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
Friday, 17 January 2014
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
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
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
Monday, 9 December 2013
\(^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
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
Sunday, 1 December 2013
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
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
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Really?!
So, I've just been catching up with the X Factor.
I loved Saturday's show. Luke Friend is really coming up from behind, Sam Bailey SMASHED it, but my fave performance of the night was Rough Copy's rendition of En Vogue's "Don't Let Go".
That is like, one of my favourite songs EVER and every time they perform, I find myself grinning from ear to ear. The groups always do so badly, but this one is so talented and I'm totally rooting for them to win.
And then I watched the results show and was MORTIFIED to see that Tamera - who completely, royally f***** up - managed to escape the bottom two, leaving Rough Copy facing Hannah in the sing off.
WHAT. THE. F***?!
How the hell did the British public come to that conclusion?! Tamera is the one that truly deserved to leave this week.
The sing off was UN-BE-LIEVE-ABLE!! I loved Hannah's rendition of Etta James - she nailed it. And Rough Copy's flawless harmonies just make me melt. It wasn't a surprise that Hannah was voted off because she's been in the bottom 3 times, but she didn't deserve to go. Not in the slightest.
Oh well - at least we know Nicole won't be winning this year, considering Tamera is her only act left!
So shocked to see Rough Copy in the bottom two, but still want them to win.
GO ON BOYS!!!!
I loved Saturday's show. Luke Friend is really coming up from behind, Sam Bailey SMASHED it, but my fave performance of the night was Rough Copy's rendition of En Vogue's "Don't Let Go".
That is like, one of my favourite songs EVER and every time they perform, I find myself grinning from ear to ear. The groups always do so badly, but this one is so talented and I'm totally rooting for them to win.
And then I watched the results show and was MORTIFIED to see that Tamera - who completely, royally f***** up - managed to escape the bottom two, leaving Rough Copy facing Hannah in the sing off.
WHAT. THE. F***?!
How the hell did the British public come to that conclusion?! Tamera is the one that truly deserved to leave this week.
The sing off was UN-BE-LIEVE-ABLE!! I loved Hannah's rendition of Etta James - she nailed it. And Rough Copy's flawless harmonies just make me melt. It wasn't a surprise that Hannah was voted off because she's been in the bottom 3 times, but she didn't deserve to go. Not in the slightest.
Oh well - at least we know Nicole won't be winning this year, considering Tamera is her only act left!
So shocked to see Rough Copy in the bottom two, but still want them to win.
GO ON BOYS!!!!
Monday, 25 November 2013
Proud As Punch
Today, my German chocolate cake was put to the test.
And I couldn't be more thrilled with the feedback!
The first person to try it was the person that I originally made it for. He told me it was perfect and better than the one that he had bought from the shop before! The rest of the feedback has been pretty much along the same lines, and now my friend has confirmed that he wants me to make one for his birthday - and he'll pay me for it!
That was the other comment that I've been getting all day - I should sell them. Apparently this particular cake is practically non-existent or Tokyo and if you order it, then you're looking at a 3 week wait for a one-layer mediocre cake. That's what my friend said anyway. He offered me money for this one, but I was happy to do it as a favour, plus it was just a trial run to see how it tasted. I've got no problem making them for people to buy if I'm asked. It won't be cheap though - to get the ingredients for just ONE cake rings in at like 4,500yen and then add the time it takes to make the whole thing from start to finish....I've got a price, so if you're interested, mail me! LOL! I'm definitely open to making them to sell, so just let me know!
It's a great feeling when you've tried something for the first time and it's turned out to be a great success. I'm not a fan of chocolate cake myself, but I've thoroughly enjoyed other people appreciating it all day. Thank you all for your compliments! They are making me grin from ear to ear!
xoxo
And I couldn't be more thrilled with the feedback!
The first person to try it was the person that I originally made it for. He told me it was perfect and better than the one that he had bought from the shop before! The rest of the feedback has been pretty much along the same lines, and now my friend has confirmed that he wants me to make one for his birthday - and he'll pay me for it!
That was the other comment that I've been getting all day - I should sell them. Apparently this particular cake is practically non-existent or Tokyo and if you order it, then you're looking at a 3 week wait for a one-layer mediocre cake. That's what my friend said anyway. He offered me money for this one, but I was happy to do it as a favour, plus it was just a trial run to see how it tasted. I've got no problem making them for people to buy if I'm asked. It won't be cheap though - to get the ingredients for just ONE cake rings in at like 4,500yen and then add the time it takes to make the whole thing from start to finish....I've got a price, so if you're interested, mail me! LOL! I'm definitely open to making them to sell, so just let me know!
It's a great feeling when you've tried something for the first time and it's turned out to be a great success. I'm not a fan of chocolate cake myself, but I've thoroughly enjoyed other people appreciating it all day. Thank you all for your compliments! They are making me grin from ear to ear!
xoxo
Sunday, 24 November 2013
That Smell
I have literally spent the last 5 and a half hours in the kitchen baking.
I finally got around to making that German chocolate cake that I've been banging on about.
That is not an easy batter to master! But I was really pleased with the way the sponges have come out.
Now I'm just waiting for the filling to cool and I should be finished!
The filling is DIVINE. It's egg yolks, butter, sugar, evaporated milk, pecans and shredded coconut and it seriously tastes AMAZING!!! I'm started to understand why my friend raves about this cake - I'm kinda looking forward to trying it now, even though I don't really like chocolate cake.
One of my favourite things about baking is the wonderful smells that fill your kicthen. There is nothing quite like the smell of bread or cake baking in the oven.
And since I had some leftover egg whites, I went ahead and made a massive meringue. No idea what I'm going to do with it though! I thought about making a pavlova, but I just don't have any more ingredients left! I'll tell you what - a German chocolate cake is NOT cheap to make over here! Especially when you're spending 1000yen on a 200g bar of baking chocolate.
Ufffff....
Looking forward to seeing the end results!
xoxo
I finally got around to making that German chocolate cake that I've been banging on about.
That is not an easy batter to master! But I was really pleased with the way the sponges have come out.
Now I'm just waiting for the filling to cool and I should be finished!
The filling is DIVINE. It's egg yolks, butter, sugar, evaporated milk, pecans and shredded coconut and it seriously tastes AMAZING!!! I'm started to understand why my friend raves about this cake - I'm kinda looking forward to trying it now, even though I don't really like chocolate cake.
One of my favourite things about baking is the wonderful smells that fill your kicthen. There is nothing quite like the smell of bread or cake baking in the oven.
And since I had some leftover egg whites, I went ahead and made a massive meringue. No idea what I'm going to do with it though! I thought about making a pavlova, but I just don't have any more ingredients left! I'll tell you what - a German chocolate cake is NOT cheap to make over here! Especially when you're spending 1000yen on a 200g bar of baking chocolate.
Ufffff....
Looking forward to seeing the end results!
xoxo
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Made In Chelsea
So when I realised that I was completely up to date with the ridiculous amount of TV shows that I'm watching, I started watching Made In Chelsea.
I have absolutely no idea why - it's not the most exciting viewing in the world.
But I've stuck with it because of where it's filmed...Chelsea!!!! And I keep getting totally nostalgic watching everyone hanging in some of my favourite spots in town, as well as getting googly eyed over the stunning views of London at night. The South Bank really is absolutely beautiful - especially at night.
I've just finished Season 2 and it was the Christmas episode. I've been left with the hugest grin on my face, as I realise that I'm finally going to be celebrating Christmas in London after 6 years of spending this time of year in the sun.
I'm just pumped to catch up with a lot of friends that I know are going to be back at the same time and I'm hoping to get away for new year with my travel bf. I never realise how much I miss everyone until I think about the prospect of seeing them again after such a long time.
And don't even get me started on the food. Me, my mum, my mum's kitchen and an effing OVEN!!!! When I was back at my parents' house last year, I cooked dinner every day and I'm sure this time is going to be no exception. I'm really, really excited!
I've also been thinking a lot about goals and New Year's Resolutions. I can't remember if I told you at the beginning of this year that I've had pretty much the same resolutions for the past 10 years.
Well, if I haven't achieved them already, then I think it's time to accept that they are never going to happen! LOL! So I've already been thinking about more practical and realistic goals for the next year. It's going to be a huge year with a lot of change - I already know that - so my resolutions need to be able to work into all these anticipated changes.
I can tell you now that, that first and foremost is HEALTH.
Getting healthy and doing everything that I can to stay healthy. I'm not getting any younger after all!
And quite randomly, I think I want to try and stop drinking beer. It makes me fat and gives me horrid breath and a ghastly hangover. Wine hangovers are also pretty crappy....think I'll just try and stick to spirits and champagne! LOL! Maybe that's a Made In Chelsea influence, but it could be worth a shot. I am totally going to miss Corona though - those of you that know me well, know that that's my beer of choice.
Yah...feeling very reflective. And ready for change.
xoxo
I have absolutely no idea why - it's not the most exciting viewing in the world.
But I've stuck with it because of where it's filmed...Chelsea!!!! And I keep getting totally nostalgic watching everyone hanging in some of my favourite spots in town, as well as getting googly eyed over the stunning views of London at night. The South Bank really is absolutely beautiful - especially at night.
I've just finished Season 2 and it was the Christmas episode. I've been left with the hugest grin on my face, as I realise that I'm finally going to be celebrating Christmas in London after 6 years of spending this time of year in the sun.
I'm just pumped to catch up with a lot of friends that I know are going to be back at the same time and I'm hoping to get away for new year with my travel bf. I never realise how much I miss everyone until I think about the prospect of seeing them again after such a long time.
And don't even get me started on the food. Me, my mum, my mum's kitchen and an effing OVEN!!!! When I was back at my parents' house last year, I cooked dinner every day and I'm sure this time is going to be no exception. I'm really, really excited!
I've also been thinking a lot about goals and New Year's Resolutions. I can't remember if I told you at the beginning of this year that I've had pretty much the same resolutions for the past 10 years.
Well, if I haven't achieved them already, then I think it's time to accept that they are never going to happen! LOL! So I've already been thinking about more practical and realistic goals for the next year. It's going to be a huge year with a lot of change - I already know that - so my resolutions need to be able to work into all these anticipated changes.
I can tell you now that, that first and foremost is HEALTH.
Getting healthy and doing everything that I can to stay healthy. I'm not getting any younger after all!
And quite randomly, I think I want to try and stop drinking beer. It makes me fat and gives me horrid breath and a ghastly hangover. Wine hangovers are also pretty crappy....think I'll just try and stick to spirits and champagne! LOL! Maybe that's a Made In Chelsea influence, but it could be worth a shot. I am totally going to miss Corona though - those of you that know me well, know that that's my beer of choice.
Yah...feeling very reflective. And ready for change.
xoxo
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