Cherry Blossom Adventures

A couple months back Suzy wrote about Little Golden Books and I commented that I had already picked up a couple for goma-chan but was still looking for more- especially ones that I had read when I was younger. I had so many as a kid and while I can not remember them all I have managed to pick up a couple that I had when I was younger like “The little red caboose” and “The poky little puppy” among others…

The ownership rights to these books have changed several times over the years but basically the books have stayed the same- very little has changed from the originals- the first of which was released in the 1940s.

I loved books growing up and I still do and we already have quite a collection of English (and a smaller collection of Japanese) books going for goma-chan when he arrives. I know he is not going to be at all interested for at least a year but that will not stop me reading to him all the time- he will just have to get used to it What were your favourite Little Golden Books?

While we have picked up quite a few books- the Little Golden Books are definitely my favourites (along with Possum Magic!)- I think it is the detail in the images that makes them so great.

Of course, as I said- it is not just Little Golden Books that we have.

The bottom two in this photo are the books goma-chan will be able to play with first- soft material books that if needed I can chuck in the wash!

Some old favourites… It is amazing that some of the books I read as a child are still around and going strong. Possum Magic and Dear Zoo as well as the Spot books were all favourites of mine growing up. Would be interesting to hear what others liked when they were younger.

Goma-chan also got a package in the mail last week from his grandmother (which also included something from his Aunt Gem & Uncle Paul)

Spot Dog from Paul & Gem- He is already in the cot.

And to help him sleep- this beautiful sleeper bag from mum. It is adjustable too and it is reversable but I didn`t realize that until later. Inside is mainly green with cartoon nursery rhyme type pictures.

I think goma-chan might already be a spoiled baby…

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Well this is the last post for awhile from Australian soil. Our flight leaves in 7 and a half hours and apart from our computers we are done with the packing. Both our suitcases are over the 20kg limit not to mention I have my suitcase, two hula hoops, and a bag filled with toiletries cos I just couldn`t fit it into the suitcase. My suitcase alone weight 28kg and I can just imagine us having to pay the excess at the airport which will suck. I am contemplating taking out about 4kg or 5kg and asking mum to send it via post? We already sent over 100kg to Japan last week via a shipping company…Can you tell we have too much stuff? (30% or so might be tupperware…. Another 30% is definitely books- LOL)

We have to fly to Sydney first from Brisbane and then change to a flight heading to Japan- it is going to be a long night. I can not sleep on airplanes- Shun can sleep anywhere and will probably be asleep before the plane from Sydney even takes off- unless there is one of those tv`s where you can watch unlimted movies and play games because then he won`t sleep at all as that will keep him busy the whole time.

I have to remember to request aisle seats when we get to Brisbane airport- all of our tickets and transfers will be issues then. I bet I will forget. (Just told Shun to remind me, chances are he will forget too)

I got the professional wedding photos on CD yesterday- I promise to go through them and upload some to flickr (and facebook) sometime in the next week…They turned out awesome- We were really happy. We have not seen them all yet but she did show us a mock-up of the album also and it looked great. I am so excited to sit down and look at them all properly. The album won`t be done for a couple of weeks so mum will need to send it to us.

I shoudln`t be offline for more than 48 hours or so since we will be staying at Shun`s parents place and my wireless works there if I plug in the router….so hopefully I will be updating sooner rather than later. We have a bit of a crowd coming out the airport this afternoon (not really!)- Mum, Dad, my brother Paul and his gf Gemma are all seeing us off from the domestic airport. Because we have to go to Sydney they can come all the way to the gate with us- I think there will be tears (maybe me, definitely mum and Gemma)

Well so long Australia, I am sure I will be back some time soon!

ps: Will try to get back into Macro Monday once I get back to Japan

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This time next week I will be getting dressed and ready to go to our wedding…

I can not believe it is only one week away. These past couple of weeks since I finished work have gone by so fast. I think we have almost everything under control now though.

This next week is going to be insane- Nay and Mandy have already arrived in Australia but they are staying with their families so that is all fine. The others all start arriving from Tuesday onwards….On Tuesday I will be out at the airport once, Wednesday we will be out there again, Thursday I will be out there twice (once in the morning and again in the afternoon), Friday I will be out there twice (again in the morning and afternoon) and then Saturday Shun will be out there picking up the last of the guests (I put my foot down on going to the airport on my wedding day)….Sunday the majority of people leave early, then a couple more on Monday after, then the last of them leave on the Tuesday. Shun and I leave for our honeymoon on the Thursday so as you can see there will be at LOT of trips to the airport and back.

We will expect some delays too for those coming on international flights since the Swine Flu hysteria has hit Australia a bit now. We have actually had one friend cancel his trip as his company is refusing to let him travel (they reimbursed him for his tickets- we found out yesterday)- actually they warned him not to travel and he said he would anwyay and then they said, fine he could go but he would need to take a months unpaid leave when he returned to Japan to make sure he did not bring possible Swine Flu to work. Two of our groomsmen are in similar situations- one flies out tonight and if there is no confirmed cases in Japan or Australia before 7pm he is in the clear…Toshi, the other, is having some issues but said at this stage he is fine to come however he does not fly out til Thursday night so complications could arrise.

Hard to believe on Monday I was worried about rain…I was totally not thinking that there would be a world crisis over the flu.

One week to go, one week to go!

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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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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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Yesterday I met up with Cassie & Princess Poppy and Sophie & Sakurako after work.

We met up outside Hungry Jacks in the mall and if you have ever had to meet up with someone in town in Brisbane then more often than not the agreed meetings spot will be the Hungry Jacks. It is a it of a Brisbane icon of sorts where all the drop-outs, school kids & language students hang out plus it is pretty much dead bang in the middle of town.

I saw Cassie first, didn`t click right away as I had my eyes peeled for a stroller and this lady smiling at me had no stroller- I soon discovered Poppy strapped to her back in a carrier.

Sophie showed up soon after with Sakurako in a stroller! We decided that with the little ones it would be best to grab take-away coffees and drinks and head down into the Botanical Gardens so that the girls could run around on the grass while the mummies & me could chat (& chase after kids of course!)

I met Sakurako`s frog and Poppy`s Lovie dog so we were friends from the start! In fact Sakurako was quite happy for me to hold onto Froggy!

We found a shady spot right near a playground and the girls, while a little shy at first, soon became fast friends.

Who are you??? Checking each other out…

Sakurako fed her snacks to the birds even chasing an ibis to share her sandwich while Poppy picked all of the blueberries out of Cassie`s muffin!

Where are the birds gone?

nom nom nom- Yum!

Us “big” girls chatted while the girls explored the park! We chatted about Japanese bureaucracy we had faced at consulates, airports etc and then poor Sophie got a call from her hub saying he was having issues at Aussie Immigration. Ironic really! I guess the bureaucracy exists everywhere. Seems they got their issues sorted though, shame that Sophie & Sakurako had to leave early though

Sophie & her beautiful daughter Sakurako

After saying goodbye (regretfully!) to Sophie & Sakurako, Cassie, Poppy & I explored the park some more and poppy discovered all the cool equipment the park had but what was even more facinating for her was all the dirty bark that could be picked up and rubbed all over her and the equipment especially the see-saw!

Poppy the poser! Pulling faces

Cassie & Poppy

Such a fun afternoon- Cassie was lovely. Very down to earch and so easy to talk to. She is the kind of mum that I hope to one day become!! We swapped stories about our boys, about our families and more. Such a shame that we don`t live closer together in Japan but I am sure we will meet up again sometime in the future.

Sophie, Sakurako & I (maybe with the boys!) hope to meet up again before they head back to Gunma-ken in April.

Here is one final shot of Poppy & I- I look shocking but ignore that and look at the cute little girl I am holding instead.

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• I did make a couple of resolutions & I wrote them up all nice & pretty  in my new journal for 2009 along with some inspirational quotes. I wouldn`t usually start a new diary for the new year but my moleskine was a couple pages away from finished so I saw the chance to start using my fab new diary which has a black & red pattern with babushka dolls on it. Yes I am a nerd. Anyway I am already going off track, my resolutions were to lose at least another 5 kilos by eating healthier, more regular exercise (ie, more than twice a month which is the standard I do at the moment I think) including regular walking (with Abbey) and hopefully some hooping & aqua arobics. I want to have lost the weight by the wedding and gotten into a routine by then that can follow on when we return to Japan (so walking & hooping mainly!). My next resolution was to be more responsible with money by combining our accounts and saving a little bit each month…for me not spending money willy nilly is something I really need to work on especially since there is only so much tupperware & books I can send back to Japan. Next resolution is a secret but one that will come about eventually. The last two were to learn to use photoshop (as it is on my 101 things list and something I have wanted to learn how to use for a long time) and find an apartment in Chiba/Tokyo within three months of returning to Japan and make a home for us that we will both love. What are you resolutions? And did you keep the ones you made last year?
• I have met up with T from TJKR several times over the last couple of weeks. At the park, at her place, at my place and it has been so nice getting to know her (and her hub & bub)- it is so random that her parents house is just around the corner from my dad`s place and we went to the same highschool (although we were not there at the same time). Shun has loved interacting with their daughter K as well- he is so good with kids although kids are usually scared of him at first (as K was- I think it is all his hair!!!!) I have loved playing with K also, she is such a little darling and I can not beleive how well she can talk for 20 months old! Amazing! I will miss them when they go back to Japan on Sunday but luckily where we live in Japan is not so far from each other, only about an hour by train.
• Shun & I sat down and had a big chat about money the other day, wrote up a budget and how much we want to (and need to) save before leaving Australia. Some of that savings will go towards my plane ticket back to Japan, and some of the wedding expenses like honeymoon (We might be bypassing a honeymoon), suits & part of the reception. The rest (and we hope there will be some extra left over) will go towards finding an apartment back in Japan as many of you know getting set up in an apartment is ridiculously expensive with all the agent fees, key money & bond you must pay. Not to mention movers (we have stuff in storage at his parents place & all of our big white goods are with my friend Cat). The aim is for Shun to return to his job on 1 July as planned (although due to the recent economic crisis he is a bit worried his job won`t be there for him to go back to but I am positive it will be okay), earlier if he can since we will be back in Japan from end of May & I will look for a part-time job or full-time job (with 25 hours or more) probably in a preschool or kindergarten. Hopefully I won`t have too many issues finding a job but we will have to wait & see. There are not as many international schools in Chiba though so might have to rethink this. We also talked about how much we will want to try and save once we return to Japan and move into an apartment and also what we would be willing to spend on rent. It was so good to discuss it all, make plans and see where we are at in time for the new year.
• Today was a bit of a tough day- we started by taking dad to the hospital for his treatment. He had said all day yesterday and this morning that he didn`t want to go and wasn`t going and that he was quitting. But this morning he got in the car and we took him to the hospital. He doesn`t like us to come in & I usually just drop him off but usually go in when I go to pick him up. Shun and I had some wedding related errands to run, our last week day before we go back to work on Monday (see next dot point). When we got home about 1pm Dad was watching TV. Turns out he had gone into the hospital for about half an hour, was still waiting, and so he left and caught the train home. He didn`t ring & ask me to pick him up, he didn`t answer the couple of times I called before lunch time & there he was at home when we got home. Apparently a nurse, his trial nurse & his doctor had all called him but he had decided not to go back. They have given him a chance to come in tomorrow however if he doesn`t go he will not be able to return to the trial as it is an important part of it that he has treatment EVERY Friday. At this stage he says he is going but I am not sure- I got a call from his trial nurse and she asked me if he was coming (It took them 5 hours to track down my number)tomorrow. I told her I would try….Today has been exhausting- At this stage not sure what the outcome will be.
• As for good news- we found suits for Shun, the groomsmen & my dad. Also went to the invitation place and choose what we wanted so just waiting for a quote and to confirm if we send them that they can input Japanese text if we send it through to them in a word file (copy & paste)-
• As it is new years we have had several phone calls with Shun`s parents & family. Yesterday we called them to say the ritual “akemashite omedetou gozaimasu” & as I write this Shun is on the phone with them again because today his grandmother, brother & sister-in-law are also there. I have just finished another round of “akemashite omedetou gozaimasu” & now Shun is talking to his dad`s about whales & wombats- two things he wants to see in the four days they are in Australia in May (one the day they arrive, one the wedding, the day after the wedding & then they leave the next morning- it will be a busy couple of days- I guess we better start planning.)

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Happy New Year everyone!!!!! I hope 2009 brings you happiness, good health, love & adventures.

I have started playing around with my new camera and here are a couple of photos I have taken- straight out of the camera, no touch ups- most are of Abbey because she is a willing model.

She adores my dad- I doubt she would let me put sunnies on her!

31/12/08- Photo of me & dad before I headed out for NYE celebrations

Frangipani`s across the street.

Boats in the harbour- I took this on the move from the car window. Relax, I was not the one driving!

Shun, down near the water, having a smoke. Due to the heat we have been taking Abbey down for a swim most days to get her used to the water & to cool her down.

Abbey hated the water at first but now she loves it.

This is across the road from my house, we live right near the mangroves. High tides that come all the way in  like this only happen every 2 months  or so for about a week.

All of these photos were taken within a km of where I live. I look forward to experimenting more with my camera. I got some great photos of T & J`s little girl K but thought I better ask T`s permission before I post any of them.We had dinner with them the other night at T`s parents place which is 100 metres down the road from my Dad`s place where we live. She is so cute though! I could gush all day…(So could Shun…it is K-chan this and K-chan than for hours after we see them!)

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Finally getting around to doing the Melbourne catch-up post- listening to Christmas Carols to get myself in the Christmassy mood!

Friday afternoon, Shun & I headed out to Brissie airport so that we could get to Melbourne. We left steamy Brisbane and arrived in cold, wet Melbourne 2 hours later.

I love Melbourne, don`t get me wrong, I could totally live there if it wasn`t for the crazy weather. Who has heard of of 16 degrees in December! Despite the weather, we had a fantastic, wonderful time. It was so great to see James (and his little brother Dean- who is not so little since he is the same age as me) as well as Gen & Alice some other friends I made on exchange several years back.

As usual I took 100s of photos of the weekend, but restrained myself and choose only 44 to add to flickr and if you are more of “like to see all in one shot” type of person then check out the album here.

James & Dean met us at the airport- we flew Qantas down (and JetStar back, leaving from the shed in Avalon…I mean airport!) and it was hard to believe it had been six month since I had been on an airplane. We headed to there place right away. James had only arrived Friday morning so he was a bit tired but we stayed up catching up, chatting etc and the boys even had a bit of a go on the WII. We crashed, but not before making plans for the next day…

Up bright and early the next morning, missing the train though by just a minute. I am used to trains coming every half hour or so here in the Brisbane `burbs (and Melbourne) but James could not believe the next train wasn`t for 22 minutes! I guess I have readjusted to Australian living because waiting that long for a train actually seemed fairly reasonable to me.

First stop after arriving in Melbourne city centre- a coffee/hot chocolate break. At a place you could make your own HOT CHOCOLATE. And it was divine. And Shun, well he liked the fact that while we had to sit outside and he was freezing that unlike in Brisbane you can smoke in cafes in Melbourne if you sit outside.

After some shopping and wandering around, we met up with Gen, another friend of ours who we studied with in Japan. He lives in Melbourne and works in a lawfirm. He took us into Melbourne Central and then do the DFO.

We also went to Lygon Street for lunch. Italian, yummy!

The casino awaited us so we headed there for a look around, dinner & some game playing in the arcade (none of us are big gamblers!)- Shun, while the oldest, was the only one asked for ID. And the guy quizzed him on his date of birth asking “What year were you born?” to which Shun replied “Japan”…. It is okay, I rescued him although I really hate to step in now as I really want Shun to learn from his own mistakes and be independent. He is doing so well though not just with his English but with living life here in general. He will go to the supermarket to pick up groceries, ringing me to see what we need and he is working with Dad most days and driving all around Brisbane….sometimes all by himself (in a manual truck I might add!)- The photo above is of James, me & Gen, outside the Casino in front of the city. It was about 7:30pm and still that light out! It was amazing, I had forgotten what daylight savings was like….stayling light until 9pm.

From there we said goodbye to Gen (who went to hunt down his gf Alice) promising to see each other the next day at Alice`s place for Chinese Hot Pot.

A short taxi ride later we had arrived at the Regent Theatre ready to see Wicked. Getting into the mood with a few “ozmopolitans” the green cocktails you see below. They were so yummy too, I was surprised! Wicked was amazing…I would see it again (and again and again)- nothing beats live theatre. Shun & James also loved it which made me so happy. It made me realize how many shows I have missed out on that I wish I could see. I left feeling a little sorry for the wicked witches and also with a desire to hire out Wizard of Oz to refresh my memory.

The Christmas spirit was alive and well in Melbourne, with this delightfully lit up tree near the theatre & St Paul`s Cathederal.

Unlike most cities in Australia, Melbourne still has a fantastic tram system in place. This one zoomed past in the rain at night after the show. If there is one thing (actually, okay there are a lot of things I wish I could of had time to do) I wish we could of done more of, it was ride trams. Especially the old kind!!

Sunday morning came around all too quickly and we were up and had left the house by 8:15am, to be sure we would not miss the only train that hour! Our winery tour bus picked us up in front of St Paul`s Cathederal (I didn`t get to go inside, as the couple of times we were close by it seemed they were having services inside)

First glass of wine- 10:3oam (we actually drank pretty much all day and all night, but in little amounts)

Wine storage in the Yarra Valley

The grapes are agrowing! We learn about different pallates and the different smells and flavours of the wine. I now know why people sniff and swirl- which I am sure will come in handy in my future life!

The three of us happy on love & quite possibly wine.

While it rained in the morning by the time we got to the Yarra Valley it had cleared a little and we were allowed to have a bit of a rain free day! The clouds were always there looming through but lucky they did not burst.

After the full-day wine tour we headed out to Alice` house as she was cooking Chinese Hot Pot. I had not see Alice and Gen since January when they visited Japan. I had never visted them in their own stomping grounds of Melbourne though. It was so lovely to see them both and I was so excited to hear they will be coming up to Brisbane for the wedding (I think Gen is more excited than we are if that is possible- it will be the first wedding he goes to where he actually knows the people getting married!)

I had thought Monday we might wake up a little worse for wear but after a bit of a sleep in, a pack-up and a bacon sandwich we were off again. This time to St Kilda before heading into the city.

While freezing pretty much the whole time we were in Melbourne it was a lovely lovely time. So great to see James & the others and I was so happy to be able to show Melbourne to Shumpei. It definitely was not enough time to do all we wanted to do, but definitely next time. I have a list already of all the things I want to do next time.

I think Shun loved Melbourne just as much I do (and James does)- although like me, the weather complexed him a little!

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I had a haircut!

Excuse the fact I have no make-up on but it is 34 degrees here today and putting make-up on was way too much effort (and what is the point when it will melt off in 5 minutes)- I love having a camera in my computer it makes taking pictures of yourself very easy!!!

We are hoping for an afternoon storm to releive the heat a little bit but it doesn`t look like there is one coming our way.

Dad had his second treatment yesterday (type of chemo with mab-thera) and he is feeling better this week than after the first time last week I think. He will have treatment every Friday for another 6 or 7 weeks but in a couple of weeks he will have some more tests to see if the treatment is working.

Shun & I are going to mum`s house for dinner tonight. I am hoping it is a bit cooler over there but seeing as it is only 5km away I doubt there will be much difference. I hate the heat…

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