Knitty Knit

Since I made knit hats for kids' school event, I feel like knitting. Haha, it sounds just like me! Well, I wanna make something, but I can knit only straight. Then I found this circular knitting needle. It's a loop shaped and two short needles are connected, so it's perfect to make knit hats.(then again, another knit hat?lol)




Oh well, it's getting really cold lately, n since I got haircut, it's easier for me to just put a hat on to hide my messy hair, so I will need some of it. But I would like to learn to knit more than just knit hats... Is there any classes around here?

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My Favorite of Favorites

Hehehehehe!!!




This my Favorite of Favorites, THE Chocolate Donut from Pompadour Bakery! I hadn't had it for... over 7yrs? I really really love this donuts. Unfortunately I couldn't find this bakery in Sasebo. But I found it in Nagasaki!!! Yay!!! I got 2 for me, 1 for John n 1 for Michele. And we ate it all...









The problem is... I want more...lol The bad news is... Nagasaki is not exactly "honey, could we go to get the donuts?" distance from here. Hmmm... Next time, I should buy a dozen...

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Because they want to be separated...

It looks weird. It looks silly. It looks not fashionable. I never thought I would have one of these... But I tell you, this is the best thing!!!




I usually don't like to wear socks all day. All this time, I thought that's because my feet get too hot. But I found out that my toes wanted a lol privacy from other toes.lol Now I can still wear my flip-flops with my socks on!!

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Heat Teck

It's getting cooooooold!!! It'd been 5yrs since last time we had a real winter time(if I count out San Diego too, cuz it still was not this cold!), it'd been 7yrs since last time I had Japanese winter. So I've almost forgot what it's like in this face rippin cold air. But Japanese ppl are very smart when it comes to "stay warm but not look like stuffing doll".

Heat tech. They made this material very thin but very warm. With this heat tech material, this inner shirts are great for us females, we can wear these without look fatter.lol I already bought some of it, n I am wearing today. It sure is warm n comfortable. They have many colors n designs now, so it looks just like regular long shirts n you can coordinate n all, but it much warmer than regular shirts.

Now, they didn't just make shirts with this Heat tech material. They made this down jacket with this Heat Teck, which is called Ultra Light Premium Down Jacket. I got one for me, one for John, n one for Michele. I was gonna get for my hubby as well, but all the sizes they have are "Japanese Size" which is way too small for American guys' shoulders n arms. *I am pretty sure they sell American size at UNIQLO in N.Y. If you are interested. (UNIQLO is Japanese Brand which is as known as inexpensive brand, n is most popular brand when it comes to Heat Teck kind. They've opened the store in N.Y. sometime this year.)

I haven't started to wear mine yet, but kids are already wearing because morning is freezing cold everyday. It's still November, which means it still will be colder, but we might be okay with this Heat tech thing this winter.;))










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What is she staring at...?

It's cold in the house this morning again. I made her blanket yesterday, well I just sewed around the super soft material I found at a store, but anyway she loves it(yep, I am into crafting lately... It's just that time of season;)).




Anyway, she looks comfy in her new blanket, n staring at something... actually somebody.









Michele was singing and dancing for her sister cuz the baby was crying... that's what she said.lol

Michele has been very helpful. Yea, sometimes too much, but she's never even been jealous of her. When Ilah is crying, she sings for her, talks to her, dances for her, n she's very patient. Ilah loves Michele too. When Michele keeps singing for her, she really stops crying. I guess it won't be long until they start to sleep in the same room.:))


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Crazy Hat Day!

So today is Crazy Hat Day. I could just decorate one of their hat, but I wanted make it somehow. And I decided to knit. The problem was that I had only 1 day to make not one but two. It's gotta be something easy. Well, I can knit only straight ones anyway.lol

It took really all day but I did it! Here's the knit caps I made.;))



Hahaha, it's not bad as it's made in 1 day, is it? It's for Crazy Hat Day anyway.lol and they loved it!







It's also good cuz it's super cold today too. I wish I had one of those!

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Pajama Day!

Yep, I guess most of schools have this kinda event. Which is pretty cool for kids, not so much for patents.lol For me, you know I am just a big kid, so I just enjoy dressing them up!

So I was thinking that Jinbei(Old Japanese style room wear, which now they sell all kinda character ones for kids) would be nice. Because it was about high 70s degrees yesterday. Then this morning, it dropped to below 60 degrees all of sudden! Jinbei is most likely for summer. Hmmm... I decided to put long sleeve n long pants underneath their Jinbei. And... It looks so silly!!

OK, this is John.



And this is Michele.



They like it. It's fun to wear like this sometimes.:)) Now, the crazy week is not finished yet. Tomorrow is Crazy Hat day. What shall I do...?;))

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Rilakkuma

I LOVE anything cute. There's a lot of cute things you see here in Japan. Like, as you know, Hello Kitty is made in Japan. After I came back to Japan, this new character caught my attention...



This is Rilakkuma. "Kuma" means bear in Japanese. So this was named as "relax bear" - give us relax by just looking at him, relax-kuma, then Rilakkuma.lol

They sell a lot of Rilakkuma items. I always have to fight myself to ignore from this cute face at stores. Oh well, I lost this time, so did my mother...lol so we bought the stuffing Rillakuma for Michele, n I bought this for myself.



Now this is my favorite mug cup. I don't drink coffee in regular basis, but it's getting chilly all of sudden lately, n I enjoy instant mocha in this mug cup every morning now. N my mom bought this lilttle pouch.



N this is the cute part, its' back...



Haha, yea my mom is late 60s n she has this in her bag! But this bear really makes us smile! Now he is Michele's favorite too.



She named him James n she takes him everywhere now.:))

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Do Not Eat!

This is my new hobby(?), paper clay sweets. Well... This is actually one of kits for kids to make. Of course my excuse was "I want to do this with Michele!" Yea, right...



It was not that difficult though. Michele helped me, so technically I didn't lie.lol The package comes with 4 colors of light weight clay, two types of molds, and some accessory kits. It doesn't even make messy either. After dried, it is like sponge feel. I think I am gonna make more n maybe giveaway? Would you like to get one?;))

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2000 years ago...

We went to Yoshinogari Historical Park today. In this park, we could see n learn how people lived in Yayoi era which is about 2000 years ago, here in Japan. Wow, 2000 years ago, can you believe that? Well, I am not really good at history n all, but I know I learned about this Yayoi era, that doesn't mean I remember what I learned.lol



Anyway there are a lot to see, like the buildings they built same way as 2000 years ago. It actually really impressive that they could built those 2000years ago. Those entrance is very low, which tells us how short they were.







There's some activities for all family to do too. We tried one workshop, stone pendant making. It took about an hour, it was a little difficult for Michele, but John could make one with our help. It was pretty cool. We all loved the pendants we made.



N it was very good exercise too...lol Inside park is very big, just like acutual villages. We enjoyed walking inside park. Well, it was very humid today, but we could still feel some autumn, we definitely felt the nature.







We would strongly recommend this park, it's very family friendly, very cheap, very clean, a lot to see. The stuffs are all nice, some of them even speak English n teach us about this Yayoi era. It's about 45 mins way from Sasebo area, on the way to Fukuoka. You can visit their web site to see more information from the link below!;))

http://www.yoshinogari.jp/en/

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"I heart ?a?a"

At our favorite store, Jusco, they sell this series of baby clothes that me n my hubby like. "I heart" series, just like "I heart N.Y.", but this one is MaMa, PaPa n Family instead of N.Y., of course.

In Japan, most of lil kids call their mom n dad "mama" n "papa". No, it's not Japanese(obviously!), as you know we use a lot of mix language, which I call Japanglish. So this "papa" means daddy.

Anyway, when we buy these kind stuff, there's always a silence battle between me n my hubby. Yes, which one we will buy "I heart MaMa" or "I heart PaPa" is what we battle for. First we grab same thing, except the word after the heart. When we can buy both, then we get both, like the pacifiers n baby bottles we bought. But if we wanna buy only one... Yea, we wouldn't fight or argue at store, especially it's about baby clothes, but there sure is a cold war going on between us.lmao

So we wanted to buy only one clothes for Baby Ilah. Of course our eyes were on "I heart ...". Let's see, which one we got...?



I let him have it for this one.lol Actually I thought, obviously I am always with her, I am the one who's gonna take her around everywhere. So, i think it's cute of her to show her love to her daddy. When I picked this one, he said "Are you sure?"lol

N I put this one on her today, so I took pics n sent it to him. I thought that picture would make him smile when he's working hard. But he didn't think so. Later he called me n said "I'm a lil pissed because you put the clothes on her when I am not around!"lmao I guess he wants it all.lol So I said "well, it's just a clothes, why don't you wash it n put it on her again when you take her somewhere?"lol Haha, he's not really mad, of course. But maybe he wanted her to wear that when she's with him! Don't worry, PaPa. She heart you always!;))

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Rainy Day

It's raining today. Not really strong but looks like it's gonna rain all day. It was still very hot just a few days ago, n all of sudden it got cold. The weather news said that's because of one typhoon which won't hit here, just pushing cold air.



Because of this sudden cold weather, our kids got cold too. Michele got it first, but as usual, she was just fine by the next day. Poor John got a cold from her, looks like his cold is worse then hers. He couldn't go to school today.

I definitely feel that we are back to 4 seasons place. In Hawaii, it was always hot or warm, at least, like summer all year long. Which, it was nice too. But we kinda missed 4 seasons.

It's chilly today, but listening the raining sound in the house just let me relax... I like it.;))

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Location:Sasebo,Japan

Officially A Geek Couple

Hahaha, you already know that I am a geek mom. N my hubby is like my best friend. We are very positive, easy-going people, n we share almost everything. That's probably because my hubby is very flexible person, I mean he's actually not stubborn. So he would try stuff what I am into(well, not girls stuff...lol). Now he finally started his own blog!!!



I didn't even help him making this! I think it looks pretty cool. He's good with trying new things, as I said before. But I never thought he would actually start his own blog! I am very proud of him!!!

Oh well, now we are officially a geek couple...lol

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My Hubby's First...

Fish!!! Yay!!!

Yep, he finally ate fish, I mean a grilled-head-to-tail fish.;)) That fish is called Sanma, very popular in this season in Japan. Sanma is known by the name mackerel pike.

I am very proud of my hubby! He is a very good challenger. He's been trying so many new stuffs since we moved to Japan. He even started his own blog! Wow, now we really are a geek couple!

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Location:Sasebo,Japan

Positive Thoughts 101: Find Your Hobby

Wow, it's been a long long time since the last time I posted "Positive Thoughts 101"... To be honest, I was very stressed out with the pregnancy.lol Then our pretty princess is finally born, I am double happy(having her n ending the pregnancy). Special Positive Lady is baaaaack!

OK, this time's Positive Thoughts sounds like just another tip from a magazine, huh? When I see those article, I always think that "well, easy to say that," even though it actually is easy for me. I always find something new, n get excited. Some people might say "it's important to finish it" or "you gotta continue doing one thing". I understand that, but I think... Most important thing is to start something. You never know if you really like it or not till you actually try it, right?

#5 Find Your Hobby

I would say, your hobby can be changed again n again. Your hobby can be "trying a new thing" or "finding my hobby". Say "My hobby is finding a new hobby."lol

I think, I don't have to be good at it if I am having fun doing it. That is very important.;)) But first, I gotta try.

I was watching a TV show, one professor said that it's good to create something to prevent Alzheimer's disease. Not only because using fingers n brain, but also getting good reaction is good for brain. See? Not only we can be positive, but we also can stay young!lmao

I have a lot of things I would call "my hobby". I have so many, when I answer to those questions, I take some time to think which one I want to answer as my hobby.lol Like, this, blog for one, n as you can see photography... OK, I should say just "taking pictures".lol Speaking about taking pictures, I am so having fun with my camera! I always wanted "photography" as my hobby. Since I am a fake-perfectionist(I call myself a perfectionist, but actually not so much), I knew I won't be that good as a photographer. But I still, looking for new cameras at stores. Then I realized that I don't have to be good at it. Now I love taking pictures, I carry my camera all the time, n I love my pictures!

Back to my hobby, I like spending time at book stores(which is NOT equal to love reading), try cooking some new recipes, reading blogs, scrapbook, making cards, making something or anything crafty...

I also copy somebody else's hobby. Some people don't like to be copied, n I hate those people!!!lol OK, in that case, let me rephrase that, "getting an idea from somebody else".;)) It's great because, one - you are not alone when you start that, two - you can get tips from her, three - you can borrow the tools if needed. So copying somebody's hobby is NOT a bad thing.

As a mother, I am not sure that if I want to say same thing to my kids though...lol Since they would want to start a difference thing every week if I said that, n we cannot afford it... Let's keep this in adult level.;))

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Another Sky

As I said before, I love sky. I love looking at it, I love taking pictures of it. Especially now, I carry my camera everywhere I go(n it's not even one of those tiny pocket size cameras), I just take pictures of the sky anytime I feel like it. Yea, I definitely look like a geek...(well, I am a geek.;))



Actually I always wanted to take pictures of the sky. I thought that I need a special lens to take one. Well, I guess those professional photographers uses special lenses, but my camera does fabulous job too! It shows a beautiful color of the sky, just the way I like.



I really believe that looking at the sky is make people happy n positive. First of all, looking up is a great way to stay positive. Then look at the sky. The sky has a lot of faces, colors, a lot of shapes of clouds... Sometimes you can see the sun light between the clouds, it's just amazing.



Another Sky. Actually that is the title of a TV show in Japan. It's not all about the sky, more like travel kinda show. But I liked this title right away, because the sky is always difference, n I always look for another sky.







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Sleeping with the Baby

I hadn't slept more than 3 hours continuously for a while, n obviously I was exhausted. So my hubby offered me a night off so I can get a good sleep last night. Of course I took it, I slept good last night, but... I gotta admit I missed her(so did my boobs!lol).



Tonight, my hubby offered me again, he said he would do it as long as he's off next day(what a nice hubby, huh?). Did I take it? No. I really missed her last night, I guess.



She's sleeping right next by me now... She's so precious! I probably ask my hubby for a night off again(or not, if she will start to sleep all night soon), but not so often nor like 2 days in a row. I can sleep with her like this only now, I gotta enjoy this!




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All You Can Eat Burger King!?

I didn’t even know that there is Burger King in Japan, but what? All you can eat Burger King!? WHAT??? Well, unfortunately we don’t have Burger King in our area, I think. Maybe in Tokyo? But… Can you believe this?
I really don’t think they do that in the States… or do they? I mean, they obviously think that Japanese won’t be able to eat that much, especially Whopper is huge compare to Japanese tiny burgers. That ad says, first you have to buy a meal, n if you are not full then you can get same size burger as much as you want. But if you don’t finish those, you have to pay for everything. I am not sure how it works, because those fast food restaurant, how can they check if a customer eat his order all by himself? Are they gonna stand there until he finishes? Or is there a special seat for that?(like Man vs. Food?)
I wish I could go there n check, but I don’t know where’s the closest one from here. What are they gonna do if all hungry U.S. Military people who are very used to those huge Double or even Triple Whopper??? Hmmm… Maybe I want to check if there’s one in driving distance from here n let my hubby try…lol

Driving 2 Nagasaki

We got 2 nice cameras, we got a new stroller, I don't have heavy belly anymore... Why would we stay home in such a nice day? So we decided to go for a lil drive yesterday.

We didn't really plan where, we left home around lunch time, we just headed to south. The first stop, the first place we found, was Bio Park which is a zoo where we can get really close to the animals. We've heard this is a very cool place. It sure was very cool.


We can feed animals, I mean, not throwing over the fence, but feed them directly from our hand, to animals like monkeys, flamingos, n even kangaroos. Which means, we can take pictures of them really close.


There's a flower dome n some beautiful butterflies are flying around. When I was a kid, I could see them anywhere, then I realized that I haven't seen them flying around for a long time.


After Bio Park, we could head back home, but it was still early so we decided to go lil more south, Nagasaki-city area. We don't know the area very well n we kinda got lost n going around here n there, but thanks to the tour-spot-handbook, we were able to see one of tourist spot, Dejima.


According to Wikipedia,(yes, I am not good with Japanese History...) Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and Europe during the Edo period. Dejima was built to constrain foreign traders as part of "sakoku" self-imposed isolationist policy. Originally built to house Portuguese traders, it became a Dutch trading post from 1641 until 1853. Covering an area of 120 m x 75 m (9000 square meters, or 0.9 hectares) it became integrated in the city.


Alright, enough said about a lil history(I just copied n pasted anyway...lol). Actually it was very interesting for a person who has no knowridge about these stuff like me. Especially it was fun taking pictures of those old Japanese style interior.





By the time we finished walking in Dejima, it was getting dark outside, actually there was nice breeze n felt like a lil walk. So next, we walk to the bay side, Dejima Wharf.


We found a great restaurant there too.


This is Japanese Sashimi restaurant named Kaisen Ichiba Nagasaki-Kou(means Seafood Market Nagasaki Bay). The service was great, n food was awesome! Of course the view was great too! The price was not so bad either, about ¥6000 for 5 of us(3 adults n 2 kids). So I was very satisfied. After dinner, we finally headed home.

I love these lil car trips. I am glad that my hubby likes it too because he is the driver!lol

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