Forward Movement

It's been a very busy month but we're glad to say that the move to the new house went great. We are so happy with the place - it's looking very different from the first time we came to have a look at it. The inside is now finished, so now there is now just a lot of work to do outside. The garden has been totally ripped out so we can start from scratch and have a nice looking garden by the time spring gets around. Moving day went very smoothly as we had plenty of help, so we got everything from A to B in about 4 hours. Aki was very busy over the next week organising everything and getting through the many boxes. We are now feeling very much at home and are excited to start our family here!

Boxes packed before the move; Enjoying lunch after the move; View from balcony - beautiful sunsets!; Tatami room; Babies room; Our bedroom; Bathroom; Kitchen; Living/Dining; Dining/Living; House from outside.

Our car arrived a few days after we moved. I was stoked to be able to go for a drive for te first time in Japan. Surprisingly, I've only driven it the one time but Aki has been going out in it most days. There was a bit of a question mark over how I would be getting to work every day, as we're a bit further away and there's no train station nearby. However I'm glad to say that I've been riding my bicycle still as it's only a 30 minute ride from door to door. If I don't bike I have to take a bus and two trains and it could take 45 minutes to 1 hour, so biking is definitely the way to go.

My work route (Our old home is marked 'Uchi', Anthony's place is 'Home'); Our car (Nissan Note).

Aki is now at 34 weeks, very big, and very ready for the big day! We'll be staying at home over the New Years break, just in case anything happens before it should. Otherwise, December is a busy month as usual, as there are plenty of year end parties to attend as well as Christmas stuff. I'll let you know how it all goes later in the month.

Changes

October was a busy month that saw the hot weather give way to a more temperate climate. To start the month Liam had his annual sportsday. He was so fun to watch with his energy levels peaking, making him dance to all the other classes dances and he couldn't sit still for 5 seconds, especially during the relay race! He also did a great job doing a reverse flip on the horizontal bar and jumping over the horse.

I had started playing more basketball recently after overcoming two badly sprained ankles in the last year. But a few weeks ago, while playing a game, I strained my calf and became crippled yet again. The worst part was that we only had 5 players for the game so I had to play out the remaining 3rd and 4th quarters. After leading during the 3rd, we eventually fell behind and lost by about 8. I was very gutted, but that's the way things go. Fortunately it was a long weekend too, so I had an extra day to recover before going to work. Now I've got a cool calf sleeve to wear and I should be back playing next week.

Mark decided to call it quits in Japan and head back home via South East Asia. We had one last weekend to chill together where I'm afraid to say, he took the bowling title away from me. Congrats bro, but I'l be practicing for the rematch!

Aki's pregnancy is coming along well. The baby is kicking and moving so much. The doctor said that the baby has long legs, so hopefully it can be tall and make lots of money as a proffessional basketball player! Aki has been suffering from swollen hands, and to a lesser extent feet, but she's been very strong and is looking forward to the big day with excitement!

I finally got a Japanese drivers licence after 3 years and it wasn't worth the wait!! It was a very long procedure which saw me waiting 7 hours, having to go to the ward office and back in between because they couldn't accept my visa status on my Foreign resident card even though they could see it on my passport, and being told that they didn't believe a letter from the NZ embassy that showed I was in NZ for at least one year with a licence. So, I ended up getting a beginner licence and the whole thing actually took about 20 minutes (fill out some forms, take a photo, take and eye test) with the other 6hrs4omins just waiting!! There's some things that you gotta hate about this place!

Aki celebrated her birthday on the same day (fun birthday for her, waiting for me for 7 hours!). However, she was happy with the presents I got her - leather wallet, diamond earrings and a delicious dinner. After the licence fiasco we both went and got new matching cellphones. Both our phones had been playing up, mine was terrible - it had lost all sound including voice! We changed companies from Softbank (terrible customer service) to Docomo. The phones cost a huge 1yen and my plan is only 1000yen a month (about NZ$18 with the current crazy rates...I really need to send money home now!!) . After that, we went to an all you can eat Brazilian restaurant where the meat just kept coming and coming!!! It was probably the best dining experience I've ever had - friendly staff, great ambience, mouth watering food (the roasted pineapple with cinammon was heavenly!), and they kept my water full which sounds strange, but I get pissed off when restaurants give you piddly little glasses of water and you have to keep calling them to fill it up. They also gave us a free birthday desert, sang happy birthday, and put a photo on their blog.

At work, we had our Halloween party last week. It was a very fun, but tiring day. The kids had some cool costumes, including Ironman, Anakin Skywalker, Peter Pan, Jack Sparrow and lots of witches!!

We now have less than 3 weeks until we move to the new house, so it's gonna be busy with packing. When we move, we'll probably be without internet for a couple of weeks, so I'll post pics of the new house as soon as it's up and running.

One Fine Day

It's been a busy month as we started preparing to move house and getting ready for the baby! Aki is getting very big - actually, I've been getting very big since our marriage too, but at least she has a good excuse!! Her pregnancy is going well and the baby has started kicking a lot. I love putting my hand on her stomach and waiting for a little kick, just to say hi :)

I think she's pushing her's out and I'm sucking mine in!!!

We've been spending a bit of time at the new house to see what needs to be fixed before we move in. There's quite a lot of work to be done, but it's going to look really nice by the time we're finished. We're going to get new wallpaper in the Lounge/Dining/Kitchen room, toilet (it reeks of stale cigarette smoke!) and 2 bedrooms. We'll also put in a new kitchen and get a door frame replaced that was ravished by termites. In the tatami room, we'll be replacing floorboards that were broken and getting new tatami mats. The roof is a little rusty. so we'll be sanding it back and painting it fresh. When all that's done, we'll be getting it professionally cleaned. And finally, outside we'll be getting stuck into the very small garden to make it a place we can enjoy (hopefully a small outdoor living/BBQ area andmaybe a vegetable garden). Here's a few pics of the place to show you what it looks like before the 'Extreme Makeover!'

The front door; Our huge backyard!!; The throne - nice royal red colour don't you think?

Tatami room and one of the bedrooms

I had to dust off the tent as we went camping for only the 2nd time in three years. This time we went to Lake Motosu, near Mt.Fuji, with Hajime, Kei, Ryo and Nagi (Kei's sisters family met us there). It was the last long weekend of the summer, so it was quite busy as cars lined up early for the 8:00am open time. We got in early so were able to get a prime location, overlooking the lake with Mount Fuji in the background (when it wasn't too cloudy). The weekend was great as we enjoyed swimming in the lake, lazing in the hammock, playing with the kids, going to onsen and enjoying a non-stop banquet of delicious food!! Hopefully when we get our own car, we'll be able to go camping a bit more often in the next few years.

The lake shore was popular, but sloping and rocky - we camped back a bit in a much better spot; Me and Nagi going for a row, while Ryo catches fish; Me towing Ryo and Nagi in the boat; Dinner time - Yummy!; Nagi playing with sparklers; Me and Hana-chan got on really well; "Which one of you kids took my iPod!!!!!"; Relaxing round the campfire; Aki taking it easy

Last weekend, Ryo celebrated his 10th birthday. We had a great feed of sushi and he loved his present from us - a remote control helicoptor....it was so fun I think I'll have to get one for myself!

Make-your-own sushi style; Hajime and Nagi get ready to launch; The birthday boy

This month I'll be checking out Liams sportsday, spending a few days with Mark before he heads back to NZ and start packing for the big move. Tune in next month for all the latest news and pics. 土曜日は日本語の勉強します。すごい難しい、でもがんばれます!

No Ordinary Thing

The last day of summer was a scorcher and I'm guessing we've got another month of hot weather on the way. The last week or so, we've had a lot of thunder storms. One morning the thunder was so big and loud it shook our apartment (felt like a small earthquake)!!!

Aki is starting to get much bigger now and she is feeling the baby moving, however I'm still waiting to feel it move.......We went to the clinic yesterday to have an ultrasound. This time we could see the baby's fingers moving so much. We have decided not to learn the sex until the big day comes, so we are thinking of names for boys and girls. It's now over the halfway stage for Aki, so just 4 1/2 months to go!!!!!

Baby bump

This month at work was a lot of fun. It's been summer holidays, so we havn't had as many kids, this meant we could do a lot more things. We took fieldtrips to two big boats (Nippon Maru & Hikawa Maru) and two science museums and held a mini-Olympics. The last few days we had training and preparation for the second term. On Thursday, we were painting the classroom (I don't think it's been painted for a long time!), when suddenly security forces busted in and told us we had to stop. Apparently a few people in our neighbouring offices had complained of the fumes. The painting is only half done (and there happens to be a big "Brendan Rulez" on the wall!), and now we have to go through the red tape channels to finish it, which will probably take a week or two.

Hikawa Maru; The room where Charlie Chaplin stayed on his voyages; Minato Mirai skyline - I work in the tallest building and our home is behind the two towers on the right.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Minakami to stay with Mark. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible, but it was the weekend the ABs beat the Boks 19-0, so I had a good night!

Aki enjoys a foot spa; Tiny frog on a flower; Minakami mountains; People trying to catch fish

We are looking to move into a house in a couple of months when Aki finishes work. The new house is a lot bigger (about twice as big as our current apartment), but it is a bit old, so will need a fair bit of work. It's also a lot further from.......everywhere, so this means we'll need to get a car. We had a quick look at cars today to get a rough idea of what we want - something cheap (less than NZ$10,000) & small (1500-1800cc), but with a bit of space in the back. Hopefully we'll find one by the end of October, before we move.

Car shopping

This month we don't have much planned except for a long weekend of camping with Aki's family. It should be fun, but I'm gonna miss the ABs beating the Wallabies!!

Daydreamin'

We've been struggling through another hot summer, with temperatures constantly sitting over 30 degrees. This makes it very hard to get out and do things and there's been plenty of sleepness nights in the humid and heat. Back in NZ, summer was my favourite season, but I've come to the conclusion that it's not the same here. I guess a big reason is the lack of public pools (causing crazy overcrowding) and dirty beaches and jellyfish close to the city make it undesirable to go to a nearby beach. So not being able to cool off in some nice water is very frustrating for me!!!

Despite that, we've had a fun month. Summer in Japan means fireworks - and lots of them. We enjoyed the Hanabi in Yokohama with Aki's family. It was the fist time that I went prepared (well, actually Hajime did the preparing, I just joined in), so we had a good spot to watch from, yummy food and beers. It made it a lot more fun to watch!

Aki, Nagi and her cousin enjoy the bento; Big explosions - can you find the cat?

Liam celebrated his 6th birthday last week. We were happy to see him and enjoy a nice meal together. He got a lot of cool presents that should keep him busy until Christmas!!!


Aki and Liam talk about toys; Liam with Dad and Uncle; Liam and Bday prezzies

...........and finally.........Some BIG NEWS!!!!!! Aki and I are very pleased to announce that our first child is on the way! It is a great feeling for us both and we're getting very excited about the upcoming months (and years!) ahead. Our baby is due on January 14. Unfortunately this means we will be unable to come back to NZ in January for Steve and Roshannas Wedding (terrible timing, eh), but hopefully we will be over at the end of next year.

Sonogram showing the next Trotter (16 weeks)

Banter link

I accidently put the new post on the old blog (Globetrotter), and it's too much hassle to change it to here, so click on this link - Banter

Just got back from the pub watching ABs beat the Boks in Welly. Boys played bloody great!!!