Back In The Shire!

Uffff that was a scary flight!!!!

So turbelent, so much violent rocking - I seriously got worried on more than one occasion there!

But, I landed safe and sound and am now in the Shire, back in my childhood home and with a fridge full of fresh fruit, veg and so much food I actually cooked last night. Yep - first night back in the UK and I was the one cooking dinner! And it was awesome, washed down with an ice cold beer.

Up at like 8am this morning, the jet lag is kicking my arse, but I have so much to do today that I didn't want to spend the whole day sleeping. I have a whole load of appointments to make, need to get a new SIM and most importantly, I'll be seeing my grandad this afternoon! =D

It's an absolutely beautiful morning here and I'm back just in time for the semis of Wimbledon - even better! Still having that freaking out moment when you know you're back and every is so familiar but everything feels so strange at the same time. It's no way near as bad as last time but it's most certainly there.

xoxo

3 Weeks Off!!

I could barely contain my smiles (or the yawns) when I finished work tonight.

3 weeks off - YES PLEASE!!!!

I still haven't really packed - I've always been a pack the night before of get up early on the day packer but it's always different when I go back to the UK because I don't really take much. I never bother with toiletries - I'll buy everything when I get back and I always look at it as a chance to buy a whole new wardrobe so I don't really take any clothes either - about a weeks worth of day and night clothes. That's it.

Excited as hell to be making it to Ibiza in a couple of weeks. Nothing's booked yet but there are loads of last minute deals with the flight and hotel for 3 nights for under £250!! It's so expensive to fly from Japan that it makes a nice change!

And it's definitely upped my excitement about going home! Don't get me wrong - I was looking forward to it before but now I'm seriously, insanely excited!!!!! And I'm not joking - apart from Ibiza, all I can think about is that TESCO Value sausage roll! I've been wanting one for over and year and finally, FINALLY one is going to pass through my lips tomorrow. Probably not even one - I know I'm gonna scoff the whole pack of 5! HAHA!

xoxo

Excessive

I was just having a quick look through my wardrobe to see what I wanted to take back to the UK with me.

I have too many clothes!!!

I know I'm gonna go shopping back home and I want to go shopping back home so ideally I wanna go back with an empty suitcase.

The problem?

I have so many gorgeous clothes I wanna take home with me too!

DOH!

I've found stuff that I've never even worn! Thr problem is I'm really crap at throwing stuff away. I was trying stuff on that I haven't actually worn for years but I don't wanna get rid of it in case there's that one day where I might wanna wear it. I've packed up a whole load of the newer stuff that I've barely worn to give to my sister. If she doesn't want it, it's off to the charity shop. You don't find those here so it's better than throwing away perfectly good clothes.

Nah man I really should take less....I wanna make sure that I have plenty of room left to bring stuff back in. Especially since I'm gonna be going on toiletry overload!! It's just so hard to leave anything behind! I'm looking at my case - it's not packed but I've just been tossing clothes in it that I wanna take either to wear myself or to donate and it's overflowing!! >_<

Honestly, I really can't believe that I haven't worn any of this stuff! What a waste!

I'm being really good as well and am planning to take home my Japanese study books. Even if I don't end up doing anything, at least the intention is there!

xoxo

Stressed Out?

Man, I've been feeling really, really crappy all day.

Super emotional, super tired, super stressed out.....

And no, it's not that time of the month! HAHA!

I dunno - I think it's a combination of the fact that I'm going back to London and I have just soooo much to do before I leave that it's overwhelming me, the fact that I kissed goodbye a S*** loada money on house stuff today and a horrible realization of just how much I'm crushing on someone right now!! And yes - it's that same person I told you about before who is emotionally unavailable.

*sigh*

It's so bizarre to think I'm gonna be back in the UK in a couple of days. It's always a weird feeling when you haven't been back for a while - everything feels so familiar and yet so strange at the same time. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends and fanily - of course I am - but at the same time I can't help but wonder if 3 weeks is just that little bit too long. I'm gonna be taking my mum to Italy for her birthday, so that should help break it up a bit.

I just love being in the position where I can actually treat her like that! =)

Don't even get me started about the amount of cash I paid out today. >_< Watching my balance disappear like that was heartbreaking!! If I had been able to take that money back home with me I would've been laughing my way to the bank! And to the shops ;-)

As for the guy, well....I just honestly don't know what to do. Carry on being patient or just call it quits? My friend told me that I've been hanging on this long so it would be stupid to give up now and someone else told me to just forget him and move onto the next one! If only there was a next one to move onto! HAHA! I never thought that I'd been in this position when I left England. Another thing to be looking forward to when I go back - EYE CANDY!!! YYYYEEEEEEHHHHH!!! HAHA!!!!

Right I'm gonna print out my ticket and get off my fat arse and do something!!!

xoxo

にゃあ！

It hitting a whopping 32 degrees in my area today. Beautiful clear blue skies and blazing sunshine. It was perfect beach weather.

And where was I?

Cooped up inside! After getting back from the gym, I had a quick lunch and then headed out for my Japanese class. From there, onto work.

=(

All I kept thinking about today was how easy it would have been for me to top up my tan had I been able to go to the beach! I absolutely refuse to moan about the heat because I absolutely DETEST winter. I will take the sweat and humidity any day over that. So it's all good!

Another jammed packed weekend again this weekend. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to the UK and giving my liver a break! That and eating shit loadsa fruit! I'm just hoping that I'll be able to bring that healthy momentum back to Japan with me.

xoxo

Summer Is Here!

I've woken up to an absolutely STUNNING morning in Tokyo!!

It's gonna hit 30 degrees today and then 31 tomorrow.

You know I love summer. I've always been about summer. But this year with the whole country saving electricity, it's definietly gonna be a tough one - especially on the trains and at work where the air con is being used so sparingly. Defintiely time to start carrying the deodorant around with me!

I just wish work was a little more lenient on the dress code. I have loads of great summer business clothes but because of rules with colours and stuff, I can't wear any of them. So dumb. =(

I'm gonna be back in the UK a week tomorrow - I'm not joking - I'm literally freaked out about how fast the time has gone! Although I'm not gonna deny that I am looking forward to going back and catching up with friends, as well as hitting up mainland Europe for a few days. It should be good.

xoxo

Old Classics

So strange having a Saturday night in - the first (and only) this month.

I stupidly thought that I might study - yeah right! I spent the evening finally replying to all the emails I'd let pile up, doing my laundry, catching up with friends and...

....dancing around my room like there's no tomorrow to old club classics!

Remember Tori Amos' "Professional Widow"?!

WHAT A CLASSIC!!

xoxo

My Goodness Me!

I really just can't keep up with everything right now!

Time seems to be passing RIDICULOUSLY fast - I mean - we're halfway through June already! There is so much for me to do before I go back to the UK but the hardest part is over!

For those of you who don't know, I have finally sorted out all the grief and stress that I was having with my house. I met with the landlady last weekend and she agreed to sign the contract directly with me, meaning that I don't have to have a credit check and I don't need a guarantor. We went through all parts of the contract in Japanese and she was patient with my understanding - it all seemed too easy! The only thing that she didn't seem overjoyed about cutting out the estate agent is that she would have to fix anything that was broken in the house herself. My flatmate told me that the broiler was broken and she looked like it was the biggest hassle in the world that she would have to organise to replace it herself.

I don't care.

The stress is gone! YAY!

When I had that signed contract in my hands, I actually thought that I was gonna cry from the relief. All the stress just melted away. Well, the stress about that anyway!!! Still hating hardcore on my clients, although I'm working really hard right now to try and fix that. I'm sure the break will do me the world of good - 3 weeks of no real plans should do the trick. I spoke to my mum just now and told her that I'm gonna take her away for her birthday. It'll probably be only a weekend so I was thinking Spain or France. But now I'm thinking Italy just because I've never been there! Shock horror! Can you do Italy in 2 days? Anyone?

I just don't wannt stay in the UK for 3 weeks - especially coz it's so close to Europe. It feels like it would be a waste not to go anyway.

I'm a bit nervous about going abck actually after talking to my mum. The country sounds like it's in a complete state - naturally at the hands of the Tories. Why anyone thought they would keep their word when in power is beyond me. The Tories have always been liars and that's never gonna change. And it's always the lower income families that get hit the hardest.

My mum actually told me to stay in Japan. She said it wasn't even worth going home because the economy is a mess and the tax on everything has made so many people lose their homes, go hungry, and sell their cars. I haven't really paid too much attention to my bank accounts back home, but my mum told me that the interest on my ISA has dropped to less than 1%, so when I go back, I need to start looking at bonds or other ISA accounts.

Obviously, the economy isn't so hot here. I just received my health insurance/pension and inhabitant tax bills. My health and pension are up by 53% and my inhabitant tax is DOUBLE what I was paying last year. I love how they just send us the invoices and then demand the first payment before the end of the month. Well I can tell ya now that that's just not gonna happen!! They normally start sending out reminders when you're about 3 months late with the payments, so they can wait until the end of next month.

Oh yeh, I forgot to tell you that taking over the new lease and buying everything from my flatmate is actually causing me to empty my bank account. LITERALLY. So there goes that mammoth shopping trip I was planning back home!!

Oh well.

xoxo

Slow Down June!

Wowzers!

Time is absolutely flying by this month.

Exactly 3 weeks tomorrow, I'm gonna be on a plane going back to the UK for a 3 week holiday.

HOW FAST has that come around? It seems like only yesterday that I was saying "At the end of next month I'm going back to London" and now it's just a few weeks away.

I feel like I've definitely been more productive with my time this month. I don't know if it's because it's my birthday month, but every weekend is a whole load of parties and I'm really managing to catch up with a lot of people - something I have been insanely crap at all year.

Not only that but I also have my sights set elsewhere this month. Doesn't take a genius to work out what I'm talking about there! ;-)

Disgusting

Man, I really, really can't bear rush hour trains.

A 10.30am Japanese lesson meant that I was up at 8.30 and caught in it.

The manners of people on trains here never fail to shock me. There's no subtlety, there's no shame - people just outright unleash their foulness onto the rest of us and I find myself spending the majority of my commute with a screwed up face - which inevitably adds to my wrinkles!!

I watched in horror this morning as a woman kicked off her shoe, whipped out a foot file and proceeded to spread all her dead skin over the train floor. That did it for me - you know how I feel about feet - I had to switch carriages. But everyday you see the same thing. The worst is definitely the spot squeezing and scab picking. I would love to sit here and blame all these foul habits on men, but the truth of the matter is that Japanese women are just as bad. Which makes it even worse.

Disgusting.

xoxo

Hmmm....

I'm not sure what happened last month but whatever it was has carried over into this month.

Kinda....well a little bit anyway.

There's just a real sense of....low morale where I work right now. May was a seriously tough month but the momentum just doesn't seem to be there for most people. Especially me.

You know me. Itchy feet.

I need more variety - like WAY more. I know that I already do OK compared to a lot of people, but you know how it is with me - it's never enough and I always want more. Not only that but I always set ridiculously high standards for myself, so it's always harder to accept that in reality, I'm really not doing that badly.

Back in the day I could teach, say, 16 lessons a day and probably love about 11 of those clients.

Give me 16 lessons a day now and I swear down I'm only guaranteed to like or not mind about 4 of them.

How crappy is that? I HATE being surrounded by people I hate. The resentment I feel towards some of these people when I see them is shocking and it's only getting worse.

I really need to find a way to turn it around before it gets out of hand. Getting out of the office at the beginning of the month has definitely helped, but we'll see how it goes from there.

xoxo

Who Run The World (Girls)

I had a blinding night out last night with the ladies.

And not just any ladies...

...real, outstanding, fantabulously inspirational women.

You guys know me - 98% of my friends are men, so it is really rare for me to be out on a girly night.

Not only that, but it's even rarer for me to actually say that I truly ADMIRE someone - especially when they're female.

But that's exactly how I feel about these women - they really are fabulous role models and just are such beautiful people inside and out. I haven't been surrounded by people like that in a good few years - definitely not since I've been in Japan (that isn't meant to offend anyone!!!) and it's just wonderful to know that people like that really do exist.

They complete spoilt me rotten on what was my final birthday celebration. Good food, champagne, a gorgeous setting and fantabulous company. It was just a shame we all had to leg it for the last train (workaholic ladies - even on a Sunday!! ;-)) otherwise it would have been wonderful to go on all night.

Thanks ladies. You really are fantabulous and it's my great honour to know you.

xoxo

GET IN!!!

I finished work super early today - out the office before 3.30pm.

The joys of presenting! I love it because not only does it add variety to my job, I get to spend the day with fantabulous people and 9 times outta 10, leave way earlier than I ever would working at my regular spot.

I'm kinda at a loss at what to do with myself! I know what I SHOULD be doing but again, laziness has overtaken and all that cleaning is just not happening.

I'm def hitting up the gym later. Normally there's only about 20 minutes from when I get home on a Friday to when I need to leave to make it to my class and I normally feel too tired to go. No excuses today! I have hours to kill before I even need to leave, which gives me loads of time to do the stuff that I need to do and chill out for a bit.

Something I haven't done in such a long time. Nothing. It feels weird.

Looking forward to a fantabulous weekend with the ladies - highly likely to be another strain on the wallet but hey - it's all good! One of them is leaving town soon and it's one of those things where you really regret not working on building up that relationship sooner. Especially when you've REALLY started to get to know someone and then suddenly you realise that it's too late because before you know it, they're gone. =(

xoxo

You Guys Are AMAZING!!!

WOW!!!

I was really and truly overwhelmed by the amount of birthday love I received this year. I never thought it would top last year - but it most certainly has!

80+ Facebook messages (on my wall and to my inbox)

15 emails

11 phone calls

6 text messages

WOW!!!

The best bit was seeing them all come in from every corner of the globe. The first messages came from OZ, and then Japan and then slowly working their way west with the time differences. The last one (so far) came in from Chile a few hours ago. It's awesome just watching an influx of people start wishing me happy birthday as June 1st came round in their countries. I dunno - it feels really special.

More than anything, I just honestly appreciate people taking the time to wish me happy birthday. It's so nice and I've spent the last couple of days with a big a grin on my face as I find myself swamped with all this birthday love. It always reminds me that I really need to keep in touch with people a lot better.

I had a lovely day yesterday with my girl shopping and stuffing my face in Ginza. I shan't reveal the total damage to our wallets but we certainly treated ourselves! =D

As one most certainly should on their birthday!

One year older and most definitely one year wiser!!

Thank you for helping me see in my 28th! I hope it's a gonna be a good one!

xoxo

=)

Just 2 minutes after midnight, the birthday messages came trickling into my phone.

THANK YOU!!!!

=)

Really looking forward to shopping tomorrow. I've been working in Ginza for nearly and year and in that whole time, I've never had a WHOLE DAY to shop til I drop. Well, that's all gonna change tomorrow!!

Just made a reservation at the fantabulous Barbacoa for my third birthday party on Saturday. Really chuffed about this one coz I'll be celebrating more London style - i.e. in fantabulously expensive restaurants and bars with exceptional people. It's the only way to do it!

This month is gonna be soooo hectic and a mammoth strain on the wallet but hey - it's just gotta be done!!

Night!

xoxo