pinku

Summer days

Well it's finally hot and summery here in Queensland. Yesterday we went to the pool without Jake and had a ball acting like stupid teens. Then we even managed to get out to dinner and go dancing for an hour with Martine while my best-est sister ever looked after Jake. I'm really going to miss the luxury of having family nearby when we go back to Japan in 10 days.

Here is a photo of Jake and I at the Warhol exhibit at GOMA.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!

2008 is going to be a big one for us with an international move on the horizon, but I'm not sure whether that is even close to being as momentous as 2007, which was dominated by pregnancy, giving birth and looking after baby jake.

We managed to get to a party on New Year's Eve, but left early....and I fell asleep well before midnight. I had fun at the party though while it lasted. I think Jake and Darin did too. It made me want to get a playstation and that game, Singstar. Fun times.

I'm looking forward to lots of exciting changes in 2008. I didn't make any resolutions except for getting rid of all the excess stuff in our apartment when we get back to Japan and to sort out our life before my maternity leave is over at the end of March. Oh and get some knitting done especially since we were so badly organized when we left Japan that I managed to bring hardly any clothes and absolutely no crafting supplies!!! Oh well. Ok even though it's rainy here it's still warm and we still have two weeks left to get some beach time and swimming in!! See ya all later!

Ok so I lied...

I didn't end up posting every day last week. I actually didn't post again after that initial promise post. Sorry.

Here's something cute from my five-year old niece in Australia.

This note makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside and make me very excited to be going home even for just a short time.

Also in completely unrelated news, I have two invites left to Ravelry - Jess and Casey's awesome interactive website for knitters. I've been a Beta tester for a while and it's a very cool resource for knitters - it's a great way to share your knitting with others and find information about certain projects from other knitters and it's also a great way to get inspired. I hear that there's some silly blog furore from people who can't get invites. They are a rare commodity right now it seems. There's a reason for the limit - the site is run by two people with lives and a very cute dog, not a giganto billion dollar corporation or even just a small corporation. I would have thought nice kind knitters would be naturally more patient but I guess not.

Anyways if you want one of my invites email me at pinkurocks *at* gmail *dot* com. Both have been passed on - thanks!

Finally I'd love to welcome Kirsten - a fellow Tokyo S+B'er - to the blog world. She's just started up her blog, Stitched Up, so check it out!!!

C'mon Aussie C'mon C'mon

The Stella McCartney range for Target was released in Australia this morning.

It was mayhem.

I'm glad I wasn't there. I experience enough of this kind of sale frenzy at our work sales. It gives me a headache. It really makes you wonder. I mean every woman and their dog is now gonna be wearing your amazing Stella piece. Was it really worth it? I liked the collection, but not this much. There were really only a couple of pieces that I would have bought and with prices mostly between $80 to $200, the stuff wasn't even cheap. Am sure there will be plenty of pieces available on Ebay Australia any minute now.

Had to add these quotes from the SMH (I was laughing out loud at work reading them and envisioning the situation):

"We ended up amongst the men's shorts stripping off and trying on things with abandonment, much to the amazement of a few men shoppers.

"At one point I realized I was standing in my bra and pants right in the middle of Target!"

Budgie smugglers

This one is for the Australians out there - this hilarious article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald today.

'Budgie smuggler' stunts a boost to tourism

In knitting news, I received my copy of Twinkle's Big City Knits a week ago but haven't gotten around to taking a closer look at it. There are some really cute designs in there though. A review might be coming!!

In sad knitting news, I had nearly finished my Nora Gaughan pentagon shrug thing - only had one sleeve and the collar to go when I faced up to reality - it was monstrous in size. Seriously. I immediately cast on for the smaller size with smaller needles. We'll see how that goes. It's a fun knit but it's a weird shape that doesn't naturally fit the human body. I'm seen a few finished versions on the web, and it seems like everyone had the same problems. It would have been nice to be given some more measurements than just the pentagon size. I don't hold up high hopes for this pattern but I might post a couple of the gigantor shrug photos before I rip, rip, rip.

Um, and can you believe they killed off you-know-who on Grey's Anatomy??!!

And since I always like to include a photo with every post, here's a photo of me and my host family in front of Hirosaki castle during my visit to Aomori last week. I'm smiling in the pic but my feet and hands are FREEZING. Most host mother was horrified I wore a skirt that day.

Target + Stella McCartney

Wow Stella McCartney has designed a 42 piece collection for Target Australia.

It goes on sale March 12. And the whole collection will be able to be viewed online from March 5 on the Designers for Target website.

I think a trip to Australia is in order.....to visit family of course. I mean I totally wouldn't fly thousands of miles to go to Target.

Or would I?

I might have to put in an order to my BBE.

I wondered whether Australian Target had embraced the designer line approach and it seems they have. Erin told me that the stuff sells out really quickly and then horrible people try to sell it on ebay for lots more money.

In other news, I've been trying to think up five weird things about me. I've been tagged by Helen and the DivaKnitter, but I wasn't going to do it because I've kinda done it before so that'll be a total of 10 weird things about me. That'll make me weirder than most people.

1. As a kid I was never really an animal person (I know, I know), but now with my two sweet pigs I find myself chatting to them and cuddling them all the time. Daz and I couldn't imagine what our lives would be like without them. Is that weird...or normal?

2. Not so much now, but I'm unusually into sports. It was a bonding thing with my father. I really get into the excitement of the moment. I've been to numerous State of Origin games. I saw the Harlem Globetrotters live. I was obsessed with Italian league soccer, 500cc motorbike racing and F1 racing in my last two years of high school. I would stay up until all hours watching those cars race around the track. It might have had something to do with No. 5 in my previous list.

3. I hate wasabi. This is probably not that weird. I got burned when I was a high school exchange student in Japan and my first host mother made a sandwich for my lunch everyday and she'd secretly smothered that horrible green stuff on to the ham. I would either give those sandwiches away or thrown them in the bin. Sorry, host mother number one.

4. I have a mild online shopping addiction. I've been really good this month. I don't think I would buy as much if I lived in the western world....or would I? I even told Darin last night that one of the pros of possibly moving to the US in the future is that I would be able to buy whatever I wanted online (no more international shipping!!) One can dream.

5. I'm 32 and don't have my driver's license.

Wow, that was actually easier than I thought it would be. Please don't tag me with this one anymore because then everyone'll know just how weird I really am??!!!!

OH and for you knitters out there - you can now preview Rowan mag 41 for Spring and Summer - from first glances there isn't a love that I MUST have (this is good news - save more money).

Also check out the Rowan Bamboo Tape Collection

The Rowan Kasbah Collection

The Little Angels Collection from Kim Hargreaves

But even cuter is the book And so to Bed by Lucinda Guy - CUTE!!

Crikey!

I had planned to blog about our weekend, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. Five minutes ago, I casually just clicked on the link to the Courier Mail - the newspaper for my home state Queensland and the headline screams 'Steve Irwin Dead' - whaaaat??!!

The first I ever heard about the crocodile hunter was about 10 years ago when an American friend of mine asked me if I could get him a crocodile hunter tshirt since I was Australian. I had never heard of Steve Irwin or the crocodile hunter. Little did I know Steve Irwin was already becoming a cult figure in the US with his show The Crocodile Hunter. I don't even think his show was airing in Australia at that time. It's one of those weird cultural marketing phenomenons like Fosters Beer. When you watch a Fosters ad in the US, the slogan is 'Fosters - Australian for beer'.....Um that's weird because virtually NO-ONE in Australia drinks Fosters - true story mate!

Anyways back to Steve Irwin. I like the Crocodile Hunter but never watched it religiously. Actually I've only ever seen a couple of episodes in full, BUT when I visited Australia Zoo (the zoo Irwin owns in Queensland) with my sister and her family in 2003 I was lucky enough to go on a day when Irwin actually does the crocodile feeding show himself (you see he's only there sometimes). I guess I sometimes thought he was a bit corny and over the top but to tell you the truth, he was thoroughly entertaining and I was enthralled the whole time. He was nothing short of awesome!

But my favourite crocodile hunter related story that I often tell people is something that happened to me while living in the US. A few years ago I lived in Oakland for about nine months and while I was there most people (from all different backgrounds and cities) couldn't distinguish my accent. The most common guess was British (not a bad guess), but I was once even asked whether I was from New York. Um, no. A little further than that.

Anyway one day I happened to be hanging out in one of those big sports warehouse type stores in Emeryville California. I guess I had lost Darin and the others and happened upon a young African American boy who was all of about 10 shooting hoops in the store. I asked him if I could join in and he welcomed me with opened arms. We chatted a little and he even complimented me on my shooting skill :) Cute!

After a short silence, he says 'You are Australian, aren't you!'

I was completely shocked. Flabbergasted. How could he know when even UC Berkeley professors couldn't even tell where I was from. So I asked, 'How did you know that?'

He nonchalantly replies, 'I watch The Crocodile Hunter'.

A priceless moment - that's for sure. After being slightly shocked that I even remotely sounded like the crocodile hunter, I revelled in the marvelous cultural tool that is TV.

So Steve Irwin - you were a great Australian who was dedicated to your cause and you will be missed.

Happy Birthday Chris!

My little brother turns 23 today. He brings sunshine and laughter into the lives of all that know him. He has a new blog and will soon be travelling to Europe for the first time. Chris, did you know that you share your birthday with hottie, mena suvari, ziyi zhang, joe pesci and carmen miranda?

ps I have photos of my finished Forecast, but you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see them!! Today is dedicated to little brothers - if you have one go and give them a big kiss (even if it embarasses them).

Speaking of embarassing things we do to siblings. I'm going to turn back the clock to 1987. I was 12. Chris was 4. As you can see, age-wise I was in a powerful position. I've decided that this is my best art project to date - well except for the giant box of smarties I made as my pop art project in high school. This photo makes my heart melt. He was so sweet (and still is of course). I have a feeling I told him he couldn't move otherwise....well you know the kinds of things you threaten your brothers and sisters with. (Thanks for the photo Stephen....now I'm feeling all nostalgic)

bendall.biz

My very talented husband made an e-zine about our roadtrip in Australia. Check it out!

Although I loved the snow on Saturday, my heart will always be where the warm weather is...

In knitting news (yes, I still do knit) I am working on Forecast by Stephanie Japel. I will be adapting the sleeves as Winnie did for hers and I will also add a few inches to the length of the body. Oh and I also opted for plain unmirrored 4x4 cables instead of the bobbles and braided cables...basically because I am lazy and don't want to have to refer to the chart. I happened to have a full bag of Rowan Cork in light blue so I am using that. I would prefer a red cardie, but hooray to me for using stash. I'm nearly finished the body so I should have an FO soon.

Oh and I'm so excited because I finally got to sign up for Alison's Sockapalooza event!!! Go now and sign up too - you've got 23 hours to do so!

Oh and lastly here's one of my most recent FOs - Squarey from you know where. I finished up squarey in Australia and gave him to my mum for Christmas - I think he was a hit!!

Diary of a failed gym junkie!!

When I was home, I was really happy that I had timed my trip perfectly so that I could check out my big brother Stephen's new exhibition, 'Diary of a failed gym junkie' at the Doggett Street Studio. It opened on the night before I left Brisbane and there was a fantastic turnout. It is his biggest exhibition to date and I especially loved his black and white installation.

Check out all of his paintings here, there are four galleries and another section called installation.

ps if you are lucky enough to be in Brisbane, go and see the exhibition in person.

Sorry about my mug in the way of the paintings :P

For homesick Aussies in Japan

This post will be of very little interest to many of you, but it makes me very happy. The Foreign Buyer's Club in Japan has now opened its Aussie store. Shipping is cheap at around 500 yen and it takes just over a week for your order to arrive from Australia, and although the prices are obviously higher than normal - it's worth it when you receive little treats from home (e.g. Chicken in a Biskit, the Woman's Day, Pascall Wine Gums, etc). I have no idea why it happens, but I actually long for food more than anything when I am away from home. Basically food dictated my week at home and I deprived myself of NOTHING. It was fabulous. I did pay the price though in adding a couple of kilos to my happy Aussie frame, but I'm back to jogging, swimming and eating a rice ball for lunch so no doubt I'll be back to normal soon enough. My mother never worried about me having an eating disorder just because she REALLY knows just how much I LOVE food. Not massive quantities but the variety of tastes and textures. I think it's one of the best things about being alive!!!

Happy shopping and happy eating!!

ps Flower pin swap blog has been updated!!!

Bonds + Hipsters

To an Aussie girl, these words have nothing to do with financial istruments or people who think they're hot! However, if you do wear them you will look hot! Bonds hipsters are undies - really comfy, cotton, Aussie undies that come in a bunch of different styles and funky colours.

This post was inspired by a post in Nicole's blog that was all about being an Aussie and some of the girls mentioned loving Bonds. Basically Bonds is an old Australian company that revamped its business by introducing a funky line of underwear (which every Aussie girl loves). I always buy some when I am at home - I mean ALWAYS!

For those of us far from home, particularly in countries like Japan where the lingerie options are well....lacy, frilly, very padded and come with lots of bows - buying lingerie on trips home is a must. Since living in Tokyo, Victoria's Secret has been my main on-line undie and bra shopping source, but a google search today introduced me to Zodee - an on-line AUSSIE lingerie shop THAT delivers overseas!! They carry Elle Macpherson, Bonds, Bendon, Berlei, Formfit, Finelines, Love Kylie, Playtex, Simone Perele, Hey Sister, Sloggi (now that's a classic) and lots more. They also carry swimwear.

You can sign up to join their club (FREE) and you get 5% off all purchases, a $10 voucher, and 2.5% of every purchase is credited back to your account for future use. Sounds like good value to me, mate!!!

I expect lots of dodgy google searches because of this post.

My grandad

This is such a great photo. It was taken at my brother's 21st birthday party in Australia about a month ago. It's just me and my grandad, Fred Thompson. He is such a character - always making jokes and known to laugh at his own whether they are funny or not. Not only funny, this guy is talented. A turner and fitter by trade - grandad has worked outfitting ship interiors and over the years he has constantly been building us all something. He made me the most amazing set of drawers for my eraser collection of all things. All hand turned, there are eight little drawers made out of the most beautiful wood and he put a little musical box in the back of the bottom drawer, so every time I opened it pretty music would play. Talented and funny. My grandmother, Kitty Thompson is also a character - they make the most perfect couple and have been married for nearly 65 years. An amazing feat. My mother is their only daughter.

Right now my grandad is in hospital - he is 89 and had a stroke on Tuesday. I just wanted to write about him coz he's so great, and even though I can't be there with him now I am thinking about him every minute. I love you grandad.

the rest of my photos

I finally found the time to resize and post the rest of my Australia photos. They are in no particular order. If I could change one thing about the typepad photo albums, I would make it much easier to change the order of the photos.

In knitting news I have been madly working on my first ever knitting design. Will update when closer to completion - it is a lacy knit and I have working hard not to forget yarn overs - it is SO easy to do. I also don't like fixing mistakes in the pattern coz sometimes I have no idea what goes where. Have you ever had the same problem?? ......I hope so.

click on photo to go to australia :)

Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road!

Finally got around to resizing the second half of our photos from Australia. I have put up the first gallery including photos from Melbourne and our trip along the Great Ocean Road. Hopefully I will be able to put up photos from the first half of our trip including Brisbane and Stradbroke Island by the end of the week.

Our Valentine's Day this year was H.O.T - no I mean it was literally hot around 41 degrees in Melbourne. Luckily we spent most of the day at the Globe WorldCup Skateboarding Event at the Rod Laver Arena (the same place where they hold the Australian Open Tennis) which was air conditioned and indoors. They were planning to open the roof of the arena, but it was just way too hot.

The next day we set off on a journey along the Great Ocean Road. If you travel to Victoria, this is not to be missed. Our day was filled with koalas, kangaroos, surf lifesaving contests, beaches, rainforests, fish and chips, amazing scenery and sunsets. You just gotta go.

click on photo to go to album

Australia the beautiful!

Well, darin and I are back in Japan. We only flew in last night, so I haven't had a chance yet to sort through my photos and the first half of my photos are still on my brother's hard drive in Australia!! The past ten days really flew by (knew they would) and I truly couldn't have had a better time. We basked in the sun (maybe for a little too long considering both of us have already started peeling), ate steaks, drank cold Aussie beer in the sunshine, went for long drives and walks, spent time with my family, and spent a lot of time on the beach.

The following three photos are from our last day in Australia. We rented a car and drove along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. It was spectacular.

The famous 12 apostles - absolutely stunning BUT they don't tell you about all of the flies that live there. People taking photos were literally covered in flies!!! funny!

we didn't end up making it to any zoos while in Australia, and thought that Darin may have to leave without seeing some of our famous kangas, but during the last couple of hours of our Great Ocean Road trip, we made it to the Anglesea Golf Course, which is famous for its kangaroos that live freely on the golf course. There were hundreds, possibly thousands just roaming all over the course - I wonder how many have been hit by golf balls!! A definite must if you are in the area! We also saw three koalas in the wild!

On the way towards Geelong in Victoria, we were driving through Torquay when the sun set - I have never seen such a big, beautiful sky!! A fabulous way to end the perfect holiday!!

Pinku goes tropical!!!

Oh golly!! Dear visitors I haven't been posting because I am on a secret holiday. Well, actually it was only a secret prior to coming - now it is secret no more. I am in Australia (Brisbane to be exact) visiting family and friends with dazza AND the weather is awesome. I am seriously sunburnt which I know is not something to be proud of, but my god it is the height of summer here and we have already spent three of five days at the beach.

Photos to follow. Having problems uploading photos to the Internet and we don't have another memory stick so here's to hoping that we will be able to solve this problem soon. Also this is the first time that we have had access to cable internet and to be honest I love not checking my email.

So, just to make you jealous we just spent two absolutely perfect days on Stradbroke Island which is a short trip from Brisbane. The skies were blue, the weather warm, the beer cold, and the beaches white. We saw a pod of about 60 dolphins frolicking in the water and had many great swims.

Gotta go now and enjoy the rest of my holiday. I am currently doing NO crafting whatsoever - I love holidays.

Will be back in cold miserable Japan next week, so no doubt we'll be back to regular posting then.

cheers,
kat

Happy 'to be an Australian' Day!

We had the great pleasure of celebrating being Australian yesterday with a bunch of great Aussies and one great American. Daz and I finally got to meet Kim,Matt, and Martine. They were all 'great' value.

I have some really 'special' pics from karaoke that I will put up tonight, but here's one to give you a hint of the great night we had.

Lusty Police

This is why I read my hometown newspaper on-line. Pure entertainment.

Go to Australia!

Sipping a beer just 100 feet from the frothing sea, I felt as if I were sitting on the deck of an ocean liner.

Ah, this is just one of the great lines from the New York Times Australia travel series last weekend. They even talk about the local R.S.L - it made me really want to eat a steak sandwich with my nan and grandad at the R.S.L.

By the way, happy birthday, Nanna!!!

Far Out East in Australia

Bondi, Beyond the Beach

Play Cowboy, Aussie Style

Wallabies rule!

Australia - 22
New Zealand - 10

Woohoo! The Wallabies kicked some serious Kiwi ass on Saturday. I was a little worried when the All Blacks nearly scored in the first 10 minutes, but those feelings of worry soon disappeared.

Don't forget to watch the final this coming Saturday, November 22 - 8pm Sydney time; 6pm Tokyo time!

I think the win influenced the weather here on Sunday because it was seriously beautiful - clear blue skies, warm sun and a perfect 24 degrees celcius in the middle of November. We raced down to our backyard (Inokashira park) with a cold beer in hand and sat in the warm, warm sun soaking up the warmth, the great atmosphere, the music and enjoyed some great company.

Brisbane artist

If you are lucky enough to be in Brisbane (Australia) tonight, there is a hot new art show by Stephen Mok called 'Head Case' opening at the Doggett Street Studio, go and check it out!

11/14 - Head Case

Opening Party from 6-9pm 11/14. Running until dec 6.

Doggett Street Studio
85 Doggett Street
Newstead Brisbane
ph: 07-3252-9292

artists: stephen mok, wendy moore, nick robba

Orgy??!!

You are looking at an orgy on the Barrier Reef and it is in the shape of a heart... - read more here! How could it happen that I have never been to the Great Barrier Reef even though I have lived my whole in Queensland? Well, most of it anyway.

coral are animals? mass spawning once a year? a few days after the first full moon in November? 27 degrees celcius?

who would have known??!!

croc hunters!

The battle of the crocodile hunters- it doesn't get more Aussie than this.