My life with The Woodys (extra)

Bottle Twister

2011-02-04T09:58:00.000Z

New Life in Niseko - Are we in Japan?

2011-01-15T11:50:00.005Z

Well, we moved to Niseko on 2nd of December last year. A month and a half have past since then, and we are settling in well to our new life in the country. I think Masaki did well with adjusting his life. And hand over of stay at home parent went very smoothly, too. Woody the dog is certainly having a better life here. All in all, we made a good move.

Niseko is a strange place. It is in Japan but it is not like Japan. I don't need to use Japanese most of the time unless I talk to my two Japanese colleagues. Many of our neighbours are non-Japanese. Even if they are, they are mostly from out side of Hokkaido. So, I feel we fit in to this community very well. We are far from unique for sure.

As for my work, for the first time in my life, I am commuting by car. More over, I am driving in the snow. Scraping the snow off my car every morning, every lunch time, every evening - basically almost every time before I drive. I have started to get used to it.

Although Niseko has more snow than Sapporo, I found day to day life here is easier than Sapporo because we drive everywhere we go. Down side is, because of it, we are more exposed to car accidents. Oh yes, I had my first car accident the other day. Well, it was not really a crash. I rubbed another car while reversing. The paint of my back bumper and the front bumper of the other car is scratched off a little. Now I am in a dilemma whether I should use my insurance to pay for the damage.

My company kindly provides a lift pass which can be shared among staff. This is a great benefit for me since I don't really want to pay for an expensive lift pass to go to the mountains due to the fact I am not a keen snowboarder.

Apart from those changes, we are still living in a little Britain at home, watching BBC on iplayer.

Internet is great! Can't live without it.

Moving Again

2010-11-16T23:34:00.009Z

Although it has only been a year since we moved to Sapporo, we will move again. This time, hopefully for the last one for a long time. The place is called Niseko, two-hour drive away from Sapporo, where there are tons of snowfalls in the winter AND famous for the world class powder. Niseko was introduced on BBC Ski Sunday a few years ago as well. I would say the area is like "a little Aussie". When we visited there for the first time, there were more foreigners, mostly from Australia, than the Japanese. Since the credit crunch, the bubble has burst and the Aussie rush has calmed down but the resort is still attracting many people from the world.

I think it is a perfect place to live for my family; surrounded by the nature and has an international community. We'll find out soon!!

Bottle Fight

2010-09-02T08:53:00.012+01:00

…not at a festival, but with Masaki. A couple of weeks ago, he suddenly started to refuse a bottle-feed. We’ve been using a bottle every now and again. However literally the day after we had a conversation with the Isle of Wight party gangs about the bottle-feed refusal he started rejecting it. Masaki must have heard the conversation and decided to go on a strike?! Funny thing is that he does not refuse it completely. The other day, I gave him some expressed milk from a bottle throughout the day. He was not totally happy but he accepted it. The following morning, he cried like hell even it gets close to him. Has he already got a mood swing? Some web sites suggest to use some apple juice to attract a bottle but I am not sure about the idea. I don’t want him to have a sweet tooth right from start. Having said that, when I tasted my breast milk – just in case it does not have funny acidic taste or anything like that – it was very sweet. If you use it for coffee you won't need any sugar, I will tell you!!

Bottle fight, to be continued….

Holiday is over

2010-08-23T01:48:00.018+01:00

It’s almost been three months since Masaki was born. And summer is nearly coming to the end. As you can imagine, last three months has been a very busy and challenging period for me. As a 10 hour sleeper person, waking up few imes in the night was especially challenging. Thankfully, it reduced to once or sometimes twice now.

Having three weeks summer holiday from end July, Woody experienced full time new daddy life, which provided a fantastic opportunity for him to bond with his new born son, moreover, to understand what was going on while he was at work.

We tried to get Masaki into his routine during this period; decided that 7 o'clock is a good time for his bed time whether he likes it or not. Fortunately giving him a bath around 6 o'clock triggers the signal of bed time, therefore getting him to sleep is usually not too bad.

Spending full three weeks with Masaki, Woody now appreciates why I was not happy when he came back home at night and tried to wake Masaki up before. Obviously he doesn't do it any more.

This summer, we are experiencing very hot and unexpectedly humid weather in Sapporo, so that Masaki is having a bath twice or sometimes three times to cool him down and to avoid sweat rash. This works very well as he often goes to sleep afterwards, and what’s more, he hardly have sweat rash despite the heat wave.

At the end of July, we finally purchased a long wanted car. It's Subaru Forester, 11 years old S/20 Limited with cold region spec. & a sun roof. In spite of its age, the car has low mileage, and most of all, the price was exceptionally good (approx £1500). Initially I had a concern about fuel consumption however considering a luggage space and driving condition in the winter, now I feel we made a right decision. We love the fact it has an air conditioner as well. In the past, cars in Hokkaido are famous for not air conditioned inside. It was unnecessary back then. Increasing in average temperature every year, cars with an air

conditioner appears to be very common these days. At least we are very pleased with it.

Sapporo has many good size parks and rivers throughout the city. Our favourite river so far is Toyohira river which has a long cycling path, a water park, tennis courts baseball courts, fishing spots and so on. Only down side is "No fire" policy, so no BBQ there, boo.

Recently we visited Makomanai Park where winter Olympics was held in 1972, the year I was born!! It is one of the biggest park in Sapporo, including 3 km of jogging route, some nature reserve areas, a few view spots for returning salmons to the river in autumn and many more.

Bernard Square the dog cafe restaurant/dog-run is another fantastic discovery for this summer. As the cafe owner runs internet business from upstairs of the cafe as their main income, the cafe itself is almost as their hobby. Being a lover of Saint Bernard, he carefully planned the layout to be able to accommodate large dogs, whilst fantastic socialising spot for both dogs and dog lovers. Woody loves the place too, hanging out with other doggies - many of them are large ones - is a cool thing to do in the city of Sapporo, so he says.

As Masaki being so small this summer, we could not travel outside the city this year. Next summer, we are hoping to go for a longer distance and finding out more about Hokkaido.

Our summer holiday is over yet the highest temperature is hovering around 27/28 degrees during the day and quite humid in the evening. I can't imagine right how it was like four months ago when Shane visited us at the end of April. I was still wearing a full winter jacket then.

Nevertheless, pears and grapes start appearing in our local supermarket now. It's a sign of autumn. I am sure temperature will drop before too long and soon will be the snow world again.

Scar-Face

2010-08-16T08:55:00.015+01:00

So, Woody had a fight….well, “Woody was attacked” might be a more accurate description.

A couple of days ago, we visited the local dog-run where it takes about 15 minutes from our flat by car.

Arriving slightly early in the morning, only few dogs were there at the time. Two Black Labradors were among those and were playing ball games and tumbling each other. My initial impression of them was they were active and love rough games.

That day, Woody - as usual - tried to get an attention from one of the Black Lab. They were running around together chasing the ball at first, and looked as though they were enjoying each other's company. However, once Woody mounted one of them from behind, the situation suddenly changed. The Lab started to attack Woody and did not stop. Yes, dogs usually tell off each other's unwanted behaviours but normally chase them off and stop - no harm done. They might use teeth as a warning but they don't bite unless they feel being attacked and need to protect themselves.

Woody tried his best to run away from the dog but the Lab was so persistent and looked as if he was going to kill Woody. Such an unexpected behaviour from Labrador. I was stunned and could not move. Woody (human) throw a ball at the Lab to detract but no effect. In the end, the Lab's owner grabbed her dog from behind and the attack was finally over - phew!

What was wrong with that dog??

I know Woody, in a way, caused it but many dogs mount to each other as a dominant behaviour or simply trying to get an attention. And Woody tried just once and the Lab snapped off!

Whilst the Lab owner intervene her dog's attack on Woody, one of the dogs' teeth seemed to have caught her arm and made her bleed. Intervene a dog-fight is so dangerous, but what can you do in that situation? I don't want to imagine what could have happened to Woody if the dog owner did not stop her dog, considering the Lab was a lot bigger/heavier than Woody.

" My dog cannot stop..." said the owner afterwards.

Did she know her dog could be like that?

Woody have been attacked by neighbourhood dogs a couple of times in London but those dogs were famously dangerous in the area and had a history of attacking other dogs so there was no surprise then. But this time, I cannot believe Lab could be like that.

It was so nice though, the other dog owners witnessed the incident in the park worried about Woody's injury, and one of them offered us styptic powder and disinfectant liquid.

Woody got three bites; on his nose, chest and back neck. Nose looked the worst and did not stop bleeding for a while.

We visited our vet straight after and gave him a jab and got one week worth of antibiotics. So he has to take it easy for a week or so. Cost us about £70. Ouch!

At The Shop

2010-08-12T13:28:00.009+01:00

“Can this fit to my car window?”

The man asked a shopkeeper at the till. He wanted to purchase a shade to fit his car window but was not sure it is the right product for his car.

“The best way is to measure your car window, here” the shopkeeper offered him a tape measure.

“Ok, will do that” replied the man, and took the tape measure and the product with him, and off he went to the car park.

I was there to purchase a Sat Nav at the time, and amazed about the whole thing. Interesting thing was the shopkeeper did not seem to concern at all that the man could walk away with the product unpaid.

Did I live in UK too long to think that?

Despite of my concern, the man was measuring his car window as suggested. Then, after a while, he came back to the shop. I could not help but keep my eye on him while he was out in the car park.

While the man was still not sure about whether it actually fits to his car window, he, at the end, returned to the shop. Both the shopkeeper and the man did not seem to cross their mind at all that there was a shoplifting opportunity or possibility at that time.

Since I came back to Japan, I have noticed most people leave video cameras and expensive SatNav systems very visibly in a car - though some of SatNavs are built-in so can't be removed. This is unbelievable in a very good way.

Trusts to other people still exist in this country and I hope it remains that way.

Japanese Gadgets

2010-08-04T02:47:00.004+01:00

It is Holiday season in Japan. Temperature has been soared especially in mainland Japan. And even in Hokkaido we had experienced unexpected humidity and heat wave. Thankfully our car has an air conditioning.

Since the car has been picked up, we drove around Sapporo in order to accomplish our accumulated tasks which require a car. Our top priority on the day we picked up the car was to take Woody the dog to the local dog-run where we have visited a couple of times in the past when we hired a car. So, we thought we knew the way…but we didn’t. As a result, we got lost, pretty badly.

Every time we hired a car, Satellite Navigation system was used. It is very common; almost all cars in Japan have Sat Nav on board, even in a mighty Rover Mini!!

This is quite understandable as Japanese roads are not as systematic as western roads - not all streets &roads have names and street numbers may not be in order.

I always thought of myself that I was pretty bad with directions. Then, after I moved to London, I changed my mind. It wasn’t me; it’s the roads & transportation system in Japan!!

We started investigating about SatNav, imagining there are many good quality but cheap ones available in this country. Although I was right about many high quality ones are available, wrong about being cheap.

The price starts from £150 and easily goes over £700. It seems to have the different culture towards gadgets here. As all Japanese loves having fancy gadgets and don’t want having cheapy old fashioned ones, everything is reasonably high standard and also pretty expensive.

Considering that Japan has been in a deep recession for a long time, spending power on gadgets is not weakening. It’s Interesting. I think Japanese loves show-offs and some people could be quite snobby, too.

Well, despite we would love a SatNav in our car, to buy or not to buy that is the question.

New Motor

2010-07-27T12:58:00.004+01:00

Our car will be ready tomorrow morning for a collection!! After disastrous paperwork error done by our estate agency, we nearly had to wait for few more days.

“It will be ready by tomorrow morning” says the Mr car salesman.

Luckily he made an effort and minimised the delay – phew!

It’s a funny business getting a car over here in Japan. Initially I was imagining like enable us to drive off as soon as we pay for it but I was totally wrong. Sine I took my driving license in UK and have never purchased a car in Japan; I did not know anything about the car purchasing process in this country.

Over here, proof of parking approved by the local police is required for a car dealer to release the car. It makes sense as the space in Japan is so limited, AND this prevents many illegal parking.

Usually a car dealer will arrange it for you based on providing necessary documents to them. It should be quite straight forward process but somehow got complicated in our case.

Since we wanted Woody(not the dog!) as a main driver, we tried to submit all documents under his name. However, how to write "Woodason" was a tricky part. One document was written in English alphabet and the others were in Japanese alphabet. Our local police did not like that as it will be no tractability between the documents!!

When we tried to fix the alphabet problem and we re-requested our estate agency to issue another parking certificate in English alphabet, they made a mistake on our address, Doh

Fix one thing and another thing goes wrong!!

Anyway, while we were feeling a big disappointment that car collection had to be postponed to Friday, we received another call from the car dealer - saying they managed to fix the problem. Great!!

Hopefully no more issues no more delays. Touch wood!

Quick Note: It's Masaki's 2 months old birthday today.

Yubari Melon

2010-07-14T02:38:00.003+01:00

Here is THE famous Yubari melon. It reminds me of my childhood summer time.

Middle of July already

2010-07-12T05:40:00.001+01:00

Since I got back from the clinic, I have been very busy doing the same thing over and over and over again 24/7 to look after our new born Masaki. At first, I was thinking whether I was doing correctly, the baby is getting enough milk he needs and so on. Then, I started thinking when this would ever end? Now, I am on the second month, things are getting easier and my sleep during the night started to get slightly longer, phew!! and most of all, Masaki is growing rapidly so I must be doing OK.

It is not all downside for getting up frequently throughout the night though. I managed to watch World Cup & Wimbledon tennis live! and was very surprised that Japanese team played a lot better than I originally anticipated. England, on the other hand, was very disappointing result. Luckily I did not stay awake for the games.

As for Woody dog, he has been very good, welcoming the new addition. Yesterday, for the first time all of us including Masaki went out for a walk as the weather was good (a lot cooler than last few weeks). I think Woody enjoyed it very much.

Quick Update....

2010-05-17T23:43:00.001+01:00

Now I am in a full term of my pregnancy, which is 3 weeks before due date, and our boy is ready to come out any time. I visited my clinic yesterday to do the routine check ups and my Doctor told me that since the boy is bigger than Japanese average and my uterine cervix has not opened at all, not even an inch, he recommended C-section option. I will see him again next Monday and C-section may take place the following Thursday. Which means that we will see our boy by the weekend after next.

I will have to sort out dog Woody's carere while I am away in the clinic...he will go on a short holiday!!

A Couple of Photos from today

2009-12-02T08:42:00.001Z

A grit storage for the winter season. It shows in the drawing how to do it as well – seems to be a woman’s job in Sapporo.

We found a nice cycling path this afternoon. Many senior ladies and gents were doing brisk walking, along with some dog walkers like us. Woody had a very good sniff there, too.

Vegemite vs Marmite

2009-12-02T08:29:00.001Z

This morning, I visited nearby shopping complex to sort out some business – paying bills, banking etc. While I was there, I also did a quick visit to an import grocery shop to see if Marmite is available.

To my regret, Vegemite was dominating the shelf and no sign of Marmite – damn!! Despite of my disappointment, I decided to purchase Vegemite as a substitute since I have never tried one.

As checking out, I asked if there is a plan of stocking Marmite.

“What is Marmite?” The shop keeper replied.

Okay – she knows Vegemite but she hasn’t heard of Marmite - Never mind. I explained it is like Vegemite but from England and has stronger flavour.

“If there is enough demand we may stock up” she added

I wonder if I keep asking every time I visit, they see it as there are some demands?

The grass is always greener

2009-11-30T07:21:00.001Z

I should be happy with all the food available in Japan, and should not be so greedy, but there is one thing I truly miss…..that is cheese.

Suddenly I realised that many type of cheese easily available everywhere in UK and Europe, and taking it for granted while I was in London, vanished.

Japan, maybe Asia in general, is not so big on dairy products, which, I assume, is to do with geography. In case of Japan, 40% of country is occupied with mountains; they are not almost hill size ones you might see in UK but are real mountains, so you cannot get to the summit without proper climbing gears & being trained, or even not be allowed to enter. That is the reason Japanese live in small houses/apartments and therefore not much spare land for cows and sheep.

Hokkaido, the northern Island of Japan is the only place where cows and sheep are farmed in a commercial scale, ice cream, milk, yogurt, cheese are famous and Hokkaido dairy products are well known brand in Japan. However compare to UK and Europe where dairy goods are produced throughout countries, resources in Japan are very limited. As a result, there are not many varieties and dairy produce section in supermarkets is very small. Japanese camembert and few selection of import cheese can be found here, but as you can imagine, they are all expensive considering European standard.

So, you would not be surprised if I said I put on weight 6 kg in the first 6 months of arriving London 13 years ago. My favourite was Danish blue at first, then stilton was introduced, and I was hooked. It was around Christmas time, I was already getting pretty round but mixture of sweet and savoury, port wine and stilton were heavenly combination and could not resist. How could you?!

As now entering to December and Christmas lights are on in the streets, I miss stilton and all other cheese, the party pack we often get from Tesco as our Christmas treat!

Immigration in Japan

2009-11-27T05:14:00.001Z

As many of you may know, now Woody is a fully approved foreigner in Japan. Although it turned out to be a very quick process, applying visa is always a little nerve racking business.

At first, I was slightly worried about applying spouse visa without any income in Japan though we have some savings in UK account. However immigration officers were so helpful, and it ended up as the easiest application I have ever done & was certainly a lot easier than dog importation, and much cheaper too.

All I needed to do was;

- filling one sheet of application form

- writing additional information about how we met

- submitting a couple of photos of two of us together

- submitting a copy of bank statements (in fact it was only a screen dump of online banking)

- submitting a copy of UK marriage certificate and the Japanese translation

- submitting a certified original of family registration certificate in Japan which includes Woody’s name

- submitting a certified orignal of address registration in Japan

- writing an additional statement that I am his guarantor and am currently looking for a job, in case of emergency, my family in Japan will look after him.

That’s it. Within a couple of days, we received an approval letter from the immigration office whereas 3 weeks as we were originally informed. Then his passport was stamped the following week. Mission accomplished! And it only cost us 4000 yen (approx £25), too.

I am sure the fact we have married for 11 years helped accelerating the process, but it was so quick!!

When I visited the immigration office in Sapporo for the fist time to pick up an application form, there was a very friendly man at the information desk. As I asked few questions, he soon said,

“Don’t worry, it should be fine. I am sure you’ve got lots of money in your bank account too”

Then he showed his cheeky smile. The atomospher in the office is so relaxed. There is no tension like Home Office in Croydon.

On the day of submission, hardly any questions were asked. Woody did not even need to show up!

Having said that, I can imagine it will be a completely different story if we were in Tokyo It could be a lot tougher examinations and could take more time too.

Well, all in all, it’s a good start. Sapporo seems to be welcoming us.

Mr Entrepreneur

2009-11-26T03:43:00.001Z

I have been teaching English to a Japanese businessman since the beginning of November. It’s an evening weekly private lesson, using combination of English and Japanese.

Originally, the student Mr S was taught by one British teacher all in English. But as the teacher had struggled to explain some of the student’s questions, Mr S requested the school to hire a Japanese teacher to back up the lessons.

So, here I am. Many of you may think “How could Mariko teach English?!” Well, don’t worry I am teaching only a beginner, in addition, I prepare a teaching plan & being checked by Woody, so I don’t teach utter wrong thing.

Anyway, Japanese may not be a good English speaker but often have a good grammar knowledge since they learn English in Junior High (13-15 years old) and in High school (16-18 years old).

On the other hand, despite Mr S had the same opportunity at school, he said he did not pay any attention at all, Well, here he is, in his 30’s, suddenly he decided to learn English to pursue his dream - that is to live in Hawaii.

Although Mr S is a keen learner, it seems he was forced to run before he could walk…or more likely before he could even put on his shoes.

When I was teaching present perfect and passive forms the other day, I discovered that he did not know the word “him”, & he thought “S” of “he walks” is plural “S”. Doh!

OK, I need to go back to the very beginning. Next week, I will start with lesson one, “I have a pen”.

Japanese Trains

2009-11-25T00:21:00.001Z

It’s a well known fact that Japanese trains run on time. They certainly do. It makes my life easier to organise travelling, especially since our local line does not run as frequent as subway (tube).

At first, I assumed all staffs dedicate to keep the time, mechanically without emotion. Yes, it is correct that they devote to the time keeping, but I was wrong about them being robotic.

Yesterday, when I arrived at my local station, I heard a staff call to the train driver.

“A gentleman is on the way”

Soon after, the gentleman, who seemed to be in his late 60’s, was walking slowly down the stairs. Then, as soon as he got on the train, it departed.

I was pretty impressed by the fact the train was waiting for the man. I thought Japanese train would never do such a thing. The schedule is their bible!!

There was an accident long time ago in Japan, a young train driver crashed his train because of the punctuality pressure. One day, as he was running slightly behind the schedule, he accelerated the train while approaching a bend and it went off the track. The accident killed many people including the driver(I think) and became big news. JR (Japan Railway) was criticised heavily by the public and the media that they put safety second to keep trains running on time.

Altough I am not sure the accident has changed JR’s attitude or just people in Sapporo are a lot more relaxed, I am pleased to find out there is still a humanity while staffs keep up with the high standard of service.

My favourite Snack in the Winter

2009-11-23T08:04:00.001Z

Here is my favourite winter snack. “Niku-man” It’s a type of Chinese dumpling. Those can be found easily in a convenience stores with a quite reasonable price. 110 yen each (approx 70P) in Seven Eleven.

Night Out

2009-11-22T04:16:00.001Z

Last night, we went to a party at a language school in Sapporo. Although the original purpose was to have a job interview for Woody, we ended up meeting many interesting people there.

Unfortunately the job interview was unsuccessful as we found out they want somebody who can speak Japanese, which we are not very happy about.

Anyway, the school organises a cultural exchange party in the evening few times per month. Anybody including non-student of the language shcool can take a part by paying entry fee of 2000 yen (approx £15). Then, the school provides food & booze all night long.

Many of attendees seem to be their students or ex-students, old friends of the school owner and teachers. Age group was from late 20’s to 60’s, so we fitted in comfortably.

Here are some attendees from the party;

A scientist, who researches bacteria lives in salt, a healthy living expert, who has just published his own book called “Mind and Body”, he has an experience of 54 days fasting, lived only on water, fruit and vegetable juice, an ex-marathon runner who are now Shiatsu therapist, a housewife who has studied English for last three years and her son lives in Vietnam with his Vietnamese wife, an outdoor expert who just loves to meet people from all over the world.

Few foreigners were there too. Two Americans, one Iranian, one Bangladeshi, one Australian….and one British (that’s Woody).

An American brought some home mad beer and mead. Few other people brought some food of their own country, too. Maybe we should bring some fish and chips in the newspaper next time!

Woody the dog meanwhile stayed behind at home and just about managed to be on his own for just over four hours. Although according to our webcam recording, he was whinging all night. At least he was not barking.

No job yet

2009-11-19T01:57:00.001Z

It’s been a month since we moved to Sapporo. Spouse visa was successfully issued this week, foreign registration card has been updated, NHS card has been issued, enrolled to Japanese Pension scheme. Now Woody is a fully qualified (?!) resident foreigner in Japan.

Another good news is ….Woody received the very first job offer as an English teacher, hooray! It’s only one-off afternoon contract but it’s a start. He will get paid better rate than mine & travel expense is covered as well. Not a bad deal.

Woody dog is happy to be in his double donut or loves to be in front of the fire (gas heater) and the hotcarpet underneath. He certainly knows the best spot in the flat.

Proper winter is about to arrive here in Sapporo. We had some snow yesterday, on and off, and expecting more over the next few days.

Our local slopes are getting ready to open for the season. We can get to Teine Mountain less than £20 including four hour lift pass & return travel cost. I am sure a dry-slope in London costs more than that per hour!!

Despite all the good news, job hunting here is not so easy. Although cost of living is a lot cheaper than Tokyo’s, job availabilities are far fewer as well. On top, I’ve heard many people are returning to Sapporo since they lost their jobs in Tokyo. So, there is more competition now than ever. My age does not seem to help me either. 35 years old appears to be a cut off age for an employable worker. Oh well, I am sure something will come up. My job agency is hopefully working very hard finding a suitable job for me.

At least, we will make the most of our free time while we can.

Me the Japanese Foreigner

2009-11-05T09:37:00.001Z

After being away for 13 years from my home country, many things become totally alien to me. Shopping could be a little challenge as I don’t recognise many brands. Also, although I can speak Japanese, noticed that some words I use seem to be a little different from what locals could recognise.

For example, last week I asked if I needed to set up “account” prior to internet connection. The word “account” I thought is one of many foreign words adopted to Japanese language. However this lady in the cafe did not understand what I was talking about. When I changed the word to “kohza” which is the same meaning but in Japanese, then she understood.

Meanwhile, many systems in Japan feels very complicated to me. More over, when an advert says “500 yen only”, often it is not the case. Usually there are many conditions attached to it and ending up 10 times more. Additional set up charge seems to be a quite common extra cost in Japan for whatever you do.

When I purchased mobile contract, basic monthly charge 980 yen became almost 5000 yen at the end for the first month. Although our mobiles are free with the contract, usually you will have to purchase mobiles separately as well. Having mobile could be a very expensive business over here, but everybody has one.

On the other hand, foods are fantastic. I just sent off Woody to our local superstore. He will love to look around there. Fish are so fresh, even ready made meals are fantastic quality too.

I can easily put on weight…..

Our Last Night in London

2009-10-12T20:58:00.001+01:00

I cannot believe this is our last night in London. It's been mental, so busy with lots of forms & official documents. Woody dog's import and export documents are exceptionally stressful today as we cannot get it wrong. Hopefully we receive an email from Japanese immigration tomorrow morning to confirm all the documents are in order for import. If not, I have no idea how we are going to get around it. According to our vet Dr Andrew, Japanese requirement standard is the 3rd demanding and complex one, next to Australia and New Zealand. Thankfully, our export agent Pet Air UK had an experienced veterinary nurse who knows very well about Japanese import paper works. So, I am pretty confident it's all OK.

Tomorrow, we are going to ship the final box to Japan by Royal Mail. Thanks to tight luggage weight limitation of Japan Airline, we have to ship out boxes more than we originally hoped.

Anyway, thanks for Paul, Mimi Josh & Dixie dog for the wonderful leaving party organised for us We all had a fantastic time. Also, thanks to Fiona & Dan to come down all the way from London for the party, thanks to Mark,Claire, Tom & Dexter to join the party, it was very nice meeting you all again. I am leaving my Minolta SLR camera body and lends at Dan's for Paul to pick them up for you.

Of course, my in-law family, Sally, Cliff, Pat, Katie and Franky, I had a lovely time with you all. Please come and visit us soon. I know Katie's plan is to visit us on 22nd Jan, though I am not sure which years she is planning to do....

It seems to be everything is coming to the end over here in UK but will soon start forms and bureaucracy nightmare at Japanese side!!. I really hope we can settle down by end of this year.

I will keep you posted!

One thing to report....
On the way back from Brighton we got involved in an car accident. It was soon after getting off from Motor Way (South of Croydon). A car crashed into our back of MINI while we were in a traffic jam. Our car was stationed, but the driver behind us was truly not paying attention in front of her, as she was busy talking on the phone (though it was a speaker phone) As a result of this accident, our Mini won't get paid fully until the car is fixed up and her insurance company pays off to our garage. Only lucky thing was no one was hurt despite I was at the back seat with Woody dog and we were at the most risk. Although my head hit the roof of the car a little, I was OK.

Annoying thing was though, when she was leaving the accident site,
she said "sorry I have to go now, I am little behind the schedule of meeting with my brother for lunch"
What an air head woman, I could not believe my ears.
Also, later on when we left, she was fiddling her mobile phone while she was driving trying to take some photos of our car from behind...she doesn't learn does she?!

Puppy vs Cat

2009-07-11T18:44:00.001+01:00

This is such a cute video. Amazing the mummy dog looks like protecting the cat from the puppies by walking between them. Well done!

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2009-07-05T17:18:00.001+01:00

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Woody Cam Live

2009-07-03T07:30:00.001+01:00

The Corner Dog

2009-07-01T18:28:00.001+01:00

They’ve gone! finally. There was a family moved to our street about 3 years ago. The family had a massive male staffy which was not a friendly one. I remember the first encounter with the dog was when we were looking after Dixie for the first time. Children of the family released the dog in our front communal yard and had a bit of a barking session between our dogs and the staffy.

Since then, every time we walked pass the house, Woody was ready for it.

Sad thing was I had never seen the dog walked more than 50 meters away from his house. No wonder the dog was wound up.

Anyway, the dog has gone, the whole family has gone. Our street is back to piece and quiet (apart from Woody’s occasional bark)

I saw a trashed sofa left out side the house. The dog must have been chewing it. Poor dog, he does not know any better.

Pansy in the garden

2009-04-26T13:11:00.001+01:00

Woody’s weekend

2009-04-26T12:56:00.001+01:00

Sleep as usual….

Warmest Day

2009-04-14T19:57:00.003+01:00

Apparently, it will be the warmest day of the year so far tomorrow….immediately after the miserable drizzling bank holiday weekend. Typical!!

Well, there was something to brighten up my day, look what I received from Japan! My auntie sent me these goodies, yummy.

EASTER WEEKEND

2009-04-13T20:36:00.003+01:00

Sadly, today is the last day of my extended Easter holiday break. Although it has not been such a brilliant weather, I have been very productive and am pleased about it.

Woody the dog, on the other hand, also has enjoyed the daily morning woods walk despite the weather, and it knocked him out totally. Now I realise he is not so young anymore, although Woody has not, and always over do it. Bless him….

The photo below is from Greenwich park last weekend.

Melicious Night

2009-04-03T23:24:00.004+01:00

We went out to Clapham to see Malicious Record Label bands. It's such a long time since we used Northernline southbound. Mike and his wife Ruriko were there. Also their daughter who are now officially adult age are performing as a 1st band tonight. Malicious Record, the family business!!!

It was a good night out though we left after 11. We are too old to stay up all night.

On the way back. I walked passed few Kebab shops. I want one ! I carried the wrap all the way back from Clapham North to Bermondsey. Very Stinky in the Tube but I don't care.

Kebab, the traditional English (British?) night out food, I have not eaten for a long time.

Weekend Gardener....continues

2009-03-29T12:57:00.004+01:00

There has been further progress to our garden. Finally we filled the deep gaps between patio stones with special sand. Also we purchased red roses as well. It looks a lot better now. However we will need to clear inside the shed, paint the walls and the shed as well. It's the first time we have done this much of gardening since we moved in.

Work Out

2009-03-27T19:42:00.001Z

I have been good going down the gym at least 2 to 3 time per week since I came back from my snowboarding holiday in January. In the past, I was just walking or jogging on the machine but recently I added some weight training as well. Last few weeks I joined step classes done by our company gym instructor. It's 45 minutes of jumping, running, sit-ups and so on. Knocks me out but feeling of achievement at the end.

My New Passport

2009-03-25T19:39:00.011Z

Received my new passport today. It was very quick after being interviewed on Saturday last weekend. Time to go on holiday in abroad!

Power of Salt

2009-03-24T18:48:00.008Z

We have been doing spring cleaning through out in March. As a part of Spring Cleaning, I had a look at Feng Shui to bring extra luck to our home. A website mentioned about to put some salt at the front of the door to protect us from bad. So I did this morning. Woody came back home and sent me a text "Salt?" He thought I found a slug at home. No, it's Feng Shui!!

My quest of Feng Shui continues...

Tower Bridge Road

2009-03-07T14:08:00.002Z

Lunch

2009-03-07T14:07:00.001Z

Snow Day

2009-02-03T20:12:00.001Z

London had a tremendous amount of snow fall on Sunday night and all day Monday, which halted the city almost completely. Apparently it is the first time in 18 years. Certainly I have not seen anything like it here.

Many people struggled to get to work or gave up straight away as soon as they found out the snow is actually stopping opening the front door.

Unfortunately for me, my work is in a walking distance. I did not have any excuse not to get to work. I had proper snow shoes I purchased a couple of years ago in France during my snowboarding holiday, also I had a proper snow jacket that I was wearing in Niseko a couple of weeks ago where it snows almost constantly whole winter.

Despite of my unfortunate circumstance, I was determined to make most of it. I dusted my SLR camera and headed out to work.

If I walked the closest path, probably it only took 40 minutes, but instead I diverted to a river side path, walking through parks and made few stops to take photos. Although I would be late for work, I did not see a point of going to the office on time whilst I was most likely the only one anyway.

My colleague called me during my snow photo session to say she would be late as all her trains are packed and could not get on. I was very shocked to hear she was actually attempting to get to work. It seemed she did not watch any news before setting off, on top of that, she was wearing high heels…..

I told her not bother going to the office, as BBC weather forecast predicted (unusually I believed it) it would get worse in the afternoon.

I certainly enjoyed myself exploring and watching people having fun with snow, especially, when I received a call from my boss that the office is closed!

I am sure everybody, apart from few people who had to work extremely hard to clear all snow from roads and lay down salty grit, enjoyed the day. Hats off for the work though. It was impressively efficient to put grit down near our home. When we took our dog out 6 o’clock on Monday morning, it was already there!!

I must admit it was a little annoying that BBC news readers were repeatedly questioning government/local authorities whether the preparation for the snow falls was enough! I know it is their job to ask those questions but the tone was a little too critical. Probably it is cheaper to halt the whole city one day than investing many equipments which they may never be used for next two decades.

Anyway, “right snow, wrong quantity” so Boris says… I wish he wasn’t Mayer of London.

Training in Japan

2008-10-26T16:04:00.001Z

Just got back from 2 weeks training in Japan that company provided. It was still quite warm over there so I did not not need a long sleeve jacket at all.

Average over 40

2008-10-11T11:37:00.001+01:00

Killing Joke still have massive followers all over the world since 80's. Fans grew up together with the band, and now they are middle aged.

Beer guts and bold. Yes most of them are. I saw a couple of young lads who looked like teenagers but they were with their mums and dads. Isn't there a young Killing Joke fan?

I am sure more people can be fit in the venue if they were all skinny kids!

Owner of Malicious Damage record, which is a debut label of Killing Joke, was there too with his wife and his daughter. It is nice to see a rock gig could be a family night out for some.

The band, on the other hand, was looking good for their age too. I was impressed the front man Jazz Coleman, who lost 2 stones recently, were very active on the stage though I always think his dancing routine is a bit boring... or unique?!

It was my first time to see the original base player. He looked very happy being with the band and very active on the stage. But for some reason I felt he was too excited. Almost as if he was a Killing Joke fan who was picked to play with the band recently. Anyway, it doesn't matter.

All in all it was a reasonably good night out despite I am not a Joker fan.

Busy Weekends

2008-09-28T13:31:00.001+01:00

Our weekends are so busy every week. I don't know why.

I wake up before 07:00. By 8:00 or 8:30 we are usually driving down to Oxleas' Woods. Takes only 15 - 20 min. to get there. Walk around in the Woods about 40 min. Sometimes we have a little socialisation at Oxleas Cafe with few usual doggy gangs and their humans.

On the way back, we drop by at Pets at Home to top up Woody's food. Back home around 10:30 - 11:00

Have a breakfast/lunch around 11:00.

Then we can relax few hours. But these days, I am working on my assignments during this time.

Light snack around 13:00

Little rest

By 15:00, Woody dog is ready to go out again for "migration walk". That's what we call it as it is a long lead walk around our neighbourhood.

It's around 17:00 by the time we get back home from the walk.

Start cooking and eat dinner around 18:00.

Watch TV/DVD afterwards then, go to bed by 22:00!

This is only Saturdays.

Sundays are even busier.

The same until breakfast/lunch. Then we start laundry and go grocery shopping. No relaxing time there!

come back and light snack around 13:00

Finishing off laundries.

a couple of hours rest, then "Migration walk" around 15:00.

Back home 17:00

Dinner 18:00

Watching TV/DVD for few hours. (Recently I am doing some assignment work during this time as well !)

Bed time by 22:00 sometime even earlier because we are so exhausted over the busy weekend schedule !

I had a day off on Friday since I am so busy at weekends and needed solid hours to finish off some of assignments !

Oh shouldn't spend time writing blog like this.... never mind.

Don't, Don't, DON'T !!

2008-09-21T12:32:00.001+01:00

"Don't do it, don't, DON'T !!" shout a neighbour, to her grandchild. Then, often crying follows.

There is a couple living near our house whom their grand children visit frequently over weekends.

I am not sure what is wrong with those kids but they seems to be shouted at by the grandmother all the time.

Is it their fault?

Although I am sure children push their boundaries whenever an opportunity arises, it is, I think, down to adults how to handle the situation in a positive way.

Every time I hear her shout, it effects me even though I am not the one being shouted at. Unfortunately, the routine often happens on a lovely sunny weekend when everybody opens windows or chilling out in a garden.

I cannot help wondering how the shout effects these children. When a child gets aggressive or not following what is being told, what would be an effective way of stopping an unwanted behaviour?

I read many dog training books but non of them suggested to shout at dogs. Often it encourages positive reinforcement in a good behaviour to remove an unwanted behaviour as they only go deaf to a handlers command or make them even more aggressive.

I am sure humans are the same. Sad thing is the grandmother does not seem to realise how her behaviour effecting those children... and don't forget, her neighbours too.

They are such a nice couple. I wish I had a courage to tell her to stop shouting, but I will never do it because I am so scared to be shouted at by her !!

Totally Kaviar

2008-09-20T17:55:00.001+01:00

Fishy spreads from Scandinavia called Kaviar is always comes in a tube. I think it's smoked cod roe mixed with something like mayonnaise, though I have never figured out what exactly is because ingredients are all written in Norwegian or Swedish. Whatever that is, it is an extremely familiar flavour for Japanese. Salty, fishy smoky, and it goes very well with a toast. Japanese loves salted code roe called "Tarako" which we mainly eat with rice but also used in a variety of cooking.

Few weeks ago, on my way back from Stavanger in Norway, I managed to purchase 3 tubes of Kaviar which I have been enjoying so much on a toast or as a sandwich spread.

I don't know why it does not widely available in UK despite Brits are a nation of fish lovers. I have only seen it once in a Swedish food shop attached to Ikea in Croydon, and it looks like a Swedish shop in London called Totally Swedish sells this as well.

Unfortunately I can't ask my colleagues in Oslo to bring it over since the tube is more than 100 ml which exceeds the onboard limit. I was stopped at an airport security in Stavanger and was asked to check my luggage in. :(

Oh my favourite Kaviar, when can I see you next !?

Click the picture below to watch an advert of Kavia

Scotland here we come

2008-08-10T20:08:00.005+01:00

Woody and I fell in love with Scotland about 5 years ago. Since then, we are visiting “almost” every summer, trying to explore different part of Scotland. The reason we love there so much is the scenery. It's different from England. There are mountains although compare to Japanese mountains they are like hills but yet, they are called mountains, officially.

This year, we booked the same cottage as last year; where it is located in the centre of Spey side distilleries. Despite we are not whiskey drinkers, we do not mind being surrounded by finest whiskeys in the world.

Our cottage is located near Aberlour, where famous Walker’s shortbread biscuits are made. It’s a very small village. You would not believe that the world famous biscuit factory and the head office are located such a rural country side like this. Aberlour whisky distillery is just around the corner from the biscuit factory as well.

As this is second time for us to stay at this cottage, Woody dog settled in very quickly. He did not even mind sleeping separate room from us, which is very unusual for him.

Tomorrow, we will climb Ben Rinnes again. Second try!! Last year, we climbed up and thought it was the summit, but at the end, we found that the summit was further away. This year, hopefully the weather is better and clear view from the mountain. We would definitely conquer the summit as well !!

Vintage port

2008-06-28T18:36:00.001+01:00

I was invited for a lunch by one of our supplier on Friday along with my colleagues.

Unlike most companies, their lunch invitation is always strictly to girls. They are working class men working for a small freight forwarding company, who did well and made themselves very rich. They don't pretend being a posh, they are proud of their up bringing and proud of having a good life.

Venue was an Italian restaurant in the city of London. We sat at a round table, started a conversation. I soon noticed that they are all wearing a bling! and behaving like they own the restaurant. (apparently they use the restaurant very often because it is so close to their office)

The lunch reminded me a scene of "the Sopranos". So, if they were the Soprano gang, are we girls from "Bada-Bing" ?? They are very nice people but it was almost like a comic.

One of my colleague from Portugal told them she only drinks Vintage Port. Here, it was a challenge for Tony Soprano, he quickly called a restaurant manager and requested a bottle of vintage port. When my colleague said "it's nice" ...Tony looked so happy and proud of himself.

Hot Summer Day

2008-06-28T17:36:00.001+01:00

Ice Cream !

First thing it came to my mind when I stepped outside home this afternoon. We were heading off to Tower Bridge, walking along the river, passing many people sitting outside seats of pubs and cafes, having lunch. June is usual the best time during the Summer in London, unlike in Japan, constant rain through out the month.

So many people were out & about there by the Mayors building. There was a tourist behind me asking if the shop takes Euros.... No lady,no, this is UK. We are refusing to take Euros, why do we have to take yours?? As she sounded like American, perhaps she did not want to waste her Euros before getting back home.

Luckily for me, since I had the pound in my purse, I managed to get my Magnum Ice cream... though it was 1.80 (ouch!), made me happy.

May Bank holiday Weekned

2008-05-03T17:24:00.001+01:00

Oxlea's woods in one spring morning. Sunny and warm, very pleasent walks

YouTube Tags: woods,dog,london,oxlea,walk

Wii Mario Kart

2008-05-03T17:20:00.001+01:00

YouTube Tags: wii,mario kart

While Humans are out

2008-04-20T18:09:00.001+01:00

YouTube Tags: battersea dog home,dog

No one can force us to wash hands!!

2008-04-17T19:51:00.001+01:00

Brilliant!

Technorati Tags: McDonald's

Book Purchase

2008-04-12T12:09:00.001+01:00

We found these books when we dropped by to Pets at home on the way back from Woods walk this morning.

Technorati Tags: dog,cesar millan,dog whisperer,book

Nintendo Next generation

2008-04-11T11:04:00.001+01:00

News clip from "Nintendo next generation conference" in October 2007. Sorry 1st video is all in Japanese but it's included some interviews of Nintendo CEO. According to him the secret of Nintendo's success is that they tried to target the people who had never interested in games. By doing so, they expanded the market, and are now lead of game companies.

2nd video is advert clips which reflects the aim that Nintendo CEO explained in the interview.

YouTube Tags: Wii,Nintendo

Spring Snow

2008-04-11T09:42:00.001+01:00

We had snow last Sunday. Woke up in the white world. It's April, so strange. This year, it's been so warm through winter and suddenly snow on Easter weekend and last Sunday!! Must be the Global Warming.....

YouTube Tags: snow,london,April

Kent Air Crash

2008-03-30T18:44:00.001+01:00

Air plane crashed to a house in Kent. Luckily no one was in the house at the time.

BBC clip

More image from BBC

YouTube Tags: air crash

Our local dog lovers

2008-03-29T20:09:00.002Z

"Sorry would've been nice"

When my husband was walking away, the pug owner said it out laud. Just enough to be able to hear it but far away enough from him.

Apparently, the pug was off leash & running up to our dog Woody and gave him a look. Our dog on the other hand performed a usual drama and gave the pug a fight back.

Woody was on the lead, the pug was off. Please somebody tell me whose fault it could be if there was a dog incident there.

The pug owner was only shouting from far away.

"Come over here!!"

It seems that some owners with little dogs think their dogs will not be blamed for whatever they do to bigger dogs. It's not fair.

I know our dog has some issues but that is why he is on the lead in the streets and mostly in the park unless we find suitable environment for him. Being responsible for what he does.

On other occasion, there was a staffy dog waiting his owner out side our local shop, off-lead. Off lead is OK as long as the dog is under control. however when the dog saw our Woody, he tried to make a move. The owner quickly realised and came out from the shop to make his dog sit. Very good so far. But then amazing thing had happened. The owner went back into the shop.

Obviously soon after the owner went inside the shop, the dog was charging across the street(what if a car drove passed!) and tried to gave Woody an attack. Luckily, my husband had managed to block the dog with his leg and made him off course.

The owner was running crossed the street and drag his dog away.....then,

"Suppose it's my fault, is it!?"

as he was walking away, again, laud enough to hear it but far enough from my husband.

No apology, no lead & not taking responsibility.....

I heard, in Philippine, you will need a licence to be a dog owner. Financial check and living environment are checked up. For bigger dogs, owners to be is mandatory to take dog training classes as well. It sounds like a very good idea to me.

Lucky dogs on a long distance hike

2008-03-29T13:08:00.003Z

I found this vide diary of team doggiebag through YouTube. One man and his dog on a log trail hike for over 7 months. Here is a clip from the video diary. You can see more on the trail journal here

YouTube of the year 2007

2008-03-28T20:55:00.002Z

Human Tetris.

YouTube Tags: YOUTUBE

Can you trust your life on your dog?

2008-03-24T14:47:00.001Z

The answer is no for my dog but there are many clever dogs out there...

YouTube Tags: dog

While Humans are away....

2008-03-24T14:37:00.001Z

There seems to be few good alternatives now a day in stead of kennel. Dog camp idea is brilliant, your dog might not want to come back home!

Technorati Tags: dog,holidlay

A Happy Dog in Backcountry

2008-03-22T16:58:00.001Z

My favourite video clip from google video. Backcountry snowboarding in Mt Shasta CA, USA with a dog.

Headcam in action

map from USGS website

Photo from blooming rose press

YouTube Tags: dog,snowboarding

Dog Whisperer

2008-03-21T23:19:00.001Z

Taiming the wild

Finding forcus

Power of the pack

Snowboarding Dog...So cute

2008-03-19T20:24:00.001Z

Dog is not actually snowboarding, but following.

Here is famous skateboarding bull dog doing snowboarding and skim boarding.

YouTube Tags: dog,snowboarding

Disappearing Act

2008-03-16T20:50:00.003Z

As we were just about to proud of ourselves that we had managed to keep Dixie in control during our weekend Woods walk, she disappeared. It was all too good to be true, even towards the end of the walk, Dixie followed us to Oxley Woods Cafe and had a little socialisation with other dogs. We should have hooked her to the lead then. When we moved to the other side where doggy water bowl is, she smelled something and disappeared to the other side of the woods.

We optimistically called her at first, expecting her to appear and come back, but she didn't......for a long time.

It was raining, and everybody felt it was time to go home, except our lady Dixie.

Me and Woody dog were waiting inside the car as soon as I realised that Dixie could be deep into the woods. Woody, on the other hand, stood in the rain and kept calling her. We did not even hear her usual howling sound. Dixie could be anywhere.

Once, we thought we saw her far away in the field, but it was somebody else's dog. 40 minutes had passed with no sign of Dixie, suddenly, Woody heard Dixie howling. She was chasing something. Woody even saw her charging across a small path, so quickly run towards it but lost her again.

Another 5 or 10 minutes later , I thought it's time to get out of the car and look for Dixie. So I attached Woody dog on the lead, locked the car and walked a couple of steps.

Seriously, literally a couple of steps, and there she was, behind a parked car. I quickly hooked the other end of Woody dog's lead to Dixie -thanks to the double ended lead. Dixie looked absolutely exhausted - no surprise. I shouted Woody to let him know I found Dixie.

When we got back home, Dixie was too excited to settle for a long time. Playful and kept circling on her bed. I had seen her like that before when I visited Arundale cottage.

Anyway, it was unexpectedly long woods walk this morning but both dogs did not need second walks today, not even bothered about dinner either. Bless....

Technorati Tags: dog,london,walk

Vista

2008-03-15T14:20:00.004Z

OK, at the end, I had to buy a new Laptop PC. My previous one had kept crashing for last 6 month, and god knows how many times we had to use recovery CD-ROM. Even struggled to re-format it. Although I normally love to purchase a small stylish one, this time, I compromised to cheap and solid option.

My new Acer is absolutely gigantic. Far away from what I normally go for. It's desk top replacement laptop and even ten key pad is included. Obviously Vista operating system, which I kind of wanted avoid, but had no choice.

Vista has a fancy graphic effect, but with my minimum 1 GB RAM memory, I cannot appreciate it fully. Some operations like opening/closing software are annoyingly snow. Hopefully,that gets solved once 4 GB RAM is inserted.

My new Acer is so big and solid, I feel like it last for years, and overall it was a good purchase!

Technorati Tags: PC,laptop

Flickr Tags: laptop

Windows Live Writer

2008-02-24T16:49:00.004Z

Now I found a free software that allow writing a blog off-line. This is my first attempt for using the software. I hope it works. You can download it from here .

Little test for inserting photo and a map as well....

I found this hat in the woods above this morning. Did anybody lose it recently?

Flickr Tags: woods,oxleys,london,hat,walk,windows live writer

Go blogger test

2008-02-23T00:16:00.004Z

Another "Go Blogger" test from woody2shooz

4 day work shop

2008-02-22T23:35:00.008Z

It seems to be many things are called work shop these days. I was on this 4 day work shop this week to have a better under standing of expediting and inspection in oil and gas industry. What amazed me most was that expediting is a job itself, and I thought it is bit like a mafia role in a company. Those guys do not get involved in neither purchasing nor engineering, but they have a big task to make sure everything goes according to plan. Very interesting?! Apparently in some small villages in Italy, your head might get chopped off and displayed on a shelf, if you really messes up with them. That's a rumour but apparently you will see many mafia type of people around a construction site. So the head story could be not far off from real.....

NISEKO JAN 2008

2008-02-16T11:43:00.022Z

Video from our Niseko (Hokkaido Japan) snowboarding trip.

There was so much snow in Niseko, which locates 3 hour bus drive from Sapporo,North Island of Japan, Hokkaido. Although the place is "apparently" very famous for powder snow and continuous snow falls through out winter, there it was exceptional dump of snow falls from the sky to welcome us while we were.

I was born in Hokkaido but never have lived there and never fancied snow either, so as the result, I am far away from expert in sliding on the snow. I was slightly embarrassed when Woody, every now and then, mentioned in a conversation to fellow snowboarders in Shizenkan lodge that I am from Sapporo, and my grand parents and many relatives live there. Luckily no one from the bunch saw me sliding a very wide green slope with my bum sticking out like nervous penguin on ice.

Food there is absolutely brilliant. I know Japan is famous for it but even among of all the good food region in Japan, Hokkaido is one of the best, especially for sea food. The fact Niseko is not far away from Japan sea coast, plenty of fresh sea foods are delivered to the resort every day.

Rumours of "powder" was not just rumours. It was very light, deep and smooth snow, so I did not feel any icy bumps while sliding, that lifted my confident up on the board...a little.

Woody was using a type wax on his board but the snow was so cold the wax made his board so sticky and slow. He loves to fiddle with his favourite Bataleon by waxing, adjusting the binding angles and so on through out a year to have the precious board ready for its best in snow. But what he could not predict was how cold the snow was in Niseko.

Under the circumstance of minus 15 to 20 degrees C every day in the mountain even in the afternoon, with some strong side wind, your exposed skin will easily get painful and numb. Almost unbearable despite it is not the top of the mountain.

One day, a couple of days into our holiday week, we had weather that less windy and better visibility. So we decided to take one more chair-lift up to explore further in the mountain, just a little bit more.

When we got off the chair-lift and reached to the 1000 meter hut, I soon realised that a toe strap on my left binding was missing. What should we do? I could not slide down the mountain with only one foot strapped on the board?!

Naturally, we decided that I was going to wait at the 1000 meter hut and sent Woody down to the nearest shop located one slope away. 45 minutes later, I received a radio call from Woody that he was on the final chair lift to the hut.

As Woody could not find anything to fix my binding at the nearest shop, he was, at the end, bombing down the slopes to the bottom of the mountain to find another shop. He came back with a buckle in his bag, however since a part of the toe strap had completely lost due to a lose screw, the length was not enough to strap around my whole left toe.

What else could we do? I was thinking to call a mount rescue team to get me down or to take the chair lift down, but Woody insisted to go down the mountain one more time, and this time, to get a new pair of bindings for me. He knew exactly where to go for the 2nd round.

Another half an hour and a cup of tea later, my radio rang and Woody was on the final chair lift. He came back with a box of bindings which was too large to put it in his backpack, so he hand carried all the way from the bottom of the mountain, taking 3 chair lifts up to get to the hut, bless him...

It was so funny to imagine that Woody was on the chair lifts (with snowboard on), hand carrying a box of bindings! It's not an everyday sight even in Niseko is it?! No one asked him why he was carrying the box either.

Anyway, we opened the box and replaced the old bindings with the brand new ones. Obviously it was no easy task in the freezing cold environment (note: I was just observing), especially Woody without his glasses, it was almost a blindfolded operation.

Despite the uneasy condition, Woody had managed to attach the new bindings to my board, throw the cardboard box away in a hut bin, and I was finally ready to go.... I can't really remember what happened afterwards, maybe we took one more chair lift up to see the top of the mountain....but not sure.

It was the funniest thing happened in whole (only few years) of my snowboarding experience...well obviously the event did not involve me doing any snowboarding at all helped.

New in old city

2008-02-16T10:26:00.005Z

There are so many old buildings in London. Some are protected by the government to reserve the look. On the other hand, among those old, you may see few very unique, modern buildings. Some of those are absolutely amazing design, some are not so impressive. This building near Tower Bridge is one of those which not quite my cup of tea. However this type of material is very popular at the moment for an apartment building in our local development area. I think it is because these are cheap, also very quick to build. But unfortunately, it reminds me of a temporaly school building. I wonder who would buy them?!

Meat

2008-02-10T13:40:00.003Z

After coming back from our Sunday woods walk, we went weekly shopping. Having watched the recent TV program about cheap meat by some famous chefs, could not help wondering about the life before those meats being on the shelves.

Saturday afternoon

2008-02-09T16:16:00.002Z

Checking camera quality of Sony Ericsson K850i

London

2008-02-09T14:03:00.002Z

Tower Bridge

Another G0 Blogger testing from K850i

My shoes

2008-02-09T06:46:00.002Z

Go Blogger trial from K850i

Holiday is over

2008-01-03T07:22:00.002Z

I woke up feeling a little chilly today. Apparently, according to the weather forecast, it is going to snow in London.

Today is my last day of my Christmas/New Year holiday. I am excited and nervous at the same time about busy days ahead this year. Big contract awarded last year and launching a new office will keep me extremely busy at work for sure. Can I continue teaching Japanese?

2007 has been a transition year, very busy but fulfilling one too though I did not have any time for myself. This year at least I would like to have weekends off.

This Christmas break was much needed one for both me and Woody for a long time. Good thing was we were both off, not just one of us, which made a huge difference for me psychologically. Usually Woody has off only bank holidays during Christmas & New Year period, which means that even if I was off for a certain period I couldn't totally relax and being lazy.

However this year, all we did was taking the dog out to the Woods in the morning and chilling out the rest of the day, watching DVD etc. It was very nice and exactly what we needed. We both worked so hard in 2007, deserve it

We went shopping one day to the town, though it was more like dragged ourselves to get out of the house.

Working five days and go off to Hokkaido for a week. Not too bad as a start of 2008 despite my little fear afterwards. I am pretty sure it will work out just fine!

Happy New Year!

Opening shot

2008-01-01T16:15:00.003Z

Test
Go blogger by woody2shooz

End of 2007

2007-12-29T20:57:00.000Z

"Congratulations"
Pat, my mother in law, was the first person to congratulate me about my graduation besides my husband Woody. She flew from Portugal and was staying over night with us that day to see her children before Christmas.

What a year! I must say. 2007 was absolutely busy year for me. Department closure at work was announced in January, just before my snowboarding holiday in France. After returning from the holiday, I had to run around finding my new job as well as handing over my work to my colleagues in Germany.

In April, the same week I started my new job, this Japanese teaching course which I enrolled back in October started. New job and weekend study.....it's not a very good mixture.

One week before Christmas, I finally graduated from this Japanese course. It was eight months since I started, such a relief. My other class mate said that day "I am so excited and happy about this graduation much more than university"

I totally agree. I have never studied so hard in my life. No spare time at all. Thankfully Woody helped me a lot with weekend house work and school runs, without the help, I could not get this far.

My class mate was a very unique person, I could easily believe if somebody said she has mental disability. She gave me an unnecessary headache for the last three months but I took it as it was part of my task to get over.

Christmas eve, after my first free weekend in eight months, my in law brother family arrived to celebrate Christmas.

Mimi brought 20 odds limes all the way from home to make us Margarita. It was very nice fresh limes Margarita and gave us all such a boogie feeling on Christmas Eve. Jug of Margarita, no wonder we were happy chappy.

Although I am not sure it was to do with magical meat balls Mimi made or fresh limes from Margarita, I did not feel so bad the following day. Maybe I should have meat balls and limes more often when I drink alcohol.

Unfortunately the weather was not so great but we tried to keep our tradition of taking our dogs out in the woods before Christmas dinner. Obviously dogs did not care about the weather.

"Let's open presents!!"
Despite that Mimi's determination of opening presents on Christmas eve, though I am not sure that is because she is Catholic, we all managed to resist under the influence and we opened on Christmas morning after returning from Woods walk.
Woody the dog seemed to love opening presents...funny dog. He loves Christmas morning.

Dan made a good effort for his Christmas dinner too. Good chunk of roast veges and stuffed roasted peppers.

I call Mark and Paloma are like angels in the Christmas story. They only seem to appear on Christmas day. But they have done so as far as I can remember.

Paul tried his best to entertain us with Shraaz(spell?) All and all it was a very good Christmas event.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Air Race

2007-09-15T10:03:00.000+01:00

Isn't it better than F1?

Introduction Video About G-Force

Abu Dhabi 3D course London 17th July 2007

Porto 1st September 2007
English man on the podium.

...next San Diego 22nd September (Qualify 21st September)

The Beast

2007-09-07T11:40:00.000+01:00

Last week, our dog walker left a note about a dog related incident in our neighbourhood. He said, the beast from No.4 was trying to kill another dog. "kill" was quite a strong word from such a mellow guy like him. So I immediately sensed that something really bad happened.

We use a dog walker at least three times a week. Our usual walker Mr.R is a husband of the dog walking company. He has his own publishing company but since his office is in our neighbourhood he often come round to take Woody out along his own dog Otto.

The dog walking company has a walk log files. Every walks are recorded and some comments are left for dog owners. So we know the time of walks, who came, if Woody did wee and poop, or water was refreshed and so on. Comments are often something like, "Woody enjoyed running around in the park chasing squirrels with Otto"

Last week, the walk log from Mr. R sounded quite distressed. He said it was very lucky our dogs were in the car at that time. The following day, he was still mentioning about the incident and it seemed he was effected a lot by it.

So, I sent him an email and asked what happened. The reply was a quite horrifying. Apparently the staffordshire terrier type dog in our Close nearly killed another dog. Mr.R and another guy in the neighbourhood helped out pulling the Staff’s jaws apart. His shirt was soaked all down one sleeve in blood.

Woody had been attacked by the dog about nine month ago but it did not lead to such ending. Considering what he could do, I am so proud of myself how I handled the situation at the time.

My husband dropped a note to RSPCA but apparently since the incident does not involve human, they cannot do anything. This is such an disappointment.

I must stressed that the problem is not really the dog, I blame totally the owner. When Woody was attacked, a teenage child from the family forgot to close the door and left the dog wondered in front of the house.

When the family moved to our close a couple of years ago, their children let their dog loose in front of our communal garden and used there as their playground. It was a hot summer day, windows were opened. When Woody and Dixie saw the dog running around, the both went crazy and started to bark. The Staff came right in front of our window and challenged them. Make the matter worse, a girl who own the dog ran to our window and pushed it from outside to shut. It was almost like our fault their dog is barking.

Next door neighbour complained the loose dog. They had a small child and obviously concerned about the situation.

Worrying thing is the dog's family do not seem to realise what the dog can do. I only have seen the dog taken out 100 meters away from the house. Every time the dog barks the owner shouts at him in high pitch voice. For me, they are not in control of the situation and the aggressive behaviour is getting worse and worse.

I also have heard from a dog owner in the close that his dog (Yorkshire terrier) was nearly attacked. Luckily, he managed to pick his dog up in time but the Staff's mouth was differently going for it.

I really don't understand why the dog gets loose so often. The family is creating the beast. Poor dog, he needs to be rescued.

KAYWA Reader

2007-09-02T09:37:00.001+01:00

Kaywa Reader has finally arrived to UK.
I have been seen a square coding on Japanese blogs for years now. I knew it is some kind of barcoding system but imagined it only works with Japanese mobile phones....but I was wrong. Many phones, including my sonyericsson K800i, are able to read the barcode once Kaywa reader (java application) is installed and as long as it is a camera phone. Reading the barcode is not as easy as I expected but it works! No more fiddling with URL typing into mobile phone. Scan the code and straight to the site. Brilliant!

clipped from reader.kaywa.com

Mozilla Add-on

2007-09-01T12:20:00.001+01:00

New function from Mozilla Firefox browser add-on. To see how it works, click to watch the video below.

clipped from clipiversity.com

Mystery of Box Tissue paper

2007-07-08T12:17:00.001+01:00

Last week, me and my colleague from Japan visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi to meet our customers. Dubai and Abu Dabi are such a funny place. I have never seen anything like it before. It's so new and Disneyland like feeling to it. July is obviously one of the hottest month in the country. So hot and dry but lots of trees and grass were grown in the center of the town using sprinkler. So many high tall buildings are under constructions. Rich and poor are so divided. Most worker I could see there are from abroad, mainly from India, Pakistan for both blue colour and white colour jobs. I guess rich Arabs do not need to work at all.

先週、東京オフィスの同僚と一緒にデュバイ・アブダビにいるお客さんを訪れました。ミーティングルームへ通されると直ぐに、ティッシュの箱がポンと机に置かれ、私たちは思わずそれが不思議で顔を見合わせてしました。なぜボックスティシュー？！そのなぞは、その後オフィスの外に出て商品を見に見学へ行った後分かったのです。熱々の屋外にしばらく居ると汗がダクダク・・・。そのティッシュは外から帰ったときにその汗を拭くものだったようです。暑い国ながらの訪問客への配慮なのでしょうね。

When we visited one of our customer, we were invited to a meeting room at first and offered some cold drinks, at the same time, he brought a box of tissue paper and left on the table, then disappeared. What is this for? Me and my colleague looked at each other and wondered about the meaning of the box tissue. Without solving the mystery, soon we moved to their warehouse and yard to have a look at products we sold them. It was in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day in Dubai. I have never been under such a strong sun in my life. After five minutes or so, the strong sun became almost a torture. I can see why I did not see any living creatures outdoors during the day. All I saw was camels.
After while, we were all getting quite sweaty and could not stay out side any longer, we returned the air conditioned meeting room. Only then, I understood the meaning of the box tissue provided on the table. Mystery solved!!

Next Generation

2007-06-24T10:43:00.000+01:00

I accidentally find this video clip. It's so cool and love this sort of technology.

The Muddy Fields

2007-06-23T07:43:00.000+01:00

Glastonbury Weekend! So many young and old have been looking forward to this moment for a long time. Although I have never been there myself as the music there is not quite my cup of tea, I have heard so many stories about it from my brother in law, Paul. Of course, he is there right now, and keep updating my moblog site...as it's happening!

June is usually driest month of the year - I don't know about the actual data but that's how I feel - however almost always Glastonbury weekend is very muddy.

Many people get their wellington boots out and ready for a mud fight or two. The weather is the tradition for Glastonbury festival more than anything else. If the fields were not muddy, I am sure many people will be very disappointed.

Apparently beer is 3.5 pounds per pint, which is not too bad based on my other festival experiences. If it was converted to USD or Yen, some people might get their heart rate up but what the hell. England is expensive, and many English people survive and live happily despite the harsh reality in this country. Even though some report revealed English kids are the most unhappy of whole kids in Europe, they will be OK. Look at those people in the muddy filed, they find their little happiness whatever being thrown at them.

Photo taken by Bigwoody

The earth by the Thames

2007-06-16T07:38:00.001+01:00

Every morning, Woody(dog) and I visit south end of Tower Bridge near the Mayer's office. Recently the whole area was renovated, and re-opened as a social spot. There are some chairs to sit down for rest, to read a book outdoors, or simply to enjoy the river view from the south end.
The chairs are put out casually and glued to the ground, so you can't move them. Which makes it little awkward if you want to have a chat with friends. The chairs cannot be re-arrange to sit next to each other or to sit face to face. After all, they might not be there for a socialising purpose.

Many events and displays are being held in the area through out the summer for tourists and the locals like us. The other day, a big earth balloon was being inflated, which was a government advert to promote reducing temperature for washing up.
Woody was not very happy about the balloon because it was taken up his favorite area where he usually sniffs and wees.

毎朝ウディーとタワーブリッジまでお散歩に出ます。タワーブリッジの南岸は特に夏、常に何かのイベントが催されているのですが、先日は大きな地球儀のバルーンが出現していました。　どうやら政府の広告のようです。

The view from the south of Thames is fantastic even in the dull weather like this. Although the weather is usually dull in London, still it's lovely to see the river in the morning as a start of the day.

晴れ日のテムズ川も素敵ですが、曇りの日も趣があります。　ロンドンはどちらかといって曇っている日のほうが多いのですが、そんな日でもテムズ川の景色で朝がスタートするのはとても気持ちが良いです。

The following morning from the earth-balloon, I noticed a film crew was setting up something in the car Park by the Bridge. It was a reasonably large scale of a production team with a dedicated food stall with them. I was looking to see if I could spot a someone famous but it might have been a little too early at the time. All I could see was the crew trying to set up the location for the day. I wonder what was it for...

上の写真をとった翌日は、なにやら駐車場では撮影が行われていました。　結構大規模な撮影隊で、スタッフ用の屋台まで完備していました。　誰か有名な人が居ないか探したのですが、まだ早すぎたのかスタッフしかいない様子でした。

Download Festival at Castle Donnington

2007-06-10T18:29:00.000+01:00

Due to my busy study this year, we are not going to any festivals at all, which is the first time since I came to London. Luckily Download festival was webcasted live over the weekend. So I was watching it all afternoon in the garden which made me feel as if I was at the festival a little. Perfect garden festival weather this weekend.

今年は慣例の夏のフェスティバルへ行きません。これって、ロンドンに来て初めてのこと。今週末はドニントンでダウンロードフェスティバルが開催されていますが、私はお庭でそこから送られてくる映像をウェブサイトで見ていました。お天気が良くて、ガーデンフェスティバル日和でした。

Download Festival official website

by jozzthe3rd

Storm in Australia

2007-06-10T08:57:00.000+01:00

Created by loosecanonfilms

...and some photos from limitlessness
私の身の回りに出来事とは全く関係は無いのだが、オーストラリアを嵐が襲ったらしく、街中が水浸しになったようだ。

Fish & Chips

2007-06-09T18:55:00.001+01:00

Dinner from our local chip shop.

今日は久しぶりに近所でフィッシュアンドチップスを買って夕食としました。このお店のコロモが美味しいんですよ。今まではフィッシュアンドチップスを買うと衣は避けていたのですが、ここで買うようになってから思いっきり食べてます。　カロリー高いけれど・・・。　太りますね。

Hair cut

2007-06-06T17:53:00.001+01:00

Finally got around to visit a hair dresser today. Seven month since last time. Terrible!

今日やっと会社のお昼時間に髪を切りにいくことが出来ました。日系の美容院。実はロンドン11年在住で日系の美容院へ行ったのは今回が初めて！あ～さっぱりした♪

Morning Walkies

2007-06-05T20:40:00.000+01:00

Me and Woody go out for a walk every morning at least 45 min. or so before leaving for work. Our favorite route these days is to get to Tower Bridge and back. We visit 4 parks on the route. Not bad as a start of the day.

毎朝、会社へ行く前にウディーと最低45分くらいはお散歩に出ます。最近のお気に入りはターワーブリッジ近辺まで行って帰ってくるコース。　大小合わせると4つの公園ツアーになります。　お天気が良いと景色も良くて気持ちがいいです。

Free cycle

2007-06-04T20:46:00.001+01:00

A small tumble dryer is looking for a new home. A woman called and wanted to collect it. But didn't show up. Happened twice! Some people don't have manners.

フリーサイクルというMLがあって、昨日私たちも早速そこへ登録しました。すると広告を出して、1時間以内にある女性からメールが届き、うちの乾燥機を譲って欲しいと言ってきました。　その人は6～7時ごろ取りに来るといっていたのですが、待てど暮らせど現れません。　不思議に思い、こちらから連絡をすると、明日引き取りたいと言って来ました。　そして今日、約束の時間になってもまた現れません。　結局またフリーサイクルに広告を出すことにしました。　その希望者の女性へはメールでそのように申し伝えると、今夜引き取りに来ると言うのです。　もう遅い！　ふざけた人です。約束しても取りに来ないのに、連絡を取ると、直ぐに取りに来るというのです。まったく何を考えているのか、マナーの無い人です。　もしかしたら、頭がちょっとおかしい人だったのかもしれません。　

Dog Dancing

2007-06-03T21:35:00.001+01:00

This is my favorite video.
お気に入りのビデオ。

Woody & Otto

2007-06-03T21:28:00.001+01:00

Woody and his mate Otto after bing back from a walk.

お散歩から帰ってからウディーが犬とものオットーと遊んでいる様子。左に映っているのはオットーパパ。

Sushi time

2007-06-03T08:23:00.001+01:00

The cafe at work started to sell sushi set for just under five. Not too bad.

会社のビルの中に入っているカフェで販売され始めたすしセット。ご飯がちょっと硬かったことを譲歩すれば、まぁまずまず。でも、日本に住んでる日本人が食べたら、こんなの不味くて食べられない！ってことになるんだろうな～。

Sushi Again!

2007-04-10T18:06:00.000+01:00

We ordered a Sushi delivery from our local Japanese restaurant on my birthday. We are so lucky to have Sushi delivered at home!!

誕生日にすしを取った。ロンドンですしの出前をしてくれるレストランが近所にあるとはとてもラッキーです。

Gathering

2007-03-25T17:52:00.000+01:00

We had a family gathering around the Borough Market in March. Those are the photos from that day.

昨日はウディーママがロンドンに来ているという事で、義理姉家族、ポールと私達の合計大人６人、子供2人でバラーマーケット付近を訪れました。　土曜日だったので凄い人ごみでしたが、サザーク聖堂の庭で立ち話をした後、パブで軽く食べて帰りました。　結構寒かったのですが、バラーマーケットでコーヒーを購入して温まりました。　

義理姉サリーちゃんの娘ケイティーは、初めての生タコの姿に感激していました。　彼女にとっては生タコの姿よりもロブスターの方が怖いらしいのです。　タコのほうが気味悪い気がするんだけれど・・・・ちょっと不思議。　その後ダチョウの羽をマーケットの叔母さんにもらって、満足して帰って行きました。

やぁ～、それにしても寒いのにあの人混み。　加えて私達もよく外で話していたものだと思いました。　私はかなりしっかり準備して着込んでいたので大丈夫でしたが、子供二人は寒くないのかと心配するくらいだったけれど、動き回っているから丁度いいのかな？　やっぱり日本人とはかなり感覚が違う気がします。　「ちょっと寒いね～」と言いながら外で立ち話・・・。　ちょっと暖かいところに行くと、「この中暑すぎるわね」って・・・？！　え～っ私には丁度いいんだけれど。　日本人より寒さを感じないのかね。

マーケット好きなウディーママはバラーマーケットが大好きなので、「楽しかった～」と大喜びで帰っていきました。　めでたし、めでたし・・。

写真をクリックすると拡大版が見られます。

Woody & Dixie

2007-03-16T17:36:00.001Z

My first testing photo from my new mobile phone.
初送信のテスト写真。

Hello

2007-03-15T18:26:00.000Z

I live in London with two Woody, my husband and my dog.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and please drop me a line to say hello.

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