Holiday time...

So tomorrow in just a few hours time I will be heading for Narita International Airport to start a MARATHON vacation! So I'd better bugger off the PC and get on with the final touches - where the flip is my address book? Mmm

DANGER!

On Wednesday I met up with Tom for dinner. As he was recovering from a hangover, he thought it best that we didn't go wild, so we headed to http://www.benscafe.com/en/index.html Ben's Cafe for a couple of German Beers outdoors, then went to Hana no Mae - an Izakaya in Takadanobaba. At about 11 Kei 10ish Kei called to ask if it was worth him joining us and Tom elected that, no, we were turning in soon.
THEEEEEN, we left the izakaya and Tom made a Microphone gesture with his hand - the international gesture for karaoke and with a nod and a wink we chipped into a local karaoke place for an hour. In the swing, but the place closed early on weekdays. Reason enough to call it a day - no, we went to another karaoke place (I'm starting to forget now) and kept ordering another half hour and another half hour and so on. We rolled out there about 3. And went to the Fiddlerhttp://www.thefiddler.com/ for a 'nightcap' of Guinness and sake until they closed. At 3.30 we finally headed home and I walked all the way - about 40 minutes because I couldn't form a Japanese sentence in my head in order to tell the taxi driver where to take me. Yesterday was a write-off. A total wash out mores the pity as I have a stack of things to do - which reminds me, I must get off the computer.

I'm a bit drunk

Weather = Minging

At the moment we are in the middle of a weird weather spell - really weird. It has been raining on and off for weeks and it is warm and the humidity is really high. So everything stinks. Everywhere you go smells like a dirty flannel. Clothes hve to be washed and rewashed and then they hang on the line, get warm, stay wet and end up smelling of anything from cheese to mold to toejam. It is so still as well - no breeze at all. And towels. Eugh. I have to change them about every other day and even that is dangerous. It's so gross. I'll be back in Blight next week with the usual unpredictable weather there. Lots to do busy busy busy, but feeling gooooooood. Wedding plans are unfurling nicely, have seen the bouquet I'd like, we still have hotels and such to book and stuff like that, but we're doing well as we have to also be tour guides to the Furuya family when they get here. Every second of their trip has been meticulously planned - every ticket purchased, every hotel booked. It's going to be fun being tour guides/translators for the kazoku. I have 2 weeks at home to get things under control before the madness begins. Basically from 16th until we get home mine and Kei's feeet won't touch the ground - am hoping for some relaxation time on our holiday in Europe and even that is a whistle stop affair. I'm really looking forward to it.

Breeders

Breeders
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

This picture is the 1st on my Flickr account to have made 100 views! Seriously - the breeding is out of control in my life right now. OUT OF CONTROL!

So many things to say

Firstly, I just read that Kylie's shows sold out in minutes. Great - she is looking fantastic and has just survived an awful episode. God bless her.
Secondly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSC29xl6hno I still don't know how to effectively present these things, but I tok them from the Blog of another Tokyo girl. A very talented cartoonist - look at her divine an pure drawings http://homepage.mac.com/innocentgirl0/innocentgirl/index.html quite dark and very beautiful. She also connected me to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUgTkM5R20g fan flamin tastic. Now I'm thinking that where I see HTMLO that means i can change stuff that looks like the stuff above. But I have just been out or dinner and drinks and drinks and drinks with some pals, so I cannot focus sufficiently to do anything besides click links, copy and paste.
Tonight was a lovely evening, having dinner at my fave local restaurant then hitting local bar then coming home. Hoosbund was out in Takao having dinner with colleagues then bumped into out party while I was getting my bike, so he joined for the last part. and that was a huge bonus. Our fabulous friend Lou was out and she is heavily pregnant so much touching of of belly was engaged in and luckily she is totally up for that so I got some lovely pics of her with hands upon her - lots of hands. I think that hands upon people's pregnant bellies are lovley. Very apesh.
I can'twait to see the latest from home - it's hard to keep up.
When we got back froggy was out and about and I got a pic of him doing a bit of sneaky camouflage in the leaves and such - but still got him!
Today was a training session in NLP (Neuro linguistic programming) and that was really interersting. I remember studying it at university as part of my toilet paper making degr...I mean psychology degree. NLP is very very useful in day to day interactions. Where there's a will there's a way. And other cliches.

Unchi oshiko

Here is your first Japanese lesson (for most of you)

Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGbewHT7zKU it is lovely - toilet training the Japanese way! There are such lovely moments - such as 'ooh my tummy feels weird - it's a weewee!' then on the loo, 'I'm doing a wee, I'm doing a wee - I did a wee!' Then 'Bye bye oshiko kun' which means 'See you little peepee mate!' Much rejoicing around the toilet - Mum and Dad are well happy. They have tails. Next, building blocks with Papa. ooh my tummy hurts - I thinks it's a poo (unchi) A poo a poo. Then on the toilet 'A poo a poo, I'm doing a poo - I did it' Then 'Bye Bye unchi kun' which pretty much means 'Bye bye little poo'. The rejoicing now reaches pagan heights and Mum and Dad (and tails) are like well into it and they give the son some magic pants. And they are chanting 'Pantsu pantsu' or something. Then a real boy the comes on and gives it some serious urging and pops out a poo to the well known poo tune.
My brother's friend's Mom, in a broad Glaswegian accent, used to encourage her to strain to the strains of 'NAVY BLUE'. So if you are ever finding it hard to 'pass one' then try affecting a broad Glaswegian accent and saying 'Navy Blue' (neeevy bleuuuuu). I often do it just for fun. That friend's Mum was called Nancy and had a quilted faux leather bar in her living room and was fantastic! And probably still is but it has been many many years since I have seen her.

It's Quite Chilly

It has been raining for days and days. Then it stopped. And today it's quite chilly and it has been since yesterday. And it is a really welcome break from the heat. This time last week it was steamimg - it was rank. You can hardly breathe. Last night and the night before we could even snuggle under a blanket - a rare treat for July in Tokyo. Today I will heading out to a big computer giants then to a big bank to deliver some training. Then I'll be meeting Ms Pixie at her abode for chat, a catch up and setting the world to rights. I'm looking forward to that!

1 Year ago today...

Fanny part
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Well, this time last year we were in Barcelona and today was the day that he proposed to me! In Parc Guell, Barcelona. It was such a lovely day and we had really really enjoyed Barcelona. The weather was delightful and the city, just great as well, we had relaxed and toured and seen sights and then, he proposed. And here we are 1 year later, married!
18th is a special date for us. Kei's birthday is 18th August, mine 18th September and he actually chose 18th July to propose. We did our paper marriage on May 18th. May 18th is also our friend Megan's birthday and February 18th Carla's.
18th June 1971 is the day my maternal grandfather passed away - 3 months to the day before I was born. So the 18th really has taken on a significance in our life together. I will look out for signs of 18ness in my travels and day to day life.
So I bought a couple of teeny tiny bottles of cava and some Beard Papa's choux creams http://www.muginohousa.com/index.html (boy are they good - the heavenly smell outside some stations)
We had a very uninteresting dinner of natto egg rice and salmon roe and Kei got tipsy after one glass of cava, which is ridiculous - I married a puff. Good in one way because I got to drink the other bottle to myself (they are realy small) He then immediately fell asleep. Good one.
I had a call from the great guys at HSBC today. I have been banking with them since they were Midland and have frankly, always enjoyed an excellent servie from them. We have been frantically booking our holiday this year and all online. So there has been some pretty unusual activity on my card. From hotels in Gatwick and Paddington to flights to and within Europe and Amazon purchases, it has been a pretty active time. So they called to check all was well and that some international crim hadn't gotten hold of my card.
I remember getting really down in the mouth once about money and being fed up of being in debt. Not long after I left uni I guess. I went to see a financial advisor at my branch and said I needed to sort ut a budget and I was useless and I wanted to take control of my money and I was getting a bit upset (I 'm sure they have people have total meltdowns on them often). She was really good and sat me down and told me that infact I had done incredibly well, paid of loads of overdraft in a few months and was infact on track. I was like 'really?' and she was like 'yes - you're doing a great job.' and I couldn't believe my ears. I was so happy - all I needed was a little bit of encouragement!!! We worked out a budget together and I was so happy with their customer service and care that I wrote a thank you letter!!! Not least because that conversation alone stopped me from going out and scoring crack that night!!! Only joking. I did buy the crack to reward myself for being such a financial legend! Hahahaha. Just joking!!! JUST SAY NO KIDS. The drugs don't work. It's not big and it's not clever. Anyway, I am happy with their service.

I think I may have been subconciously influenced by Frangipani's post about Shinsei Bank after that little entry about HSBC, but I have been very happy with them for many years and this little fraud bustin exercise, while it does benefit them greatly, benefits me even more! All hail good service wherever it may be...

Today is Sunday

I went to Sinden and had my hair cut and helped out colour-wise. Then I bought some red crockery to match the red crockery that I received as a wedding gift from some people with excellent taste and a good idea of what I like. Then I came home and we trawled the Internet to create a trip to Budapest and Croatia. After that we went out to Hiroo for a mooch around and mooched around a bit then had dinner at a really nice little restaurant Called 'Spice Diner' http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~spice/contents.htm I like the look of it but when we got inside it was a kind of BBQ ploace (meat based) However they had a great vegetable and Seafood set for BBQ and tofu dishes so we ate our fill and tried ume shu made with Black sugar and another made with Green tea. I would definately recommend this place for a night out. Wasn't budget, but we overordered and had a few drinks, but we could have halved our 10,000 bill with fewer drinks and more sensible ordering!
Now sweating our extremeties off at home and thinking about hitting the beach tomorrow because it is a national holiday. Good.

Summertime...

Sunburst
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Pink pearls

Pink pearls
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Last week we went to Kei's folk's place in Hyogo, West of Japan. It was the first time we had seen them since the wedding and we got many generous gifts from the family. Among them were these pearls that his Mum got for me. They are lovely and pink in colour with a flower clasp. I shall wear them for the 2nd leg of our wedding celebrations in England August 20th. We had a very relaxing weekend and planed their trip to England.

My Secret Shame...

Homer eats flowers...
Over the past 6-8 weeks or so I have been feeling down. There' s nothing essentially wrong in my life, I'm a blushing bride, have enough of everything, in good health, reasonable shape. But it's all I can do to just keep on top of things. I look at the train tracks and the huge immense working of the train and have to remind myself 'That is the place you must not jump when the train is coming'. I have to stop myself from jabbing broken bottles into my arms or from smashing my own head in. This would (smashing my head), in my mind, be a delightful experience with the caving of my skull being akin to say, if you put an easter egg in the freezer for a while and then cracked it open, or when you put a spoon into the seal of an unopened jar of coffee. Blissful and utterly damaging. Fleetingly painful.
These feeling drove me to a last resort. A decision that was not taken lightly. I went to a place I promised I would never revisit. A place I never wanted to go. I want to work these things out for myself, not rely on these easy 'quick fix' crutches. Driven by my own mind, my own sick sack of chemical mayhem, my will to live, my survival instinct. I bought a self help book. I bought a self help book - alright!
Now, this self help book I have owned before. A beautiful friend bought it fo me for my 25th birthday. It had a lovely message in the sleeve like 'Dearest Zigsy (always calls me Zigsy) Happy 25th birthday - this is just the beginning. Love Teresa'
Now I loved this book and I lent it to someone who never gave it back. The book is by 'guru' Deepak Chopra and is called the 'Seven Spiritual Laws of success'. I like it even now and even more because it was originally given to me by my lovely friend nearly 10 years ago. Pockin hell.
10 years ago I was, on my 25th birthday, running a small country pub in a village called Wendover, in the Bucks countryside of England. It was one of the strangest experiences ever. On my 25th birthday my then boyfriend, Tom bought me a bunch of gorgeous flowers - purple called lizianthus. There was a mad, posh, alcoholic woman called Nan who used to come in every day, with her mate Jackie, smoke a packet of Mayfair and drink a bottle of red wine to herself. Before closing time at 3. Incredible. Her husband had been a professor and had written a book that sold very well and she was able to live of the royalties. She was about 75. And barking mad.
Tom then set of to Amsterdam by bicycle with his friend Julian. They rode through the English countryside to the ferry and then spent a few days in Holland, then rode back. As I remember, Tom left his passport in Birmingham and had to go back and get it then come back to the pub, then he and Julian got split up and Julian kept calling me to say he didn't know where Tom was and I was worried sick. I never knew what happened to Tom until a week later when her turned up at the pub again on his bike. Sadly Julian had had enough and about 3 years ago ended his life by hanging. Is that too direct? Not sure, but that's what happened anyway. Too sad. He is one of 4 of my peers and friends I have lost since I got to Japan. I will pay tribute to each in the future. When good and ready.

So the simple act of indulging in the dirty practice of scoring a Self help book from my local 2nd hand dealer has prompted this stream of reminising and a tribute to a lost friend. I love these connections.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Mel and Wes Got engaged!!!!!
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Mel and Wes Got engaged!!!!! In Singapore on July 10th. I quote Mel from the email she sent out:
"It was the best night of my life and I must say that Wes has more romantic bones in his body than I ever imagined. He popped the question during dessert in the three course dinner we were having in a CABLE CAR decked out in roses and hearts between Singapore & Sentosa Island. It was AMAZING!!!" (Mel, if you don't want this on my Blog - let me know.)
See Aussie blokes can be romantic!!!!

PHEEEEWWWW!

My good golly it is hot and sweaty tonight. Humid and hot and tropicaaal. Except in Tokyo so not very attractive and no beach. Or palm trees. God I want a holiday somewhere beautiful soon. Somehwere that isn't England or Japan. And for more than like 5 days with my husband...

Stars in Finland!!!

Our 15 minutes
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Today we received a DVD through the post from Finland and it was the TV program that was being filmed here. Basically a Finnish TV station made a documentary about hanami season in Japan and we have a little cameo role in the middle as they happened to be in Yoyogi Park at the same time as us. It was great to watch it because they had some great footage of Kei getting thrown in the air. And I have really bad Austin Powers teeth. I consider it my birthrite as a British citizen. To have bad teeth.

Me and the shinjuku eye

sarah and the shinjuku eye
Originally uploaded by japan frangipani.

On friday I had a little photoshoot with the lady Martine, who did our wedding photos, and this is one of the pics from the shoot! it was in Shinjuku in the Subway near the West exit. I really like it - it looks like I have a halo! We did a few more and they were cool too. I can't wait to see the final project, which is about women enjoying their lives in Tokyo, or something like that!
We had a lovely weekend in Hyogo and we did nothing but relax and hang out with the family.

Off to the in-in laws

We are off to the in laws for the weekend - leaving tonight and coming back on Sunday!

Andre Graffiti

Andre Graffiti
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Butch haircuts...

One boy said to me he didn't want to join the baseball club because he would have to have a butch haircut and he didn't want a butch haircut. Judging by his haircut I think he should join the 'BeeGees' Club.

I love this quote:

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

I really like quotes, I like that they make me think and I can always accept or reject them. The one above is particularly relevant in my life. I have to try very hard to have a 'can do' attitude and when I think of the quote above, it becomes so clear that the only difference in any given situation is the way we approach it. If something is being done somewhere in the world, then it can be done. If we say we can't do it, until we have tried and been actually unable to do it, it is simply our choice not to do it. We choose our attitude toward a challenge. So if I say 'I can't get rid of my big overhanging belly' it is simply because I can't be bothered to get on the floor, do some sit ups and get it under control. And that is my choice. So tomorrow I go to hot yoga and tonight I jog around the block. But I have to constantly remind myself of optimism and pessimism and the difference as I have to be honest, I am given to thinking about how difficult things are. And it has seriously held me back. Sadly. And it is very very depressing and frustrating for other people.

There are some quotes I never really understood fully. For example 'A stitch in time saves nine'. Until I hread Ricky Gervais explain this to Karl Pilkington on the 'Ricky Gervais' Podcasts, I never really understood what it meant. I always wondered what 'A stitch in time' was. I never interpreted that it was a stitch made in good time saves you making another nine stitches because the stitching becomes loose and undone. In my mind it was a metaphorical stitch and time was more like 'Time the great healer' or 'procrastination is the thief of time'. It was a more elaborate quote open to much interpretation and I just had no idea how you could stitch time.

Another one I still interpret in different ways is 'A rolling stone gathers no moss'. Now this could be that is you don't put any roots down, you won't acquire stuff. Like friends or possessions. But the way I have always thought of it was that if you keep on the move, you won't get scum on you. Or if you keep moving, you won't go moldy. Not that I don't like mossy stones - I do as it happens, but for me this quote means keep on the move. Rather like, if you sit on your arse and do no exercise, you get fat - gathering metaphorical moss.

So what does this say about someone of this kind of disposition, who analyses the minutae and detail and possibilities of everything. Well for me, I find it difficult to follow simple instructions and will always be asking why. I also find it difficult to concentrate on literal things. Lateral thinking is difficult as is narrowing information down in a logical way. However it also means I love love love thinking about stuff and have a vivid imagination. I love talking and debating and vomitting a stream of conciousness. I still have to really think hard about the stitch in time thing before it makes sense. Also the above observations of myself are not necessarily right or true and I hadn't planned a post like this, it just kind of came.

Fledglings

Little Sprout
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

Well it has been test time and as usual some interesting things come out of the interview tests I give the teenagers. I work in a great school and the kids are really sound. Intelligent. Japanese of course, which gives a certain flavor to many of the things they say. This is oft mistakedly taken for stupidity or naivety, but Japan has a 'way' to do everything and this is the way folk are expected to present themselves. For example:
'I am a member of the club. I don't play very well. It is hard but I will try my best little by little.; With the help of my seniors I hope to become a good player little by little.' Now, in place of 'badminton' you can sub, tennis, baseball, the guitar anything really, but I can tell you that 90 percent of people who talk about the club they are in will present it almost word for word as above. I am not exagerrating. It is 'Lost in Translation' quite literally, it sounds weird because we don't really use structures like that in the English language. The difference is so clear when I start conversation (part of the test) and I say 'I used to play badminton, I was team captain at university'. This woudl be wildly unacceptable in Japanese as I would be upsetting the harmony by trying to stand out or implying that I am ace (i'm not by the way, I was a rubbish badminton player, but i had character and that gets you a long way - or maybe that is my British sensibility, self depreciation, putting yourself down with humor, also in order to try not to look like a show off. I was rubbish though, by the way) It is very interesting listening to these kids - so much to learn from them.
One kid told me how he loved to play the guitar and when he was in elementary school he had a band, but the drummer, his friend, died. At first I thought this was an elaborate and ironic joke, referencing 'Spinal Tap'. Then I realised he is 15 and Japanese and it was unlikely. On further questioning, it turned out that his friend from primary school had infact died in a house fire. I nearly cried there and then. How tragic and how strange he should have told me. In a test.
On a lighter note, one kid said 'thank you for listening' and on his way out 'I LOVE YOU SARAH'. He got the top mark by the way. Anyone who showed an interest in the England football team also automatically had extra marks. I have 250 kids to listen to - half of whom say 'I am not a good .....player etc etc etc....' so I have to amuse myself somehow. I hope to God non of my colleagues read this - I could get Dooced. But really it is very interesting and quite good fun and every year their communicative ability improves, so things aren't quite as dire as the English teaching community likes to make out! And I do love my job!!!

Football and photos

Soccer dive
Originally uploaded by sigsy.

What can I say about the match on Saturday night? It was painful to watch and I cried when they lost. It was so late on Tokyo by the time everyone had finished it was after 3 and so depressing. It was just so England - hot headed key player gets sent off, no goals. Lose on penalties. Text book. On the up side I got some great pictures of Sasuke trotting around in his England kit. This picture is him playing soccer. Basically, he runs then falls over. That is what he thinks soccer is. Running and diving. Hilarious!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sigsyintokyo

Checl out the cuteness!