Relaxation - Day 2 and Irrational Fears

As usual, woke up and enjoyed the breakfast (mmm fresh fruit and real bacon). Then I went down to the beach for a bit. I couldn’t resist going in the water even though I am not supposed to get my eyes wet. So I waded in up to my chest. The water was still calm, so I didn’t have to worry about waves, and the beach was quiet, so I was able to get far away from any possibility of splashing people.

Now I am always a bit freaked out about going into the ocean. I’m paranoid that fish will bite me. Yes, I know this is weird. I kept on the look out for fish but didn’t see any. Later in the day, people told me I had to go further out by a set or rocks – but the water over there was too deep for me to go in without endangering my eyes. Anyway, the water was clear and as warm as the air. It was unbelievable. Actually, I would have liked it a bit colder because then it would have been refreshing. However, in terms of temperature for water activities (where you’d be in it for a while) it was great. I did get to see crabs running across the ocean floor though (little tiny ones). They were also hiding out in crevices on a big rock near the shore.

I didn’t stay in too long. Mainly because I was starting to get sun already, and having suffered a horrible sunburn there three years ago, I didn’t want to repeat that. Also, I realized I have another irrational fear to worry about – body parts. I was constantly looking at the ocean floor as I was “swimming” for fear of stepping on a femur or something. In my mind this is not irrational – the ocean will probably be spitting up bones for years. At least at this point they should be devoid of any flesh. However, it is a bit too freaky, not to mention sad, to think about that.

Anyway, I went back to my room and had a very quick shower to wash off the ocean salt and changed into my shorts. It was off to the spa! All I can say is I forgot how much waxing hurt. I waxed my lower legs, and they were like virgin skin because I haven’t waxed them in about 6 years. Pain. Over and over and over again. After all that stress, I of course needed a massage to relax. I had a nice body wrap to make my skin soft and then a good massage. I’ve decided that the pressure I like for massages is almost the same as the pressure they use to apply body wraps, so in future, I’ll just get the wrap done.

After my treatments I was chatting with the receptionist Joy and she recommended a dentist. She even said she would set up an appointment for me for tomorrow. Great! Then I went back to my room and relaxed for a bit before going out for dinner. The tsunami wiped out all of the restaurants along the beach near the hotel; however, they have rebuilt. And they have rebuilt in much nicer facilities. There is also a huge extension to this little shopping arcade. When finished, it will be a bout three times the size it was before.

The restaurant just outside the hotel was where I had dinner. The food is much more reasonably priced than inside the hotel. Well, it didn’t agree with my stomach and I spent the rest of the evening close to the toilet. So, I’ve decided, no more outside restaurants. The food in the hotel restaurant is expensive but it tastes a lot better, has beautiful presentation and I know it is prepared properly (ie I shouldn’t get sick from it).

Relaxation - Day 1

I woke up early this morning to see the sunrise, but it had already risen! So much for sunrise times. So I went back to bed to sleep some more, seeing as I didn’t sleep so well last night (bug fear), but got up shortly thereafter. Wow, up around 8 even though I’m on vacation!

After a wonderful breakfast of bacon, a small omelet and tons of fruit, I asked the front desk if I could change rooms. This morning I found another problem – through no fault of the hotel. I was in one of the newly remodeled rooms, and as part of the renovations, they outfitted all the showers with rain shower heads. I can’t get water in my eyes, and with a rain shower that is darn near impossible. So I needed to change rooms if I wanted to bathe sometime this week.

Anyway, they did find another room for me and I actually ended up in an upgraded room! Cool! More balcony space! Unfortunately, I lost my good view, but I now have a couch that I can laze around and read on. That will be nice. The shower is a normal type one with a removable handheld nozzle, so I won’t smell at least.

After getting myself resettled, I hit the restaurant for lunch with my book. I had a nice leisurely lunch watching the ocean and reading a little bit. After that, it was off to the spa to book waxing and a massage for tomorrow. Then back to my room where I watched Two Towers on HBO. Whehoo! English movies. That’s pretty much all I did for the whole day. Since I had a late lunch, I skipped dinner and just relaxed in my room.

As for my eyes, I think they are evening out. The right eye is still a bit hazy, but it seems better. The left eye has a slight halo around lights, but I had that before. So no worries there. All in all, the eyes are still great!

I can see... but do I want to?

I can see! Despite only have six teeny tiny holes in each of my bug goggles, I can make my way around and see things pretty clearly. I gingerly made my way down to breakfast – going down stairs is not fun when you have plastic things covering your eyes. I felt a bit silly sitting there with those stupid things over my eyes, but I was hungry!

After breakfast I went back to the Lasik center for my check up. I’ve got 20/20 vision in both eyes! That’s great in my book! 20/100 and 20/63 to 20/20 in both. My left eye is absolutely perfect – everything is clear and crisp (and to think I was worried about that one!). My right eye is a bit hazy… when I look at things, the edges are not sharp. The doctor said it may take a while for that to go away, but it is completely normal.

I’m not overly sensitive to light (a bit, but I always have been – seems about the same to me), I have no pain and no dry eye either (except later on the plane). So, I haven’t noticed any real side effects other than the lack of sharpness on the right side. I’m thrilled with the surgery though!

After I finished my check up, it was back to the hotel to check out and then off to the airport. I got a car to the airport from the hotel. A bit expensive, but I didn’t want to deal with scamming taxi drivers. The driver was quite friendly and we were chatting for a bit. Apparently Bangkok is opening a new airport (news to me) so that was interesting to talk about.

I checked in no problem, but when I asked about an upgrade to Business Class, I was told it was full. Well, once I got on the plane, it wasn’t. *grrr* The seats in economy class have to be the narrowest seats I have ever seen in my life. Normal sized Western people were squashing into them. And then I get the seat that for some reason has a plastic thing sticking four inches into the chair space. Luckily there was another seat I could move to – economy was packed! I’m still in shock over how narrow the seats were. In Japan, seats are often quite small, but I have never seen anything that bad.

I arrived in Phuket slightly squashed and got a car to the hotel. It took about an hour to get down to the beach my hotel is on – there was so much construction! None of it was tsunami related – they are just building all kinds of roads. As we turned onto the beach where my hotel is located, I was shocked – the water was dead calm! Rainy season hasn’t started yet! And I can’t swim! That sucks so much. The first time I’ve been here when there weren’t red flags on the beach (don’t swim) and not only that, but the waves were just lapping the shore. Darn!

At the hotel everything seemed a bit disorganized. My room is on the 8th floor – great view, but the elevator only goes to the 6th floor. Also, the room had twin beds and I had asked for a king sized one. The room was also stifling – no one had turned the a/c on. Such a difference from my first visit last year when they greeted us with cold drinks, took us to a room that was perfectly cool and had nice music playing in the background. The time on the stereo wasn’t even set this time. Oh well, the view from the balcony was absolutely stunning.

So I got myself settled into my room, and everything was great until I walked into the bathroom and heard this flick, flick, flick sound. I turned toward it and saw this absolutely huge, flying cockroach in the bathtub. I freaked – ran out of the bathroom, slammed the door and called housekeeping. They came up and of course couldn’t find it. I didn’t even want to go back into the bathroom, but called out places to check. I wasn’t going back in until it was gone! It was hiding in the towels in the end. *shudder* When it reared its ugly self from hiding I ran back into the room. Housekeeping duly killed it thankfully; however, I was on the look out for more. You know what they say about seeing one.

So a couple hours go by and there was no sign of any other cockroaches. I got myself ready for bed. I had fun taping the bug goggles back over my eyes – I have to wear them at night so I don’t inadvertently rub my eyes and move the corneal flap. I made my way to the bed, snuggled under the covers and turned out the light. Flick, flick, flick. The light immediately came back on. Peering thru my six holes per eye I tried to find the source of the sound – was it just an insect (there are tropical gardens all over the hotel, so some bugs are to be expected) or was it another horrible cockroach. I searched and searched but couldn’t find anything. So I went back to bed, straining to hear whatever it was.

Flick, flick, flick. I turned the light back on. I caught a streak of something out of the corner of my eye, but couldn’t see anything. At this point I was starting to freak a bit, because that cockroach in the bathroom had flown. Please don’t let it be another one. Light out. Flick. I waited. Suddenly, there was a flick, flick, flick right near my head and something slammed itself into my cheek. I literally jumped off and out of the bed, screamed loudly and ripped the plastic thing off my eye. Despite the pain of having three pieces of tape ripped simultaneously off my face, I didn’t feel it. What the heck just smacked into me???!!!! Light goes back on. Turns out it was a little wee tiny beetle. I hope. Needless to say, I won’t sleep well in this room. Are there any other things lurking?

The big day - Lasik surgery

Woke up early today for breakfast and then went to pay for my tickets down to Phuket. The business center automatically booked them for me without asking, so I was a bit miffed at that (couldn't check other prices), but in light of time constraints it was probably better anyway.

Then I went to the Lasik center for my eye check. My starting vision was 20/100 in my right eye and 20/63 in my left. They did fifty million tests including inspecting my retina with a small magnifying lense - like a jewellery loupe, but the doctor held it between her fingers. The whole process was very professional. The first thing that happened was they took my picture, and every different test that I did had my picture on the computer where they enterred my info. Great way to ensure there is no mix up.

I also had to watch an hour long multimedia presentation on all the side effects that I might have. I was impressed with how thorough that was. I had lots of questions and they answered them fully for me. Some of them the assistant couldn't answer, so he said I should ask my doctor. I asked her about the halos (because I have them already so was especially worried about them after the surgery). She said my pupils were on the large side of average and that is why I get the halos. She said it was a possibility for me after the surgery that they would be worse. Getting halos is only a 1% risk though, which was acceptable for me.

All the tests checked out and I was a good candidate for surgery, so they confirmed my appointment for that afternoon (originally I was supposed to go for the exam yesterday but had been rescheduled due to a conflict - so my exam and surgery were on the same day). The only thing left to do was go and get my HIV test.

I went up to the nearby hospital where they did the test and gave a discount to Lasik center patients (because of all the referrals I'm sure). All up the thing cost about US$20. Not bad. As usual, my body did not want to give up any of my blood. At least the nurse found the vein on the first prick - I had to show her where to look on my arm though (the space with all the needle scars centered in a 5mm area). She only got about 70% of the amount that the test required before nothing more came out - and that took a good 10 minutes... for one small vial. Since that was the only vein she could find, she was going to resort to butterfly clips in the hand. I begged her to check with the lab, because, pardon my language, drawing blood from your hand hurts like a bitch. Luck was with me thankfully - the lab said that that was enough blood and I was spared the agony of needles in my hand.

I was sent to go and pay the bill and wait about an hour for the results. I just had a mini-nap and watched all the people in the waiting room. I got my "negative" report and then went down the street to grab lunch. I should note that I felt very cool in my sun glasses (my eyes had been dilated during the eye exam so I was sensitive to light) until I realized NO one else was wearing any. I guess it wasn't all that bright outside. Oops.

Lunch today was green curry with shrimp, rice and a coconut smoothie. I love coconut smoothies. They work perfectly at cutting the spice in curries. The food was ok, but a bit expensive considering the type of restaurant I was in. A total of 300 Baht.

After lunch I had a bit of time before my surgery, so I headed back to the hotel to grab a nap for an hour. Then back to the Lasik center for my surgery. I must say I was a bit worried. Because of all of Hiroshi's "you'll go blind!" and my sister-in-law Keiko's "Lasik surgery is not safe!" I started to get really nervous. Especially because I was by myself.

They started me off with numbing drops, which stung. They then gave me a pill which I assumed to be valium - it matched the pills in the packet of valium they gave me for that night if I had trouble sleeping. The valium did not have any effect as far as I could tell. If it made you calm, all I can say is I don't want to know how badly I would have freaked out during the first part of the surgery.

They put in a metal ring to keep my eye open, which was also the thing they attached the cutter to. That was a bit uncomfortable because it was digging into my cheek bone. Next they put suction on your eye before they make the flap. Oh - my - god. That was excrutiating. In everything I have read online, no one has mentioned pain during suction. Everyone says "it was a bit uncomfortable... and my change in vision is aweseome!". Heh. I think this is like what happens with childbirth. Ask a woman immediately after birth how bad it was, and a week later, and you will get two totally conflicting answers. Something along the lines of "most painful thing you can imagine - never, ever in a million years will I get pregnant again" to "not so bad - I want another one". Well, let me tell you, that suction part hurts. Granted it is only for about 15 seconds, but those are pretty much the longest 15 seconds in the world. Especially when you are by yourself and there is no one there to hold your hand.

After that horrible part though, everything was fine. Or maybe the valium kicked in at that point LOL. No, the laser itself did not hurt at all. I had to look at a light for about 40 seconds while the laser worked. My right eye kept wandering on its own accord - but I was eventually able to look in one place for the right amount of time. My left eye had the same problem and she had to stop the laser at one point. I am worried that that eye will have a problem now. She said everything went fine but I am still worried.

The laser itself smells. The doctor said it was the laser and not my eye that smelled like burning. It isn't that bad. The room just smells a bit off. When the laser finished the doctor smoothed the flap back over my eye. That was weird. I couldn't see what instrument she was smoothing it with, but I could feel it. Felt like someone lightly stroking your skin actually. Not painful or uncomfortable, just odd because you don't expect that sensation in your eye.

After that they taped up my eyes with bug goggles (white plastic cups that have a grand total of six small holes in each) to protect my eyes. I had to rest for a bit, and then they escorted me to the shoe locker (everything was blurry) and down to a taxi. They even called my hotel a bit later to make sure I had arrived safely. That was great.

At the hotel you immediately have to go down a set of stairs. The concierge on duty spoke very little English and didn't understand "please help me down the stairs". A lady came running over though and helped me down the stairs and took me to my room. I immediately went to bed like I was suppposed to, and slept for about 5 hours.

At that point I could "see" - limited as I was thru mini-holes. I ordered room service because getting to a restaurant would have been a nightmare. Room service came up with my food and it was absolutely beautiful! The cart converted into a table with linen table cloth. There were even fresh flowers in a vase. I took a picture with my camera because it was a bit hard to see it completely, but what I did see was nice.

I had shrimp cakes, chicken and cashews, tom yung goon which is spicy soup (which I hadn't ordered and was charged for, but I was too out of it to complain and try to deal with it - and the soup was good anyway), and a Thai dessert. Everything was delicious except the dessert which was a rice and bean thing. Oh well, at least I tried something different.

After dinner I went back to bed again. I was sleepy and not in any pain so I didn't have to take any of the pills they had given me. Lucky, I guess, that I have no discomfort whatsoever.

Such a hard life

I didn't get to bed last night until almost 3, what with arriving at 1 am, going thru customs, getting a car to the hotel, and checking in. I actually woke up around 10ish (equivalent to noon Tokyo time) which I suppose is a testament to resting in business class. Usually I sleep forever if I get the chance!

I wandered down for breakfast and they had the standard buffet that 5 star hotels in Bangkok do - there was tons of fruit, bacon and eggs, Japanese food, Thai food and even some Chinese food. So I had bacon for the first time in years (you just can't get "real" bacon in Japan) and it was heaven. The restaurant was on the lower level of the hotel and I got a seat by these two-storey glass windows that overlooked a pond and waterfall. It was beautiful!

After breakfast I took a walk over to the Lasik center (which was relatively close) and basically sweated to death. Man, is Bangkok hot! Hitting 34C weather with 80% humidity takes its toll. I decided this was the first and last time I was walking there. I was completely exhausted by the time I got there. Not to mention drenched in sweat.

I grabbed a cab out front and went to a shopping mall that Erik had been to when he was in Bangkok - Siam Center. I just wandered around looking at stuff and picked up some things from the drug store, like lemon grass lip balm. I also got some raspberry foot lotion so I could pamper myself. I had wanted to get some books on photography while in Thailand, but the bookstores (3 of them) had a very poor English selection.

Since I am not that into shopping, I eventually got a taxi back to the hotel. The scammer. He drove me all over Bangkok. I was directing him where to go. It was actually kind of funny because I got to experience a weird phenomenon that world travellers have noted. Show someone a map and they look at it as if you handed them ancient Egyptian to decypher. I even pointed out major landmarks on the map to this guy and he still turned it around, and around and around trying to make sense out of it. I eventually made it to the hotel and grabbed the conceirge into helping me yell at the guy. I think he was feigning stupidity and drove me everywhere because I forced him to turn the meter on. He was trying to increase the fare on purpose.

I ended up just paying him because even with the hour long detour all over the city, it had only cost about 100 Baht - about US$3. I had been livid about the whole thing until I got myself to take a look at the big picture. Three bucks is not a big deal.

So, despite being over the taxi incompetence, I still had some mild tension and it was off to the hair salon! The conceirge had recommended a place in the building the hotel is connected to. For about 200 Baht, including tip, I had an hour of luxury. The hairdresser washed my hair for 20 minutes! Oh so nice! Then she spent a good 30 minutes drying my hair.. and managed to get it perfectly straight and flat! This is amazing. No one has ever accomplished this! I didn't actually like what it looked like, but the cut was decent and I can style it the way I want tomorrow.

After my haircut I had just enough time to freshen up for my spa appointment. I tell you, relaxing in Thialand is hard work. I had a facial (because I wouldn't be able to get one after my eye surgery) and a body wrap with tumeric and honey. All I can say is, it was awesome! It was so relaxing! I love facials! The body wrap was also great because the treatment specialist basically gave me a massage while putting it on. I came out with glowing cheeks and silky soft skin. It was great!

After the spa it was time to hunt down dinner. Just down the road was the Suan Lum night bazaar so I grabbed a taxi and headed out. I found some sunglasses that I liked, got some omiyage (small souvenirs for people in Japan) and went to restaurant on the outskirts for dinner. The food area in the center of the bazaar was extremely crowded. As I was sweating profusely again, I wasn't up for pushing thru throngs of people. The dinner I had was very good though - albeit more expensive than going the inner stalls I am sure.

I had these pork triangle things as an appetizer, tom yun gai soup (chicken coconut soup - my fav), shrimp red curry and a coconut smoothie. Yum, yum, yum! I hadn't had lunch so this was a big meal. I couldn't finish it all though. I was totally stuffed! All up it only cost about 400 Baht.

Stuffed and sweaty, I hailed a taxi back to the hotel. Tonight's turndown gift was this weird wood post card. I want another turtle! Those were cute! Back in the room I just hung out in the heavenly airconditioning, read the paper and rehydrated. I haven't read a paper in eons so it was nice.

All in all, a busy day. Shopping, eating and going to the spa. It's a hard life I tell you.

Off to Thailand

Yippee! I'm off on vacation! I woke up this morning and finshed packing. Then I ran some errands (like picking up Hiroshi's dry cleaning and getting some money). I grabbed a taxi to the station so I didn't have to lug my suitcase and caught the train to the airport. Pretty uneventful. I started listening to my e-book on the way.

At the airport, check in was extremely disorganized. One of the attendants took my passport to start checking me in at another counter, only he had two other people's passports as well... so when two attendants opened up, I wasn't able to check in, but had to wait while about three other people went ahead of me. Stupid.

I eventually made it through security and made my way to the lounge. I was so looking forward to the lounge, but the lounge China Airlines uses at Narita basically sucks. When I flew with Thai airlines they had sandwiches and trays of fresh fruit. This lounge had crappy cheese processed cheese and saltines. Oh well, at least I would get fed on the plane (I hadn't eaten at home because I was expecting decent things in the lounge).

I pre-boarded and got myself organized. Then I enjoyed a glass of champagne. I love business class. As I was sitting there relaxing, some airport employee boarded the plane and then came over to me to tell me that my luggage had "opened". As in the zipper had broken. I'm like, what? I had visions of my underwear being all over the tarmac. He said I had too much stuff in my suitcase so the zipper broke - which was a crock because I just pulled the lid closed and didn't have to squish it or anything. They put too much weight on top of it. Anyway, I decided not to get all stressed out about it. Nothing I could do anyway. The man said that they had taped it all up, so I'd just have to wait until Bangkok to see what had happened.

The meal on the plane was salmon gravalox as an appetizer, then pork with herb crust and veggies, and then a yummy raspberry dessert. I also had a glass of port. It was quite good. We were basically just served the meal and then we landed in Taipei.

CKS airport is rather dumpy and moldy. The business lounge is nice though - dim sum and noodles are available (I wasn't hungry though). I must say, Thai still has the best lounges though. I read some magazines and surfed the net for a bit and then it was time to board the next leg.

Got fed again on this flight. This time I had the penne with fish because I wanted something light. I also stuck with water to drink. Then I had a little nap. I was landing in Bangkok at 1am, which is 3am Tokyo time.

We landed on time and I got my luggage which really was all taped up. I went over to the baggage claim area and talked to a guy about making a claim on my luggage. He said it happened all the time. The zipper did do up still and everything seemed to be in place, so I just left it. I did get the claim form just in case though. Then I went and got an airport limousine (aka pre-paid taxi) to my hotel. You do it this way because the cars are much nicer (Corolla instead of a beat up K-car) and you don't have to wait an hour in a line to get a taxi that may drive you all over the city to increase the metered fare.

It took about half an hour to get to my hotel. Once there, I checked in and crashed in bed! Time to sleep!

Sometimes Japan is Weird

Today was supposed to be nice and sunny, but in the middle of the afternoon, this huge storm came in and it poured rain. I, of course, did not have an umbrella and got thoroughly drenched. There were even big streaks of lightening across the very black sky. You hardly ever see lightening in Japan (not sure why).
Then tonight, I was walking home from the station and some guy came up to me and started pulling at my arm. He then proceeded to stuff packages of kleenex (clean) into my purse. Ummm, ok. Thank you I guess? That was just strange.

Japanese train crash kills dozens

Got home and checked the news, to find a Japanese train crash was the top story. How horrible. The article says 50 people died. :(

Can't sleep

It is actually 2am but I have set the date to be Sunday's entry. I had planned on going to bed early. However, I have been tossing and turning since 10:30 or so. At this point I am just frustrated, so I'm surfing the net in hopes I will get tired soon. After two hours of staring at the clock I was ready to scream.

I realized tonight that I only have one more week to wear glasses - and now I'm all excited. I'm also thinking about all of the fun things I want to do in Bangkok and how I will arrange my sight-seeing around appointments with the eye doctor. In other words I'm excited about going on vacation to. So being excited about two things, means no sleep. And tomorrow is very early and very long - it is my heaviest day of the week. So, I'm off to bed again, and hopefully I can get some sleep before my alarm goes off at 6am.

Koizumi apologizes to China

The big news here recently has been the riots in China over "Japanse textbooks". I put that in quotes because I've kind of come to the opinion that all Asians hate each other, and the textbooks are just an excuse for the Chinese to lash out at the Japanese. (The racism by Asians against other Asians is mindboggling - I'm not singling out the Chinese)

Anyway Prime Minister Koizumi apologized to China - using words remarkably similar to an apology that was made 10 years ago. I'm a bit divided over the whole issue. I do think Japan needs to take more responsibility, and well, ownership, for their actions during WWII. On the other hand, as soon as they do that, they will get Koreans and Chinese coming out of the woodwork suing them. I understand why they haven't said antyhing.

Hopefully things will all settle down and there won't be more riots this weekend. All of the violence was rather disconcerting. Bottom line, I think this is more of a power struggle between China and Japan for dominance in the region, and if Japan gets a UN seat, then China will lose one of their trump cards so to speak.

Eye checkup

Hiroshi and his family are all worried about my LASIK surgery so I went to see an optometrist tonight that Keiko (my sister-in-law, who is also an optometrist) referred me to. I don't know what surgery they thought I was going to get, but the conversation with the optometrist went something like this:
optometrist: What kind of eye surgery are you getting?
me: LASIK
o: LASIK? Oh, that's perfectly safe.

So I'm not quite sure why I went there. Oh, he did tell me that I should get it done at that hospital because East Japan is the best at LASIK. Um, ok. I'll just ignore that sales pitch. I was able to ask him some questions though that Keiko had me worried about - she is all worried about glaucoma for some reason. This doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about. So all is good - assuming I'm happy with my clinic after questioning them at my initial appointment, there is only one week to go until surgery.

Cleaning up a storm

Tonight I spent 3 hours cleaning the kitchen. Seeing as my kitchen consists of about two meters worth of cupboards, sink, and stove, you know I was being picky! I cleaned the burners and underneath the stove, wiped down the cupboards and the wall, washed all of the things sitting on the ledge including the kettle and my oil atomizer, cleaned the sink and generally tidied. So it will be gleaming for about a day and a half. Next step - bedroom. Need to clear out some clothes and do general spring cleaning in there.

AR7 - Episode 9

Not sure if I like that extra long leg or not - but it must have been a total killer. They were probably going for four days before they hit the pitstop. Joyce - wow. She'S awesome. And Uchenna? That's supportive. What are they talking about when they said they thought there relationship was having trouble?? What an amazing couple. Glad to see Lynn and Alex go - hated them and their whining. I cheered out loud when they were eliminated. Hopefully Gretchen and Meredith next! She tends to grate a bit.

Clothes, wonderful clothes

I grabbed some stuff online from Land's End last week, and it arrived today. I ordered a blouse that turned out even better than I expected. It has french cuffs and a very nice herringbone design. I like it. Also got underthings as well as a few casual shirts. Time to get rid of those 10 year t-shirts that are all faded and crappy! New clothes are awesome. :)

Of course I had to go all over the place to get them. I had forgotten to get Hiroshi's dry cleaning tonight on they way home, so I went to get that (near Osaki station). Then went to the other station near my house (Gotanda station) to get my Narita Express ticket (one week until Thailand!) and over to the 24-hr post office because I wasn't home when they tried to deliver my package. Of course I arrived just after 9, and my package hadn't come back yet. I had to wait until after 10. So I grabbed a newspaper and sat in a cafe for an hour before going back. I haven't read the newspaper in ages, and now I remember why. Is there anything good happening in the world? Geesh. So with drycleaning and package in hand I walked the 2 km or whatever back home (the 24-hr post office is far from convenient). Phew!

But, everything fits, and looks good, so I'm happy.

Okinawan restaurant

Tonight we went out for dinner at an Okinawan restaurant in Koenji. This is big for me, because I tend not to stray too far from home on weekends.. anything more than three stops away is "far". It was actually kind of fun because we haven't been to Koenji in ages. Lots the same, but some things have changed.

The restaurant itself was very noisy and smokey, but the food was good. We had sea grapes, which were really nice. Refreshing, but they had a salty taste. There was also a pork dish that was to die for - super yummy. Then lots of goya which is a very bitter vegetable. I'm not overly fond of it, but the food we had was good. I had to limit myself a bit because the bitter taste wasn't clearing from my mouth. It is supposedly really healthy for you - and seeing as Okinawans have like the highest (longest?) longevity on the planet, there may be something to that. The only thing that wasn't good was a dish that was pork, but turned out to be pork intesting. Very, very yucky. Otherwise, the food was great though, and we go to try a new restaurant!

Out for the evening

I had to work this morning, but while I was in the office, I was invited to my co-worker's birthday party. Hiroshi and I had planned to go out for dinner tonight so he had joined me in going to the office, staying at the coffee shop next door while I worked. So, he tagged along to the party. I was surprised because he doesn't reallly like being around all English speakers, nor does he like sudden changes in plans. But we had a good time. He didn't have a problem with the English, and many of the people there spoke excellent Japanese (including my Japanese teacher who is my co-worker's girlfriend).

I haven't been out socializing for a while, other than a dinner here and there with individual friends, so that was fun. And, Hiroshi and I will just go out for dinner tomorrow night instead!

Lucky day off!

Today my class cancelled, so I had an unexpected day off. Hurray! I slept in late, watched some movies and cleaned the apartment. Nice relaxing day. I even had a little nap in the afternoon. Man, I love naps. I'm looking forward to my vacation (only a week and a half away!)... can't wait to just laze around in a lounge chair on my balcony overlooking the ocean, take afternoon naps every day and generally just vegetate. Vegetating is good!

Controlling my shopping tendencies

I have been thinking that I need a new hard drive to backup my computer. I think this is a want more than a need though. So, I've been spending the last few days convincing myself not to go to the electronics store. Tonight I finished work relatively early, and I'm very proud of myself... I did not go shopping despite the fact that my feet wanted to take me in that direction. No shopping! Gotta save money!

Mmmm Indian Food

Taught a seminar this morning with one of my co-workers, so we went out for lunch together afterwards. We went to an Indian restaurant which had really good lunch sets. I had the combination curry set - shrimp, mutton and vegetable curries. It was delicious! Just enough spice to give it a kick, but not so much that you would sweat to death. It came with a giant nan too. Love nan. Sure it is not that healthy for you, but it sure tastes good! Oh, I want to go to India so I can pig out on curry :)

Extra cherry blossom day!

Today I unexpectedly got to go and look at cherry blossoms again. I arrived at my older women's class this afternoon, and two of them ran in saying the blossoms were in full bloom (the class is in Saitama, the prefecture north of Tokyo) and that we should go for a walk. So, we walked along the river looking at blossoms. It started to rain a bit, but we all had umbrellas, so it was ok. There were hundreds of petals fallilng - it was like snow! So pretty. The trees were beautiful too. After our walk we headed to the mall for coffee and cake. It is hard to believe that I get paid for doing this!

Rain, rain go away

Today was absolutely freezing. Yesterday 21C, today 8C. What the heck is up with that? I was just thinking that being in Bangkok won't be so nice weather-wise compared to Tokyo. It should be liek 30+ and humid as all get out. However, if Tokyo is going to have 8C weather, I think I prefer Bangkok!
I also noticed today that it has rained every Monday for the past four or five weeks. That's sad. Makes you wanna jump right out of bed and go to work... not.

Windy Picnic

Hiroshi and I had a nice picnic today after walking along the river and enjoying the cherry blossoms. Due to weird weather, high wind and rain the blossoms won't last long this year. This weekend will probably be the only viewing time for most people.

Today the wind was incredibly strong - it was really hard to get pics of the flowers because they wouldn't stay still! Even our picnic stuff was blowing away! I did manage to get a few though.

Happy 5 Year "Anniversary"

Today marks 5 years that Hiroshi and I have been together. Can't believe it has been that long! The original plan was to go and have a picnic under the cherry blossoms - the same as when our romance bloomed. Okay, that is kinda gaggy. But really, after essentially giving up on him (he totally missed months of flirting) he came to my hanami (cherry blossom party) and things happened.

Anyway, after I finished work I arrived at the train station to find that the train was down -- and it was down for like an hour and a half. So I didn't get home until after dark, which meant the romantic cherry blossom picnic was out. So we decided to tempt death instead and go for fugu. :) Actually, Hiroshi had never had it before - big surprise to me! So it was cool. We had a really nice dinner - due to crazy work schedules we don't see too much of each other. It was good to sit down and be together and talk for a couple hours. And fugu tastes good, so it was a nice dinner.. and we didn't die. So life is good.

Stupid pachinko

On the way home from work tonight I felt lucky, so dropped into the pachinko parlour for the first time in ages. Obviously my luck meter was off, because pachinko just sucked money out of my wallet. Stupid pachinko!

They've changed all the machines to a new type - I don't like them. It is much harder to aim the balls on these ones. Bring back my old pachinko machines please. And my luck too.

Cherry blossoms are blooming

After much teasing and delays due to whacky weather, the cherry blossoms are finally blooming! Everything looks so pretty :) I love this time of year. I hope to get out this weekend and take some pics!

People are crazy

This is so sad. I can't believe that people in India and Pakistan are upset about a bus service that will reunite family members. How exactly does attacking bus passengers promote a political agenda? Stupid. I'm sure I don't understand all the politics of the situation, but trying to blow up people who just want to see family members that they haven't seen in years, well... people are crazy.

The Jehovah's Witness Quiz

This quiz is just too funny. Well, not the quiz itself, but the analysis of your answers. My person favourite comment... "this could be a problem. Other JWs wouldn't want to associate with you and you won't have any friends". I'm 33% JW btw.
Oh, and for those of you who might be wondering, yes, there are JWs in Japan. There is a woman that hangs out in Ikebukuro station and always corners me when I am up that way. She's pretty nice about it though. I figure she must have a horrible time spreading the word, since I assume she can only target non-Japanese (language barrier for one).

Artistic Reclaimed Land

Now this and this are awesome ways to use reclaimed land. Not to mention they are exciting real estate projects. The aerial photos are cool. The world is awesome but I kind of like the aesthetics of the palm tree. Wonder how much one of those islands would set you back.

Kanji Dyslexia

I've decided that I must be kanji dyslexic. (kanji= Japanese characters) I had to write my address on an envelope tonight in the Japanese sytle, which is vertical rather than horizontal. Needless to say, I wrote mirror images of some characters, had to really, really think about how to write other characters and basically wrote crap unbalanced characters in general. Why is it so much harder to write vertically than horizontally? It boggles my mind as to why it is so difficult to write in a different direction.

Great start to a 2 day weekend!

Yes, I actually have two days off. Whehoo! And I made a fine start by getting up at 11, checking my e-mail and then going back to bed. I then slept until about 8 pm. Guess I was tired! Now I'm lazing around in my jammies, surfing the net waiting for Hiroshi to come home. We're ordering in sushi for dinner. Then, we're going to watch Amazing Race. He is way behind, and I wouldn't mind seeing the episodes again. Wonder what I am going to do tomorrow to top today's excitement LOL

Happy April Fools

Did anyone get fooled? Not part of Japanese culture, so no one even tried to play a joke. Except maybe the person who set the office heat to sauna levels. (Well, that is just normal I guess - the office staff are always freezing, while all the western teachers are sweating to death. They are always putting the thermostat up to 25 or 26.) I was reading on one of my newsgroups though that someone went and changed everyone's desktop to pictures of scantily clad men (for her male coworkers). I thought that was pretty funny. Just in case anyone needs any ideas for next year.

allergies will make me broke!

I finally broke down and bought medicine for my hayfever. I now have supersonic sneezing action at home. *sigh* And being all stuffed up and sniffly makes it hard to sleep, so I hit the pharmacy. End result, this will make me broke. 2000 yen for 10 pills that will last a total of three days. Another 500 yen for 7 masks. Oh, and we can't forget the 1000 yen for eye drops that are supposed to make your eyes stop itching, only they feel like someone threw sand in your eyes and set them on fire - how that is supposed to be better than having itchy eyes I do not know.

Anyway, I think I'm going to go back to suffering. Shovelling out 5000 yen a week would suck. When will spring be over?

AR7 Ep 5/6 Rock!

Ok, now this is the AR I know and love! Suspense gallore! Foot race to the finish, accidents (thankfully no one was seriously injured), big shuffles in the rankings. Ahhhh, I'm in AR heaven. Just might have to watch those episodes all over again.

I am now cheering Joyce and Uchenna on. They're awesome. Rob and Amber... well, I know it is a race, but slowing down for 10 seconds when you can clearly see two teams (Brian & Greg and Lynn & Alex) standing there is not going to affect your standing in the race. Not stopping to even ask if everyone was ok, is definitely not cool. So, I don't like them anymore. I am glad that psycho boy was eliminated. Yippee! No more verbal abuse!

rambling

The earthquake in Indonesia last night is so sad. The news is showing people running to high ground - they all thought that there would be another tsunami. How horrible.

Today I had some new students join one of my group class... well one new student and her husband. After the class he basically insulted me and told me I sucked as a teacher. Gee thanks. I just sat there and smiled. Teaching high-level grammar to students who have trouble making sentences sometimes and only want to learn conversational English is a great idea - not. Whatever.

The pollen count today is aweful. Thought because it was rainy and crappy that it would be ok, but I'm sneezing like a mad woman ... inside. It's nuts.

No chocolate for me :(

Happy Easter everyone... I am not doing anything for the holiday. No one celebrates it here. Thus, I get no chocolate. Poor me. Ah well, I don't really need chocolate. In fact, I actually went to the gym today. And I cooked healthy food. If only I could convince myself that chocolate is healthy - it is one of the four food groups isn't it?

When Easter falls

Here's the good stuff on how to figure out when Easter will be, seeing that it has fallen quite early this year. Now I basically knew this because I remember my grandpa telling me one morning as we were making cereal for breakfast. Pretty smart grandpa :)

Lucky day off

Today all of my classes cancelled so I had an unexpected day off! Lucky me! I was able to do some cooking (so I can eat better) and dragged myself to the bank to pay for the rest of my plane ticket to Thailand (fund transfer is the usual way to make payments for travel arrangements here). Other than cooking, I just kind of lazed around. I did a bit of work, watched some tv I had downloaded and a wee bit of an afternoon nap. Feels good to have a break!

Happy 6 yr Anniversary to me

Well, today marks six years in Japan for me. Hard to believe it has been that long. It doesn't seem like 6 years. I'm still surprised almost daily by the things I learn about Japanese culture and yet I feel more comfortable here than I do in Canada - this is now my home. So here's to a great six years in Tokyo!

Laugh of the day

Ideas on how to vent your frustration in the kitchen...

Mmmm, oysters

Today my friend Cal treated me to lunch (Thanks Cal - it was awesome!). He took me to Grand Central Oyster Bar, which is modelled after the original in NY. Oysters were lovely. Definitely have to go back there. Want to try all of the different raw oysters... and get the oyster stew which Cal had (that was yummy). The menu is huge - tons of different things on it. We shared Oysters Rockerfeller and Clams Casino. Both very good. Glad I finally got to go here - last time I checked, there was a three month waiting list for dinner reservations!

Long weekend, no day off

Hi, my name is Liz and I am a work-a-holic. This was a long weekend, but silly me worked every single day. No day off :( I just keep thinking, LASIK. And nice hotels. And yummy Thai food. Soon I will be in relaxation heaven :)

The Rollover

Heh, my counter rolled over into the 10,000 range. Cool.

treasures in my pocket

Tonight after work I was trying to get myself organized and I felt something in the bottom of my coat. There is a hole in my pocket and something had obviously fallen thru into the lining of my coat. This regulary happens with my lip balm, but there seemed to be more. Well, wow! I had no idea there was so much down there. I pulled out, I kid you not, about 40 squished up used Kleenexes. Ahah! That is where they were disappearing to! I just didn't know so many had disappeared! (These were not treasures in case you were wondering)

I also found a pin from my tour at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gov't Bldg, and my missing glove! Yes, I had a glove in the lining of my coat and never knew. Hurrah! My fav fur fringe gloves are not lost. Even though I won't need them until next year, I am happy I still have both of them. I was so sad the other week when I thought one was gone forever.

I also found a candy - but it was kinda carmelized and gross from being in there so long. Think it may be time to actually sew up that hole.

watched tv for first time in ages

Tonight I watched Gladiator on tv. This is amazing, because despite owning two tvs in an apartment that is only 40 sq. m, I never watch television. I'm addicted to web surfing and downloaded stuff. It is kind of nice to laze in bed and flick channels. Oh, the power of the remote control!

After Gladiator finished, I stumbled upon a news report on the Aichi World Expo (Aichi is about halfway down the main island on the east coast in case you were wondering). Today was press day - it doesn't open until the 25th to the general public. The theme is the environment (or something), but I think the real theme is robots. Tons of them. Buses that drive without drivers. Robot shows. Robot greeters. It is a geek paradise. I'm there I tell ya.... just need to figure out when the best time (i.e. fewest crowds) is to go.

die pollen die

Pollen count is bad today. Sneezing is not fun. I scowl at the pollen - all five hundren billion particles of it floating around me whenever I go outside. Die pollen die.

hello cherry blossoms!

Today I saw the first cherry blossoms of the season! Whehoo! I love cherry blossom season in Japan. Everything is so beautiful. There is a tree near my house that gets direct sunlight, so it blooms a good week and a half to two weeks before the rest of the trees. Good sign though - at least one tree will be filled with glorious pink blossoms in a few days!

Did you see those pigs flying today?

Tonight, I ironed! Yes, I know, this is absolutely amazing. I never iron. When I lived in Canada, I used to have a friend who loved ironing (obviously he had something wrong with him). Every so often he would come to visit, and wonderful person that he was, he would do all of my 3-6 months of ironing that had piled up. Yes, that is how much I dislike ironing. I'd forego wearing things for 6 months, just so I didn't have to iron them.

I've since learnt that labels that indicate that ironing is needed mean that that item of clothing does not come home with me (that and the dry cleaning label). Hiroshi, however, has all cotton shirts. This of course means that we will be going to the store to buy new shirts that don't require ironing. Give me some good polyester blends. Otherwise I might be doing this every week! Ack!

You know the pollen count is high...,

You know the pollen count is high when there is a giant pollen cloud floating somewhere in Japan and people mistake it for smoke from a forest fire.

I'm at the point where I can't go outside without a mask. Otherwise I end up with supersonic sneezing, runny nose and throat mucous (sorry if that is TMI) that makes it hard to breathe. Oh, and the itchy eyes. Hiroshi started in with the headaches, sneezing and itchy eyes this week. Looks like he has passed the pollen threshold as well and is now a hay fever sufferer like half the rest of the population.

Guess this means he'll get to look like a doctor too whenever he goes outside LOL

Powerful Odor

Powerful Odor is the name of a new button on Japan's fandangled toilet seats. Yes, in addition to the flushing sound (to save water - Japanese women are embarrassed by the sound of peeing so flush constantly while doing thier business), heated seat, bidet, and washing functions, there is now a button that you can press that will release deodorizer for "powerful odor". I was tempted to push it just to see what it did (no, there was not a powerful odor) but was worried I'd have some toxic chemical sprayed on my butt or something. Gotta work up my courage. Maybe it sprays a nice floral scent... hopefully somewhere in the bowl rather than on the person sitting there.

Missed the last train!

One of my coworkers, Kara, is leaving Japan to go and do her PhD in Australia, so she had her sayonnara party tonight. We all met up at a restaurant in Shibuya called the Asian Kitchen. After getting our fill of food and drinks we wandered over to karaoke. I haven't been to karaoke in ages. I think the last time I went was back in October.

Anyway, I swear the last time I was in Shibuya, I got the train at 1:20 am. So tonight I wandered over to the station and arrived around 1:15... only the gates were all closed! I had missed my last train! Crap, crap, crap. So I had to get a taxi home. Geesh. 2800 yen later. Better than staying out on the street all night though or having to pay for a karaoke room. Mental note to self - verify when the train leaves instead of trusting your obviously faulty memory.

Test your movie knowledge

This site is awesome, not to mention hard! You can do quizzes where you have to guess which movie pictures are from. The catch? The actors' faces have been made invisible. It's really hard, and you'll kick yourself over the answers you missed!

AR7 - Episode 1

Ok, we're a bit behind in our AR watching - Hiroshi and I have been busy, and just got a chance to see it last night. I know - the next episode comes out tomorrow (I'm a day ahead of North America). So far, this season is looking much better. Thank heavens! I was really sad that the hillbillies got elminated. They would have been awesome fun on the show I think. For some reason, I got a better feel for the teams in this first episode. Usually I don't have much of an opinion at this point.
Lynn and Alex - stereotypical, a bit irritating so far
Ron and Kelly - umm, all American? Don't strike me as a strong team
Joyce and Uchenna - they seem pretty cool, but am reserving judgement
Ray and Deanna - hate. He is going to be this season's asshole
Mom and Son - did well, but don't like thier attitutdes. Quit whining about other teams and don't be all disappointed about 2nd in the first leg
Bianca and other (forget her name) - is it just me being a prude, or is there something more there than friendship? Other than the stupid debate about Llamas or baskets, they ran a good leg
Brothers - no opinion yet
Blonde girls - didn't even check the other sand piles. Should be eliminated for stupidity
Meredith and Gretchen - can't read him yet, she strikes me as fake and a bit weird. First senior team that I haven't really liked.

So here's hoping this season there are actual clues, and none of this bunching crap. AR, you must redeem yourself!

Interesting history link

Stumbled across this on one of the newsgroups I read - it is a link with eye witness accounts of historical events. I thought it was pretty interesting.

Whehoo! I'm going business class!

I sent in an inquiry form a week ago to a company that had an awesome business class rate on a flight to Thailand... only I never heard back from them. So I gave up and phoned the travel agent I normally deal with and the best price they could quote me was 100,000 yen for economy class. Umm... no thanks. So I hung up the phone, jumped on the internet and pulled up the cheap rate web page and found another company that was offering the same cheap business class rate as the no-response company. I gave them a ring, and not only did I get the tickets, they spoke English! Whehoo!! I can fly business class for 90,000 yen! That's cheaper than economy. Awesome.

Of course, if you are having a heart attack over those prices consider that I'm going during Golden Week when everyone leaves the country and prices skyrocket here. Usual economy price tickets are 30 - 40,000 yen to Bangkok, so that 100,000 gives you a pretty clear picture of the price gouging that goes on. My flight is not direct, I have a stop over in Taipei, but heck, that just means I can hang out in another business lounge! I'm thrilled with the tickets I got.

Life is good. I'm looking forward to a week of luxury :)

Visiting Kai

After a very long time I went to visit my friend Yasu, and his wife Eriko and son Kai. I haven't seen them for near on 9 months. Wow, I really have been busy. As you can see, Kai is as cute as a button. He's almost two, and while he has the energy of a 2 year old, he doesn't play shy. He was climbing all over me and we were playing together within minutes of my arrival.

I like this visiting cute kids option. I also called my friend Shar (who is in Germany) after not talking to her for ages (cuz I was too busy to phone) and we had a good chat about having kids and feeling the biological clock ticking, but just not wanting them right now. Freedom is good. I like my life right now. Kids will change that. Thus, visiting cute ones is a good substitute for now.

How to Fold a Shirt

So I thought this interesting science article was hard to understand until I saw this amazing thing. I of course have some sort of brain deficiency when it comes to folding, and simply do not get this. Swear to God, I've watched the darn thing about twenty times, and I still can't do it. I think it is a sign that Hiroshi should do laundry forever. He can fold shirts like this.

Not the S Word!

My student phoned my at a ridiculously early time this morning to tell me that it was snowing outside... and thus she might be late for class. Take note that she called me like 3 hours before her class started. I was still sleeping! Since she had woken me up, I peeped out the window and was greeted by this:


Yes, this is a lot of snow for Tokyo. This actually delayed train lines by hours. Oh, and everyone suddenly became retarded in this city. I swear, this is not a big deal. You can still see the pavement for crying out loud. But for some unknown reason, every one forgot how to walk. I was bumped into numerous times this morning, to the point where I was ready to haul off and punch the next person that did it. I mean, I am a large person, it is pretty hard not to see me. Where exactly is your head that you need to barrel right into me? Please pay attention. Geesh. Between that and nearly being decapitated or having my eye poked out with umbrellas by people with no clue about spacial relationships, I was not a happy camper this morning. Oh yeah, and there was all that s-word stuff on the ground too.

Hina Matsuri / Girl's Day

Today is Girl's Day in Japan. This is a picture of one of the hina dolls on display at Meguro Gajoen. (Sorry, it is a bit low-res)

Cherry Blossoms - 3/31 start!

The big news of the day is.... Cherry blossoms will start in Tokyo on March 31st. The news spent a good five minutes discussing the bloom schedule. This is important business! Last year was the earliest blooming period ever, if I remember correctly. The news said they should start at about the same time this year as well. Peak viewing time will be around April 7th. Mark your calendars! The big question for me is whether or not I should organize a party this year. Last year I was too busy, and I suspect that may be the case this year as well.

Going to Bangkok

Well I submitted a request form for my ticket to Bangkok - just waiting to hear back from the travel agent. I've decided to go and get Lasik done in Thailand. It is horribly expensive in Japan, and for the price of doing it in Canada, I can get it done in Bangkok and live like a queen for a week.

So now I need to decide where to stay while I am pampering myself. Why is choosing a hotel always such a huge deal for me? I swear, I stress to much over these things! The eye doctor (optomologist - guy who does the laser) said I could get on a plane to fly to Phuket two days after surgery, so guess where I'm going for the week between getting the surgery and my one week follow-up appointment. I already know where I'm going to stay - the same place Hiroshi and I stayed last time. Hopefully he'll be able to get some time off to join me down there.

But what to do about accommodations in Bangkok. I'm really dying to stay at The Peninsula but it is a bit pricey. It looks awesome though. And I can have afternoon tea like I did in Hong Kong (also at the Peninsula). The alternative is The Banyan Tree. The Banyan Tree is cheaper and has the whole suite thing, but The Peninsula has a tv in the bathroom... think bubble bath and a movie. Oh, decisions, decisions. The Peninsula is also top-rated and all rooms have a view of the Chao Praya river. Both of them seem to have different style than the typical hotel room - I definitely did not want that! Boring is out. (Why is it that pretty much all hotels have the same darn layout?)

My baby's back

Went to Akihabara this morning and picked my "baby" up. She's almost as good as new... I just have re-install everything. This is turning out to be a major pain in the butt. It took forever to get the software I use for work up and running properly.

Then ran into the fun iPod problem - iPod's are registered to a specific hard drive. Mine died. Therefore my iPod no longer had a home, or a computer it could be updated on! And I couldn't transfer my songs onto my harddrive because it doesn't allow you to do that (to prevent music sharing). Luckily my coworker told me about a program that would let me work around that problem, and now my music is back online. Phew! My coworker also gave me a copy of OS9 in English - OS10 can be set up in any language you want, but because I bought the Mac here in Japan, the OS9 shell runs in Japanese. Which is a pain because I can't read anything. So now I know what I am clicking on at least.

Unfortunately, none of my personal settings were saved in my partial backup. I have nada. I'm trying to rebuild my bookmarks, but so many are gone. That sucks. Luckily I put most of my family and friend contact info onto my iPod so I was able to recover that.

Lesson learned, let me tell you. There will be numerous backups performed in my house from now on.

400,000 yen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I took Hiroshi with me and my computer up to Akihabara today. First stop was Laox, where I had originally bought the hard drive. The guy there said I could send it to Logitech and they might be able to fix it, but it would take 10 days. What? I need it now though! He nicely offered to just give me a new hard drive which I could take to a repair shop to swap with the crap drive (and then I would bring the crap drive back to him).

I thought that I had better go to the repair shop to see if it could be done cheaply in a few days. So, off to the repair shop (a good kilometer away) we went. The man there looked at it and said there was a 10 percent chance that it was my logic board, but that my hard drive was probably dead. Data recovery - really expensive. His quote... get ready... 100,000 yen for 200 MB! Yes, that is like US$1000 for 200 MB of data!! Are they nuts???!!!

Guess that means I am sending my Mac off to Logitech. Back to Laox we go. We find the salesman, and say we will send it to Logitech. Only, he can only send the hard drive, not the computer. I have to go and get someone to take it out, and pay 10,000 yen. Then when I got the replacement, I'd have to pay another 10,000 yen to put the new one back in! What the heck?? Oh, and "Logitech won't do data recovery. And, this company here (shows us a webpage on his laptop) is the cheapest place... to recover the data on your 80GB hard drive ... (click, scroll) will cost... 400,000 yen." FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND YEN?!! They must be joking. Trust me, I was shocked at the 100,000 for 200 MB. This means my data really, truly is lost.

The fun thing I realized yesterday is that I had backed up my applications folder, but I don't have any of my personal data. Why? Because Mac doesn't store your personal data in with the programs (e.g. your e-mail addresses and bookmarks in your browser). It stores them in a special place (the architecture allows multiple users on a Mac, so the data needs to be separate from the program itself). I didn't back that folder up. I also didn't back up anything on OS 9 (I am running OS 10, but the computer also runs OS 9 so you can run older programs). All of my work stuff.... in the OS 9 part. This of course is all of the important stuff that I need! Can you see the scowl on my face?

Anyway, back to the story, we take the hard drive and my computer and troop to the repair shop down the street that the sales guy recommended. We get lost. Finally, we find the place, and, it isn't open Sundays. So we go walk back to the original repair shop I went to. He swaps out the drives, and.... there is a problem. I become hopeful, maybe it is the logic board, and my data is saved! But, nope, the gods have transpired to take my data away. The new one just doesn't work. Yes, I kid you not, the brand new replacement drive was broken. Logitech sssuuuuuuucks!

The repair man's comment, "You are unlucky!". This man was really nice, so this was kinda funny, but gee, thanks. Back to Laox we go to get a replacement for the replacement. Of course, we only have 15 minutes to get the hard drive and return to the repair shop before it closes. Thankfully, the repair man said he would wait for us to drop off the hard drive and that he would finish installing it tomorrow. So I get to go back tomorrow. Then I get to have all kinds of fun reinstalling everything! Not.

The only good think that happened today was that I realized all of my contact information is on my iPod. Phew! I have most people's e-mails still. I thought I had lost them all. Good thing I copied them over when I was playing with my iPod when I first bought it.

Anyway, after walking about 50 kilometers today, Hiroshi and I are exhausted. I'm sad that the data that I need to make my life easier is gone. So I went to the '610 yen a piece' cake store on the way home. I need cake today. And not just any cake, really good stuff. I figure I've already walked all those calories off.

High hopes dashed

My coworker recommended trying a disk recovery program that had helped him with a disk (that the computer could also not see). So he kindly installed it on one of the work Macs and gave me a password to use it. I lugged my baby into work with fingers crossed. Only to have my hopes dashed. It can't find my disk either, which means, my disk is fried. Damn. I guess this means I'm off to Akihabara (electronics district) tomorrow to get it fixed.

My "baby" died!

I was packing up my computer today when suddenly a strange sound came from it... kinda like metal grinding against metal. I thought, "ummm, this is probably not a good sound". Well, my hard drive is gone. Killed, dead, inaccessable. I have lost all kinds of data! I have some stuff backed up, but not all. I am pretty upset at the moment.
I went to Apple after work tonight and waited around for an hour for them to tell me they can't do anything, because they didn't install the hard drive (I upgraded). So I have to go to the place that did the upgrade, only guess what, they are closed Sundays. When do I have time free to go there? Sunday. *sigh*
Of course the data that I need to use this weekend, is, you guessed it, on that hard drive, and not backed up. So, here I am at work redoing all of it. I need chocolate and a shoulder to cry on.
Family and friends: If you need to reach me, I have no access to my regular account. If you sent me a message some time today, I didn't and can't get it. Please contact me via my gmail or hotmail account. You know the address.

Spring, you tease

Today was 17C! I love spring! I hope it is coming soon. Please, please, pretty please! I can deal with 17C. Everything smells fresher when it is 17C. The only down side to today was the high pollen count. Thank heavens for masks! Maybe I can put my winter coat away soon!

Super cool waste management technology

This new technology (which actually just uses old technology) to process waste sounds pretty awesome. It is environmentally friendly, makes oil/gas and minerals, and seems to be viable.

Cheap business class fares to Thailand

I was searching for airfare to Thailand over Golden Week (because I am considering getting LASIK done there) and stumbled across a great deal! Business class fare for only a hundred bucks more than economy. Granted it isn't a direct flight, but champagne, fruit and cheese trays and lots of space to stretch out are worth it. Hmmm...

The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

Since Hiroshi says I am the gadget queen, here is the list of The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time.

Bugs Bunny got a makeover??!!

How could they??!! This is not the Bugs we all know and love. :(

BIIIIG earthquake last night

I was rudely awakened at just after 4am this morning, to my apartment swaying back and forth. There was a big earthquake that was a bit worrisome. I've never really worried about things crashing, but I started to wonder if our book case would hold up. The epicenter was only 40km north of Tokyo.

I have colleagues who live in north-western Tokyo and they had things falling off shelves. Many people felt it was the strongest earthquake they have ever felt in Japan... I don't know if it was the strongest I have felt, but it is definitely one of the top ones.

That's ok - it is releasing pressure. It can quake all it wants as long as they aren't too big!

Amazing Race 8 - WOW!!!

Just perused the application for Amazing Race 8, and guess what! Teams will consist of 4, yes 4! members! How's that for a twist??!! That will be hilarious I think. How on earth are they going to squish four people into a taxi with their camerapeople? The cab situation will be interesting for sure. As will airline tickets.

So, do you think there will be more or less arguing? My guess is less because when two people go at it, the others can kind of calm them down. Unless of course it is two against two. Should be exciting anyway!

OK - off to read about the contestants for AR7... I heard that there is only one model couple this time round. Thank God.

A new CostCo

Hiroshi and I went to the CostCo in Yokohama that just opened up in the fall. Yokohama is south of Tokyo, as opposed to Chiba (where we noramlly go) which is to the east. I think I like the other one better. It is cheaper to get to, takes about 20 minutes less travelling time, and there is a bus between the CostCo and the wharehouse. The one in Yokohama is a 10 minute walk. Not bad when you are going, but murder when you are lugging heavy bags back.

At least we went somewhere different though. It was an interesting change. And we got to take the express train to Yokohama from Osaki. I didn't realize how fast it was - and it comes pretty often too. So that is convenient... if I ever actually need to get to Yokohama. Actually, it will be good for spring because that line goes to Odawara which has a castle and lots of cherry blossom trees aparently. So that will make a good day trip at the end of March or early April.

Now I am all stocked up on meat and other things... time to get back to eating properly and working on losing weight. First order of business when we got home was to throw out all the freezer burned meat that has been sitting in the freezer for over a year. Such a horrible waste, but it had to go. I'm going to try not to stockpile as much. No savings if it goes to waste. I also cleaned out a bunch of expired things from the fridge (since when does mustard expire?). Then I divided the meat, cleaned/skinned the chicken breasts (most disgusting job on the planet) and put everything in plastic baggies for individual serviings. Phew! Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but boy am I tired now!

Death of the cyclamen

My mom and Joan got me a beautiful cyclamen when they were here visiting. It was a lovely gift, but little did they know, I have the green thumb of death. And true to form, the thing is slowly dying... and I've only had it for a week and a half! I'm pulling out all the dead flowers but the leaves are yellow. There are still new blooms coming up, but they are white rather than pink. I'm watering it well from the bottom... maybe it needs a bit more sunlight. Not sure. Guess I'll start moving it from the table to in front of the window during the day. Maybe that will help it.

Poseidon Undersea Resorts

I want to go here! How awesome would it be to sleep under a sea of fish??!! I could hang out here for a week just watching fish on the coral.

Prince Charles to marry Camilla

For some reason, this made me say "woah" out loud. Can't believe that Prince Charles is actually (finally) marrying Camilla.

Cool Giant Ice Sculture

Pretty amazing ice sculpture that some guys made to practice climbing. Check out all 4 pages of ithere.

Now this is a camera!

This is the ultimate camera geeks dream! This 4 gigapixel camera sounds awesome.

Acrylic nail vending machine

As I was walking to the station with Cal after work on Saturday we happened to see the above vending machine in the drug store. Yes, this is a machine that not only sells acrylic nails, but applies them too!
Now, besides the fact that it is probably really unsanitary, I definitely would not want a belt of sandpaper (which is what is inside this thing) sawing off the top of my nail before gluing the ones that I purchased from the machine on. Are you crining with me? I think this one is worse than the UFO catchers with live lobsters in them.

Oh, and I took this pic with my new camera. Gotta love being able to e-mail my camera pics to myself now!

Handsfree Operation!

Hey just found out another cool feature on my phone! It has voice tags which means you can set voice commands for automatic dialling and stuff. On the phone, to activate the voice command, you press a special button and then say it. Well when you are wearing the handsfree set, if you press the answer/hangup button, you can just say the command and it will dial! I thought I would have to press the special voice command button on the phone to activate it. So this means I can hide my phone away in my bag and voice command dial and then just talk away when I'm walking down the street... you know, so everyone will think I'm crazy. LOL This is awesome. I love my new phone!

Bridesmaid Dresses

My sister has asked me to be the maid of honour in her wedding. Ok, officially I'm a matron of honour, but that sounds old, so I'm not calling myself that. After the big missing e-mail fiasco (e-mail sent to an address that has a limit for attachments) I finally got some pics. Some of them led me to ask "What is Jen thinking?" or "Is she going with the 'make your attendants look as bad as possible so you look better' theme?". (Sorry Jen, but some of those dresses would just not go with my hips and chest!). I eventually decided on separates from Alfred Angelo.

The Alfred Angelo line has some nice stuff in it actually (as opposed to other lines which made me phsyically cringe when I viewed some of the pics on their websites). Of course I needed to give mom a decision yesterday and Alfred Angelo's website was down - which led to all kinds of fun in trying to decide which top I wanted to add to the skirt. Mainly because I could pull up websites to bridal stores; however, they did not show the full Alfred Angelo line. So the discussion with mom went kind of like this: "what about style XXX?" "I don't know - I can't see that one". I'm sure she was ready to strangle me.

Anyway, it is now apparently ordered. Navy blue was a "no go" for the colour (darn, was hoping to minimize my hips!) so I will be in lilac apparently. Also, the sizes in North America have been readjusted, or the bridal stores just want to make you feel good. I figured I would be ordering a larger size that I did.

Too many functions!

The battery on my cell phone has not been keeping the charge recently, so I decided it was time to buy a new cell phone. I can't have the thing conk out on me in the middle of the day, and it is a pain in the butt to continually be charging it. It had lasted 3 years to the day exactly (I know this because it is Hiroshi's brother's memorial today, and we got his phones the day he passed away). Considering batteries really only have a decent charge for 1 year, I figure we did pretty well.

So, the new phone. It has so many functions we don't know what to do first. The menu system is a bit different than what we are used to because it is made by Nokia rather than a Japanese producer. The Japanese producers pretty much have the same menu systems. The saleswoman said "I recommend this other phone instead (of the one we bought) because the menu system is very complicated". Yeah right. Easier menus and a 20,000 yen increase in the price tag. We'll deal with the menus thank you. They actually aren't that difficult; it is just a matter of figuring out where everything is.

So, the phone came with a handsfree headset, which is awesome, because I have that thing stuck to the side of my head all the time. Let's hear it for cancer protection. It has voice commands. I can say "call Hiroshi" and it does! Except when I say it with different intonation, and then it doesn't LOL. It has a camera, which isn't a big deal, because our old ones had one as well. I think the big difference is we finally got ourselves signed up for e-mail on our phones. So you can send me messages to my cell phone in emergencies (mom and dad - am sending address by e-mail to you). Only emergencies though, because it costs to receive them and I'm a cheapskate. Especially when I'm already paying for internet at home.

Anyway, that is our new toy. We've spent most of the evening playing with things and trying to figure out how to set everything up the way we want it. Only downside - we didn't realize until about three hours afterward that there is no answering machine on the phone. Only a remote one. Kind of a pain to call it all the time when you have messages rather than just play them back on the phone. Oh well. Now all I have to do is figure out if I can sync this baby with my schedule on my Mac - it looks like I might be able to. Now that would be cool.

Bye Mom and Joan!

Well, mom and Joan are off back to Canada. We had a great visit. Come back soon - we like tomato sandwiches and breakfasts that are cooked when we wake up :) Tonight Hiroshi and I went out for sushi - after trying to convince both mom and Joan to give it a try all week to no avail, I had a wicked craving for it. Mmmm fatty tuna!

Then we came back home and watched the last two episodes of Amazing Race. WTF???!!! No, not Lori and Bolo! I liked that team! And what the heck is up with a yield combined with a non-elimination leg. Umm, doesn't that make the yield completely useless? I don't understand. This season sucks.

Big Bang on the Subway

I was riding the Hibiya line today to one of my classes when all of a sudden there was this very loud "bang!". It sounded like a cross between a gunshot and a car running over a petbottle with a cap on it. Everyone was looking at each other and thinking, what the heck was that?! And then the train went "vooooh-errrrr" as it slowed down and stopped. Did something just explode?

Then an announcement came on in Japanese that said to wait a minute. I'm thinking, please don't let there be a jumper or anything. I definitely don't want that sound to be running over someone. Then another announcement asking us to wait. People settled in to their seats at this point, and I started thinking, this isn't good. The train when "voooh-errrr" again and instead of going forward started to slide backward. The breaks screeched on. "Just a moment please". A few minutes later the train tries to go forward again and it still results in us sliding backwards instead. At this point I am starting to think we are all doomed to sit there for hours. Maybe that big bang was a transformer blowing.

Then a few minutes later it started up again and we were on our way. No explanation, just a sorry for the delay announcement. My question of course is, what the heck happened? It couldn't have been a transformer because the lights and heating were still on in the train. As far as I know they don't have separate generators for that. So what exactly wast that big bang that prevent the train from moving forward for a while?

Got to sleep in - kind of

Today I didn't have to leave for work until 12, and mom and Joan actually slept in a little bit... well, they didn't make much noise until 9am that is. Then they started banging and stuff. But, all was good - I got pancakes with strawberries and whip cream, and an omelete for breakfast. Mmmmm!

Someone cooked - wasn't me!

I worked all day long today, so it was really nice to come home and find dinner ready! Aren't moms great? Maybe she can move to Japan and cook dinner for me every day :)

Today is my sister Jen's birthday - Happy B-day Jen!

Visiting the In-laws

Mom and Joan wanted to go down and see Hiroshi's mom, so we all piled on to the shinkansen (bullet train) this morning and headed down to Hamamatsu. Today was beautiful, and very clear, and for the first time ever on the shinkansen, I got to see Mt. Fuji! It was awesome! The shinkansen goes right by it, so we got really nice views. That was a nice treat!

When we arrived in Hamamatsu we went out for eel, which is the specialty of the area. It was really good, and both mom and Joan liked it. That was good! Then we headed out to the cemetery to do a small ceremony for Ichiro, Hiroshi's brother. In Japan, you hold a memorial service at the three year mark (as well as 1, 7, and some others).

Following that we went back to Hiroshi's house, where Yoshiko, my mother-in-law, had some friends over who entertained us with dancing and by playing traditional Japanese instruments. It was really nice. Then we had tea and exchanged gifts and things. She gave a ton of food to Hiroshi and I - I'm pretty sure she was passing on the winter gifts to us (Japanese people send food gifts during the summer and winter). I'm not complaining.

Then it was time to come home, so we all piled back onto the shinkansen and had a little nap on the way home. When we arrived back in Tokyo, we went out for dinner at Outback. Mmmmm, baked potato! It was weird - there wasn't any wait at all. Usually it is busy at that time. Maybe it was too cold out for anyone to venture very far. The wind was freezing! Anyway, tummies full and having that "ate lots" sleepy feeling, we all came home and fell into bed.

Nikko - again

We went up to Nikko yesterday for the temple / shrine tour. I've been there fifty million times it seems, but it is always a nice day trip. We actually stayed overnight though so we could go to the onsen at our pension, the Turtle Inn.

By the time we got going, it was late in the day before we got up there (as is always the case - for some reason, the Nikko departure time is always a few hours after I think it will be). We just settled into the hotel, went out for dinner and then came back and went to the onsen.

This morning we got up and had breakfast, which was good. Then we hit the shrines. After walking around and taking a bunch of photos (I got some good detail shots which I will put up soon) we wandered back to Tokyo. We stopped by Asakusa on the way home to see the shrine there and walk down Naka-mise, which is the shopping street leading up to the shrine. It has lots of good souvenirs and traditional Japanese sweeets and stuff.

By the time we got back to my place, it was 5:30, so no time for a nap today! We left shortly after to go for drinks with some of my colleagues. There was a plan for karaoke, but every one was tired or not feeling well, so that will have to be for another day.

China Updates - Next Week!

I'm slow! Didn't have time to get my updates done before mom and Joan came (cleaning ya know). So they'll have to wait until next week. Until then, I'll try to keep the current entries up to date at least!
We're off to Nikko later today, so more on our adventures tomorrow!

Playing Tour Guide

I had to work this morning so I gave Hiroshi tour guide duty. As it turned out my middle of the day classes all cancelled, so I got to join the tour. We went to Tokyo Metropolitan goverment building today. Unfortunately, it was smoggy and we couldn't see Mt. Fuji though. That kinda sucked. It has been so clear lately, that I was pretty sure we'd see it. Maybe another day.
After that, we hit Harajuku. We wanted to go to Oriental Bazaar, which is a great place to buy souvenirs, but it was closed! Why on earth does it close on Thursday? We did get to walk around Meiji Jingu though and up and down the fashion streets. There were plans to go to Shibuya to the people watch from Starbucks at Shibuya crossing, but mom and Joan were pooped. So they had to go home and have a nap LOL

The important places first

Well, this morning my early morning student didn't show up for his class, so I'm shooting evil dagger eyes at him (where ever he may be in Tokyo). I could have slept in! Then I got tied up at work and ended up being there much later than planned, only to find the train had stopped running when I finally did make my way home. Oh well. Eventually I made it. The first stop on the tourist circuit was the 100 yen store LOL Hey, there are lots of great things there! It is also near my house too, so we got to walk around the neighbourhood. Overall, not too much of an eventful day, but we had a good visit.

Visitors!

My mom and my aunt Joan arrived from Canada tonight! I'm so excited to have visitors. They are pretty tired after a long flight, but we had nabe (hot pot) for dinner. I got lots of fun presents too like toothpaste, fat-reduced Miracle Whip, and Jello instant pudding. All the stuff I know and love but can't get here!

Still behind

I got one more China entry up (scroll down to the Jan 4th entry). I still need to get the 5th-8th up... they're coming! I hope tomorrow. I'll let you know once they are up so you aren't constantly scrolling to the bottom of the page. At least I'm somewhat up to date on entries from the last couple of weeks!

Twinkies gone wrong

Somehow, this is just wrong.

Sniffles

I have been stuffed up and fighting a runny nose ever since I came back from China. Here I was thinking it was just a cold... but it is pollen. Hay fever is in full swing in Japan. Yes, I know, it is the middle of winter and hay fever comes in spring. Supposedly it the pollen count will be 10 to 30 times higher than it was last year. Boy, won't spring be fun!

I didn't have pollen allergies when I came to Japan. After living here for three years I started to get sniffles. Last year I started to wear a mask in the spring because I was sneezing uncontrollably all the time. According to the article I linked above, last year had a very low pollen count. Might have to try some of the new products released this year - sprays for you clothes which encapsulate the pollen to prevent it from breaking and releasing alergens, and nose creams that do the same thing for pollen than winds up in your nose, or the full face masks that are now available covering from the top of your nose to under your chin. Sexy, hunh?

Pollen sucks.

More entries below

I've added in Jan 1-3 below. Only 5 more to go LOL I just need to find time to type them up. HOpefully today or tomorrow I'll get the rest up!

World Expo

This year the World Expo is being held in Japan. While searching thru the information, I found out thatCanada was the first to sign up to take part. That's pretty cool. Go Canada. Hope I can make it down to Aichi to check it out this summer!

BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'should not rule out torture'

BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'should not rule out torture'
Does anyone else find this very, very disturbing?

World Traveller Blog Link

Now here is a world traveller... check out this guy's blog. He has been to most countries in the world. Pretty awesome.

Clear Skies

I had a beautiful view of Fuji today from where I taught my first class this morning. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me - it was one of the best views I've ever seen. What has struck me since I've been back in Japan is just how clear the skies are here. In China they were smoggy, foggy or overcast all the time. Here they are clear, beautiful blue with hardly a cloud in the sky. Amazing. I feel so much better when I can see the sky clearly. Never noticed that before.

Slowly adding in more updates

I redid the pictures for Dec 23-Dec 26. There are a few more pictures in the body as well as some new picture links. (They should load faster too now). I also got two more entries up. More to come. I have two more written, just need to upload all the pics! Now it is time for bed, because I have to go back to work tomorrow (boo!) and it is 3 am (oops!)