Frank and Josie's House

Hi all, how are we all? We’ve been watching the developments in the U.K. and the new strain of Covid-19 which is affecting everyone and everything again. I heard form my brother yesterday that others are calling the U.K. plague island which makes me sad. Mind you it makes my blood boil with how the government have handled the whole Covid-19 situation. They are fools and if you disagree then scroll on. You won’t change my mind on this.  A w hile ago my dad told us not to come back to the U.K. for Christmas. It was a very emotional conversation and none of us were happy about it. I’m really close to my family and not seeing them for 18 months is really hard. BUT part of the new year celebrations everywhere wish to look at or review the old year. In fact I’ve been looking at lots of different new year traditions in different countries. Many countries and cultures clean or cleanse their homes or selves on New Year’s Eve. I’ve focused on the traditions in Japan as that’s where we’re spendin

One of the most exciting parts of our trip was my random find of the Ninja Cafe  in Takayama. After we’d had a good rest we headed back out with the aim of dinner “somewhere a little different”. I surprised the kids just before we got there, mainly so they could help me find it! In typical ninja fashion the cafe was a little hidden away and we initially thought it was closed until suddenly a ninja appeared at the door. Luckily he was friendly and greeted us warmly. We were his only customers so we had his full attention. They didn’t have many food options but the kids didn’t really care. One thing I thought was utterly brilliant was a very subtle change in the menu- it was a scroll and they had it in English too. Also, instead of having ginger ale available the cafe had ninja ale! It was coloured black, tasted just like ginger ale and had a samurai sword sticking out of it and was put on a ninja star coaster. The excitement was already building. The two younger kids elected to go for t