Losing things

It all started on Monday when Lindsey, Emily, The Builder and I were running around on the subway in Tokyo and I lost my day pass.  This struck us all as odd because I routinely got through the barrier and immediately stick the pass in the coin part of my wallet. But there it wasn't. We dismantled my pouch and my wallet.  There it still wasn't.  This was a bit perplexing. It was, of course, possible that I had dropped it. But The Builder had been behind me and hadn't noticed. So I bought a new one, in the sure and certain knowledge that the original would immediately turn up again.  As, indeed, it did. The back of the passes are black and you couldn't see it against the blackness of the inside of my wallet!  But this was, to some extent, fortuitous for Lindsey's pass had stopped working and she couldn't go through the automatic barriers.  So she had my original pass. (And Austin later had Lindsey's - a station person fixed it!!)

Then Freyja lost her ticket when we were going to the Ghibli museum. But hers was only a single trip ticket, so that wasn't too hard to replace.

And so we move to Tuesday, where during the course of the day we managed to lose not one but two phone chargers, although one later turned up (not sure at all what happened to mine. It has totally vanished. I can only assume we left it in the hotel in Tokyo, although both of us scanned the room to make sure we hadn't left anything).

Much, much more alarmingly, we managed to lose Judy and Theo!!!!!  We were supposed to be meeting them to catch the train to Kyoto together. First they had a doggy-related drama back in Ballarat. Then they couldn't get tickets for the train. Then they couldn't find the train. Then they did :-)  This was all very well for them but we were at Shinagawa station wondering how we were going to tell Zoy that the last time we had had word of his parents they were in the bowels of the earth in an earthquake zone!!  On the other hand, it did mean that we found a mighty food hall which sold loads of truly delicious things for us to eat on the train.

And so we trundled sedately on the shinkansen to Kyoto. Although Austin, who seems to have some quite complicated plans for the coming weekend had decided not to come playing with us in Kyoto but to hop off the train at Nagoya and go home. So he did.  On we went. Then Lindsey had a phone call.  Austin had lost his train ticket.  He had his seat reservation and Theo's seat reservation but no actual train ticket. They wouldn't let him out of the station!!!  Lindsey checked to see what Theo had about his person.  He had the train ticket but no seat reservation!!  It was all sorted out by the railway staff. The station people rang the train people, who consulted Lindsey and then allowed that perhaps Austin should be liberated from Nagoya station and be allowed on his way.

Fortunately, we didn't lose the hotel. They run a coach up from the station, which Lindsey and Ian have used before. You could very easily get lost in the labyrinthine depths of the hotel - but we have a compass and a fine sense of direction. Judy and Theo didn't get lost, as such, as they made their way to join us for dinner - but it was a much, much longer walk than they had expected.

And we haven't so much *lost* Ant, Jess, Christian and Cassie. We know where they are.  But they are not where they were intending to be. They had intended to go to Mt Fuji but had failed to pre-book a bus and you can't get tickets on the day. So they have gone to Hiroshima instead.

I have poorly, poorly ankles.  They started out red and flaky on Sunday. They have got progressively redder. Then yesterday they got all puffy as well and started to hurt.  Ian thinks I have been bitten by bed bugs (something has certainly been biting us - both The Builder and I have bite marks and so, I think, does Emily). But Lindsey has decide that my leggies are now getting infected and is threatening to chop them off with her electric carving knife.  Mercifully for me, she hasn't brought it with her!!

Oh - and Freyja and Simon stayed in Tokyo. They are moving to Austin's place today.  Ross is arriving today. Then our party is complete, apart from Zoy who is coming only for the weekend and arrives on Friday.

Not something you see everyday. Trains are usually delayed in the UK because someone has nicked the copper wiring. Earthquake a much more acceptable reason