SAD

I have more sad news.

We are going home to Manila on Monday.

It's a long story but I just want to spend as much time as I can with my family now. I promise to tell you everything when I'm not ready to burst into tears.

For now, please just wish us the best. Love you all...

SOME PHOTOS

Here's Ethan eating an ice cream to keep cool. The boys are going through around 6 ice creams (a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a cone) per week I think. Dunno if that's a bad thing...















A usual thing in Japan during the summer. Cicadas are quite noisy this time of the year. We haven't caught any yet because it's just waaay too hot to go out during mornings and afternoons and also because I'm just wary of mosquito bites. Good thing I "captured" this one using my camera.



The rightmost building is Ruther's office building at Sakuragicho. :D

TALK THE TALK

Another thing I have yet to master while in Japan is learning how to use my kawaii voice. In case you didn't know, kawaii in Japanese means "cute". My regular speaking voice is probably lower than a typical girl's but definitely higher than a guy's deep voice. However, here in Japan, a girl's speaking voice is really high-pitched and well, girly. I may sometimes pass off as Japanese-looking (because I am so Asian) but once I speak, the cat's out of the bag.

I try really hard to speak in a kawaii voice but it's harder than I thought. There's a typical kawaii voice and then, there's someone trying to speak in a sweet, lilting manner - which can be so nauseating. I, of course, don't want to be the trying-hard version. But again, it's really difficult. The first few times I used my regular speaking voice at the supermarket and said arigatou to the cashier, I sounded really well, masculine. And I almost cringed at the sound of my voice.

Anyway, several times after that, I've tried changing the tone of my voice and so far, I've still been unsuccessful. I still haven't gotten the right kawaii note. I wouldn't want to raise my voice a full octave higher because for one, it wouldn't suit my look (I'm definitely NOT petite) and two, I would look, sound and feel reeeeeally stupid. So, I'm still hoping to be able to get that right girly voice eventually. I'm sure a few more practice sessions in front of the mirror mumbling sumimasen, arigatou gozaimasu and gomen nasai would enable me to find my very own kawaii voice.

Wish me luck.

WHEN IN ROME...

Well, not exactly Rome. But while I'm in Japan might as well try some Japanese "things".

I bought a pair of false eyelashes the other day. If you didn't know already, I hardly have eyelashes on my eyelids. Okay, that's an exaggeration but really, my eyelashes are almost non-existent. It's actually a crime for one eyelash to fall off despite being a natural physiological thing. Ruther's eyelashes are longer than mine and I suppose it's a good thing the boys got their eyelashes from him.

Anyway, here in Japan, I'm suspecting almost all the women have tried using false eyelashes at one time or another. So I thought, why not? Might as well check the "used false eyelashes" on my list of ___ Things To Do Before I Die list. Anyway, I got the simplest pair of false eyelashes I could find. I mean, I'm willing to try it but not necessarily experiment, if you get my drift.

The kit I bought even came with a small tube of glue. Convenient.

That evening, I tried putting one on just to see how easy/difficult it would be to attach it to my eyelash, and of course, to check my initial look. After a minute or two of glueing one onto my eyelashes, I asked Ruther how it looked. At first he said he couldn't tell but after batting my eyes he said it was okay. Looking carefully at my right eyelid, I must admit, I felt really girly. Although after blinking rapidly for a few seconds the lash started to come off, I'm pretty sure it's because I put too little glue on it (was afraid I would have an allergic reaction).

Anyway, trying on one eyelash wasn't a complete success but give me a few more practices and I'll be walking the streets of Yokohama with long curly eyelashes.

Can't wait.

AT YUIGAHAMA BEACH

Here are some photos from our beach excursion...


The water was cold but that didn't stop the boys..











By afternoon, the rain stopped and more and more people came to the shore.












Our group photo