On the weekend Shun & I went to Sarujima with friends to BBQ and hang out at the beach. Sarujima is a small uninhabited island off the coast (literally only like 1km off the coast) of Yokosuka in Kanagawa-ken. It certainly wasn`t uninhabited on Saturday when we were there though- there was probably close to 1000 people or more on the little beach area that we could BBQ on. I have no idea why it is called sarujima (monkey island?) since there was no monkeys and despite what my friend James said it was not “shaped like a monkey”. (Sadly, I was gullible enough to believe him when I said this- I have known James long enough to know better!)

It was such a fun day. We caught the 11:30am boat to the island and the 4:30pm boat back.

Here are a couple photos from the day…

Alex & I on the beach

I made kebabs for us all…

Shun became the BBQer- Gary & James joined in!

It was a cloudy day but still hot enough to paddle

James & I taking a break! We forgot to bring the picnic sheet but lucky most of us had brought towels we could lay down.

Junni`s beer yakisoba

No summer day would be complete without kakigori

Gary`s scottish pride towel

All of us, after packing up

We went on a bit of a hike around the island

Koki (in grey singlet) is a photographer- he set us up for a timed photo of all of us near the caves. He called it an “album shot”- On my camera we used no flash and I love that this one catches Uchi (Striped shirt) in mid motion.

Near the look-out

View from the top

Edge of the island

I tried out and made it in (Still have no idea how?!) - I also took singing lessons at this time privately and jointly with another girl at school in which we were taught to sing properly including proper breathing tecniques which I know longer use at all when I sing around the house!!! I was also in the large school choir that met once a week that had about 50 students…

Don`t get the wrong idea- I really can not sing well but I guess my previous music training helped seeing as I could read music and play two instruments already and so I knew how to hold a tune even though I was a poor singer compared to the other girls in the special choir.

Anyone who know me now in real life will probably laugh at the fact i was a choir girl- I know I do not seem the type at all. While I went to a religious school we sang mainly jazz and pop in the special choir with just some religious songs that we had to sing on special occasions for school. Singing jazz was always the most fun…

I am no longer musical at all unless you count singing along with the radio- I am not even sure I would be able to read music that well anymore especially piano music and it has been almost 7 years since I picked up a violin and played and almost as long since i sat down at a piano. I have been thinking about getting back into it recently though and would love a keyboard to play around on. When I go to karaoke I mainly choose songs that you get to “scream” out so that I dont actually have to try and sing properly!!!

My brother is still quite musical- while he is doing his degree in civil engineering and graduating later this year I know he contemplated studying music at university which is something I even considered when I was younger. My brother hated music lessons growing up and quit piano after two years but quite enjoyed fiddling around on mum`s old guitar. It was a right handed guitar but my brother is a leftie so he taught himself to play upside down before my parents purchased him a proper left handed acoustic guitar. He took lessons for most of highschool but mostly he was self-taught. I think he owns about 3 guitars now including an electric guitar, plus a bass, a keyboard and my old piano is in our garage at home and he often uses that. While he hated piano when he was younger he went back to it later on but again is mainly selt taught. He plays around with friends a lot and has “jam” sessions and I think he might even be a co-owner of a drum set. Not to mention he has some bongo drums and a harmonica among other instruments littering my mother`s garage.

This is a two part post- listening to itunes today got me thinking about singing and in particular singing to goma-chan.

Goma-chan`s hearing skills will kick in over the next few weeks and already I catch myself talking to him/her and I know that I will eventually start singing to him/her more regulary. I sometimes sing “There`s a kind of hush” to goma-chan at night (my father sang it to us when we were little, it is a Herman`s Hermits song an old British pop band that was around in the 60s- I do not think this band wrote it though) but so far that is the extent of my singing to the bub.

Shun will sing Japanese songs to goma-chan but only if I ask. I know goma-chan can`t hear much, if anything yet but it is still fun.

Other songs that I remember my dad singing to me were “On the Wings of a Snow White Dove”, “Blowin in the wind”, “Oh when the saints”, “Imagine”, “Years may come, years may go” (Another Hermans Hermits hit). One other song my father would often sing was an Italian song called “Ti Amor” that he had a extremely old record of and would put it on when we were little - my father`s best friend is an Aussie Italian guy who came to the wedding and I made sure this song was played so firstly dad and I could dance to it but also so that Joe, dad`s friend also had a dance with me.

There is another song my mum would sing, that was more of a traditional children`s song, that her father had sung to her.  which I can not remember now- but I will have to get her to write down the lyrics and re-teach it to me.

I was wondering what songs you sing to your children (or songs that were sung to you when you were a child)- whether it was before they were born or after. Is there a song that you sang that your kids remember and calms them?

I also wonder if goma-chan will turn out musical at all, or have a nice singing voice?

6. Get Japanese drivers license

Done! Was quite simple although a little time consuming. As an Australian I didn`t have to do any practical driving tests but I needed a translation of my license (purchased from JAF) and a lot of other documents including photos when I went to the Chiba driving centre. It took all day as they only take applications between 9am-9:30 and then again from 1pm-1:30pm and we arrived at about 10am meaning we had to waste three hours. Don`t make the same mistake I did!

It is done now! I have not yet driven though- but I know I can if I want to! Oh and you can`t smile on your Japanese license which means in my photo I look kind of dead.

10. Find a decent apartment that Shumpei and I are both happy with (once we return to Japan)

This is done! YAY! We move in on the 18th and it is a great place that we both like. Will be sure to take some before and after photos when I get a chance. We are still organizing moving trucks, internet etc etc.

8 & 9 on my list involve finishing text books for JLPT level 1 study. I am back working on these texts and also going back to do some more basic kanji writing using elementary school texts for writing practice since my kanji knowledge went down hill when I was back in Australia (and it wasn`t that great to  begin with!)

Okay that is all. Wow, I really didn`t do much towards my list last month. By my count  76/101 tasks are now complete with several more in progress.

I also got all the ingredients I need to make lasange since I am cooking tomorrow night and lasange it is!

Last night I used Shun`s mum`s scales to see how much weight I have put on this month- I thought it would be stacks but I think her scales are wrong since it says I have lost weight. I had never used those scales before but I am certain I have not lost 1.5kg! HAHA. She tried to convince me they were right but I was like “As much as I would of liked to have lost weight, see this belly, it is obvious I haven`t!”. I guess I will just have to wait til I go see the doctor next Friday since I will have to weigh myself then anyway…

Goma-chan is moving more and more but still just feels like bubbles- no proper kicks or anything yet but I suppose it is a bit too early for that. I have been thinking more and more about the names we like and there might be some other contendors now- I will just have to get Shun onside! Some of the names we like are very Japanese sounding and others are definitely more western. Middle names are western and pretty much decided on I think (but who knows!)- either way the baby won`t have a name until it is out and living in the outside world as I am a big believer in needing to “see” the baby before naming it officially!

My mum booked her tickets to Japan and she is arriving December 26th for three weeks. Goma-chan should definitely be out by then I hope, and even if I am still in the hospital it is close enough to new years that Shun will take some time off if I am not home from the clinic yet. I am excited to have my mum coming to stay (hi mum!)- and while I know we will disagree on some points of child raising and other things I am sure it will still be fantastic to have her around to help while goma-chan is still so small. With the cheaper jetstart tickets on offer now too I am wondering if I should try and make it back to Australia sometime in the first half of next year….I am still debating it. Can you book a “baby” onto a flight without knowing its name and not having a passport for it? HAHA, must find out.

My brother and his girlfriend also got two for one tickets to come to Japan next March for cherry blossom season (1500 dollars return for BOTH of them!)- the arrive March 26th and stay for just over 2 weeks. They will not spend all of that time with us though and plan on travelling to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima, Himeji and more.

I know I am behind on my update for June for my 101 things in 1001 days but I will get it up soon I promise- It will be pretty dull though since I think I only did two things! HAHA

In this year alone (2009) I have gotten married, lived in both Australia and Japan, gotten pregnant and we have found a flat to move into. I also went from working full-time as a government worker in Brisbane to being unemployed and a bit of a lady of leisure although I wish I could find some part-time work (Oh actually I did, I have 9 hours contract work in August which will pay me 30,000yen plus transport- I am doing so relief teaching for a company that does private lessons with kids). It has been 3+ years since I started blogging and I have made SOOOOOOO many online and RL friends from the experience that I would not have swapped it for anything.

Oh and I am 17 weeks pregnant today and during the week my belly sort of “popped”- so I leave you with a picture of my baby belly which to tell you the truth kind of just looks like fat although in real life it looks more like a baby belly, I promise! I also can not believe I am showing off my belly on my blog but I guess pregnancy brain leads you to do strange things huh!!! Shun took this 10 minutes ago so I put on my exercise clothes for the shot!

Goma-chan is moving around (and growing a lot if the muscle pain in my belly is anything to go by) a little but still no real kicks and more just like bubbles in my tummy. I am still thinking boy but most people seem to think girl, including my family and Shun`s family and Shun himself. We will just have to wait and see I think…

I was supposed to go out today and meet Cat for lunch but she had to do a conference call with an overseas client so I think we will meet up tomorrow or Sunday instead. So instead today I am home all day, except for the half an hour later when I will go the supermarket to buy dinner ingredients as it is my turn to cook. I am actually quite happy to be staying home now- I have been out everyday this week visiting and socializing and it has been super fun but it is nice to have a day at home too. Monday I left fairly early to head to Gyotoku to meet with Zoe and her son and we spent the day in the park which had a bit of a wading area for kids and then we had some pasta for lunch! Hunter (her son) was very good all day and only started to get tired near the end of lunch but he sure enjoyed his pasta. The weather was really hot though and I actually got a little sunburnt on my shoulders!!

Tuesday I was around most of the day at home but went out for Yakiniku dinner to meet with our friend James and his girlfriend Shizuka. They started dating while we were in Australia so we hadn`t met Shizuka yet but she was lovely! I love yakiniku too!!!

Wednesday I made the trip to Fuchu to spend the day with Cassie and Nanami- we stopped off to do a spot of food shopping on the way to Cassie`s house and then headed home to make a yummy salad with whole grain bread for lunch followed up with some yummy fruit for dessert! Nana was a brilliant sharer and I would often end up with her half eaten tomatos in my salad!! It was cute though! Cassie has kindly offered to pass on some of her baby stuff to me as well so Shun &  I will drive out to Fuchu in a couple of months together to pick it up (too much for a train ride home!) and it was so funny to watch Nana try to fit into her bumbo seat and baby rocker chair which she is now to big for! You could tell she loved playing with them though!!!

Wednesday night I headed to Shibuya to meet up with James again for dinner- his parents have been living in Japan for the last 2 years or so and they are heading back to Melbourne over the weekend. James`s parents have always been really good to Shun & I and I knew I wanted to catch up with them before they headed home so we met up at a seafood place in Shibuya which we have all been to before (not together though)- If anybody is near Shibuya or in Tokyo and likes seafood then you MUST go to Kaikaiya by the Sea- it is a 10 minute walk or so from Shibuya station and it is simply the best seafood you will find in Japan (I think anyway!). Shun was a little late due to work but we had saved him a little bit of all the dishes we sampled and we were still ordering when he arrived- the boys enjoyed some beer while I stuck to gingerale! James` mum is Japanese and she usually speaks to Shun in Japanese and James`s dad is half Japanese and speaks a little but understands a lot so the conversation was very mixed!! They are excited about goma-chan and James` mum was giving Shun advice on all sorts of things!!! I am glad we got to see them before they went home.

Yesterday I had a job interview with a company that specializes in doing private lessons for kids. Zoe told me about this company a couple of weeks back and I sent off my information and heard back from them last week. They knew I was pregnant and while that means I might not get much regular work they were interested in having me do some substitute teaching with private students and maybe even some basic translations (not sure how I will pull that off- my kanji sucks). A lot of their regular teachers go on holidays over the summer so hopefully I will get a couple of call ups about doing some lessons.  I figure it is better than nothing. Once we move I will also look for some private students in my area.

After the interview (which was near Chiba station) I met up with another friend Alaina, for coffee. Alaina is getting married back in America later this year and will then be moving back to Japan to live fairly permanently. She lives right out in Chiba, about an hour from me but if we both go about half an hour by train we usually meet up somewhere in the middle!

So as you can see I have had a busy busy week which is why I am kind of enjoying been home doing nothing much today!! This weekend we have very little plans as well- the first weekend since coming home and it will be nice to relax and not have to rush off anywhere.

Oh and we got the apartment!!!!!!! They accepted our application and are drafting up the contract which we can go sign next week. We hope to move the 18th of July if not then the weekend after. We have to start looking for a moving company! And I will need to start writing lists of all the things we will need for the new place. Very exciting! It will be so nice to have our own place again and as boring as it makes me sound I can not wait to unpack!

Shun and I looked at over 10 different places on the weekend and found 3 places in our budget that were suitable. It took us awhile to make a decision on which one we liked best and which would be the most convenient and in the end we went for the one that was closest to the train station. We thought about going to have another look this weekend but the truth is apartment/house hunting really takes it out of you and seeing as we found a couple of places we liked we just decided to make a decision. (Also I had scoured the internet already and was pretty sure nothing better was going to show up in a week!)

We haven`t signed any contracts yet but we have put a “hold” on the place and will fax over the paperwork tonight and hopefuly will have a response and date set to sign the contract by then.

Here is a floor plan of the place

I was a little worried about storage but it turns out that we get 6.5m2 storage room just down the corridor and due to the size of the actual apartment (76m2) we can afford to add a closet and some other space savers! The enterance also had a large cupboard that was provided and the kitchen had a lot of built in cupboard space. The apartment/ mansion block itself is quite old (30years or so) but the apartment we are in was reformed approximately two years in which the wood floors were layed and the new kitchen/bathroom was added.

The apartment is in Funabashi, a 10 minute walk from the JR Funabashi station (8 minutes or so to the Keisei line). One of the things that sold me on this place was that it was mainly flooring, the huge open plan living and dining room and the fact that right next door is a nice, spacious park with actual grass. Yes literally right next door! And there is a playground in our mansion/apartment building for the tennants which is not quite as nice but is also very convinient! Not that goma-chan will be up and running around in a park from birth but it is nice all the same!

There is car parking if we need it (we have no car at this stage though) and an area for bikes so we are set for transport parking space as well. There is also a little terrace just out our front door which I am not exactly sure what it is used for but I could probably sneak some space for a couple of pot plants to grow vegies or herbs or something! Nobody seems to be using it at all at this stage except for one lone plant!

I have never lived in Funabashi before but in the end the reason we choose the Funabashi apartent over one we saw in Nishi-Funabashi was firstly the closer proximity to the train station and also because Funabashi has three department stores at the station as well as a lot of other places for shopping so there is no need to travel to another train station really for any shopping needs. Also there is a bus from Funabashi station that goes to Lalaport a large shopping mall close by.

So I need to start writing a list of things we need for the new place- even if for some reason this one doesn`t work out we will need to do some shopping either way. We have a lot of furniture and appliances from when we lived in Japan last time (some of our electrical stuff- fridge, washing machine, microwave oven, coffee maker and TV are with my friend Cat though- she has replaced all the stuff now though and is just waiting for us to move and she will send it to us at the new place). We also have a sofa, a dining table, bedroom drawers and a bed so hopefully we won`t need anything as soon as move in although I think a trip to the local recycle shops and Ikea might be neccessary! I love Ikea and I am already planning the trip in my head! We do need a couple of futons though for when family or friends come to stay later in the year- up until now I just threw down a blanket but now we have some extra space I think it is time I invest in some futons. There is one aircon in the living room and space for another in the room to the left of the living room (attached to the tatami room) and Shun`s parents have already said we can take the aircon from the room we are in which is quie new and works well.

Not neccessarily straight away but we also plan to get a bedside table, a coffee table for the living room, a tv holder/bench (the last one we used we dumped when we went to Australia), a book shelf (between my love of books and DVDs and Shun`s love of manga this is actually a neccessity!) and something to hold the microwave, rice cooker and coffee maker! I also desperately want a bread maker so hopefully I can get something with space for that!

Planning a move, while stressful, is actually quite fun. And the best thing is almost all of our stuff is pretty much packed- just need to pack up our clothes and tape up some boxes and I will be done. Plus, I actually like unpacking so that is not a worry for me!

On the monorail- about to go over rainbow bridge!

Rent a cat shop

Puppy dining- right next to the rent a puppy shop!

My “mock”tail

Getting ready for dinner

View from dinner

View from our room at night

Sunday afternoon we met friends in Shinjuku to catch up with Ryomei an old friend who was in town from Germany. I met Ryomei when I was on exchange at Seikei University but Ryomei is based in Germany at the moment for work and I had not seen him in 2.5 years. It was great to catch up. We were supposed to meet up at about 11am for a BBQ but due to the bad weather we ended up meeting up a bit later for dinner and drinks at an Izakaya in Shinjuku. Due to the rain on the Sunday as well, Shun and I couldn`t walk around Odaiba much so instead we went to the movies- Shun`s choice, which was the new Transformers movie. Luckily it is my choice next time!!!

Junni, Cat, me & Ryomei (all friends from university)

Mai, Junni & Cat- enjoying their beers!

Oh and what weekend would be complete without some Izakaya or eating establishment`s “Engrish”

Yesterday was my 15 weeks pregnancy milestone. Hard to believe that in five weeks I will be half way there. Seems strange even thinking about it.

On Saturday I had a dr`s appointment at my clinic and since I had my boshi techo and insurance they started writing everything in there and did some extra tests like take blood. I also got another ultrasound, this time it was done externally so while goma-chan has doubled in size in three weeks (!) it is not as clear as my last ultrasound. It was funny however to see goma-chan gaining control over his limbs and he was kicking and punching about while laying on his back. He was very low down this time as well but the doctor did not seem worried about this.

He/she grew from less than 4.5cm to approximately 9cm from crown to rump. So he is definitely growing, and growing fast. I still do not feel much movement. I felt my first “real” movement a couple of days ago and it was a bit like popcorn popping inside my belly. Nothing really yet though and very very sporadic.  The doctor did say again though that it won`t be long til I am feeling movement.

I am starting to pop a little bit. While I used to be able to suck my belly in it now seems that there is a bump that is impossible to suck in. Albeit it is still mostly fat or bloating I think. They weighed me at the surgery and I was surprised to find out I had put on less weight since getting pregnant than I thought. Approximately 500g-1kg during the first 15 weeks is not bad I am told. They checked my blood pressure as well which was 118/69 which for me is actually a little high since I have naturally low blood pressure but of course they were not at all concerned since it is still very normal.

I also met the owner of the hospital on Saturday as he was the doctor on shift. He seemed nice enough but I did prefer the doctor I met last time who spoke English like a five year old boy on helium. Next time I will be seeing him again as Shun preferred him to and he was much more chatty. Although, next time I will go on a Friday by myself and apparantly they might be able to tell me the sex if the baby is in a good position. I will be almost 19 weeks by then. If they can`t tell me then Shun wants me to request a 3D scan (I allowed one or two during the pregnancy apparently) on a day that he can come and see as well for a time when I am about 22 weeks. I am excited to find out the sex but I really do think it is a boy- but at least once I know for sure I can start planning ahead and organizing what I need to buy.

Happy to report have had no morning sickness in almost 2 weeks and for that I am really grateful. I hope that is the end of it! I am finding it hard to lie on my stomach now- not because I think I am squashing the tiny baby or anything but more because it feels funny. Not uncomfortable, just weird. So I bought one of those long pillows that you can kind of lay up against and cuddle and it is great!!! I am kind of half lying on it now while I type up this post…

So all in all things are going well on the pregnancy front. We have officially singed up to give birth at that clinic and I will pay a huge sum of money next time I go. We have to pay half by the time I am 20 weeks but Shun and I will just pay it all (430,000yen) next time and then they will either charge us more when I am discharged if I had anything extra (like giving birth on a Sunday) or refund us some if I choose to have a shared room. I have requested a private room though and they seem to think that is fine as they have something like 8 of them anyway. So far I am liking my clinic. It seems to be the norm though that the dr`s are not very informative? If you speak up and ask questions though they will answer them but I often forget all my questions when I go in (Is this mummy brain?) but next time I will write them down.