Japan

With Japan only 2 sleeps away (1 if you consider I might not sleep Sunday night), my excitement levels are rising very quickly. Sunday, we have a wedding to attend which has been at the forefront of our minds..considering S is a groomsmen.

Our itinerary looks like this: 

Arrive in Tokyo on December 24th - 2 nights. 

Hakuba, Nagano (skiing) - 7 nights

Tokyo - 7 nights

Also, whilst we are in Tokyo we are making a one night stop in Kyoto.

Since we were in Japan last year, we have a pretty good idea of what we would like to see and where we would like to go. Our biggest struggle last time though, was finding places to eat that we would both enjoy.

We are flying over on Jetstar Business Class (starclass?) and I am struggling with the decision of what to wear. It will be 25 + degrees here and only about 5 once we reach Tokyo. I had originally planned on tights and a tunic style winter jumper, but it will be way too hot in Sydney to wear that. Even worse at the stop over in Cairns where I can imagine it will be pretty muggy.

Have you been to any of these places?

If so, do you have recommendations for restaurants/bars etc?

What do you wear on a plane when going from one climate to another?

What else do you do...

When it is 30 degrees outside? I think it is well known that I don't cope in the heat (and if it wasn't before, it is now). When I woke up on Sunday morning, I went downstairs and let Teddy out to go to the loo and discovered how hot it already was at 8:30am.

S and I decided it was about time we headed for a beach day, so we caught the bus then ferry to Manly to meet with his brother, J. J lives close to Manly Beach, but we decided on Manly Cove since there are no waves and we could use the pool floats to relax and well...float around. 

For $10 pool floats (from the $2 shop), they certainly did the trick. We fell off a couple of times, but I think that has more to do with being uncoordinated than anything else... (for me anyway!).

Whilst floating around and watching the locals run by doing exercise, or walk by on their way to drinks/dinner/lunch, I made the decision that the beach is where I want to live. I tried to talk S in to my plans, though he wasn't as enthused as me. Something to do with hating sand..

I am still hopeful that one day living close to the beach is a reality because I love the beach. I find water so calming and being able to just walk on the beach when I felt like it would be amazing. 

Celebrate

My first Christmas party for the year was a couple of weeks ago at Sky Phoenix in Westfield. I didn’t take photos of the food, because no one who works in my office takes pictures of their food so it would have been a little weird.

  

A bunch of us decided that we would head to karaoke afterwards which I was somewhat dreading. I would liken my singing voice to that of one of those screechy cats and I was sure I would be told to sit down after an awful attempt at singing any song.

Well, I sang up a storm. Especially after a few beverages were passed my way. For three hours, a few of us sang our hearts out and posed for pictures in the blue lit room. The karaoke place is called Karaoke world and is on Elizabeth Street, Sydney. For Happy Hour, we paid $15 per person and had the room for three hours.

 

For the privacy of the other people, you only get a photo of me..

The second work Christmas party, for the whole of the Organisation was held at Waterfront which is near The Rocks, Sydney. We had a 3 course sit down meal and drinks. For entree I was served the tomato and goats cheese; mains - roast turkey and veg, and dessert - Vanilla Panna Cotta. 

Roast Turkey, Roast veg and Turkey Sausage

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Berry Coulis

I'm glad the location was amazing because it certainly made up for the food.  The entree lacked flavour, the main was dry and the turkey was like rolled chicken that you would find in a supermarket deli. The dessert was also a redeeming factor. 

The view from the Waterfront restaurant

Have you had any Christmas parties yet?

 Are there any embarrassing stories to share?

I made another dress!

Finally, after a 6 month sewing hiatus I got back in to it and finished a dress ready for my work Christmas party. Even though I stayed up until 11pm the night before, I am so happy I was able to finish it and somewhat tie it in to the Nautical theme of the party.

The dress pattern is Simplicity 2444 which I have reviewed before here. I chose this pattern again as I had it on hand and I love the way the dress comes in at the waist and has a nice full skirt. I love that style on me and find that it is very flattering. A lot of dresses out at the moment are those big flowy ones that don't give much shape and they don't suit me at all.

The dress has front darts to bring in the bodice and the skirt has pleats at the front and back. That is about as technical as I get when describing patterns/DIY clothes as I have no idea about the terminology. 

If you are looking for a dress to sew, I definitely recommend this pattern. The instructions are very clear and if you actually read them (I got the first three steps wrong because I thought I knew what I was doing, HA!) you should be able to put the dress together easily. The hardest part is the zipper, but that is nothing to do with the actual pattern. Zippers are hard to put in generally (Unless you are an awesome sewer, in which case I wouldn't bother taking any advice from me!).

Christmas comes early

I love a little Christmas cheer and was pleasantly surprised to see my parent’s house decked out upon arriving for Christmas lunch on the weekend. All six of us kids, plus three partners and one baby all filled my parent’s house for an early Christmas lunch. For the very reason that the favourite child (A.K.A me) will be jet setting the day before Christmas.

I had big plans to wear a maroon dress I had been sewing the week before with a green bow tied around my waist. That is, until it came time to insert the zipper. Obviously that didn’t work so well, so I just wore shorts and a nice top.

S and I went and played with the animals whilst Mum and Dad cooked. The rabbit was friendly, it snuggled in to me and sat there while I was patting in to. Can’t say the same for the chickens, they aren’t much good at cuddling.

Then it was lunch time. Roast Pork, Roast Chicken, Roast Beef (or was it Lamb?), Roast Veg….everything except the ham which Mum remembered after we were finished.

I was on dessert duty and made delicious little rum balls which were a hit. The trifle was not so much of a hit, due to the fact that there was about half a bottle of coffee port in there. Steve, Mum and I enjoyed it though so I guess that counts. There is currently half still sitting in my fridge waiting for me to devour.

Have you had any Christmas celebrations yet? 

Christmas in the City

Christmas is not huge in Japan and since that is where S and I will be for Christmas, we are getting our dose now.

The past few days, we have taken to walking around the city on lunch breaks seeking Christmas and taking in the lights, decorations and joy that has been filled in to the city. The big Christmas Tree in the QVB has me in awe every year. I mean, a tree that spans three whole levels....how could you not be in awe?

All throughout the city, the decorations adorn the insides of buildings. There is a common theme of happiness, no matter who you are. We don't all celebrate Christmas the same way or for the same reasons, but in the end; isn't it about being with loved ones? I know it is for me.

Living in the now

It is so easy to get caught up on the future instead of enjoying what is happening now. I am guilty of planning what is going to happen in 2 weeks, 6 months even 2 years away and quite often I forget to stop and really enjoy what is happening around me.

With the silly season well upon us (and only 17 days until Japan), life has been a whirlwind of work, study, exams, drinks, catching up with friends and family, preparing for a friends wedding and everything else that comes with the usual end of year season. Seldom do I ever take a moment to really look at what I am doing and immerse myself in that moment. To feel the moment and just soak it all in.

Tonight, we did just that. I cuddled Teddy as I do most evenings and Steve quickly found the camera to snap a few pictures. To capture that moment in time that would be so easily forgotten otherwise. I will look back fondly of these times, I am sure. A little family of Steve, Teddy and I and wonder what it was like.

 

We looked at pictures tonight from our Japan trip last year. One year ago. One whole year. I caught myself thinking out loud 'where did that year go?'. It seems like last week that we got off the plane, arriving back in to Sydney airport and now in two weeks time, we will be boarding a plane to head back there.

Then Steve sat down to study and I snapped a few pictures of him..because he is always the one taking photos. Plus, I don't like to look through albums that have only photos of me..

Do you ever stop to really take in the moment you are in?