pinku

Guess where we're going on Sunday?

If you guessed sumo, then you are right. It should be fun. I have been once before in Osaka about 10 years ago and all my memories are good. Sunday (Jan 23) is the last day of the Tokyo basho. I am excited to see Asashoryu (Mongolian yokozuna and also currently the best in Japan) in action. What can be better than spending a quiet Sunday watching a bunch of very large men push each other around. At Darin's request we will also be eating chanko nabe (the food of sumo wrestlers) before going. Should be good.

Shotaro and an apple

This is Shotaro John. His mum (Japanese) and dad (American) had given up all hope that they could have a baby. They are in their 40s and had being trying to have kids for many years. Last year they got lucky! I was so excited to hear the news that I went straight home and knit an apple cap immediately and gave it to them the next day. That was last November. His mum has been very busy so I only received this photo the other day - I love it. He is such a cutie.

In other knitting news, I am halfway through my wedding shawl. I am also knitting another shrug but this time I am using yummy mohair and a Japanese pattern. And yesterday I cast on a pair of socks - this time they are for Darin. I love my Koigu socks so much that I want Darin to also be excited about a pair of socks. I bought four skeins of Lang Jawoll Superwash (2 navy, 2 green) at Mitsubaya where they were on sale for 590 yen per skein.....which is still more expensive than what they are sold for in the States but not much more. I am using this pattern for basic ribbed socks, and really enjoyed learning the twisted german cast on method, which is very stretchy - perfect for ribbing on a sock cuff.

I'm going to  bed now. Oyasumi.

Thailand

You've all convinced me - I am going to spend two days in Milan, then fly back to Japan via London so I have a few hours to do some shopping (English mags, etc) at Heathrow. Thanks for your help and insight!! I can't wait. I love these little unplanned trips! Of course it would be great to stay longer, but it kind of feels special when I sneak in a couple of free days on a business trip. Actually Milan is the most convenient destination because it is about a four hour drive from where we will be staying in Switzerland. I am thinking of doing a day trip to Verona as I absolutely love train travel, the countryside and I don't want to be tempted to buy any more shoes than I have. I bought two pairs of super cute shoes at the sales here in Tokyo yesterday and ....I must stop shopping!! It was really fun though.

So, here I sit on my futon wearing my finished handknitted Koigu socks (they are the warmest and loveliest socks I own), the heater blasting and I am wrapped in a fleece blanket - can it be that I was in warm, sunny Thailand less than a week ago (deep sigh...).

So on the cold wintry rainy day here in Tokyo I will share with you some pictures of our Thailand travels. It was great to do some real backpacking again and I feel energized to do more - Vietnam, Laos, Southern China....I also want to take Darin to East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah).

Here was our basic itinerary of what we did in Thailand:

Dec 23 - 27 - Hang out in Bangkok with our buddy Ryan. Shopped, got massaged, a pedicure, a manicure and my hair cut at MBK (Darin was off visiting a medical oddities museum in Bangkok!!). Went on a day trip to Koh Kret. We stayed at the Atlanta Hotel (it was fabulous and cheap!)
Dec 28 - Jan 1 - Relax on the beaches of Koh Chang.Take a boat trip, snorkelling and swimming at some of the other islands within the Koh Chang national marine park. We stayed at Siam Beach Resort (very basic but the bungalows are right on the beach - 350 baht ($10)/night).
Jan1 - Jan3 - Relax on the beaches of Koh Samet - the closet island to Bangkok - so that we could meet up with our buddies - Ryan, Mike and his girlfriend, Julie. We stayed at Naga Bungalows  at Ao Prao beach (300 baht/night) - basic but comfy beds!!
Jan 4 - Jan 7 - Explore the amazing Khao Sok National Park (stayed at the Freedom Resort run by Spike and Chek)  including Chiaw Lan Lake where we stayed in bamboo huts floating in the middle of the jungle and went caveing (with the completely wrong shoes - leather birkenstocks....), canoeing, and a morning safari.
Jan 7 - 9 - Our last hurrah in Bangkok before leaving included buying fake dvds at Pantip Place, a new memory stick, swimming in Ryan"s pool, and seeing the really cool Thai band, Suzie Q live.

Anyway here are a few of my favourite pics, and I'll put the rest in the Thailand gallery!!

On the boat back from Koh Kret

Sunset over Koh Chang

The clearest water ever on the most beautiful and privately-owned island of Koh Kham (near Koh Chang) - highly recommeded (taken using a disposable underwater camera)

Julie enjoying the beach swing at Koh Kham - you gotta go!

The joy of an underwater camera....not sure what my facial expression is about.

The fattest dog ever (called smelly by the way!!) on Koh Chang

monkey at Khao Sok (man, those monkeys swim really well!!!)

View at Khao Sok

Daz with the cutest puppy ever

Khao Sok

Chiaw Lan Lake

You must ride a longboat for one hour to reach the floating bamboo huts

the amazing floating bamboo huts (a great place to wake up on your 30th birthday!!)

our last night in Bangkok - Ryan and me eating all-you-can-eat Korean bbq (89 baht - about $2.50). The food in Thailand was definitely one of our trip's highlights!!!

Rest of the photos can be seen in the Thailand 04/05 gallery (the red wine has just begun to set in  so I'll have to update that gallery tomorrow). Have a good one!!

Addendum: My lovely brother, Stephen, suggested that I mention the tsunami. We were in Bangkok when the earthquake in Sumatra and subsequent tidal wave occurred. We did not feel any shaking in Bangkok and I have a pretty sensitive earthquake alert system (in my body) considering I live in Tokyo. The hotel where we stayed didn't have tv, so we actually had no idea about what had happened until we checked our email later that night. For days after we met travellers that had no idea what had happened - I guess that's what happens when you are on the move and don't have access to tv etc. Of course, we wondered whether we should still go to the islands, and in the end I am glad we decided to go.  Apart from the affected areas  (very small percentage of Thailand) business goes on as usual. A big part of the Thai economy is derived from tourism and I feel we helped out by going ahead with our travel plans as normal. Now we are back in Japan and have seen some of the shocking footage that you all must have seen - thank you to all of those that sent us worried emails. It is nice to know people care.

 

Travel help!!

First things first. I have updated the flower pin swap blog with all of the photos I received....I think. So check it out! Also if you sent me a photo and it's not there, then you may need to email again, it might have got lost in the mess of my holiday email inbox!!

So I get back to work this week and they tell me that I am going to Switzerland in 10 days time with my boss. It is a really short trip of about five days (what a waste!!) but I am going to try and spend a couple of extra days (2 days, 2 nights) somewhere in Europe. But this is my problem - where should I spend such a short amount of time??? I have been to Europe once before and spent a week in London, a day in Paris and some time in Zurich/Davos (that trip was for work also). So wise readers - what city would you want to spend two nights in all by your lonesome?? These are your choices:

1. Zurich
2. London
3. Frankfurt
4. Milan
5. Paris

For your information, I am leaning towards Milan...since I have never been to Italy and I love pasta!!

The vows

I am still struggling to edit the rest of our photos from Thailand. It was such as amazing trip in so many senses of that word.

In the meantime I thought I would share our vows (especially for my family who couldn't be there). I had never written vows or even thought about writing vows, so I didn't really know where to start. I turned to the trusty Internet and a great website for non-traditional brides called Indiebride.com. Their forum is filled with so many useful hints and ideas, and they also have a Giant Vow Repository that can be used by one and all. I borrowed ideas, words and entire sentences from a variety of different people and then just changed what I wanted to change and added what I wanted to add. Thanks to all the other indiebrides out there!!

In the company of Julie, my oldest and most loving friend and the beautiful Gulf of Siam,
With their love and support,
I, Katherine, choose you, Darin, to be my husband.

I promise to cherish your love, intellect, and uniqueness;
To support and inspire you;
To delight in your happiness and comfort you in sorrow;
To create with you a home that cherishes good food, passion and laughter;
And to enjoy each and every day of our lives spent together.
I gladly make this promise and I am proud to be your wife.

With this ring I give you my heart,
I have no greater gift to give.

In the end it was easy writing our vows, and as far as I can remember I said mine while constantly breaking into tears. Then I was worried that my eyeliner was running!!!

The other wedding photos.

ps I will try and put up all of the flower pin pics I received tonight!!!

pps AND I have some brand new Japanese knitting, DIY clothing ideas (this one is soooo cute - might keep it for myself), and many other pre-loved books that I will be putting up on ebay during the next week. So if you missed out last time, this is a great opportunity to get yourself some super cute Japanese knitting/sewing love. The new books are still being sold on the shelves of Japanese bookstores right now, so if they are popular I can always get more copies. I only have one copy of each of the pre-loved books so it is first-in, best-dressed (what a weird saying - never really thought about that before....).

The wedding

Darin and I exchanged vows and rings on Lonely Beach on Koh Chang in Thailand at sunset on 31 Dec  2004. My best friend, Julie flew all the way from Australia to share in our special day. It started off brilliantly  with Julie shouting me to a wonderful oil massage on the beach and then we went looking for some flowers for a bouquet. Little did I know that they did not sell any cut flowers on the island, so I ended up buying an entire bouganvillea plant in a clay pot for just over 1 USD. All the time I was unaware that my groom-to-be was out stacking his rented motorbike on the afternoon of our wedding - when he showed up to get ready, his arm was completely bloody!!! I was just glad that he hadn't broken anything.

Then we headed to the restaurant where we would be holding our reception and bringing in the new year to have a practice drinking run. Wanted to make sure that we all wouldn't forget how to drink!! I was really relaxed right up until I had to get into my dress, then I started sweating. I was worried that I wouldn't remember my vows, among other things. There was no mirror in my bungalow so I had to completely rely on Julie to tell me whether I looked terrible or not!! Luckily Jules is really good at putting on makeup because my hands were shaking so much there would have been no way I could have put on my own eyeliner.

As the sun was setting, we rushed outside to meet up with Darin - we had agreed to meet near the rocks at the end of the beach. The tears started the moment I saw him sitting alone on top of a rock in his gear with vows in hand trying to remember them. The rest is kind of a blur - it was quick, but really beautiful and full of emotion. We absolutely couldn't believe how excited everyone at the beach was for us - everyone grabbed their cameras and started taking photos of us. Everyone commented on how much they loved my dress and that makes me very happy because I love it too. I bought it on ebay - it is a vintage Frank Starr dress from the 50s and I couldn't believe how well it fit - I also bought a new crinoline which really makes the dress shine. The dress survived remarkably well considering it had been squashed up in our backpack right up until the day of the wedding.

The owners and the staff at the Nature Rocks Restaurant were super excited to see us and immediately gave us two glasses of wine and showered us with congratulations and big warm smiles. We had the best table in the house and later in the night they announced to everyone that we had just gotten married and then came another bottle of free wine. New Years is the perfect time to get married because everyone is in a great mood and there was a big party planned with a bonfire and bbq on the beach and we didn't even have to pay for it.  Sweet..... So enough of the words - here are the photos!!

Just after exchanging vows and rings

To see the rest of the photos visit the wedding gallery!!!

More photos of fabulous Thailand tomorrow!!

Lovely Thailand

Greetings from surat thani in thailand!!

This is a little self-indulgent, but today is my 30th birthday. I have had such a fantastic day. We are nearing the end of our Thailand adventure and it has been more than we could have hoped for. I spent the morning of my 30th birthday in the middle of the jungle sleeping in a bamboo hut floating on a lake. Seriously - it was amazing. We woke up at 7am and at 7:30 we head out on a long boat for a morning safari. We saw a hornbill, monkeys and a multitude of other wildlife. I spent the rest of the day swimming in the lake, canoeing, laying in the sun and eating the most delicious Thai food. One thing to mention is that Cheow Lan Lake is only a couple hours away from the worst tsunami hit area in Thailand - Khao Lak, but in Khao Sok business goes on as usual....except with less travellers. It is very hard for us to comprehend the extent of the devastation of this disaster - having very little access to tv, newspapers and the Internet. Thailand, although badly hit, has not been suffered the same extent of damage as other countries. So I bring a message from businesses that rely on tourism in Southern Thailand - if you were planning on coming to Thailand, still come... there are so many amazing places to be visited. And even if you weren't planning on coming, Come!!!! You won't regret it.

So, happy birthday to me and a big thank you to wonderful sunny Thailand that has been the home to xmas 2004/ my wedding/ nye 04-05/ and my 30th birthday. Lastly a big thank you to Julie for flying all the way from australia to come to my wedding (photos will be posted next week), my family for being my family and the newest member of my very own family, my husband, darin bendall - you are the best and I love you very much.

Happy New Years to you all!!!

lots of love,

kat

p.s. I will be posting all of the flower pin pics once I get back to Japan.