Off to Shizuoka…
Tomorrow I am off to Shizuoka to spend a couple of days with Nay (and Naoki & Milo of course!)- of course because I am pedantic I am already packed and ready to go! I have not been to Shizuoka to visit with Nay before- I have been to her house in Australia many times (well her mum`s house!) and Nay has been to my place in Funabashi twice (and once when I was still at the in-laws) so it is certainly well due that I visit her in Shizuoka. I am excited about it for two reasons- one of course is that I will get to see Nay & Naoki and meet Milo and two, this will be my last trip before Goma-chan arrives and my last trip by myself for the foreseeable future so it is kind of one of those milestones that needs to be crossed off.
My bus leaves at 9am tomorrow morning and I will be back in Tokyo/Chiba on Wednesday night. Thank god the bus has a toilet since I am starting to feel like I need to live in one with the amount of times I need to pee. I have my most comfty maternity pants ready to put on tomorrow morning and my ipod charged and journal and books ready to go in my handbag.
Last night Shun painted my toenails for me- I can get the nailpolish off but can not stay in the crouched over position long enough to paint them without Goma-chan kicking and hurting me- not that I blame him. I am a little claustrophobic myself and I am sure he is feeling a little like he has no room- more so when I bend over and try to paint my toenails. Shun was not impressed with having to do it but I traded him a smoke on the veranda in exchange (he is supposed to quit smoking by the time the baby arrives- he is doing really badly. For the month of October we made a deal that he would not smoke at home except for the last one before bed until the 15th of the month and then none at home after that. Not that he ever smokes inside, it is always on the veranda but he is still supposed to quit by the start of December.) – so yeah he got to have a cigarette in exchange for painting my toenails. If he hadn`t done it, Nay would of in Shizuoka I am sure. I told him he will need to do it at least once more before the baby comes and he said he can probably handle that….Oh and he did a pretty good job- no better than I would of done.
Yesterday we went out for lunch to try the local yakiniku place which is always PACKED. It is also absurdly expensive for dinner so we knew we were never going to get to go there for dinner anytime soon but they do have nice little lunch sets which are not too badly priced- 1580yen for a plate of “karubi” beef (probably about 300g or 400g), rice, salad, soup (I had spicy Korean soup, i forget the name but it had egg and pork in it too with vegies and kimichi, Shun had the wakame soup), side dishes (kimichi and moyashi bean sprouts with seasame oil and soy sauce), dessert (little tiny piece of chocolate cake with chestnut flavoured icing) and hot green tea. It was REALLY yummy! I can tell why it is always constantly packed with people (we went at almost 2pm and still needed to wait 15 minutes for a table) and there is often even cars lined up outside waiting for a park. Shun was happy he could try it and we both agreed that for a special occasion we would go back for dinner…
I have some stuff going on back home in Australia that is getting me down a little bit. I am hoping that by the end of this week I will know more about what is going on there and what, if anything, I can do from here. I am getting too close to the end of my pregnancy to make a trip back to Australia (just checked and Jetstar allows me to travel internationally up until the end of my 36th week with a letter from the doctor stating the pregnancy is normal. Qantas seems to have similar rules. Good to know) and even if I needed to fly back I am not sure where we would find the extra cash. It is sometimes really hard to be far away from family…
I am 31 weeks pregnant today and it is hard to believe that sometime in the next 8-10 weeks or so we will be welcoming Goma-chan into the world. We have a couple of favourite front-runner names picked out but until I see his face I can not make a decision. At least the kanji for them is also decided though. Hopefully one of the names we have picked out will suit him…
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hehe, Awww what a good husband!! Ryota tried to stop smoking when Ash was born and he succeeded for 3 months but the pressure got to him and he started up again
)
I flew with jetstar at 37 weeks and it was all good.
Oooooo craving yakiniku now!!! (or yakinaki as my mum calls it
Have fun on your trip!
Hi Corinne- hope you are enjoying your time in Australia despite the rude people (read your blog!) -Shun quit smoking about 4 years ago for almost 18 months and then he started again. I have no idea why. He put on weight though which i know he hated- I have faith he will be able to quit again. Honestly if he wants to be a social smoker when he goes out it doesn`t bother me much because it is not like he goes out much since he doesn`t like drinking but I want him to quit for the sake of the baby. We both had asthma as kids and I still have it so I figure the bub is probably already going to have some kind of issues.
Jetstar website says 36 weeks? I guess you mustn`t have looked that pregnant- I recon they would turn me away now. HAHAHA
Yakiniku is good. This place was awesome. Such a shame it is so expensive for dinner but the lunch was fab and it was a nice little lunch date for the two of us- won`t be so much of them after the bub comes (well not as a twosome at least) so trying to make the most of it.
I hope you have lots of fun in Shizuoka with Nay!!
If you are ever in my area of Kanagawa in the evenings there are some really cheap yakiniku places (but they are good), the price is great. If let`s say the normal price of karubi is 700 yen for each adult you can order a plate for like 200 yen. So if there are 4 people you can order 4 plates of karubi for a total of 800 yen, if you order a 5th it goes back up in price. But the meat is really cheap, wish I could say the same about the side dishes you could get with it.
have fun, safe journey!!
Hope you have a fun trip! We aren’t doing anything special this long weekend but as tomorrow is Health and Sports Day I’m trying to convince Seiji to walk with me from our apartment to the international supermarket in Azabu, about 5km. We’ll see if it actually happens though!
Good luck to Shun for quitting! S has promised that he’ll give up at the end of this year, before we start trying to have children… he’s not looking forward to it though as he’s been a smoker since he was in high school!
Melanie- haha, I have to admit we usually just go to Gyukaku, which is a chain for yakiniku because the price is so good. it is nice though to go to a fancy expensive place every once and awhile though. I really like yakiniku but you are not much of a meat eater right so I am guessing those places are no good for you, especially if the side dishes are so expensive.
Illahee- Thank you! I will be taking lots of photos of Milo I think!
Umebossy- Wow you guys live pretty close to ex-pat central then hey? I used to work in Azabu Juban and also Azubudai near Tokyo Tower so I know that area quite well. It is a bit hilly though so if you guys do walk make sure you wear comfty shoes- the weather is supposed to be nice still tomorrow though so I am sure it will be a lovely walk!
I am hoping Shun actually quits. I have high hopes but I am not sure- it is definitely not something that HE really wants but definitely more of something that I want. He has quit before though so I am sure he can do it again…just gotta convince him to keep trying to cut down. Shun also smoked since highschool when he broke up with his first ever gf he started when he was 17…I think it is a cute story. He was so broken hearted he started smoking….hehe.
hey lulu – hope you enjoy Shizuoka (am sure you will) and your last trip alone!!
hope everything back in aus works out.
Thanks T
I am really looking forward to seeing Nay and meeting Milo- I am sure it will be lots of fun and that I will come back with some cute pictures.
“Yakinaki” made me laugh Corinne.
I’ll be truly missing yakiniku come this winter! It is such good winter-weather food.
I hope you have fun to Shizuoka!
So I may be totally late in knowing this but – so, is goma-chan a boy? I totally missed that part, and everyone is referring to goma-chan as “him/his”. Sorry for my silliness! ^_^;;
Laura- There are many great winter foods- one I always missed when I was back in Australia was Nabe. I just love that when you eat Nabe, everyone has to sit around and share and wait for it to boil and cook. Kimichi Nabe is my favourite. The year I was back in Australia when I was still a student, Shun used to send the Kimichi nabe sauce in the mail for me. HAHA.
Yes, Goma-chan is definitely a little boy! We have known for awhile now (10 weeks or so?) but it might of been just around the time that you headed back to America so that might be why you missed it. Hope all is going well for you back at school in the states
Awh, how funny that he chose cigarettes to sooth his broken heart! Will keep my fingers crossed that he is able to manage it soon
We’re actually on the border of Meguro and Shibuya, so not too expat-y but there is an apartment nearby that seems to be stocked entirely with interchangeable leggy blonde models who float around the local supermarket picking things up and putting them back down again. It does wonders for my self esteem!
Have a great trip