Newcastle and old friends!
After London we caught the train up to Newcastle to visit dear friends of mine from when I lived in Tokyo, Lynne and Toshi. Lynne I worked together for awhile, and I was also MC at their wedding! We had many great times in Tokyo and it had been many many moons since we all saw each other last! So in short, I couldn't come to the UK and not see the Makimoto family!
The train trip was great. Made it to the station in the nick of time, nothing quite like the sutton-last-minute!! Newcastle is about 3 hours north of London. If it was a Shinkansen I reckon it would be a 25 minute trip! ;-)
I was also very excited to meet Lynne and Toshi's little girls Alyssa and Amy. I fell in love with them instantly... cute as buttons and very Japanese in appearance.. but when they spoke it was the most fantastic Geordie accent EVER!!! It was so unexpected, and Mum and I couldn't stop smiling!
As soon as we arrived we went and had a yummy lunch and then walked it off on the streets of Newcastle, was great!! We also checked out the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art... And I played with one of my fave toys ever, the etch-a-sketch, in the kids room surrounded by Yoshitomo Nara artwork on the walls... win!
We stayed with the Makimoto family for one night, in their gorgeous house with their gorgeous conservatory, and the bunnies Cinnamon and Daisy hanging out in the yard munching on lettuce.
I hope we all get to meet again one day soon. Here are some pics of the girls, Alyssa and I were playing with my iPhone app "cat paint" and I know she will love this! Little Amy was feeling camera shy but was still cute as a button:-)
Next stop Edinburgh!
miss P (again, blogging after the fact....!)
