Kelly Azuma

I’ve fractured my collar-bone :( Which means I can’t move my neck from side to side, look down, or move my left shoulder and arm without major pain. How did I do it? I walked into the door frame.

No really.

I’ve been really clumsy lately, and off-balance I walked straight into it, with my collar-bone bearing the brunt.

So of course I couldn’t go to my drawing class today because I can’t look down. :( No pretty asagaos today. I probably won’t be able to do the belly-dancing or yoga this week either.

On the upside I got another card reading request today, plus a few other people have expressed interest. I also got some lovely feedback from the lady I read for, who said that she was really happy with the reading. I’m pretty chuffed about it :)

I’m meeting up with some highschool friends tomorrow, Kerry and Jodie. They both have just had babies, so no doubt I’ll be doing loads of coochie-cooing! :) We always have a laugh when we get together, so that will be medicine for the soul. I’m going to bake a cake tonight to take with me.

Also got to go pick up a papa-san tonight that I bought online, it’s for meditation in my healing room. Yasu’s on his way home now, so we’ll go soon.

今夜の夕ご飯は私が作った照り焼き豚肉とズッキニーとカボチャサラダとご飯でした。美味しかった！

Yasu was suitably impressed, and scoffed the whole plate down and amazingly didn’t need seconds because his eyes had eaten too! The pumpkin salad recipe is from MIL, she taught me how to make it, and with kewpie and some lebanese cucumber it tastes really nice!

The teriyaki is just a home-style teriyaki recipe from a Japanese cookbook, and the zucchini was cooked in the same sauce. So in all a very simple but delicious Sunday night meal. :)

We finally cracked open the かき氷 machine tonight. Yasu decided it was hot enough…or he couldn’t wait until summer properly starts.

I had tried to tell Yasu from the beginning that according to the images on the back of the box, there is a round container that can be taken out and filled with water to put in the freezer, instead of having to find ice to put in there. He looked at the back of the box but said it didn’t say anything about it on there and he thought I was wrong.

Anyway, he had to eat his words when I opened the box, because there was the container I was talking about! Sheesh…men never listen do they?

So we both decided on 苺 Syrup and Morinaga 練乳 that I snuck home in my suitcase. We are not allowed to bring kewpie mayo or condensed milk through Australian customs, but when I declared “sweets”, on my card on the way in, they said it was ok, and never bothered checking my suitcase. Sweet! I now wish I’d brought more of the stuff, plus some kewpie because we can no longer buy kewpie here. :(

Anyway, we only had some cubed ice that we had frozen, but as the cups are only small we just had enough. The 苺 flavour by Meiji, though, seems more like 桜 flavour. It really wasn’t strawberry that I could tell, only in colour. The　練乳 was absolutely delish! It is 練乳 especially for かき氷, a little bit runnier. I really noticed the difference between the Japanese and Aussie kind. The Aussie kind is so sweet it kills your teeth, and the Japanese one is less sweet and more creamy.

We both prefer the Japanese one, but ahh…this tube we have is precious, and I warned Yasu there was to be no sneaky mouse getting into the 練乳 when I wasn’t around, as it’s strictly for the かき氷! (When I was away in Japan, I left a tube of 練乳 in the fridge, by the time I came back it was all gone, and I asked him what happened but he claimed no knowledge!)

So anyway, the pictures I took were pretty terrible but you get the gist. We’re not experts but I expect we’ll get better. It really was heaven though…very yummy. I’ve still got lemon, blue, and melon in the cupboard. I’m thinking of creating a 抹茶 one with 小豆 as we have some 抹茶 powder in the cupboard and some neri-an too. Oooh and a squirt of you know what on the top, it will be 金時!

Kitty Kakigori

苺練乳かき氷

It looks small, but actually it melted really fast. It was only 13 degrees but somehow it was just melting so much. I’m kind of glad though as my teeth are pretty sensitive and the ice was soooo cold! If it hadn’t melted I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. :)

Today I went down south to Mandurah with my mum. I caught the train to her station and then she got on and we went to the end of the line, which we both had never been to before. The end of the line is Mandurah, about 1 hours drive from Perth, and a coastal community by the sea. It’s a popular place for holidays and retirees.

We did some sight-seeing along the water, lots of little shops selling souvenirs, fairy shops, cheapie shops, a choco cafe selling everything that’s chocolate including drinkable chocolate (didn’t have time to go back, will do another day), clothes, shoes etc etc

There is an outlet clearance store there that mum wanted to go to, she ended up buying 2 pairs of shoes and a skirt.

We then went and had lunch on the water, good old fish n’ chips. The fish was perfectly battered, crispy and crunchy, and the chips were long and crispy with lots of salt and vinegar! Heaven!

The Bay

The Jetty

Big scary pelican who was waiting for a chip!

A lone bird in the bay

The tide was out, showing the grasses at the bottom

After alot of retail therapy we found a Muffin Break and had afternoon tea!

Hot Chocolate

Jaffa Muffin (orange & chocolate)

Was really yummy, especially the muffin with butter on it!! :) Mmmm

Finally we caught the train back, mum got off at her stop and I went on to the city, then Yasu picked me up at the end of my line. We then went and had Hungry Jacks (Burger King) for dinner…I was still full so I took mine home (Whopper meal), but Yasu had the new Chicken Cheesy Bacon Tender Crisp meal there.

From there we retired to opposite ends of the house, Yasu played Tokunaga on the pc, and I read “The Devil Wears Prada”. I’ve seen the movie before, the book just wasn’t as good as the movie though. Nothing beats Meryl Streep on the screen!

I went to Yoga on Wednesday night. The description on leaflet said “gentle exercise for the mind and body”, which was the reason I signed up in the first place. I was thinking easy peasy, meditation, new age, ohm-ing exercise. How hard could it be?

Very hard!!

What I didn’t expect was standing on one leg with the other leg pressed up to my chest for 3 minutes trying to breath in and out slowly.

or

Balancing on one knee while I held the other leg out to the side for 3 minutes.

or

Push-ups, dagwood dogs, and laughing babies!

Yes you heard me, those are all Yoga exercises. The laughing baby position is laying flat on your back with your knees up to your chest and pushing each leg out to the side as far as it will go, stretching the musles in your inner thigh. Babies do this all the time!

My stomach muscles are killing me, my lower back muscles are killing me, my whole body is sore. What gentle exercise????

Halfway through the one and a half hours I thought I would die. I was trying to keep myself going but the urge to quit was SO there. I stuck it out to the end though. Thankfully.

The end is the good part, the reward for going through hell. It’s meditation for 5 minutes in the dark room, laying down on the yoga mat, breathing in and ohm-ing, then sitting up and ohm-ing.

Despite all that, I will stay with it for the next 7 weeks. Yep, I’m a glutton for punishment. But hey, I can feel that this is working some muscles in there that need working, so I’ll give it a go.