Knackered!

My goodness me - I'm absolutely knackered!!!!

FINALLY made it to the gym for a step aerobics class!!

I don't know how many months it has been since I last did aerobics in the studio and I'm definitely feeling it now!!

The routine wasn't even that hard, but months out of practice, my feet just weren't behaving themselves. Although I managed to pick it up in the end...unlike so many other people in the class.

A trip to the supermarket and a 20 minute walk home with heavy bags completed the workout.

As soon as I got home, it was straight to the kitchen to make dinner. I realised that I had too many veg - I'm going away on Tuesday so I'm thinking about making a whole load of stuff over the next couple of days and then just bunging it in the freezer. It's better than trying to eat the whole lot before I go or letting it go bad. 

So, so tired now. I'm really gonna be feeling this tomorrow.

Early night for me, I think!

xoxo

A Chilled Saturday Night

So in a bid to save a bit of cash, I stayed in tonight.

I'm still waiting for my tax rebate (seriously gonna have to give them a call next week to get their arse into gear!!!) and also waiting for money for rent and bills from my flatmate. Until then, I need to be seriously careful with what I spend.

I actually managed to get through a day at work without any kind of energy drink - that's definitely rare! I was struggling from the boredom this afternoon, but the minute my last lesson had finished I was out of the door. Not just because I was dying to leave, but also because I had pretty badly violated the dress code and wanted to make it out the door without getting noticed!! HAHAHA!

Mission accomplished...I think!

So I've just been chilling at home in front of the TV, thinking about my holiday and getting jealous of people already on theirs. I'm so impatient - I think I'm just dying for a break from work. Whatever the reason, it's knackering me out just thinking about it! It's barely past nine and I already feel that I could pass out. 

Feels quite nice actually - I realised that over the last 2 months, this is only my second Saturday night in.

Chilling like no one's business!!!!

Think I'm gonna paint my nails!

xoxo
 

Jealous

Ufffff.....

I know I'm going to Nagoya next week and I know it's gonna be great.

But I still can't help feeling gutted that I'm not going abroad for GW. 

I'm so used to taking a minimum of a 10 day holiday at this time of year, and to be honest, I'm dying to get back in the sun and on the beach.

NO!!! Thailand doesn't count!!! That was study, study, study. I was barely outside except for going in and out of buildings and train stations and there wasn't a beach or a hint of sunbathing involved so don't even go there!!!!

HAHA!!

I guess I only have to wait a month until I hit up Guam but right now, that just seems ages away!!!

And people at work are being ****** too, so that's not helping my mood.

LOL - just the thought if Guam has put the smile back on my face!!

I'm also really bleurgh because I'm absolutely broke!!! I've spent my Friday night doing laundry and cooking up a storm. Which isn't necessarily bad but...I dunno.

*sigh*

xoxo

Nyyyyaaaaaa!!!!!!

=))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I've just got back from the travel agent.

You KNOW nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than the smile I have after booking a trip.

And this time it's....

Guam!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!

Gonna be celebrating my birthday in style this year - I mean, it is the last year of my 20s after all and it's the perfect way to spend it. Not only is it Guam and my birthday but it's also gonna be a very special trip because it's my last trip in Asia with my amazing and very special travel buddy who will returning to the UK this year! =(

These 3 reasons are why this particular trip is gonna be an absolute BLINDER! We only have 3 full days which are gonna be beached and partied out to the max and I am so excited it's not even fun! Just over a month to wait.

And if THAT wasn't good enough, I paid for my ticket to Nagoya today, so I'll be off next Wednesday to see my girl.

It makes work so much easier when you have a trip to look forward to!

So excited I can't keep the smile off my face!

xoxo

GW

This is my fifth year in Japan and I have never spent Golden Week here.

Put off by the crowds and the hiked up prices, I've always travelled South East Asia at this time of year. First it was the Philippines, then Bali, Malaysia and Singapore and then Bali again.

But because I was in Thailand for the whole of February, I can't afford to go away this year.

Super sad.

HOWEVER, I got a fantabulous surprise when I went to Thailand. I met some amazing people including a fantabulous woman who just so happens to have moved to Japan this month!

YAY!!

She reminds me so much of me, it's not even funny, and our ability to gossip for hours comes second to none.

So this year, I will be heading over to Nagoya to see her. I've been saying for years that I really need to see more of Japan, so why not start now?! Super pumped - I'm taking the long, awful bus trip over there, but it's so cheap and given the finanical state that I'm in right now, I can't be throwing away 10,000 yen one way on the shinkansen.

I only got paid today and 95% of it has gone already. I had to send a mammoth portion home to pay my mum back for my flight to the UK, then there's rent, health insurance, pension, bills, food shopping.....and I'm left with bugger all. DYING for my tax rebate - I wish these people would hurry up!!!! There were some issues with the account I wanted to get it paid into so I'm still waiting to receive it. Grrrrr....

On a fabulous note today, my ex-roommate's wife came to visit. And she brought me some mini Flakes as a pressie!!!!! I used to LOVE Flakes, even though they make a complete mess when you eat them. Thing is I've scoffed 8 of them already and the chocolate isn't as good as in the UK, so I'm feeling really, really sick now! HAHA!

I've also spent most of the day looking at trips to Guam too. I've decided to celebrate entering the last year of my 20s in style - and why the hell not?!

xoxo

YAY!

HOW gorgeous is Tokyo today?

22 degrees, blue skies, the sun's shining, I'm in love with what I'm wearing, I've got the music blaring and am poncing around all over the place!!!!

I honestly feel like I'm in holiday mode. I've got that feeling of excitement you get when you're about to go on holiday.

Crappy bit is, is that I'm not planning on going anywhere!!!

DOH!!

I've just come back home after my Japanese class and I just feel like grabbing a whole load of friends, loading up with food and booze and hitting up the beach. 

But all I've got to look forward to is an afternoon of housework and an evening of work.

Talk about putting a downer on my mood!!!!!

On a more positive note, the fruit and grain bars from Bagel&Bagel are absolutely AMAZING!!!!

Enjoy this beautiful weather lovelies!!

xoxo

I Did It!!!!

LOL - I'm pretty sure that this entry is gonna be too much information but I'm going for it anyway!!!

So you know that I took the leap into the world of laser hair removal last year.

OMG - it's amazing never having to shave my armpits....9 sessions and the hair has completely gone. I could have stopped at 7 to be honest, but I didn't wanna have to shave AT ALL - even if it was like once a month so I went the whole hog and got the lot permanently removed.

After a whole load of debating, I went back to start the removal on a new area....

DOWN THERE!!!!!

LMAO!!!!

I've been thinking about doing it for the best part of a year, but I have always been put off because, well, it's painful - I'm not gonna lie - and it was bad enough on my armpits....the thought of having that pain in an even more sensitive area was so damn scary, I just couldn't do it.

But then I was doing the math.

The amount of money that I have spent waxing over the last 11 years is SHOCKING!!! Even when I was doing it myself and not even going to the salon it was still costing a fair bit doing it every month. Even though laser is a whopping 15,000 yen a session, the results after about 6-8 sessions will be permanent. It is costly but it's defintiely worth it int he long run so I decided to just suck it up and go for it.

No joke - I was so nervous. I had a consultation before and even though I knew what to expect having had it done on a different area before, all I could think about while the woman was talking was how much it was gonna hurt. She did give me the option of going just for the bikini Y-line, but I wanted the same area removed as I normally have waxed...which was the Y, I and O lines!!! Sorry guys - if you can't work that out, I'm not gonna go into THAT much detail but girls who are no strangers to waxing know what I'm talking about!!!! HAHAHA!

So I'm lying there....got my goggles on....can't see a thing...and then my beautician just starts lathering this gel on. It was so cold and she didn't warn me what she was about to do (which is really rare - every other time I've been in, I've had a Japanese running commentary of everything that was going on), so the shock made me jump! And then she didn't warn me that she was about to start zapping so the first hit also made me jump!! I had to ask her to just tap the area that she was about to zap so that I didn't feel so shocked all the time!!

Did it hurt? Yeh it did!!! But it wasn't AS bad as I thought it was going to be. Of course, the I-line was the worst - had quite a few clenched teeth moments there but overall, I think maybe waxing hurts more...it takes longer that's for sure. Today I was in and out in like 20 minutes. It wasn't even that the procedure took that long - it was the applying gel time, scraping it off, washing the skin down thta padded it out a bit. The skin feels divinely soft and smooth now it's amazing. And that's after just one session.

Looking forward to seeing the final results at the end of the year!!

LOL - if it's tmi for some of you - sorrrrryyyyy!!!!

xoxo

Gomen Gomen!!!!

OMG I feel soooo bad!!!

I totally made a client cry today.

And we're not talking about a little sniffle and eyes welling up here...

I'm talking, like, C-R-Y-I-N-G.

Whooooopppppppsssss!!!!

I've taught her before and I remember in the first lesson I saw her I did so much work with her on how to expand when she talks and the different techniques that she should adopt to help her. She's an intermediate client and I'm always much tougher coz they're at a level where they should be pushing themselves harder.

So I was catching up with her and she was bouncing back these one word answers, so when I was writing down something on the paper, I kinda just bombarded her with questions like "Who did you go with?", "What did you do?", "Why did you think that?" I don't know if it's coz I wasn't looking at her when I was saying them, or because I reeled them off so fast that made the approach seem much more aggressive than I intended it to be, but when I looked up, she had just started crying.

I was so shocked! She had taken my lesson before and it was exactly the same and coz we'd covered the whole expansion thing before I couldn't get what was wrong.

And then she asked me:

"Why are you angry at me?!"

I was like OMG nooooo!! The poor thing thought that coz I was asking her questions when I was writing something down and then went quiet (which was supposed to be her thinking time to answer them), she thought I was mad at her for not being able to answer the question.

Whoops!

OMG I felt so bad!!! I had to tell her about 4 or 5 times that I wasn't mad at her and kept apologizing over and over. Then the tears just suddenly stopped and she was smiling again.

HUH?

I flagged it with another member of staff coz I wanted to make sure that she was OK at the end of the lesson.

And then later I got told that she was super happy with the lesson and there was no problem.

HUH?

Hmmmmm......super suspicious of that.......with the evaluation system in place, I'm sure I'm gonna find out soon how she REALLY felt.

Still feel bad though. Gonna have to watch that I think!! To be honest though, I was actually surprised she even came back for another lesson with me coz after the first one, I honestly felt that my teaching style was stricter than she could handle, so it was a shock to see her again.

I guess we'll see!

xoxo

Turn That Frown Upside Down

I was actually really surprised at the extent of the complete and utter anger I felt towards some of my coworkers yesterday.

I was so furious I could barely even speak to any of them. In fact, I didn't.

The desire to just turn around and give some of them the back of my hand was just way too tempting, so the easiest thing for me to do was just ignore them, keep my head down and get on with my work.

This morning I decided to skip out on the gym and had a lie in. I don't remember the last time that I haven't woken up to an alarm, and I finally rolled out of bed at like 10. I don't remember the last time that I did that and it feels amazing to just be lazing around all day with no obligations....well, I have loads but I've decided to put everything on hold, just so I can calm down and take some time out for myself.

It's approaching 2pm and I'm lounging around in a dressing gown with wet hair. 

LOVE IT.

I was looking in the mirror and was just mortified at the number of fine lines...which I swear has increased since all this drama kicked off on Monday.

It was at that point that I decided being this insanely angry isn't hurting anyone but me and my skin!!! These *******have caused enough grief already - I don't need them to speed up my ageing process as well!!!

So even though I'm not going to forgive or forget, I'm just going to try and push it aside and choose the path of positivity and moving forward instead. If I can just focus on my own goals, then I don't have to pay mind to those who are insignificant to me. Sounds harsh, but it's true. And much easier to do than you think.

So it's back to keeping my head down and focusing on my birthday holiday to Guam, my trip home in the summer, Christmas and NY in New Zealand and hopefully a little girly trip somewhere in the Autumn.

All it takes is the thought of a trip to put the smile back on my face.

And I just wanted to make a quick shout out to thank my amazing and supportive girl - you know who you are and you have been absolutely WONDERFUL over the last couple of days. Thank you so much. =)

xoxo

 

F*** This S***

Apologies for the expletives in advance!!!!

But I swear down, I am so effing mad right now that I don't think I can hold them in.

Well, I am British after all!! ;-) A bit of understanding お願いします！

As a female teacher of adults, you know at some point that you are going to meet some downright pervy *****.

As a female teacher, I accept that. I accept that I'm going to be catching male clients trying to take a sneaky look at my ****. I know this and as long as I make it clear that they have been caught out and showing some ******* sense of embarrassment, then I'll let it slide.

What I WON'T tolerate, however, is for ******* old ***** to shamelessy perv at my chest until their ******* hearts content, without giving a **** that I've made it clear that I can see what they're doing, have caught them in the act and then just carrying on talking as normal.

Talking to my **** that is, not to me.

And if that wasn't ******* gross enough, then to be asked really ******* personal questions that make me feel sick to my stomach just pushed me too far.

I get asked personal questions all the time, and normally I don't mind because either they've come up naturally in the conversation, or I might have instigated it by asking the same personal question in the first place, so I know I can't complain when it's fired back at me. No, no.....I just lie.

But when out of the blue I basically get asked if I've ****** J-guys and my thoughts about that and whether I'm into older guys...and the person asking me is a crusty old ***, then I get prickly and back up in my chair. I spent the whole time, desperately trying to cross my arms in front of my chest in any way that would get the ****** to raise his damn eyes....to no avail.

So feeling absolutely disgusted, grossed out and like I wanna throw up - if you saw this guy's face you'd understand - I decided to take my concerns about this guy to the front. Visibly upset, I mentioned what had happened, only to be greeted with....laughter....from women.

*******!!!

******* *******!!!!

Seriously?!

W.T.F.

That is so not cool with me.

******* done.

After the drama last year, I said that I would give the people involved one more chance.

And that chance has been taken.

No more chances.

Done.

xoxo

Stinky Stinky

When I got on the train this morning, I was super happy to see an empty seat....

....next to a nun!

Now I'm not gonna lie....I actually hesitated a little before sitting down. Something about the way she looked at me made me feel super uncomfortable and...GUILTY!!!

I didn't even do anything!

Nuns!

So after I second I plonked my arse down and settled into my seat, to be greeted by the most God almighty stench coming from the seat next to me.

After a bit of sniffing around (I KNOW - it's terrible but you still smiled a bit, right? ;-)), I realised that it was the nun. OMG she absolutely STANK!!! I was like damn, woman, have you been bathing in sweat or something?! Ufffffff.....

When I tried to give her a cussed out look, she just smiled back and me....and then I just started feeling super guilty about nothing again!!! What the hell is it about nuns that make you feel like that?

Does it happen to anyone else?

xoxo

Fringe Wars

I don't know how people can stand to have a fringe.

I had one cut on Thursday and it's driving me absolutely mad! 

The style wasn't my choice, but I was given a long blunt cut which basically covered my eyes. then parting was changed and it's been swept to the side. 

But the damn thing is still flapping about in my eye!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!

Luckily I've managed to kind of flip it over to keep it out my face without having to clip it back. I can't wait till it grows out again - I haven't had a fringe since I was really young, and given the nature of my job, it's the most annoying thing ever.

I see girls on the train all the time with all their hair in their eyes. I don't know how they can stand it.

But in the words of the experts, girls with hair like that are covering an ugly face.

LOL!!!

xoxo

A Whole Loada Sexiness!!!

I had a blinding night out last weekend.

I went out with a friend for dinner and a few drinks before meeting a couple more of his friends for more drinks and shenanigans.

And one of his friends...

OH. MY. GOD

6 foot 5 inches of sexy MANLINESS!!!!

Hahahahahaahhahahahahahhahaha!!!

You don't see men that tall around here often!!!! And where I'm wearing my super high heels, I'm hitting 6 foot 1. So for someone to still be towering over me at that height is fantabulous.

OF COURSE he has a girlfriend. Typical.

And this time, I'm being completely good. I've always said that I will never go after someone else's man if a) I know the girl or b) if a friend of mine knows the girl. Which is the case this time. 

So it's to be left alone and he is to be appreciated from afar.

What a waste!!

LMAO! Need to find me another one of those!!!

;-)

xoxo

Dilemma!!!!!

You know when you start working somewhere and you really want a certain position for so long...

...and that position becomes available and you're not sure whether or not to go for it?

That's what's happening to me right now.

GRRRRRRRRR......

The timing absolutely SUCKS ARSE. Like, really badly.

What's the problem? What's not the problem more like!!!!

1) I won't get the recommendation from one particular person after all the drama that went on before Christmas

2) I've already got too much planned holiday for the rest of the year and it'll never get approved

3) I can't afford the pay cut (YES - taking on a management role means LESS money!!!)

4) I need to accrue 2000 teaching hours post CELTA to be applicable to do my DELTA. If I take the job, then I won't be able to accrue that

5) I'm worried that if I officially take on a full time job (even though I work full time now, I'm essentially self-employed), I'll never leave the company or move on with trying to get into the British Council

6) I'm reluctant to give up my flexibility for a fixed full time position.

LOL - doesn't really sound like much of a dilemma does it!!! HAHA! The truth is that the timing just isn't right. If this had come a year down the line, I would've been more tempted because that gives me time to accrue the teaching hours and also get a bit more management experience before I start the DELTA. I guess I've answered my own question then really, haven't I. The problem is is that you never know when the chance will come around again. If I don't go for it now, will the opportunity present itself again next year?

I think that's I risk I just might have to be willing to take.

xoxo

The Penis Festival

OMG gomen ne - it feels like I haven't written for ages.

It's not that nothing has been going on...I dunno, I guess I just haven't been in the mood to share much recently.

But now that it's my day off and it's pissing down outside, what better time to catch up.

So let's start with the Kanamara Matsuri at the beginning of the month.

Many people are unfamiliar with this festival....to foreigners, it's more commonly known as the Penis Festival (or Festival of the Steel Phallus), and I've shied away from it for years because seeing pictures of young children dangling off the head of a huge wooden penis seemed wrong to me.

But this year, I decided that it's just gotta be done! Plus it was a great chance for me to catch up with one of my girls that I haven't seen for a year.

If you haven't already, check out the pictures on Facebook. But here's a little taster for you.

The masterpiece

 The first shock; I literally can't believe how RAMMED it was! I knew that it would be busy, but I was kinda expecting there to be more foreigners from what I'd heard about it from other people. The crowds were insane and there was pushing, shoving, toe stamping, elbowing and jabs in the back from people trying to get to....ermmm.....a wooden penis?! 

The second shock; HOW many children were there at this festival?!?!?!?!?!?! OK, I'm not exactly a prude, but this kinda thing is certainly not a place for kids!! And what made for seriously uncomfortable viewing was a little boy sucking on a penis shaped lolly, rolling it round and round in his mouth, flicking his tongue over the head and shoving the whole thing in and out...in out out. **CRINGE** I just wanted to grab the thing away from him....I kept looking around and seeing other men looking at him....paedo alert!!!!!


Seeing this huge giant penis bopping along through the crowd just cracked me up. It's hard to knwo what to think and when it came down to it, I just laughed. The whole thing was just WEIRD and apart from the little kids and all the guys sucking on those lollies, it wasn't actually as vulgar as I thought it was going to be. But I'm not gonna like, I was left feeling confused and slightly...er....hot and bothered. LOL!!!!!!! 


Once is enough. Definitely won't be going back next year!!!!!


xoxo

 

Stunning

So I headed out today to see the first sakura of the season.

                             

It's probably the only reason I love spring here - it's still too cold so it's definitely not the weather, but when the sakura, or cherry blossoms, start blooming, it's just absolutely gorgeous. It's gonna be about another week until they're completely in full bloom, but it was still a sight down in Nakameguro. I went down there with a friend visiting from Kyushu....and it was his birthday so we had ourselves a lil sparkling wine. What a nice way to spend a Monday afternoon.

And check this out!!!!!

                             
Isn't it absolutely effing STUNNING?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

We were heading back to the station when I saw these outside a florist and they literally stopped me in my tracks and made me squeal....much to my friend's alarm. I couldn't help it...I totally nearly bought one and then decided they were too expensive.....and made do with a picture instead.

Enjoy.

xoxo