Kelly Azuma

After joining Facebook i have found alot of my old high school friends, one of which i have been emailing back and forth since then.

Today we finally met up again 13 years after we left school and lost contact.

It was really great to see my friend again. She’s now married with 3 kids and another on the way!

On the way home I stopped in at Kong’s supermarket and stocked up on Japanese supplies. They have Nagatanien Chahan mix and Furikake for only $2.50 as opposed to $3.99 at Maruyu. I made sure i got lots because i don’t know when i’ll go back next. I also bought some Calbee potato chips (Okonomiyaki flavour) and Morokoshi corn for only 99 cents for a big packet. Bargain!

As i got up at 6:30 am this morning to read emails and have a coffee, and that’s saying something as i am NOT a morning person, i am really tired, so i’m going to end this and call it a night.

Tomorrow i’m meeting my friend for a coffee and going back for some more transpersonal therapy healing. So will blog all about it tomorrow.

I was originally tagged on Facebook but i thought it was good for blogging too.

1. When I was born I was 2 weeks premature and fit inside the palm of my mums hand! I was blue and had to be put in a humidicrib for 2 weeks.

2. I am the only child from my mum’s second marriage. My brother and sister are 12, and 14 years older than me respectively, and from my mum’s first marriage.
3. My family is very multi-cultural. My father’s family was Irish/Italian, and my Mother’s family is from Canada. And then I married a Japanese! And my brother will soon marry a Cambodian lady. 4. I can read, write, and speak Japanese after  5 years of high school Japanese and 1 year of Tafe, and 4 years of University!

5. I love helping people, and feel the best when I can make a difference to someone’s day/life.
6. In 2008 I studied Reiki and am getting ready to work from home

7. I love cooking, and can usually be found in the kitchen trying out a new recipe.
8. I’m a big fan of the postman, I LOVE getting mail. (but not bills)

9. I used to be really shy but I’ve slowly come out of my shell around others
10. I love my life with Yasu and I wouldn’t change it. Ever.

11. One day I want to travel to Tibet in search of Shangri-La, and I’d also like to travel around China.
12. My most hated household chore is vacuuming!
13. I love reading and mostly devour a book per day.
14. My dad died of a heart attack when I was 2 because he wouldn’t give up the drinking and cigarettes.
15. I have never smoked, and only drink occasionally (usually pre-mixed or sparkling wine)
16. I’d love to become a mum but I think it will happen when my body is ready.
17. I love Perth and wouldn’t live anywhere else (except maybe Melbourne)

18. The only sport I like watching and playing is Baseball.
19. I love it best when it’s raining/stormy.
20. I love food, especially Japanese!
21. My nicknames for Yasu are “my little curry puff”, “my little love”, and “my baby”. (And he laps it up!)
22. Money doesn’t make my world go round.
23. I used to collect Hello Kitty anything, and have one shed and a bedroom chocka-block with  Hello Kitty dolls and collectibles! (Much to Yasu’s annoyance)

24. Yasu calls me “Kelko” and has called me that ever since we got married.
25. I LOVE animals and ever since I was young I’ve taken in stray dogs and cats.

I’d like to see anyone who reads this blog complete this list and leave a link in the comments please

Due to the Australia Day national holiday on Monday 26th this weekend was a long weekend. We made the most of it.

Saturday was a lazy day for the most part. Sunday we got up late, even Yasu slept in until 9am, which was a miracle as he usually can only sleep in til 7am, so he must have been very tired.

At 10am i made pancakes with butter and real maple syrup from Canada for breakfast. They were yum!

At 3pm we left home and went off to see a movie i had won tickets for. The movie – Before The Rains is set in India in 1937 and the official blurb says “An idealistic young Indian man (Rahul Bose) finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss (Linus Roache) and a village woman (Nandita Das).“

It was a small independant movie theatre where it was shown, and most of the people were over 50, but we didn’t mind. At least there was no rowdy kids throwing popcorn etc.

Afterwards we went to Shimizu Grand Japanese Buffet, and Yasu went to heaven with the sashimi bar. I was in my own personal heaven with the karaage, gyoza, and Japanese potato salad. They also had yummy chahan, zaru soba, norimaki, takuan (my favourite!), and sushi, plus chawan mushi, Japanese salad, and bancha. For dessert we had melon, jelly, and an assortment of small cake squares about 2cm diameter, great for a taste.

It was nice to spend some time together just talking, we haven’t done so in a while. Sometimes with the blur of life, i really miss the intelligent conversations that we can have over dinner, rather than casual chit chat. I think we both enjoyed our time.

We then came home and watched the Sumo final that Yasu had recorded. Unfortunately he had recorded it in English by accident and we were forced to listen to the less than fluent in English translators running commentary which ended up giving me a headache. I knew Hakuho would win, but was surprised when he lost the second round with Asashoryuu. Oh well, there’s always next time!

After that Yasu watched Tenchijiin and i went into the bedroom and read a book. We called it a night soon after.

Monday was another lazy day, but in the afternoon our friend Jo called and asked if we wanted to go down the park and watch the Australia Day fireworks. We ended up going to KFC first for a less than healthy dinner, and the eldest son (4) had a major tantrum and screamed for 5 minutes straight. He’s at the age where he’s jealous of his younger 2 year old brother, and fights for attention.

After all that we made our way down to the park and found a spot. The 2 year old wouldn’t let go of me, and when we went for a walk he stuck to me like glue. He’s such a cutie. When the fireworks came on, the 2 year old and 4 year old started crying. The 2 year old could stand the noise but not the sight of the fireworks, and the 4 year old couldn’t stand the noise, but could watch it. Luckily his dad had brought a pair of earmuffs so he put them on and watched. I’ve never seen this reaction before. I watched fireworks even when i was in a pram without incident.

After that we made our way home and went to bed shortly after. In all, it was a nice weekend, that we thoroughly enjoyed.

I haven’t been around on my blog much this week, ever since i started saying “yes to life” my social calender has become pretty full. I’ll give a short rundown about each day this week below.

Monday

I had to get up nice and early because i had been summoned to attend jury duty that day. I got in there at 8:15 am, there were alot of people who came late, about 9am even. I wouldn’t dare be that late. After alot of waiting around in a freezing cold room, they finally said that if people had a reasonable excuse and wanted to leave, they should go to the counter with their reason. Then more than half of the entire room stood up, probably over 100 people, and we then had to wait more while they went through the process of being excused. At about 11am they started the balloting. I was chosen in the second round for a trial that started on Thursday which meant i had to go home and go back on Thursday. I was kind of very glad to get out of there by then!

I went and had some lunch and did a bit of grocery shopping at Maruyu, a Japanese supermarket. I bought some House Vermont Curry, some House Cream Stew, a bottle of Mugicha for Yasu and some Milk Tea for myself. I had got the Milk Tea bug back after reading about it on Helen’s blog.

That afternoon my friend, Jo, came over and we went for a walk around the oval near where her kids’ go to childcare. It was mainly for my health as i’ve been trying to get healthy. We picked the kids up from childcare and went shopping. I bought a heap of clothes and found that i had dropped two dress sizes from all the exercise an healthy eating, not to mention the bad energy removal the week before. Yay!

Tuesday

I woke up at 10am and went shopping in town, bought myself some new shoes, that were originally $110, due to the bad global economy everyone is having sales to drum up business, and the shoes only cost me $39. This bad economy is good for people like me and Yasu because we have savings and we don’t usually go out and buy ourselves things we don’t need or don’t have money for, which means that when everyone else is broke, we’re not, and we can get great bargains.

My friend Jo called me and asked if Yasu and I wanted to go Salsa dancing with her and her hubby Stuart that night in the city. Yasu was working late, until around 10pm but he told me to go and have fun, so i got dressed up and made up, cooked Yasu’s dinner and made him brownies, and then they picked me up at 8:30pm.

We went into Northbridge, to the Mustang Bar, where they have free Salsa lessons on Tuesday nights at 7pm. We had missed those, but we watched for a while. They had a live band from South America playing Salsa music and Jo and Stuart had a few dances to the songs they liked. I can’t dance at all. But i went because i thought it would be fun, and it was. The funny thing was that while i was watching Jo and Stuart dance, guys kept coming up to me and asking me to dance. And not old, ugly guys, but young good-looking guys! I had to keep turning them down because i can’t dance, and one of them was so disappointed he told me to come and meet him for the free salsa lessons the next week! I had a great laugh with Jo and Stuart at that. And i don’t intend to take him up on his offer. Later on in the night when Jo and Stuart were taking a break, Jo kept getting old, like 70 year old guys asking her if she wanted to dance. She was quite miffed that she was getting the oldies and i was getting the young ones.

It was quite a good night, i did dance, but sort of by myself and with my friends for fun, not because i knew any moves.

At about 11:30pm we left the bar and went on the hunt for a cafe to have a coffee but because it was a Tuesday night, nothing was open. We then drove around and found a Fast Eddie’s 24-hour restaurant, so Jo and i had hot chocolates with Apple pie and Stuart had an Iced Chocolate. Yum!

I got dropped off home about 1am in the morning. I hit the hay.

Wednesday

I went out shopping for groceries and stopped into my friend Jo’s cafe, she was finishing up for the day so i stayed and helped out. Afterwards we went for a walk around the oval and picked up her kids from childcare. It was good to see her two sons, who are such cuties!

Thursday

I went back to the district court for my duty. We were herded up to the court and sat in the back while the judge told the accused his sentence and asked him if he was guilty or not guilty. His plead was not guilty so the judge set about pulling our numbers out of a box, for random selection.

I was chosen to be a member of the 14 person jury and i took my place in the jury panel. Then after all jurors were chosen we had to swear an oath on the bible. When it was my turn i stood up and the defence lawyer yelled “Challenge” which means they challenged me, and didn’t want me on the jury. I had to then leave the jury panel, and someone else was randomly chosen to take my place, and then sworn in. The reason why the lawyers sometimes challenge people is only known to them and they don’t have to explain it. The only info they have about a person is the name and occupation. As two other elderly ladies were also challenged, i can only assume the lawyer didn’t want housewifes to be on the jury. I’m not sure why this would be, but maybe they think we would have preconceived ideas about the accused who was Australian Aboriginal.

After hearing about what the accused had been arrested for – breaking into someone’s house and hitting them repeatedly on the head with a hammer – i was kind of glad i didn’t have to sit on the jury as i would have had to view some grisly evidence!

After the jury had all been sworn in, we were released and that was the end of my duty, so i was allowed to go home!

Thursday night Yasu came home about 6pm and i made dinner, we sat around and spent some time together, mainly watched Nhk.

Friday

I had a doctor’s appointment but only for a new prescription for some medication. I went shopping and bought a new handbag and wallet as i had gotten sick of all my other ones that were too clunky. The new one is by Billabong (an Australian surf brand) but is black, and classic. Very nice.

After seeing the doctor i went home but had managed to get very sunburnt in a short space of time, must be from the UV as it was cloudy not sunny. I was so red like a lobster and my skin had a terrible burning feeling! I hate that. I’ll have to plaster on the cream next time i go out. It doesn’t help that i have Irish skin that gets burnt too easily.

That night i went to a friend, Renae’s house for her Tupperware party. It was my first time to go to one, and because i grew up with my mum having a big cupboard chocka’s with Tupperware, i wanted to buy some but it was very expensive! I ended up buying a hamburger press, and i agreed to have my own party in February, mainly because if guests spend a certain amount you get product credit, that lets you get items for free.

I’m probably going to have a look on ebay though and see if i can get any of the items i really want for cheaper.

Saturday

This weekend is a long weekend because of Australia Day on Monday. It’s the first time since Yasu started working in Australia that he’s had a long weekend off. He usually works through it. So it’s nice to have him home for once!! Long weekends are usually lonely affairs for me as everyone else is celebrating while i’m at home moping around alone. Not this year!

As we are spending Australia Day night at the park with Jo, Stuart and their kids to watch the fireworks, we had to go grocery shopping this morning to get ingredients for the picnic. I decided to make mini meatballs, sushi, chahan, and a
salad, and hedgehog slice for dessert, so i got all the things i needed. When we got home i made Yasu and i some cheese and salad sandwiches.

Because it was so hot today, 35 degrees, i went and laid down on our bed, the front of the house is very cool in summer, that’s where our bedroom is so it was lovely. I must have been very tired because next thing i know it was 7pm! Yasu had thought he would let me sleep the sweetie.

So i got up and caught the end of Billy Madison on tv. It’s a bit stupid but i was waking up so it kind of filled the gap. I had some rice left over from last night so i got it out and made norimaki. I made tuna mayo, egg, and curried tuna. The indian curry tuna was kind of strange but Yasu liked it. Something different i guess!

We then watched Iron Chef on tv, the special ingredient was Udon. The challenger, Motai, won. I correctly guessed the ingredients used in making the dishes which Yasu was amazed at. I guess thats due to 6 years experimental cooking. I would love to see a housewife cook-off show, i’m sure they would have a lot of tips and skills that would benefit someone like me! I wonder if there’s such a show in Japan?

And here i am typing it all up. It was hard to think back over the week and remember what happened. I was too lazy to type it while it was happening but i should have! I probably missed a few things.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

On a side note i’d just like to mention my other blog Sweet Pursuit that i started a little while ago.

On my way to my transpersonal therapy session today, i stopped in at my friend’s cafe. She had just come back from 2 weeks holiday in Queensland with her hubby and two kids, so we had lunch together and caught up on what’s been happening. She didn’t feel so good because she had a lot of stress and she felt abit down because of it, so we decided to go out tonight.

After that i went to my transpersonal therapy session and it took 1.5 hours, and basically what happened is that Eugene put me into a relaxed state. Previously i had told her, and she had written down, all the things health-wise that were bothering me. After i had relaxed she asked my body one by one about these things, and my body responded in different ways. For example, when asking my body about my asthma, we talked about when i was born –  i was 2 weeks premature, and so small that i fit inside my mum’s palm. I was blue, and not breathing properly and spent the first two weeks of my life in a humidicrib. I felt life was a struggle from the very beginning, and all this time i’ve been struggling to survive, and finding life hard. Breathing problems for me represented breathing in life. When Eugene talked to my body and said that i found the strength to carry on for 30 years even though i found it a struggle, i felt this very big feeling of strength and power, it was amazing. Somehow i had harnessed that energy to pull me along all this time, even if i was half-hearted about it.

That was only one aspect of about 15 things that were bothering me. We managed to address them all in the one session which Eugene was amazed at. She told me i was amazingly in tune with my body, and usually a person can only address one issue per session. She also said that i was very spiritually connected, and i saw it because when she put the pendulum over my third eye and crown chakra’s they were spinning so fast i thought the pendulum was going to break loose and fly across the room.

When i addressed the problems my body was having, i could feel the pain that was being caused by a particular body part gradually subside and i felt a rush of energy down my legs, almost as if someone was running their hands from my knees down my legs. By the time the session was over, i felt so light like i could float off the table.

The main issue for me from today was that i was saying no to life, when i should have been saying yes. Also, she said a baby didn’t want to come into my life when i was only half living. I didn’t make any room for a baby because i didn’t welcome it, due to fear of the unknown. Eugene set me a few things to do for this week, and i have another appointment next Thursday with her. She said i need support to follow through on some things and she will be there for me. I feel so much better.

After my session i went shopping and bought some new clothes. My wardrobe is very basic and i needed something for summer or to wear out. I’ve been stuck in a rut for about 6 months wearing the same jeans and t-shirts over and over.

Then i came home, cooked Yasu dinner and got ready. My friend picked me up at 6:30 pm and we went to a local movie theatre that is next to a pub and some restaurants. We had Japanese stir fried noodles and went next door to the pub where we had Lemonade with a shot of Cointreau. I’d never actually had Cointreau before but i liked it.

Afterwards we went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt. It was long and drawn out, and went on for 3 hours. I can’t say that Brad Pitt is a great actor, i didn’t feel as if he expressed great emotion on screen. Some people walked out of the theatre three quarters of the way through. I know my friend and i were trying to stay comfortable in our seats.

Tomorrow i’m off to the Perth Zoo with my friend and her hubby and two kids, so that will be fun. They’ve also invited me out dancing in the city with them on Tuesday night. I can’t dance but i’m happy to go because it’s all part of my new “saying yes to life” campaign. Plus, because they’re such good friends with Yasu and i, i never feel like i’m the third wheel when i’m alone with them.

I have jury duty starting on Monday too, so lots to do next week!

Yasu and i had a date to go to the movies tonight. He came home at about 6:30 pm and i made steak sandwiches for dinner, and i baked a few chips in the oven to go with them. It was yummy! And much better than fast food.

At about 8 pm Yasu told me he didn’t want to go to the movies anymore. As i had been looking forward to it all day, and because he urged me to, i went by myself. He gave me a lift there.

There were only about 8 other people in the cinema, all of them couples, so i felt really odd. I sometimes go to the movies by myself, but that’s my choice, not because someone cancelled.

The movie, Yes Man, had Jim Carrey in it, he’s one of my favourite actors and i had a few belly laughs which was good for me.

Yasu came and picked me up and on the way home he mentioned he’d been on the internet the whole time i’d been at the movies. It was hurtful to me because the way i see it is, the computer has a screen, and watching that screen and typing takes about the same amount of effort as watching a movie, but you get yummy snacks and it’s airconditioned, unlike our house.

Yasu asked me what was wrong because he could sense something. I told him there was nothing wrong. He had conveniently turned off the internet and computer before he came to pick me up and expected me to go straight to bed with him (to sleep), when i got home. He got angry because i said i was going to stay up. Then he got angrier when i wouldn’t tell him why i was upset because i knew he would get angry about that, considering how much he’s been working lately.

In the end i sat down and told him why i was mad, when he made the revelation that he couldn’t understand what they were talking about in the movie. Every time in the past when we went to a movie he said he enjoyed it, he never said he hadn’t understood it!

I told him i’m not a mind reader. All this time we’ve been going to the movies and he’s just said it was a good movie, and never understood much of it. I feel more awful than before because he never said anything. He didn’t want to make me feel bad. But now i feel worse!

I feel worse because i should have noticed! But his English is quite good, and i never for a moment suspected he couldn’t understand it.

Looks like we both got our wires crossed. Despite our mix-up, i’m glad i went to see the movie.

I’ve been pretty much moping around the house this week. I just haven’t felt right within myself. I take medication for depression, though i’m not usually depressed as the medication works, and has done for the last 9 years.

Though the last couple of weeks i’ve just felt “strange” in a way i can’t explain. I’ve also been suffering with headaches, and terrible insomnia. All the medications and herbal remedies i’ve tried for my insomnia are not working recently. Sigh.

I’m really emotional, i keep crying at every little thing. The other night we watched Tenchi Jin together and i cried and cried. It’s a little sad that drama. Note to self: Don’t watch sad drama’s when feeling sad.

As i’m a healer myself i naturally turned to the alternative therapies for a solution. I have an appointment on saturday afternoon at 2pm with a lady who does Transpersonal Therapy, which is ” a very inclusive process which combines, Counselling, Reading, Balancing the Energetic Body, Art Therapy, Story and Intuitive Wisdom.“  I have never heard of it before, but i thought it sounded like something i would like to try. I met the woman earlier in the week, Eugene, and she is lovely. I actually nearly cried at the time, so i’m sure that counselling will probably be a good thing for me!

Yasu is all for it, one of the things i love about him is that he lets me do what i need to do for my health, without complaint. He knows it’s important to me to get myself right.

On a happier front, i’ve just ordered some baked potato Kit Kat, and roasted corn Kit Kat from Japan. I also ordered the “daigaku imo” candied sweet potato Kit Kat! I can’t wait to get them…. i love all these weird flavours!

I’ve been reading alot lately, just staying home in my own little world.

Yasu has been working late every night til about 8:30pm from 7am in the morning so he’s pretty much exhausted when he gets home. We’re kind of low-key at the moment.