Posted August 13th, 2011 in Food, Perth WA | 2 Comments »
PBC Expo (Perth Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo) started yesterday, and D, Hiro and I headed to Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre in the morning. We assumed there’ll be more people on weekends.
It was around 12am when we arrived there, and the parking was full! So many people with prams, as expected… We wanted walk around fast, so we carried Hiro. It was my first time going there, and I didn’t really search what’s there and how big the expo was. I think I should have done it at least to check what exhibitors would be there.
Many exhibitors were offering free samples and discounts on their products. At the entrance of the expo you can get a pamphlet of vouchers you can use at the stalls within the expo. I didn’t even know these things and was wondering why people were handing those piece of paper to the exhibitors. Soon I found out I had to tear the coupon out of the pamphlet and pass to the exhibitors in order to get the free samples. I see I see…
I got so many free stuff and pamper bags. I also bought some Curash bath-time moisturiser ($4.00), Heinz’s disposable bibs (5 for $1.00), and Sistema’s set of baby feeding utensils and containers ($10.00).
We didn’t stay there for long (I think it was less than 1 hour) but many people seemed to enjoy the free stuff, talk to some experts (breastfeeding, postnatal depression, children’s health insurance etc), and the foods. It could be fun going with mom friends.
At home, I wanted to clean up the fridge and decided to make pizza for dinner. D likes eating salad rolls and keeps few containers of vegetables (say; tomato, red onion, lettuce, cucumber, etc) in the fridge, but once he runs out buns he doesn’t touch these containers and all the vegetables go bad 
I hate wasting food, so I cut these left-over up and used as toppings for pizza. I picked few leaves of basil from the garden and used it too.
Ummmm I think I put too much food on the pizza :p Yes, I am a piggy… But I like it with lots and lots of ingredients. I added chopped bacon for D too (as he loves meaty one). It was great – tasty, and the fridge is now clean!
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Posted May 7th, 2011 in Ume and Hiro | No Comments »
I have a photo of 2-weeks-old Hiro in the room, and the photo makes me realize how small he was once and how big he has grown in the last 2 months. In this photo he is sooo tiny!
Look at him now! Is this a same baby?? He is wearing the same clothes. His face, arms and legs are round and chunky! My mum calls him “little piggy”.
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He now wears the size 000, and newborn nappies are getting tight. You know, he was too small for size 0000 clothes and newborn nappies were too big for him when he was born. In-laws bought him lots of clothes at size 000 – 00, and I used to think “when will he be able to fit in these huge outfits?!” Now he wears infant size nappies, and those huge-used-to-be clothes are just right size for him. Looking at the size0000 clothes made me miss the tiny legs and arms… Baby grows so fast! (><)
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Now I’m looking at size 0 clothes and thinking when he will be able to fit in these huge T-shirt. The day might Not be too far away.
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5th of May is Children’s Day in Japan, and is part of the Golden Week (national long weekend). It is a day set aside to respect children’s personalities and to celebrate their happiness.
The day was originally called Tango no Sekku, and traditionally families with boys celebrate this day by displaying kabuto (traditional Japanese armour as worn by samurai) and raising koinobori (carp-shaped flags).
(http://www.jpn-miyabi.com/Vol.21/sekku-e.html)
It was Hiro’s first Tango no Sekku. Although I didn’t have koinobori or kabuto to display, I made a little one just to celebrate this day.
Be a strong, healthy boy, Hiro!
Posted September 14th, 2010 in Perth WA | No Comments »
Luna Palace in Leederville is screening 5 Japanese anime films for a limited 2 week season from 16/Sep/10 (Thu) ~ 29/Sep/10 (Wed).
“Reel Anime” is a anime festival held in Australia and New Zealand. All the fils will be screening in the original Japanese with English subtitles.
These 5 films are:
- EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE
- EVANGELION:1.0 YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE
- SUMMER WARS
- KING OF THORN
- REDLINE
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Reel Anime 2010 has something for new and old fans of anime alike!
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Posted August 24th, 2010 in Japan | No Comments »
I had a very relaxing morning today.
It was just a normal day – get up early and get ready for work-, but somehow I felt so relaxed on the way to the office. Maybe it’s because of the song my husband was listening to from his iPod, or the cloudy weather with white sky; as if it was just about to rain.
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To tell the truth, I was kind of having struggling 6 months since the beginning of this year. I knew the reason, but I didn’t know what to do. But, one day, I realised – what is the most important thing in my life? It’s certainly not the money. SInce I was little, I’ve always wanted to do something which I liked, I wanted to get a job which I enjoy – not for money. I actually wanted to go to Africa by myself to live with wildlife by looking after them!
I think I was losing myself while this 6 months. Now, I’m so glad that I’m Ume again. I always loved my unique and weird personality.
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I read many books during this 6 months, and I leant that the most important thing to lead a happy life is “be a happy person”. If you are not happy, you can’t be nice to others. You won’t even have a minutes to worry and care about people. But, when you are happy, you can do all of them. You’ll have a big heart and can share it with others.
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I am now thankful that all my family is fine and healthy. That’s all the matters, I don’t really care about other stuff!
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Oh, last weekend I talked to my mum, dad and bro on skype. We’re all not phone-type of people and couldn’t talk too long, but it was really nice that we did. My mum lives bit far away from my house and she doesn’t usually come to the house, so it’s great that I could talk to three of them at the same time. I wish I was there!
© Librairie Seizan of KYOTO
This time of the year in Japan is Obon : a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one’s ancestors. They wanted to go to the Jizo-bon festival – a festival for children held in especially Western Japan – near my house, but it’s customary to have the Jizo-bon on both August 23 and 24 to coincide with the Jizo Bosatsu fair. This year, 23 and 24 are Monday and Tuesday, so they couldn’t. On Sunday they went to the place anyway, but the festival wasn’t started yet, and mum couldn’t go to the alter of many jizo statues to light the candles. Mum asked the monks to light three candles for bro, me and one more once the festival starts.
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I love the festival.. When I was little, I didn’t know much of the meaning of the festival – just enjoying the stall food such as takoyaki, snow cones, Hiroshima-yaki and crapes. It’s a long way to the jizo alter, and on the way there’re many stalls selling food and toys, and also people enjoying karaoke on the stage. We all head to the alter, and inside we light on the candle and come out, then return back the way we came.
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I hope I can be there next year. I’m really starting to think that I should be flying to Japan during summer next time.
Posted July 17th, 2010 in Japan | 4 Comments »
It’s been a rather stressful three weeks… I was trying to sell my car privately, and all the games between buyers and me were… crazy (><) I mean, I understand that they want to buy the car cheaper, but I want to sell it more expensive.
Although my car had no major problem I had to accept the negotiation and reduce the price, but I think it’s fare. If I were looking to buy an used car, I would also want to make sure if nothing is wrong with the car.
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And, there is something else happened around me recently. I will write about it some other time
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The storm has gone, and I feel the sunny days are back. The forecast says that we are having another cold morning starting from this Sunday, but I always thought the mornings are always cold in winter. My hometown, Shiga had a strong rain for the last few days, and I contacted my dad to see if everything was ok.
It must be hot and humid over there. Normally the rainy season in Japan is around June, but this year things started slower than usual.
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While staying in Perth I sometimes forget that summer is the rainy season in Japan. In Perth, we hardly get any rain in summer.
I haven’t been back to Japan in summer for 7 years now. It’s because I’ve been avoiding this season, as I don’t like the humid climate. Almost every shops and buildings are air conditioned, but because of the temperature difference on outside and inside the buildings many people get summer cold in Japan this time of the year.
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There are things that I miss about Japan’s summer, such as fireworks, summer festivals, summer food and dessert, going swimming (well, I can do it here in Perth)… Fireworks is the biggest event in summer.
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Many people wear yukata on this day and gather around the shore to enjoy the beautiful sky entertainment and the delicious food from the stalls.
Summer festivals are held at many places across Japan, almost at every suburb. In my town, we have a small festival at the beginning of August every year, and we enjoy the food, games (eg: kingyo-sukui = goldfish scooping), and bon fire and dancing! I have a friend who is learning Yosakoi dance, and she is always excited about this festival each year. Just let you know, Yosakoi is not like other dancing you see on tv (hip-hop, jazz, etc) The style of Yosakoi dance is highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music.
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I used to go to the festivals in the neighboring towns (just 10 minutes by bicycle) too, and they have different theme and sometimes karaoke. But, there are always delicious food (I love stall food) and that’s the biggest reason I enjoy the festivals so much.
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Email: me@umeboss.com
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