Absolutely Fabulous Weekend

..with wine, women, song (hummed), chocolate, nudity, sex (mimed), ninjas, 70% off book sales, Chinese, Italian and Japanese cuisine, a castle, gingerbread lattes and a samurai(me).

Which just about wraps up the AFWJ mini-convention week.

Vicky knows what I am talking about. Christine, Kristin, I wish you could have made it, it really was worth it! Angela, Heather, it's kind of like the Board Meeting weekend, only with no work to do. Jo, Katy, get off your bums and join already, don't tell me you're too busy, just join, INK the convention and mini-convention dates into your calendar and say NO to anyone else who tries to book you that weekend.

I arrived nice and early on Saturday morning after a mammoth car-karaoke session all the way down the highway from Nakatsu. I found the hotel with only one extra trip around the block, parked and hopped on a tram. I didn't know Oonagh was on the same tram until we jumped off! We met Victoria, who showed us the location of the bookstore - and yet another 70% sale, the first one I've had the luck to encounter. It seems all the English book sections in bookstores in Japan are down-sizing, and getting rid of their general books sections. It's happened to three places in Oita, and two in Kitakyushu that I know of, and even Maruzen and Kinokuniya in Fukuoka have smaller English books sections than before.

I got some of the those large format, gorgeous colorful picture books I love so much, including a total mystery book, wrapped in cellophane, with unmarked black covers, no dust jacket, no title card or anything! Since everything was so cheap, and I am a certifiable book nut, I bought it!

Lunch was Chinese at the New Otani. We met Michelle, Tamah and Denise in the lobby, and soon Kathleen and Melody caught up with us too. A local member, Karen, and her sweet daughter Leena also joined us for lunch. We had a few wines for lunch but it was mostly high spirits providing the charged, energetic atmosphere. Everyone was so pleased to be getting away from home and families and work and commitments for a weekend away! We had a private banqueting room which was just exquisite, making us all feel very spoiled.

After lunch I headed back to the irresistible 70% sale after lunch, this time with Michelle and Kathleen in tow. Kathleen did the Gap while I gathered some kids books this time around. Then Kathleen dragged us to Starbucks, where I tried the famous gingerbread latte - it was truly divine, and went so well with the chocolate marshmallow bar I also could not resist.

Sadly we were not back in time for Susie's yoga session. I also missed Denise's lecture on a new English teaching system, as I was changing, grabbing chilled wine from my hotel room fridge, then rushing down in the elevator to the car to check that Kanji hadn't left his keys and jacket in it. He found them at home just as I was rushing back upstairs phoning him to tell him I didn't have them!

I also missed the champagne toast and group photo, but not the actual champagne, thank goodness, which was flowing nicely. Dinner was at 6 in the hotel dining room, but we were put in a separate tatami room. Sashimi, tempura, soba, nabe and little bits and extras plus beer. I hardly notice the food though as we soon launched into a game of charades.

Victoria's version of charades is light on rules, heavy on innuendo, and void of scoring, perfectly suiting a bunch of not-terribly-competitive women who just want to laugh watching their friends try to act out words like 'brothel' 'dekichatta kekkon' 'James Bond' or 'impotence'

We finally got chucked out of the dining room and re-convened in the onsen. At national conventions the onsen is always full of Kyushu gals, so at Kyushu mini-cons, we ALL end up in there, extending the party, minus the charades, thank god.

We finished up the night back in the tatami room (we hired an extra room just to party in), where we attempted a skype conference with some other club members, and played loads of party and drinking games, as well as just chatting and of course, imbibing copious amounts of chocolate and wine.

I can't remember what time I got back to my room, I think it was fairly early. I was feeling pretty energetic still, so I decided to fulfill one of my goals for the weekend, which was to have a foot-bath. Then I browsed through my new books while listening to songs on my iPod. I opened the 'mystery book' - it was about space, and just as I was getting disappointed that it was from the European Space Agency and not NASA, the 3D specs fell out and I discovered the fantastic 3-D photos of Mars. So there I sat, feet scrubbed clean and sipping the only non-alcoholic, non-caffeine drink I could find in the hotel machines - strawberry milk - going 'Wow' at each new page and succumbing to the temptation to reach out and touch the pictures just in case they really did have bumps and pits.

Breakfast was the usual Japanese business hotel fare, so I brought down my own milk! There's always tea, but finding actual real milk is often a challenge. Seemed easier to just bring my own rather than sending the staff on a wild goose chase that just might end up in my being presented with a tiny packet of creamer. We all met up again at breakfast, and made our plans for the day, then split up into the shopping team and the castle team.

Kumamoto has one of the best castles in Japan. There are officially Three Best (there's always three best of anything in Japan), the others being Himeji and ...(someone fill that gap please). Typically it was built in 1960-something, hardly any actual castles have survived. This one had miles of genuine walls, and one surviving old turret which was wonderful, with it's low doorways, wood polished with age and new tatami rooms. We had to remove our shoes to enter, which was a bit of a challenge in my high-heel knee-high boots (yes, I was having another shoe-fetish moment).



Next we moved around to the main castle, where there were people posing for photographs in samurai and ninja outfits. We stopped to take photographs of them and with them before touring inside the castle. It was exactly like Osaka castle and Nakatsu castle inside - with each floor displaying museum items and the stairs winding up to the top. Unlike Nakatsu, you can't go out onto the balcony at the top floor. But the view of the city and surrounding mountains was spectacular.

As we left, the people with real TV cameras invited us to pose with the ninjas again, and handed out shirikens (lethal spiked spinning disks) for us to pretend to throw. Then someone handed me a sword, woo hoo! Only it was stuck in the scabbard, damn. No accidental beheadings allowed. Then the guy rushed over with a jacket and a samurai helmet to put on me! It was so heavy it gave me a headache, but I kept it on for loads of photos. Here's one that shows how well high-heel sex-kitten boots go with swords and samurai helmets:

We met up with the shopping contingent, who had also been charged with the job of finding us a restaurant for lunch. They aimed for Indian, but could only find Italian - my favorite Cappricosa. On way back I stopped at a shop to buy a scarf and got left behind...Michelle waited for me, so we snuck back to Starbucks for seconds of that wonderful gingerbread latte.

After meeting up with the rest back at the hotel, we said our goodbyes, and four of us went to an onsen. I love to finish up a long, tiring weekend with a nice hot soak. Victoria booked a long massage, and I drove of with Susie and Michelle, dropping Susie off in Kurume and Michelle at Nakatsu station.

Halloween Party

The eerie scene in the genkan...













Kanade just came over to play but got a BIG fright! She just called out of the blue that morning and we said YES! Come over and play (tee hee hee).














Two little witches and Jasmine.












Kanade would not put on a costume, though we had loads to spare, and some very pretty ones too.









All the kids together in one frame, not exactly posing...it certainly is a challenge getting that many toddlers to sit still at once, especially when they were still feeling a little shy.

Amy and Lena, scary witches!










Erica doing god knows what with a stick and a slinky. Tommy the Pumpkin.








Snow White Sasha and Spiderman Hiro










Nao, and her costume. Never the twain did meet (that's her intrepid Dad under the Ladybu get-up)








Cupcakes! We had a cake-decorating session. Clockwise from left, an eyeball, a spider (No, not a witch), a witch (no, not a ghost) and a hand emerging from a grave in front. That was my favorite - the dirt is made out of chocolate icing and damp brown sugar!







Hiro getting into the green. All the kids decorating.






Amy and Lena are old hands at the cake decorating business. Sasha and Tommy skipped the cakes and icing and tucked straight into the lollies.











A rare photo of Nao and Erica NOT fighting. Nao took to the decorating business like a duck to water. I'm predicting she's going to be saying 'cake-ya-san ni naritai' at her kindy graduation. ("I want to have a cake shop"). Here are her masterpieces. She didn't mind that the icing fell off with the weight of the jelly beans, she just added more! Now that's my kind of cake!


The FOOD!



We made spooky-face pies. Amy and Lena pose with their creations.




Left, Devil's eggs. To be skulled like shots. On the right, witch's broomsticks, made out of pasty, to use as dippers.



Left, a cauldron and brew (pumpkin and cheese fondue dip) and on the right, blood, pus and bogies for refreshments.

Jiichan's Birthday

Same Day as Mum's Birthday! Jiichan turned 74.

3 Girls

7-5-3 Just the Seven this time!

My Little Lena is seven! So she got to wear the full kimono with obi and all the accessories.




Photos taken in the formal sitting room at her grandparents' house.

At the shrine:




Details of her outfit. Above, from the rear, the hairclip and the big obi bow. Below, the obi (wide silver brocade belt with embroidered butterflies), obiage (red tie-dye scarf tucked into the top of the obi), obidome (cord tied around the obi), plus a small purse for tissues tucked into the collar and a fan tucked into the belt.



Left: in front of Nakatsu shrine, Right: in front of the castle









Left: at the fortune box, Right: prayers in front of the shrine











With her Mum and Dad

Winter

The kids soon discovered the toastiest place to hang out - under the kotatsu heated table!






Or sitting practically on top of the heater, which has a gate there now to prevent them setting themselves on fire by literally sitting on top of the heater










Gratuitous super-cute baby pic



Totally random - the ONLY shot I got of the swanky Keio Academy 25th Anniversary party before I got kicked out for coughing all over everyone and generally being contagious.

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes night is on November 5th, but the big fireworks display in Hawera was on Saturday 31st. Mum lives right next door to the showgrounds, so rather than pay money to go and see the show, the family gathered at her house to watch from her bedroom balcony.

Including us!!!

We were actually just skyping to say Hello and have a moan about everyone having the flu, but we found the whole family around there! Michael spoke to us first to tell us they'd just eaten dinner, 'pasta and stuff'. 'Stuff' turned out to be Frankfurter dish, a family favorite. I was taken on a tour of the kitchen to inspect the leftovers, including Steinlager beer and glasses of wine. I couldn't touch any of it of course, but that was okay as I didn't feel at all like drinking wine with a fever!

Then Keelah and her friend Lily, who Amy also went to school with in NZ, turned up. We also saw baby Lily, who was conveniently awake for us, and stared nonplussed at the computer screen for a few moments. Aunties Jo and Maria were there too, and Grandma of course. We stayed online to watch the fireworks, though the effect on a computer screen was not so impressive. We did appreciate the commentary though - Josh informed us that the display was 'freakin' awesome!'.

Flu Days

Swine flu has struck! Or possibly swine flu, they don't tests for that specifically, just whether it's actually flu and which type, A or B. It's A type, the type associated with vomiting and diarrhea. Swine flu is one of the A type flus, so it could be.

Lena is just coming out of it, Amy and Erica seem to be just starting. Looks like I might get some respite today, a kind of bridge between illnesses, then it'll be back in the deep end tomorrow and Friday. You know how toddlers are when they're sick - cuddle cuddle cuddle!

We first heard on Friday that some kids were out of Lena's class with the flu. Because of that, her folk dancing event on Sunday was canceled. By Sunday night, we had heard from the school that a few more were down, so her class was canceled until Thursday. So we took her temperature then and there just to see and it was 37.7. It's important to keep a record of their temperature, as they don't test for flu until they've had a high temperature for at least 12 hours, preferably 24.

In the morning she was up over 38, so we took her in and got her tested, it's wasn't quite the 12 hours or more they want, but when I told her some of Lena's class was out with the flu they decided to do it.

The test is HORRIBLE! A super-extra-long FAT cotton bud shoved up the nose and I mean RIGHT up in there, I couldn't believe the thing was still going in! We waited for the results, and saw Jiichan at the hospital, getting his liver scanned (he has hepatitis).

The test was positive, so we got a prescription for Tamiflu and came home. She ate some lunch and jelly for dinner, but she started to really sink by evening, and her fever rose to over 40. She got disoriented and said she didn't know what was happening, and that everything was getting bigger and smaller. Several more times she got a bit of fever psychosis. In the middle of the night she woke up and babbled and shook and just stared, with no expression in her eyes, not even seeing me, not really responding to me as I tried to get her to settle again. Then once more on Tuesday afternoon, she became really disoriented and tried to get out of the room (I wasn't in the room at the time). She opened one of the doors and started climbing out over her desk! I can't help but remember the stories of people throwing themselves off balconies while on Tamiflu, though I am more inclined to believe it's the fever itself causing the disorientation.

She ate a little vege soup and jelly on Monday, but nothing at all on Tuesday except a few bites of plain bread and a slice of pear. She asked specifically for the pear, said she wanted something cool on her throat and for some reason a pear was what came to mind!

She mostly slept, thank goodness, as she was in pain when she was awake, with a massive headache, and a very sore tummy on Tuesday. She would wake up even now and then to moan and I'd go to her, try to feed her a little water, take her temperature, give her medicine if it was due. She lost a few lots of medicine, not straight away, so I imagine a little bit got in somehow.

Her asthma held up fine, she managed to continue having a few puffs of her preventer inhaler and continued her other oral meds. I just put them all together in a cup with some chocolate powder and a little water to make a paste.

I knew she was really sick when she refused to watch TV! She's happily watching TV today though, as well as eating and drinking plenty, so she's on the mend!

Now, I just have to nurse the other two, and hope I don't get much worse myself. I just have a big head cold and fatigue, I am due to go to work tomorrow, but my poor students might find themselves doing loads of quiet written work while I snooze at my desk!

Late One Night

Late one night Erica would not sleep, and I had a touch of PMS so I got fed up with that and decided to just let her stay up, until she was so exhausted that she would go to sleep in a nanosecond. Of course, being over-tired, she was full of beans! She made us laugh so much!

Miaow!

She's telling Daddy about the cat, and then he starts talking about 'love love' the cat - that's the baby sign she's doing when she turns around, 'love'...then she sees the camera and poses with the classic Japanese peace-sign pose...

Padme Amidala's Gun:

We got the gun with some Halloween costumes. Of course Erica has no idea what it is, but Lena pretended to die for her amusement earlier in the day, so she had a go at it too. Note how very carefully she executes the final fall to the ground!

Octopus:

she was actually terrified of the Lego octopus earlier in the day, but now she just had evil designs! She is saying 'octopus'!

Wake Up Jeff:

From the Wiggles TV show, she's learned to count to three and shout Wake Up Jeff! It's a game she often likes to play with her Papa. I have no idea why she hit him, it's not a normal part of the game, I'm blaming it on the late night! Please excuse the underwear, I hope my husband forgives me for uploading this...