Cherry Blossom Adventures

Conversation with Shun while looking at small houses and  apartments back in Chiba…

Me: Shun, what about this house, it looks nice, and new.

Shun: Yeah, it is nice. But cheap, so there must be a ghost.

Me: Don`t be silly, just because it is nice but cheap doesn`t mean that someone died there or there was a ghost there.

Shun: In Japan it does. We can ask though if there is a ghost…maybe they will tell us.

Me: Whatever, I doubt there is a ghost.

Shun is very superstitious. I didn`t really know this about him until we lived together…When he came back from his grandmothers funeral he yelled at me from the door “Laura-chan, bring the salt” me not knowing what the hell he was talking about so I took him the salt/pepper mix which was the only thing we had in the house. He looked at it and then piled some of it at the doors of our apartment. He is also very big on going to get special charms from the shrine before we travel or if someone gets sick or if either of us has a test coming up.

He also believes in ghosts. It is not that I am a non-believer. I figure we can all just live happily together and not worry about it…Shun however thinks living in a place with a ghost would be the worst thing in the world. He says he saw his grandfathers ghost when he was younger (so did his Dad) and I think it has him a little freaked…I know he thinks his parents house is haunted because that is where his “Jiji” died…

We are back looking at  places to live even though we will live with his parents for a couple of months to get some extra money together. Some of the places we have been looking at today are little town houses or older style Japanese houses. I would love to live in a house, even if it was small because the idea of been able to hang our washing outside and having a tiny garden really appeals to me. I thought it would be too expensive but we have managed to find quite a few in Ichikawa and Motoyawata that are 70m2 or bigger, a lot of which have car spaces attached at no extra cost and a couple of them are even within 10 minutes of the station!!! Our price range is not huge but it is large compared to some I guess because I know we will not get a place under 10 man. So our budget is 13man (because Shun`s company pays 3man or our rent no matter where we live) however a couple of the places we have seen are about 10man which would be perfect!

Of course it will only work if Shun believes the places we go to see are not haunted…

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Can you believe I am on time this month with the update? April isn`t even OVER yet!

I didn`t manage to cross much off my list this month but I did cross off a couple so here goes…

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (3/6)

Have completed a third month of maintaining my weight loss!

39. Stop biting and picking at my nails.

I have been a nail biter/picker my whole life and I have now stopped and my nails are actually looking quite good! So this is a huge accomplishment for me! I am quite proud of myself. I have been using nail stregnthener on and off for a couple of months and it has really helped. It is just in time for the wedding too!!!

88. Back-up my computer

Done! First time I have ever backed up my mac and I have had it for almost 18 months!!!!! It was simple and I will try to do it every two months or so! Probably should do it more often but I know I won`t…

89. Organize my photos and put all my photos onto cd`s as a back-up

I organized them all a fair while ago now but I had not backed them up or made copies but I have now done that! Plus I have them all on external hardrives and the newer ones (for 2009) on the recent back up of the mac  so I have it sorted. It would be so bad to lose any of my photos so I feel much better now that I know I have several copies of them!

92. Go to the cinema 20 times (7/20) to (8/20)

Saw “17 again” with Shun a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was good- i found it quite funny! Very light weight but an easy to watch film all the same!

I know of at least three things I will be able to cross of by the end of May as well, so that will be good! Only three crossed off this month as well- with a couple parts crossed off for some tasks.

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March 10 2009, Kokeshi Kasa at home, Olympus 830

The wedding is in less than two weeks and the stress is settling in- my biggest concern for today is “what if it rains?”. See we are getting married outside in a garden…if it rains the venue has a bit of a back up plan to move the ceremony into one of the reception rooms. I am glad there is a back up plan in place but getting married inside a normal room is not exactly my idea of romantic wedding.

So, by next weekend I should be able to see the forcast for the weekend of the wedding- I am freaking out though.

What would happen to the ceremony? Where would we go to get photos? Would we need umbrellas? Oh great, yet another thing to add to the list of things I need to remember to buy before the wedding. Plus, I doubt we could get any as nice as the wooden one above!

Can you tell I am heading into “CRAZED BRIDE” stage?

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Last night Sarah & I were chatting on Skype and we were discussing places, in particular prefectures, we had been to in Japan- I think I may have had her on numbers (maybe? Correct me if I am wrong Sarah!). I realized though, that despite the small size of the country I have not really been to many places…Sarah definitely had me on the geography of Japan though- I am hopeless with geography in general (odd since I am really good at reading maps?- go figure) – I even said to her “Don`t think I have been to Hyogo, where is it” and she replied “Hyogo is where Kobe is, so you have been there when you visited me” – see, that is how bad my geography is!!!

Japan has 47 prefectures, which I guess for those Americans and Australians out there are kind of like states. Although considering the size of Japan vs Australia and 47 prefectures vs 8 states and territories it is obvious that prefectures in Japan are quite small!

Here is a map-

Now of those 47 prefectures I have only been to only 16 of them, I think (I class “going to” as more than driving through or stopping for a toilet break while driving through/shinkansenning it past- but you do not have to have stayed the night)- They are from top to bottom Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Nagano, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Hiroshima & Okinawa. I am not sure how many Shun has gone to before- but I think it might even be less than me…as he has never been to Hyogo, Hiroshima or Fukushima I think but I may be wrong (he may have been to others I am not aware of though- after all he has lived there for pretty much 28 years straight!). Three of the prefture trips were for snow trips- Fukushima, Nagano, & Niigata. Having lived in Tokyo, I have been to Kanagawa, Chiba & Saitama quite a lot. Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima when I was an exchange student and Osaka and Kyoto again a couple of other times. Nara/Hyogo with Sarah last year and Shizuoka when I was on exchange and went for a day trip to go fishing. Okinawa was a couple of years back with Shun and Nikko is in Tochigi and I went a couple of years back. Ibaraki was when I was on exchange and I went back to a friend`s hometown (Yes, there was a lot of Natto)

It does not seem like that many though- especially considering there are several other prefctures close by that would be within “day trip” range…or at the very least an overnight stay.

So, while making it to EVERY prefecture might be a little ambitious my hope is to visit at least another five over the next five  years! I do not really have to many preferences but I would love to see Nagasaki (and Hakone, but turns out that is in Kanagawa prefecture!), Fukuoka, Gunma (Well it is close!), Aichi & Hokkaido…I am sure there are plenty of other nice prefectures to check out also and I certainly have blog friends all over so maybe I will be coming to crash on your sofa sometime soon!

Those of you in Japan (or who have visited) which prefectures have you been to and what could you recommend?

Aussies- what states/territories haven`t you been to! Sadly I have only been to three- Queensland, NSW & Victoria- Slack I know! I have never been to any American states but I think my brother has been to about 5 on his recent trip there last year…

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A couple of days ago I write a post about the things Shun & I will miss from Australia once we go home to Japan. It is five weeks today until we arrive back at Narita airport….It is coming up fast! I have missed a lot of things from Japan this past year and here is a list of things that I want to do as soon as possible.

- See my exchange friends who I have not seen all year plus a couple I have seen (who are coming for the wedding) – I hope it will involve karaoke.

- Karaoke!

- Visit Tokyu Hands, Loft, Muji, OIOI, and more! I just want to see what they have

- Eat Tonkatsu and curry

- Go to Izakaya and eat unhealthy izakaya food!

- Go to my favourite bar in Kichijoji & Nakano – will mean a bit of travel but I know both the owners quite well and would love to see them again!

- Go to Niigata to see Sarah (and Nay will be there too!)

- Go to Chinatown in Yokohama

- Camping (maybe in Chichibu!)

- Summer BBQs with friends (Yakisoba!!!!)

- Go to Hanabi

- Go to a matsuri (festival)

- Hanami (sadly will have to wait a year)

- Take in the seasons

- and sadly I know, but I will take advantage of the fast internet and download my favoourite tv shows!

I am sure there is a lot more but those are the ones that came to mind!

The three things I know Shun will really want to do are (in this order)- I am sure there are others but these would definitely be his top three!!!

1. Eat ramen

2. Buy cheap ciggarettes

3. Buy manga

So the question for you is- what would you miss from your ADOPTIVE country if you were to leave (or if you have already left!) and what would you do first when you went back or were going back.

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February 8 2009, Pink flower by the beach near home, Olympus E-520

No comments today really. I just like how this flower, while it looks beautiful, is also imperfect.

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We leave to move back to Japan in 5.5 weeks- this is a good thing. I am excited to be going back- we started packing yesterday and already have six boxes to send and I think we will need another two. It is going to be expensive I think!!!

It got me thinking about the things we will miss from Australia.

Shun will miss

- sausages (in particular sausages on rolls- his first ever was from Bunnings)

- steak (you will notice a trend that most of the things Shun will miss involve meat) & Roast Beef

- Salami

- Been able to stay up all night playing computer games because he didn`t have to work much

- Cous Cous (luckily I can send this to Japan- we have 10 packets ready to go!)

- Abbey

- Simpsons on foxtel

I am sure there other things he will miss too- but most of them are food…lol!

I will miss

- My family & friends

- English speakers

- Abbey

- Steak (yes, I will miss it as well!)

- Going out for dinner- we will do that in Japan too, but at least here I can read the menu

- Cadbury chocolate

- Clothes that fit (& shopping for them!)

- Being close to the ocean

- English books everywhere I look

-Decent toothpaste (luckily I can send that too!)

I am sure there are other things that would be on the list if I took more time- but they are the ones that came to mind first! What do you miss from your home countries? Or what do you think you would miss?

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Several weeks back Shun & I went up the Sunshine Coast with mum (and in the end Dad too!) to babysit my Auntie`s doggy, Ziggy while they were away for a wedding. It was a lovely weekend and on the way back to Brisbane we got to stop off at Montville and Maleny!!! It was our much anticipated trip the country- some would say “That is not the country” but for city dwellers like Shun & myself it seemed pretty country to me.

It was a beautiful beautiful place and while the weather wasn`t the best I think it added to the charm.
Here are some pics from the trip plus more can be found here on flickr.

View from Montville at lunch time!

The magpie in Montville while we were eating lunch!

A tractor- That is how I KNEW it was the country!

Montville and Maleny had a lot of crafty shops!! So Shun was trying out the merchandise!

Cow!

Shun & I after lunch in Montville!

Glass House Mountains shot on the way home to Brisbane.

Day before country trip- Shun & I after lunch at Mooloolaba!

Ziggy the dog- our babysitting charge!

It was a lovely weekend!!! Plus we got to cross going to the country off my 101 list!!!

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March 31 2009, At home in Brisbane, Olympus E520

This is one of my favourite Macro Monday posts so far. That is Shun holding a green tree frog that he found downstairs under the house on one of dad`s toolboxes a couple of weeks ago- it was late at night and he went out for a smoke and then I hear this “?????????????”  meaning “Laura, come quick” and he was under the house trying to protect the frog from Abbey.

He had never seen a green tree frog outside of a zoo before but he knew what it was. I laughed as he ran around trying to catch it while Abbey was also trying to pounce. Luckily he caught it and we released it over the fence into the vacant block. I was surprised to see a green tree frog as we live so close to the ocean and they are not fans of salt water.

Green tree frogs are native to Australia and the one in the picture above is quite small compared to average (10cm) so I think it may have been a baby. They eat mainly spiders and insects and are extremely docile. I wouldn`t say they are rare but they are definitely not so prevelant in Brisbane…

Isn`t it cute?

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We are well into April now so I am behind on updating my list but better late than never. The end of March marked a year since I started my 101 things in 1001 days list…

Sadly, I did not get much things crossed off my list this month- in fact a couple things I am crossing off actually happened in early April but so I don`t forget I will mark them off now.

24. Organize and buy stuff for wedding favours

Done- and we have decided what we are doing and are getting made as I type (not by me!) but I will help Melinda (who is making them) next weekend as time is passing quickly and it is now only four weeks til the wedding. Eek!

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (2/6)

Two months down!

39. Stop biting and picking at my nails (still in progress)

I am happy to say I am doing a lot better with this- not well enough to cross it off but I am hoping within a couple months I will be able to cross this off for good. They are much better than they were and I don`t bite them anymore but still pick at them when I am bored/nervous.

54. Make at least one trip out into the country with Shun

We went to Maleny & Montville last weekend and it was lovely- photos and post to follow!

70.  (Buy) The Rei Shimura series by Sujata Massey

I have now purchased them all- number 3 & 4 are on there way to Australia right now so have not yet read them but I have them!!! I can not wait to read them although won`t be able to finish the series until we are back in Japan I imagine. Then I will be able to re-read them all again! hehe

73. Meet at least five other bloggers in real life (4/5)

I can add another to the list- I met Cassie from Sassymoo a couple of weeks back as previously mentioned!!! Now just one to go (I probably won`t stop there though!)

79. Keep track of my blog stats and referrers by checking at least once a week (for a year)

The year is now up! Sometimes I get completely random searches that bring people to my blog- the most recent surge of searches has come from “pee cone” something I wrote about when I first started blogging!

93. Go to the cinema 20 times (7/20)

I went to the movies and saw “Mall Cop”- it was okay but I wouldn`t recommend it. I can not beleive in the entire year I have only seen seven movies at the cinema- I need to get out more

100. Make a budget and stick for it to 6 months (no longer in progress)

Sadly, this is no longer in progress as we have more than blown it I think- we will sit down and work on it again in a couple of months once we are back in Japan.

I know I only do these updates more for myself than anything but since this marks a year of the challenge so I guess it is a bit of a milestone of sorts- If I counted correctly I have completed 65 out of 101 things- so well more than half and I still have a approximately a year and eight months left to complete the others. There are a couple on there which I now know might be unachievable in the time frame (pass level 1 of JLPT is the one that comes to mind as does get paid to write something, or sell something I have made as well as a few others) but I intend to keep my promise to donate $10 to a charity for each of the items I have not completed after the 1001 days. I just need to decide which charity to donate to…

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