A Day in the Life of Marino and Sawako Komlusan

What a lovely day it was for Christmas this year.... its always great to sleep in... however it wasnt to last for too long past 8:30... Mum and dad came into the room carrying a large round hatbox and saying M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S and placing it onto my chest... suddenly I felt movement in the box and new straight away that something had come to stay....




and what a lovely present it was...


I jumped out of bed straight away and went outside to play with my new 'toy'. She's so beautiful and energetic and sometimes I think its a rabbit the way it bounces around everywhere. Anica my parents dog wasnt too impressed however and once or twice gave her a little nip and a growl... she was in no mood to play ;)

So with our new keys in hand we were finally able to get our flooring put in. I went off to work as usual in the morning and left the keys with the family to give to the tradesman 'Clint' who would arrive a around 7:30am to pick them up. I also had a doctors appointment to get to by 9am that morning. It decided to pour really heavily so my car got a really great wash and so did everyone else who thought that not using an umbrella is a smart thing to do.
Anyway the work inside the house continued come rain or shine and there were 4 of them working on it. By the time I got there around 3:30pm to also meet the security guy they were about done. After talking about installation points and where to place the keypad etc... the flooring was complete! Along with marking along the skirting and the walls and minor dents that should be easy enough to patch. All in all a really well done job done and I must say I'm really glad I bought the acoustic underlay to go down as well.

Well its that time of year again when everyone wants to know how old you and you never really care to share. At least I dont need to hide any grey hairs as I dont have any which is great and i still have a full lock of hair as well ,which is better than some of my compatriots hee hee hee.... We had a lovely dinner at home of gnocci and goulash that mum and dad made for me all from scratch. There was also fish (snapper) which Sawako made which was also divine. The best present I got this year was of course the keys to my new home... yay!!! I had a 4pm appointment at Sterling homes to get the keys and go through the remaining paper work...blah blah blah....( we were thinking just get on with it) and when we finally got them (as well as 2 mug cups) <--those might be going in the bin..... and then went o over to the house to vacuum it and mop and make it a little tidier.

Hi hi hi! Its been a long time since I put pen to paper ;) I guess I've left it up to my wife to maintain her website but its all in Japanese so I guess that not too many people know how to read it.
To let you all know everything has been going fine. Our house is still being built and i'm hoping that it wont be too long before we have a chance to move in. Its been coming along steadily but this last week has been very slow and almost no work has been done just a bit of outside painting. It really makes me feel like Sterling Homes who is our builder has no idea how to go about scheduling things. If I ever want to build a house again, I'll make sure not to use the same company again. The staff aren't very informative except when sending the bill, at which they are very prompt at giving. Other things that we have been doing is shopping around for flooring. We will be putting floating floor boards down throughout the whole house. Cherry is the colour most suitable as its not too dark or light and it should match everything that we have already. We still need to decide upon a fridge and washing machine and other furniture as we really don't have any at the moment. Living at mum and dads house has meant that we really haven't had need to buy anything as its already been available. But now as its getting closer to moving we really need to start spending and getting the things we need.
One last thing thats needed is a heating and cooling system. Perhaps a split system is the more affordable way to go about doing it as we have one large living room / kitchen area and then the bedrooms. One would be good for the main area and maybe one in the master bedroom for now.

On loan from the Louvre Museum in Paris at the moment is part of their Egyptian collection. So I went down to have a look at what they had on display. Its being shown at the Adelaide Art Gallery at the moment for a few months and then moving around Australia to show it to everyone else in the country. It was really interesting and we got there at a good time as there was also a tour going on which was really informative and gave additional information about various aspects of the Egyptian culture. Its amazing how something that was created over 2000 years ago is still in good condition and can be viewed by societies all over the world. Its quite an amazing civilisation and they were very creative but also a little crazy with all their deity worship. They had statues or idols for everything they they felt would help them achieve what they wanted out of life and made offerings and prayed to them.

Has anyone else noticed that we dont really have many songs for Easter time. I mean there are heaps at Christmas but really not much to sing over the Easter weekend. Maybe thats why we have so many Easter eggs made of chocolate in place instead. Because when you have your mouth full of chocolate you cant really sing too much. So of course we had to get as many Easter eggs as possible and make them last as long as possible and make sure that we dont put on too much weight either. So a Happy Easter to you all!! May Jesus be always within our hearts and may we all strive to make our world a better place to live in also.

It was a colourful weekend down at Semaphore. A kite festival was organised at the beach and people from all over the world came to participate. There was a group from Taiwan and members from New Zealand, America and even a sprightly older gentleman (they say he was over 80 years old) from Canada participating in the weekend festivities. Of course there were also lots of locals out with their kites and enjoying family fun with everyone. It was lots of fun and so lovely to be out and about in the nice warm day with a lovely breeze good enough to fly some of the largest kites I'd ever seen. There were of course the traditional diamond shaped kites present, as well as an array of other shapes and designs. They had mermaids and fish, as well as frilled neck lizards and dragons and U.F.O's. I felt like strapping a kite to my back and flying up there with all of them. Oh to be a kite on a windy day....

My friend Hiroe has come from Japan to visit and stay for a few days. She has arrived with her friend Keita. We had a look around the city yesterday and went to the central markets and to the botanical gardens. The beach was a must after all that and so we made our way down to Grange beach and enjoyed the lovely warmth of the sun and cool water of the sea. It was fun playing a game of chasey with everyone. Its difficult to run fast on sand but very good exercise and so after about 30 mins of running around it was time to move on and find something to eat. Of course you cant come to Australia and go to the beach without having some fish and chips. So we went to Glenelg and got some and ate in along the beach side and finished it off with some very yummy ice-cream!

Hi all! I really need to start writing something more often in my blog! So in the last couple of weeks I went to 2 concerts. The first was held at the AAMI football stadium in West Lakes. I went there to watch U2 with some friends and my wife. It was a really good night and we all got into it with the singing and all. It was a little chilli being an outdoor show and my sweater soon got appropriated by my wife who felt the cold a little more than me. After the concert we walked to were my friend Damien had parked his car which took about 25mins. The concert was attended by 60,000 so places for car parks was limited so people slowly parked further and further away from the stadium. It was a good bit of exercise to finish the night and a great way to end the evening.

The second concert that we went to see was on Friday 1st December. I bought tickets for our anniversary to Kylie Minogue's concert. My wife really likes listening to her music and her style so she was very excited to be there. The concert was held at the Entertainment Centre, which isn't too far from home. We got to the Centre and we saw lots of interesting people. Lots of woman were there some of them going crazy, others getting dressed like Kylie and some really tall ones too, even taller than me, unbelievable for my wife. Some of the guys that turned up dressed like Kylie had me worried though but they looked like they were ready to enjoy the concert just as much.
Our seats were really good. We sat in the centre and could watch the show directly and in a little elevated position. It gave us the best view of the stage and the screens. The performers who danced with Kylie all had interesting costumes and most of the time didn't wear much at all. There were lots of feathers and short pants. Everyone got into the performance and cheered her on and she was quite moved by the cheers that she was getting. Another fun night !!!

The unbelievable happened.... Sam, my best friend, finally got married!!! It was an early morning for everyone... My friend Anthony and I were the groomsmen and we got to Sam's place just before 10am. He was already in a state of distress and needed a bit of a drink to start to relax. We all got dressed and waitied until the photographer arrived for some pre wedding pics. We had some poseing shots and some fun ones as well.
Next, a nice stretch limousine turned up for the three of us to travel to the reception/wedding place. It was to be held at the Palaise in Semaphore. It was a lovely and pleasant ride abd since it was just the three of us and there was so much room in there...it gave me plenty of space for me to prepare my mooning of the passing traffic.
Upon getting to the Palaise we awaited as the guests started to arrive and prepared a few things. I got to know the celebrant and understand the format of what was going to happen. Everyone waited for the bride to arrive with her brides maids. Upon seeing Kylie, Sam finally started to cry and release the wonderful emotions that had been building up all morning. The girls came in 2 classic cars and then proceeded to the marquee where we were waiting. The ceremony began and lovely poems and readings were given by the celebrant. Then it was time to exchange vows between Sam and Kylie. They gazed lovingly into each others eyes and repeated the words of marriage to each other. Finally it was time to officially be signed as husband and wife and I was very happy to be able to be a witness and play a big part in them getting married.
After the wedding ceremony it was time for the photoshoot with the photographer. We were led here and there and were bent to the whim of the photographer as we were cheered on by people we met who were also walking on the beach. After about 90mins of photo taking in the quite warm sun and whilst wearing suit jackets as well, we finally got to some shade. The cars that the girls had arrived in were still waiting for us so Anthony and I got into one of them and Sam and Kylie into the convertible one. We went for a pleasant drive for about 30mins enjoying the cooler air and being driven around like stars. We got many glances and looks from everyone we passed as you could imagine. It was so much fun!!
All the walking around and driving had made me quite hungry, and I was very happy once the reception got on its way. The cake cutting was the first thing to happen which I thought was really unusual. Only to find out it was because the photographer was leaving.
Once all the food had been brought out onto the buffet tables, the staff came to the bridal table to take our order. There was so much delicious food there and so little stomach space. But I did manage to try a little bit of everything. As time went by and the food became scarce, the MC announced that it was time for the speeches. I was up first to give a few kind words and to talk a little about Sam and having spent many years together as friends. I was followed then by Kylies father and finally Sam. His speech was direct from the heart and sincerity showed in the words he spoke.
With the formality of the evening over, it was time for the bride and grooms first dance (and perhaps last, as Sam really hates dancing). Followed by a father and the bride dance and an invitation by the MC for the whole bridal party to join them as well. Well I dont need any convincing to get out on the dance floor. I got Chieu and Sawako out on the floor as well and we were all soon enying the evening. Chieu spent alot of time making sure that alot of the small details where made perfect and getting lots of things ready. Good on 'ya!!!
We finally said all our goodbyes and hugged and kissed everyone and managed to get home by midnight. A wonderful day for all!!!


Have a look at the day we had! Sam's Wedding day pictures

Hooray!!! After much time having been spent looking around for a car that would suit both of us we finally managed to come across something that we both liked. My brother, Marko and I went to have a look at a car he had read about in the newspaper/ or saw an ad on TV. So after work one day instead of going to play squash we went to have a look at the car. It turned out to be quite a lovely car and a good colour too, a kind of silvery grey. So later that evening, after doing some shopping with Sawako we found we still had some time to kill, so I took her to go and have a look at the car. We got there just in time as they were locking the doors. The salesman was kind enough to grab the keys to let her have a look at the car. She really liked it as well.
That night we decided it was the car for us and that we would organise the money from the bank the very next day. So on Friday it was a great day. I really enjoyed being at work and thinking about how I would be driving a brand new car later that evening. My brother came and picked me up from work and we both went to the dealership for a quick test drive before all the paper work. The paperwork time was quite boring while we had to wait for everything to be arranged and signed over to us. But in the end it was well worth it!!!

The Royal Adelaide Show is once more upon us 1st - 9th of September. So on Saturday Sawako and I went there to enjoy the sights and sounds. There were lots of people there on Saturday, it seemed like I was stuck in Ikebukuro or Shinyuku on a weekend. We got to see lots of farm animals and dogs on display as well as exhibitions like the wood cutting event and the horticulutal show with all the beautiful flower displays and fruit and vegetables too. Each even being judged on a variety of criteria and ribbons being awarded for first, second and third places. There were also chickens with ribbons and a variety of pigeons, the strangest being a pigeon with large frilly feathers stemming from its shoulders so that it couldn't see left or right just straight ahead. For those with stomachs that can handle twists and turns and upsidedown positions, there were many rides that offered such body twisting and twirling fun.
As with any kind of fair or show, there are always lots of different foods on offer to try and buy. Ranging from sweet to savoury and all the in between. Of course anywhere where free food tasting is im sure to be nearby to sample the products. We had some lovely cheeses and toffee nuts as well as yoghurt and salami....oh so tasty!!
Lastly we had to do some show bag shopping. Showbags contain lots of differant items depending on which one you get. There are bags related to characters and bags from different confectioary companies and ones from magazine companies too. We ended up buying 3 of them. One was the Bertie Beetle showbag, the Yellow brick Road bag and the other one full of cheesy goodness.





It was lots of fun and the weather was perfect for the day. i hope you enjoy the rest of the photos as well. Just click on the link
The Royal Adelaide Show

On Saturday Monika and Mabella had a lovely birthday party in the park with their friends. There we had a lovely BBQ and enjoyed lots of wonderful food. We played games and had lots of fun. There was chicken drumsticks and chicken steak as well as chops and chevapchichi. Lovely salads with feta cheese and olives and potato too. The birthday cake was a lovely cheese cake with chocolate cream on top. It was fairly windy so it was difficult too light the candles for the girls to blow out.
My brother Marko brought his dog Misko and I brought my dog Annie as well. Misko likes Annie very much so he followed her all day long. But when he got too close to Annie she tried to bite him because im sure that she doesnt like him following her around everywhere, especially when she has to go to the toilet.
I hope you can enjoy looking at the pictures of the day.
Party Photos

Hello everyone! Its been a while since I've posted anything on here. So I thought it would be nice to sit down and write something about what I have been up to recently. On the weekends, my wife and I have been going to see houses around Adelaide and looking at places that we would like to live in. Its fun to see, and it gives us lots of information on what we want and ideas on what we can do with a house. The problem is finding a place thats suitably priced. Land and house prices are going up and so we need to make a decision soon and prepare to buy something. Sawako checks the local Messenger newspaper every week for house on sale and we find a couple that look interesting and go and visit them. We also went to some display homes at a few locations. We have collected lots of booklets and information sheets on house and land packages that are on offer in some areas and have been narrowing down what we can afford and what we like. I hope that we can find something soon so that we can have a home of our own.

So last time I didnt put any pictures of Annie taking a bath. So I thought it might be nice if I gave her another bath and get some pictures taken while I was at it. So here you are for your enjoyment A before, during and after shot.

Today was Lisa's birthday. I organised a lovely cake for her from Vili's where I work. A lovely 9 inch jam and cream cake. It was really tasty and everyone could enjoy it. Sawako and I bought a lovely glass candle set for her so that she can relax with them in her room. She also got a wonderful arrangement of flowers from Marko.

Today we had our friends come over after church. We invited them for a late lunch. So after church , Sawako and I started the preparations. We decided to make home made sushi rolls and some curried chicken wraps. We started with the rice first and cutting up the fish into small strips. Then we sliced up the vegetables for both dishes and cut the chicken up too. We had to make some 'raita' , which is a kind of yoghurt sauce, but we had run out of natural yoghurt so we asked our friends to bring some with them and while they where bringing that we also got them to bring some ice-cream too yay. So anyway...once all the sushi ingrediants were ready, we set up everything on the outside table and started to make our sushi rolls.



Sawako made the first couple and then she showed me how to make a couple too. I really got into it and got my hands all messy.



So in the end we had made quite a few of them and it was great to see our friends enjoy eating them too.



Come over any time and enjoy making and eating sushi rolls with us!!! A big thanks also to Chieu and Anthony and Kae for bringing over some wonderful fresh Vietnamese spring rolls for us to enjoy. yummmmmmm!!!

So today I decided that Annie, my dog, was getting too smelly so it was a big Annie cleaning day today. I filled up her little bath tub with warm/hot water and had another container of hot water on standby if I needed it. I found the tub of towels and washing things in the garage and went off to find Annie. She was enjoying the morning sunshine in the garden. First I removed her collar and then picked her up and slowly placed her into her bath. I think she didnt like getting all wet but she really enjoyed the warmth of the water so didnt complain too much. I used some special dog shampoo that my mother had bought. On the bottle its says for use on dogs, cats and horses. I thought about that and came to the conclusion that there was no way that a horse would be able to fit in my dogs bath tub.
So I shampooed Annie and she tried to keep her head above the water as much as possible while I washed her tail, legs and torso. Then I rinsed her and repeated the whole thing once more getting more hot water. In the end she looked like a big wet rat. She was really glad to see the bath towel with which I was to dry her. She knew that it had come to an end.
I also washed her dog bed sheets and blanket that we use to cover her. So she should stay smelling nice for a couple of days at least. I might have to make the bathing a more common practice. Hopefully its another sunny day that next time we try it.

Today there was a Japanese festival at the Cowandilla Primary School. They had some performances there from dancers and musicians. One of the dancers was an old friend of mine, Kyoko Sims. We also saw Judith and Ron and their families their too. There were displays of Ikebana and Bonzai and various food stalls serving such foods as takoyaki (but I think the たこ (octopus) was missing) and やきとり(skewered meats). A few of the Japanese people had their kimonos on and I think their was also a class from Japan that had come to participate in the event as well. In one of the classrooms there was a craft display. People could practice Japanese calligraphy, making こい (codfish) flags and trying their hand at origami too. Im sure that everyone had a nice day there. The weather with its stop start rain didnt keep people away for too long. Festa photos

In the morning, my mother and father went to the airport on their trip to Belgrade. Its nice going to the new Adelaide airport. I've been there 3 times in the last month already. Mum and dad's flight was at 12pm but of course because of overseas travel they had to check in 2 hours earlier, much to the protests of my mother. Everyone of us enjoyed the morning outing and had a look through the shops they have there. Mum, dad and their friend Don Ristevski all took off together.

In the evening we helped Barbara celebrate another birthday, a day when she could start counting all those extra smile lines...hee hee hee. We all went to Fasta Pasta in Port Adelaide and had a nice time with Kylie, Tom and Jackie Rice and their 3 boys, also Anthony, Chieu and Kae Neave, Anthonys mum Sylvia, his brothers Michael and Graham and two other friends of Barbaras, Katie and Daniella. There were mini balloons on the table and some poppers also.

Today was a walk-about day. We walked all the way to Arndale or what is now known as Centro. It took about 40mins to get there but it was a nice day with a bit of wind and we enjoyed the exercise. Had a browse around to see if anything new had popped up and met a couple of members from church and my friend Sam who works there. It was good having lunch with him and we sat around talking about World of Warcraft which is an online game we both enjoy playing. Sawako not being interested to much in what we were saying decided it was a good chance to go and have a look around on her own. After lunch we of course had to walk all the way backm but on the way back we went to Welland shopping centre and bought a couple of chocolate donuts...mmmmmmmmm!!! so much for all the exercise we did ha ha ha!!!

Yay!! My wife arrived on Thursday the 27th of April! My father and I went to pick her up from the new Adelaide Airport. My brother and the kids joined us too. It was sooooooo nice to finally see her again. Today we went to a lovely trip to the city. Its only 3 stops by train from my home station. It takes about 10mins, which is much nicer than the long trips while in Japan. We had lunch at the Myer food court and found a few things that we needed to buy. We decided to make some homemade pizzas. We used onion, capsicum, salami, feta cheese and olives. We used the breadmaker that I bought for Sawako to make the dough first. It took about an hour to prepare the dough. While that was getting ready we cut everything up and got the toppings all ready. It took about 20mins cooking time in the oven. We set the oven at 180 degrees. The whole kitchen smelled wonderful while it was cooking. The taste was just as good. If we keep on eating such wonderful gourmet food...we might not be able to stand up from the table anymore!

Woohoo!!! My dearest wife Sawako got her Australian entry VISA approved. Im so happy. She can finally come to Australia. I miss her lots and am so glad that she can finally come. We submitted everything in January and its taken up until now to get it approved. Im really glad as she is really looking forward to starting a new life in Adelaide with me. We had to to provide lots of details about how we met and about everything we have done together. Then we also had to send photos and bills that showed we lived at the same place and everything. But its all over now. She just needs to go into the Embassy office and get the final stamp in her passport and catch the next plane over yay!!! See you soon darling!!!

So yesterday I went to see a nose, ear and throat specialist just for a checkup. I hope I dont have to do that again soon. One thing was funny though, the doctor had an interesting set of tools for examining. He has a nostril opener that he used to check up my nose. I started laughing for some reason and couldnt stop for a short while. Next he took some spray and sprayed it up my right nostril. It slowly made its way down my throat and the taste was so foul and bitter. It lasted for a long time even after the check-up. The next examination used a long rubber hose that looked like an elephants nose. Inside was a long cable with a kind of scope attached to it. He inserted it into my nose and proceeded to push it in. It stung quite a bit and I could feel my eyes starting to water. When he eventually pulled it out I could still taste the bitter spray and now my nostril felt like it could suck in a 747 airplane. I was given the thumbs up and all clear. yay!!

So today day light saving ended so everyone got to sleep in one our longer today. We all had to move the clocks one hour back. It was a nice day to go to church and to see all my friends there. It was nice to be welcomed back. It was fast sunday today so lots of people bore their testimonies and there was also a christening as well. One of the many new additions to the Wilson clan. Many of the extended family turned up so there were lots of members today. I went to Marko's home later and spent some time with him. We are still trying to fix iChat so that it works with the Siemens 4200 modem properly.

Well its been a while and finally i'm back with my blog. As some of you might know i've made the move back to Adelaide. Its great to be back and its nice enjoying the warm and sunny weather. However, I have to wait for my wife to still get her visa for Australia and so she is waiting in Japan still. I miss her heaps already and wish that she could have come with me. It's going to be a big adventure when she finally does make it here. Until then i'll be able to stay in touch over the internet and video chatting as well. So new adventures and fun will hopefully start here, and i'm going to be looking for a job, car and house and trying to get back into the Australian lifestyle.

The moving has begun! Did lots of packing over the last week and putting things into boxes. The first load of boxes is getting shipped by Econoship to Adelaide. Thats getting picked up on the 28th. It will leave Japan on the 13th and arrive in Adelaide on the 7th of April. Yesterday my lovely friends Hiroko, Yasuko and Kyoko helped me move all my things to Sawakos parents house in the morning. Hiroko has a big van so it was easy to move lots of things at the same time hooray!!! After moving all the boxes we went out for lunch to a tonkatsu restaurant. It was really nice and I think Shigeru (sawakos dad) really enjoyed talking with my friends. He's quite the entertainer, telling lots of fun stories ;) Thanks to everyone that helped out!!!

Today was the first day of snow in Saitama. It fell gently in the morning and proceeded to fall throughout the day. It was lovely to watch it fall about. Cars sloshed it around and feel had to walk very carefully in order not to slip over. We need more exciting snowy days like this. Especially as trains tend to stop if there is too much snow. That would mean that I wouldnt be able to go to work! woohoo! Next month Sawako and I are going to Hokkaido to enjoy the snow festival. Im told that it gets quite cold and I should pack double of everything to keep warm. Ill just wrap Sawako round me and that should be warm enough. So here is a picture of todays snow

So a new year begins and its back to work today. It was a good start nothing too strenuous. I met up with my long time friend Ryan from Adelaide. He recently got married like me but to a lovely Korean girl named Hyojung. It was so great to get an email on New Years day ' We are coming to Japan'. So we met up with them yesterday and had a great afternoon/evening with each other. I havent seen Ryan since going to Sydney a few years ago with Sam and my brother Marko.

So its come to the end of the year at last. Its been a busy year and it certainly has gone by way too quickly. So we have been doing lots of cleaning and tidying up in preparation for the new year. I got a new hair cut yesterday to usher in the new year too ha! Sawako and I are going to stay at her parents house for a couple of days over the new year. We will eat Osechi Ryori , a typical new years food here in Japan. We will also go to a shrine or temple and pick up a new arrow for the new year which will be the Year of the Dog. I must remember to bring my camera and make sure that it is recharged. And my PSP for those quiet moments when everyone else wants to relax...
See you next year!!!

So after many years wait my brother and I finally bought him a new iMac G5 for him and his family. Its been a long day coming. Im so glad that they finally have a Mac to use. It makes it so much simpler to do things and explain how to do it. It took a long time to try and explain how to get everything hooked up and have the right length of cable to get it done. (phew) In the end I told them to call the tech staff at the ISP to finalise the connection details. I didnt want to be at home all day on the phone with them trying to explain things so my wife and I went out to see 'King Kong' and do some shopping. After the movie I gave my brother a call to see if they had accomplished everything. I got him to open Safari and type in an address, my homepage, and yaaaaaaaaaaaay it worked!!! woo hoo!!! so later that evening we tried video chatting. It was very clear to begin with and then it became very pixelated. I looked up their connection details on the net and found out that they had been given a 256/64 line. oh dear! So we had to change that to at least 512/128 to give them a basic broadband speed. This will make it better. Yay!!! We are becoming a Mac family ha ha ha!!!

I hope that you all celebrated the Lords birthday in your own special way. My wife and I spent our first Christmas together. We had a great lunch of roast chicken, smoked salmon salad, spinach and sausage quiche and for dessert we had apple pies and almond biscuit cakes. So quite full for the rest of the afternoon. I got a lovely new back pack style bag which im looking forward to using.

Tonight is the end of a great decade! The Twenties something years are coming to a close. Lots of fun and fulfillment. Loads of travel and life experience around the world. I have met lots of interesting people and gotten to know my own friends better. Coming to end I now have an opportunity to start the next decade new and fresh. A new family of my own and a new beginning in Australia. I hope that the next chapter of life is full of great opportunities and experiences. A happy birthday and and the start of a new beginning! The 20th of December 2005!!!

So last night we ha the ward Christmas party in Hiro-o ward. There was lots of delicious food and wonderful company. I sampled some nice honeyed ham and lots of salads too. A big thumbs up to all who prepared it!! A job extremely well done! There was also lots of dessert ready too. It was necessary to have another very large table to keep it all on. Lots of apple pies, blueberry pies, chocolate cheese cake and an assortment of tasty treats. After that the youth of the ward and the primary kids put on a little presentation about Christmas. We were also celebrating the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smiths birth and so the skit that the youth put on also tied in a little with that. It all went really well and everyone had a wonderful night. yay!!!

Hi all its been a while!!! Well anyway...its the Christmas season at last and all through the land winter is settling in. The blue morning sky is so beautiful to see and the view from my apartment building extends further with the clearer skies and air. All the way to Mt. Fuji in fact. Today I received my first Christmas and birthday present

YES my birthday is fast approaching on the 20th of December woo hoo!!!

So I got a nice recipe for Almond Pie from my student Kyoko Kato. It was so lovely the one I had at her house that I had to try and make one myself too. So here it is

It was easy to make. Here is the recipe

First the filling:

80g............Butter
80g............Sugar
80g............Almond powder
1.................Egg
1/2 Tbsp.....Flour

Mix all of these ingredients together either with a mixing spoon or with an electric mixer. Once you achieve a nice smooth consistency you'll know its ready.

Next:

Get some pre-made/ frozen pie sheets and line a baking tray with them. Using a fork puncture the sheets so that they attain a more crispy texture when baked. Pour the filling in and top off with pie sheets. If you have any almond slices you can also sprinkle them across the top.

Preheat the oven to 230deg C.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes and when it starts to go brown cover with foil and let it cook for the remaining time.

Eat it hot/cold or whichever way you like! Enjoy!

When I got home today I was happy to finally see the 2 packages I had been waiting for sitting in my letterbox. They must have come late in the afternoon otherwise Sawako would have grabbed them when she came home in the afternoon. I had bought 2 items from ebay. One of them was for Sawako - 'In Love Again' by YSL a lovely perfume that I had smelt on a friend. The other some lovely Ralph Lauren underpants so I could strut my stuff when I was at home...and secretly strut when I was out and about. Its so much fun getting packages in the mail!!! yay!

My sofa has escaped!!! I turned my head for just a second and it made a break for it... It moved right past me through the kitchen space and out the front door leaving scrape marks on the floor. I heard it shuffling to the elevator where it managed to get on with great effort and finally press the floor button to go downstairs. It wasnt long until it was poking its cushion out the front of the building checking to see if the vending machine guards were paying attention. It waited for a while to make sure everything was clear before making the final jump onto the open road. It took off fairly quickly from that point...it was last seen heading into a dark building where it would try and find happiness with the rest of its colleagues.

So after a successful wedding reception last month im glad to report that 2 of my friends who attended are also now planning to get married. My best friend who came over from Australia announced over the phone to me that he got engaged over the past weekend and another friend from work also suddenly told me of his happy moment over an SMS message much to my surprise. This world is a crazy place! Looks like I got the ball rolling in more ways then one. People often say that strange things happen at weddings. And it looks like this is what happened at mine. It must have nudged them in the right direction and made them feel like it was what they wanted to experience.

So a big CONGRATULATIONS to them both!

I hope that I get an invite to both of their weddings in the near future!!!

On the 6th and 7th of November, Sawako , Sam and myself went on a trip to Osaka and Kyoto. We had to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) at 6:39am so that ment that we had to get up at 4:30am to get ourselves ready and leave home by 5am to catch the first train to leave from my station.
Upon getting on the first train it was interesting to see so many people on it early in the morning. Maybe they were all going to Osaka?!? ;) We made it to Tokyo station and grabbed a bite to eat on the train. On the trip there we weren't able to sit together but that was okay as all I wanted to do was sleep because of the early morning rise. Unfortunately things don't often go as planned. Just as I was settling back into a nice cozy slumber Sam wakes me with ' I'm in the wrong seat...where should I be sitting?' So I had to open my eyes to check his ticket and tell him where to go. So once again I returned to lala land only to be once more interrupted with Sawako tapping my shoulder just to say 'Hello!' ... Yaaaaaaa!!!
We eventually made it Osaka (Shin-Osaka station) and made our way on a couple of trains to Universal City. Our hotel was located 2 mins from the entrance to Universal Studios Japan. It was a really nice hotel but we couldn't check in until later that day, around 3pm. We had arrived in Osaka at 9:40am and so decided to leave our bags at the hotel lockers until we could check in later that night.
My friend Yuki was going to join us so waited for a short time looking at the Hard Rock cafe they had nearby. She shortly arrived and we all made our way slowly to the front of Universal Studios (USJ) entrance to get our tickets. Yuki had brought with her a special discount pass so we ended up getting a 10% discount on our entry tickets. WOO HOO!!!
It was USJ Christmas season, so all the red and green decorations were already up and lots of decorations strewn all over the place. There were lots of attractions to see so there was no time to lose. It was time to line up at the first attraction. We got in line at the 4-D movie theater. That day they showed the Sesame St adventure. Sam and I really wanted to see the Shrek 4-D one but we ended up enjoying the Sesame St one nonetheless.
Next we passed E.T the Ride much to the dismay of the girls and hopped right into line with the Terminator 3-D studio. That wasn't too bad as they also had some actors running between the audience making it more exciting.
Then at this point we were all starting to feel a little hungry and went to Finnegans Bar and Grill an Irish pub. They had some lovely live music playing and it looked like a nice place to have a snack. Little did we know that was exactly what it was going to be. Upon receiving our orders, Sam and I had to laugh at the size of the meal that was placed in front of us. Was it a kids meal?!? Needless to say , there was still an empty space left over once we finished our meal. The girls were content with there fish and chips order that they shared together. I guess they just wanted to keep their slim figures ;)
Across the street from the restaurant was the Spiderman attraction. This was something new that had been added since the last time Sawako and I had visited. It was one of the rides that I was really looking forward to riding as I had heard good stuff about it. This ride was also a kind of 3-D adventure. First we had to get onto a cart that would take us on our adventure. Next we were propelled into a city scene where we met Spiderman. He was whisked away quickly to tend to some trouble that the various rogues were creating. The whole ride was a great experience and made us feel like we were really involved in the entire story. I recommend it to anyone who goes there.
Time was not important for where we were going next... we had our own time machine as we stepped into the Back to the Future ride. We were going on an adventure to chase a young Biff Tanner who had stolen another time machine and wanted to wreak havoc in time. So the chase was on as we had jumped through time to try and capture him and bring him back to the Institute of time where the adventure began from.
As if there weren't enough dinosaurs in our last adventure, next we headed to Jurassic Park. Here they had lots of big and small dinosaurs littered throughout the park enclosure. We needed to be really careful not to fall out of the raft we were in as we travelled the stream. Somehow the Veloceraptors had broken out of their cages and had started chewing on everything (munch, crunch)... I hoped we would get out of this alive!!!
Waterworld, a live action show, was our next destination. Upon surviving the Jurassic Park ride, we managed to find some seats at the front of the attraction. There were already lots of people inside but most of the front rows were not being used. So we decided to jump on those seats as they were nice and easy to see the show from. As we were sitting down, a small show at the front was already starting and we started watching. 2 people were having a fight so the 3 took a bucket of water to cool them down. They ducked just at the last second and the people sitting in the first 5 rows there got drenched instead. mwa ha ha! We had to be careful. So I pulled out my poncho to protect myself upon which Sawako tried to grab it from me to try and protect herself instead. It wasn't my fault that the rest of them had come unprepared!!! So in eager anticipation I sat and watched the exciting show having my poncho held up whenever any water came spraying in our direction. SO with lots of big splashes, explosions and shouting the adventure was underway. It was really enjoyable and fun.
Daaaaaaaaaa duuuuuuuuuum..... daaaaaaaaaaaaaa duuuuuuuuuuuum..... daaaaaa duuuuuum daaaaaa duuuuuum.... Jaws was after us yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! I think all 4 of us could have fitted inside it. It was sooooo big! Amity Village the setting of this story looked nice and pleasant enough a place to visit. Pictures showing people having a good time and laughing...it seemed like a great place to relax. Im going to have to remember not to put my legs or hands in the water ever again...
Anyway, once we had finished counting how many toes and fingers we still had, we checked to see what attractions we had still to see. There were 2 more. Animation Celebration and E.T were the only ones left to see. First we went and saw Animation Celebration as they had a show starting soon. Then after that we went on the E.T ride. It was nice. We got onto our bicycles and were being chased so E.T helped us fly above all of them. we also visited his homeworld and we could see all the interesting creatures from there. At the end E.T said goodbye to all of us by name. So nice ;) It was a great day at the park and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was finally time for us to check in to the hotel. So we all went to the hotel and made our way up the our room. We were able to get a room on the 23rd floor yeah! There was only one more floor above us. It was a great view too. Everything was nicely lit up outside from the park and other things around the city.
We all felt quite hungry again so we made our way to a buffet restaurant. After that we took Yuki to the train station to see her off. It was so great to be able to spend the day out with her. We hope to see her again soon in Tokyo!!! Thank you YUKI-chan!!! chu, chu, chu
On our way back to the hotel a special street performance was starting. It was a comedy magician. His name was Mr. Okuchi. He was really good. Lots of cool tricks and illusions to keep us entertained and he got people from the crowd to participate too. We really enjoyed it very much and it was a great way to finish the day!

Sawako, Sam and myself all kicked off from home at 8am this morning to go to Tokyo Disneyland. It takes about an hour to get out there and we had to stand most of the way as it was still peak time in the morning. So blurry eyed but fresh from our showers we heeded the call to go and play in Disneyland. Upon arrival the first sign of trouble was from the car-park that we saw was that it was already full with cars which could only mean that lots of families would be there too. This being a school day and all it wasn't really surprising that there would be so many kids here as it was a special event at Disney being the last day of October and that ment a special Halloween celebration. Does that mean all those kids got pulled out of school just so their parents had a good excuse to go to Disneyland? ;) Sawako and I have been there lots of times before but it was a first for my friend Sam. We managed to get on some good rides but the waiting time for most other rides was at least 90 to 140-minutes. So we did lots of window shopping and had fun seeing all the people who came dressed up to the park. They came as lots of different characters so there were lots of Alices (Alice in Wonderland), Tinker Bells, Princesses, Hooks and Peter Pans... I think some of them looked better than the cast who were there.
In the end we got a few small things as souvenirs of the day and went home early to put up put feet. We went to a ramen shop for a quick bite to eat and Sam quickly learnt how to use chopsticks otherwise he wouldn't have eaten anything.
We have to get up early again tomorrow as we are going to the Tokyo Motor Show...WOO HOO!!! Tokyo Disneyland '05

(continued)

So all the food started coming out and I really liked what I saw, it was just that my stomach decided at that time that it wasn't going to let me enjoy the whole evening. I nibbled on bits and pieces and tried to get into it but I just felt like it wanted to also come right back up and revisit me again. So I took small morsels of each dish and tried to enjoy it as best as possible.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the evening. Lots of photos were being taken at every possible opportunity. I think I still have light flashing in front of my eyes. So it came time for our first special event of the evening. The 'Pizza' cooking!!! The staff came up to our tables with some clothes and our MC announced that the guest were in for a special treat. I had to remove my jacket and roll up my shirt sleeves. I put on a chefs jacket and fit the part quite well as the rest of my outfit matched well. Sawako suddenly looked like a cross between Cinderella and The Iron Chef. It was the funniest sight. So we stepped into the kitchen area. Behind us was a large wood oven and a bench in front of us. One of the chefs was going to show us how to prepare a pizza. So with cameras blazing and wood oven burning I felt a little like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, I looked around for some kids to throw in but alas are never any around when you need them.
First of all we had to knead the dough with our knuckles and open palms. We had to make sure that we keep it flat and round in shape and to slowly enlarge it while also keeping it thick on the end for the crust. I remembered when my father made round pizza bases and how he would sometimes through the dough up in the air and spin it around. I decided it was also time for me to give it a try. So with the dough in both hands I prepared for the throw...and up in the air it flew ever so gently spinning like a UFO in orbit. A couple more of those and it was enough to captivate our guests. I wonder if anyone got a clear photo of the flying pizza dough. Once we had completed that it was time to add the tomato paste. We had to smooth it on with a large spoon and then start adding the simple ingredients. We used cheese, basil and olive oil to dress it. Nice and simple Italian style. We then had to pull the pizzas onto a long handled spatula so that we could thrust it into the oven. We made one each and they turned out brilliantly. While the pizzas where cooking we invited everyone to check the small paper pizza slice that they had all received from the reception counter. On each piece there was either a smiley face or a face with the tongue poking out. The winning tickets had smiley faces. The 2 pizzas that I and Sawako had made would be cut up into 8 slices each and 7 of the slices from each pizza would be dealt to the winners. The rest of the guest would receive pizzas that the staff would make. The pizza chef also made a lovely heart shaped pizza for Sawako and I.
After getting cleaned up we returned to our seats and ate a little more and had everyone come up to our table to take pictures with us. Never mind our food getting cold. At the least the orange juice was good!
It came time for the speeches. First up was Shigeru Suzuki, my father in law. He is a natural with a mic in his hand. He said many lovely things and heartwarming words from his heart. Eichi (our MC) tried to get me to explain to everyone in English what he had just said in Japanese. The only reason he did so was because he hadn't listened. I understood many things but not all clearly so I wasn't going to stand up and do it either. ha!
Next was one of Sawakos friends. Yumi is living in Osaka now with her family. She made the special trip to Tokyo to give the speech. We thank her very much. She said many lovely things about 'Sawarin' and how they knew each other. It was so nice to see her again. Finally it was Sams turn to step up and present his speech. He came well prepared. He had it all nicely written down on his sheet of paper. It was truly endearing to here my old friend give his thoughts and express things about our friendship for everyone to hear. I began to choke up a little the words were said and remember all the amazing and stupid things that we had done in our lives together. To end with he proposed a toast to us and wished us a wonderful and long marriage.
This then brought us to the end of the main meal. It was time for us to be escorted out to our waiting room. First of all Sawako was escorted out by Mark Keller and then I was by Romi Niwa, she was very nervous about having to escort me out.

(to be continued)

Today I had my WEDDING RECEPTION

It was FANTASTIC....we had a great time there. So to start from the beginning... woke up in the morning feeling nice and relaxed. Played some World of Warcraft on the computer and did some fishing with my character. Such a nice way to stay relaxed. Sam (the best man) finally woke up and got out of bed. I think he would have stayed in bed longer but he had to finish writting his speech. He was feeling a bit nervous about it. I dont know what all the commotion was. I then went to get my haircut at my local hairdresser. I met Sawako at the station at 1pm to give her her dress and other things So the afternoon was spent just relaxing and playing a couple of rounds of PSP 'Hot Shots' golf.
Then I started getting ready at around 1:30pm and wondered what I was going to wear to the restaurant. As I was catching a train there it wouldnt have looked too good going all the way in a tuxedo. Especially with this many people
So I decided on my nice suit without a tie as Sam was wearing his nice suit already.
It was still quite cloudy and overcast upon arriving in Hiro-o and it had started to spit down with rain. This was of course disappointing as we really wanted to have some outdoor pictures. At the restaurant we met up with Hino Satoshi, the event manager for the restaurant, and explained all the things that had been delivered to the restaurant earlier in the day. Everything had arrived but we were missing one of the bags with all our menus and games in it. SO the search was on!!! Satoshi went for a lap around the restaurant in search of the missing 'treasure'. A few laps later....SUCCESS!!! It was found stashed away in the deep dungeons of the kitchen.
It was time to pick up my tuxedo next. It was at a nice shop not too far from the restaurant. I took it back to the restaurant to get changed. I wondered why the bathroom was so clean and realised I had walked into the womens one to get changed. It took a while to get changed with all the little bits and pieces but in the end it was really worth it.
When Sawako arrived from the hairsalon it had stopped raining and so were able to go quickly to the park. On the way to the park we got lots of congratulations from passers-by and honks from drivers too. We had lots of pictures being taken from our photographer too so lots of poses as well. It was getting dark quickly so we tried to get in as many pictures as possible before it got too dark.
On our way back to the restaurant we stopped at a little flower shop that was nicely decorated and took some photos

Upon arriving at the restaurant we underwent final checks and preparations and sat down and relaxed in our small waiting space.
Guests started arriving soon after 6pm. Takako Fukuda and Yuuko Okui helped us with the reception desk
and took snap shots of everyone for our cork board display. We finally stepped out onto the terrace at 6:50pm to meet everyone and have a quick toast with them. From there time seemed to just fly by------> Zoooooooooooooooom!!!
Eichi Kasono, a friend of ours, helped with being our MC for the evening. He did a fantastic job introducing all the different things and getting the timing done too.
Sawako gave a opening welcome speech and opened up the evening with a few lovely words of welcome. Next was time for the opening prayer which I was more than happy to do! Next was the chefs dinner course explanation in Italian of course. I understood some of it but I think everyone else had no idea ha ha ha!!! His words were repeated by a Japanese chef for the people who could understand Japanese.

(to be continued)

Sam has Arrived!!! woo hoo can you believe it...

So quite a big change from little Ol' Adelaide...

So its been a busy day. From early this morning to early evening. We spent all day putting together the small things to make our reception look really nice and stand out. We started out by going to a stationary shop to get some coloured paper and bits and pieces to make our menus, drink lists and welcome board. We also prepared for a couple of interesting activities for our guests to participate in. For the welcome board we found some really nice stickers and stick ons to attach to it. Its looking really good, we just need to add some photos to it for the finishing touches and im sure there will be lots of wows...
In the afternoon during a short break, I used Apples new PhotoBooth software to take some fun pictures as you can see here.

Today was my day off, however its never really a day off only a day not worked at my regular job ;) I met my private students today and my first class started at 9am. Its definitely a great way to start the day and get out of the house. I tried calling my parents this afternoon but they have disappeared somewhere in the bush and wont be back for a while I think. So this afternoon I also had another lesson and was also taken out for some sushi as well. Sushi is one of my favourite Japanese foods and I enjoy eating it very much. There is of course a great variety of fish used. I prefer salmon, tuna, eel and crab. I really enjoy Californian rolls and Hawaiian rolls too as they have avacado in them that makes them kind of creamy when you eat them. I enjoy eating my sushi with sliced pickled ginger and also wasabi. Its a very healthy food and I almost wish that I could eat it everyday. If I did my pocket might become a tad bit lighter.

So today we had a reception party with only family members.Family photos It went really well. We went to a lovely Chinese restaurant in Harajuku and had a small room to ourselves so that we could all get to know each other. The food was nice and the families got along well with each other. It was great to meet everyone and to get to know faces. Its a little difficult for me to remember names but faces I can remember quite well. Sawakos dad Shigeru gave a nice introductory speech and let everyone know who I was and Kazuko (mum) addeda few words of her own. Then lunch started and we had some rotating discs in the center of the table that could be spun around. It was easy to pass plates , condiments and new dishes around to each other. It looked almost like a giant record turn table and each of us could have been the guest DJ rapper.
At the end, we distributed small thankyou gifts to the family members and took lots of photos with each other. I hope that we can all enjoy being together on another occasion one day!

So here I was pleasantly sleeping, when I hear a subtle ringing chime at 3:10am this morning. At first I thought that I was dreaming it and when the noise fianlly didnt go away I had to open my eyes and see where it was coming from. I soon recognised it as the chime for iChat when a call or video chat is being initiated. I was being invited to a multiway voice chat with some other people from around the world. My Adelaide friend Damien was also online and he sent me an instant message letting me know of the announcments that had just been made in regard to Steve Jobs' 'Just one more thing' press release. My brain hurriedly jumped into gear and started thinking about what was being said to me. It was exciting to hear the news, but it wasnt exciting enough to win the battle against my body which clearly knew that it was time to sleep and which was slowly but surely pushing me back into dreamland against my will. All in all it was an exciting early morning.

I arose at my regular time to see what all the fuss was about and found the webcast all ready to be watched at a more appropriate hour for the rest of my body to enjoy too. I hope that the new software and remote will be compatible with the iMac G5 that I have now. looking forward to using the remote for all my home entertainment needs.

So today was the dreadful day of having to go to immigration to get my visa updated once again. Its seems just like yesterday that I had to do it when in actual fact it was more like 3 years ago. So i was on my way to the immigration center when I realised that I had forgotten to bring my income tax reciept. So what was I to do? I didnt really feel like going all the way home to retrieve it so I just filled out the application form as If I had everything anyway.
So I filled it out and was given a a numbered ticket to wait in line. Oh the sweet number 667...just 11 other people were waiting in front of me so I thought it wouldnt take to long. I managed to ammuse myself with a copy of One Piece (in English) but that soon ran out and I had to just twiddle my thumbs for the next 2 hours while the tedious process of checking everyones filled out applications was done.
Eventually I managed to mnake it to the front of the line and present my documents that I had brought with me ;) When requested to present the tax reciept I kind of looked from side to side and wondered what to say... so I slapped my forehead and exclaimed that I had forgotten to bring it! With that the office worker just looked at me and said 'Next time!' I thought oh man i really dont want to come back and do the process all over again. So I had to try and do something. So i asked if I could send it by mal tomorrow or if there was anything else I could...with which he replied 'Next time!' yaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

I had forgotten to fill out all the information clearly in the mulitple re-entry permit form also and the officer told me how I should amend it. While I was ammending it he started writing some things down on the other forms and proceeded to stamp my passport with an 'application accepted' stamp... I was stoked!!! This meant that I wouldnt have to fill out the paper work again or reapply!!! Somehow he had taken pity on me and had decided that I could proceed with the application as long as I brought in the appropriate paperwork upon my return to pickup my visa renewal sticker.

So, in the end I was fortunate to be able to escape the need to have to wait it out upon my return. The kind office worker could understand how much of a pain it was to have to come in to do all the paperwork, and Im sure that he didnt really want me to come back and have to look at my ugly face for too long either! All in all a good day!

Everlasting...never ending...eternal! Today Sawako and I picked up our wedding rings from the department store. They came out really well and we are really happy with them This is what they look like. We are glad that we finally got them. In Each ring there is a short message. In hers it reads ' cute & cuddly - Marino' and in mine it says 'our hearts are one -Sawako' . Someone needs to right a book about what to put on the inside of rings. We thought up lots of different ideas and it was difficult to come up with just one. But we are happy with our lovely eternal wedding bands and they look great and each means alot to us.

Called up my bro tonight and chatted for a while. Then i chatted with Lisa my niece (whose stomach is a little uneasy) and she always has something to say so its always a good way to kill time. She bought some new shoes the Nike Shocks. Picture is on its way. Monika the younger niece met Andy Thomas yesterday at the opening of the Adelaide Airport...she was also in the newspaper today which got her pretty excited. You can see that picture when it arrives in the mail for me to scan onto my Blog.
The weather in Adelaide was behaving in all sorts of ways and affected the way Lisa could manage her day. But at least that didnt stop Marko (brother) from getting a haircut. Im wondering if he has anymore hair to cut as he is following in my dads footsteps and is going a bit bald. Fortunately for him, he used Lisa's hairdresser and she managed to thicken it out for him a little! Woo hoo!!! Jiji the 'hello' girl was there too...

So i hope to get some new pictures for my homepage also on here soon.

Just woke up and its grey outside and raining. Hope fully the day gets better as it gets along. I just cant seem to use an umbrella well for some reason. My head stays dry but the rest of me seems to get pretty wet. I think the rain here falls sideways just to spite me. One thing that you have to be careful of is cars that zoom past you on the street coz there arent many footpaths. So sometimes there are large puddles on the street and that makes you a perfect target for taxi drivers who love to splash unwary pedestrians.

A new era of blogging. Seems like everyone around is getting into it so why not give it a try. So it was quite a busy day for me today. Had to go out and try on the tuxedo im going to wear to my wedding reception. Man did I look good!! ;) The right clothes make a really good impression. I think im off to a good start with the piece that I picked out woo-hoo....dressed to kill!!!