OI!

Ok, so I am SO excited about my plumbing being fixed that I simply HAVE to mention it.

My kitchen sink has been dripping for as long as I can remember having a kitchen sink and the design company that renovated my flat simply refused to believe that there was any problem because the one time they actually came out to check it, it mysteriously quit dripping. Anyway, tonight is the night! I’m finally getting new plumbing and my designer flat can go back to being designer, rather than just unfortunate:) YAY!

You wouldn’t believe how many different ways I came up with to try and get it to stop dripping on my own. Any of you out there that have had to do some creative plumbing of your own, send in a comment and tell us about it. These little nuggets just may come in handy some day!

Saru

That Spring feeling?

Without a doubt, one of the most amazing things that I have noticed over the last year, is just how MANY of my friends are giving birth. I get that it’s Spring and all, but I can count no less than 6 of my friends who have given birth in the last couple of months. Most of these people happen to not be living in Japan, but there is one special little guy who is, so I’m going to give him a special mention here. Baby Noah, the new son of my FABULOUS friends Lisa and Mabo, arrived about a month ago. He’s just adorable and I had an opportunity to get out to visit him last weekend. I really can’t wait until he’s old enough to take shopping.:) This child is going to grow up with some seriously fashion-friendly people around him (that’s you, Feyza!) and none of us can wait to get it started! Hmmmmm………I feel like I just sounded like Tim Gunn. Yikes. I think I had better just end this entry and get on with the next one;)

Saru

Back at it, Lads:)

Well, hello there, everyone!:)

I know that it’s been a ridiculously long time since I updated this site, but I am back and am VERY excited to update everyone on everything that’s been going on over the last year. You aren’t going to believe all of the stuff that has gone down around here, so, starting tomorrow, I am going to begin a mad whirlwind of typing so you all have a little something to come back for:)

Until then…….

Saru

A Beach BBQ Party

Not long ago I headed out to a town named Chigasaki, located about 40 minutes by train from my place. My friends Lisa and Mabo live out there and, throughout the summer, very often have BBQ parties in their garden. They are blessed to live about a 5 minute walk from the beach. If you get down there for sunset, you can watch the sun set right behind Mt. Fuji! It’s really quite amazing:) I’m not sure why it turned-out this way, but I only ended-up taking a few photos of Hiro on the beach in the dark.

Anyway, I will definitely continue to add photos (in the daylight!) as the BBQ parties continue throughout the summer. They always bring together a great bunch of people and only once has their cat, Rocky, been put off enough to hide up in a tree:)

Bread Baking Day!

YAY! This has become one of my favourite ways to relax on those rare occasions when I have two spare hours in a row. I have started to study the age old art of baking bread. Ok, ok, so I’m not exactly using a stone oven like we did in the fur trade days, but I DO knead it myself:)

In this picture, The bakers. are surrounding one of their successes! The three of them came out to my flat for the day to have a lesson in bread baking. I was being very Pa Ingles that day, and tries to pass on what I had learned through trial and error. They are standing in my kitchen and holding a loaf of basil-rosemary-cheese bread that Jordanna whipped up.

As the day wore on, more people pooped in to see what we had done but none of the bread lasted more than 5 minutes out of the oven. The five avocadoes I had bought that morning had a bit longer life!  Anyway, they didn’t get any bread, but we kept them happy with a glass of wine and a couple of episodes of America’s Next Top Model:)

International Food Day!

This is a day that I seriously love. St. Moores, an international school located in Yokohama, holds an international food fair every year to raise money for things like computers for the school. Because it is an international school, there are kids with parents from everywhere imaginable and that means we get to sample hot plates from all those countries we’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t had the chance. This year I had some yummy lamb chops barbied-up by my mate Jennifer.  International mates.Another friend of mine, Ray, also had his hands on the chops, and they garnered rave reviews all around. Jennifer is from New Zealand and Ray is from Australia.

After the food fair, we headed to an outdoor beer garden which has a beautiful view of the sunset over Yokohama. Sadly, it didn’t stay open long after we arrived, but it was great while it lasted!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARI!!!!!

Last Friday belonged to my most excellent friend Shari.Shari and I. It was her birthday, and so I planned a little to-do for her at a fabulous lounge called UNICE in Daikenyama. We invited all of the good folks that we work with (and Hiro:)) GO BUNNY GO! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the all-you-can-drink deal for fifteen bucks, despite some poor folks having to get to work at ten in the morning the next day!

A little background on Shari is definitely necessary…….She and I met when she moved to Tokyo from Florida and joined the crew that I spend my days wondering about weird, weird students with. She’s been a fixture in my life since then, and has never failed to make me feel GREAT about my colour choices……for some reason we always end-up with matching outfits in the office:) We made a mad attempt to join a Salsa dance class together, but never actually managed to swing it because the teacher called-in sick TWO WEEKS IN A ROW! We’ve now given-up on THAT and have decided to join a cooking class:) Looks like we’ll be learning a little of the French cooking. I’ll keep you updated on that one.

OH! Hanami!

As some of you already know, this last week has been the week when the cherry blossom trees blossom in Japan. cherry blossoms This is a mad-house national event, in Japan, and EVERYONE makes a point of getting out to view the flowers. As it happens, I ended-up heading out to various places 5 or 6 times this year, and got to REALLY appreciate the festivities:) Most people go with friends or coworkers and spend the day/evening drinking, relaxing and generally enjoying the first hints of Spring. If EVER a man needed more time in his schedule book, this would be it!

The tour guide…..

This weekend has been absolutely WONDERFUL! I got to act as a guide for my friend Hiro. Hiro

Hiro is from Hokkaido, which is the big island at the top of Japan. He moved to Tokyo a few months ago and had never had a chance to visit my lovely town of Yokohama. He is now living in a place called Mukogakoyuen, which is in Tokyo. He tells me that there used to be a theme park there and that’s how the place got it’s name.

So, after a bit of a late start (no worries, Hiro:)) we headed off to see the sites. Yokohama is quite famous for a lot of things, not the least of which is Aka Renga. Yokohama Port area Aka Renga used to be a storage depot back in the day, but has been converted to a shopping area. It has kept all of the original building structure, however, so it’s like shopping in an old barn:)

In the photo, you can also see some of the more famous buildings in Yokohama. This make-up the most popular of the shopping areas in the city and it’s FULL of couples strolling and enjoying themselves on the weekend.

We started-off there and made a bit of a circle tour. Our plan was to get to Motomachi Chukagai, which is Yokohama’s China Town. China Town
Here we hoped to have a lovely dinner of proper Chinese food. So, we got there and started looking at the restaurant windows on the main street. EVERY restaurant was charging about $20 for a plate of whatever!!! Anyway, we headed-off down a side-street and found a FAB little restaurant that was packed with people and managed to get a dinner for two for the same price as a single dish at the other places! Word to the wise here…….side-streets ROCK!

Once dinner was all done (it was SUPER delicious!) we started walking back toward where we had started. By now it was dark out and all of the skyline was lit-up. Yokohama Skyline

It was an absolutely WONDERFUL day! I hope you all like the photos…..I’ll be sure to add more from our next adventure……wherever that may be!

Sunday, Lovely Sunday.

Ya know, one of the best things about living in (or near, in MY case) Tokyo is that you really never know what your day is going to hold.

I woke-up this morning feeling as though death were merely inches from my soul (I am being A LITTLE dramatic here, forgive me…..I’ve had a cold for a couple of days) and so I cancelled on Jo, Ruthy, Anya and Giles and didn’t go to my pottery class. I thought a little rest would do me good. As it turned out, I started going a little stir-crazy staying in my room. I decided that what this little fella REALLY needed was a little sunshine on his winter-white face.
Meiji Temple

With that in mind, I grabbed my camera and headed for the train station. I had Meiji-Jingumae Temple (check the link above) in mind as a destination. It’s an ENORMOUS compound of a temple located in central Tokyo, and is always crammed with people so I thought I would be able to get some good shots. I was not to be disappointed today.

When I entered I just kind of stood there for a few minutes and looked around from the top of the steps. It’s crazy busy, but there is a very special kind of calm in that place. Anyway, I took a little stroll around and looked at some of the other buildings before deciding to move on and go to the iris garden. That plan changed in a hurry, though, because when I turned to head off I found myself smack in front of a wedding procession! The wedding….It was being recorded by television stations and the whole nine yards! I have no idea if they were anyone special or not, but they certainly come from good families when you consider the price attached to getting married in that temple!

So, with that bit of excitement over with, I actually did move on and walked through some of the myriad pathways that litter the grounds. I was feeling quite well after a little of this, and opted to head back home for a little dinner.

As I was heading back to the station, my day had one more bit of entertainment to give me before I got home. Ah, yes…..Harajuku fashion. I have been to a lot of countries in this world of ours, but nowhere have kids been as creative with their clothing. Take a look at these two. Harajuku girls in full form.All you parents out there who worry about how your girls look on a Friday night should be thanking your lucky stars! So, that pretty much sums-up my Sunday afternoon. Hope you all used your day well and had some fun!

Saru