losing stuff and moving stuff

Sitting here having an ume-shu minus the "shu" (guess that makes it ume juice) and racking my rains trying work out WHERE THE HELL my sunglasses might be. I definitely had them on yesterday afternoon on way home from playgroup (because I basically cannot see without them, even on a cloudy day the glare usually gets me) since I don't remember squinting all the way home. But they are now no where to be found. And I have even gotten well into the habit of putting them in their mega huge sunglass case, so it is not like they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb anywhere.....

This follows high on the heels of a lost camera batter charger - we have been looking for THAT for 3 weeks now. I cannot find it anywhere. Also, can't remember where it would have been last. Obviously, it is not in all the usual places. gaaah.

And it doesn't help now that we have started packing - I am constantly wondering if I might have put it in with such and such in this box...but I guess it will either turn up before we move, or come out of some random box once we have.

So yes, we are moving, next Saturday actually.

Into a house.

That we bought.

Crazy stuff. It started out as a simple observation that we could *buy* an apartment for the price we are paying each month in rent, but then of course we thought about it and realised that we don't like the apartment lifestyle (what with dog, and kid, and camping/surfing trips, having a car park miles away i.e. not in the front yard is a bummer....) so we started looking at houses. Again, I say crazy - looking for a house in metropolitan Kanto!!!! I don't know how many times we found a great place in Chiba or some other inaka town and said to each other "man I wish we could live here!" but one of main conditions with moving was that J would be able to commute within about 30mins, door-to-door. We figured there was no point living in a great place that HE never got to be in, or got to see us in!!! Cut to 7months later, after searching on the internet every night for houses, spending weekends out looking at houses only to be bitterly disappointed when they are located beside a shinkansen line/factory/cemetery etc etc, or are built on a block the size of what we would use to park the car on in Australia, getting well and truly over the whole househunting biz, and we found a place that we like. It is not our dream home, but it is hopefully ok for now. Saving graces of the house are undercover parking for 2 cars, 4 min walk to train station, and a very teeny tiny, but definitely existent back yard!! We spent the last 2 months sitting on the edge of our seat waiting for loan approval (it came through last week) and J signed the papers yesterday. We have to push the moving to make it by the end of the month, because all of us - me, K, J and his parents - are going o/s on Sept 2nd. We are spending a week in Cairns, then K and I are going down to Bris for the rest of the month (thank you jetstar!!) So basically I will move into my new house, then 4 days later go o/s for a month. Yay.

So I am trying to use up everything possible in the fridge/freezer before the start of next week. I had a pile of capsicums in the fridge for some reason, so last night's dinner was: Spaghetti bolognaise, with red and yellow capsicum and 100% beef mince. Yum

On the menu for tonight:

goya champuru (still got some goya to get ride of)

chili prawns (prawns found in the freezer)

nira egg roll (left over nira)

wakame miso soup (tons of wakame still)

vine-ripened tomatoes (without lettuce because it is so expensive at the moment, and would cause more stuff to go INTO the fridge if I bought it)

Tomorrow night:

pork chops with shiitake mushrooms and onions

asparagus

mashed potatoes

pumpkin

We have one room already full of boxes, and still piles of shit everywhere that needs to be packed, but I am very much a last minute doer. I can't get myself motivated to pack ages in advance, as I am always worried I will need that random object we haven't used since we got here sometime between packing it in a box and moving. J is on my case to do it little by little, which I know I should, but I have assured him that I will get there. I am already having trouble sleeping (must be the excitement) so figure I won't sleep much next week before the move.

One good thing, I have a feeling that the little amount of pre-moving cleaning and packing I have been doing has somehow helped me lose a few grams.... I feel slightly less stuffed into my clothes. Probably the 10000L of sweat that I am outing every time I move an inch. Also have less of an appetite (especially for snacking) so am looking forward to what the scales say at the end of the move! I am already down 3.5% on my starting (over)weight. My goal is to get about 7% off, which would put me back to where I was pre-K. That's too cryptic, isn't it. Basically I have lost 1.5 kg, and need to loose another 2.5kg.

So I guess I should at least attempt to get one box filled while the monster is asleep - yesterday's effort ended up in K packing up half the cutlery in with the winter clothes....note to self, don't take eyes off boxes while K is around. We would have had to eat with out hands until December if I didn't catch her in the act!! hehe.

wak-a-me-up before you go-go

Third attempt at tonkotsu ramen tonight was yet again thwarted by me. Actually, I only thwarted the first and third attempts (both times saying we had stuff in the fridge that needed to be used up). The second time was last weekend when we walked around there only to find it closed for obon. All well and fine to take holidays, but it has only been open for since August 6th!!

Anyway, tonight we made do with:

salmon

clams (butter/sake)

daikon radish, lettuce, red capsicum salad

vine ripened tomatoes (yum!!) dressed in virgin olive oil and sea salt

wakame miso soup

rice

We got a big packet of fresh wakame seaweed from MIL ages ago, as I must have mentioned once that K likes it. I have been racking my brain how we are going to get through it all (it is the size of a large ziplock bag packed jam full of wakame), and asked J what else I could make with it to get rid of it. Turns out J thought I was being scingy* with it - I was putting what I thought was a reasonable amount in the miso soup, but apparently I should have been putting like 7-8 times MORE in. I can't believe he though I was being scingy though, with free wakame! lol!

This morning was pretty good - we got to the bank at 9am, to beat the rush, only to find it totally empty. Like, seriously, I was the only one there for at least the first 25mins after opening! There are more people lining up for pachinko and the supermarket opening time! Crazy!

Came back home and grabbed R to take her for a walk - managed to get K to sit in the pram so that was easy.

Lunchtime however, was a write off - K refused to eat her sandwich, spilt a glass of milk everywhere (a habit she is getting into lately *sigh*) then played with her banana and got it everywhere. So she ended up having basically nothing to eat as I took it all away from her. She did go down for a nap easy though, so might have just been a bit tired. But she was a pain in the butt all afternoon - plugging things (like the vacuum cord) into the power point, pulling out the computer cord, and just basically annoying me. I know I have to be more patient, but I am so not good with the little things - they DO annoy me and get me worked up. aarrrggghhhhh.

Anyway, tomorrow is playgroup and she is usually a good girl when we go out to that, so fingers crossed tomorrow morning is not a repeat performance.

* a spell check revealed that I was using the word "scingy" instead of "stingy" lol. My english is going to crap! On skype to my brother this afternoon I couldn't remember the word for those buoy type things hanging over the side of boats like bumper bars to stop them bumping into other boats (the answer was "fenders" - of course!!)

just another dinner post

Monday night we made curry - again, J's request. This time we used a new curry roux. It was kinda fruity, and sweet, not at all spicy, so K scoffed it down too. I usually make curry with beef, but this time J wanted pork, and it was kinda nice for a change.

Tuesday night was pad thai noodles, which was really yummy too! K was a bit sceptic about it, perhaps the fish sauce was too overpowering, but she finished up a plate of it anyway.

Gee things are sooooo much easier when K can eat the same food as us. We don't have to order special dinners at restaurants, as she usually just shares with me. And the kiddies meals choices at Japanese restaurants are so much better than that in Aus (fish fingers and chips, pizza and chips or chicken nuggets and chips!!) Here they have a mini adults meal for kids .... like at Joyful which we never go to actually, but look at the great meals they have!!

So K has just had a bowl of cereal for breakky, I had the last piece of pizza and we are about to head down to the bank, then take R for a walk. But looking out the window, I see some ominous looking clouds. Hmm, hope if it is gonna rain, it at least holds out until after we get home.

We're all mad

I wanted to know why if we call 狂牛病　(BSE) "Mad Cow's Disease", then we don't we call 狂犬病 (Rabies) "Mad Dog's Disease"?
But apparently the urban dictionary does have it as mad dog's disease. So there we go.

In any case, we took R down for her rabies vaccination shot today. She was supposed to get it in May - oops. And she was supposed to get her 9種混合 (not sure what 9 types of diseases we are vaccinating against) vaccination shot this month, but since we forgot about rabies, we got that done first, and will take her back at the end of the month for 9種混合.

I tried a re-match of the 30-a-day:

Dinner ささみ　シソ梅肉巻き
1)chicken (sasami)
2)perilla leaf (shiso 紫蘇 - a new kanji for me!)
3)salted plum (梅肉）

salad
4) lettuce
5) tomato
6) daikon radish
7) cucumber
8) celery
9) red capsicum
10) yellow capsicum

pasta
11) spaghetti
12) clams in alfredo sauce
13) with sliced onions

Lunch Pizza Toast
14) bread
15) cheese
16) salami

Snack
17) grapes (shared with K)

Breakfast
18) cookies (I know, I know) with my cuppa

*sigh* still less than 20. I know breakfast and lunch are my downfalls, but what can I say, I am lazy through the day and don't feel like full meals.

30 A DAY

oops, had the caps lock on there.

So they say that you are supposed to eat 30 different foods a day (well, MIL says it at least.) I aways thought this was near impossible, but I think today we may have done it. Let me list it up and see:

Dinner
1) Zucchini (s/p and grilled in olive oil)
2) Snow peas (steamed, and served with butter)
3) Chicken wings teriyaki style
4) Tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sea salt
5) Sunny lettuce
6) tofu (with the lettuce and a 和風onion dressing to make a tofu salad)
7) grilled fish (太刀魚)
8) soy beans 枝豆

Supper
9) smoked salmon
10) camembert cheese
11) salami
12) crackers
for a little after dinner platter with chuhai treat!

Lunch
13) egg
14) bread (egg sandwhiches)
15) grapes

Breakfast
16) costco biscuits (yummy!) with my morning cuppa tea.

So ok, that is no where near 30 now that I counted it up.
Hmmmm, it really isn't easy! I don't know if I can count condiments (like olive oil, mayo) but I guess that still doesn't even make it to 20 items.

Might have to try harder to get to 30.

Oh, just remembered J had the leftovers of the thai curry, so....
17) eggplant
18) potato
19) ししとう
20) onion
21) rice.....

getting closer! (but also most likely about to burst from so much food, aarrrggghhh)

green curry

Made a Thai Green curry last night using this packet mix

but I have to say that it was pretty average. It really had no taste, and I was quite dissapointed in it. I did manage to use up the last of my eggplant, and some sweet peppers（ししとう） that MIL gave us from her vege garden though.

Next time, however, I will be using this mix instead to make my thai curry (bought at costco last night in a mad 7pm "Let's go to costco" moment. We came back with this, a pad thai set, a bunch of bananas, a bottle of white wine, some salami and a mighty big box of those yummy soft biscuits.)

I have used the pad thai and tom yum kun(sp?) soup before and they turned out nice (well, except for the tom yum kun soup which was far too hot for me to handle, wuss that I am) so I am hoping the curry is nice too.
Don't know why the sudden urge to make Thai curry... Must be the heat?

It's my prerogative

Dinner last night was "love love lasagna". I still call it this, as I had to ask GW for her recipe when I first attempted a lasagna, and she sent me her ラブラブラサニア recipe. The name sticks.

Anyway, last night I added some grated carrot and pumpkin to the mix. And I have to say that it was just divine! The pumpkin made the lasagna really "creamy". J had 2 refills! .

Playgroup yesterday was good. One of the kids that K always mentions came back from his summer holidays, and I think she was happy to see him. Before bed last night I asked her if S was her boyfriend, and she put on this loopy grin. Too cute.

This morning we went for a quick walk to the river, to let R frolic in the grass. Came home to have a shower(man it is hot!)and polish off the lasagna left overs for lunch. Am about to watch some Veronica Mars (nice suggestion, Illahee!) as I sit in air conditioned luxury, folding up washing while K naps. My days are just TOO exciting!

I suggested to J that for dinner tonight, we go to the new Tonkotsu (yay!) ramen joint that opened down the road this week. But a look in the fridge revealed lots of bits and pieces so I changed my mind, as it is a woman's prerogative* to do so, and we are going frugal friday with a hodge-podge of whatever we can dish up. Still half of that togan too, so will have to find another recipe to use that one up.
So the ingredients in the fridge are:

eggplant

togan

snow peas

goya

eggs

natto

yamaimo (J bought this, I don't touch the stuff)
What can I turn all that into? hmmmmm.

Also tossing up what to do this weekend - mountains or ocean? With R, it makes it harder to head to the ocean, as we can't leave her in the car while we eat or anything in this heat. At least the mountains are a bit cooler. Am sure we will work something out.

* my google for the day is the word Prerogative
Not only is it my favourite Boby Brown song
but I just worked out the correct spelling for it today. ha! how about that silent "r" in there!

Togan(冬瓜） to go

Finally got around to doing something with (well, at least half of )the togan. I now know why it is called Wax Gourd - it had a really waxy feeling skin to it.

Anyway, on tonight's menu:

chinese style togan with crab (冬瓜のカニあんかけ)

青梗菜(Shanghai Pak Choi*) in oyster sauce

egg roll

salmon cutlets

rice

asari clam miso soup

K ate a bowl of the crab ankake over rice, then 2 bowls of clam miso soup!! She is eating so much at the moment, must be a growth spurt??

After dinner, we went for a quick family walk to the supermarket/department store. I was actually looking for a long sleeve rash guard in case we go to the beach again this weekend, but couldn't find anything suitable. Came home with 3 singlets, tho....one I bought to give to my friend back home. It has "Born to be a stripper" on it. I wanted to get the "porn star" one, but they only had S size (which probably would have fit, but as she is a bit taller than me, it may have been riding up around her ribs! lol). I love taking back wierd Japlish t-shirts for her. Talking of which, I saw a girl today with this written on her shirt:

"Give peace the chance"

I know it is not as bad as some of the stuff out there, but it did make me giggle.
It would be like a shirt written in Japanese with the は and が mixed up I guess. Oh, and was half listening to some show on TV today, where they were talking about how kanji is really popular o/s, but how sometimes you see people with tatoos on their arms that say things like "baka" ... They were all laughing about it, and how they should get someone to check what it says! I really wanted to ring up the show and mention how many times A DAY we see freaky Japlish stuff everywhere but they wouldn't get it I am sure.

* gee I really love wiki. A search for chingensai on my online dictionary came up with "pak choi" but wiki comes through with the goods: Chingensai is not just any pak choi, it is a Shanghai pak choi! Learning something new every day!

Flight of the Conchords

Tuesday, but no playroup since we are on summer holidays. I thought that would mean an extra day for us to be pro-active around the house, but it basically meant:

a morning of some paper pushing at the city hall

a walk with R, with K also walking. Actually, this is a big thing, as usually I strap K into the ergo for our walks. I was being brave/stupid to try walking them both. K holds on to R's leash handle, but I actually hold on to R with the proper leash. The walking part was fine until we got around the corner to the park - K wanted to play. Sure, a few trips on the slide, and swing, I am happy to go with that, but trying to get K to come home, mini tantrum time ensures. *sigh*

quick trip to closest supermarket to buy milk. Which results in major tantrum when K refuses to hold my hand to cross the 4-lane main road. I carry her football hold over the shoulder, with her screaming all the way. Finally screams herself into an apology "I'm sorry mummy" before passing out for nap

attempt to make a milo slice, finding out only after I melted the butter that I have no milo left....quick about face to make a batch of anzac biccies and an anzac slice (since I had already greased the pan too, lol)

quick trip to next closest supermarket (this time with K on back as it doubled as an afternoon walk for R) to buy onions for dinner

yummy dinner of hot pasta salad with s/p chicken wings, and french stick

evening walk to park again, this time with K in pram

Actually, the highlight of my day happened while I was folding the washing....I use it as my special time to watch English programs online. Since I have totally worn out all seasons of Private Practice, GA, and Samantha Who?, I was searching for a new show - hard when the tv show titles all mean nothing to me as I am so out of the loop! But I did come across a show that a friend of mine introduced to me a year or so ago......and the episode from Season 2 I watched today was just (WARNING: possible accent mocking about to occur) "ixcellint" for two reasons:
1) because I now know why men stand AROUND the dance floor rather than on it at clubs and
2) because I realised how lucky I am to have NZ friends who are not ashamed to be friends with a little aussie girl like me. (and no, I don't have your purse)

Flight of the Conchords: (about a NZ duo trying to make it in NY)
I think these guys are soooo funny, rotflmao stuff. I am putting a disclaimer on tho, that it is a bit rude (like the "too many dicks on the dancefloor" song that explains (1) above), so watch at your own risk, and it is a bit wierd at first, what with them breaking into song all the time (I guess it could be called a musical sitcom?), but I still think it is just ace.

Monday 3rd Aug - Dinner

almost 自給自足...　we got the clams ourselves, this morning (K and I went with PIL) and the goya is from PIL's garden.The menu seems really summery to me. And I must admit "different" (exotic??) - can only image what my parents would say when they see it "I can't believe K eats all those wierd things", lol!

clams before :


and after:

Clams, done in garlic, sake and butter (same as last week's pasta)

Goya Champuru

Okra with Natto

chuhai sneaked into the corner of the shot...shared, between J and me.


I was so full afterwards, I suggested a family walk to the park (R included) to help burn it off. Don't know if it helped or not, tho...