I am still sick though which sucks. Yesterday at the doctor`s I fainted while holding Noah waiting for my turn. It took 90 minutes to see the doctor and the waiting room was so hot and quite packed. I have a cold and a throat infection (again!) and the doctor gave me a ton of medicines so hopefully I will be better soon. It sucks to get sick just before we are due to go away. Shun has been great though- he was off work on Thursday and he came home early yesterday (and bought bread, chocolate and lemon c drinks- three things I totally would of bought myself at the conbini if I had stopped on the way home!)…

On the 25th of April I celebrated my blogiversary. That`s right I have been blogging, here, at Cherry Blossom Adventures for 4 years now. My first post was just a couple of sentences long and was first posted on typepad where I kept my blog for the first 2 years.

“Oh Fork! I think i just started a blog…. …

Luckily it is all editable…”

I have no idea how many visitors I have had in total (in the 4 years) but since switching to my own domain and to wordpress my stats (had to log in to check!) show that I have had 495,134 total views. That does not include any time I have logged onto the site myself. I have NO IDEA how it got to be that many and it seems that a huge chunk of those views were in Nov, Dec (2009) and January (2010)- I guess people were checking to see if “Goma-chan” had arrived or not! I received my first comment on post seven (written May 2006- which was about Tsumabuki Satoshi, an actor here in Japan)…

I love blogging. I have gone through some stages where I haven`t blogged for a couple weeks (even a month at one point) but I always come back to it. I originally started to keep in touch with family and friends back in Australia but I think my mum is the only person that still reads it on a regular basis (and my bridesmaid Mandy and her family perhaps?!)- I have made so many wonderful real life friends and online friends through blogging. People I may never have met otherwise.

It is funny to look back on those first few posts- Shun and I had just started living together and I had only been back in Japan for a couple of months. I don`t think the way I write has changed at all- I had hoped it would of improved but sadly that doesn`t seem like the case. But I still do it and I am pretty sure I will still continue blogging here for at least a couple more years to come.

So I want to know-
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. Why did you start?
3. And why do you continue to blog (or if you no longer blog, why did you stop?)
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment?

I look forward to reading all the comments when I get back from Shizuoka.

We left just after 8am and by the time we got home it was already after 8pm so it was a LONG day! It was lots of fun though.

We caught the shinkansen from Tokyo station to Odawara station where we bought our Hakone Free Passes (which allows you to use all of the buses/trains/gondolas/pirate boats/cable cars. Yes, we caught ALL of those things as well as the shinkansen on Saturday!!!

We went from Odawara station to Hakone Yumoto station and then we hopped on a bus which took us to Moto-Hakone where we could see Lake Ashi and also part of Hakone Shrine. Sometimes you can see a view of Mt Fuji from there but unfortunately the day was too cloudy for this and we didn`t actually see Mt Fuji at all (much to Gemma`s disappointment- but I have since heard she has seen Geisha/Maiko  in Kyoto so all is right again with her!!!)…Oh it was also FREEZING! About 1 degree although I think it may have been about 0 degrees at another point in the day!!

You can see part of Hakone Shrine in the background- the red torii (gate) is in the water.

Next we caught a pirate boat across Lake Ashi to Togendai port. It was such a cold and cloudy day that we stayed inside the boat but Paul & Gem went up the top of the boat to get a better look!!! At Togendai before we headed up the mountain (?) on the ropeway we grabbed some lunch- by this stage Noah had had enough of the carrier anyway so it was good to get him out so he could have a bit of a break. I much prefer him in a pram but I knew we would be on and off buses/trains and what not all day that the carrier seemed better- I think he may still be a little small for the ergo though (and he hates the infant insert) so later on in the day i swapped him to another carrier (that criss crosses across my back)- while I said he was a trooper all day, and he was, he was pretty much grumpy, hungry or sleeping the whole time!

He was happy at lunch time though

We didn`t eat onsen tamago (black eggs cooked in sulpher water) in case anyone is wondering- though we did see a sign advertising curry that had the eggs with it! haha

We hopped on the ropeway after lunch and headed towards Owakudani- sometimes known as the great boiling valley (due to his volcanic nature)! I have been to Rotarua in NZ which has similar sulfurous water and areas and I can safely say that Rotarua smells MUCH more than Owakudani! It was really pretty though (although sooooo cold!)- there is a nature trail near there apparently but we skipped it.

We continued on the ropeway, then switched to a cable car which took us to Gora. We stopped in Gora and had a quick look around at the little shops/stalls- we tried some of the taste tests that they had out. Let me say Gem and even my brother in some cases (which is totally weird since he is so picky!) were much more game to try the things on offer than I was. I fed Noah and changed him in a little rest stop which I think may have been for people waiting for taxi`s but it was deserted and well, Hakone was short on “baby” rooms! HAHA!

From Gora we took the train (kind of like a country train that winds through the mountain) back down and stopped at Chukoku no mori stop to see the Open Air Museum! This was probably my favourite part of the day- I loved how they had set it up and it is was great to see how they had incorporated art with nature. I would love to take Noah back when he is older (and can play on some of the exhibits designed for children!). There was also some galleries within the museum including work by Picasso & Henry Moore.

They also had a foot spa (with hot spring water) but we were all so exhausted by then and knew if we didn`t start heading for home we would be so late! Would love to have spent more time there!

There is heaps more to see and do in Hakone than we got to do- in fact it would make a great weekend getaway as the area is quite famous for onsen (hot springs!) and it would be lovely to explore some more as there is also some lovely gardens and parks as well as other museums. We grabbed bento`s for dinner at Tokyo station on our way home since there was no way I was cooking after such a long day!!!

I had a fantastic time down there and it was great to finally see where in Japan Nay lives and to meet Milo her puppy.

I didn`t take many photos of my time down there- except of the beach and Milo! The original photos are all at my flickr page.

On Monday when I arrived (on time by the way, no traffic!) we headed back to Nay`s place while I marveled at all the tea bushes lining all of the hills- honestly they looked like little hedges and I had no idea how they got them to grow on the side of the hills like that or in the strange shaped little gardens. We took Milo for a walk (she was very excited to meet me and so the walk was to try and calm her down a little!) and caught up on all the goss. It was so nice to be in the country and be surrounded by green areas. We walked along a little creek near Nay`s house and I noticed that Shizuoka, along with tea, seems to have a lot of persimon. It is funny though, all the perssimon trees had already lost their leaves so they were naked except for the orange fruit.

Nay`s husband, Naoki, has no overtime on Monday`s (although it was a public holiday though, he did have work) so he was home super early (by my standards!) and we all sat down to enjoy some homemade pizza, Mama Mia the movie and then a game of scrabble. Nay won in the end with a very high scoring word right near the end of the game.

Tuesday we got up reasonably early to head to the Lalaport which was about 90 minutes from Nay`s place. We had no troubles finding it because Naoki had set up the navi for us the night before and we made it in record time- it was nice to be able to wonder around the shops before we went to see My Sister`s Keeper. Nay & I both enjoy Jodi Piccolt`s books and both agreed the movie was really good, even if it was a little different to the book (movies always are though, arn`t they!)- it had been AGES since I went to the cinema and I really really enjoyed it. I want to try and see another movie or two before Goma-chan makes his appearance. Once during the movie the baby was going nuts so I grabbed Nay`s hand so she could have a feel (she likes to know when Goma-chan is moving! Naoki also had a go while I was in Shizuoka) but of course he stopped soon after she touched. Nay`s hands are like fire though- the cinema was quite hot and I had to move her hand in the end because it felt like a heater. Honestly, those hands would be awesome in winter. My hands and feet always seem to be cold no matter the season so I was impressed.

It took us a little while to get home on Tuesday afternoon because we had a bit of a trouble finding route 1 and ended up doing a circle up a mountain through the bush. Well I guess it was more rainforest than bush- but still, it was lovely to see. I think Nay got a bit stressed out though as I certainly would of too if I had been the one driving. We made it home eventually though and Milo was very happy to see us so we took her for a quick walk so that she could calm down a little before we started to prepare dinner. Which was potato and chicken bake at my request since Nay had posted pictures and the recipe on her blog a couple of months back- it tastes as good as it looked and while it took awhile to make in the oven it was soooooooooooo yummy! I am definitely going to try and recreate something similar. YUM!

On Wednesday we slept in then headed to the beach down the road. Literally a five minute drive. So jealous of Nay`s proximity to the beach. We had a bit of a wander along with Milo and I took some photos- last time Milo hated it apparently but this time she seemed to like it more. Of course she didn`t really go close to any actual water though! We watched another DVD at home before Nay drove me to the bus stop- we knew there would be delays since they were doing road works all along the Tomei highway and I was using a Tomei highway bus. The bus was just over an hour late picking me up but the roadworks seemed to get worse after that and in the end the trip took me more than 6 hours instead of less than 3 & a half. It was not too bad though and thank god the bus had a toilet as I am well and truly into the third trimester now meaning I need to pee what seems to be every 30 seconds.

I am so glad I went down to Shizuoka for a short trip- my last before Goma-chan arrives. Thanks to Nay, Naoki & Milo for been such wonderful hosts!

Milo was so cute- she would get a bit psycho, as puppies tend to do, when she would see me for the first time or when I woke up etc but overall I couldn`t believe how well behaved she was for a puppy. Honestly, Abbey in Australia was still a psycho puppy when I left and she was already a year old (my father said she has mellowed somewhat now though). It was so nice to be around a puppy again though and I loved all the kisses and cuddles I got from Milo. Watching her play fetch was funny too!

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…

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

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…

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!!!

We tossed up whether we would have one or not as we were a bit worried about it cutting into our savings but in the end we thought, what the hell, it will be the last trip we will take for awhile.

So five days after the wedding we are heading to hamilton island and staying here

And we will visit here (White Haven Beach)

And go snorkelling (and Shun will dive) here

I have never been this far north before- The furtherest I have gone in my own state (of Queensland) is Hervey Bay. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef & enjoying 5 days relaxing on beaches as gorgeous as those you see above is going to be bliss. We are both so excited.

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!

Am so excited!

James ( one of my best friends in the entire world- him, Cat & I studied together at Seikei) will be in Melbourne, his home town, for 10 days from the 11th of December and Shun & I have just booked tickets to go down on the 12th until the 15th.

Plus, I booked tickets for the three of us to go see Wicked (Hence the wizard reference!), which has been getting rave reviews all over the world. My brother & his gf Gem saw it when they were in New York earlier this year and said it was brilliant!

James` brother still lives down in Melbourne in the family house so we will all stay there which I believe is not very far from the city.

Things I definitely want to try and do in Melbourne

- Catch up with James and talk and talk and talk- I won`t have seen him in more than six months!

- Wine tasting in the Yarra Valley

- Catch up with Gen & Alice (Other old friends from studying in Japan who are in Melbourne also!)

- Take Shun on a tram

- Take Shun to the casino (It is amazing inside & out- I especially love the fountain!)

- Go to St Kilda

- Go to the markets (not sure which ones yet though?!)

- See Wicked (definitely happening!)

What else should I do? I am thinking I might try to do a little bit of Chrissy shopping while I am down there for mum & Gem (Have finished most of the rest of it!) as well as a bit of shopping for myself perhaps!

I have not been to Melbourne in over six years so it will be great to go back!!! I need some other “must see`s and do`s!” so suggestions welcome!

It will be another six months before I see James because he won`t be back in Australia until our wedding in May (He is Shun`s best man!) !