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2024 Goals

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My Running Journey in 2023

I am so proud of my running habit this year. I thought I would share some highlights from my running journey this year. Hopefully, it will also encourage you in your own fitness journey: be it yoga, walking, swimming, pilates or weights. Summary Total distance covered this year (up to Dec 28th, at the time of writing this post. Excludes walking/cycling): 326.6km Average per month including…

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2023: A Year in Review

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Mothers and Daughters

I would like to tell you the stories of two mother-daughter pairs that fascinate me in my neighbourhood. I was bending over at the garbage cage outside our apartments, lowering my garbage into it, when someone said hello awfully close over my shoulder. “May I speak with you?” she asked, in English, bending close to my face. Not another one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I thought. They are the…

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Sunset in Ishikawa

I love this picture of a summer sunset that I took from my car when I was living in Ishikawa Prefecture, about 5 years ago. I have been waiting for an opportunity to publish it. I wanted to write a good essay or story or blog post to accompany it, but I have not been able to find the words. So I will borrow the words from Ras Mengesha’s piece, The Colour of August. Ras is a writer and teacher…

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Garbage Tales

Sometimes I think that my life in suburban Tokyo is boring since nothing exciting really happens. One day easily fades into the next. My life consists of daycare pickups and drop offs, grocery runs to Gyomu Supermarket, and detergent shopping at Sugi Drug Store, and the rest of the time working at my desk for the better part of the day. Then I realized that a lot of interesting things happen, it…

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I Translated Kusadikika Into English

I only have two favorites among Swahili novels, and I am ashamed to admit it is because of how little of Swahili literature I read. I hope to make more of an effort in the future, because right now between a full-time job and kids, a jogging habit and a Netflix addiction, I have no free time. The two books are Kusadikika by Shaaban bin Robert and Siku Njema by Ken Walibora. I’m happy to report…

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What to do (or not to do) if Your Child has a Neck Abscess

Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. When Kai was two months old, we flew across continents and oceans to be with family in Nairobi, Kenya. Kai was not a passive baby. I could not put him down for a second. I couldn’t cook, I couldn’t clean. I literally had to take him with me when I went to the toilet. I look at wonder at those babies who are content just lie there, staring at the ceiling or…

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The Ones Left Behind: Documentary About Single Mothers in Japan by Rionne McAvoy

When Rionne asked me to be interviewed for his documentary about single mothers in Japan, I wasn’t sure whether to accept or not. I did not want to become the “face of single mothers”. What a silly thing to worry about. I am a single mother, that is a fact. There is nothing to be embarrassed about and everything to be proud of. To be the parent that is turning up and taking all of the…

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2023 Goals

I couldn’t tell you the difference between goals and resolutions. I just know that as far back as I can remember, I have always made a list of the things I wanted or needed to do. Here are my 2023 goals, but I don’t want o put pressure on myself to achieve them. They are just a roadmap to guide my daily activities. I want to enjoy the journey towards achieving them without necessarily worrying…

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2022 in Review

Beautiful sunset over the tropical sea. I wish I had something deep, profound and poetic to say about the last year, but this is the driest post ever. Despite the challenges, it was a happy year. In January, I was on maternity leave in Kenya but by the end of the year, I was well settled into the humdrum life of a mother of two working full-time in Tokyo. The Good I’m grateful that I was able…

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8 Years in Japan: Highlights and Lowlights

8 Years in Japan: Highlights and Lowlights

This October marked 8 years since I first set foot in Japan. I remember that day clearly. I landed in Osaka at around 8pm in the night and took the express train to Kanazawa, transferring at Maibara. I remember thinking that Japan at appeared to be lifeless, everywhere I looked I was met with muted night lights and silence, not a soul to be seen outside. Of course, it didn’t help that this view…

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Nail Update: I'm Healed!

Nail Update: I’m Healed!

It has taken 5 months, but finally the broken nail I blogged about here has healed. Please read that post for the information on when it became broken (over 25 years ago), how it got broken (door slam), why it stayed broken (fungal infection), which doctor I went to (dermatologist) and which medicine I took (Itrizole) for the 6th and final month now. I’m just sharing the progress pictures in this…

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A Day in the Life of a Working Single Parent in Tokyo

A Day in the Life of a Working Single Parent in Tokyo

This post is inspired by K, who runs the resourceful blog “Tiny Tot in Tokyo” and did a post about their day here, and also by Pippa, who wrote about her day in this post here. In case you are new to the blog, I am raising two boys in Tokyo. J is 9 years old and is a 4th grader at a local international school, and K is 1 year old and goes to a government daycare. I work full time as an applied…

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Young Leaves

My apartment building used to be called “Young Leaves Heights” (若葉ハイツ ). Many old and rundown apartments in Japan have fancy names like “Heights” and “Corpos”, “Maisons” and “Palaces”. My apartment building is pretty old too, but it got renovated inside and out, and made as new as could be. It got a fancy new name too, that I am not going to tell you, for obvious reasons. I was the first tenant…

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14 Months of Maternity Leave (and Childcare Leave)

14 Months of Maternity Leave (and Childcare Leave)

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Broken Fingernail

For more than 2 and a half decades, I have lived with a broken nail. I remember it being accidentally slammed it between the hinges of my grandmother’s door. It must have hurt a lot but fortunately, I don’t remember the pain. I must have been around 7 or 8 years old. Since then, I have lived with the crooked fingernail. A new crooked nail would grow on top and fall off, only to be replaced by…