MORE PATIENCE FOR ME... AND HELP PLEASE...

A few days ago my hair fell to the middle of my back. Not anymore. I asked (read: forced) Ruther to cut my hair last Saturday after getting impatient with my long tresses. I would have wanted a professional cut and as much as I would love having this first experience, salon services are expensive in Japan and I would really rather we save the money for Nikki's birthday bonanza rather than on a haircut for myself. So deciding on that, I supposed that it was all right for Ruther to trim my hair. He was really nervous but there was no changing my mind. I wanted a short 'do and I wanted it ASAP. (Don't ask me why but if I didn't get my haircut immediately then I would have chopped my hair off myself.) Anyway, it took some time but I am quite happy with my new haircut. My hair now falls above my shoulders and my head feels really light and I am already thinking of all the shampoo I would be saving now that I have less hair. I am still thinking of getting the haircut I want later on (perhaps in Manila) but for now, I am happy with the change.

(The photos will come soon, don't worry.)

.....

We went to Ueno today after church. We had fun at Ueno Park and I loved the photos we took of the autumn leaves and colorful sights and food stalls and the family fun, of course. It was really wonderful getting immersed in the culture. Inside Ueno Park is a zoo but we didn't go in anymore since we were just at Nogeyama Zoo a few days before. It was a short stroll but it was still fun and hopefully we sould get to see even more beautiful places - before it turns icy cold, that is.

.....

I am usually a very patient and tolerant person. I believe myself to be pretty understanding of people from different walks of life and I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions about a person's personality. I have grown and matured mentally and emotionally, knowing different kinds of people, relating to them, interacting with them, learning from them, and after taking the psychology course, I think I have broadened my tolerance for people with (let's just say) some unsavory traits. I could take some of those traits (to a limit): poor hygiene, emotional vampires, extreme neediness, perverts, temperamental people, etc. I would always turn to my psychological thinking and try to find reason behind those traits. More often than not, I see some sense in their actions and words. I would usually think, "I suppose that is why he/she is like that", see the connection and be more understanding of their peculiarities.

But lately, my tolerance for a certain person has really stretched me to my limit. Not only is she obnoxious, but she is spoiled, self-righteous, overbearing and a first class brat. Yes, you could even say she's a B****. You would have to forgive me for saying that but she is really all this (and probably more). Honest. I'm not exaggerating. Several weeks now I have "studied her case" in my head. I have tried to look at her personality from all angles, tried to piece together her background just to make some sense of her really ugly traits, even tried looking for some redeeming qualities in her, but I just can't see how all these unsavory traits could end up in one person and I cannot see how I can tolerate her uppish attidute any longer. This is really not the kind of person I would want my boys to emulate. No way.

The definition of a snob is:

1. One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors.
2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.

This is exactly who she is. You try to start a conversation with her and it ends up with a topic about her. She talks about Nikki or Ethan as a conversation opener and pretty soon it's something about her or her family. She compliments you about something and when you talk about yourself, she cuts you off and starts talking about something concerning her. You try to be nice (with your entire being, you try to be oh-so-nice) but it's hard to resist gritting your teeth or pulling your hair from the roots when all she talks about is her, herself, Her Highness, her family, her dogs, her hair, her food, her clothes, her life and all you could do is smile and nod. I am not being biased here. I know of other people who have complained about her and really, how can they not? After looking at her "case" for weeks now, I still find it SO hard to be friendly and nice when she's all that I mentioned above (and probably more). Still, I know I am not a mean person. I know I should always give people second chances. But deep inside, I feel that this person can no longer change who she is. She is the kind of person who could find no fault in herself. Being spoiled all her life, she feels as though she could get away with anything. She feels that people should pay attention to her when she is around. She can't even talk softly for crying out loud. Yup, it's all, "I, me, mine". See how hard it is to love or like a person like that?

As God is my witness I have tried, really tried to like her. But it is just so freaking hard!!! I just feel so emotionally tired after spending time with her. I feel as though all my energies were spent exuding a positive front to counteract all her negative acts/words. Sigh. Am I really mean? Do I really have horse-blinders on when it comes to this particular person? Trust me, in my whole life I have never, ever encountered a person like her. She just really makes me angry, sad, pissed, irritated, pitiful (for her, not for myself) all in one. And that's a lot to take in a single moment with her. Sigh.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

WHAT NIKKI WANTS

Guess what Nikki wants for his birthday?



I suppose you can't get any clearer than that. :)

NOGEYAMA ZOO

The boys and I went to Nogeyama Zoo yesterday and we had a blast! I wanted to take them someplace new and since we haven't been to this particular zoo yet (we've been to Zoorasia twice) and since it was located in the Sakuragicho area (near Ruther's office and I'm quite familiar with the Minato Mirai area) I thought it would be nice to have a new place to visit. So armed with a map we made it there from Sakuragicho station with no problems at all. There's no entrance fee to the zoo which is all the more appealing. The woman at the information booth was kind enough to give me an English guide map when she heard me speak to the boys in English. Nikki was in charge of the map and he pretty much led the way. It was easy enough going around the zoo. We just had to follow the numbers on the map. It was fun seeing the animals and identifying them our way. "Oh look! It's Master Shifu!" when we saw the really cute red pandas. "There's Master Monkey!" at the monkey cage where 2 of them were grooming their companion. "It's Master Tigress!" when we spied the really huge tiger pacing about the cage. The tiger was a bit intimidating because it was quite restless and whenever it made eye contact with me I could imagine it thinking, "I want to eat you." So we hurried away from the tiger's cage after a few quick photos. Anyway "Master Oogway" (the tortoise) was so cute eating away on his lettuce leaf at the reptile house but the snakes and the crocs were scary. Our favorite part of the tour was the petting area. Nikki loved the mice and enjoyed having them scamper all over him (which is a surprise actually because he's a very cautious kid). I suppose when he saw me handle the mice and let it climb onto my arm he found it fun. Plus, I reassured him that they didn't bite. Ethan on the other hand loved the garter snakes. He just sat on the bench and looked at the snakes through the glass. He was so fascinated with them I think he only left them for like 10 minutes just to check what Nikki and I were up to. :) There were also guinea pigs there, chicks and chickens. Nikki handled a guinea pig (which we called Linny from The Wonderpets) and also a chick. I loved the petting area too and had loads of fun with the animals there. Of course, after we were done, we washed our hands at the wash area. It was great teaching/reminding the boys about proper hygiene then. After that we just finished the tour and then when we were done at around 230pm, we went back to Sakuragicho station and headed home. The boys and I just napped in the train.

We had a lot of fun at Nogeyama Zoo, Nikki wants us to go back there. I told him we could check out Nogeyama Park instead. The park is right beside the zoo and since we didn't have enough time to go around the park yesterday, I thought we could go there another day. Nikki wanted to check out the play area which we saw through a fence from the zoo. It looked really nice actually so I guess we could always go to the park later this week or next week.

It's great that Yokohama has nice places that have no entrance fees. I told Ruther last night that even without collecting entrance fees, Nogeyama Zoo was well-maintained, really clean and orderly and there was no "zoo smell" except for the deer cage. I loved the place. Hopefully we could find other nice places the boys and I could visit on our own. :)

NIKKI'S NEW SMILE

Here's Nikki's new smile and there's his tiny tooth in my huge palm.

Doesn't he look so happy? :)

I WANT A HAIRCUT!

I don't exactly know why but for some reason, I'm starting to hate my long hair. Which is weird because every time I look at my photos my hair seems to look okay but whenever I'm not, I feel as though it's messy or disheveled or lackluster or just hard to fix. Also, I feel as though I'm using up a lot of shampoo for my long tresses and in Japan, shampoo doesn't come cheap. Oh yeah, another thing, my hair is everywhere in the apartment! It gets stuck in the carpet, I see strands in the drain of the bathtub, and even in the laundry! Aaarrgh! It's just getting so bothersome. So now, I'm thinking of getting a haircut. I already asked Ruther if he could cut my hair but he refused. Not that he didn't want to, he just doesn't know how he says. I've been checking some magazines for a fresh style and I think I'm going to try something short. Probably the shortest haircut in my life. I know I might regret it later on (especially if it'll make me look fatter in the photos) but I know my hair will grow back in no time. So yeah, I think I'm going to go short. I don't want to get a Japanese haircut really, but rather a modified version of that. I know you're thinking"What the hell is that?!?!" with regards to the "Japanese haircut" thingy but once you step onto this country you'll get to see a lot of typical haircuts - Japanese style. Well, I don't want that. I want bangs, something manageable and easy to style and yet versatile. It could be casual but at the same time, I want to be able to fix my hair nicely for formal occasions. I definitely don't want a one-look haircut. Okay, I know the hairdresser will probably kill me with all my demands but hey! I'm going short this time. So it better be good.

Ooooh. I'm so excited!

.....

The other morning, I made Ruther a cup of coffee. While making some for me, he called out from the room, "Sweetie, could I have more sugar?" I said, "Sure!" and grabbed the sugar container. When I brought the sugar to him, he kissed me and said, "That was the sugar I meant." Isn't he sweet?

Okay, you can gag now. But I still wouldn't care. :)

.....

I wish I had all the time in the world to do the many things I want to do. I wish I could start working here in Japan, I wish I had a lot of time to blog, I wish I could find reading materials and lessons for our homeschooling in a snap (instead of 2 hours minimum), I wish I could learn Nihongo really fast, I wish I could bury my nose in books again (ahhh, books...), I wish I could cook more fanciful meals, I wish I could watch all the classical movies I've always wanted to watch, I wish I could take more interesting photographs, I wish we could finally have our autumn family photo... That's just the tip of the iceberg. There's still a lot (a whole lot) more but well, with shorter days and chores to do and taking care of the family, I guess I'll just have to prioritize and just take it a day at a time...

SUNNY AT LAST

We are having a sunny day at last. It's been so freakishly cold these past few days. Aside from having overcast days and cold winds, we've also had some rain. So it has been quite cold, especially at night. There have been times (several in fact) when I would wake up in the middle of the night with Ruther hogging the blanket. Unconsciously of course, but still! So now we each have our own blankie just so we don't end up tearing the blanket in two.

For the past 3 nights also, I noticed that I wake up around dawn. No, it's not Ruther's snores. It's because of the friggin' cold! So now,I always have the remote beside me before I go to bed and whenever I wake up to a frigid room, I just click on the remote and go back to sleep. Convenient, huh.

So far my allergies have not let up so I try to keep my skin moisturized as much as I can. Which can be difficult, I know. I suppose my biggest challenge would be to keep warm as best I can. I already go out with my thick coats and a muffler but I still feel quite chilled. And it's not even winter yet. So yeah, I suppose I'll have to start layering up and get those thermal inner wear. How Japanese girls go around in miniskirts and not feel cold is beyond me...

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Nikki has a loose tooth! Here's the story:

November 9, Sunday

Nikki: "Mommy! My tooth is wiggling!"
Mommy: "Really?!! Where?"
Nikki: "Here!" (shows me his lower incisor and wiggles it)
Mommy: "Wow! It really IS wiggly! Take care of your tooth, okay? When it comes off, we'll put it in a pouch for the tooth fairy and she'll give you money for your tooth."
Nikki: "Okay."


November 11, Tuesday

Nikki: "Mommy! My tooth came off!"
Mommy: "What?!?!"
Nikki: "Here it is!" (hands me the tiny tooth)

The end.


It was that fast, really. One day it was wiggling and then in an instant it was off. I suppose I should be thankful that Nikki didn't swallow the tooth or felt pain or was whiny or have problems related to the wiggly tooth. But I didn't expect it to come off that fast! There was no drama at all! (Which is how Ruther likes it, I believe.) But I still got to take photos of the tooth and Nikki's new smile. I made a small tooth pouch for the tooth fairy and he kept his tiny tooth in it. The next morning, he found a 100-yen coin in it! Quite a generous fairy, I must say. If we were back in the Philippines, the Pinoy fairy would be giving him a shiny 10-peso coin. Hahaha!

Anyway, I must say Nikki looks so much cuter with the gap in his smile. The permanent tooth is already peeking through the gum and I figure it will be just a few weeks before the other incisor starts to wiggle and come off as well. Hopefully that one will be another easy pull too.

Can't believe my little boy is growing so fast! *sob!*

WARM DRINK AND A MOVIE

Thank goodness for microwave ovens. If they didn't exist and if we did not have one in the apartment I would keep on throwing my cold coffee away and we wouldn't want to waste money now, would we? Because of the cold weather, I would usually crave for a cup (or mug) of coffee or hot chocolate or milk. But what everyone does not know is that my tongue burns very easily which is surprising because the other parts of my body have a relatively high pain threshold. So yeah, after making a fresh batch, I usually have to wait for a few minutes before drinking my drink. But because of this weirdness, I only take like 3 sips and then the coffee/hot chocolate/milk gets cold. So what do I do? I just pop my cup/mug into the microwave, turn the knob a little bit and voila! My drink is warm again. Ahhh yes. The wonders of technology.

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We watched Wall-E the other day and we loved it! Well I loved it and the boys loved it because well, who wouldn't really? It's just a really wonderful movie. I'm such a sucker for movies that teaches values and that have a really good story. Oh yeah, and happy endings too. Can't forget that. Anyway, I think Wall-E is simply adorable in his rustic way. And Eve is too, in her dysfunctional way. The boys have been watching the movie again and again and I can't blame them. I mean, I never get tired of watching it. (I'll get back to you on this after the 57th time.) Here are some of the things the boys learned from watching the movie:

1. Take care of the Earth!
2. Take care of all creatures big or small (even cockroaches).
3. It's sad to be alone.
4. Even robots can have pets.
5. Do not throw your trash anywhere! Even in outer space!
6. A spork is not a spoon OR a fork. It's a spork.
7. Friends come in all shapes and sizes.
8. It's not nice to be so fat and lazy.
9. The sun has solar flares and sun spots.
10. It is never too late to save the Earth, to love someone and to fight for something/someone you love.
11. If everyone works together with a common goal, wonderful things can happen.
12. Love is the greatest thing in this world.

AUTUMN SCENES

Maple leaf.













Reflection.













Silhouette.














Autumn leaves.

SURVIVING

It seems to be getting only colder these days. I know I should be expecting this but my body needs a lot more adjusting. I've had some rashes but nothing a bit of ointment could not take care of. I remember last year I had a difficult time adjusting to the cold and I was getting miserable and homesick that I was relieved to go home when our 6 months were up. But now, I don't mind the cold so much. I suppose I know what to expect and my body does too. Although Ruther still reminds me that winter will be waaay colder, I'm not (too) worried. I know that despite the cold and the bundling up and the layering and the allergies and the sniffles and the super dry skin, I would still rather be here than anywhere else.

.....

I know that Japan is an expensive country. The first time I came here I was shocked at the prices of the food, groceries and clothes. Whenever we went around I didn't want to buy anything because I just felt horribly guilty for spending that much for something. Ruther would scold me for always converting yen to pesos in my head and he would say I would never be able to buy anything if I kept on doing that. Back in Manila, a P200 blouse would be fine with me. A P500 one will have to be for a special occasion. But here, the prices are atrocious! Some would even go for as high as Y5,000! Unbelievable.

A huge chuck of our budget here would go to food and groceries. Ethan's milk, rice, canned goods, meat, vegetables, juice, fish, toiletries, etc. If we have dinner here at home that would cost around ¥500 that's a good thing already but converted to pesos, that's a bit too much for an everyday meal in the Philippines. What more if we eat out and at fancy restaurants? Oh yeah, we do eat out sometimes and hopefully we keep that to a minimum and go to less expensive restaurants but I still always feel guilty when I order something that costs more than ¥600. (Anything cheaper than that are usually side dishes.) Whenever the waitress/attendant hands me the menu, I always look at the prices first. It's kinda instinctive. I don't even know if Ruther knows I do this. I have to admit that I have always been budget-conscious. And I do feel guilty spending for myself sometimes when I remember that the boys need new pairs of socks or I would rather get that homeschooling book instead of new clothes. Which is probably why Ruther buys things for me because he knows I would be perfectly happy with ukay-ukay and secondhand stuff. Oh yeah, and I love sales. (Who doesn't?)

So with all the expensive stores and stuff in this country, it's just wonderful to chance upon discounted things that are in very good condition still. Our favorite haunt is BookOff. That's a store that sells secondhand stuff at cheap prices. I already got a lot of stuff there for the boys from clothes to bags to toys. I was able to also find this nice pink coat for myself for only ¥200! How ridiculous is that? A dark blue dress I found also costing ¥200 would be perfect for our Christmas pictorial next month. And I also got this Lego toy for only ¥1000 which retails at ¥3,700+!! Insane, right? And don't let me even get started with the 100-yen stores like Daiso. They are a godsend, really.

I suppose I still have to learn the tips and tricks of staying in this expensive country. Like the other day, Ruther told me that I should check the supermarkets on Thursday evenings because most of the food items are 50% off by then and I was like, "I didn't know that!" Oh well. It's still not too late to learn I suppose. I mean, if others have made it here, why can't we?

TURNING YELLOW

This is a tree a the playground nearby. It's starting to turn yellow although the leaves on other trees have become reds and browns already. I love autumn. So far, that's my favorite season still. :)

NOV 3

November 3 in Japan is a holiday. Yay! More family time. Here are more details about the holiday (from Wikipedia):

Culture Day (文化の日, Bunka-no-hi) is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.
Culture Day was first held in 1948, to commemorate the announcement of the post-war Japanese constitution on November 3, 1946.
November 3 was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1868, when it was called Tenchō-setsu (天長節, Tenchō-setsu), a holiday held in honor of the birthday of the reigning emperor—at that time, the Meiji Emperor. (See also The Emperor's Birthday.) With the death of the Meiji Emperor in 1912, November 3 ceased to be a holiday until 1927, when his birthday was given its own specific holiday, known as Meiji-setsu (明治節, Meiji-setsu). As Meiji-setsu was discontinued with the announcement of Culture Day in 1948, some see Culture Day as a continuation of this tradition as well—a mere renaming of Meiji-setsu—although they are ostensibly unrelated.
As Culture Day exists to promote the arts and various fields of academic endeavor, local and prefectural governments typically choose this day to hold art exhibits, culture festivals, and parades. For example, Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture holds the annual Federal Lord's Parade (箱根大名行列, Hakone Daimyo Gyoretsu) to exhibit Edo Period clothing and costumes. It is common for universities to present new research and projects on Culture Day.
Since 1937, the award ceremony for the prestigious Order of Culture has been held on this day. Given by the Emperor himself to those who have significantly advanced science, the arts or culture, it is one of the highest honors bestowed by the Imperial Family. The prize is not restricted to Japanese citizens, and for instance was awarded to the Apollo 11
astronauts upon their successful return from the moon.
Culture Day is statistically one of the clearest days of the year. Between 1965 and 1996, there have only been three years with rain occurring in Tokyo on Culture Day.

We still don't know what we're planning to do tomorrow but for sure we'll all be together on this holiday. :)

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Ruther is feeling under the weather. Which is another reason why we cannot make final plans about tomorrow. I really don't want him to get sicker than he already is. Today he sported a mild fever after we came home from church. I think the cold air and the exercise he did yesterday just wore his body down. He already took some medicine today and I urged him to drink lots of juice. Hopefully he'll be all better in a few days.

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Tomorrow is Mama's birthday. That's Ruther's mom. We're planning to call her to greet her. We already sent her a birthday card and Nikki made her a small poster for her birthday so we hope she got it days ago just so she'll know we remembered her. I'm sure she'll be glad to hear from us because with Russell (Ruther's younger brother) in Dubai and Ron (the youngest) in Laguna for work, it can get quite lonely at home with just Papa as her companion. So hopefully we'll be able to cheer her up and make it a nice day for her.

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It's getting to be quite cold these days. We've had 12-degree nights and now the boys are usually in pajamas (at their request). I have to dress them up in the bathroom after their bath because it's just too cold to dress outside the warmth of the bathroom. After their bath, the boys' legs are like chalkboards where you could draw and write on them using your fignernail because of the dryness but it's nothing a good dollop of lotion can't remedy. I'm having some rashes/allergy from the cold as well but thank goodness my sister sent me some ointment so that's well under control. It's been wonderful going out because we don't sweat in the sun anymore and the boys are comfy running around but it's just a bit of a hassle bringing jackets in the bag just in case the day gets a little bit too cold. But then again, we are adjusting quite well and despite the little setbacks, we are still really happy to be here.