Cherry Blossom Adventures

I had so much fun doing my own “yearbook yourself” that I had to do Shun also.

1990 Shun.

1976 Shun

1956 Shun

1984 Shun

This isn`t my Nablopomo post for today- there will be another one later. Probably!

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In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)… I have noticed though that participating in this has not improved my writing at all and I am way behind really because I should be trying to do at least one a week- oh well, hopefully I will try to get it done by the end of the year!!!

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T is for travel…

I am lucky enough to have travelled quite a bit. Not as much as some but a little bit all the same.

I love to travel- exploring new places, tasting new foods, experiencing new things and meeting new people. I love it all.

My first passport photo was my mum holding me up because I was less than 10 months old. In fact I learnt to walk in an airport in New Zealand on my first overseas trip. Several trips to New Zealand have followed over the years to visit my grandparents and relatives in Auckland.

My next international trip took me to Bali in 1998- this was a real eye opener and while I had a great time I must admit at 13, walking through and airport and seeing the security guards with guns and signs with “Drug traffickers will face the firing squad” and “Drug traffickers will be executed” was a little daunting and led me to worry about the ventalin I was carrying in my bag.

My next trip overseas took me to Japan for a year which I have already talked about so much on this blog that I think we all know I can skip over it. While in Japan that first time I met up with my mum in Thailand which was fantastic and then last year I headed to China for another trip with my mum. I loved China- and would love to go back someday as I don`t feel I saw nearly enough.

My biggest travel escapades after Japan would have to be Europe. And really I probably should of titled this T is for Travel in Europe but anyway. When I finished up uni in Australia I knew that if I didn`t go to Europe before I returned to Japan that I would never get there. I worked full-time while finishing up uni (and I had a part time job on the weekends) to get enough money together to travel through Europe and still have enough to go back to Japan and start up life there.

I did a couple of days in London where my kiwi cousin showed me around and then I embarked on a Contiki tour through 8 countries (Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France - oh and Vatican City!) and while I was never in one place for more than a couple of days I still had the best time and it has definitely made me want to go back. After that I headed to Scotland to see my bestfriend Cat…10 days in Scotland, mainly in Edinburgh but also in Crieff & The Isle of Skye.

It isn`t just international travel I love. Our trips around Japan to places like Okinawa, Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Kamakura, Niigata, Hiroshima, Nikko, Osaka & Nagano have always been a lot of fun. In fact I look forward to doing a lot more trips when I return to Japan next year.

Sadly, I haven`t seen much of my own country, Australia. Have never been very far North (Yepoon would be the furtherest) and while I have visited Sydney & Melbourne I pretty much only saw the cities. Although if Shun & I head back to Melbourne sometime over the next year I hope to be able to do a winery tour while we are down there.

There are so many other places I want to go. Shun & I have never done any international travel together either (except coming back to Australia)  and he has only ever been to Australia & Thailand. I hope that we get a chance to do some other travel together sometime. I really really want to go to Vietnam, Egypt, Korea, America & somewhere in South America, probably Peru or Chile. I would love to go back to Europe one day too- there is so much more to see.

I think it is so true what they say- once you have the travel bug you can`t stop! I just wish I could express in words how much I adore traveling and how grateful I am to my parents for opening my eyes up the wonders of traveling at such a young age!

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Ever wondered what you would of looked like way back when? I saw a cool link on Martine`s site here for this very cool site. And well it looked like fun so I gave it ago!

Presenting…1952 Lulu

1964 Lulu

1968 Lulu

1978 Lulu

1984 Lulu

1994 Lulu

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I am quickly becoming a tupperware queen and have been to three tupperware parties since I have been back in Australia- one which I held myself with my mum just last Friday night. Due to my success as a tupperware party host I will be getting the following-

I think since I am now engaged I feel that I should start working on becoming a domestic goddess! Despite the fact Shun and I have lived together for more than 2 years and he already knows I am not a domestic goddess I still feel that owning tupperware might help me reach the goal of becoming one! Somehow though I doubt just owning tupperware will help me reach that status! But I live in hope…

I don`t have a glory box but I have decided that my tupperware collection will be the start of one…Maybe I should also start to collect teatowels, sheets and cute pillows in anticipation for married life! A lot of the tupperware I have purchased, I bought because it came in cute colours and we all know that tupperware goes through stages of cute colours and not so cute colours and well I didn`t want to wait to have kids and find out tupperware was going through a crappy colour stage so below is what I have also purchased. I don`t have it all yet though since some of it was only ordered on Friday. I need to buy a big box to send it all back to Japan!!!

So do you think I have too much tupperware? It might be entirely possible but at least I am well on the way to becoming more of a domestic goddess! Next step, purchasing an iron!

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Yes it is a miniature horse! Family friends of ours have a large block of land and they keep him as a pet along with three dogs ( 2 of which belong to their son who is currently in Canada so they are playing grandparents) and possibly some chickens (Although didn`t go out the back while i was there the other day)

Over the years they have kept wallabies, a normal horse, a sheep (Gordy!!- who came inside and ran up in down the hallway bumping into things!), geese, lots of dogs, chickens, ducks, turtles, fish and I am sure an assortment of other animals!

Shun has never met them but I am thinking we may take Abbey out there to visit on Sunday- It will be her first time to meet a miniature horse! (Shun`s too!)

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Ages and ages and ages ago I signed up for  reading challenge here which involved reading eight books in eight different categories during 2008 (with an allowance of up to 8 crossovers). Anybody that knows me in real life knows I am a reader…I have always been a reader, in fact my parents are not sure how but I apparently taught myself to read at age 3 and there are photos of me less than a year old pouring through old encyclopedias (and I unlike most babies I apparently wasn`t just trying to eat them).

I am not sure how many books I would normally read in a year but I would have put it at close to 80 (I originally thought more but have now reassessed)

My original list was on this blog post but due to an international move a couple of months ago when I was forced to leave some unread books behind in Japan I had to rewrite my list and take off the books I knew I wouldn`t be able to read this year. And well, last week I finally got around to uploading it to the 888 blog and now less than a week after that I am actually getting around to posting it on here so i am actually quite proud of my time management skills on this!

Here is my list- Those in green have already been read, those with asterix`s are books I owned already when the challenge started and just so you know I have seven overlaps meaning by the end of the challenge I should of read not 64 books but 57 and so far for this challenge I have read 48 I think. I have been keeping track of the books I read since I started journaling again last August but have now put it on my computer (somewhere?!?) since I was constantly forgetting the books I had read already (and it also helps me remember authors I like!)

Ok, enough rambling from me. Here is the list (Really!)

Favourite authors- Chose this category for obvious reasons

1. An offer you can`t refuse- Jill Mansell(Jun)
2. Change of Heart- Jodi Picoult (Jun)
3. Wife for Hire- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-mar)
4. Cage of Stars- Jacqelyn Mitchard* (Jan)
5. Prisoner of Earth- Jeffrey Archer (Cross over)
6. Dear John- Nicholas Sparks* (Cross over- Mar)
7. Lean Mean thirteen- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Jan)
8. Black Cat- V.C Andrews (Cross over-Feb)

In a series- Chose this category since I have started a couple of different series but need to catch up on them, plus also already had a couple of these books on my shelves

1. Broken Flower- V.C Andrews* (Feb)
2. Scattered Leaves- V.C Andrews
3. Lean Mean thirteen- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Jan)
4. Fearless Fourteen- Janet Evanovich (Aug)
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows- J.K Rowling*(April)
6. Skinny Bitch- Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouim (Jan)
7. Key Lime Pie Murder- Joanne Fluke (Jun)
8. Honky Tonk Kat- Karen Kijewski

Read because I moved back to Australia and got new books!- Choose this because had an unplanned mid year move

1. Lessons in Heartbreak- Cathy Kelly (Jun)
2. You Drive me Crazy- Carole Matthews (May)
3. It`s a Kind of Magic- Carole Matthews (Jul)
4. Bad Behaviour- Shelia O`Flanagan (Aug)
5.Tales from the Crib- Jennifer Coburn (May)
6. The Babymoon- Melanie La`Brooy (Sep)
7. The Alibi- Sandra Brown
8. Second Chance- Jane Green

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller- Chose this since mysteries etc are one of my most read style of books, this and chick-lit

1. Bell, book & scandal- Jill Churchill*
2. Chocolate chip cookie murder- Joanne Fluke* (Jan)
3. Strawberry Short Cake murder- Joanne Fluke (Feb)
4. Count Down- Iris Johansen *(May)
5. Dream man- Linda Howard* (Feb)
6. Ricochet- Sandra Brown* (Apr)
7. Open Season- Linda Howard (Apr)
8. Play Dirty- Sandra Brown (Aug)

Chick-lit- What I read just as much, if not more than mysteries….

1. Baby Proof- Emily Giffin* (Jan)
2. You Could Do Better- Stephanie Lehman* (Feb)
3. Marshmallows for breakfast- Dorothy Koomson*(Jun)
4. Those Faraday Girls- Monica McInerney* (Mar)
5. Artistic Licence- Katie Fforde* (Sep)
6. Remember me- Sophie Kinsella (Sep)
7. Certain Girls - Jennifer Weiner (Jun)
8. Wife for Hire- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Mar)

Young Adult/Children Fiction- Thought I should go back to some books that make me the reader I am today, and also read some other YA fiction that has had a lot of good reviews or awards!

1. Alison- Margaret Watts (One of my favourite books as a teenager- reread)*
2. Dear Venny, Dear Saffron-Libby Hathorn (same as above)*
3. The Book Theif- Marcus Zusak*
4. Gossipgirl- Cecily Von Ziegesar*(jun)
5. Kira Kira- Cynthia Kadohata* (Jan)
6. All American Girl- Meg Cabot* (Mar)
7. On the Jellicoe Road^ Melina Marchetta* (May)
8. Black Cat- V.C Andrews (Feb- Cross over)

Japanese authors/books about Japan- Live(d) Japan so thought I should try to read some more books that have come from here…

1. In Praise of shadows- Junichiro Tanizaki*(Cross over-April)
2. Snow Country- Yasunari kawebata* (Cross over-Jan)
3. Kitchen- Banana Yoshimoto* (Jan)
4. South of the border, west of the sun- Murakami Haruki*(Cross over-Aug)
5. Yakuza moon- Shoko Tendo* (Feb)
6. Goodbye Tsugumi- Banana Yoshimoto (Feb)
7. Losing Kei- Suzanne Kamata (May)
8. Bar Flower- Lea Jacobson (Apr)

Male Authors- I am trying to broaden my reading horizons a little bit and it seems that most of the books I do read are by female authors…Hopefully this will help me get started on my quest to broaden my reading horizons.

1. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree- Nick Hornby* (Feb)
2. For one more day- Mitch Albom*
3.South of the Border West of the Sun-Haruki Murakami (Cross over- read in August)
4. Dear John- Nicholas Sparks* (Cross over- mar)
5. Snow Country- Yasunari kawebata* (Cross over-Jan)
6. In Praise of shadows- Junichiro Tanizaki*(April)
7. Prisoner of Earth- Jeffrey Archer (Cross over)
8. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (Apr?)

So who else keeps track of the books they read? Or enters reading challenges?! I know that entering keeps me a little bit more focused and ensures I continue to read a little everyday even if it is just while on the train to and from work. I have read more books this year that are not on this list but only about 6 or 7 so as a total have only read about 55 books so far this year.

My favourite books from the list are Yakuza Moon, Losing Kei, Kitchen, The babymoon, Change of Heart, Count Down & The Kite Runner. Have you read any of these books? Which did you like?

So with 9 books left to read before December 31 I am sure I will fit them all in but wish me luck all the same- especially since their are a couple of pretty thick ones left to go!

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I am halfway through my nablopomo challenge and so far have managed to post everyday. I hope I can manage to finish it successfully.

I have so much I could write about but it is 10:18pm and I have only just finished reading all the blogs I read, reading the posts on the forums I frequent and replying to emails and facebook messages I received in the 24 hours since I checked.

Every night Shun & I chat before going to sleep- it is the only time of the day where it is just the two of us, without the computers on, the tv going and other distractions. I suppose you could say it is our time to have D & Ms…So I am going to finish this post and go spend the time talking with him so we can catch up on each others day, chat about the future and why the hell he feels the need to wash his hair everyday (and also why he used the blowdryer more than me!)

Night.

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In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)… I have noticed though that participating in this has not improved my writing at all and I am way behind really because I should be trying to do at least one a week- oh well, hopefully I will try to get it done by the end of the year!!!

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S is for Sandlot Kids

When I was about 8 my dad took us to the movies to see The Sandlot Kids in town. I am pretty sure we were in there visiting mum on one of her many hospital stays and it was our first time to see a film in the city and probably also one of the first movies I saw at the cinema. My brother was about 5 or 6 and it was most definitely the first time we had gone to the movies with just dad.

We bought our tickets, popcorn drinks and lollies (My father spoiled us rotten) and headed into the cinema and dad asked the question “Where should we sit?”…any mother would know you don`t ask your kids that you just choose seats somewhere in the middle and tell the kids to sit there but my dad was new at this so my brother and I pulled him down to the very very front row.

Two years previously my father had lost an eye at work when a nail went through it so he has so vision from his left eye and sitting in the front row, and been so close to the screen, meant he was constantly swinging his head from side to side to try and catch the movie. Despite this, we left the cinema that day and dad could not stop raving about the film. Despite it having been a children`s film he had loved it.

Tonight, I watched The Sandalot Kids DVD with dad and Shun and it brought back memories of that day. We had the video when we were younger and a couple of years back dad bought himself the DVD. My father has a strange collection of DVDs most of them old concerts and shows about old and or dead singers and pop groups. His others include Happy Feet, Jeremiah Johnson, The Man who Shot Liberty Valence, The Blues Brothers & Across the Universe. All of which he has introduced to Shumpei since has been here.

What is your favourite childhood movie? I would have to say mine were probably The Sandalot kids, Mighty Ducks, The Little Mermaid or The Lion King.  But I am sure there are some I am forgetting.

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I am really really really bad at responding to people`s comments on my blog- I don`t know why because I love reading them.

So for the rest of the month (and hopefully longer) I am really really going to try to respond to my comments. You take the time to write something and I should be better at acknowledging that.

In other news I met with a dressmaker today and she is awesome. She will be doing my dress and the three bridesmaid dresses. Yay!

Now I am off to watch the footy (Go Wallabies!) and respond to my comments on the last post!

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1. Isuien garden- Tea house, 2. Vairocana Buddha, 3. Cat & I, 4. Group hanami shot, 5. Hinamatsuri cake, 6. Maple leaves up close, 7. birthday kids and me, 8. Mario and pooh pumpkin cookie, 9. Year of the Boar, 10. Bamboo, 11. Clothed statues in Sugimotodera, 12. Me and froggy girl, 13. Onigiri, 14. Special Ema wish about Kat-tun, 15. The entery to Shuri castle, 16. Crazy beach hair

I am really really really missing Japan. I love Australia and I love my family but I really feel as if Japan is my home now. June just seems so far away and while it would be so much worse if Shun wasn`t here with me but still I long for Japan. I long to see my friends, especially Cat & James and I long to watch Japanese dramas. I even miss rush hour on the trains, which really is crazy.

I miss the food (Which I never thought would happen- anybody will tell you I eat hardly any Japanese food), I miss Sakura (by the time I see them again it will be two years ) I miss Izakayas and my old students. I miss 24 hour convinience stores that I can walk to for icecream at 3am. I miss weekends in Tokyo and around Tokyo and I miss going on trips to see new places.  I miss hearing Japanese all the time and I miss seeing Obachan in Kimono.

I want to go back so badly and I am scared that Shun won`t want to go back because he is actually really loving Australia.

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