Elbi xxx

Back in Tokyo

So, we got a dog back in July....a little French bulldog with an underbite and big ears.

We had, in fact , been eyeing him up for 3 months, since before May, that's for sure.

I used to be a cat person. Always cats, dogs never really swung it for me. I loved the brash selfishness of the feline and the need for love. They are great, they want tickles, we, as silly humans, want to give tickles.

But, one day, we walked past a local pet store here in Tokyo and suddenly things changed. For those of you who haven't yet been to Tokyo, be warned. Animals are sold in little box like areas, usually facing out onto the street so that passers by will simply have to stop and say ''kawaii!!!!!'' (cute) in a high pitched squeal.

Now, granted, these animals are adorable, I mean, a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e...but the reason? well, these poor little blighters are plucked from their mummies as early as a few weeks after they left the comfort of her womb. It's shocking, isn't it? But, what can you do? As an animal lover myself, I was, at first , outraged by this. But, if we look a little deeper, then we see the high (very high in some cases) costs for these creatures and then there is registration and then health insurance and so on, and so on....so, we hope that there is subsequently less abandonment.

Yeah, you would need to think twice before just grabbing one from the shop, as did we. Most shops are the same, just some add a little more love than others. We found a local store that we liked a lot and a dog that we like even more and started popping our heads in on a rather regular basis.

There was a French bulldog, the cutest little mutt you had ever seen, no seriously. He was awesome. His big triangular ears poked up, as his large bulbous eyes gave you that puppy stare to which so many people refer. His eyes pleaded with us 'take me, take me' each time we went to see him. His adorable face was really scrunched up, as if he had walked head first into the wall. Around his short nose were many wrinkles, even at his young tender age of 6 months.

There was something about this fawn coloured creature that grabbed us. After the first visit to the shop, we would talk about him, refer to his big ears, his little body, his cute stare...

We went back , again and again, trying to stagger the visits and create a bit of time in between each one. Let's not count cycling past and staring in as a visit, shall we? And then, the times we actually went in to see the dog were staggered.

He was so cute and clearly crazy. Even at this early stage he was entertaining us and chasing his tail in a circle and then , simply falling over. Pure silly. We were in love.

He was a little dog,with big ears and the name stuck. Little Big.L.B....or soon to become Elbi, for the sake of having a 'real' name.

He became ours. Not quite just like that, but after much deliberation. So much in fact that

we went to the shop to say 'no' so many times and couldn't quite bring ourselves to do it.

Even when we did eventually get him, we did get him, we took him back the next day!!

You see, he woke us up at 5am, (not the main problem, he is a pup after all) but we had a visitor with

us and I felt that I should take the day off to spend time with Elbi, for had he been left alone, he would have

gone stir crazy, barking and yelping etc.

After spending a great, but exhausting day with him, we met up with papa and then decided that it was

best to return him.

If the neighbours had complained, then we could be kicked out....

I cried as I tried to hand him over. He resisted, knowing full well what was happening, poor beggar.

We were sad for the next 24 hours....feeling guilty that we had dangled the carrot of fun that was us at Kubo Biru (home)

and then making him go back.

But on 2nd July, when Ian & I , with Tom, went to get our wedding certificate and finalise our wedding (YAY!)

I was still worried about Elbi, and after we got our certificates, I hopped on my bicycle and went to our

agency to see if they would let us have the pup.

My fingers were crossed tight and I must have looked really anxious - if they were to say no, that would be it,

we would have to drop it, all our deliberation and desire to have him - but when they said a simple 'OK!', I was

ecstatic!!!!!

We went straight away to get the little mutt and haven't looked back since.

The only annoying thing was that we had two months of holiday ahead of us in Indonesia & in the UK.

Thankfully he had a temporary home with Shane, but we were going to miss him already...bless him.

Now, on 29th August, I have been back from the UK for one (hectic) week and all is well. He is cho genki!! We love him!!! So much xxx

Shopping, Shipping & Acupuncture

Another day by the sea in England.....
We woke up to a grizzly day, the clouds were heavy and grey above us and it was really rather cold when we stepped out of the door! Oh my, and this is the 'height' of summer? No thanks!

Still...we had to figure out the final touches for our outfits for our special day on Saturday. Shopping is always great fun, at least it was when I was young. Now, as much as I love having the new things, I can't always be bothered with the process of going out and dealing with the crowds.

You'd think that living in Tokyo that I would be used to crowds, but there is something different here in Brighton with the groups of people out on the streets. The discerning tourist, the loud mothers with their tearaway kids, the happy couples window shopping at a pace that is bound to trip any passer by up....

I find my self moaning quite a lot in England. Was this the way things were before? Have I crossed the line and there is no return? Did I once belong here? Really? Will I ever again?

We had wanted to buy a house in the countryside here in the south east but even on our first night revisiting this seaside town, we knew that Brighton and its surroundings was not for us. We took the last train from London and arrived at around midnight to Brighton, where people where dawdling in the streets shouting, drinking, smoking, generally, acting annoying.
And it wasn't just one area, it spread everywhere. But because it was the pride weekend, we let it rest....but days later, things haven't changed.

Even by day, this place is hard work and a few hours shopping drained us of the energy we had.

Still, we bought even more shoes (one of the perks of this country - the shoes can fit!) and sorted out our outfits.

Then I had an acupuncture appointment, my first time ever! I had no idea what was in store, but I knew it would be needles in my body, so I arrived already slightly freaked out.
There was a consultation first of all and we agreed that I had bad circulation. Lucky me, but that it was gathering in my left side, at the shoulders and now at the base of my spine.
I lay down and even though I was in my underwear, I had to undo my bra so the back was fully exposed. Without explanation, the needles began. To be honest, as in most cases when you enter the unknown, you fear the worst, I did today. But, with each small prick of the apparently not so small needle, I breathed calmly. There must have been almost 20 attached to various parts of my back and even my legs. Then the doctor (is that what you call them?) placed some sort of machine over my back with a timer ticking away manicly and left the room.
I had no idea what to expect, and hoped that he wouldn't be gone for long, for I panicked far too easily. I lay there , trying to understand what was happening on my back , not that I could see, but I did try. I saw a big plastic thing, that I guess was attached to one of the needles and I could see the machine hovering. It was all rather surreal and, as the pins in my back started to heat up, I sneaked a peak the other side. I could only see a flat ish white plastic disc. To be honest, had I seen anything else, I would have freaked out. Seeing things attached to your body that shouldn't be there....weird.

It wasn't too long before he returned and pulled them all out pretty painlessly. Then he massaged me.
At first, I thought that his small hands were never going to ease the horrid tension I suffered. He placed both of them at the top of the shoulders and gently squeezed them. Then, when he moved down the left side, we could both feel the tension, blocked toxins, he said. It didn't feel good. But his hands were able to push the tension slowly, surprisingly away.

And then, according to my ears, there was a flame burning, from a lighter or..? What was it? Then, heavy weights were put on my back., they felt cold and tight to the skin. I had no idea what it was, but when he said 'capping', I understood it to be ''cupping''. Madonna, Gweneth Paltrow had been associated with it, I suddenly felt special. And for five minutes, I stayed that way, just lying waiting.
Ian arrived asking for me. I was lucky he came to meet me. I still had another 5 or so minutes, but when I did finally rise, I was a sleepy wreck, more tired than I had realised.

I had, in the end, enjoyed the experience. When we talked about it after, they recommended some treatment for me. Some liquid vials of ginseng and some pills (dosage of 5o!!! per day!!) or more ginseng. Their hard sell was pretty shocking, considering the fact that the treatment was costing 40 pounds...then pills and the vit drink would have set us back 20 pounds! I am sure that my ciculation wasn't that bad!! And they had the nerve to tell us that it was OK to do acupuncture everyday!! That in china they did it every day but in UK most people did it weekly. In other words, they knew I was in Brighton for a few days adn they wanted their money...at the expense of my bruised back....not thank you.

So, even when things were about to seem to be on the up, they shot straight back down. Where the customer service supposedly improved, the selfish money making intention shone forth.
What a shame.
England.....oh England....

Culture Shocking August 2010

So, we have returned to the UK for the first time together and perhaps it is because of this that we can notice the difference between our home country and Japan, where we have been for a combined total of 8 years.

Walking around Brighton, where we are staying for one of the 3 weeks (4 weeks for Ian) we are back for, we have noticed a grimey madness that we cannot believe we were ever part of. It's not just Brighton. London, what little we little we saw of it, had the very same effect on us. The streets were dirty with rubbish from the passers by, or even children allowed to callously, carelessly throw wrappers to the ground. Smokers seemed to walk past us at each turn. How was this so? What happened to the ban? Did it not make people more aware? Apparently no.

In Japan, the one country where smoking will more than likely always be the national pastime it seems, the streets seem so much fresher, even if the local oyaji (old man)next to you has just sparked up.

It is even in the appearance too. Somehow the air is fresher over there? People look so tired and worn out here in UK. Is it the sushi? Perhaps England needs some mountains to enhance its green but perhaps not green enough landscape and freshen the air.

What is this rant that I have taken on board? Have we become too Japanified for our own good? Why do we suddenly feel so disconnected from our roots?
Living away from 'home' for so long has meant that we have seen many different ways of life. and life in Japan has been an amazing experience that doesn't need to end just yet.

We came back to England still feeling some sort of obligation to move back to UK at some point soon to 'settle'. Being from the UK, surely this is where we should come back to to have a house, to have a family life and to grow old.

But, being here in UK together, we can start to see exactly what we have in Japan and what we need to make our lives even more settled. We already have a loving household. We just bought a dog, we already have hamsters too! One day, we will have children and we are coming to realise that Japan is an amazing place to bring up young kids.

Just take a look around at some of the delinquents in the streets of UK and you can see why we would not want to come home to have children.

For now, the life we have over there, miles away from where we were born, is good. It's better than good. It's an isolated little bubble in which we work, we play and we enjoy on our own time.
The UK has lost its magic, if indeed it held any for us, and while we are here, we are not on our own time.

This of course will change the moment we buy a house here. But that leads us to another 20 stories......soon enough!