Nothing bland about Japan

It was Sunday morning. Cat had left the hotel and began prowling the nearby streets for a coffee shop. The Japanese were obviously NOT morning people.

Finally Cat found an open shop and mindful of her GPs advice, let her eyes glide over the array of delicious, mouth watering, cakes and cheese cake.  She ordered coffee, and took her tray to a vacant place near the window. She looked out onto an empty street.

She stared for a while at the two cups of coffee appeared. One black and small one medium latte. Obviously just pointing at the pictures had its flaws. Cat mused for a moment and decided to drink both. No point causing a fuss.

Unfortunately, she had chosen a perch in the smoking section and was now enjoying a coffee with a cigarette. The airconditioner was not working, probably because it was Sunday, probably because of power cuts, probably because Cat was wearing a thick T-shirt and it was all becoming personal.

A small spider appeared in the froth of the latte. Dressed as a ninja  the spider looked up at Cat with its eight japanes spider eyes. Cat smiled and resisiting the urge to strike out and destry, gently lifted the wounded spider out of the Latte and decided to just dring the black coffee. After all, Cat thought, you never know where those little feet have been.

The meeting with the Convent mice had shown Senso-Ji in Akusuka  the Clan the way to use the subway and JR rail so now they were off to explore Tokyo.

With Sami Sui acting as guide the Clan stepped down into the subways and began the tortuous task of deciphering the time tables and finding the right train to catch. An act of faith to be sure.

Then they were off to the Ginza District, the streets full of shops and high fashion, onto another train and off to see the Harujuku girls and Shibuya youth culture.

One thing Cat quickly noticed the beautifully dressed women of Japan, all dressed in different designs and fashion styles all of which seem to work. Even the wild and the wonderful look classy. The effect is one of difference, like a kaleidoscope, all falling into place to bring a colourful ever-changing pattern.

Tomorrow its off to Kyoto on the fast train another experience. Of course they would have to find the right station first.

The Clan and the Convent Mice

First day in Japan, the Clan slept in. Cat woke first, she was pleased that she did not need to use the phrase "heya ni mushi ga irun desuga". 

She then went on a recon of the hotel and found a coffee bar that served bacon and eggs. While the bacon was poached along with the egg and lay on a bed of of lettuce with tomato and cucumber it was actually quite tasty. Part of the set meal include as small bowl of yogurt and fruit a small glass of orange juice and a beautiful cup of rich strong coffee. Cat was to discover that the Japanese had embraced the coffee shop with vigour the result being an astounding array of coffee shops on every corner. 

The rest of the Clan found Cat as she downed the dregs of her coffee. It was now safe to talk. The kittens and Panda ordered breakfast and were soon munching away contentedly. Cat consumed another coffee, just because it was available and so good the first time.

At 10 am Sister Anne (aka Sabine)and and Sister Nashima arrived. 

Cat, Sr (Sabine) Anne, Sr Nashida

Sister Anne was the Chaplin at the Hospice and Sister Nashima, the Reverend Mother (RM) of a college. Sister Ann looked the same as she did at the last Skype conversation. In real life she was thin   (damn her thought Cat) and a little bit shorter than Cat. The RM was much shorter with a melting smile. She was more excited than Sister Anne to meet the Clan. 

"We thought you might like to go to a temple and to see some of the sights, then we will take you to a restaurant that has been recommended by a friend. Are you happy with this arrangement?" asked Sr Anne.

 "We are happy with anything, having you with us on our first day showing us around will be perfect", said Cat. It was enough for Cat to have found her friend again. 


Forty one years ago Anne, Jane, Zita and Cat had set out from Adelaide for a great adventure. They had thrown aside the conventions of the time, they had not settled for the career aspirations of their mothers, to marry well, settle down and raise children. Not these four musketeers, rather they had stepped out to embrace a wider challenge. The Women's Royal Australian Navy (WRANs) was their escape hatch. It was something different for those days. Forty one years later, in Japan, two Nuns meet a Cat, a Panda and two Kittens. Cat thought to herself, I wonder if its possible to talk to a Catholic Nun and have a Zen moment at the same time. It is a crazy world to be sure, to be sure.

Sister Anne and RM showed the Clan all around, the Temple was still in operation, and Cat felt a little overcome by the strong incense, the Panda likewise found it difficult to breath. The Kittens were distracted by all the shiny things in the nearby markets. RM bought a small gift of local cakes for the Clan. 

Lunch was a special treat. To the delight of all Cat and Panda struggled to sit down on the floor and had to hide their feet under the table. Getting up was a another unique challenge. With little dignity Panda and Cat struggled now to stand up on numb feet. They hobbled out to the place where their shoes were waiting for them. Bending down to put them on was about as difficult as standing up.

The tour continued with Cat's growing concern at the toll it was taking on the two mice. Not only did they run to keep up with the strides of the Clan they were also in their winter uniform. The day was warm and humid.


Finally the tour came to an end, all were exhausted. Gifts were given, a book about Australia for the RM and an autobiography of another South Australian girl made good. The story of Mary McKillop was enthusiastically received. The final gift, two packets of Tim Tams were obviously the favoured gift.


Sr Anne was a little concerned that the Clan may not find their way from Shinjuku station to the hotel. Fortunately, the Kittens were part homing pigeon and they found their way back with no trouble.


Sunday they would be on their own but at least they had an idea of what to do.

Enter the the Shoe Box

The shoe box

The flight was long. The seats were short. It seemed to cat that the whole world was being manufactured to a size 8. Sami Sui had moved to a vacant two seat near the window. She had curled up and was snoozing peacefully. The Jade Dragon had stretched out and taken the three seats next to Panda. Cat sat in the remaining empty row, nose to the wall, the only four seats in the plane with fixed armrests.

With glum determination Cat rested her head against the uncompromising headrest and tried to sleep.

The landing at Nakatiri Airport was uneventful. Once cleared by customs the Clan entered the land of the rising sun. Actually the sun had set, it was clammy and warm, the airport was long and not air-conditioned. "Must be power cuts", muttered Panda, "Huh" said Cat as her hair began to drop and curl with sweat.

"The Tsunami, Japan is still feeling the effects of the Tsunami," said Panda, "it was in the note I sent you". "Yes , I know,"snapped Cat, non the wiser, as she had not opened the email that she knew probably contained DETAILS.

The drive from the Airport to the hotel looked promising, a huge orange bus arrived to pick up the clan. "Looks like we are the only ones on the bus," spoke Panda quite pleased that he had scored a whole limousine bus for his family.

None sooner said, the bus stopped and a family , a very large family of Filipinos strode into the bus and took over. They gaggle loudly, fought, coughed and sneezed until two unmerciful hours later the bus pulled up at the Shinjuku Washington Hotel. To the profound dismay of the Clan the Filipinos gathered up their chicks, grand mothers, older sisters, younger brothers, maiden aunts and sleeping babies and began to exit at the same stop.

Sami Sui looked at Panda and mouth the word "Check-in". Instantly galvanised Panda strode forward and with the Jade Dragon fought amongst the tonnes of luggage belonging to the family for the 40 kilos of Clan baggage. Once scored the Cat pushed through the gaggle to make way for Panda, as the race was on to find the check-in counter before the Family. With hours to spare the check in was completed, the magnetic key cards were collected, the free shavers, combs, brushes and shower caps were collected and the Clan stepped into the lift.

It was, mused Cat one of the biggest lifts she had ever seen. It was huge, you could definitely swing a cat in here, she thought. By the seventh floor Cat discovered just how many people could actually fit in a lift that size. By respectfully shuffling backwards the lift was packed to the gunnels in absolute silence.

Arriving at the seventh floor the Clan separated, Panda and Cat to 714 and the Kittens to 732. Panda opened the door to 714, a narrow corridor in which by holding the door open for Cat to bring in the luggage meant a tight squeeze, more jostling and breathing in to get into the room beyond. Cat stood and looked at the room. The concrete block thinly disguised as a double bed took up the entire back wall. Panda put on a brave face and said, "well its only for four nights and it is only $50 per night". "Hmmm" said Cat," we must be paying by the metre".

The kittens knocked on the door, and rolled into the room, laughing, "our room is much bigger than this" they said. "Ha, ha" chortled the Jade Dragon, "you got the Love Nest". Panda and Cat smiled enigmatically. Sami Sui recoiled with "Do not go there you two, just don't need to know, ugh!" Panda and Cat continued to smile dreamily. With that the Kittens left. "Gets them every time", laughed Cat.

The bathroom was another mystery, Cat was pleased she had spent the money on a personal trainer. Getting into the deep bath was no where near as difficult as getting out. The toilet was a marvel of modern engineering, not only a disposal unit but a cleaning unit as well. Quite the novelty to feel the automatic warm rush of water.

It was now 10:30pm and still the Clan had not eaten. A 7 Eleven Family Mart was soon discovered and essentials were purchased. A small soup bar was discovered and entered. Not completely sure of what was being consumed but too hungry tired to be concerned the Clan ate something hot and salty and drank copious amounts of iced cold water.

"Tomorrow "said Cat, we meet the good sisters of St John the Evangelist, they have organised to take us around to see some of the sights."

Sister Anne is a friend of mine, we met many years ago when I was a ship's Cat.

Tired, full, and in Japan at last the Clan went back to their respective cabins. Tomorrow would be another experience.

The making of plans and dust ups.

Cat and Woo sat at the dinner table, mulling over the plans for Woo to house sit while Cat, Panda and the Ninja Kittens were in the land of the rising Sun. Kimmy-Koo the middle kitten was going to secure the premises and feed the grandchildren, Sooty and Copper while the travellers were away.



Woo had plans to spend days with her new Sultan of Pleasure, Waaaayne the Wonder Ram. 

“I am taking him to the land of our fathers” said Woo, “to meet my friends and help me liberate our father’s ashes from our step mother. She has been holding hostage in the wardrobe for nearly 10 years. I will set the captive free”, cried Woo with evangelical fervor.

“Hold on a minute,” spluttered and choked Cat, spraying tea and coughing cake over the blue peony tablecloth. “You cannot do that – it is probably illegal, she paid for the funeral and the cremation. Therefore, ipso facto, quid pro quo, ad infinitum she is the owner of said ashes”.

Woo stared hard at Cat and narrowed her eyes as she gathered her reply, “You don’t frighten me with your Latin, your logic or talk of legal precedence. After all the scattering of our mother’s ashes on the beach was an illegal act in itself. One you organised”, she pointed an accusing pinion towards Cat who almost cowered at the righteous indignation of the Woo.

Cat rebounded with “I was only complying with the wishes of our mother, which is totally different to hijacking my Dad’s ashes from the wardrobe of the rightful owner. It is THEFT. Any way you don’t know if my Dad wants to go with you and be liberated, you don’t have any moral authority to undertake the mission”.

“You don’t know that he was not my father as well. You have no proof that he was not my father too”.

“You cannot have two fathers,” purred Cat, who by now knew she was getting under Woo’s feathers. “Anyway how on earth do you think you are going to get away with hostage negotiation with Waaayne in tow? How will you establish proof of life, there have been no ransom demands”.

“We are not going to negotiate we are going to cleverly disguise a shoe box full of dolomite as Dad and swap him over. Wayne will distract her and I will nip in to the loo and swap the box”.

Cat looked at her a long time, flawed by the simplicity of the plan and the blatant stupidity of her sister. “You recall how long it took to empty out Mum’s ashes, just how long do you think you are going to hide in the toilet, empty Dad’s ashes out of the plastic box (not forgetting to take the screw driver to open it with) into a container and refill the ashes box with the dolomite? Just what sort of distraction do you think Waaaaayne will be able to pull off, it’s not like you can easily pull the wool over Dee’s eyes”.

Woo scowled and flounced her feathers, “Waaayne is a beautiful distraction, and he is fully supportive of my plan”. She sniffed, "I just want Dad’s ashes with us”.

“You could just ask when you go to dinner” said Cat. “If she says no then you can call on plan B. However, after 3 hours in the toilet and the evidentiary dust left behind, she may just twig to the deception”.

Woo collected her things, and prepared to leave. “I shall let you know how it goes”. With a defiant wave she declared, "I will liberate our father if it is the last thing I do”.

The door slammed shut. Cat stretched and unsheathed her claws, reached for the phone and dialed the number of their brother Bernie the Secret Koala Bear.

“Hi Bro,” said Cat “You need to talk with your sister Woo, she is on a mission to rescue Dad’s ashes from the Dee’s wardrobe”.

Bernie groaned and Cat could hear him furiously chewing on leaves, “OK. Understood, wilco. Roger, over and out, chocks away Blue Leader.”

Cat hissed to herself, and she felt very alone.

Later Cat confided in Panda “I wish I could get the same leaves as Bernie. I am sure the world would be better if I was completely paranoid and delusional.”

Panda gave her a long knowing look, and said “What makes you think you are not”.

He sat back rubbing his back on the wall and chewed on a stick of bamboo, “Hmmm grass is good, I love leaves, they are sooo pretty”, he gently hummed to himself.

Cat curled up and slept and dreamed of  temples, ninjas and Shintaro.