Grrrrrrrr.....

Today is going soooooo slowly, I can't bear it.

There aren't enough words to express how excited I am to go to bed tonight.

LOL - noooo not THAT. Unfortunately. ;-)

I can barely keep my eyes open. 

The last week has been a bit mental. I've been heading out faaarrrr west a lot - which is very unlike me to be so generous with my time. Looking back on it now, I'm really surprised how much my mood changed from when I was on my way down there to when I was actually there. Every time I was heading out, I'd been grinning like a fool, super excited about my evening...and then en route, or at the destination, something always happened to sour the evening. **sigh**

Everyone always warns me about being overly generous, caring, giving....blah, blah, blah. Seriously!!!! I didn't do the things I did to get anything in return, but there is always an expectation of what you think will go down in terms of the generosity, caring and support you will receive. Or an acknowledgement of the effort you have made. The people that know me well will slap me if I tell them the results of the incredible amount of effort I made last week with a particular situation. It's just not something I would do - especially not with my crazy schedule. Or at least call me a dumbarse. LOL - I don't need them to tell me that - I already felt that one.

On more than one occasion. 

Sometimes you never learn from past experiences. 

I dunno - you have to accept that some people are just never going to behave the way you want them to or be the way you want them to. I don't believe in trying to change people or mould them, but everyone can make that little bit of effort for someone else, no?

It's kinda hard when the odds are stacked against you though, I suppose.

We'll see. 

xoxo

=)

LOL!

What an emotional rollercoaster.

So I was feeling pretty miserable when  woke up this morning. I literally was thinking how sorry I felt for anyone who had to speak to me today, because I was in such a bad mood, I would rip their head off! LOL!

And then I got a text which most certainly turned that frown upside down!

Not even just upside down - I've spent most of the day grinning from ear to ear and everyone is on the receiving end of my now FABULOUS mood. 

HAHA - how quickly emotions can change, ne!

VERY much looking forward to this evening! ;-)

xoxo

=(

I can't decide which emotion is stronger right now...

...upset or anger.

I am absolutely FURIOUS with the snow. I hate it on the best of days, but I'd have shut up and dealt with it if it was ANY other day next week......just NOT TODAY.

No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOO.

I had special plans for this evening. Plans which can't be rearranged for 3 months. VERY special plans. 

And because of this ridiculous snow, all the trains going west out of Tokyo have stopped. I couldn't even get home today - I had to walk from Ikebukuro because the Seibu line wasn't running.

So those special plans couldn't happen. Of course I'm upset...and bitterly disappointed. But what has made the whole thing even worse, is the reaction of the other person that I was supposed to have those plans with.

It's not like I can control what happens with the weather. I tried every possible train route to try and make it happen, but couldn't get any further than Shinjuku. And then when the Seibu lines stopped running as well, that was the last of my options exhausted.

As if I didn't feel bad enough about tonight not happening already without feeling like I'm on the receiving end of someone else's blame. It's really hurtful.

So it looks like tonight will just be me and my electric blanket!

Effing snow. Bring on spring!!

xoxo

 

 

Thank You Very Much!

So taking some time out has been amazing.

I've just had such a lovely weekend.

I've been sick all week and was just feeling really crappy - so it was nice to get out and about instead of staying cooped up inside all day.

Yesterday, I hit up Yokohama - I hadn't been there for absolutely AGES, so I was really excited about going. It was great - not as rammed as I would've expected over the Chinese New Year weekend, but there was this dinky little strawberry festival going on and I got to hit up the Yokohama branch of bills. Which no one could ever complain about, lol! 

I just enjoyed walking around, hanging out and then hitting up a bar. Before I knew it, it was nearly midnight and even though I managed to make it back into Tokyo, I'd missed all the last trains and had to get a cab back.

This morning, I headed out and stuffed my face at Cafe Hohokam in Harajuku. Now you all know that I wouldn't normally go anywhere near Harajuku on a Sunday - the things I do for other people! LOL! I wouldn't normally wanna go anywhere in winter, but how gorgeously warm has the weather been this week?! One thing about Japanese winters is that even though it's cold, it's sunny with blue skies and super pretty. Touch wood. I'm dealing with it a lot better this year - even with my snuffly cold. 

Naturally, the company I had over the weekend made everything even better. Thank you. 

I already shocked that it's February. The DELTA looming over me is starting to make me panic as the thought of the insane stress that's going to occur over the next 3 months sets in. I was worried that I don't really have the time to dedicate to it as it needs, but then I realised that the whole experience is going to put me close to 1 million yen out of pocket - I need to give it time. Even if I end of running myself ragged. I want to do it - it doesn't mean that I'm looking forward it. And I'm definitely not looking forward to spending 2 months away from a certain person.

It's just that thing of thinking about how much I'm going to have to do and catch up on when I come back - it's daunting. The only thing I can do, is get as prepared as possible for it and for when I come back so that things can go just a little bit easier. 

Here's hoping!

xoxo

I'm Back!

OK, so first and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I know that I have been completely MIA for a month - but I'm back and ready to start a new blogging year! LOL!

So I'm not going to go into detail about everything that has happened over the last month. As you know,  did go back to the UK, blew a fortune in the sales, complained endlessly about the grey, rainy British weather and had a lovely time catching up with friends, family and gorging on British food. No - it's not as terrible as everyone seems t think it is. I swear everyone who visits is eating the wrong thing! HAHA!

I came back to Japan a little over a week ago and from last month there have been two absolutely mammoth changes in my life. I don't want to go into what they are at this particular point in time...just because I want to see how things play out first and also because I'm just really enjoying what's going on right now and want to keep it to myself that little bit longer!

A few years ago, an ex-coworker said to me "If you don't enjoy what you do, then make a change". That is literally what this year is going to be all about. I never hated what I was doing, but you know when you get to that point where you're just like AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH with everything? I'm there. So I'm taking time out and loving every second so far! I'm getting more sleep and feeling great! I haven't made it back to the gym yet - that will be from next week. 

It's also exciting (and extremely intimidating) to think that in a couple of months I'm going to be heading to Thailand to do my DELTA. I don't feel in the least bit prepared, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to make use of my time and get myself into the right mindset to take it all on. It does make me nervous, but I can't wait for the end results and what's going to come after that.

Here's to a great year!

xoxo

Given In

After years of refusing to be the same as everyone else, I've given in and got myself an iPhone.

The iPhone 5s in gold to be more specific.

It's not even that I really wanted this phone. It was just because my phone was 3 years old, driving me crazy and I needed to get a new one.

Truth be told, I'm in love with the Galaxy S4 and was even contemplating waiting until the release of the S5, but it's not available on au. And I absolutely refuse to switch networks, so I settled for the iPhone.

I'm neither overwhelemed nor underwhelmed with it. I have an iPad, so it's not like I need to spend ages trying to work out how to use it. Downloaded all my apps again, imported my contacts and I was all set to go.

Loving how fast it is and the battery life though. So far so good.

The other good thing about getting a new phone, is that it gives you the chance to clear out your phone book. I went through all my contacts and just deleted, deleted, deleted. There were so many people I couldn't even remember in there! So I've gone from over 200 contacts to just 59. And I'm feeling good about that!

Now I need to go through all the old messages and actually reply to some of them! LOL!

xoxo

\(^0^)/

This month has been crazy.

Crazy busy, crazy stressful, crazy FAST!

I'm going back to the UK NEXT WEEK!!! What the hell?!

And now I feel that I have a to-do list the length of my arm, full of stuff that I need to sort out before I leave!

But let's start with the good stuff.

I finally finished my pain-in-the-arse DELTA application , had my interview, and I've been accepted onto the course!

WOOP WOOP!

The truth of it is, I didn't really expect to be accepted. I was told by the coordinator in the summer, that most people who apply have at least 3-4 years post-CELTA experience. I applied with less than 2, but I thought I'd just give it a go anyway.

Now that I've been accepted, I'm literally like FFFFFF*****************!!!! Not just because the course is going to be 2 months of intensive stress and then a third month of more stress, but the financial side of it all has completely freaked me out. I got my acceptance letter and along with it came the request of $1000 as a deposit with the remaining $2500 to be paid before the end of January. Then there's the visa fees, flight, rent in Tokyo, rent in Bangkok and the price of books.

It wouldn't be so bad if I was being paid for those two months that I'll be out. But I'm not. So on my return to Japan, I'm going to be well and truly financially crippled for pretty much the rest of the year.

And you know what that means......

....NO TRAVEL!!!!

My. Heart. Is. Broken.

I literally won't be able to go anywhere until at least next winter. A year with no travel - that will be in the first time in......erm......god knows how many years!

And NO - going to Thailand doesn't count as travel. It's purely for study purposes and I'll have ZERO free time. An MA in two months - think about it.

I am looking forward to going back home though. It will be nice to see my family - especially my grandad who turned 90 today.

Happy Birthday!

xoxo

Are You Kidding Me?!

I'm sorry, but on what planet do some people think it's OK to just not show up when you've made plans with someone?!

I mailed my friend this afternoon just to check that we were still good for dinner tonight. They were supposed to head over mine and I was gonna rustle up something - just because I needed to be at home to make a cake.

So my friend was like, oh yeh, yeh that's cool.

And still hasn't rocked up.

No mail, no phone call, nothing.

I probably wouldn't care if I hadn't already jumped in the shower (covered in flour) and re-done my make up. But I have. So I'm p*****. At least I hadn't bothered getting dressed yet.

Now I know that there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for it. Something might have happened and their phone could've died so they couldn't contact me to let me know.

Yawn. It better be something good if that's the case. 

But I'm pretty sure I know what's happened. My friend told me earlier that they had a seriously late night last night, were feeling hungover and had to work all day. My guess is, they got home and fell asleep. I'd rather hear that than some bollocks about a phone dying. They know where I live, so if they were intending to come over, then really, there's no excuse, ne. 

Less than impressed.

On a different topic, I've finished making my second German chocolate cake. The filling is even better than the first one as I added extra butter and evaporated milk. It looks awesome.

And on a completely different note - did you hear about Paul Walker?! I was so shocked to hear that he had been killed - and in a car crash!! It's a little ironic really, but extremely sad news. If someone asked me who I thought was the hottest actor in Hollywood, I would always say him. Hotness. What a shame. 

R.I.P

xoxo