Mama's Food Rocks! Eating at home in Japan is my favourite thing in the country. It still amazes me how Japan on the surface — out on the street, at work, in social spaces — is highly formal, ritualised, and in this sense Japanese culture looks miles away from where we're 'from'. Of course you have the obvious external differences in the construction and visual arts in general, as well as the bowing, and public demeanours...but when you sit at home with family, meals are just raucus, irreverent, and the only real differences are the language and menu. It's a real shame that this is something that is inaccessible unless you do a home stay. the same goes for anywhere, but the contrast between external and internal seems more marked to me in Japan than elsewhere. ... read more

I've been away from this blogging business for over a year now, and am tentatively dipping my toes in the water again. Less words, more frequency- I don't have as much time/commitment as I used to! My first academic conference was brilliant in parts, but that's of no interest to the greater public- Berlin, though, should definitely be. I've been here a few times — including living here before the wall came down — and for my money it's the best city in Europe. It has a staggering presence in European history over the last few hundred years (obviously not all good), and has been triumphant, desolated, demolished, divided, isolated, reunited, refurbished and reinvented over that time. The vibe of the place is very positive, it's clean, massive but not daunting, busy not not cramped, and ... read more

Part two...Switzerland. Tearfully leaving Germany behind, it was back on the train and back to Zürich. This was my third time in the country, but the first one I´d slept in a bed there! First time, a missed connection necessitated kipping in a shop doorway, the second was en route to Vaduz. Anyway, third time very lucky. We were met at the station by Manuela (another of Mitsu´s dearest friends from Montreal days), and also by Yvonne. Rich-sperts may recall that Manu and Yvonne visited us in Japan in the middle of 09, and it was groovy to be reunited. We had a bumble round the city (SO clean!!!) before heading to Schwyz, where Manu´s family were very kindly putting us up. Switzerland is well known for its cheese, mountains, chocolate and Swiss Army knives, and ... read more

Neverending, these weekends away. As fun as they are exhausting! This one was planned back in early October, and seemed miles away when we gave it the green light. Still, time never standing still and all that malarkey, it inevitably arrived. The plan: family, steam trains, countryside, candlelight. So, a wet Saturday morning saw us tootling down the M5 (very nostalgic, used to be an almost weekly occurrence for me way back when), destination Somerset. We were booked into a B&B that Mog and Louisa are becoming regulars at, but were early, so went for lunch at the local pub. The Farmer's Arms- classic, old-school, thatched country pub with brilliant food. Not a complaint in sight! We were still too early to poll up at the B&B, so trundled along the coast to Watchet, where Samuel ... read more

As per my current lifestyle, this is more pictures and less prose. A weekend in Bath visiting old friends. They're not old, but I have known them for a long time. I've known Tom/Laura for about 20/15 years. They forsook Cheltenham when they got back from travelling and set up an organic deli in Bath. It's been running for three years and is going strong. I'll shamelessle plug it a bit (and it's worth plugging)- sandwiches, salads, cakes and soups, tea and coffee, cheeses. If you're in Bath...just everything except the cheese is home-made. www.bestofbritishdeli.co.uk So, Friday. Zipped down to a very wet Bath on the train (Mitsu had already gone down in the morning). National Rail did its utmost to postpone this trip, I only arrived an hour later than planned. Dinner (excellent home-made curry) ... read more