organised a phenomenal 11 days for my Mum in Japan. Yes, I am blowing my own trumpet here (because most of us do not do it often enough when we should) and say that I worked really hard to plan the perfect itinerary for Mum as it was her first (and potentially only) visit to Japan. She said it was her favourite holiday ever, especially because it was suited perfectly to her, making me realise that I know her interests even better than I thought. So without realising it, I nailed organising a special trip to celebrate our birthdays. I’d never thought I’d say this, but bring on 40 and 60!
3. From toy models to real life
A few years ago, Mum bought Wil a Nanoblock model of the Golden Pavilion (a famous temple in Kyoto) as a present because of his love of Japan and toy building blocks. I don’t think she would have ever have thought that a few years later she’d be standing in front of the real Golden Pavilion with her son-in-law. I absolutely love these photos of the two of them because how could I not.
And just because I can, I have added a photo of me and Mum in the same spot.
4. Three in a bed
During her stay, Wil and I took Mum to Kyoto for the weekend. A few days before we were due to go, I told Mum that as Kyoto was very expensive I had booked a king size bed for the three of us to share.
Of course, Mum thought that sharing a bed with her daughter and son-in-law was downright absurd and inappropriate and she started to question how Wil felt and how he’d agreed. I said that I had told Wil that it was normal in Pakistani families for everyone to share a bed so he couldn’t really object. Mum obviously found this hilarious. One of the many perks about marrying someone from a different ethnicity or culture is that you can make-up whatever the hell you want about yours and they’ll probably have to believe you.
A day before we got to Kyoto, the sleeping arrangements were still preying on Mum’s mind. I reassured her that I would of course sleep in the middle because I am not a total lunatic that would put either Mum or Wil in the middle. She then started to worry about what if she and Wil both hugged me in the night and then inadvertently ended up hugging each other. Mum had even prepared an ice breaker in her head, “So Wil, I hear sleeping arrangements are going to be cosy!" to be followed by an awkward laugh.
When we got to our hotel in Kyoto, Mum finally saw that I had obviously booked her a separate bed! Her response was a sense of relief and amusement rather than fury at my little lie with which Wil had played along. In my defence, I thought my joke would at best last a few minutes, let alone the best part of a week.
5. A millennial’s mother
Since moving to Japan, I have started using Instagram and we joke that Wil is an Instagram husband taking photos of me posing across the country. But during Mum’s trip I took on the role of Instagram daughter as Mum posed her way across Japan.
6. Side hustle
Mum and I would have nice days out together in London but we’ve never done a holiday just the two of us. Her trip made me think that planning mother and daughter trips could be a potential side hustle that I should investigate! If anyone wants to be a guinea pig give me a shout!
7. Sayonara
On Mum’s final morning she was sad about leaving me and I was trying to cheer her up and point out how lucky we were that she had been able to visit at all and that we’d had enjoyed her trip so much. But as her train started to leave, I waved at her like a maniac and then had a good old sob on the train platform. Here are the photos I took of Mum before the tears started! I love the royal wave in the second photo. A friend who had also moved away from the UK for a years had told me about her emotional goodbyes with her family at the airport but I didn’t envisage that that would be me. I don’t think I had realised how hard saying goodbye would be or how much I’d miss her. I am now counting down to my visit home in the summer.
Setting the scene for as I wrote this blog:
Location: In a few spots around Tokyo and finished at home.
Weather: Grey and wet - it is rainy season in Tokyo.
Soundtrack: An acoustic playlist on Spotify.
Bonus fact: Mum claims that she enjoyed her trip to Japan but clearly her trip, and our company, was not entertaining enough for her as she sent us these photos from Seoul airport on her way home.
