Cherry Blossom Adventures

Well, since it seems some of you don`t mind if I go on about Noah I thought I would post some more photos and a video of him smiling! Although you will have to sit through my singing voice to see it- haha!

I wish I had remembered to hold the camera the right way so that the video would be up the right way but oh well…Oh and when I looked at this I was like “God, my hands look HUGE in comparison to his head” – Noah likes been sung too and I guess he doesn`t care how my voice sounds it seems!

As you know Clare, a highschool friend from Australia stayed with us for a couple of days and it was sad to see her go yesterday. It was great having her around and she is just so easy going all the time.

I only managed to get a couple of photos with her and Noah- a couple when she was reading to him and another of the three of us the morning she left!

Noah is not looking at the camera at all though

Look at the slobber

Noah loves to just stare at Shun…

Shun was proud to see im in this outfit too (which came from Noah`s Nan, my mum)

Oh and for some reason in the last week Noah has been obsessed with his left hand- literally can stare at it for ages. I kind of wonder what is going through his head as he just sits and stares as it- maybe he is trying to figure out how to use it? (Although he is grabbing toys now so he knows how to use it) or whether he is just like “mmm, what does this do?”

Whenever he does it now (and when Clare was here) we would both go “Noah, left hand” whenever he did it. Even when he is in his pram he will pop it in the air to have a good stare! hehe

Shun has been working some crazy hours lately- he leaves every morning about 9am to start work at 10am and hasn`t been getting him most nights til after 12am, sometimes not until after 1am…The project he is working on is coming to an end and will be launched in less than 2 weeks now and I am looking forward to when it will be over (so is he!) although over the next two weekends he will also have work. This Saturday he will go in and then the following week he will be at work from Sunday night til Tuesday night- they will book him a business hotel in the same street as his work so that he can maybe catch a couple hours sleep and have a shower. I think it is a bit ridiculous and personally think that if the project had been better managed then this kind of thing wouldn`t happen but oh well.

I know this is the life of a Japanese salary man and I knew this when I married him- I knew there would be the occasional weekend work and late nights since it was like this on occasion in the years we lived together before we married. It is hard though because it means he sees Noah even less than usual and it means that it is just me and Noah most of the time. Not that he would get home in time to help with dinner or bathtime and sleeptime even if he did finish earlier but still it would mean I might be awake when he gets home so that I could have some adult conversation. I miss him.

Luckily this project has just another couple of weeks left and while Shun is scheduled to move on to another project after that it probably won`t get busy for a couple months meaning we will have a couple of months were we can spend the weekends together and also some nights were he will be home before I go to bed (although not before Noah does)…

Today, since the sun came out a little around lunch time, Noah and I headed out to a closeby 親子カフェ (parent/child cafe)…I have wanted to check it out since I walked past once when I was still pregnant. It is also where Noah & I are scheduled to go for our baby sign class next month (and if we like it then we can sign up for a six month course which would have a lesson once a month)…

I couldn`t believe how packed it was! I am glad I rang and asked whether there would be space because I doubt there would of been otherwise. It is not a very big place but it is a lovely little set up! Lots of kiddie chairs, kid friendly foods for those starting solids (like pureed fruit and tofu/cheese patties) and for older kids like mild curry rice. Plus the lunch sets for the mama`s were nice too! One of the waitresses was really lovely and I told her I was looking to make some Japanese mama friends that lived in the area and she introduced me to a couple of the other mums that were there. Everyone`s bubs were older than Noah but she suggested I try a baby massage class next month or in May because the babies would be a similar age to Noah…

After lunch Noah and I sat on the playmat and had a bit of a play- he enjoyed the interaction I think and the other kids enjoyed handing him things (well handing me things) and saying “hai doozo noah” (Here you go Noah)…kind of cute really! I will definitely be going back! It is nice to have somewhere like that so close by too- it is on my street about 1km away so an easy walk!

Since I am also hoping to pick up some private lessons OR possibly teaching a mama/baby english class I am going to ask next time whether they would be interested. They do an English book reading time once a month but I asked and it is not a native speaker that does it…I am looking for work where I can take Noah with me though of course and somewhere like that would be perfect!

I missed doing “Two for Tuesday” yesterday but I made an awesome beef stew today in the slow cooker (had a bit of a taste when I got home since it was already done. YUMMO! When I got off our floor when coming home I smelt something really nice and thought our neighbours must have been cooking but when I opened our door I realized it was coming from OUR apartment!) – I tweaked the recipe a little and added mushrooms instead of celery and carrot (since I didn`t have any in the fridge) and also I added a pack of gravox (approx 2 tablespoons I guess) and it turned out great. The recipe (apart from what I tweaked) is this one which I found here. I didn`t use as much meat either (it was like 1kg worth for 6 people, i used about half of that but I kept the vegetable amounts the same) but I kept the spices the same since we like flavoursome stew- the beef turned out so tender!

Well enough of my mid week ramblings I guess- Noah is about to stir from is nap anyway!

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Last night Shun asked me if I would mind if he went snowboarding for the day on Saturday at the end of this month. I told him I would think about it… (It would mean he would leave the house early morning or maybe even drive overnight, and then not come back til very late Saturday night- it is with some work people)

Would it be unreasonable to say no and that I want him to stay here? The following weekend after that he has to work on the Saturday and we have known about that for awhile so it will just be Noah & I that day too.

I am thinking I will tell him that if he really wants to go then he should but if he feels like he could miss it then perhaps he should stay here. Shun is home late most nights and doesn`t get to see Noah awake much so I think he should want to stay home but I don`t want to force him to. I don`t want to be one of those people that says “no, you have to stay here and help me with the baby” because while he grumbles about getting up early he does get up when Noah gets up every second day so that I can get an extra hour of sleep (and I let him sleep on the alternative days) and on the weekends if I express milk he will feed Noah a bottle or two so that I can get a solid block of sleep. So really he is being helpful when he can be…

Last weekend Shun watched Noah so I could have a nap (for 2 hours) and after I woke up I told him he could go out if he wanted so he went to Pachinko with a friend for 2 hours so it is not like I make him stay home with us all weekend. I know if he didn`t have some free time it wouldn`t be fair since I get free-time at home while Noah is napping- even if during that time I usually have to prepare dinner and clean-up but he is still sleeping a lot at the moment so I get time to spend on the internet and watch tv as well. I also hope to start on his scrapbook next week- so I do get to do things I want to do.

I know if I ask him not to go he will not put up a fight at all, he will just say okay and tell the guys at work he can`t go- he is really easy going like that which Is why I don`t want to take advantage of his good nature. But is it wrong that I want to spend time together as a family on the weekends since we don`t get to do it much during the week…(even things like eating dinner together on the weekends make me happy as Shun is never home early enough during the week for us to eat together and now that the bub is here I am usually in bed by the time he gets home- even if I am still awake and reading)

What do you think?

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In other news Noah and I had an eventful day- we went out by ourselves for the first time (up until now either Shun, or my mum, or both of them have been with us when we have gone into town or out)- all went well and I got to Loft and the grocery store and to pick up a frame that I had ordered. If I am buying nappies though I really can`t buy more than a day or two worth of food since there is only so much I can hang on the pram.

Then we got home, Noah sat in his bouncer while I cleaned up quickly and put the groceries away and then I fed him and then all of a sudden, before he was even finished, he started to spit up and cough so I sat him up and he vomitted about 300ml-400ml of milk which is probably three of his feeds. There was milk EVERYWHERE! All over the sofa, all over me, all over him, all over the blankets that he was wrapped in and all over the floor. Literally my jeans were soaked through to my undies!!! I quickly stripped his clothes and mopped him down and then my own, then rang the hospital to see if I should bring him in and they said yes and so I wrapped him up and just walked to the clinic with him in my arms. The doctor checked him over and said he was constipated from his cold (I didn`t even know this could happen?) and asked me if he had been pooing (and he had, as much as normal anyway) so they gave him an enema and I waited there for awhile while he pooed, then the doctor saw him again and  then fed him a little again to see if he would be sick again but he wasn`t  so we came home with some other medicine to help with his stomach apparently.

The doctor showed me Noah`s legs before the enema and tapped his tummy and showed me how to tell if he is constipated- I don`t really understand the legs thing. I think he was showing me that in a certain part they were a different colour which indicates constipation- does anyone know anything about this?

Noah didn`t even cry when they gave him the enema (or when he was sick earlier)- he just started to get grizzly while we were waiting to see the doctor again and rightfully so as he had thrown up all of his milk and was STARVING! We got home and I did his bath, fed him a little more and have put him down for the night now- just writing this up while the rice is cooking as all the prep for the beef and asparagus oyster sauce stirfry is ready- I just need to chuck it in the pan.

Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful!

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• Shun bought me a poinsetta plant on Saturday after the “traumatic” appointment at the doctors. I am feeling much calmer now by the way- isn`t it cute though? It is certainly brightening up our apartment!!!

• Also knit a hat for Goma-chan using hand spun yarn from Cassie`s shop- I think I may even have enough yarn left to make some matching booties but will see how I go.

• I haven`t had any blood pressure issues at all during my pregnancy but for some reason I am now retaining fluid in my feet- namely my right foot. I think it is my right foot more so because my left foot doesn`t have as good a circulation due to previous ankle injuries. Also, my wedding rings still fit BUT last night my left hand (and only my left hand!) swelled up over night so I took them off just to be on the safe side. Feels weird not to be wearing my wedding rings- I think this is the first time since getting married that they have been off for more than a minute or so.
• Have been busy looking into accommodation for my brother and his girlfriend for their visit to Japan next March/April- They are here for about 16 days so plan to do a fair bit of traveling down to Kyoto (with day trips to Nara & Osaka), Hiroshima, Himeji and then also some day trips out of Tokyo/Chiba while they are staying with us. It is fun helping them plan their trip!!! Should be able to finalize their bookings for them tomorrow!!! I can`t wait for them to get here- Goma-chan will be about 3 and a half months by then and they will be able to meet him for the first time. The plan is for them to stay with us for 3 nights at the start of their trip and then again for 3-4 nights at the end of their trip.
• Nesting seems to have hit me a bit- I can not seem to sit still for very long and keep thinking of things I could do and writing lists of things to do for the following day. I scrubbed the kitchen floor (literally on all fours!), cleaned the stove top and grill and cleaned out the entire fridge all in the last 24 hours. Plus regular things like dusting, washing, repacking my hospital bag for like the 3rd time, cooking and more. Good thing we live in an apartment and I can`t do anything like paint the walls (but I did think about it!)- I think I am definitely getting to the sick of being pregnant stage of pregnancy as well. Seems very hard to find comfortable positions to sit/lay in and my back has been aching (the scrubbing actually helped this though!)

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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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Inspired by Nay`s fab news that she finally announced today! I loved her little letters to baby N (or “little cow” as she called him/her in the comments to her sister- LOVE IT!)

So in honour of Nay`s good news and my recent doctors appointment for 28 weeks here is a little letter (Okay it turned into a long letter- I wonder if Goma-chan will be a “chatter” like his Mama) to Goma-chan.

Dear Goma-chan,

I have known for awhile that you would have another friend to play with come April but Auntie Nay could finally announce it on her blog today so it is a reason to celebrate and the reason why I am writing a letter to you!!! Daddy & I could not be happier for Nay and Naoki and I know you are stoked too even if you can`t tell me yet!! It will soon be time to place bets on whether Nay`s little beanie baby will be a boy or a girl- in fact she will probably be able to find out around the time that you arrive on the scene in December.

I will have to track down a copy of the letter I wrote to Sarah`s baby, Sakura, when she was born about how the three of us met one day. It will be good for you to know where mummies lovely friends came from! Interestin fact: There is five months or so age difference between you, Sakura and Nay`s little one!

You are getting more and more active now and my belly is STILL growing and I guess all your growing is pushing my belly button out. I now have a half inny/half outy belly button and basically it just looks freaky.

On Friday I went to the doctors for another scan and check-up and all was going well. Mama put on no weight (YAY!) and you gained 200grams. How they can tell this I am not really sure (your weight gain I mean) but hey the good thing is you are growing! We tried yet again to get a 3D scan of your face but your hands and umbilical cord were in the way- I have a beautiful shot of your mouth and chin though but it was a “no show” of the eyes/nose or forehead. Doctor did mention though that you had hair from what he could see.

Your umbilical cord is up and around the back of your head- at this stage the doctor said we do not need to worry about this but seeing it like that sure makes mama worry. Hopefully next time I go in the umbilical cord will be well out of the way! The doctor mentioned if it was to go around again it would not be a problem just that we would need to monitor your heartbeat on a more regular basis to make sure you don`t go into distress.

We are pretty much prepared for your arrival (I think!)- with almost all of your things set up and ready to go. I have even washed most of your clothes in anticipation which is a shock considering how much I usually hate housework.

Your name is still not decided- we continuously go back to the same two or three names though but I think we will be waiting until we see your face before deciding for sure. For now you are known only as “Goma” or “Goma-chan” and I am beginning to think that this name might even stick around after your birth. I was “Lulu” from a young age and my brother was “boofhead” and so I guess “Goma-chan” is somewhere in between those two as a decent nickname. Aussie Grandma calls you seasame!

We are visiting with Baba and Jiji today- Last night we had dinner with uncle Taka and auntie Kazumi as well as with Hibaba. You will meet them soon after you enter the world in December.

This week you haven`t given me much heartburn yet and for that I am grateful- we are staying another night here and I only have ONE mylanta left in my bag. Hopefully I won`t need it. I mentioned before that you are VERY active- so active in fact that you can see my belly moving around underneath my clothes, kind of like a mini earthquake. When Daddy sees it he says “Kimochi warui” but don`t worry he doesn`t mean it! He loves you a lot already and talks at you all the time- strangely enough in English. Maybe he thinks you don`t understand Japanese??? Most of the time your kicking or moving doesn`t hurt BUT very occasionly you will give me a swift kick or punch near my ribs or lower down and I think it is just you telling me you are still there and genki or it could be the start of a rebellious streak already. Only time will tell!!!

Well Goma-chan, Mama better go. We are excited to meet you in less than 3 months, stay genki until then.

Love Mama

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Sarah, Ryohei, Sakura & Nay came to stay this weekend so that Sarah could organize Sakura`s American passport. It was a busy busy weekend with guests arriving Friday and the last of them leaving today just after lunch. Not only did I have visitors this weekend, we had 8 adults and two kids for lunch on Sunday in our apartment and on Saturday night I had a group of friends birthday bash at an izakaya (was supposed to be an outside BBQ in a beer garden but a torrential downpour 15 minutes before it was due to start meant the venue closed- we were lucky to find another place on a Saturday night that would fit 34 people!)

Have lots of cute photos of the babies and kids from the weekend- especially Sakura as she was here for 3 full days!

This is Shun trying to get Sakura to smile while she is in the bouncer

Sakura copying me

Sakura having a bit of a sit with Auntie Lulu

On Saturday we went towards Kanagawa-ken to visit Khea and her 3 week old daughter Missha at Starbucks. Was amazing to see the difference between a six week old and a three week old. Missha slept most of the time while we enjoyed our coffees and snacks and Sakura napped also.

Two sleeping beauties

Me holding 3 week old Missha

New mummies- Sarah & Khea with their beautiful daughters.

Nay having a cuddle

On Saturday night I left Sarah & Nay at home and headed to Yurakucho with Shun for Catherine, James, Erika & Tomoko`s joint birthday party- these are all friends from my days as university student at Seikei. James & Catherine have a joint birthday every year but this year Erika and Tomoko joined in as their birthdays also fall in September. It was a September birthday bash! I don`t see a lot of my old uni friends very often so they were all very enamored with the growing bump…especially my friend Hiro! So cute to see a Japanese guy have his hands on the bump going in Japanese “did he kick? Did he kick yet? Was that him?”…None of them had ever touched a pregnant belly before.

Shun & I- Shun was been silly!

Sumi, Hiro & I

James, Gary, Cat & I (plus bump)

Very small part of the birthday party group!

Sunday, Melanie, Taka, Cassie, Gaku & Nanami came for lunch to meet up with Sarah & Nay- this was the first time they were all meeting up.

The girls

The bumps- Melanie is 34 weeks and I am 27 weeks in this shot. My bump is HUGE in comparison as it sticks out so much.

Shun & Nana playing and having fun

Nana, not at all camera shy

There are many more photos over at my flickr.

Was interesting having a near new born in the house over the weekend and watching Shun react. He held Sakura a couple of times but rarely for more than a minute or two. He would hand her back saying “I think she is going to cry” – well yeah honey, babies cry. Silly boy! He liked looking at her though and asking questions and when she was happy and sitting in the bouncer he would try to make her laugh or smile. When I asked him about why he didn`t like to hold her though he said because he was afraid to break her but that I shouldn`t worry because when it is goma-chan he won`t worry about breaking him. Not sure if that should concern me or not?! HAHA.

He is definitely much better with older kids and spent most of Sunday playing with Cassie & Gaku`s daughter Nanami who he had met just once before- before they arrived he asked me “Do you think she will remember me?”. Hard to know since she is such a social little thing and likes EVERYONE but she is only 18 months old so she might not have remembered Shun from the time they met before. They had fun playing together though!!! Melanie`s husband Taka was also a magical worker with Sakura getting her down to sleep while he held her at lunch time! Good thing too as his own daughter will be here soon!!! I am sure he enjoyed the practice and I know Sarah enjoyed having so many people around to hold Sakura on Sunday- she could eat lunch WITHOUT holding a baby at the same time!

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We are all moved into our new place and everything is unpacked and it is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. LOVE LOVE LOVE having our own place and extra space!! Unfortunately we still do not have internet at home so I am at an internet cafe today checking my email which I haven`t checked in over a week and as for blogs, well, sorry but I haven`t been able to check them yet either.

The internet was supposed to be set up from yesterday but we had a a bit of an issue and now have to start again practically it seems so it could still be a week or more before we get internet at home. I had hoped I would be able to steal some wireless off a neighbour but it seems everyone uses normal internet instead of wireless and I can not log onto anybodies connection which is a damn shame.

One of my closest friends, Sarah, had her baby yesterday. I cried when her husband rang and gave me the news… she is beautiful and I know that Sarah had a hellish time giving birth but she did so brilliantly and deserves more than just a big pat on the back. Then I rang Nay and we got all gushy together. We are both heading to Niigata this weekend to see Sarah, Ryohei and baby Sakura and I can not wait to see them all!!! I can not believe in 20 weeks I will have my own baby…

I reached my 20 week pregnancy anniversary on Sunday- I made the half way point. So far no real issues although goma-chan has started kicking up a storm. People can feel it from the outside and sometimes I can even see my tummy move. Shun was the first to feel it from the outside the day we moved- I guess goma-chan was also excited we had our own place!!! Since then a couple of friends have had a feel so he/she seems to enjoy being the center of attention. I have also had my first ever couple of cases of heartburn. Not fun.

James, Cat & Sumi came for dinner last weekend- it was so nice to have our own place to entertain friends (and our first official guest this weekend will be Nay! Although Cat has already spent the night!). We sat around eating and chatting and playing board games followed by cake. It was great!!!! I also need to say a big thanks to Cat and James, both of who came over within a few days of us moving to help out with some unpacking- especially to James who spent a whole day with me putting together ikea furnature!!! He is a champ and I really could not ask for better friends! (And lucky for Shun it meant he didn`t have to come home from work late and THEN put together furnature!)

Ino no hi was yesterday (yes the day Sakura was born- I received the news at 3:40pm on my way home from suitengu shrine)- I received my blessing from the shrine dude (this is the official term I am sure!) and something for good luck to put in a corset if I choose to wear it. My MIL and Shun`s grandma came with me. We rubbed the dog for good luck too!!! It was interesting- I could not beleive how many pregnant people turned up for it though- WOW! I think suitengu is quite a famous shrine for (It is in Tokyo on the Hanzoman line at suitengumae station) ino no hi. I am hoping that the blessing and little trinket will ensure that I have a safe birth…

Promise to get some photos up of the new place (and baby Sakura once I meet her!) once we have internet at home. I miss having the internet so much, as sad as that sounds. It is my connection to the English speaking world…but I had no idea how much I used it for other stuff as well. I will be glad when it is back!

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We move to our new place on Saturday. Just another 36 hours of living with the in-laws. To tell you the truth, while I miss my own space, living here has not been THAT bad. I could probably even stay another couple of weeks without killing anyone but I am definitely glad we are moving. We certainly saved a bit of money by living here first as well…in total we will have lived with them for 7 weeks or so.

I have packed everything up except for the last minute items that will need to go into suitcases- yesterday I was pretty busy all day getting things together and closing boxes. A lot of our stuff was already packed in boxes from Australia or previously from when we lived in Japan but at different times when I had been searching for things most had been opened so that is what I was doing yesterday- closing them all!!! Plus packing up my clothes and books and shoes. Today I worked on Shun`s clothes and things and while his suitcase is still open in case there is anything from his old room he wants to put in, I am pretty sure I am done.

Yesterday morning before starting the packing I stopped and did a ten minute yoga warm-up and stretch thinking my arms and back would thank me for it later. I guess it didn`t really work much though because I woke up with back pain and a pulled muscle in my stomach (I hope that is all it is – luckily I am going to the baby doctor tomorrow so they can check me out there) – after finishing all I needed to pack up today as well I had a two hour nap!

Things I am looking forward to in the new place-

- While expensive, shopping for all the stuff we need (luckily most really expensive big stuff we already have!)- trips to Yodobashi, Ikea and the local Itokaido (sp?) planned!

- Cooking my own food and playing around in the kitchen (oh and making own bread)

- Unpacking and putting everything where I want it to go

- Snuggling up on the sofa and watching movies with Shun (now we snuggle on the bed and watch it on my laptop but it is not the same!)

- Space

- Exploring the new neighbourhood- will be the first time I will live in Funabashi so I am sure to make lots of new discoveries!

- Starting a mini herb and veggie garden (thanks to Heather for her tips by email!)

- Setting up my sewing machine and sewing stuff (too hot for knitting right now!)

- Setting up the room for goma-chan- although this won`t happen for a little while yet.

I am sure there is a lot more too!

I might be without internet for a little while- NTT is coming on July 28th (Tues week) but hopefully I will be able to scam some internet off the neighbours- if not they well, you might not hear from me for 10 days or so.

The plan is to stay in the new place for about four years until we can buy our own place- so I need to try to make it as homely as possible! If anybody has any nice hints on how to make it our own (within reason, as we are renting it) then please leave your advice!

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Summer in Japan to me usually means BBQs, camping, festivals, fireworks, the beach (no matter if it has black sand!), Kakigori (snowcones) and unbearable heat.

On the weekend Shun & I went to Sarujima with friends to BBQ and hang out at the beach. Sarujima is a small uninhabited island off the coast (literally only like 1km off the coast) of Yokosuka in Kanagawa-ken. It certainly wasn`t uninhabited on Saturday when we were there though- there was probably close to 1000 people or more on the little beach area that we could BBQ on. I have no idea why it is called sarujima (monkey island?) since there was no monkeys and despite what my friend James said it was not “shaped like a monkey”. (Sadly, I was gullible enough to believe him when I said this- I have known James long enough to know better!)

It was such a fun day. We caught the 11:30am boat to the island and the 4:30pm boat back.

Here are a couple photos from the day…

Alex & I on the beach

I made kebabs for us all…

Shun became the BBQer- Gary & James joined in!

It was a cloudy day but still hot enough to paddle

James & I taking a break! We forgot to bring the picnic sheet but lucky most of us had brought towels we could lay down.

Junni`s beer yakisoba

No summer day would be complete without kakigori

Gary`s scottish pride towel

All of us, after packing up

We went on a bit of a hike around the island

Koki (in grey singlet) is a photographer- he set us up for a timed photo of all of us near the caves. He called it an “album shot”- On my camera we used no flash and I love that this one catches Uchi (Striped shirt) in mid motion.

Near the look-out

View from the top

Edge of the island

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• First dot point of the day goes to the bank- and the bank lady been such a bitch. Basically for the clinic where I am giving birth we have to pay half of the costs by the time I am 20 weeks pregnant- we decided we would just pay it all at my next appointment and then they refund any that is not used or charge us a little extra when we leave (ie, if baby is born on a Sunday if costs more, or if I stay longer than 5 nights etc)- so I went today to get the money from the bank. Shun asked me to get a bit extra as well to put in our other account and also some for his mum to furikome to his company since he didn`t actually get paid yesterday like we were expecting and instead his first pay is July 25th but that is another story (which means he actually owes his company money for taxes, insurance etc- his mum paid it every month on his behalf while we were away since he did not quit his job and was technically just on unpaid leave). Anyway back to the bank. Now I had the bank card, the bank book, my foreigners card and a copy of our koseki and I had my own “hanko/inkan” or stamp. I needed to go speak to the bank lady because I wanted to take out more than normal and it was impossible to do at the ATMS. I filled in the paperwork, i waited patiently for my number to be called and then went to the window. I explained what I was doing and she said “okay, now stamp here” and I stamped. And then she said the stamps didn`t match and I said “yeah, that is my stamp” and she said “where is Shun`s stamp?” and I said ” he needed it for work so I don`t have it”- then she accused me of not being married to him. Yep, that is right, she said “how can we know you are married to him” so I showed my foreigners card and koseki which clearly states Shun & I are married. THEN, she said well maybe i was trying to steal “his” money because I didn`t have his stamp. I lost it and called her a stupid Japanese woman and that the reason this was an issue is because Japan doesn`t allow joint accounts and how dare she say I was not married to Shun and trying to steal his money because damn it that money is not his it is ours” – then I threw the peice of paper at her and walked out. Yeah I don`t think they will like me much at that bank anymore. I went to another ATM and drew out the limit and had to walk to the post office to get money out of our Australian account to make up the difference. Banks in Japan really piss me off and make things 10 x harder than they need to be. At my other bank a couple weeks ago I had issues before we got our koseki, in which i could not prove my maiden name so therefore could not change my name on my account as maybe it wasn`t me. Even though I showed my old passport they said that it was not a Japanese document so they could not accept it- I couldn`t change my name on my account until the Koseki was done (I couldn`t even do it with my foreigners card). STUPID BANKS.  Shun was very angry when I told him they accused me of not being married to him and stealing his money. The truth is, a lady I used to work with had the same issue once and she actually had the inkan but they still accused her of trying to steal her husbands money. He was a doctor and they didn`t believe she was married to him. Issue was that her Japanese was not so great so she took me along to translate for him- they ended up calling her husband and he went right off at them for accusing his wife of trying to steal money.
• There is a store about 500m from Shun`s parents place called “Doggy Style” and been the immature child that I am, I giggle everytime I walk past it. It is a salon for dogs by the way!
• This weekend is the first “quiet” weekend I am having since coming back to Japan. Our only plans are to go to SILs parents place to take a gift and say thank you (they gave us money for our wedding- We have met them only once) and to go apartment hunting on Sunday. It will be nice to sleep in tomorrow- not that I can`t technically sleep in everyday since I still have no job but still- it will still be nice.
• I have been home pretty much the last two days (except for a trip to the supermarket and the bank) but earlier in the week I was busy, busy, busy! I made two new foreign friends this week- Zoe and Cassie. Zoe I met as she had a private student she wanted to pass over to me (Yay, that is right, I have one lesson a month to teach now 4 stations away- at least it is a start!)- turns out Zoe and I got on really great and she has a little boy so we are going on a picnic next Monday. Cassie I met for lunch on Wednesday and we also hit it off straight away- her little daughter Nana is so cute, even when she is putting her foot in her mummy`s lunch!!! We also have plans to meet up again soon. While I really really need a job, I have to say a life of meeting up with friends and picnics etc really appeals to me! Shame It cant last forever (as we would run out of money-hehe!). Cassie has also offered to give me some of her baby stuff which is awesome!!! I also got to go to Kichijoji (to meet Cassie) which is my old stomping ground- man I LOVE that part of Tokyo. I would give anything to live back in West Tokyo but it would mean we would be too far away from Shun`s parents if we needed help with anything and also the rent is more than a little pricey! When we lived in Kichijoji we paid 90,000 a month for a tiny 1K apartment. With a baby- that just would not work! haha! I also met up with Khea for a trip to Akachan Honpo and managed to pick up a couple of small baby things that I could lug home like a blanket (so cute!), and some other more boring stuff like baby nail clippers, thermometer and hairbrush!
• I almost fainted on the train between Asakusabashi and Akihabara the other day- I think Akihabara station hates me as that is where I threw up on the platform just a few weeks ago. Basically I was standing on the train, started to feel really sick and was concentrating really hard on not vomitting when all of a sudden I could no longer hear anything, my eyes went cloudy and I started concentrating on not fainting. I knew it was coming and I knew that if I didn`t get off and get some air I was going to faint into some smelly salaryman`s lap. In the end some nice guy helped me off and bought me some water and then got on the next train while I waited until I could see again (seriously I could see nothing for about 5 minutes- it was scary). I ended up having to get off the next train I got on as well beacuse I started feeling dizzy again. Pretty scary stuff.
• Shun is going to be working on a big project from July- this is good in terms of it will give him something to do (this past month since going back to work he has not had much on) however it does mean that overtime will come back into play. He has worked for this company before (he does computer systems engineering on projects for other companies- most of it is done from his own office but this one will mean going to their office at Tokyo station) and last time he did insane amounts of overtime which included weekends and coming home some nights at 3am. I do hope it doesn`t get as bad as that again because that was insane.
• We hope to be out of the in-laws place by end of July- YAY! While staying here is not so bad, I am sure anyone reading can understand that it will be nice to have our own place and be able to unpack all our stuff and set up our own place. Hopefully we can find somewhere nice in the next couple of weeks- most likely in Moto-Yawata (where we are now) or in Nishi-Funabashi or Funabashi. Please send us “find good apartment you can afford” vibes!

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