Camping in Dorset
Wed 10th Aug 2011,
8:24pm
40 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaac turns 2
Tue 9th Aug 2011,
8:10pm
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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July
Mon 8th Aug 2011,
10:35pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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May and June
Mon 8th Aug 2011,
8:13pm
9 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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April 2011
Sat 14th May 2011,
9:37pm
We three Pearces had a wonderful very hectic April. Most of the month was spent cleaning and trying to keep onto of the dust created from our outstanding building work! We are now the proud owners of a downstairs toilet and utility room which really extends our living space downstairs and it simply top notch. We escaped for 10 days in the middle of it all to spend some quality time with our folks which was just what the doctor ordered. Lots of love and laughter, treats for our little man and a week of no cooking for E! Perfect!
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Easter
Fri 13th May 2011,
9:29pm
55 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Our new utility room
Fri 13th May 2011,
9:19pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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March
Mon 28th Mar 2011,
2:09pm
15 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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2011 so far
Mon 14th Mar 2011,
2:18pm
So far this year we have been globe trotters! Stu started the year with a 10 day trip to San Francisco to present a poster at an international conference, and then went to Finland to learn all about a new project that he will be working on from April. He spent 3 days in Oslu in the very north of Finland, lots of snow and very cold even for Stu! Emma has also been to Germany for the IFHE annual meeting which this year was in Mainz, a great city near Frankfurt. Suddenly it is March, Spring is here and we find the weeks are flying. Emma is studying to be a registered childminder as well as studying a CPD course at So'ton Uni on Ageing. Isaac continues to be a great source of fun and amusement to all he meets and is growing up fast!
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Stu goes to Finland
Mon 14th Mar 2011,
2:10pm
43 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Stu goes West
Thu 10th Mar 2011,
7:40pm
23 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaac in January
Wed 9th Mar 2011,
8:53pm
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Christmas at Chez Pearce
Wed 9th Mar 2011,
8:44pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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November/December
Mon 20th Dec 2010,
9:26pm
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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October
Tue 9th Nov 2010,
3:11pm
40 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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October
Tue 9th Nov 2010,
3:05pm
October has been a busy month! We have enjoyed lots of visitors to Chez Pearce and have been on a few trips ourselves! Of course we have also celebrated 2 birthdays too! Both in excellent style as you will see from the photos! We had some surprise visitors for Stus which was great fun! Isaac is enjoying the changing seasons and has been a big fan of the leaves and their beautiful colours - must be the Japanese influence! We have had lots of amazing walks in and around Southampton and have all done our fair share of whooshing around in ankle high leaf piles!
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Fun fun fun
Tue 28th Sep 2010,
8:35pm
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Bristol bound
Mon 27th Sep 2010,
10:09pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The return to the Great North Yorkshire Coast
Sat 25th Sep 2010,
7:27pm
Filey, filey, filey! Filey is E's childhood, teenhood and adulthood holiday destination! An old Collins favourite, this little seaside town of absolute nothingness but full of beautiful charm and simplicity has become a holiday heart for many. In the early days E would come here with her family for summer holidays. In later years when exams and other commitments got in the way it became a bank holiday retreat - a chance to catch up together as a family and friends. So this year was Isaac's first trip to Filey sands. We had a great time, despite a rocky start which meant a night in a hotel thanks to the gale force winds wreaking our tent! Otherwise it was sun sun sun, lots of sand fun and four days of un-interupted chill time happiness!
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Isaacs first Filey
Sat 25th Sep 2010,
7:18pm
55 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Retirement party
Mon 6th Sep 2010,
9:28pm
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A trip to Essex
Sun 5th Sep 2010,
9:02pm
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Dorset
Sat 4th Sep 2010,
11:21am
41 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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12 months later...
Tue 24th Aug 2010,
8:17pm
58 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Its 1st birthday season
Tue 13th Jul 2010,
11:30am
28 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A quick trip to Bristol
Tue 13th Jul 2010,
11:11am
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Our new abode
Wed 7th Jul 2010,
11:36am
Finally, we have moved! After 3 months of mortgage finding and various faffing around we finally got into our own new home on the 8th June! The move went well thanks to the amazing help from our respective parents, their strong arms, patience and speedy unpacking abilities! We are loving the new place, Isaac especially as he is free to roam and explore lots. Bizarrely we had to de-soot everything as we moved, needless to say the fire and wood issues will not be missed and we are all enjoying clearer lungs and all round better health!
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The MOVE
Wed 7th Jul 2010,
11:33am
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Bank holiday weekend
Tue 6th Jul 2010,
8:06pm
We enjoyed a post Hintlesham weekend catching up with friends and family in Ipswich and being spoilt rotten, Isaac especially! His favourite present being a retro bucket and spade, yet to be formally christened, which made the best and more annoying sound in the world!!
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Ipswich - May 2010
Tue 6th Jul 2010,
8:05pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Hintlesham Revisited!
Tue 6th Jul 2010,
8:02pm
At the end of May we celebrated our three year anniversary in style with a complementary stay at the wonderful Hintlesham Hall where our married adventures began! Although it took a little while to get used to not having our boy around (thanks to Mum and Dad Collins!) we soon got into the swing of things and had a fantastic evening wining and dining! We had our wedding night room which was wonderful and actually saw the grounds in the sunshine the following morning so made the most of the opportunity for outside shots! Mind you, we spent a lot of time reflecting on how glad we were it rained on our wedding day - it made it what is was, perfect in every way!
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The Return
Mon 28th Jun 2010,
10:32am
42 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaacs first taste of the ocean
Sun 27th Jun 2010,
8:24pm
We had a lovely day out in Pagham with Emmas Uncle Ken and family - Isaac of course lapped up all the attention in style and enjoyed his first paddle in the sea - not too cold for our little man, mummy was a wimp though!
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Annual Pagham trip
Sun 27th Jun 2010,
8:05pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Fun with Sarah, Dan and Harry
Tue 25th May 2010,
9:30pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Watercress Festival
Tue 25th May 2010,
9:22pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Playtime with EllaGT
Tue 25th May 2010,
9:20pm
15 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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April antics
Wed 5th May 2010,
10:09pm
Due to the delightful weather of April we have had lots of fun out and about days and last weekend enjoyed our first camping trip with Isaac and our brand new super dooper tent! Although the weather was a little damp to say the least on Sunday, otherwise it was fine and dry apart from the freak hail shower just as we were trying to pack up the tent! We enjoyed the great outdoors to the max, especially dusk time around the campfire toasting marshmellows and making smowls. We rode the watercress line to the limits and became well acquainted with Alton and Alresford. Roll on Filey!
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Camping fun
Wed 5th May 2010,
9:00am
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Lunch with the Dandos
Wed 5th May 2010,
8:57am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sunny days in Soton
Tue 4th May 2010,
9:29pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Four princesses and a prince
Tue 20th Apr 2010,
8:38pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The final stop
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:55am
We ended our trip away with a lovely stay with our good friends Sarah and Dan, baby Harry and their lovely dog Toast in their gorgeous cottage in Romsey. A perfect way to end a great time away, chilling in the sunshine with good wine and good food. We had the first BBQ of the year and even had the paddling pool out! Needless to say Isaac was taken with Toast. Wonderful!
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Stable Cottage
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:52am
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A trip to the park with Issy
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:47am
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Fun and games in Ipswich
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:38am
15 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Opening presents
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:31am
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Easter egg hunt at Chez Mowbray
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:27am
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Easter 2010
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:21am
We enjoyed a beautiful day with our nearest and dearest on Easter sunday to celebrate Isaacs christening. Issac, despite being full of cold and teething, was the star of the show and took all the water, oil and 60 laps and cuddles in his stride! He did us proud! Thank you to everyone! We spent the Easter weekend with Sarah and James in their lovely home, complete with Easter egg hunt and lots of new toys to play with. We went on to Ipswich for a few days afterwards for a well deserved chill out and some tlc.
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Isaacs christening
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:18am
2 Pictures - Click here to view
 
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Playtime at home with Daddy
Tue 13th Apr 2010,
9:13am
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Its a baby bugs life
Tue 30th Mar 2010,
9:42pm
This week was the last of our Sing and Sign classes which we have been doing regularly on a Tuesday morning, the theme was bugs! Isaac obviously was the best dressed bug there thanks to the marvellous outfit that mummy fashioned....it fact, we were the only bug with a home-mummy-made bug! No prizes unfortunately but hey! Isaac was somewhat bemused by the whole thing and only relaxed once he has pulled a few leaves off and had his bugs fondled by his bug friend who all wanted to pull his arms! Lots of fun, rewarded by a walk in the park and a pub lunch afterwards for the mummies!
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Baby bugs
Tue 30th Mar 2010,
9:37pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Fun at the farm
Tue 30th Mar 2010,
9:32pm
Last weekend Emma, Lee and Issy came to stay! Their first trip to Southampton so we treated them to a fun day out, complete with proper picnic, at a nearby farm in the New Forest. We had a lovely day, Issy and Isaac particularly loved it. It was Isaac's first farm experience, he loved the horses was not too keen on the sheep and intrigued by the goats! The rest of the weekend was flew by with lots of cups of tea, yummy cake and wii championships!
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Emma, Lee and Issy come to stay
Tue 30th Mar 2010,
9:25pm
20 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Canada LOVE
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
8:30pm
Thanks to our favourite friends Niki and Jodie we have been walking around in so much Vancouver merchandise that people actually think we are Canadian! Isaac enjoys putting on his red suit and pretending to be a Canada babe!
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Supporting the commonwealth
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
8:29pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Trip to the park
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
8:20pm
While in Cheltenham, Uncle Ben took us to the park for Isaacs first taste of swinging and sliding! Needless to say he loved it! We go swinging a lot now!
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Swing when your swinging
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
8:19pm
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Es not so little brother turns 25
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
8:18pm
This year Mothering Sunday coincided rather nicely with Bens birthday so we head to Cheltenham for a night in a gorgeous unique B and B - our room was called Egypt - say no more! We had a lovely time with Ben, Emma, and Es mum and dad on the 13th, delicious Italian lunch followed by a mooch round the shops, and spag bol Emma style plus the traditional ben cake which could not get any more chocolatey! Sunday, we head off for a tour of Evesham, the birth place of Stu! A lovely day meant a great walk around a bite to eat in a local pub. A fab first mothers day!
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Visit to Cheltenham
Sat 27th Mar 2010,
7:47pm
32 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Playing with Princesses
Wed 3rd Mar 2010,
7:51pm
15 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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London
Sun 28th Feb 2010,
3:22pm
26 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Nanna and Grandad visit
Sun 28th Feb 2010,
3:14pm
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Aunty Melly comes to stay
Sun 28th Feb 2010,
2:01pm
24 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Valentines Day weekend
Sun 28th Feb 2010,
10:41am
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Tripping
Tue 9th Feb 2010,
9:43pm
The last two weeks have been busy ones. Two trips in two weeks! First we had a lovely day out in London meeting with Es side of the family for the annual lunch and theatre show. We enjoyed a tasty Italian meal with AC, P, Mum and Dad Collins, Ben and Emma. Isaac loved travelling to London on the train, he spent the whole way looking out of the window and banging! A good little boy as always. We couldn't have been prouder parents than we were on our trip to Munich last weekend. The occasion was the IFHE annual meeting, which E worked for - while S, I, Grandma and Mog explored Munich. It was a great weekend, Isaac took it all in his stride and was the star of the show! The highlight being his new found love for having daddys hat thrown in his face! Hence all the giggling photos! Needless to say his laughter is infectious!
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Munich
Tue 9th Feb 2010,
9:18pm
66 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaacs first trip to London
Tue 2nd Feb 2010,
7:56pm
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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And then there was broccoli
Tue 2nd Feb 2010,
2:21pm
3 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Team Pearce Ealing
Mon 1st Feb 2010,
9:41pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Yorkshire trip
Mon 1st Feb 2010,
9:36pm
9 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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January Update
Mon 1st Feb 2010,
9:30pm
As you will no doubt realise from the lack of updates recently January has been a very busy month! We started the year with a hairy trip up north to Yorkshire for Grandad's funeral which was made tricky by the blizzards, heavy snow, ice and generally difficult traveling conditions. We were very lucky though - in fact we had the best journey ever as all the roads were empty, quite hauntingly so actually! For the day itself, the sun shone and the moors looked spectacular covered in a pristine white blanket which would have made Grandad smile. The rest of the month has been spent in happier circumstances, we had a lovely weekend in Ealing celebrating Morven and Grandmas birthdays, has a trip to London for a delicious lunch with Nanna, Grandad, AC, P, Uncle Ben and Auntie Emma, took Isaac to Hamleys for the first time and...oh we are on solids and Isaac is addicted to broccoli!! February starts with a trip to Germany...watch this space!
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Christmas Day
Tue 5th Jan 2010,
5:49pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Christmas Eve
Tue 5th Jan 2010,
5:46pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Grandma and Mog
Tue 5th Jan 2010,
5:43pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Meeting Father Christmas
Tue 5th Jan 2010,
5:41pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Rudolph Isaac
Tue 5th Jan 2010,
5:33pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Cheddar Matt and a xmas party
Mon 4th Jan 2010,
8:56pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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November etc
Wed 16th Dec 2009,
9:58pm
Wow - what a month November was! So busy we are disappointing our E and S travellers - so sorry! As you will see from the photos, we enjoyed a lovely break away to Cambridge and Ipswich seeing family and friends, Isaac was in his element - a total flirt with everyone! He certainly is a sociable baby. Now, the onslaught of Christmas parties begins! Out come the santa outfits! Actually we are Santas little helper and Rudolf alternately! Expect photos soon! Isaac is graduating from tummy shuffling to an all fours balancing act - we are keeping a beady eye for the moment he decides to put his knees into action! He is also now moving from mummys milk to the delights of mashed fruit and veg! Isn't our little man just growing too fast! Wishing all our followers a very merry Christmas! With lots of love XXX
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New Toy
Sat 12th Dec 2009,
5:11pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Day out in Salisbury
Sat 12th Dec 2009,
5:08pm
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Auntie Melly, Uncle Fred and Great Nanny
Sat 12th Dec 2009,
4:47pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Fun times with Mummy, Daddy and Friends
Sat 12th Dec 2009,
4:41pm
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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North South East West
Sat 7th Nov 2009,
10:19am
We have been in all directions lately! A weekend up in Essex with our dear friends Si and Cris courtesy of Neal and Carmalina's wedding, was lovely to be back on our old turf although we were glad to unlock the car doors when we got over the border! More pictures to follow once we get them, we for the first time ever we forgot the camera! Then North to visit E's family. True to form the weather wasn't great but we did manage a quick walk around the Tarn which was very much needed after all the tea and cake we consumed! Last weekend Uncle Ben and Auntie Emma were here and we went to Beaulieu which was a fun day out. Lots of boys toys, but we girls enjoyed it too! Needless to say Isaac is bigger and better all the time, and is now enjoying the new skill of rolling from his back to front - just needs to work out the reverse now as he gets impatient as gets stuck there! Good news this week - Niki and Jodie have had their baby boy Sam, born on the 2nd! Congratulations!
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Uncle Ben and Auntie Emma come to stay
Sat 7th Nov 2009,
10:05am
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Northern bound
Sat 7th Nov 2009,
10:00am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Emmas birthday
Sat 7th Nov 2009,
9:58am
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The last few weeks
Sun 11th Oct 2009,
7:12pm
Life has been busy busy busy down in SOTON with Isaac growing and changing on a daily basis, he is sitting up well on his own now, and behaving like a little sponge soaking up everything - he is reaching and grasping anything within reach including hair and glasses and putting all things accessible in his mouth! We have had lots of visitors the last few weeks, the Greats, Aunty Melly, both sets of grandparents, Carol and Mick (our personal photographer friends!), Aunty Lizzy and Uncle Ken. Next week we are off to a wedding (another first for Isaac!). Oh - and he has treated us to 3 undisturbed nights of 12 hour kips! Luxury for mummy!
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A walk in the park with the Greats!
Sun 11th Oct 2009,
6:17pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Christmas Cake Making
Sun 11th Oct 2009,
6:00pm
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Reading - Sushi and Jeds Birthday
Sun 11th Oct 2009,
5:37pm
20 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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September
Tue 22nd Sep 2009,
11:01am
20 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Fun time with Mr Isaac
Fri 4th Sep 2009,
9:49am
What a busy fun time Team Pearce SOTON branch have been having! We have been making the most of the summer, and unlike the rest of the UK have not been complaining about the weather as compared to the sweating climes of Japan for the last two summers it has been a welcome relief this year to enjoy the cool British season, despite the odd cold and rainy day! We have been out and about with our NCT group which is becoming a regular occurrence as we become closer friends and support each other through the early stages of parenthood. Isaac is the youngest of the group, but has caught up well and is actually the longest and second heaviest! We had a week of first times this week, first swimming class, which he absolutely LOVED, first injections where he was very brave but mummy and daddy were a total wreak, first boat trip, and first camping experience albeit just visiting! May the games begin...and keep watch on how our little man continues to grow and develop into a super chap!
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Team Pearce in the New Forest
Thu 3rd Sep 2009,
11:45am
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isle of Wight
Thu 3rd Sep 2009,
11:34am
30 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Meeting friends and a trip to Moors Valley Park
Thu 3rd Sep 2009,
11:15am
22 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Stopover in Salisbury [16.08.09]
Tue 18th Aug 2009,
9:03am
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Pearce get together in Bristol
Tue 18th Aug 2009,
8:42am
All teams Pearce head over to Bristol last weekend to get together with all the family to celebrate Karens 50th birthday. Fortunately the weather held and we were able to enjoy a delicious BBQ a la Patrick, fun and games a la Thomas and his train set and a scrummy yummy cake a la Philippa! We had the pleasure of having Riko, one of E's students from Japan, staying with us for the weekend, giving her a real taste of British family life! Ooo-eer! On the way home we stopped by the beautiful city of Salisbury for cream tea and a quick peek at the stunning Cathedral there. Isaac needless to say was doted on and passed around in various levels of consciousness, taking it all in his stride and loving every moment of attention!
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Karens 50th birthday party
Mon 17th Aug 2009,
7:50pm
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Meeting the Gs, GAM, a teddy & introducing batboy
Sat 8th Aug 2009,
9:40am
9 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaacs First Weekend Trip
Sun 26th Jul 2009,
9:20pm
43 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Our Beautiful Isaac
Wed 22nd Jul 2009,
10:40am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaac meets Friends
Wed 22nd Jul 2009,
10:34am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaacs first outing
Wed 22nd Jul 2009,
10:29am
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Isaac meets some of his relations
Mon 13th Jul 2009,
12:24am
34 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Introducing Isaac Arthur Pearce [08.07.09]
Wed 8th Jul 2009,
9:54am
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Introducing Isaac Arthur Pearce [08.07.09]
Wed 8th Jul 2009,
9:51am
WE HAVE A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY!! Born: Wednesday 8th July at 00.04 and weighing in at 8lbs7oz - It was a very long and painful labour! E's waters broke 7pm Monday evening and she started having very painful contractions! She did so well and I am so very proud of her!
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Evening walk and pub meal on the Common - 1st July
Thu 2nd Jul 2009,
5:56pm
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The Gees hit Southampton
Sat 27th Jun 2009,
8:53pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Due Date T + 2 days
Thu 25th Jun 2009,
8:46pm
Our due date came and went with not much excitement apart from a mild case of wind, which S mistook as latent stage - no prizes for guessing who is more anxious! However, although its difficult to be patient at this point in time we are not too worried as our first ever scan in Japan came back with the 1st July as a possible due date - so we have a few days grace! Anyway, baby is now engaged 2/5ths so no more acrobatics although it is still performing kung fu on occasion and the odd karate chop and kick! At least it means E can bide the time out at home with Wimbledon and bowls of homegrown raspberries instead of a stuffy hospital ward! Anything can happen in the next couple of days, keep watching this space E&S travelers!
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Weekend Leave!!
Fri 19th Jun 2009,
9:58am
So E's been let out of hospital today for the weekend (she has to go back in on Monday morning for a check up!)!! The baby has now settled down in the right position and the doctors are happy to let her out for some R&R at home! Tonight, we plan to have curry in the hope that it might speed things a long a bit! Keep tuned for the next exciting blog - anything can happen in the next couple of days!
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More baby updates
Thu 18th Jun 2009,
11:45am
So the baby seems to have stopped its acrobats and is now engaging in E's pelvis, 3/5ths engaged! Hopefully it won't pop out again! E's platelet count is still low and she is now suffering from a mild case of Bell's Palsy - an inflammatory condition leading to paralysis of the facial nerve resulting in inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. We were hoping for E to be sent home today but she may have to stay in hospital a little longer! Not fun! More updates to come
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Baby Update
Tue 16th Jun 2009,
12:42am
It is getting very near the arrival of our little one and we are both very excited! However, he/she is very over active and not staying engaged when it should! The risk is that if little one is in a transverse position when E's waters break there is a risk of cord prolapse! Its rare but it can happen! Anyway E was admitted to hospital last Tuesday, came home Thursday but was admitted again on Saturday and will probably be there until the baby decides to come! E and baby need to be monitor constantly and if needed can be rushed into surgery very quickly! Keep watching this space! Please leave your comments as E will love to read them when she gets out - also have a guess on the sex of the baby!
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All the Pearces in Soton
Mon 8th Jun 2009,
11:34am
In honour of Grandma's 86th birthday we had a grand get together in Southampton to celebrate. The weather held up nicely so the family were able to see our new abode at its finest and the little ones of the party enjoyed exploring the acreage and our very special fairy castle at the bottom of the garden! Our pot luck lunch turned into a fabulous feast, topped off nicely by special cakes for Grandma which little Morven scoffed as if they would grow legs and run away! Clearly a family favourite! Happy birthday Grandma!
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Pearce party
Mon 8th Jun 2009,
11:31am
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Finishing off May in style
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:57am
We finally had an afternoon out in the beautiful city of Winchester on Sunday in the delightful sunshine. After meeting up with some new fellow bump (NCT) friends for a drink, we wandered around and took in the splendor of the historical city. In contrast to Southampton, it is very small, quiet and subdued - no chavs here! Very similar to Bath and Cambridge it oozes chill appeal. We succumbed to an hour or so in the sun of the Cathedral park!
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Day out in Winchester
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:55am
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Lunch with the Packwoods in Pagham
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:53am
E and her mum and dad who were visiting last week (thanks to half term school break!) enjoyed a lovely day in Pagham courtesy of the Packwoods. Ken came up trumps as usual with a superbly delicious BBQ complete with homemade bread, muffins and citrus cake! The weather was wonderful so we spent the afternoon munching in the sun....well most of us - Liz and Elaine got lost in the kitchen for a while talking teachers!
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Pagham with the Packwoods
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:50am
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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2 years on
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:49am
Apart from having many friends and family with us over the weekend, we celebrated our official 2 year anniversary (it rained again!) with a delicious meal out in a new found favourite restaurant called The Blue Hayes. For anyone visiting Hampshire its a must - warm homely family run atmosphere, a delicious menu and just lovely lovely. They even decorated our table as we had mentioned it was for our anniversary! Needless to say E will make up for the wine-less meal next year when we head to Hintlesham Hall for a 3rd anniversary romantic getaway.
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Our 2 year anniversary
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:45am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Warming the house
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:44am
Our new abode was well and truely warmed last weekend, thanks to the amazing weather it was warmed in both senses! We enjoyed a weekend of entertainment where friends and family popped in as and when it suited over the bank holiday weekend. The garden looked beautiful and was the perfect place to sit and soak up the rays and catch up with all those we have missed over the last 2 years. Jed and Stu manned a delicious BBQ, Elaine delivered a superb carrot cake, and Bailey enjoyed marking his territory! Lots of fun and laughs!
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Housewarming weekend
Mon 1st Jun 2009,
10:38am
21 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A random trip
Tue 12th May 2009,
5:19pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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First exploration of the New Forest
Fri 24th Apr 2009,
4:16pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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An update at last
Fri 17th Apr 2009,
10:46am
A severe lack of photos of the last few weeks so many apologies - S arrived back in the UK safe and sound on the 3rd and since it has been mayhem travelling the country, organising boxes, seeing nearest and dearest etc etc. Last weekend over Easter we moved into our lovely new little pad which is already a delight. Thanks to the arm strength and support of all 4 parents we were able to get the place in ship shape in no time at all, and are now enjoying a few days of bits and bobs before S starts his new job on Monday 20th. We hope to see many of you here so we can share this little gem with you!
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Moving South
Fri 17th Apr 2009,
10:42am
9 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A weekend with the Yamaguchi family
Mon 30th Mar 2009,
5:41am
S was lucky enough to see the Yamaguchi family one last time before he leaves Japan on Friday 3rd April. On Saturday we all went to Osaka Castle for a history lesson (recently Kohei has been very interested in Japanese History). After visiting the castle it was on to Kobe. We finished the day off with an hour of baseball and Shabu-Shabu (Tasty Japanese food!).
On Sunday we went to Universal Studios in Osaka! Very busy but we all had a great day! Out of all the rides we did, Spiderman was top of the list! Thank you Atsuko, Hiro, Kohei and Maya for all the good times we had with you! We look forward to seeing you in England!
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Universal Studios [29.03.09]
Sun 29th Mar 2009,
11:57pm
54 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Osaka Castle [28.03.09]
Sun 29th Mar 2009,
3:56pm
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Cooking with S - Okonomiyaki [25.03.09]
Wed 25th Mar 2009,
12:51am
After living in the Kansai area for 11 months, S decided to try his hand at cooking okonomiyaki which is a famous dish originating from this area! Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want" and yaki means "grilled" or "fried".
First you need to make the batter, similar to pancake batter (flour, egg and milk) but thicker, then just throw in all the vegetables you want and mix it all around with your hands! Once satisfied spread the mixture in a pre-heated pan and cover with meat (bacon, chicken (pre-cooked), beef - anything!), pour on 2 eggs (beaten), Cover the frying pan and cook for 10minutes - low heat. After 10minutes, carefully turn the "pancake" over (no flipping - too heavy), cover and cook for another 10minutes! Once done, remove from pan, squeeze any sauce you want on top (normally okonomiyaki sauce (similar to Worcester sauce) and mayonaise) and enjoy!
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Cooking with S - Okonomiyaki
Wed 25th Mar 2009,
12:36am
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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E goes house hunting in Southampton
Sun 22nd Mar 2009,
4:44pm
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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HimejiJo and Kobe [20.03.09]
Sat 21st Mar 2009,
2:13pm
E&S's good friend Jon joined S on a day trip to Himeji and Kobe! Himeji Castle (sometimes called White Heron Castle due to its white exterior) is a perfect example of Japanese Castles with its traditional wooden architecture, its stone walls and its white plaster (the reason for using white plaster is that it is fireproof).
The castle was constructed in 1333 but was extended/rebuilt over the years. Fortunately it was never damaged/destroyed by bombing raids during the second world war unlike other Japanese castles (Nagoya, Osaka etc) and is now a UNESCO world heritage site and well worth a visit!
After Himeji, S & J headed off to Kobe to check out the only (apparently) comic store in Japan which sells English language comics! After a quick trip to Chinatown, it was off to the Hobgoblin pub!
Next weekend S is off to Kobe again but this time with the Yamaguchi family and is looking forward to it very much!
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HimejiJo and Kobe [20.03.09]
Sat 21st Mar 2009,
1:38pm
25 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Miho Museum and Biwa Lake [14.03.09]
Sat 21st Mar 2009,
1:20pm
Without his faithful sidekick weekends are hard for S! But thanks to his Japanese teacher all is not lost! On the 14th March, He was taken to Miho Museum and Biwa Lake by Haru (Japanese teacher), his wife - Noriko, Noriko's younger sister - Mikiko and her husband Hideyuki. Lovely people!
The Miho Museum was designed by I.M.Pei (he designed the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum). The objects of Miho Museum's collection range from Japanese tea ceremonial art, Buddhist art and ceramic ware to the art of the ancient world. Very interesting!
After a rather tasty lunch it was off to Biwa-ko (lake) for another museum and aquarium! Biwa-ko is the largest fresh water lake in Japan. It is of tectonic origin and is one of the worlds oldest lakes dating back almost 4 million years!
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Miho Museum and Biwa Lake
Sat 21st Mar 2009,
1:01pm
25 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Baby Pearce update
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
2:04pm
Last week we were lucky enough, thanks to some string pulling by our local midwife, to have our final scan here in the UK. In the UK, the 20 week scan is an abnormality check to make sure the baby is growing as it should. It is very comprehensive, with details checks of all organs. It also include a gender check should you like to know! We decided to wait until the big day to find out if our little bean is a he or she! We were lucky enough to have almost an hour seeing our little one squirm and wriggle as the lovely scan lady prodded and poked! We even saw Pip suckling and swallowing fluid! Amazing!
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Baby Pearce 22 weeks old
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
2:01pm
1 Pictures - Click here to view
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S formalises his DR status
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:54pm
We had a lovely day trip up to Hull on the 19th to celebrate S becoming formally recognised as a DR. It was a lovely ceremony, complete with future driven compelling speeches, including one from the Chancellor Virginia Bottomly no less! Needless to say, everyone is very proud of you Dr S! Well done!
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Graduation day [19.02.09]
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:52pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Going home
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:48pm
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Leaving Japan [Part One]
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:45pm
Leaving Japan comes in two parts - this the first, a permanent return home for E, but a holiday for S who has to return at the end of February for a month to finish off his contract. S will be returning to the UK at the beginning of April, hence Leaving Japan [Part Two]. We had many sad and fond farewells in the weeks leading up to leaving on the 11th. A mixture of emotions for us both as we said goodbye to many of those who have become our family together with the excitement that going home brings. Due to being sick with a tummy bug the week prior to leaving it ended up being a rushed affair not as we had envisaged, but was no less heartfelt and we miss everyone greatly.
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Fond farewells
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:41pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Leaving Chiryu [07.02.09]
Tue 24th Feb 2009,
1:19pm
27 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Our last onsen
Mon 9th Feb 2009,
12:10am
36 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A fond farewell
Mon 9th Feb 2009,
7:52am
Last weekend we enjoyed our final stay with our dear friends the Yamaguchi's. These wonderful people have become our Japanese family, who over the last 18 months have never failed to help and support us when we have needed it, and give us the most wonderfully unique Japanese experiences. It was a sad goodbye. But we had a fun time all together, with many of our friends at a Sayonara party on Saturday night followed by a day out at an amazing onsen on Sunday. This side of Japan we will truely miss.
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Yamaguchi farewell
Mon 9th Feb 2009,
7:50am
25 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Cleaning
Mon 9th Feb 2009,
7:43am
Team Yamaguchi arrived on the 25th for a grand clean! Armed with buckets and all sorts of mystery liquids and equipment we set to work giving Pearce Chez CHU and mighty scrub and polish. After a hard days work it paid off well as looked very spick and span at the end! Thank you cleaning team!
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An early spring clean!
Mon 9th Feb 2009,
7:41am
21 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Introducing baby Pearce
Sat 17th Jan 2009,
11:14am
aka. Pip, Little Bean, Mikanchan! Yes, its true, the duo is now a trio! We are thrilled to tell all our dedicated followers that we are expecting a mini us, due at the end of June. Pip (as it was initially called) became known to us in October, and has since gathered a variety of names, the latest being Mikanchan - which for those unfamiliar with Japanese lingo means orange child! This name basically came about from the fact that E was given a 15kg box of Mikan oranges (satsumas to you and me) and was therefore eating them literally by the bucket load! Due to Mikanchan we are cutting our time in Japan short. E will be coming back in February and S following (after our trip back in February) in April after he has finished his work contract. 2009 looks to be an exciting year! Keep following team Pearce!
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Introducing baby Pearce
Sat 17th Jan 2009,
11:07am
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The first of many
Sat 17th Jan 2009,
10:13am
On Friday (16th) we had the first party held in honour of our impending departure - at the same restaurant that we started in 18 months ago, the wonderful teachers of Hekinan high school got together to treat us to a delicious meal and to wish us well as we shortly come to the next chapter in E&S Travels. Needless to say, many pitchers of beers gave the evening a classic Toda and Wantabe feel! A great night, another precious memory.
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Hekinan Sayonara Party
Sat 17th Jan 2009,
10:09am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Trip to Tokushima a la business
Thu 15th Jan 2009,
1:16am
Last weekend we had a nice break away in the city of Tokushima as S had to attend a conference and make a presentation. We made a weekend of it and had a great time having a change of scenery and break from packing! Tokushima is a small city, the first time we have experienced a quiet closed city with obvious seedy areas! We found ourselves a lovely izakaya style restaurant which we visited both nights and had fun exploring the menu. The chap managing the place was great and very kind to us which we really appreciated as it was clear Tokushima never sees many gaijins! The best part of the trip (apart from the yummy food!) was the bus ride, stunning!
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Tokushima [10-12th Jan 2009]
Thu 15th Jan 2009,
1:13am
23 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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New years 2008
Tue 6th Jan 2009,
3:48am
We had a lovely time over new years with our wonderful friends, the Yamaguchi's. Like last year, we joined them and their friends on a trip to Ise Shrine, Japans largest and most famous shrine in Mie prefecture which is just across the water from Aichi. We had a great time with the kids, some delicious (if not slightly strange and exotic!) food, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the new year in Japanese style. The year ended on a particularly high note as S was picked from the crowd in a Edo style skit at a themed park, Edowonderland. He was naturally the star of the show and certified himself as famous on new years day when he was recognised at a bus stop!
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New years 2008 [1]
Tue 6th Jan 2009,
3:44am
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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New years [2]
Mon 5th Jan 2009,
12:12am
19 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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New years [3]
Mon 5th Jan 2009,
10:59am
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Pearce Christmas 2008
Mon 5th Jan 2009,
4:52am
This year was rather more subdued than last years escapades on the slopes of the Alps, but no less fun although working on Christmas day is a funny feeling indeed. Neither E nor S finished work until the 26th this year so Christmas day for us was two days late on the 27th with our good friends the Ito's. We had a lovely day with them, and cooked up a real traditional feast that would make even the likes of Jamie and Gordon sweat! Thanks to much expert massaging of breasts our first Christmas turkey was a great success! We had all the trimmings and even Xmas pud for pud thanks to an emergency shipment from Mrs Santa Collins!
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Xmas day on the 27th
Sat 3rd Jan 2009,
10:13am
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Bon Enkai at Mishimas [21.12.08]
Sat 3rd Jan 2009,
10:07am
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Koheii and Mayas Christmas concert
Sat 3rd Jan 2009,
10:03am
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Keikos baby Ayaka
Mon 8th Dec 2008,
11:35am
3 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sake tour and baby Ayaka
Mon 8th Dec 2008,
11:34am
We enjoyed a recent tour of a local sake brewery recently, which was a real insight into how the stuff is made and what a lengthy process it is. With the Japanese, everything really is about rice! The rice is even blessed by a local priest before being used in the hope of a good supply of sake! Really interesting though despite being somewhat smelly! The brewery is one of the oldest in the area and has been brewing sake for about 140 years. Needless to say, we tried and bought. We also had the pleasure of seeing our friend, Keiko's, baby who was born in early October. E saw her when she was a few days old in hospital but it was the first time for S. She is a beauty as you can see.
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Sake brewery tour
Thu 4th Dec 2008,
1:05pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Into the Autumn
Mon 17th Nov 2008,
9:13am
The beginning of November began with a birthday party, making Japanese paper and a nasty cold and cough for E and S! On the 1st of the month, the son of our good friends Laura and Chris celebrated his first birthday and we were there to join the celebrations which were naturally tainted with a Halloween theme! It was a lovely party! The following day, despite being full of cold and forced into Japanese mask mode, we went with two lovely friends from one of Emma's schools to learn how to make traditional Japanese paper. It was really interesting and amazing to learn what a long process it is. We made our samples to take home - the red one is Stu's and is the Kanji character for love, which took a lot of planning and practising! The blue one is Emma's and as noticeable wasn't practised at all! It is supposed to be a butterfly! Great fun though and needless to say we are both recovered from the coughs and sneezes now.
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Fun..but poorly weekend
Mon 17th Nov 2008,
9:03am
21 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A weekend at home at last!
Wed 29th Oct 2008,
1:05pm
It seems a while since we had a weekend at our humble CH abode!! We had a busy weekend though with filming for our movie project, a gig with Ryan and Andrew rocking the night away and a church bazaar where we were raising money for Lindsey, a friend of ours, who is biking around Cambodia over Christmas to raise money for an educational development charity. Great stuff! It was certainly interesting to see a Christian service in Japanese! We didn't have a clue what was going on apart from recognising the Lords prayer on the basis of tone!! We managed to raise 5000 yen though which wasn't bad seen as it was a rainy day and very few customers!
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Last weekend
Wed 29th Oct 2008,
1:02pm
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Yokohama [18th-19th October 2008]
Fri 24th Oct 2008,
12:31am
Last weekend we head off to Yokohama to see our good friends Matt and Soy who have recently got engaged and moved in together. We had a great time at their housewarming with lots of treats including cottage pie, beef pie and cheese and pickle crackers! The highlight of the weekend was a Tesco find on Sunday in the poshest area of Yokohama where all the elite rich and famous live in their penthouses! A Tesco Express no less! Even though there was only half an aisle of imported stuff we stocked up on cereal and good old Tesco Ginger Nut biccies!! Yippee!
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Trip to Yokohama to see Matt and Soy
Tue 21st Oct 2008,
11:49pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Emma birthday day
Tue 21st Oct 2008,
11:46pm
E was lucky enough to have the day off on her birthday thanks to the mid term tests in her schools so enjoyed a lazy day, and lunch with Laura and Aidan which was super yummy and delicious. In the evening S came back from Osaka and we went for a fantastic meal in our local favourite Mishima's aka Mama and Papa's! Great stuff and added hilarity as they got confused and thought it was S's birthday so E blew out candles on a cake saying Happy birthday Stu!! The following day we had our dear friends Ito-sensei and his wife Sachiyo over for dinner of British cuisine which was lovely too!
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Happy birthday to Emma
Mon 20th Oct 2008,
1:12pm
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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E's birthday - turning 27!
Sun 19th Oct 2008,
11:45pm
Emmas birthday began on the 15th with a surprise cake party at the well known fabulous school - Hekinan! Thanks to the lovely Ito-sensei teachers gathered at lunchtime to wish me a happy birthday and to have a tea and cake party! Wonderfully delicious! This was followed by a trip to the hospital to see our good friend Keiko-san who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on the 11th. In Japan new mums are kept in hospital for a week after having a baby as standard procedure! Her daughter was beautiful as you can see. Also met with Keikos hospital room neighbour who had had a baby boy 8 hours earlier. It is worth mentioning that the hospital is a small one which specialises in natural births! Yes, Keiko delivered with no medical aid whatsoever!!
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Emmas birthday eve
Sun 19th Oct 2008,
11:40pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Takarazuka with some new friends
Sun 19th Oct 2008,
11:36pm
Last weekend we met with some new friends Hiroshi Hasekura and his wife Miyuki. They took us to a lovely place called Takarazuka which is about halfway between Osaka and Kobe. A lovely-very-Europeany-feeling-place! We loved it! We had a stroll around some lovely English gardens after having what can only be described as the Japanese version of afternoon tea in a quaint little tearoom come pub which was perhaps one of the most authentic we have seen. Yummy cake and tea served in proper cups and a teapot!! Wonderful!!
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Takarazuka with some new friends
Tue 14th Oct 2008,
11:50pm
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sillyness in Osaka
Tue 14th Oct 2008,
11:44pm
You may notice that some sort of fever struck Osaka last Friday night! Rest assured all involved are now fully recovered! The night was hosted by the Osaka JET group, hence the insane number of gaijins all together in the same place at the same time! There were about 60 of us! Against Japanese norms of a night out, we crawled (in some cases literally!) from bar to bar sampling various liquid refreshment. Much fun was had meeting new people and bargaining wig or speck exchanges!
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Wigging and specking in Osaka
Mon 13th Oct 2008,
1:39pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The party of the year
Fri 10th Oct 2008,
0:17am
It all kicked off last week on the 1st when Stu arrived in Nagoya for an innocent lunch with E and Mel....little did he know the lunch was for 8 not 3! Needless to say there were cheers, tears, shaking and a Pearce phenomenon - the inability to eat!! Wednesday was spent with those who had flown over from England to celebrate with us, first an obligatory stop at a bar for darts and pool, followed by a night of karaoke. Thursday - renamed as rough-day due to the consequences of the first all dayer for many a year, started with a birthday breakie at chez Pearce and then the trip up to the mountains. We had a thoroughly amazing relaxing time in Hakuba, with fantastic weather, enjoying the hills, the local onsen, the delicious food, and specially imported London ale especially for the birthday boy himself. Everyone had a great time! E is now feeling lost as to know what to organise next!!
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Snowless Santana
Tue 7th Oct 2008,
11:35pm
27 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The birthday day
Tue 7th Oct 2008,
11:30pm
26 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Dr Stus 3 0
Tue 7th Oct 2008,
1:47pm
30 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Miss Melanie arrives
Tue 7th Oct 2008,
4:07am
Mel arrived on Friday 26th for a 10 day stop in Japan with E and S - a well planned decoy for the surprise birthday antics! Arriving in Osaka we showed her the highs and lows of the city and ended her first day here with a night on the town with no other than our good friend Sir Fagan! Famous last words - not a late one - so of course it was 3am before we finally staggered home which took its toll on Sunday as we strolled around Kyoto. We were lucky enough to find Mike, a volunteer guide who showed us around and taught us alot. We even managed to see two beautiful geishas so he became our lucky charm!
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Melly hits Japan
Mon 6th Oct 2008,
1:15pm
41 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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School sports festival
Mon 6th Oct 2008,
7:37am
On the 24th September it was sports festival day at one of Emmas schools - having been postponed twice due to rain and typhoons it finally took place in beautiful sunshine, so much so that E ended up looking a rather lobsterish pink! It was a fun day with lots of interesting comparisons to UK schools, the most bizarre being the cheerleading at the end which the whole class take part in - girls, boys and the occassional teacher! It was somewhat strange to see them prancing about, especially one class who danced along to a translated Karma Chameleon!! Needless to say there was much surprise on their faces when they found out it is originally British!
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Takahama sports festival
Sun 5th Oct 2008,
11:57pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sushi dinner and cake
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:37am
On Saturday we were invited over to our friends house in Nagoya for a delicious make your own sushi dinner. It was great to see them again as we haven't seen them since February - since when there has been a new addition to the family - Kotaro the dog! A cross poodle and chihuahua, he is adorable and got lots of attention from the doggie deprived Pearces! They also surprised S with an early birthday cake! A grand night!
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Dinner with the Tsuda family [20.09.08]
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:33am
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Yakiniku lunch
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:24am
Monday 15th was a public holiday so our new friends Noriko and Haru in Osaka invited us out for a yummy yakiniku lunch. Yakiniku is literally "fried" (yaki), "niku" (meat). It was a great restaurant - tables with a round mini BBQ in the middle. Given a plate of raw meat and vegetables, customers cook their own on the BBQ. It was delicious! Individual responsibility reigns in Japan, if you poison yourself with uncooked meat it is your fault!!
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An introduction to yakiniku
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:19am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Kishiwada Danjiri - September 13th
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:12am
Kishiwada danjiri is an ancient festival which comes from 18th century when prayers were said for a plentiful harvest. Now, traditional floats are pulled at speeds of up to 20 mph through the streets with lots of slapping, banging and shouting. On top of the float a dancer prances around. Needless to say there are fatalities every year. It is one of the most famous festivals in Japan so was quite an experience! We were there with some Osaka friends and managed to get ourselves on TV so since have had even more strange looks! We finished the day escaping the cameras with a game of rounders/baseball in a nearby park...although we still managed to get a supporting crowd gathering to watch.
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Kishiwada Danjiri
Sun 21st Sep 2008,
6:07am
22 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Kobe with the Yamaguchi's
Sun 7th Sep 2008,
11:21am
So last weekend we travelled to Kobe, for those that don't know Kobe, it was destroyed by a very powerful earthquake in 1995 (7.3 magnitude). Kobe is now a beautiful cosmopolitan city and one of the best things about it is that it has an authentic English pub with decent English ale - Hobgoblin! We spent Friday looking around the earthquake memorial museum and drinking in the English pub. On Saturday we met up with our Japanese family aka the Yamaguchi's (see previous post if you have forgotten) and stayed with them at their Kobe home! We had a fun time meeting their friends and family which included a trip to Ikea (pronounced ekia) and an iron rich onsen - 44degrees hot!
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Kobe
Mon 1st Sep 2008,
11:08am
56 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A beautiful gift from some new found friends
Fri 22nd Aug 2008,
10:03am
1 Pictures - Click here to view
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New friends - Noriko and Haru
Fri 22nd Aug 2008,
10:00am
Last week we had the good fortune to meet some new friends. Totally random experience - E was out shopping when Noriko passed by on her bike and started chatting....one thing let to another and before they knew it they were drinking tea together in OH! On Sunday, we invited Noriko and her husband, Haru, to meet the husbands - and ended up chatting the afternoon away. They are a lovely couple and live very near to our OH home so we now officially have neighbours! They surprised us by giving us a beautiful photo album each which we have decided we are going to fill with photos, a month per page, to keep and to share with you all when we return. How lucky we are!
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Sun, sea, sweat and superb songs!
Tue 12th Aug 2008,
10:14am
It started early on Saturday morning and didn't stop until late on Sunday night - a weekend of sun and sweaty sunshine! Summer Sonic is one great festival. We laughed at the Japanese-ness of it all in comparison to the likes of Glastonbury, Reading and V in the UK. There was not a drop of rain the whole weekend which is untypical for us Brit festival goers! Instead we sought hydration from the super cool air conditioners that sprayed fine water and fanned us cool for a second or two before dashing back to one of the 6 stages with amazing line ups! Highlights were The Kooks, Justice, Coldplay, The Verve (although we suspect there was a band tiff at the end of the set as they flounced off the stage!), One Man River, and Band of Horses. Hilarities included the neverending queues for drinks machines, orderly bopping, security checks in and out of every stage, perfectly organised and adhered to transport too and from the island, and the general lack of drunkeness. A superbly top time!
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Summer Sonic 2008 - Osaka
Mon 11th Aug 2008,
11:45am
68 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Quality Marshall Pearce fun!
Thu 7th Aug 2008,
2:55am
Lovely Niki and Jodie Marshall had 5 precious days with us on the last leg of their marathon 2 month Asian trip. We had a great few days, mostly spent strategically placed beneath the wondrous air conditioning in CUH! We caught up on everything over numerous cups of tea, took them to Mishima's, karaoke and shopped in Nagoya. We took a trip to Inuyama, a small town north of Nagoya, to stay in a traditional Japanese tatami matted room, and experience the amazing Ukai - a traditional fishing technique. For over a thousand years, Japanese fishermen in this region have used cormorant birds to fish. It is a spectacular sight as the birds paddle and dive for fish which they catch and then regurgitate on the boat. Nice! More info for those interested on http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/aichi/ukai.html. We wish our very special friends all the best for their new adventures together in Vancouver!
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Marshalls in Japan!
Wed 6th Aug 2008,
7:03am
57 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Cheese, wine and chocolate!
Wed 6th Aug 2008,
5:40am
E was in Switzerland last week to make a presentation at the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) world congress. It was a very busy week, looking after 30 odd young people in a Swiss lodge and producing a daily newsletter which involved being very press like doing interviews and reporting on daily events of the congress. The congress was in Lucerne, a beautiful city surrounded by stunning mountains and a lovely lake. It was a welcome break from the humidity of Japan, as although super hot it was fresh and breezy which was a real treat! The week was topped off with a visit from Vicky and Liz, two very special friends who E knows from her time in Copenhagen (known as fairies!) and enjoyed a posh night in the fancy Zurich Renaissance hotel (highly recommended!) before flying back to Nippon.
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Fairy time in le Swizz
Tue 5th Aug 2008,
5:31am
22 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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ELP in Switzerland
Tue 5th Aug 2008,
5:27am
24 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Hot, hot, hot...
Fri 18th Jul 2008,
9:59am
It's so hot here in central Japan now that we are close to steaming! Summer practically arrived over night. Although the temperatures have been steadily rising since early May, and June being wet and muggy (the rainy season), summer arrived overnight it seems. We woke up one day and it was HOT! And not just your average, hot summers day, but really HOT. For the past 2 weeks, shade temperatures have been 33-36 degrees C. Add to it the 80-90% humidity and you have one sweaty pair of gaijins! So, the aircon is on, the fans whirring day and night and we find ourselves longing for the Autumn cool that is November! It didnt stop us having a great time with our dear friends at the weekend though with a tip top BBQ! We havent seen the Toyohashi gang for a while, and there has since been a new addition - a beautiful baby girl called Saki who we both had lots of cuddles with! A great day!
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BBQ with Yamaguchi et al
Mon 14th Jul 2008,
1:11pm
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sayonara Party
Mon 14th Jul 2008,
0:00am
18 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Osaka buddies
Sun 13th Jul 2008,
11:46pm
Last weekend we had a great night out with our favourite Osaka dude and dudette, Fagan and Megan. Needless to say muchos vino and the like was consumed and the after affects of it and the insane karaoke which went on until the early hours of the morning, was not pretty!!
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Night out with Fagan and Megs [03.07.08]
Sun 13th Jul 2008,
11:44pm
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Mishima's [28.06.08]
Mon 30th Jun 2008,
0:06am
We hit our local Mishima's on saturday night for some fun and games, delicious food and plenty of sake! It as the first time we have been there since Stu started in Osaka so a bit of a party! The pictures speak for themselves!
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Saturday night at our local
Sun 29th Jun 2008,
11:56pm
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Excitement in CUH
Wed 25th Jun 2008,
8:04am
An exciting week as E returned back from a weekend in OH to find our babies are changing colour to a beautiful lushous "aka" - red in Japanese! We are now the proud parents of no less than 10 mini tommies! E is particularly proud as apart from beautiful pot plant courtesy of Gaffer, she has never successfully grown anything!! Now comes the hard part - eating them!
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Baby update!
Wed 25th Jun 2008,
7:54am
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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School festivals
Wed 25th Jun 2008,
7:52am
Over the last two weeks E has been lucky enough to be involved with two school festivals. These festivals are normally a 2 day event, the first being a time for the teams which consist of a class from each year, to "do" what they like! Also, the various activity teams can organise an event. Some of the highlights included Wonderland, a 5 senses room (where E and Aki-sensei worked as a team testing their senses) and Emma's cafe - organised together with an after-school English club. The creativity and passion of the students was amazing, and the days were a lot of fun. The second day is sports day - the usual competition stuff! It was a really great experience to see Japanese students away from their books for a bit and working so well together.
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School festivities
Tue 17th Jun 2008,
11:55pm
22 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Last weekend
Thu 12th Jun 2008,
1:28am
Last weekend Emma took her first trip to chez Osaka - now to be known as OH (Osaka Home!). Needless to say the Emma touches were added to the place and it is now officially Emma-fied as much as possible until the next visit. It is a big place, bigger than our Chiryu Home (CUH) and was quite novel to have enough room to "swing a cat". We explored the local ex-Expo park nearby on Saturday and saw lots of beautiful flowers, lily's are in season at the moment. Unfortunately that was the extent of our adventuring as Emma's bad back took a turn for the worse on Sunday and she couldn't move! Atleast we had already found the English pub on Saturday night, and also got ourselves acquainted with a nearby curry house run by a great Indian chap, great cheap food and bound to become a regular!
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Emmas first trip to Osaka [6-8th June 2008]
Thu 12th Jun 2008,
0:51am
38 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Honeymoon anniversary celebration
Sun 1st Jun 2008,
11:54am
Ah, any excuse! So, we decided to celebrate our honeymoon anniversary with dinner at a local Italian restaurant which turned out to be Viking style (all you can eat and drink!) and followed it with a couple of hours of karaoke! Not that we did karaoke in Rome but hey!
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Anniversary nosh
Fri 30th May 2008,
3:22am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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27th May 2008
Sun 25th May 2008,
8:50am
It doesn't seem possible that a year has passed since our wonderful wedding day at Hintlesham Hall. Thank you so much for all our lovely thoughtful cards that we now have on display carefully balanced on a string of fairy lights above our photo wall! Because of our new living arrangements we are extending the celebrations over 2 weekends, this weekend we opened cards and presents, next weekend we are looking forward to a posh Italian meal to reminisce our honeymoon. S surprised E by hitting the headlines - apt for the first year as we now have our own front page of a paper! Other news, we are proud parents of three baby tomatoes - a big achievement for E who so far has been unable to keep even herbs alive! Tommy and Pommy as they are known are doing well despite the crazy May heat.
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1 year anniversary celebrations
Sun 25th May 2008,
8:44am
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Chiryu city flower, Hekinan meal and Sumo!
Mon 12th May 2008,
2:55am
24 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Taiko!
Mon 12th May 2008,
2:24am
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Kyoto
Mon 12th May 2008,
1:46am
54 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Hiroshima
Sat 10th May 2008,
4:22am
92 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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The week so far!
Fri 2nd May 2008,
2:35am
Below are pictures of Mr and Mrs P's Japanese adventures so far! Today we are off to Hiroshima and Kyoto for a few days - back next week! Also...
CAPTION COMPETITION BELOW! Please see "Osu Kannon, Nagoya Castle and Midland Square" photos for the photo of Phil that needs your comments! The best comment/caption wins a prize. The judges decision is final.
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Dinner at Mishimas
Fri 2nd May 2008,
2:30am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Inuyama and Chiryu festival
Thu 1st May 2008,
9:55am
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Osu Kannon, Nagoya castle and Midland Square
Thu 1st May 2008,
2:40am
32 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Welcome to Japan Mr and Mrs Pearce
Mon 28th Apr 2008,
1:27pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Waiting for Mr and Mrs P in Tokyo
Mon 28th Apr 2008,
1:12pm
32 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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BBQ at Yamaguchi-uchi
Mon 28th Apr 2008,
1:04pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Anniversary Meal
Mon 28th Apr 2008,
12:58am
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Gamagori Trip
Mon 21st Apr 2008,
2:13pm
On Saturday, one of Stu's ex-colleagues (who is now one of Emma's colleagues) invited us out to spend the afternoon with him. He took us to see the sights of Gamagori - a coastal city about an hour south of Chiryu. It was a beautiful day so perfect for a walk by the sea. We ended up in a superb restaurant eating shabu-shabu, a yummy stew type dish. Lovely! Oh and on Saturday night (early hours of Sunday morning) we had our first proper "tremor"! We woke up with a load bang and the room shaking......lasting about 10 seconds. It was a new experience to hear the Earth moaning!
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A day out with Furui-Sensei [19.04.08]
Mon 21st Apr 2008,
3:02am
24 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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We cheered for Japan and they lost! Oops!
Thu 17th Apr 2008,
2:15pm
...but in our defense Germany are the world champions so they should win against a country where nobody hardly understands what field hockey is! We had to wear Japanese stickers to distinguish ourselves from the few German supporters but found ourselves in a prime position amongst the Nippon crew - they taught us how to cheer Japanese style and we taught them how to Mexican wave! Emma had to wave Mexican-ish for about 10 minutes alone before it caught on! In the words of Wallace: A grand day out.
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Olympic hockey qualifiers [13.04.08]
Thu 17th Apr 2008,
2:11pm
19 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Day with Yukiko and family
Thu 17th Apr 2008,
2:01pm
For the last day of the Spring break Yukiko (a colleague of Stu's) invited us to join her family on their bi-monthly clam catching adventure! We spent the day being entertained by their lovely children and sampled the freshest most yummiest clams ever!
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Clamming [6th April 2008]
Thu 17th Apr 2008,
2:00pm
19 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Spring vacation
Tue 8th Apr 2008,
7:22am
Our spring break was spent enjoying ourselves as hosts for mum and dad Collins as we showed them the sights and sounds of real Japan. As the many photos show we had a great time together pushing our senses to the extreme and making sure they had an unforgettable time. Highlights include taiko drumming, staying in a temple in Kyoto, a memorable meal at mama and papa's and seeing sakura EVERYWHERE!
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Tokyo - Farewell to Mr and Mrs Collins
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
2:37pm
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Inuyama, Monkey Park and Little Italy
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
1:09pm
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Mishimas
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
1:01pm
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Kyoto and Nara
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
12:11am
67 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Taiko!
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
11:57am
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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A day with Ito-sensei from Hekinan SHS
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
11:50am
26 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Pottery making fun
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
11:43am
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Welcome to Japan Mr and Mrs Collins
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
11:20am
25 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Ueno Park - Tokyo
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
11:01am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Leaving Party for Aya
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
10:49am
2 Pictures - Click here to view
 
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Osaka bound Part 1
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
7:59am
On the 15th and 16th March, E&S travelled to Osaka to meet a professor of the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University, where S will soon be working. Another reason for going was to locate accommodation for S to live whilst in Osaka (At weekends he will travel back to E). This was an arduous task and finished late in the day with many places seen and none suitable. Of course we still had enough time for S's new colleagues to take us into the center of Osaka and sample the culinary delights of Okonomiyaki and Tacoyaki, two famous Japanese dishes which originate from the Osaka area.
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Osaka bound Part 2
Mon 7th Apr 2008,
7:56am
Luckily for us, a fellow AET lives in Osaka so we headed over to his side of town for more drinking, chicken hearts, pregnant fish and raw beef with a raw egg on top - sounds yuk but was very tasty. A good evening!
Sunday we went to Tsukamoto which is one stop away from Shin Osaka to meet with a Japanese family who offer a room for homestays, a lovely place and certainly high on the list of places for S to stay. Afterwards we did the tourist bit and headed to the famous Osaka castle and park before coming home.
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Ooh Osaka
Thu 20th Mar 2008,
6:32am
36 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Papas birthday
Thu 20th Mar 2008,
6:28am
It was Crazy Papa's birthday on March 3rd so we head to Mishima's with a cake and goodies to surprise him! It went down and storm and he loved the fact that we walked in singing happy birthday! Needless to say the special sake came out and we were all rather worse for wear as the pictures show! The special food also came out for the occasion which pushed the boundaries! The little pink things left you feeling you had swallowed the ocean and all its sea life! Good memories though!
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Crazy Papas birthday
Wed 19th Mar 2008,
7:17am
9 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Graduation week
Sun 2nd Mar 2008,
10:38pm
Last week was Graduation week at school, on Friday we had the ceremony for the third years which is an hour long formality in a freezing cold gym where all the teachers get dressed up (but still wear sports trainers in the gym!) and the students go through the motions, including singing the Graduation song which is to the tune of Ald Lang Syne! weird! We got a yummy lunch though! We went over to Aya's house on Saturday for a takoyaki night, yum yum yum! Had a great time meeting her parents. Aya is a young teacher who Emma teaches with at her base school. Then yesterday in honour of the Welsh Emma made Welsh cakes - a practice run for when she cooks then at school with her students on Tuesday! ooh - and we have the biggest carrot ever in our fridge!
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Last week
Sun 2nd Mar 2008,
10:34pm
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Sunday outing [24.02.08]
Mon 25th Feb 2008,
11:43am
A mere 20 minutes away from us is one of Japans finest independent museums showing a collection of dolls and Japanese art. In the museum there are over 500 moving dolls. Next door is the factory and a shop where you can buy dolls which are displayed in homes around Japan to celebrate Hina-matsuri (Girls festival) and Tango-no-Sekku (boys festival) in March and May respectively. The dolls were amazingly beautiful and amazingly damaging to your wallet! The cheapest was 150 quid. The most expensive we saw was 3 million+ yen! Ouch!
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Shiho Doll Museum - Yoshihama
Mon 25th Feb 2008,
8:48am
46 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Hubby Pearce treats wifey Pearce!
Sun 17th Feb 2008,
1:58pm
The weekend started with 'English Day' organised by a fellow AET. We volunteered to help, so with 50 or so Japanese high school students and a gang of AETs to keep them in order we went bowling for a couple of hours on Saturday morning (Emma nailed Stu 210 to 197!!) and then head to Hard Rock Cafe for a yummy lunch. Hubby then whisked wifey off to a fancy hotel in central Nagoya complete with champagne on arrival! Despite the chilly wind, the sun was shining and the sky blue and we had a delightful afternoon stroll around Nagoya Port and Little Italy before heading back to our hotel for an evening of steak, wine, and G+T's! From the 52nd floor of the hotel - we enjoyed the most expensive nightcap EVER, but with an amazing view. We made the most of the luxury and had room service breakie, only to finally drag ourselves out into the bustle of Nagoya at 12 noon! Pure decadence!
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Love is all you need
Sun 17th Feb 2008,
10:40am
41 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Skiing again!
Tue 12th Feb 2008,
9:12am
32 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Pancake Day
Tue 12th Feb 2008,
8:58am
We had our own little Pancake Day celebration last week, with Matt our fellow Brit and some friends from work for whom it was their initiation and first Pancake marathon experience! We proudly ate our way through 500g of flour, several packets of ice cream, bananas, a plateful of strawberries and half a bottle of lemon juice! Yum, yum and double yum!
PS - the kimchi nabe pictures are from the week before last when Sato taught us how to make the most famous winter meal in Japan - nabe. It is a delicious stew type meal. We had a kinchi version which is super spicy - influenced by korean cuisine! Lush, lush, lush!
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Foodie fun!
Tue 12th Feb 2008,
8:54am
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Playing Hockey
Mon 28th Jan 2008,
3:38am
On Sunday we went for our second round of Hockey in Japan. Having been first in November and being welcomed so well we were both invited to play in a mini tournament to mark the end of the league. We played for an hour in the sunshine - 3 short games. It was great fun despite being a bit chilly. No Pearce goals to report but of course we helped set them all up! Afterwards we ended up being interviewed by a reported for a newspaper! Seems we may become local celebrities! The outdoor fun was followed by an evening in a lovely restaurant who marketing phrase is "human dining"!! Needless to say no humans were in fact consumed! We enjoyed traditional Japanese cuisine, complete with Shabu shabu - a great winter dish which is basically a hot pan of broth into which you dip meat and veggies before. Yummy!
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Sunday 27th January 2008
Mon 28th Jan 2008,
3:32am
15 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Last week
Mon 28th Jan 2008,
3:29am
Last week was a long one for Stu as he battled with the nasty noro virus - a nasty tummy bug that kept him at home signed off by the doctor for three days having to take yukky medicine and on a liquid diet. We enjoyed our first solid meal on Thursday with a traditional Japanese noodle soup cooked on our portable gas stove on our kotatsu (heated table) - the perfect dinner for a bitterly cold day.
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Stu and soup!
Mon 28th Jan 2008,
3:25am
2 Pictures - Click here to view
 
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Walking to Shizuoka [19th January 2008]
Mon 21st Jan 2008,
7:26am
So, after our great time with Nakata-sensei and Wada-sensei in November, another walking trip together was in order. This time they planned a ridge walk for us from Aichi into Shizuoka - the next prefecture. It was a beautiful day, glorious sunshine although a mere 1 degree! The hiking was good fun and we saw some beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. The day was topped off with a visit to a coffee shop where you are free to choose your own cup from an amazing antique collection! - superb! Oh - Emma doesn't like coming downhill so need lots of helping hands!
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Ridge walking with Nakata and Wada-sensei
Mon 21st Jan 2008,
7:13am
42 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Weekend with Matt and Soy in Yokohama
Mon 21st Jan 2008,
7:02am
Last weekend we took ourselves off to Yokohama to have a weekend with cheesy Matt (our fab British mate from Cheddar no less!) and his lovely girl, Soy. Much fun was had exploring the city sights - including a long yummy lunch in Chinatown, amusements and roller coasters in the bay, a long lazy Sunday in a British pub complete with all you can eat roast dinner, shopping and travelling to the top of Landmark Tower in Japans fastest lift - at over 750 meters per minute! Lots of popping ears but we didn't even feel like we were moving!
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Yokohama [12-14th January 2008]
Sun 20th Jan 2008,
9:00am
46 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Biking
Sun 20th Jan 2008,
8:47am
We took the opportunity of a sunny day to explore parts of our local area that we hadn't ventured to before on our bikes. We came across an old pine road with trees dating back 400 years and an ancient horse market, several temples, gardens AND a supermarket a stones throw from our flat that we never knew was there!
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Exploring Chiryu on our bikes [03.01.08]
Sun 20th Jan 2008,
8:44am
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu [1]
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
8:32am
- which is happy new year in Japanese! A big happy new year to all our dedicated followers! We know you are out there somewhere! We hope you all enjoyed a jolly festive season and New Year celebrations. As you will see in the photos below, we had a great time with our adopted Japanese family who ensured we had a truly Nipponese start to 2008. In Japan, new year is kind of like our Christmas i.e. Christmas doesn't figure as a national holiday whereas the Japanese have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January off to spend with family and friends eating special "new year" foods and drinking sake, morning noon and night!
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Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu [2]
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
8:31am
We trekked to Japans largest shrine, Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture to join the masses in a traditional celebration - praying for the future year. It took us most of the day on the 31st to get there as the ferries were canceled due to high winds so we had to go the long way round by car which took 5 hours! We got there eventually though – to our beautiful hotel on the beach, had a superb onsen bath and the grandest dinner ever! A true feast, with many weird and wonderful things we had never seen before and a boat (literally!) full of sashimi!
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Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu [3]
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
8:31am
Everyone visits a shrine, be they Buddhist or Shinto, over the New Year’s holidays to bow twice, clap twice, bow again and pray to the gods. As the clocks reached midnight we were actually on a crowded bus on our way to the Shrine. Once there it took us an hour to walk 100 meters to it, simply due to the crowds - amazing! Certainly different to the crowded pubs and bars we are used to on December 31st! We finally got back to our hotel room at 3.45am! Stu was up again at dawn to see the sunrise before a special new year’s breakfast - Emma is according to the Japanese calendar a Rooster, but repeatedly shows little signs of being such!
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Seeing in 2008 - Nippon style
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
4:43am
31 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Holiday times continue!
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
4:19am
Having got back from our escapades in the snow last week we joined our dear special friends - the Yamaguchi's - for new years and ended up having an extended stay with them! Lots of fun and games with the lovely Maya and Kohhei who kept us entertained. We had fun at the zoo and amusement park and finished off our stay with them at the ice skating rink learning more slippery sports! We had a fantastic time - they even gave Stu a present and a well done cake!
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Fun and games with our Yamaguchi friends
Sat 5th Jan 2008,
4:16am
25 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Piste in Hakuba [1]
Sat 29th Dec 2007,
7:48am
We dreamt of a white Christmas and that is what we got! 5 days of fun in the sun and snow we tried our hand at skiing and managed to return with all limbs and ligaments intact - just! We wanted to continue for days more but physically couldn't take another run. Having had two private lessons with two lovely Japanese instructors - complete with an unimaginable level of skill but limited English we spent the rest of the week on the slopes figuring our own way and polishing our beginner skills.
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Piste in Hakuba [2]
Sat 29th Dec 2007,
7:47am
We stayed at a superb B&B hosted by a great guy, Albert, from New Zealand and his wife Fumika, made all the more homely by their beautiful 9 month old daughter Anna and an imported cast iron log burner which we could smell from the slopes! Nothing was too much trouble for them, and they offered a 5 star level of service complete with chauffeuring us around, feeding us amazing home cooked meals and keeping the fridge well stocked with Asahi!
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Piste in Hakuba [3]
Sat 29th Dec 2007,
7:47am
Off piste we enjoyed the local onsen where we soothed our aches and pains in hot tubs nested in the snow, and explored the local bars and eateries - one of which was an Italian place run by a Japanese family. We went there for dinner on Christmas day (with our Christmas crackers) and it beat even the culinary delights of Rome! Delicious! It was with reluctance that we returned to wet and dreary Nagoya – but we are already planning a return trip in February when we are assured the snow will be even better. We can’t wait! Just hoping that it is just like riding a bike and we won’t forget how to do it!
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Skiing Photos
Sat 29th Dec 2007,
7:01am
52 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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We are getting Christmassy!
Sat 22nd Dec 2007,
4:47am
The Christmas spirit has been mounting over the last couple of weeks, even more so since SJP became a Dr last week! The first Christmas in many years to be thesis/phd free! This week we have done all sorts of Christmas lessons to get in the mood and have a pile of pressies waiting for us! Emma went to school in green and red complete with tinsel in her hair, flashing earrings and Rudolph socks - a walking Christmas tree as many teachers said! Lots of fun!
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Xmas spirit!
Sat 22nd Dec 2007,
4:43am
10 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Advent begins
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
8:09am
Advent began for us with a lovely evening at our friend Atsuko's - with her family and her families friends. A real get together, we all gathered around a table with a feast of oden, sashimi and make-your-own nori which was delicious. The kids spent the night watching the Moomins (yes, they are much loved here still!) we enjoyed some more dressing up, an amazing performance on the cello, and Atsuko dressed up in her kendo gear. We gave Maya and Kohei (Atsuko's children) advent stockings for them to countdown to Christmas with a choccie each day - a twist on the usual calendar which we just couldn't find! We are looking forward to spending New Year with them too.
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Fun and games at Atsukos
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
8:05am
14 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Big kids at heart
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
7:52am
This wasn't quite like raiding the dressing up box, but it comes a close second!
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Dressing up!
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
7:50am
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Expensive attire
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
7:34am
This weekend brought with it an unexpected treat. A favour for a Collins family friend to get some good shots of traditional Japanese textiles led to a trip to a friend of ours, Atsuko's, mother-in-law. When we arrived it was amazing to see the effort that they had put into getting many kimono out of storage to show us. The fabrics were beautiful - some very expensive. The average kimono costs £500! Those for special occasions i.e. weddings reach into the thousands! As you will see above - it inevitably ended up in a try-on which was amazing!
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Fantastic fabrics
Sun 2nd Dec 2007,
7:28am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Exam time in Japan
Fri 30th Nov 2007,
8:08am
We have a really quiet time at school for the next few days as all the students have their exams. Stu is up to his eyes in marking - 280 comprehensions! One of them, written by a student who speaks to him each week to improve her English is below. Its great to feel valued and appreciated and she has certainly made all the tough days worthwhile in her special way.
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An ode to Stu
Fri 30th Nov 2007,
8:07am
Hi Stuart, how are you feeling? Today I'll introduce the man to you. When I met him for the first time at the school, he spoke English while I could speak only broken English. So I couldnt talk with him well. Depressed about broken my English, one teacher suggested that I should write a message in English to him. In this way, we started to exchange the message once a week. I found he is a good hockey player and a physicist in exchanging it. Exchanging it is my pleasure. He talks with me without getting tired of my broken English because he is so sweet. He is a really good English teacher for me and his Japanese is very good. I am grateful to him. I want to have many chats with him. Can you guess who I am introducing?!
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A tribute to Leon
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
12:12am
Leon, a great friend of Emma's, was killed in a hit and run in Melbourne, Australia last week. He was 34. Emma met him whilst working in Maldives and over the year there he became one of her closest friends. He met his soul mate, Gabrielle, while working in Maldives and they have been together ever since - working for numerous charities as water and sanitation advisors. Leons work took him to Vanuatu, the Soloman Islands, Pakistan and many other places. His most recent job was with Oxfam. The world has lost an amazing guy. Please remember him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
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Remembering Leon
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
12:07am
1 Pictures - Click here to view
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Hard working Stu
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
12:06am
Snuggled under our kotatsu - an electric heated table that is super cosy on these chilly winter days! You end up with friend legs after a while!
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Our kotatsu
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
12:05am
2 Pictures - Click here to view
 
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Winter is here too!
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
6:46am
OK,we cant gloat anymore! The winter is finally upon us and blimey is it a shock to the system. It be mighty cold! The jackets and jumpers are out and the bed socks on! We huddle around our kotatsu and consume large amounts of tea to keep warm. Most surprising is the school temperature. Unlike in the UK if it falls below a certain temperature,i.e. a dodgy boiler!,the lucky students and teachers get sent home here they simply do not put the heating on, which is air conditioners or oil burners, until December. So as in the case this year we just have to freeze! Literally. Students are clearly shivering and are totally brain frozen and the teachers equally so, the teachers currently wander around in what could resemble full ski wear! Emma spent a whole lesson today unable to move from the small spot in the classroom where the sun shone through the window onto her feet in an effort to get them to thaw! Roll on December!
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Mt. Gozaisho and Yunoyama hot spring
Mon 19th Nov 2007,
6:31am
So, as evident in the pictures below we climbed our first Japanese mountain last weekend! Actually, Emma`s first mountain ever! It was a long day, starting out at 7am to meet Stu`s colleagues who had invited us, and not getting back home until 8pm! Despite the somewhat changeable weather (when we arrived we could even see the mountain, its poured with rain, blew gales and ended the day a beautiful blue sky!) we had a great time experiencing the finest Autumn countryside. The colours were amazing, and as we climbed down the sound of the rain on the trees intense. Oh, and by the way - at the top there was a queue to get around the last big bit of jutting out rock! Only in Japan! The day ended in a nearby onsen (natural hot spring) - basically a big communal super hot bath overlooking the mountain range - stunning!
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Mountain Climbing in Mie [11.11.07]
Mon 12th Nov 2007,
11:58am
20 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Scary sumo
Mon 5th Nov 2007,
8:55am
Last week we had a unique occassion at a local amateur sumo club thanks to some of Stu's work colleagues. We all piled into a car and went to watch the sumo-ers (??!!) practice their moves on the dancefloor! - well sand floor in this case! Mind - you wouldn't want to bump into them on any floor with the average player weighing 140-180 kilos! And they are amateurs! After their practice we got to eat with them - although they were around a separate hotpot. Nabe (the meal) is traditional sumo cuisine - high in everything and very very yummy! Basically just a big broth based stew with all sorts floating in it from beef to tofu! Didnt think it was appropriate to post pictures of the big guys in their nothingness without permission but you can see how yummy the dinner was atleast!
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Sumo night
Mon 5th Nov 2007,
8:48am
3 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Thank you Liz!
Mon 5th Nov 2007,
8:44am
We had a fun night in last week thanks to a fun birthday package from the lovely fairy Merryweather - otherwise known for those not in the loop as Liz from Copenhagen, who is actually from Kings Lynn and lives in Newcastle but there lies a story! Stu hit the kitchen as soon as he opened his pressie to make Dennis buns (even with limited resources they were a great success!) and I didnt take my luurvley new hat all night! Thanks Liz!
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Dennis comes to Japan
Mon 5th Nov 2007,
8:39am
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Miya Matsuri [28.10.07]
Mon 29th Oct 2007,
12:30am
So, on Sunday we got up at the crack of dawn - for a Sunday 7.30 is early - to head down to the coast to witness a rather unique festival. The matsuri (festival) is one of its kind, as it is the only one in Japan where 4 shrines get carried by men through the water. Its a pretty amazing sight. A friend of ours was taking part so we cheered him on. After the sea-bit, there are plenty of festival antics including dancing, singing, drum pounding, and flute playing. Lots of fun and a scorching day too - being by the sea we looked like lobsters by the time we came home! Feels good to have caught the sun in late October, although Stu is still complaining that his hands are sore...
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Miya Matsuri continued
Mon 29th Oct 2007,
12:11am
32 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Dressing up!
Sun 28th Oct 2007,
10:16am
Saturday night (27th) was the Aichi JET annual Halloween bash so we spent the week prior preparing for the event which proved worthwhile as Wolverine came second in the contest! - its not everyday that the man of adamantium gets beaten by a fairy like butterfly! Together with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (yes, three in one!) we made a great pair and were much admired! Other party goers included Tigger, a cereal killer, spiderman and many Japanese cartoon characters. Good times!
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Halloween
Sun 28th Oct 2007,
10:10am
16 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Turning 26
Sun 28th Oct 2007,
10:09am
Atlast we are able to look back at the photos! Sorry for the delay but the after effects took some getting over! Needless to say a great time was had at our favourite local restaurant with Crazy Papa, followed by hours of sing-a-long songs at a karaoke bar until the early hours. We were fit for nothing the next day! Atleast we did it in style!
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Ems birthday celebrations
Sun 28th Oct 2007,
10:07am
21 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Rest and Retreat
Sat 20th Oct 2007,
3:51am
Last week we went to the Japanese Alps for a long weekend in the well known town of Takayama. Takayama is called Little Kyoto with morning markets, shrines and a laid back atmosphere which was perfect for a relaxing break. We stayed in a beautiful ryokan on the mountainside which was a real retreat, we were pretty much the only guests so made the most of the baths and saunas. Highlights of the weekend were eating Hida beef, a trip to an “English pub” which was seriously un-English (the bar men were in shirt and dickie bows!), mountain onsen, feeding the carp and tasting all sorts of weird and wonderful delights at the markets. We also realised that no matter where we go we are always on the job! Ended up on our last night in a great little family run eatery with just ourselves and a Japanese family who had two young girls who proceeded over the course of the evening to become very interested in us – so we helped them read some great I-spy books. Good fun!
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Takayama and Beyond
Sat 20th Oct 2007,
2:52am
36 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Autumn festival in Toyohashi
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
6:51am
27 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Homemade fireworks
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
6:41am
So,there are two kinds,the ones that the men have made themselves and hold while they go off – yes, hold! and the larger ones carried on giant wooden frames that has been made by members of the community together. These have actual fireworks in which shoot out into the air before an almighty bang. Before these large ones are lit a man lies over the top and another,with a giant sparkler,traces the kanji symbol for water – which is somewhat ironic! The purpose of the man lying across the giant firework is simply logistical and has no symbolism – we were told it is just to protect the firework from the big sparkler! These large structures that the men carry with the giant firework on are massive and take months to make. Each is unique and men often go so far as travelling to the mountains to cut bamboo to make them. To give an idea of weight – they are carried through the streets by atleast 25+ men who struggle! The children in the community also do and make the same but a mini version!
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Playing with fire!
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
6:29am
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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X-factor wanna-be's!
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
6:26am
We finished the weekend in style with a yummy dinner at our local izakaya and karaoke until 4am! It is super addictive – one hour is not enough! Unlike the hideous pub-like embarrassments of home Japan take karaoke very seriously! You have your own booth with telephone drinks service. It rocks! We went for an hour and ended up staying many more! Needless to say, the more cocktails we drank, the better we got! Check out Facebook for video proof or the maestros!
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Karaoke in Chiryu with Jason
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
6:18am
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Little World
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
5:42am
Last week Emma enjoyed a school trip to a park called Little World. The park itself was pretty naff really but the students (and teachers!) enjoyed a day away from school especially as mid-term exams loom this week. All there is to do is eat basically so the students ran around trying food from different countries. We had yummy Korean for lunch and alligator kebabs! Also saw a rather disturbing circus show with insanely flexible acrobats and was disappointed that the only English aspect in the whole place was a rather old London bus!! Other points of particular note about the day include the day begins with students lined up in front of the school and finishes the same way – basically making sure they look presentable before they go home! Students wear full school uniform for school trip and the reputation of the school is paramount. The day trip in fact is really only a 4 hour trip as we didn’t arrive until 10am and left promptly at 2!
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Well overdue update!
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
4:46am
Hey all! Sincere apologies to all you dedicated stu-em followers out there who must be at the point of giving up in checking us out given the lack of postings recently, no excuse just simple lack of time – but as a great friend of mine once said – we all have the same 24 hours each day! So here’s to not leaving it so long again and giving you some insight to the heaps of random photos!
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So, in no particular order...
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
4:46am
~ Stu turned 29 last Tuesday and we had a run of celebrations, starting 2 weeks ago at a surprise baseball game that Emma organised involving all sorts of conspiracy plans including ticket couriers (friends!) and dealings with his supervisor to let him leave school early! He was lured there none the wiser despite the hints, but did guess when we were almost there! Needless to say it was a top game and the Dragons won so made us victorious! The celebrations continues last weekend with a meal out at a posh nosh hotel with some friends – it was an all you can eat steak night, so Stu stocked up on his cow intake! Finally on Tuesday we enjoyed a meal in together courtesy of 206’s resident head chef aka. Emma!
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[1]
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
4:45am
~ The pot throwing was a great day organised by some teachers at Emma’s base school. We spent the morning at a workshop making “cups” and “plates” – we will put up photos when we get them in November (need to be fired etc!) and you can decide what they are!! This was followed by yummy sushi lunch and a trip to the vice principals house for tea and cake. He then took us all out to his family land – a huge allotment – and proceeded to send us all home with bags of fresh vegetables which taste amazing! Since we have been somewhat living and breathing green peppers!
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[2]
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
4:45am
~ Denpark – this is a little spot of Denmark in Japan, not entirely sure why! But Stu’s base school held a welcome party there for some Australian students and teachers and we were invited. It was a great affair – with the obligatory lengthy speeches which are all well and good but torture when you have a glass of beer in front of you that you can’t touch until the customary “campaii”! We had a great time taking ourselves back a year and having some traditional tasty Danish cuisine.
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[3]
Mon 8th Oct 2007,
4:43am
~ Finally Kyoto – thanks to another public holiday we had three days in Kyoto. We spent the day we arrived biking around on bikes from our ryokan which was great fun and a good yen saver as they only cost 500 yen each! Much cheaper than bus or subway!! Saw many beautiful sights – did the Path of Philosophy, Golden Temple and visited Nara for a day which is an ancient national park full of bambi’s (they just walk around everywhere!) and a huge wooden temple with a gigantic Buddha. The last day we chilled out in an area called Arashiyama which has a great monkey park on the top of a hill overlooking the city. We did get rained off though and got to know the temple at the bottom of the hill quite well as were there sheltering for the best part of an hour! We will definitely be returning to Kyoto – its beautiful, and will of course take all visitors too!
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Turning 29!
Wed 3rd Oct 2007,
11:02am
11 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Birthday celebration
Sun 30th Sep 2007,
2:43pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Pot Throwing - 29th Sept
Sun 30th Sep 2007,
2:39pm
7 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Denpark - 26th Sept
Sun 30th Sep 2007,
2:37pm
5 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Nara - 22nd Sept
Sun 30th Sep 2007,
2:37pm
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Kyoto: 21st - 23rd Sept
Sun 30th Sep 2007,
2:33pm
24 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Final stop - 47 floors up!
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
5:09am
Before heading home we had a quick stopover at Midland Square – the tallest building in Nagoya and the 4th tallest in Japan. The glass lifts shoot you up 44 floors in less than a minute and the view from the top which is open to the breeze is incredible…until that is you feel the building swaying slightly! We finished the day with a treat of banana smoothies and cake at the rather posh Dean and Deluca coffee shop stunned by the noise and bustle of the city and missing the tranquillity of the hills.
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Midland Square
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
5:07am
8 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Walkers!
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
5:01am
After a restful quiet night in Magome, complete with home cooked Japanese style meal and breakfast of miso soup, green tea, rice and various pickles and meats, we head off on foot along the ancient Edo road to the next post town – Tsumago. We enjoyed a stunning walk through forests, round waterfalls and via quaint deserted hamlets. It rained some of the time which was more than welcome with high humidity and temperatures even at 9 am and made the trek even more atmospheric. From Tsumago we avoided the crammed bus stop and tourist shops and carried on on foot to the nearest train station – only a few more kilometres further through the valley. Possibly the quietest station in the world, it was eerie with only a few trains per day. Needless to say we acquired our own bench, had a yummy “walkers” picnic (starting to wonder if this is the reason behind the famous crisp brand!) and finally almost 2 hours later we head back for Nagoya.
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Hiking from Magome to Tsumago
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
5:00am
21 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Class and culture
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
4:58am
The classes continue. This week has seen a grand total of 23 lessons, culture festivals and sports days. Stu was the lucky one with culture festivals and sports day whereas Emma topped up the lesson score with a whopping 17 lessons! That’s a lot of self introductions and a lot of students at 40 per lesson! We are growing to loathe the Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Oh la di oh la da” as that is the music we use! This weekend is a long one with a public holiday on Monday to pay respect to the elderly so we took advantage of the extra day and head to the mountains for an overnight stop and a spot of hiking. Starting out as pokey monsters (pokey = yummy chocolate sticks!) we head off to explore. Magome, our first stop, is an old post town of the Edo period where the main route between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. It’s a stunning place and we stayed in a traditional Japanese ryokan (guest house) which was fantastic.
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Magome mountain trip
Mon 17th Sep 2007,
4:37am
28 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Amuse-ment! [Part 1]
Tue 11th Sep 2007,
2:07pm
“My name is……” Is the sentence of the day, week, month, year…! It is all we seem to be saying at the moment with introduction lesson after introduction lesson! To give you a better picture of the story of our lives for the immediate future, in the words of RunDMC, “it goes a little something like this!”
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Amuse-ment! [Part 2]
Tue 11th Sep 2007,
2:06pm
Good morning…! Wait for response…normally silence or a few half hearted murmurs! Then it’s into all about us, London, the UK etc etc. This covers everything from favourite foods to the difference between the UK and GB (wise citizens - if you don’t know it look it up!) After about 4 students fall asleep its time to play the quiz game! To the delights of the Beatles we play Jeopardy which basically has the kids in teams passing around a hand towel (a summer necessity in Japan!), the music stops and the one holding the towel stands up. Then it’s the lightening round to see who gets to answer a further question to earn points…and so on and so forth. Various adaptations include bonus points and significant levels of cheating! As you can imagine this elicits various pitches of squealing and looks of horror!
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Amuse-ment! [Part 3]
Tue 11th Sep 2007,
2:05pm
Other sources of amusement this week include; playing on the grabbers at the amusement arcades in Nagoya – if the toy isn’t in the right position for you to pick it up successfully you just ask an attendant and they move it for you right next to the edge! Needless to say we should have known this earlier! Oh and…we were the day's highlight for a rather merry elderly man on the train who waved as if we were celebrities, insisted on showing us the peace sign a million times and saying probably the only two words he knew in English, “OK” and “Hello”! Very cute!
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Amuse-ment! [Part 4]
Tue 11th Sep 2007,
2:03pm
Further points of not so amusing note (??!!) – Stu finally has a bike, YEY! On loan from a school to make his commutes a little easier, Emma learnt how to walk again after nearly an hour in the seiza position, ouch! (look that one up too if you don’t know! – Wikipedia!) – we both competed in Ultimate Frisbee JETS v JETS at the weekend! AND we just missed out on the typhoon, although it was rather windy!
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Okazaki Castle
Sun 9th Sep 2007,
2:10pm
4 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Atsuta jingu - a sacred Shinto shrine
Sun 9th Sep 2007,
2:07pm
13 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Down and out in Nagoya
Sun 2nd Sep 2007,
6:44am
17 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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p.s
Sun 2nd Sep 2007,
6:30am
Oh, and FYI – we finally managed to find yeast and brown flour!! All we need now is some marmite, providing our first attempt at bread-making today is a success! AND email subscriptions to this site are soon to come which means you will receive and email each time we add text and or photos to it! Wow we hear you shout!!
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Shopping and sightseeing!
Sun 2nd Sep 2007,
6:27am
Hope you like the photos! We had a fun day out in Nagoya yesterday being tourists for the first time, so now we have a rough idea to send you when you come and visit us!! We started the day at Nagoya main station 51 stories above ground with a fantastic view of the city – scarily high! We treated ourselves to the most expensive iced coffee to date at a posh café at the top overlooking the city – definitely worth it! We then head for Nagoya castle which was stunning and enjoyed looking around the grounds. Afterwards we found a great temple in the south east of the city with an amazing network of old streets surrounding it, all sorts of weird and wonderful places. The day ended at a local izakaya (pub type place with snacky dishes!) in Chiryu with a good beer and tasty nibbles.
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More Flat Photos
Sun 2nd Sep 2007,
6:25am
6 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Funky food and frolics! [2]
Sun 26th Aug 2007,
6:51am
We got to meet and talk to many teachers including those from the schools we will be working in which was good, and explored the local area’s food and beverage places in the evenings which included an omelette type speciality, and sweet and sour chicken!!
The week reached a funky finish yesterday with a scavenger hunt in Nagoya (check out Facebook for photos!) in which our team won!! The after party was at a “beer garden” with beer on pour-it-yourself taps, and hotplates on the tables to cook your own dinner! Fabulous!! AND as we speak the great British breakfast is being cooked to make this Sunday complete!!
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Funky food and frolics! [1]
Sun 26th Aug 2007,
6:50am
The last two weeks have flown by and seem to have consisted mainly of delicious culinary delights! Last weekend we enjoyed a classic BBQ next to a river in Okazaki (about 20 minutes south of Chiryu by train) with most of the JET’s from Aichi, both new and old. Stu had his fill of steak (suffering red meat withdrawal symptoms!), and we both gorged on spicy stir-fried vegetables and French bread.
We have been part of a teacher training seminar all week with Japanese English teachers from the region, which has been a real insight. The standard of English varies greatly and as new ALT’s we are brushed with a somewhat almighty brush of knowledge and wisdom which takes some getting used to.
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Life In Japan!!
Wed 22nd Aug 2007,
2:25pm
12 Pictures - Click here to view
  
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Funny keyboards!
Mon 13th Aug 2007,
1:56am
Hum - it seems Japanese keyboards have a mind of their own and like to put in some kanji characters to confuse you all!! sorry about that but for want of an explanation the store is called Hard Off, it is an entertainment centre, we have alien status and the dude at the restaurant is crazy papa!
Muchos love-os x x x
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Alien reg, crazy papa, millionaire pizza.......[2]
Mon 13th Aug 2007,
1:52am
As for millionaire pizza’s – craving some home comfort we indulged in a take out and movie on Friday night, setting us back a fantastic 3670 Yen (£ 18!!) for 2 pizza’s!! It did the job but will only be used for desperate times in the future!!
Yesterday we found the delights of 100 Yen (50p) shop, a second hand audio-visual store called “Hard Off” (the mind boggles!), a revolving sushi bar, department store complete with Starbucks and McD’s (how depressing!) and made our first sticky rice breakfast!! Till next time – Jyamata!
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Alien reg, crazy papa, millionaire pizza.......[1]
Mon 13th Aug 2007,
1:51am
It’s now been a week since we arrived here in Japan and now we write from the comfort of our air conditioned sofa in our flat in Chiryu. Photos will follow soon when we get our internet sorted out at home (we are waiting for Yahoo to send us the stuff!!) but in the meantime a few words to give you an impression; hot loft, wooden floors, kotatsu (Japanese plug in heated table!), funky floor chairs, walk in wardrobe, diddy balcony and fully equipped “entertainment centre”!!
Since arrival in Chiryu on Wednesday we have officially registered our “alien” status (aka: non Japanese!), found the best restaurant in town – a typical local affair run by a lovely couple “crazy papa” and his wife Suzuki (we think!!). Enjoyed an hilarious meal there on Saturday night, eating all sorts of random creatures, receiving presents from the chef – monsieur papa himself – and other patrons, and sampling a good deal of fine Sake!!
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High flying toilets!
Sun 5th Aug 2007,
5:13am
From a deluxe 5* room at the Keio Plaza hotel, Tokyo...we have arrived safe and sound, after a super smooth flight, breaking the 32.6 degree heat barrier, experimenting (foolishly!!) with the funky toilets (needless to say we got ourselves and the bathroom rather wet!!) and are heading out for a spot of sushi before we collapse after not having slept for 24 hours!!
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One sleep!! [Part 2]
Fri 3rd Aug 2007,
10:00am
Our last week has, despite the stresses and strains of our suitcases, been a special one with some cherishable moments, including the delights of borough market (had to have our fill of banana cake before we left!!), champagne afternoon tea at Claridges, top seats at Phantom of the Opera and lots of playing with niece Genevieve - and we are going to top the week off with a classic british bbq tonight.
Our next update will (fingers crossed) be from our air conditioned sofa somewhere in central Honshu! (look up Nagoya on the map guys!!) Until then, our love to you all - and thanks to everyone who has made our last weeks here so much fun. TTFN!! or jya-mata!! (pronounced; ja-ma-ta!!)
PS - eyes to the skies at 13.00 tomorrow please!! we will be waving!!
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One sleep!! [Part 1]
Fri 3rd Aug 2007,
9:59am
Well folks, we are all packed (just!! - barr the predictable cramming that will no doubt ensue first thing tomorrow morning!!)and are for the first time in what seems like years, sitting tight and waiting!! Having spent the last month travelling the breadth and depth of the country visiting friends and family, having farewell parties and the like we now find ourselves sat waiting for the shipping company to arrive and collect the 23.2 kg of winterwear that we could not fit in!! Not that we will need it at the moment, temperatures in Japan at the moment are 35 degrees with 60-70% humidity!! bring it on!!
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Japan!
Mon 30th Jul 2007,
10:40am
In 5 days we jet off to Japan! At the moment we are still packing up the house!
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