Rainy Sundays and A Trip Down Memory Lane...

Its a lazy raining Sunday here in Tokyo and this morning I sent away the 4th installment in the book translation, along with the invoice for that chapter. After I sent it off I vacuumed the house, baked some vegies, and relaxed in front of the tellie with a cuppa. It is a good day to chill before another hectic week starts again tomorrow. Can you believe it will be June 1st tomorrow! I think that is so insane! Where did the first half of this year go?
Speaking of half a year... half a year ago or more I scanned some old photos while I was visiting Brisbane. Old family photos that I wanted to have with me in Japan. I am so glad I was able to scan these and now have the data for them, because old photos deteriorate and even these have started to show their age. While putting something away ina draw during the week, I found the CD with these old photos saved on it and thought I would post a few up here.

This is my grandparents wedding in Scotland roughly 75 years ago I am guessing. I am sure mum or dad will be able to confirm that for me. People tell me I am the spitting image of my paternal grandmother, nanna.

This is a picture of my dad I am guessing when he was around 1 or jsut before. This was also taken in Scotland, almost 70 years ago as my dad turns 70 this October.

That is my mum with her oldest brother John above, and below sitting there at her little kids table.

And again below, with her brothers, John and Tony. I love the look of these old photos and the way they have been colored in. When you think about how far we have come from then till now with our cameras on our mobiles and digital cameras, it really is amazing.

This one below is interesting because I think my maternal grandma, nonna, looks exactly like my mother now and my mum in the photo (the little girl) looks so much like my eldest neice. I never got to meet my nonna, but I picture her to be a lot like my mum. A lovely Italian Nonna with a heart of gold and so giving--that is how I picture her to be.

Now I have to post these pics of my mum, cos I think she looks so cool and I do love her up-dos!
This was her with her first car. She loved this car so much, she still has the key to it.
This was my dad before he got married. Check out his do!

This is a picture of my mum and dad on their wedding day. They had 7 people at their wedding including themselves and the priest! They were married in Sydney, and my uncle Tony and Aunt Jo were in the wedding party.

The wedding party which was made up of 6 people including the bride and groom.

This one below I beleive is my sister's christening in Brisbane, and in the photo are my Uncle Ray and Aunt Adriana. I love my mum's do and the dress!

And this is me.

Of course, I wouldnt be Aussie without a picture with a kangaroo!

And here is one of my sister and I at Christmas time. She got an Annie Oakly outfit, and I got a nurse outfit and on the back of the photo it said "Christmas 1977, Darwin, Annie Oakley and Nurse Trouble" I laughed so hard when I saw that.

And I WAS trouble! Just take one look at my face in this one! Woman with a mission alright!
I love that photo above for two reasons. My childhood cat is asleep under the Christmas tree. We had him from when I was about 1 year old till I was in university. He travelled with our family all over the place, from Brisbane to Rockhampton, to Darwin, and back to Brisbane and three different house moves there. He died at the age of 18. He was a beautiful cat. And the other reason I love this photo is because it looks like we only got those outfits for Christmas and we were so stoked about them. My neices are so spoilt at Christmas time, and half the time they get so much they dont remember who they got what from!!
And lastly a cheaky one of me by the pool at our house in Darwin. Isnt that a cheaky grin! Looking at this photo reminds me of my youngest neice a bit.

Amazing how all those freckles on my nose and face have disappeared over the years. I wish I had some photos of the Mr. to share when he was a baby. But they are all in storage in the family home in Chiba, and I have only seen one that his mum keeps downstairs. Cant wait to see the others one day...

A Bit of Trivia

The あじさい or Hydrangea in English are big in Japan. In fact, by far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. I found out tonight from a Japanese quiz show that hydrangea flowers differ in colour according to the acidity of the soil! I never knew this! Apparently the flowers can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple and in these species the exact colour often mirrors the pH of the soil; acidic soils produce blue flowers, neutral soils produce very pale cream petals, and alkaline soils results in pink or purple. To get blue hydrangeas you modify the soil’s pH between 4.5 and 5.5. For pink to light red hydrangeas soil needs pH of 6.5 to 7.5. This can be done by adding ground limestone only around the plant to make the blossoms pink.

Synonym.com

A couple of weeks ago now, I stumbled across this nifty little site in my online travels. It is called Synonym.com and you can use it to find synonyms, antonyms, and definitions. When I translate I use a dictionary for the purpose of finding suitable synonyms, just like a thesaurus, not so much for the purpose of looking up the meaning of a word, so when I found this site I thought it might be helpful. Sometimes, also when I translate I change a word to its negative antonym, for instance a "settled lifestyle" as in where people live in the one spot and dont move around can also be a "non-nomadic lifestyle". So this site is helpful, because I can do a lot of tasks on the one site, and it provides definitions as well, so in the last stage of my word choice process when I double check in the dictionary the word of choice, I can do it all on the same site. It certainly comes in handy.

End of May Already!!!

Wow, can you belive that it is the end of May! How insane! Where does the time go! Another busy week in our household. Mainly for me I guess, as I had Monday and Tuesday in the office, only Tuesday I was helping out at a clients all-day seminar event in Akihabara. The good thing was that I could go straight to the event from home and go directly home afterwards, so it meant only a 40 min commute instead of an hour and 20 which is what it takes me to get to the office. Pretty normal commute for Tokyoites though... I was home by 7pm last night, which was a lovely change.
On Monday, I had sushi lunch with the girls at work. God I love sushi. There is a great place on the ground floor of one of the station buildings in Meguro. There is usually a huge line up, but we managed to get in without a problem on Monday. Mr. Nemo doesnt like sushi, so we dont eat sushi out together, so I try and drag the girls there once a month at least so I can get my fix!
On the way out to lunch Monday I ran into my friend Momo-chan, and we arranged to have lunch next Monday and catch up. It has been a few months since I have seen her, even though she also works at Meguro! It really is unforgivable, how we let the time pass us by...
I also heard from my dear friend Fumiko who mailed me to see if we can mend our broken friendship. She said that she is rather busy, trying to balance work and looking after her little boy who is about 1 year old I guess, and so she said she would get back to me about when she is free. It feels so good to be in contact with her again.
The end of this week marks the end of May and I have another installment in my 2-month translation job to submit this weekend. I am pretty much on track with only 3 pages to go, so hope to have it done by Friday so I can at least relax on the weekend before starting the next part on Monday.
It is getting warm in Tokes these days and it is likely that the rainy season will be here sometime early June, meaning in the next week or so! I hate the rainy season so much, and I fear this year is going to be a stinker of a hot summer!
I am hoping to get 2 pages of solid work done this afternoon, so that I can head out for a walk at dusk today. I love this time of year when there is still a little crispness in the air in the early mornings and at night, as its the perfect weather for walking. Althought now that I think about it, I had arranged with mum to skype this evening, so I guess my walk will be early tomorrow morning. I hope it doesnt rain, cos I have been eager to get out and back to a walking schedule for a while. So easy to let it slide when you are busy.
Loving my new workspace, btw! Helps with the motivation and feeling productive, as I seem to get a lot of work done in my new space.
Pay day today, which is always a good day! I transferred the rent this morning, and have to go pay some bills at the convenience store later this afternoon. Always feels good to get those out of the way, and be debt free.
We had dinner with Mr. Nemo's mum on Saturday and Sunday night last weekend. Saturday I made some tofu hamburgers and made about 15 little ones so I took her down about 5 and we got to chatting. We had some tea over chats, and after an hour or so the Mr. came down and we ended up staying for dinner. I popped upstairs to get the rest of the mini tofu hamburgers, and some rice I cooked, while Mum-in-law threw together a quick salad. It was a really lovely ad-lib meal. Then she offered to make us dinner on Sunday night too, cos she knew that I would be working all day at home. We jumped at the offer, and I roasted some pumpkin and potatoes in the oven and took them down that night. I love baked pumpkin done in the oven with a brush of olive oil. It is so healthy and the pumpkin is always so sweet. No need for anything else.
Mr. Nemo's mum is a sweet little thing, and so down to earth. We get on really well, and I can spend hours down there talking with her just one-on-one. I try and do that at least once a week and have dinner with the three of us once a week as she doesnt get out much due to her poor knees and I am sure she must be lonely as Otosan still works and is late everynight.

My New Workspace!!!

I am so excited to finally have my own new workspace, new computer, and lovely big monitor to work at when I am at home. Here are some photos of my little makeshift office! It is my own little heaven, and has really boosted the concentration and motivation!!

So that is my new PC above. It is a new e-machine HDD and keyboard, which I got with windows 2007 and PPT for less than $700, and the display is a BenQ 24 inch one that the hubby recommended for its overall performance but he also said I can watch TV on it, mind you if you look down at the other pictures you may wonder why I would ever need to with that other huge bloody ugly TV in the room!!! The Mr. will not get rid of that as it has some sentimental value to him as he was involved in the designing of it at his former workplace. Along with the two huge amps that are sitting there with it. They are like his babies, and I can understand that even though are not my choice of interior... Any rate, back to my computer...

So, you can see what I mean by the dead space in the corner there. Half of it is an unsightly storage space, which is temporarily being hidden by a curtain. I have plans to put up a white blind or something there, but am waiting for the thing to arrive.

And here is another view of it with my tea on the desk! The actually workspace is about 1.2m wide, so it is actually a little bigger than it looks in the photo. After setting myself up here today I got to work straight away and will be sending off another installment of my book translation this evening.
It is nice to be able to have my own little space, and it is cool, bright and airy. There is a window right in front of my desk, so a lovely breeze comes in. And the best part is that there are no distractions like in the living room or the kitchen!

The goings on...

Another busy week in the Nemo household this week...I was in the office on Monday and Thursday and spent every other day working on the book translation, and have almost finished the third chapter which I hope to have sent out by Monday next week.
I also bought a desk for me to work at home, as the Mr. overtook the workspace in the guest room with his watch repair stuff. And I would rather have his watch repair stuff in the guest room than have it lying all over the living room, so I cant complain. In our main bedroom we have a little nook that is kind of a dead space. It is right in front of the third window in the back corner of the room, and is bright, airy and putting my desk there will be a great use of the space. I also bought a new work computer for home. I decided on a desktop and the Mr. picked it out for me, and has plans to double the HDD and memory for me. I also bought a PC display which is 24 inches, and I cant wait to start work with the big screen. As a translator, I worry about what staring at a computer screen all day long does to my eyes. I know a few translators that have taken out insurance on their eyes, because it can be an occupational hazard. So, I figured the big display would make things a lot easier. The desk, display and computer will all be arriving in the next two days or so, so I am sooooo excited! I am sure the new workspace and computer will give me an added boost of motivation too!
Also, in other news, I finally sold my shares that I have had for about 3 years. I managed to time it perfectly too, and let go of them at the highest price in 2 years and as soon as I sold them, they fell dramatically so I am really happy with my decision to do that and I have 200,000 yen to add to my savings fund. I dont think I have the time anymore to regularly check in on shares, so I think I wont be playing the stock market for a while. Even though I was just having a bit of fun with them, I learnt a lot while I was doing it and The Mr. also taught me heaps and explained various mechanisms and how to interpret graphs and reports too, so it was a great experience.
Today the Mr. will be busy installing the antenna and rewiring the building for chi-deji (digital tv). The local electrician was going to charge his mum 700 dollars to do it, but the Mr. said he knew how to and could do it for way less with just the cost of the antenna and parts. Of course, we had to buy a tuner for our tv too, so we could test the antenna when it goes up so from this evening we will have digital TV in our home!!!
Ohhhh, and in other news, a old friend of mine, Fumiko, that I have known since 1996 mailed me this week. We were the best of friends until about 2 years ago, when we had a falling out that seems so insignificant now that I cant remember why exactly, but she mailed me and apologised and said she missed me and our friendship and wanted to try and patch things up. I wrote her back straight away and agreed to get together. During the time since we havent been in touch, we have both gotten married and she has a son, so we let our stupid fallout get in the way of missing some of the most important life changing experiences in each others lives. That is something that makes me very sad... Problem was that she was the one that threw in the towel on our friendship, and so all I could do was wait and see if she would come back. I am so glad she mailed and I am looking forward to meeting up with her.
Well, now I am off to work on the rest of Chapter 3, and also do some tidying up around the house today. It is cloudy and chilly in Tokyo, so a good day to stay in and get some work done!

P.S. Oh, I forgot to mention that I watched the Season 5 finale of Greys yesterday and OH MY GOD I cant wait till the start of next season! I cried at the end and there is a shock ending of course that has you on the end of your seat. Nail-biting stuff, people! Cant wait till everyone else has seen it so I have someone to talk to about it!!! Right now, I just have to hold my tounge and bite my fingers! ARGH!!!

Jim & Rie's Wedding

Yesterday, Mr. Nemo and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of our dear friends Jim and Rie. Their ceremony was held at Felice Gardens in Hibuya Park, with a lovely garden party after the ceremony, then a another reception a few blocks away at GARB, which was a lovely restaurant/bar near Tokyo Station.

The groom looked dashing and the bride was stunning. The weather also was perfect after almost a week of constant rain! We were so lucky that it cleared up as the weather was perfect for a lovely garden party wedding among the trees and flowers.

This is Mr. Nemo and I with the bride and groom. Jim and I did our Masters together in Brisbane and have known eachother for almost 9 years. He was the MC at our wedding last March.

This happy couple are engaged and set to be married this October. Kyal was also one of our classmates in the MA course, and we have all been in Tokyo for the last 5-7 years after graduating. Kyal was MC for Jim and Rie, and did an amazing job!

This is a pic of the Mr, Kyal and Yasu. Yasu is the hubby of my ex co-worker and dear friend Lisa, and they were married in October last year and had their ceremony and honeymoon in Australia. Yasu and the boys have been great drinking and golf buddies since we introduced them a month or so before our wedding last year.

This is Lisa and Minnie, both looking stunning. Minnie is a friend of James' and a sweet, sweet thing. We always have such great chats everytime we see eachother. Lisa, there looking lovely in her apricot dress, is a dear friend of mine who saw me through many a crazy day at the Nuthouse. She had the sense to move on and no longer works for the agency. We still try and catch up as often as we can.

Kyal and the Mr. looking very suspect there, obviously plotting some antics! The two of them get aalong famously and the Mr. always enjoys a good chin-wag with Kyal. He is like part of our Tokyo family, in fact all of these guys are really!

Tomi-sempai and her hubby, Noboru. First time to meet her husband, but I have known Tomi for alos 9 years. She was one year ahead of all of us in the Masters course and lived down the street from me. She would often come over for dinners and house parties at our place. She has also jsut gone freelance (interpreting and translating) in the last month or so.

This is a pic of me, Rob, and Yasu. Rob and I had good chats last night, talking work, family, citizenship, babies, you name it... we talked about it. He recently has a new addition to the family. A beautiful little daughter who is about 2 months old now, so his wife wasnt able to join the festivities.

A great shot of Jim and Rie, with Jim saying a few final words of thanks to everyone for a truely great night had by all. It was one of the loveliest outdoor weddings I have been to. And the after party was a heap of fun too. I am not normally into party games, but we do two games at the reception, one bingo and one jun-ken game that was a heap of fun and got everyone off their feet and mingling. Really great ice-breakers.

And this last shot is of the happy couple, who will be expecting an addition to their family in September. It sure is exciting times for them and all their friends and family. Jim always is the best host, and again he and Rie did a brillian job of organizing their wedding and an amazing day for all was had.
It was nice for me and the Mr. too, as we reminisced about our own special day not so long ago.

Bits and pieces...

Golden Week is coming to a close and it is back to work tomorrow. Actually I should say back to the office tomororw. As I have basically been working most of Golden Week on Moji Magic translations. A few days before Golden Week started, I got a request for two huge translations. One of them alone would have been constant work for a whole month, and the other one is at a slightly higher rate for constant work for 2 months, so I declined the first one, and have taken on the large 2-month job. It is huge and not very exciting content, but when I break it down it is basically half a page a day in order to meet my deadline which leaves me some time to take in other small jobs and also do the Nuthouse work. The big job will bring in about $6000-$7000, so I shouldnt complain. It sure is keeping me busy though... Over GW, while I wasnt working we have been doing things around the house. I have done some more gardening, and we went for a drive one day and also shopping to the house and garden store. And on Monday we went to Costco to pick up some things, and ended up spending about $600 on supplies! It all adds up so quickly. I bought laundry detergent, fabric softner, and all the toiletries like body soap and shampoos etc, and they add up. But, I wont have to buy any for the next 6 months or more, so when you think about that it is worth it! There were so many people there it was insane and both Mr. Nemo and I were so glad to get out of there. We had dinner with his mum that night and had a roast chicken from Costco and some other stuff his mum prepared. It was nice not to have to make dinner.
While at Costco I picked up some lovely flowers for the house. I love having flowers in the house, cos they make the house smell so lovely and just bring a smile to my face everytime I look at them. These are just stunning and were so cheap! I think 500 yen for the whole bunch. What a bargain!

On the 2nd, we went to the family plot to bury Mr. Nemo's aunt and uncles beloved family dog. It died over New Year's but they have only recently been able to think about burying him (burrying his ashes that is... he was cremated the day after he died). They dont have kids and he was like their little baby, so it took them some time to get over his dealth. It was a nice family day out though, and afterwards we went to the aunt and uncle's place for lunch. Aunty is an amazing cook, and the lunch was jsut devine. We even got some left overs to take home, which was great cos I didnt feel much like cooking when we got back. I wasnt hungry after the big lunch, so the Mr. had leftovers for dinner, which was great for us both!

This is Mr. Nemo's mum when we were out at the family plot. She is so tiny, and I think is only 138cms tall. She used to be 140, but has shrunk 2cms in recent years. She turned 66 this year.

When I was fiddling with the camera today I found some photos of our anniversary lunch, that we had forgotten that we took. This is me at lunch, excited about the great buffet!!!

Here is Mr. Nemo looking a bit sleepy but excited about his smoked salmon! He isnt a big fish guy, but looooovessss his salmon!

The place we went to put together a lovely surprise for us and decorated our desert plates with chocolate. It was really sweet of them and totally made our anniversary lunch date! I told them it was our anniversary when I booked and asked for a window table with a view. They not only gaveg us a great table, but came out at the end of the meal with these gorgeous little dishes of desert. And took our photo for us, but unfortunately the Mr. had his eyes closed, so not allowed to post it on here!!! HAHAA!

The Mr.'s plate of yummies!